"You want to eat lunch together, right? Let's go," Shi Yao said, smiling faintly at Fu Sixiao.
Fu Sixiao's face lit up, and he nodded eagerly. Shi Yao cast a quick glance toward Li Yuan as they left the classroom. He sat calmly in his seat, showing no sign of interest in the interactions around him. His sharp features remained impassive, as though he were in a world of his own.
So aloof, Shi Yao thought, his curiosity flaring for a moment before fading. He turned his attention back to Fu Sixiao as they walked toward the cafeteria.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Shi Yao avoided mingling too much with the other students, preferring instead to quietly observe his surroundings. The rhythm of school life was oddly familiar yet foreign, as if he were walking through a distorted reflection of his own experiences.
By the time classes ended, he was ready to leave. Without lingering, he exited the school and climbed into the car waiting for him at the gate. The driver greeted him politely, but Shi Yao only nodded in return, his mind preoccupied with unraveling the mystery of his situation.
Back at home, Shi Yao wasted no time. He hurried up the stairs, making his way to the room where he had first woken up. The atmosphere felt heavier now, the unanswered questions pressing down on him.
He pulled the book from his bag, the familiar leather cover cool against his palms. Sitting at the desk, he opened it to the same shifting text and diagrams he had seen before. His eyes scanned the pages, each word and symbol adding to the weight of his growing suspicion.
"Thought so," he muttered under his breath.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the open book with a mix of disbelief and wonder.
"Is this really the world written in this book?" he murmured. "That... how does that even make sense?"
The logic of it defied explanation, but the evidence was undeniable. He flipped through the pages, trying to reason it out. "Since it's really happening, there must be a way this phenomenon can be explained," he mused.
"So, is it VR?"
The idea sounded plausible for a moment, but even that felt like a stretch. His senses were too sharp, too real for a fabricated virtual reality. The taste of the juice, the texture of the books, the ambient sounds of school life—everything was far too vivid.
Shi Yao sighed, closing the book gently. "Well, it doesn't make any difference whether I live here or there. It's all about experiences anyway."