The light pierced through the darkness. After a few seconds for his blurred vision to adjust, the first thing Roland saw was a snow-white ceiling. It took him a few more seconds to shake off the dizziness of waking up, and as his vision gradually cleared, he felt that something was wrong.

Where exactly was he?

He sat up abruptly, only to find himself sleeping in a room resembling a modern bedroom. Beneath him was a soft bed, with a lamp and tissue box on one side of the headboard, and a reddish-brown wardrobe on the other. The harsh sunlight streamed through the blinds, evenly showering the mat and his arm, making them feel faintly hot.

Damn it! Hasn't this gladiatorial match ended yet?

The sleepiness in Roland's mind vanished instantly. He rolled off the bed, reaching out to summon a fangshenqiang, but after trying for a long time, his hand remained empty.

His heart sank.

Could it be… that the rules of the arena had changed again?

That would be troublesome. With the Pure's skill and speed, he would only get beaten if he fought bare-handed.

Besides, wasn't the battle arena supposed to be the most memorable scene in his memory? He had absolutely no recollection of this damned room!

Roland tiptoed to the bedroom door, pressed his ear against the door panel, and listened for a moment. He could hear intermittent sounds from outside, as if someone was talking.

He carefully gripped the doorknob and opened the door a crack. Outside was a more spacious room that looked like a living room. Next to the empty sofa, an old-fashioned desk fan was shaking its head, humming loudly. In front of the sofa was a coffee table and a wall-mounted TV, the screen of which was still flickering. The voices seemed to be coming from there.

Other than that, there was no one in the living room.

This situation was too strange.

Roland took a deep breath and slowly walked into the living room.

The red ribbon tied to the fan cover was fluttering in the breeze. The gentle breeze invigorated him. Only then did he realize that the room was quite stuffy, and the constant chirping of cicadas outside the window indicated that this world was in the middle of summer.

Several zazhi were scattered on the sofa. Roland picked one up and flipped through it. The content was about fashion news and horoscopes, written in a naive style, as if it were meant for young girls who hadn’t even grown their feathers yet.

His brow furrowed even deeper.

Whether in his previous life or this life, he would never buy such a book. Clearly, this house did not belong to him.

Just then, the news on TV caught Roland's attention.

"Yesterday evening, an unexplained bàozhà accident occurred at the city's university. A teaching building was damaged. Photos from the scene show that the entire roof had collapsed, and shattered glass was scattered everywhere on the ground. What caused this? Let's connect with our reporter at the scene."

His mouth dropped open, almost unable to believe his eyes.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm standing next to the teaching building where the bàozhà occurred." A female reporter appeared on the screen, and the building in the background was the very battlefield where he had fought with Jieluo! "According to eyewitnesses, there were continuous explosions at the time, and the fire illuminated half the sky. Fortunately, since it was summer vacation, there weren't many students on campus, so there were no casualties. Police have sealed off the entire campus, and the students who stayed on campus have been moved to nearby hostels, where teachers are taking care of them. However, the cause of the bàozhà has not yet been determined."

"What are your thoughts on this accident?"

"It's very strange. As we all know, there couldn't possibly be natural gas pipelines in the teaching building, and the center of the bàozhà was on the top floor," the female reporter said in one breath. "Some people speculate that it was a plane crash, others say it was a small meteorite, and some even say that aliens landed. In any case, I will report back as soon as the police have a definitive conclusion."

"Thank you," the host nodded. "Next, let's move on to the next news item. The summer is hot and the heat is unbearable. Students should be enjoying their long-awaited vacation at home, rather than participating in various extracurricular tutoring. The Department of Education has issued a notice prohibiting tutoring classes. If you find such a situation, you can call the reporting hotline..."

Roland didn't hear the rest of the content. His head was filled with the image of the collapsed teaching building. Shouldn't the soul battle be a fictional illusion! How was this possible?

After standing blankly for a long time, he suddenly realized something and rushed to the front door of the living room. He opened the anti-theft door, and a wave of heat immediately poured into the house.

What appeared before him was a modern city!

In the distance, high-rise buildings rose and fell, forming a dense concrete jungle. Not far away was a busy street, with cars and pedestrians coming and going. The place where he was standing was probably in a hallway of an apartment building. Looking back, he saw a golden nameplate with "0825" in the center of the door, which was obviously of low quality. If he wasn't mistaken, it should mean Room 25 on the 8th floor.

"Excuse me, can you move? Don't block the hallway, okay?"

Roland was slightly stunned, turned his head, and noticed that the neighbor's door had been opened at some point. A middle-aged woman was staring at him impatiently. Only after he stepped aside did she snort coldly and walk past him. At the same time, the strong smell of cheap perfume wafted into his nose.

"Really, it's fine if you don't work during the day, but you're running around in a tank top and shorts. You're old enough to be ashamed," she said, as if talking to herself, but the sound was just loud enough for Roland to hear. This skill was second nature to them.

Roland returned to the house and slammed the door shut.

"Jieluo! Get out here!"

"Stop wasting time hiding!"

"Is this your new trick? Piecing together things from my mind?"

"Don't be ridiculous, they're just illusions!"

He shouted for a long time, but the room remained silent.

Roland grabbed a glass from the coffee table and smashed it against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

"Is this your way of not letting me go?" he sneered inwardly. "Do you want to trap me in this consciousness forever? You can't keep me here, Jieluo!"

Without hesitation, he immediately took action.

Assuming this was another illusion similar to the soul battle, how could he escape?

Suicide was definitely the last option. Roland decided to start with something simple: creating a fall.

He brought a few chairs and stacked them on top of each other, from largest to smallest, with the chair backs facing the sofa, so that even if he failed, he wouldn't get hurt.

After setting it up, he stepped onto the shaking chairs and slowly climbed to the highest point. At this point, his head was almost touching the ceiling, and falling backward was indeed a bit scary.

But Roland had already experienced death, and had even died in different ways, so this psychological barrier didn't faze him.

Just as he was rocking the chairs back and forth, the sound of a key turning in the door lock came from outside.

Could it be that the real owner of this house had returned?

Before he could steady himself, the stacked chairs collapsed with a crash.

In the midst of the chaotic fall, Roland struggled to turn his head and saw a young girl walking in through the door. She was carrying a backpack and looked about eleven or twelve years old, but her snow-white hair and light red eyes immediately identified her!

Jieluo!

And she had clearly seen Roland as well, and showed a surprised expression.

"What are you doing!? Uncle?"

The scene instantly twisted, as if the world had turned upside down. Roland's body jolted up, and he gasped for breath. The familiar room reappeared before his eyes.

Gray stone walls with small cracks, thick velvet curtains, and a magic stone emitting a quiet light...

This was… Neverwinter City?

"Clang."

The sound of a wooden basin falling to the ground came.

Roland followed the sound and saw Anna standing there in a daze. The basin that had fallen to the ground rotated a few times, and the hot water that had spilled out soaked a large area of the carpet.

Then the girl flew towards him. (。、，Your support is my greatest motivation.) 17-03-10 11:37:08