#1

阳光透过五楼的窗户毫无遮拦地洒进教室。怠惰的蝉鸣，时不时夹杂在下课的吵闹声中。

教室里，有的同学摇晃着椅子和他人交谈；有一些在一张桌子旁围成一圈，看不到在做什么。有的人靠在窗边，朝着运动场的方向眺望，似乎在寻找什么。

看着黑板上的粉笔字，他感到一阵目眩。

这时，一个同学注意到了他，向他打了声招呼。他呆住了，没有反应。他不认识这位同学。

而且他满脑子里只有一件事。

20年之后，他又回到他以前就读的这座高中了。

#2

她放学后会去练弓。

但他不会射箭，辅助新手练习的射箭俱乐部的同学也不在。不过他不关心。他只对她感兴趣，所以他就跪坐在一旁看着。

他知道这所学校其实没有射箭俱乐部，也知道这个国家的人不会像他这样坐。他没想那么多。

当夕阳将要消失在远处教学楼的阴影中的时候，她开始收拾东西准备离开。

她没有向他搭话。她几乎不向任何人搭话。

他犹豫着是否要追上那提着包消失在门后的背影。

但他没有站起来。他的腿有点麻了。

#3.A

他的奶奶对他说过，爱一个人，就应该保护她的尊严。

他的奶奶也可能没对他说过这句话。她住在几百公里外的乡下，葡萄藤长得繁盛的地方。他几个月才会和她见一次面。

他暗自下定决心，如果这句话不是他奶奶说的，那他就自封为名言家。

名言家就是说名言的专家。比如说奥斯卡・王尔德，就是过去一位有名的名言家。

人总是在自己方便的时候想出一些名言，来作为自己的行动的理由。

想着这样的名言，他忍着发麻的腿，向着两位弓箭部的成员，一瘸一拐地走去。

向着背地里嘲笑她的两人走去。

#4

起因往往会是一些微不足道的事情。

望着街道另一头渐渐下沉的太阳，他走在放学后的路上。

沿街没有买小吃的小摊，到深夜才能看到这些推着小车的摊贩的身影。

他忍着饥饿，想着晚饭吃什么。

“嘿。”

他定住了。他认得几米之外，向他招手的这个人。

这个人和他穿着同样的校服，但在太阳光的对比下，显得有些暗。

20年前，记不清为什么了，他和这个同班同学的关系不太好。说是不太好，但连讨厌也算不上，就只是单纯的平行线，没有一点交集。

高中毕业之后，两人也分道扬镳了。

你，也回来了吗？

他嘴唇动了动，又随着口水一起，将这句话咽了回去。因为看着他的这个人的笑脸上，带着一抹感伤。

#3.B

他紧紧抱住了面前的她。

“我喜欢你！”他喊道。

他没有说下一句话。

在他怀里的她没有回过头来，也没有说话。

在他的眼前，一切都慢慢融解在金色的光芒中。

写在最后

人我总有一些后悔的事。

不过有一些人，他们无忧无虑、达观岸然，他们对过去，对自己无怨无悔。

所以这里还是把人给划掉，改说我总有一些后悔的事好了。

回头看自己这些年，总感觉有一些后悔，有一些不甘：有的事情，自己本可以做得更好；如果那时候能那样，那说不定现在也不会这样了。

但即使这样感慨，也不会有任何改变。

无论是多么美好的梦，都有醒来的时候。

而新一天的太阳，照常会升起。

写在最后的后面

说好写 Apeiria 的感想的，结果鸽了5个月。这次可能要鸽到红瞳的后面了。

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It was unreal, but it felt real.

We are facing a giant dragon – given that all dragons are large – to fight our ways up the tower.

The tower of Yggdrasil is still looking down upon the world from the center today. Modeled after the boundary tower in Amakusa, Tokyo, which is the birthplace of a phenomenal VRMMO game, Yggdrasil is a lofty tower, too.

Like a needle piercing into the space.

A crystal one, though, to fit in the overall fantasy art style of the Second. And like the boundary tower, Yggdrasil boasts a whole lot of floors – 1000 of them, to be exact – crammed with all kinds of monsters and challenges.

And we are the first one to set our feet on the tenth floor. It is almost cliche to put some strong monster in the floors of ten’s multiples, and the AI is clearly sticking to this common practice when creating the Second.

One dragon was already beat when we first enter this tower, that is, the mother dragon. It was quite a tough one: it even nearly managed to suffocate us by burning out all the oxygen with its breath. But now, after countless battles, our team is invincible, and the dragon doesn’t stand a chance.

Whoosh! its sweeps the ground with its left claw, but in vain. It took too much damage to maintain its swift actions. Time to deliver the last strike. I called out to my little sister.

“Miu! Covering fire!” “Gotcha!”

The dragon roared in pain as the bullet penetrates the dragon’s eyes. The monster raises its head, it want to cast a breath.

“Kuon!” “Needless to say!”

Kuon cast the spell, which forms a shield protected all of us from the devastating breath. I looked to Apeiria, and she knows what I’m gonna do in an glimpse.

“You are powered up, owner, get in there!”

I run forward towards to dragon, to deliver the final blow.

“Mashiro, come back!” “Roger!” The little silouette who’s attacking with combos jumps back, agile like a humming bird.

A few steps forth, I get face to face with the hideous monster. Time for my ultimate sword.

“1/8!”

Eight beams spreads out in an instant, all of them punching the dragon, lighting the last moment of this floor master.

With a death agony, the large figure collapsed to the ground and dispersed.

After I confirmed the death of the dragon, other party members come to me.

“Miu, good shot.”

“Of course. Who you think I am?”

And I turned to my childhood friend.

“Kuon, your spells are of great help, too.” “Reiichi, it is okay to depend more on your older sister, you get it?”

“Well done, Mashiro.” “Eeh?! Th-th-thank you!” The introverted junior is still shy about compliments today.

“Apeiria.” I hugged the girl with silver hair. “You are the best.”

“Owner, plus, hug, equals, happiness.” The girl in my embrace replied with her monotonic voice, but with a tinge of delight.

“Hentai…” Complaints comes from the little sister with a cold-eyed gaze.

“…”

“Owner?”

“…”

It feels real, but it is unreal.

My eyes are open now. It’s not inside the magnificent crystal tower. Not but my monochromatic bedroom.

The window is wide open. A gust of December’s chilly wind breaks in, across my face and between my fingers.

“It’s … cold.” The wind must receive a summons for trespassing.

Today Apeiria will set off to Second, which has been already a hell. No one could return from that world of death. But there are no other options: she should have gone there a year ago, and this probation is as much as I could get.

The digital clock says it’s 7. I step into my slippers and out of my bedroom.

There is already one up.

“Good morning, owner.” The silver-haired girl notices me.

“Morning, Apeiria.” I try to make myself sound more energetic.

The dried-up response echoes in the empty house. There is nobody besides the two of us.

Miu isn’t here. She isn’t in this world any more.

She was disposed by her mother. Miu was created as a clone of that woman, who has been haunted by the shadows of her aborted child.

I walk to the kitchen, Apeiria is preparing the breakfast.

“A few minutes and it will be done, owner.”

The breakfast time in Kirishima’s is filled with silence. The clashing sounds of utensils reverbrate in the room.

After I’m done with the meal, I speak to Apeiria.

“It’s the last day, isn’t it?”

“Affirmative, owner.”

“Then let’s hang out.”

We first arrives at the AI circle in the school. Full name “Lovable AI Circle”, the circle has had two members – I, the founder, and Mashiro, who I forcibly dragged in. After I created Apeiria here, the five of us have had a lot memories here – making the VR MMORPG Second, and playing it together as a team. But Mashiro is not here.

She is dead from radiation in Boundary’s beta test, when the machine suddenly malfunctioned.

A double-slit box sits on the table. When I turn it on, it’s still showing interference pattern.

The DNA computer is turned off now. Apeiria is accidentally created from it when a lightning cut off its power about a year ago. And I managed to get her a body by hacking the genetic research facility.

There is nothing to do here. After the door is shutted with a huge noise, and silence dominates the school again.

Next stop is the boundary tower. Usually it was once full of people, especially when Boundary was in tests. After that accident, people are showing concerns about safety issues of the VR games, and the development of Boundary is put to a halt.

“Owner, will we be seeing Kuon?”

“Forget about it.”

Kuon’s father is the creator of the Boundary, so the family lives on the top floor of the boundary tower. One year ago, She had a quarrel with her mother, who fell unconscious soon afterwards and died days later. And Kuon never had a chance to apologize. Since then, I haven’t got in contact with her as much.

After having lunch in Asakusa, we decide to return.

Bang, and the door closed. It’s the familiar living room today.

The digit clock in the phone says it’s already 2pm. So the separation is only a few hours away.

In this year, we’ve been to everywhere we are able to go, done everything we are able to do. I promised to teach her what is love, but things are not going as expected.

Sometimes I doubt if I’ve made the right choice: is it fine to hold her back here, who is not supposed to be born and hated by the world, for a year? Is it right to spend so much time together, only to make the parting more heartbreaking?

And who is Thinker after all? Is he the observer who’s been peeking into this world? Why does the observer want to do with Apeiria?

I take out my phone from the pocket. In it there are the mails sent by my future self.

“There are two Thinkers.”

“The observer is human.”

And things like that. I pondered about these things again and again, but to no avail. This time I try again to find out what it means.

The observer … is human …

Wait.

The viruses, the time loop, the disappearing interference pattern.

The observer is human.

The appearing viruses in the house just confirm my thought.

It feels real, but it is unreal.

“Apeiria! Run!” I grab her hand and run for the door.

“Affirmative. What’s the heading, owner, by the way, why are viruses here?” She replies with a mite of bewilderment.

The answer to the first is clear. The way out is the way in.

Since we cannot rely on Apeiria network and the nanobots now, there is only one way into the Second.

“The boundary tower!”

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