TTAETSC Chapter 29.2 - Woke up from Sleep

Translator: Deyonna

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Tap.

There was a subtle sound of a light tap on the toe.

Yuan Ye finally opened his eyes, and at the same time, a glass candy jar that Ye Yunfan knew very well appeared in his line of sight.

"Perhaps this one will make you feel a bit better."

Ye Yunfan heard a voice.

He felt a faint sense of familiarity, but after going carefully through the people he knew, he couldn't match the voice to anyone.

He tried to recognize it again, but the sense of familiarity had vanished, replaced by something extremely unfamiliar.

Or perhaps the familiarity did not come from himself, but from Yuan Ye.

After all, this was Yuan Ye's memory.

Ye Yunfan followed Yuan Ye's gaze and looked up at the person's face. But probably because of a memory gap, the figure and features of the other person appeared blank.

The panic-stricken young man hesitated for a long time before finally reaching out and slowly grabbing the beautiful candy jar.

He carefully twisted it open, took out one candy, peeled off the beautiful wrapper, and placed the candy in his mouth.

The sweet candy quickly invaded his brain through his taste buds.

Panic, fear, anger, pain, helplessness… all the chaotic emotions from earlier seemed to be wiped away with one click.

Just as when Ye Yunfan had been hit by the poison's secondary effect, he too suddenly forgot what he had been about to do and all the emotions he had felt in that very short time.

Yuan Ye's trembling body finally calmed as he sucked on the candy in his mouth, and he suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of serenity.

"These are not your fault, Yuan Ye."

The person seemed to sigh.

"It's my fault."

"..."

Yuan Ye couldn't understand the words, and neither could Ye Yunfan.

From the youth's point of view, he mechanically and blankly unwrapped those beautiful candy wrappers, one after another, and stuffed them into his mouth.

Until both his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's.

Yuan Ye savored the sweet flavor of the melting candy and felt a little happy for the first time. Even Ye Yunfan seemed to be a little happier along with him.

Just then, a black long knife suddenly appeared in his line of sight.

It was the long knife Ye Yunfan knew very well, somewhat resembling a Tang sword in its design. The blade was straight, jet-black like ink, exquisite and reserved.

"Let's go, Yuan Ye."

The person said,

"Leave this place and go outside."

"...?"

Yuan Ye, with a mouth full of candy, looked up blankly. He saw the other person holding out the handle of the knife.

"You're so strong. You can do many, many meaningful things."

"..."

Yuan Ye looked down at the beautiful glass candy jar in his arms, then lifted his head to gaze at the jet-black knife handle in front of him.

After a few seconds, he hesitantly reached out his hand.

He took hold of the long knife.

Buzz…

Ye Yunfan suddenly felt a sharp pain in his brain and reflexively pulled back his tentacle, plunging the scene in front of him into darkness.

Only a floating prompt panel was visible, glowing with a milky white halo.

—So he could see this panel even with his eyes closed?

Ye Yunfan subconsciously reached this conclusion.

[Stamina Value -100]

[Reminder: Due to the overload of skill use, you have entered a state of mental weakness, lasting for four hours.]

[Mental Weakness Countdown: 3:59:59]

[Stamina: 103.5/355]

The prompt panels appeared one after another, and Ye Yunfan barely managed to read them. He felt as if he had been awake for three days without rest, and suddenly became dispirited.

The little octopus shrank a little and lay listlessly in the hollow of Yuan Ye's collarbone, resting his heavy head.

His drowsy, heavy brain made it hard to think, and all he wanted was to sleep.

Crackle, crackle…

The glass candy jar rolled back and forth on the floor, and the sound it made finally brought Yuan Ye, lost in memories, back to reality.

In that split second, it seemed he had remembered something from a long, long time ago.

Those things, Yuan Ye seemed to have forgotten, as if someone had deliberately hidden them in a cabinet in his memory palace.

It was not until the small glass jar fell to the ground that he suddenly discovered them.

Yuan Ye bent down to pick up the candy jar from the floor and looked at it intently for a moment. Then he suddenly remembered some later events.

For instance, not long after he left, holding that knife, he took on a new identity.

—A decontamination officer.

After a long period of time, the decontamination officers began to call him chief.

The Main City even specially found a very capable psychologist for him. Her name was Everiel, and she was also a female gifted individual with a rare ability type.

[Yuan Ye, this kind of candy contains a special sedative. It can effectively help stabilize your emotions, but it has a certain impact on memory. So you can't eat too much, one small jar a month, understood?]

The woman's gentle voice made people think of pure, fragrant gardenia flowers.

[But perhaps, if your condition improves in the future, you can gradually reduce the dosage. When you are completely better, you shouldn't need the medication anymore.]

Yuan Ye didn't pay attention to the second half of Everiel's words, and he completely disregarded the side effects she had mentioned.

Compared with the terrifying consequences of losing control of his ability, and the horror and pain that came with it, forgetting some things seemed an extremely insignificant side effect.

Moreover, he had nothing he absolutely needed to remember.

…And there was no one he must not forget.

At this moment, the cold, damp, soft sensation at his collarbone pulled Yuan Ye's thoughts away from the memories.

The subtle tingling made his heartbeat speed up a little, but he still kept a calm exterior.

Yuan Ye used his left hand, still wearing a glove, to pick up the little jellyfish from his collarbone. He noticed the movements of the "little jellyfish" had slowed, seeming a bit lethargic.

Yuan Ye frowned, recalling how the little guy had pushed the small jar down just now.

"...You don't like this?"

At first, he thought the little jellyfish liked candy, but now Yuan Ye clearly noticed its resistance and hostility toward them.

Seeing that Yuan Ye had finally understood him, the wilting little octopus suddenly perked up. He nodded in response to Yuan Ye's question.

Earlier, Ye Yunfan had felt that since he couldn't tell Yuan Ye directly that the candy was poisonous, he would stop the other party from eating it.

This tactful approach might have worked.

"..."

Yuan Ye was slightly stunned, suddenly understanding the peculiarity of the "little jellyfish."

The little guy's intense reaction might have been caused by sensing the medication inside. Those ingredients made the "little jellyfish" feel uncomfortable, perhaps even in danger.

In this way, all the little jellyfish's abnormalities just now could be explained.

So it wasn't that it liked the candy and wanted to snatch it earlier. It believed the candy was inedible, so it acted out of character and forcibly took it out of his mouth.

And when it followed him all the way here, perhaps it had wanted to tell him this.

"..."

Yuan Ye was stunned. In that moment, he realized one thing with great clarity: the little jellyfish had been worrying about him all along.

But because it couldn't speak, it could only do these unusual things with all its might.

"...I'm sorry, I forgot earlier."

Yuan Ye furrowed his brow, revealing a subtle hint of regret that was hard to notice.

"I shouldn't have given it to you to eat. It's candy, but... it's also my medicine."

Every month, a jar of candy had become a habit for Yuan Ye. He also enjoyed the sweet taste, and so he subconsciously never thought of it as medication. Moreover, he had forgotten many things from the past, including where these candies came from, Everiel's reminder, and their side effects.

So when he noticed the "little jellyfish" showing interest in the candies, he didn't think much of it and gave it one.

The stunned Ye Yunfan: "...?"

Medicine?

But wasn't it poisonous?

Ye Yunfan was somewhat shocked and a little confused.

Could Yuan Ye know?!

That's right. Every medicine has potential drawbacks, and some do have side effects.

But Yuan Ye looked very healthy, and he had a terrifying recovery ability. Even severe injuries had almost completely healed in just three or four days.

What strange disease could require such potent medication, with such significant side effects, for long-term control?

The moment this question arose, he thought of the scene from the first time he had seen the candy jar in Yuan Ye's memories.

It seemed that after Yuan Ye ate those candies, he became calm. That indeed looked like the effect of taking medicine.

A medicine that can erase memories, or even emotions…

Ye Yunfan gazed at Yuan Ye in a daze, suddenly unable to connect the emotionally stable, gentle-spoken person in front of him with the suffering, hard-to-control youth he had seen just a moment ago.

But Ye Yunfan suddenly understood Yuan Ye's contradictions. He understood why the man wouldn't communicate with others, why he had no friends, and why he always insisted on wearing two pairs of gloves.

However, Ye Yunfan gradually formed new guesses about these candies. Yet he had too little information to tell whether they were truly just medications with side effects, or whether someone had been poisoning Yuan Ye under the guise of side effects for a long time.

Ye Yunfan felt more and more that there were numerous mysteries surrounding the other party.

However, since the other party knew there was a problem with the candies, Ye Yunfan was no longer as anxious as before. Perhaps when he returned to the Main City and gathered more information later, he would be able to make a more accurate judgment.

The little octopus nestled in Yuan Ye's palm, feeling both tired and hungry. He could not sustain high-speed thinking and just wanted to fall asleep at once.

He had thought that transforming into an adult human and consuming 40 stamina was already quite a lot, but this time, accidentally seeing Yuan Ye's memories had consumed a whopping 100 stamina.

Moreover, he had also directly entered a state of mental weakness.

Alas, the life of an octopus is quite tough.

The little octopus sighed.

He curled up and stopped moving. The intense exhaustion and drowsiness made him fall asleep at once.

Yuan Ye seemed a little stunned, not expecting it to fall asleep so quickly. But upon second thought, the "little jellyfish" had been busy with them for almost a day and night without rest, and had just caused a commotion. It must be very tired.

Yuan Ye lowered his head and quietly gazed at the pink little ball nestled in his palm. It seemed to be sleeping deeply, its soft little body rising and falling with each shallow breath, making the heart of anyone who watched go soft.

It really did make the heart go soft, as if something warm were melting.

This wonderful feeling, Yuan Ye had only ever experienced with this strange "little jellyfish."

And it seemed to be the only living thing he could safely touch.

Without painful, terrible emotions, and without the danger of losing control, it was as if what Everiel had said was really becoming reality.

—His condition had improved.

Like a previously corroded and ulcerated wound, suddenly covered with a pink band-aid, it finally began to heal slowly, growing new flesh and filling the old void.

Yuan Ye did not notice that this time, when his eyes reflected that little pink ball, a happiness he had never felt before bloomed inside him.

The youth set aside the candy jar in his right hand and used both hands to cradle the deeply sleeping "little jellyfish."

He glanced at the colorful, exquisite candies in the jar, then lowered his head to gaze at the little pink ball in his palm.

Perhaps now he could try to reduce the dose of the medicine.

Yuan Ye suddenly had this thought.

Because he felt he had finally found something he needed to remember.

And also found… someone he must remember.

[Mental Weakness Countdown: 0:00:01]

[Reminder: The state of mental weakness has ended.]

The moment the prompt panel appeared, the little octopus woke up from his slumber.

He used his little tentacles to rub his sleepy eyes and looked around in confusion. His first instinct was to search for Yuan Ye's figure.

But the next second, the unfamiliar scene instantly woke him fully, because he found himself nestled in a snow-white giant seashell!

A snow-white… giant seashell?

What is this, a mermaid fairy tale come to life???

Or had he woken up in some other world, turned into a different creature???

This speculation made Ye Yunfan rather horrified. He quickly looked at his little tentacles, and after confirming the familiar heart-shaped suction cups on them, he breathed a sigh of relief.

That's good. That's good. He was still a pink baby octopus.

After confirming this, Ye Yunfan felt slightly relieved and began to take in the surroundings.

Above his head was a wooden ceiling with a wood-grain pattern. On the right was a wooden wall, with a row of neatly arranged metal pieces, the seven small knives Yuan Ye had made for him, and even a shoulder bag.

On the left, a small window had double-layered curtains: a snow-white lace curtain on the inside and a light pink blackout curtain on the outside.

Next to the window was a small lunch box he knew very well. It was no longer made of iron but silver, looking especially exquisite and beautiful, and filled with plenty of meatballs.

This should be considered… the dining area?

In front was the door, and next to the doorway was a shoe rack, neatly arranged with eight pairs of black leather shoes that Yuan Ye had made.

Ye Yunfan: "...???"

If everything hadn't been so familiar, he might even have thought this was a log cabin-style small house.

Wait…

House???

A wild guess suddenly flashed through Ye Yunfan's mind.

Could it be that, in the four hours he had slept, Yuan Ye had built a house for him?

"...!!!"

The little octopus sat up in astonishment.

He looked around, at a loss and astonished, and unexpectedly felt a sudden sense of—

Waking from sleep to the happy illusion of receiving real estate.

☰