I Deduce the Female Lead Likes Me [Transmigration into a book] - Chapter 18: Reality
What happened to Song Muxue? Did she get stabbed, or did Song Muxue?
It must have been herself who got stabbed, otherwise how would she have fainted? It couldn’t possibly be from fright.
Song Muxue held herself so tightly; if she could still dodge in that situation, it could only be due to a protagonist’s halo!
Kou Shuang thought, but it was still better than Song Muxue actually being stabbed.
She didn’t know when she had become so selfless.
When Kou Shuang regained consciousness, various thoughts piled up, chaotic and numerous, making her head feel like it was about to explode.
She barely opened her eyes, saw a pristine white ceiling, and smelled disinfectant.
The scene was somewhat familiar, exactly like when she first met Song Muxue.
The hospital again? Will Song Muxue appear in that corner this time?
Kou Shuang opened her eyes and glanced to the lower left, seeing many busy staff members. A familiar voice asked: “When will Shuangshuang wake up?”
The nurse smiled helplessly and said: “I’m not sure… This situation is quite special. The fatigue-induced shock we’ve encountered before only needed a bottle of glucose. Perhaps… it depends on the patient’s will to live.”
After saying it, the nurse felt it was inappropriate. Without experiencing a major accident, there was no need for “will to live,” so she quickly corrected herself: “Maybe she’ll wake up today.”
Kou Shuang felt a little sleepy and closed her eyes again.
Fatigue-induced shock, huh… Doesn’t sound like a big deal.
Wait, no! That voice isn’t Kou Deqin’s! It’s her own parents!
Because her parents’ voices were so familiar, Kou Shuang didn’t feel anything was wrong the moment she woke up. But when she heard the phrase “fatigue-induced shock,” she suddenly realized something was off.
Was she… back? Transmigrated back?
And she actually wasn’t dead, just in shock?
Kou Shuang was somewhat shocked. She wanted to raise her hand to greet her parents, wanted to give them a hug, but found she couldn’t control her body.
Her mother wiped a tear, glanced at her, and sighed: “Shuangshuang, when will you wake up… If anything makes you unhappy, tell Mom. Mom will never force you into blind dates or finding a partner again…”
Mom, I’m here! I’m awake!
Kou Shuang felt anxious, desperately trying to move her body, but found her limbs were like wooden sticks, completely numb.
She finally managed to wiggle a finger, then heard her mother joyfully ask the nurse: “Nurse, nurse, is my Shuangshuang waking up? Her finger moved!”
Yes, Mom, I’m waking up! Quickly grab my hands!
The nurse walked back, glanced, sighed, and said: “This is just a normal physiological phenomenon… Auntie… my condolences…”
The nurse patted her mother’s shoulder and walked away.
Kou Shuang was hysterical inside her body: Condolences my ass! I’m perfectly alive here, awake! Why do they think I’m dead or unconscious?! Quack doctor!
I’m clearly… right here…
Her mother paused, two clear lines of tears streaming from her eyes. She stroked Kou Shuang’s finger, murmuring: “Shuangshuang… Shuangshuang… Mom will never interfere with your life again… never rush you to change jobs or find a boyfriend again…”
Kou Shuang felt heartbroken, yet she could do nothing.
After Sun Jiawen’s desperate attack, her miraculous coma actually sent her back to reality! Her own reality! In this reality, Song Muxue and Zheng Fenglin were just characters in a book.
She had transmigrated back, but she couldn’t move; it couldn’t really be called “transmigrating back.”
She wanted to cry, but a familiar and immense drowsiness swept over her. Kou Shuang’s consciousness was once again dragged into darkness.
••••
“Tap.”
A drop of tear fell onto the computer keyboard.
The woman stared at it strangely for a while, then took a tissue and carefully blotted it up. She stared at the soaked part for a long time, ultimately unsure what it was, so she tossed the tissue aside.
That tear was Kou Shuang’s.
And at this moment, Kou Shuang was “standing” above her head, watching her series of actions.
More accurately, “floating.”
Kou Shuang saw the woman’s Word document on the computer, saw the words “Song Muxue” and “Zheng Fenglin” on it, and saw the manuscript and publishing and film adaptation contracts for “Snow and Wind’s Gift to Me” by the woman’s hand.
The woman clutched her hair, her face filled with pain, and said: “I can’t write it—”
She furiously pressed the delete key. The cursor moved forward incessantly; her entire manuscript was gone.
“I can’t write it…” The woman’s head slumped onto the keyboard. Several garbled characters immediately appeared on the document.
This is… the author of “Snow and Wind’s Gift to Me”? Kou Shuang curiously leaned over, seeing eye-to-eye with the woman. She saw the woman’s tightly furrowed brows, her dark circles, and understood the pain of writer’s block.
“I can’t write… They’re all disobedient… What do I do? They seem to… have noticed my existence and just don’t want to be together.” The woman picked up her phone and sent a voice message to someone unknown.
One second Kou Shuang was in sorrow, now she understood.
This is… I’ve met the original author. So this is what writing a novel is like?
But what magic did this female writer named “Sheng Dan” possess that she could make herself transmigrate?
Was she really in the same dimension as her? How could another entity in the same dimension be reduced in dimension? Or was she some powerful psychic?
Kou Shuang tentatively touched the woman’s face, finding that this person couldn’t see her, and her hand passed through the other’s face.
Kou Shuang saw the original author in spirit form, something she had never imagined during her “lifetime.”
Just as Kou Shuang was about to say something, that miraculous drowsiness returned.
Am I transmigrating again? Where will I go this time?
••••
“You’re awake?”
Kou Shuang was no longer just a passive observer; this time, someone was speaking to her: Sun Jiawen.
Kou Shuang noticed she was tied up, just like when Old Chun kidnapped her. For a moment, she was in a daze, unsure if she had been having a long dream where Old Chun was arrested, Song Muxue was stabbed, her mom was crying, and Sheng Dan was behind on her manuscript… all just a dream.
Sun Jiawen’s voice was a bit different from what she usually heard, calmer, colder, more melancholic, probably belonging to the other personality.
Kou Shuang didn’t have time to dwell on that. She could only try to turn her head and ask Sun Jiawen: “How long have I been kidnapped? How is Song Muxue?”
She couldn’t see Sun Jiawen, only one of Sun Jiawen’s legs.
Sun Jiawen didn’t respond or move, merely reaching around Kou Shuang’s neck to offer a cup of water. Kou Shuang was indeed thirsty, so she bent her head to bite the cup, then lifted her head. Cold water slid from the corner of her mouth, down her neck, feeling very cold, like a snake crawling over her, somewhat disgusting.
Kou Shuang’s goosebumps rose.
Her lips were still dry, but having been moistened by water, they felt a little better.
“You’re awake,” Sun Jiawen repeated. Only then did Kou Shuang realize that something was off with her.
“Aren’t you going to ask where this is?” Sun Jiawen said, her voice quite different from Kou Shuang’s memory. Too… steady, without any fluctuations, like a doll.
“The art studio you rented…?” Kou Shuang replied.
“No,” Sun Jiawen chuckled softly and said: “This is a hiding place I found with great difficulty, though I don’t know how long I can hide here.”
What hiding place? Isn’t it just the art studio you rented? Zheng Fenglin told me.
…Wait, if this is reality now, then Zheng Fenglin and everything he said were just part of her dream, and do they even count?
Kou Shuang opened her mouth, and just as she was about to say something, a hand reached out from behind her neck, coming into view. It was Sun Jiawen’s hand.
Sun Jiawen extended a finger and lightly pressed Kou Shuang’s lips, saying: “Shhh… don’t speak.”
Kou Shuang fell silent.
That finger changed from vertical to horizontal, gently stroking Kou Shuang’s lips. Kou Shuang was very familiar with this feeling; it was applying lipstick.
Applying lipstick to yourself and having someone else apply it to you felt completely different, especially since these hands belonged to Sun Jiawen, someone Kou Shuang had never expected.
“Your lips are so beautiful,” Sun Jiawen took two steps, moved in front of Kou Shuang, bent down to meet her gaze, and said: “This color really suits you. Do you like it?”
Saying this, Sun Jiawen extended her hand towards Kou Shuang, and only then did Kou Shuang realize that Sun Jiawen was really applying lipstick to her!
It was a strange, unknown color, red like bl00d, which made Kou Shuang shiver with dread.
“What is this?” Kou Shuang couldn’t help but ask.
Kou Shuang’s words weren’t finished before Sun Jiawen’s lips covered hers.
Sun Jiawen wrapped her arms around Kou Shuang’s neck, her face bare, and kissed Kou Shuang’s lips. Sun Jiawen’s breathing was gentle, with a slightly odd, rusty scent.
Sun Jiawen closed her eyes as she kissed Kou Shuang. Kou Shuang felt the arms around her neck tighten.
“Mmm!” Kou Shuang couldn’t help but moan.
Sun Jiawen chuckled softly, then sat directly on Kou Shuang’s thighs. She then wrapped her arms around Kou Shuang’s neck and pulled her lips away. She smiled at Kou Shuang and said: “That guy wanted to kill you; he’s so stupid. How could you ever be killed? And what’s so good about that man Lu Renjia? He’s lustful and stupid, far inferior to you. Good thing I saved you.”
“Who is that guy?” Kou Shuang was silent for a moment, then narrowed her eyes and said: “Is he the second you?”
Sun Jiawen smiled and said: “See, that’s why you’re stronger than that man. I guess I’m also Sun Jiawen, but I’m the smarter one.”
The other’s smile was alluring and eerie. Kou Shuang couldn’t help but wonder where this was, if Zheng Fenglin, her mom, the original author… were all just a dream.
“I just love how you don’t care!” Sun Jiawen nodded, then a second later, stuck out her tongue and lightly licked Kou Shuang’s lips. “Ah, you reacted! Your hairs stood up!”
Sun Jiawen smiled, seemingly very happy.
Kou Shuang still wore that expressionless face and said: “Where are Old Chun and Lux?”
“Honestly, you’re not from this side, are you?” Sun Jiawen said: “I think you’re different, so you can ask me questions. Of course, I’ll ask some back.”
What did “counts as” Sun Jiawen mean? And what did “this side” mean? In this Sun Jiawen’s eyes, how did she understand this world?
“You can ask first,” Kou Shuang said: “I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“You’re not Kou Shuang, at least not Sun Jiawen’s rich white classmate, right?” Sun Jiawen said: “Where are you from?”
Wait… “this” Sun Jiawen, “this” world… and Mom and the original author…
Kou Shuang’s eyes deepened. She spoke: “This is… a book. You are a character in it, and I am the reader.”
She just didn’t know how she transmigrated into the book.
Sun Jiawen was startled, then gave a bitter smile: “So I’m just a character? I thought I was in some brain-in-a-vat experiment… This is really too lame.”
“Second question,” Sun Jiawen showed a self-mocking expression and said: “If I’m a character in a book, who’s the protagonist?”
“Song Muxue,” Kou Shuang said.
Sun Jiawen, however, looked very confused and said: “Who?”
“Song—Mu—Xue—” Kou Shuang said, word by word, but Sun Jiawen still looked bewildered.
“Ha, alright,” Sun Jiawen suddenly gave a lonely smile and said: “It seems heavenly secrets cannot be revealed.”
A banging sound suddenly echoed in the cramped space. Kou Shuang followed the sound and saw a familiar door. Song Muxue had walked in from there that day.
Sun Jiawen said: “Looks like there’s no time left. Here’s a piece of advice for you: don’t fight against heaven.”
“Goodbye.”
As Sun Jiawen spoke, the wooden door was simultaneously forced open, and Song Muxue appeared there.
At this very moment, Kou Shuang was once again struck by drowsiness.
This time, however, there was no uncomfortable sense of incongruity; instead, it felt more like falling into the sweet ease of a deep dream.
In the last instant before her consciousness faded into silence, Kou Shuang finally realized that her consciousness had only briefly returned to reality.
And soon, she would transmigrate back into the book.