The world controlled by dice [Western Fantasy]

"Good evening, Nona."

"Good evening, Mr. Ghost."

Nona stood there, looking at Mr. Ghost with a pair of eyes, and said, "Nona didn't miss the appointment today, that's great. Nona is not a bad boy."

Mr. Ghost chuckled under his breath at the words.

"So, Nona, is there anything you can tell Mr. Ghost today?"

Nona tilted her head, and then said: "Yes. Mr. Ghost, you told me before that there were other children who were sick like me. So, after I woke up, I went to look around. "

Mr. Ghost was startled, and then waited for Nona's next words.

Nona looked at the lawn not far away.After a while, the figures of some children flashed above.This is Nona's dream, so Nona can change the situation here.Of course, Nona rarely did this because she didn't seem to know how to do it.

Nona said: "I saw several children. They were not very willing to talk to me, and some even..." She wrinkled her nose, "It seemed to be scolding me, as if I had done something wrong."

"Are you all locked up?"

"I don't know if it counts or not," Nona said. "Those doctors will feed us and treat us... let us sleep well, go to the bathroom well, and take medicine well. It's still the bitter medicine. , I have eaten it before. Grandpa was still there at that time.”

……medicine?A flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in Mr. Ghost's heart.

He remembered that Mrs. Lampson once took Mike to the Darwin Hospital in the west city to see a free clinic, and then the doctor in the hospital dispensed a pair of medicines for him.Mrs. Lampson said the drug had bankrupted her.

...will it be the same medicine?

In addition, Nona said, she had taken the drug before.So, she was hallucinating in the dark room thinking she was taking the pill too?Is it a fantasy like a dream?Or, had she already been unable to recognize the difference between reality and illusion?

While Mr. Ghost was thinking, Nona continued talking.

She said: "Those children don't look very healthy, at least not as healthy as me. However, they seem to have left their parents and came here. I don't know how they came here.

"... There was a kid who treated me a little better. He secretly told me that other people didn't like me because I was always being looked after and watched by doctors, and they didn't treat me that well.

"I think... In this case, their attitude is normal. However, I don't understand why the doctor takes care of me like that. I think it may be because I went there earlier than them."

Mr. Ghost thought for a while, then said, "Nona, do you know that those who take care of you are doctors?"

Nona froze for a moment, then whispered, "But, Mr. Phantom, how could they not be doctors?"

"Why do you think they are doctors?"

"Because...because..." Nona bit her lips, "because, when grandpa took me to the hospital, those doctors were people in white clothes. Now, those people are also wearing white clothes, so they must be doctors ?”

Mr. Ghost suddenly realized.White clothes?This is indeed the hallmark of a doctor, at least at Darwin Hospital.

He said, "Nona is indeed a smart child."

Nona immediately nodded excitedly, and she said, "Nona is a smart kid!"

"So, Nona, did those doctors say when you can leave?"

"...leave?" Nona said hesitantly.

"Yeah. You're in treatment right now, but one day, you're going to come home from the hospital. You've heard that, haven't you? When Grandpa took you to the doctor, the doctor gave you medicine, and then Let you go home. Because you will get better."

Nona thought for a while, then nodded vigorously: "Yes, I should go home. I want to go back to my grandfather. However, those doctors don't seem to have said that I can go home."

"Then they said, your illness has not recovered?"

Nona hesitated for a moment, then whispered: "Mr. Phantom, I only tell you one person. You can't tell others. This is our little secret in the dream."

Mr. Ghost couldn't help but paused, and then said, "Of course. Nona, I will keep this secret for you."

Nona breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "Mr. Ghost, I don't think they want to cure me. I can still hear the voices of those people, but the doctor said it was normal and asked me to treat them. What was said told them.

"But... but... isn't that what happens when I'm sick?"

Nona looked very hesitant and worried, but soon, her mood improved again, like a little girl who was always angry at one moment and happy at another.

She said: "However, I think maybe because my disease is unique, they want to study it. I know what research is! I would love to help other people with this disease!

"Those people are talking in my head, it's so strange... Others must find it strange too."

Nona trembled slightly, and then tried to calm herself down.

"So ... if I stay in there and let them study my situation, then other people can get better because of this research?"

Her eyes looked at Mr. Ghost, very innocent and simple, and she said, "Is that so, Mr. Ghost?"

Mr. Ghost is stuck in a dilemma to answer.He didn't even know what to say.

Finally, he put his hands on Nona's hair lightly, rubbing the little girl's braids.He said, "Nona, you're a good boy. A good boy thinks like that."

Nona was still looking at him.

Mr. Ghost sighed: "But... Nona. Others may not be as kind as you."

Nona burst into tears.

Mr. Ghost crouched there, gently hugging the weeping little girl.

"I know . . . I know. Mr. Ghost, but I'm scared. I'd rather they're doing some research than I'd rather they're trying to study this disease and make other people better."

Nona was sobbing and crying.

After a while, she said again: "Can I go back to Grandpa, Mr. Ghost?"

"You can." Mr. Ghost whispered, "Nona, you have to remember one thing."

Nona slowly put away her tears, and looked at Mr. Ghost curiously: "What, what should I remember?"

"You are Nona," said Mr. Ghost. "Don't forget your name. You are Nona."

"Nona... Nona." Nona whispered, "But, Mr. Ghost, Nona is Nona. Why did Nona forget her name?"

Mr. Ghost touched her head and said, "As long as you can remember your name, then sooner or later, you will be able to return to Grandpa."

As long as Nona doesn't forget herself.Mr. Ghost looked deeply at the little girl.

Nona still didn't seem to understand, but she nodded vigorously and said, "Nona will remember. I am Nona, and I am Grandpa's Nona." After thinking about it, she cleverly drew inferences, " It was this Nona that Mister Ghost knew! Not any other Nona!"

Mr. Ghost smiled. "Yes. Nona. Remember yourself."

Then they talked about the voice in Nona's head.

"So, Nona, what did you hear?" Mr. Ghost asked patiently.

Nona thought for a while in a daze, and then said, "They... want to escape."

"From where?"

"From..." Nona shook her head, "escaped from my head. Oh, I shook my head a little, and they all felt dizzy, it was so fun!"

Mr. Ghost was also amused by Nona's words.

"Besides that?" Mr. Phantom asked again, "Is there anything else besides this?"

Nona tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "They're arguing with each other."

"What's the noise?"

"Arguing..." Nona said slowly, "Who should go out first and who should go out last. However, they seem to be afraid of someone who has never spoken before."

"Never spoke?"

"There are several voices in my head, but there is one person, who never speaks. But I know this person exists. They all know it. I know it too."

"Why isn't this man talking?"

Nona thought for a while, then said, "This person is asleep." She said softly, "Don't wake him up."

"...What will happen if you wake up?"

Nona's eyes widened, and she said, "That's right, you can't wake it up." She stammered, "Someone is sleeping, how can you wake it up?"

The little girl looked like she really just thought so.

Mr. Phantom couldn't help frowning, and he asked again: "So, when did you know the existence of this person?"

Nona tilted her head, thought for a long time, and then said, "It was after I went out of that dark room. Oh, it was wrong, it was after I woke up."

Mr. Phantom couldn't help but startled.

In this way, this person should have appeared in Nona's mind a long time ago... after Nona got the copper cast flower?

His heart sank suddenly.He thought, what does Nona's coma and that dark room mean?

There was no answer to this question from Nona's mouth.So, after being stunned for a moment, Mr. Phantom said, "Nona, there is one more question. Do you remember the flower that grandpa gave you?"

"Of course I remember!" Nona said, "Grandpa only disappeared after giving me that flower."

"So, Grandpa told you to take that flower to... a doctor, didn't you?" said Mr. Ghost. "How do you know where the doctor is?"

"I...just know." Nona didn't seem to understand what Mr. Ghost meant, "Because...because I know that doctor very well. He is...he is the doctor in the hospital."

"Is it the doctor who treated you before?"

"Yes!" Nona nodded vigorously.

"Then you give the flower to the doctor, and he won't let you go. You feel so much pain that you pass out. Then you find yourself in a dark room, and you hear some people talking, but Cannot talk to them.

"You heard them say that you were going to escape the next day, so you planned to follow them secretly. But when you really walked out of this dark room, you found that this dark room did not exist, you just Waking up...that's it, right?"

Nona thought for a while and said, "Yes."

"You told me before that you would take medicine in that dark room. In fact, you didn't take medicine in the dark room. It was just your imagination, right?" Mr. Ghost said gently.

"Ah! I don't know...it should be like this." Nona said, "I don't seem to be able to tell the difference between these two situations."

Mr. Ghost nodded: "Don't be afraid, Nona. You are indeed sick, that's why you are like this. However, those people are not trying to treat you. They want to do something not very good, which may endanger the whole world. Ramifa City..."

He said that, but Nona couldn't quite understand it.

So Mr. Ghost put it another way: "That might hurt Grandpa."

"Ah!" Nona exclaimed, and said a little uneasy, "Then...then how can we stop them?"

"I'm stopping them," said Mr. Ghost. "Will you help me, Nona?"

"Of course! Mr. Ghost, please tell me, what can I do?" Nona said, "I don't want to be here anymore. It hurts...It hurts..."

Their conversation today went on for a while.thought Mr. Ghost.But he did get a lot of information from Nona, even though it was scattered.

He said, "There's only one thing you need to do, Nona."

Nona's eyes widened, and she stared at Mr. Ghost seriously.

"Remember the conversations between the 'doctors'," said Mr. Ghost, "especially the words that were said to your face, but not to you. You don't have to remember them very clearly, just remember some key words just fine.

"Keep these words in your heart silently, don't show it. When I come to your dream next time, tell me what you wrote down, Nona."

Letting Nona do other things is likely to expose the purpose and cause danger to Nona.The only thing Nona can do is to quietly and secretly listen to the conversations of those doctors, and then remember the information that was inadvertently leaked.

Even if Nona inadvertently revealed that she heard the conversation of the doctors, those adults would not care about a child—especially, they would not know, and they would not believe, that there really was a "Mr. Ghost" in Nona Talk to her in the dream.

Nona nodded and said, "Nona understands! Mr. Ghost, wait for my good news!"

Mr. Ghost smiled slightly and said, "See you in 21 days, Nona."

"See you in 21 days, Mr. Ghost," Nona said.

Nona's dream suddenly shattered.He returned to the island.

Standing on the soft red mud, he silently reviewed the conversation with Nona, and extracted some useful information from it.

Nona is being held somewhere connected to Darwin Hospital.Darwin Hospital - or rather, behind the scenes, is conducting some kind of human experiment on a group of children.

The beginning of this experiment seems to have begun three years ago, but it may have begun earlier, but no one knows.

After all, according to Qindo's investigation, the Darwin Hospital in Xicheng has been rumored and famous for "swallowing children's lives" a long time ago.That was most likely what the victim's parents had in mind.

However, at present, no one has thought that this is the intention of Darwin Hospital.

From Nona's words, he realized that after Nona was locked up, she didn't seem to have seen the doctor who treated her again.In other words, there should be two groups of doctors involved in this matter, internal and external.

Externally, a group of doctors went with the flow to find the target.

Internally, another group of doctors is conducting this long-term experiment.

...So, the doctor that Nona met was a key person.He had to find a way to test it out, but he couldn't startle the snake.

In addition, the "sleep man" Nona had spoken of gave him an idea.

Could it be... like, another "personality" that Nona developed after being mentally polluted?

When Nona was in that dark room, it was this "personality" that came online and took over Nona's body.In some novels on Earth, this situation is very common.

He did have this guess, but where did this "personality" come from?That copper cast flower?That sounded dangerous, and even Nona knew instinctively not to wake that person up.

...Besides, those children who were also locked up, were their attitudes towards Nona really just to compete for the doctor's attention?Could it be that other "personality" did something to scare these children?

Thinking about it, he felt that his imagination was a little too out of line.He cannot base other puzzles on an entirely fictional, undemonstrable hypothesis.

He decisively put these thoughts aside for the time being.

Finally, he thought, sure enough, the center of it all seemed to be Darwin Hospital.They are trying their best to find a conspiracy that has been hidden for a long time.

He thought for a moment, and then looked at the eternally silent deep sea dream.

Emil Harrison still doesn't dream today.He has always wanted to talk to this boy about the Rubik's Cube, but now it seems that he can only wait until the next deep sea dream.

... He was actually a little worried, whether his further grasp of Akamala's power would be related to the Rubik's Cube that appeared in reality?He really wondered if Emile would do something.

He shook his head, letting himself put aside his worries for the time being, and then focused on the matter of "searching for dreams".

Now that he can search for dreams, he naturally wants to try this function, and even study this function.But when he was thinking about whose dream he was going to search, he couldn't help but hesitate a little.

Whose dreams are you searching for?

He considered Gyndo, or someone else he knew.However, dreams are often a person's most private place.The more acquaintances he got, the more embarrassed he was to check their dreams.

He thought for a moment, but he thought of a suitable candidate: Jonathan Bryant.Maybe he could discover some secrets from the Chancellor's dream.

He immediately recited the name silently in his heart, but the vast sea of ​​dreams did not give any response.

...It seems that the other party is not dreaming?

He inevitably frowned, feeling a pang of regret.If you miss this opportunity, the next time will be 21 days later.Who knows if Jonathan was dreaming at that time?

He thought for a while, and when he was about to study how to leave the deep sea dream, a wonderful idea appeared in his mind.

What if he searched for Siles Noel's dream?

It sounds like a nesting doll, but he has always been confused about his image in the deep sea dream, and his appearance changed back to He Jiayin in the dark room, which further deepened the confusion.

For him, the two identities of He Jiayin and Siles Noel always have a subtle but real sense of separation.Even if he has slowly integrated into Fisher's world; even if he has gradually recognized the identity of Siles Noel.

With that in mind, he made up his mind.At least for him, this is a worthwhile attempt.

"Looking for Siles Noel's dream." He murmured in his heart.

Then, a strange fluctuation came towards him from front to back, and from back to front.He felt in a trance for a while, and then suddenly, his perspective seemed to be elevated... No, it was similar to the feeling he had when he made a judgment on "Sileus Noel".

He seemed to suddenly open his eyes again, and then saw a huge bubble—the dream bubble.The dream bubble is so huge and terrifying, it contains stars, dolls, sea surfaces, isolated islands, red mud, and ruins under the sea.

He saw himself; he saw a man standing alone on the red mud of the isolated island.He saw him, saw his shocked expression, and thought that he must have such an expression at this moment.

There was darkness all around, but the bubble existed tenaciously and fragile.He saw at the bottom of the great bubble, further down in the ruins of the sea, a strange, multicolored mist spreading over a wider land.

...a lonely, empty farm; a chimney.The smoke from the chimney drifted, rose slowly, turned into colorful mist, and then, as if artificially blown up, expanded into a huge deep-sea dream.

Siles woke up with a start.

[Knowledge +1. 】

The dice gave hints, but Siles had no time to care about the growth of knowledge now.

He just wondered in astonishment, what is that?farm?Why is there a farm under the deep sea dream?

A more definite idea appeared in his brain: that might be Akamala's real "paradise".

In fact, Siles has always been very confused about two characteristics of the deep sea dream.

First, he read the manuscript of the painter Leon, and then he can enter the deep sea dream.

Even if Akamala is a gentler and benevolent god, his "Kingdom of God" shouldn't be so easy to enter, right?

Thaddeus's paradise - the Mojache Hills, even selectively select believers to enter.It is impossible for everyone to receive all these paradises of God.

Second, there are traces of Luthmi in the deep sea dream, and there are even those stars hanging in the sky directly.

This seems a bit unbelievable.Is there really such a big difference in power between gods and gods?So big that Ruthmi can leave her own power in the "paradise" of other gods?

It would be more understandable if the dream of the deep sea was just a branch of Akamala's real paradise.

The dream of the deep sea contains the dreams of all human beings.This is the power of Akamala manifested.And if Ruthmi peeped at Akamala's power, then she would definitely start from the deep sea dream.He is probably interested in Akamala's "power", not "Paradise".

Another piece of evidence for this idea of ​​Siles is that if one compares the paradises of other gods—the Tomb of Tau in Lycadia, the Hills of Mojache in Thaddeus, the Temple of Belan in Huddoka— Then, these "paradise" are more like some kind of independently existing scenes.

But the deep sea dream is too vast.Dream bubbles for all humans?

Qindo once said that these "Paradise" were the former residences of the gods.Since it was the place where the god once lived, would he put those numerous dream bubbles next to his "home"?

... Maybe it's not impossible, since those are the Old Gods, after all.

However, if one really compares the deep-sea dream with other known "paradises", then a more appropriate reference should be the "shadow" of the Temple of Belan, such as the one that Alfonso and the others inadvertently broke into. Tribal relics.

Isn't that more in line with the characteristics of the deep sea dream?

In short, the strange farm that suddenly appeared gave Siles a feeling of seeing the truth.

After being stunned for a moment, Siles slowly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his brain gradually calm down.

When he really calmed down, he realized that all the thinking just now had ignored a premise—he was looking for his own dream in the deep sea dream, and what he saw was the deep sea dream.

...This shows that the deep sea dream is his dream.

Siles couldn't help but startled.

He suddenly understood.If the deep sea dream is really Akamala's "paradise", then when he was looking for his own dream, he is unlikely to see that scene, that is, the scene where the deep sea dream is connected to a certain mysterious farm through the smoke .

In other words, his dream is also included in a certain "scene".It's just that his dream bubble is a bit bigger, and because he has obtained part of the power that belongs to Akamala, his dream bubble also includes the dream bubbles of other humans.

... Is it possible for him to go to that strange farm from the dreamland of the deep sea?

Perhaps, because he is still in the deep sea dream, this place has to be opened every 21 days?

What if getting to that farm required a lot of faith?Siles thought about it.

But he figured that since the followers of the old gods who had gone astray could gain access to the temple of Belan at Huddoka, he should be able to find some way of access to the farm as well.The old gods are gone after all.

The appearance of this farm also made Siles realize that his conception of the "paradise" of the gods was still too narrow.The power of the gods seems to be far more grand and mysterious than he imagined.

Having said that, the farm... That kind of fits the impression that Akamala's incarnation of the little girl doll left on him.He couldn't help but think so.

Amidst such wild thoughts, time passed by little by little.The cold winter weather made Siles sleep for a while in the warm quilt unknowingly.However, Akamala's power still made him wake up at the time he set.

At that moment, a very vague and joking thought flashed through him: It is not impossible to believe in Akamala like this...

When he did wake up, he couldn't help laughing at the joke—he wondered if he had been tainted by Akamala's power.

But on the other hand, he felt that he was fascinated by Akamala's power purely based on the power of an earthling.This is easy to understand.

But Siles still cautiously passed a will judgment for himself, and got the dice's evaluation of "It's alright, alright, stop messing with your brain".

Siles: "..."

……never mind.

He gets up, washes, organizes his notes (which he has to do every day, because his life is full of so many troubles and problems, memory alone is not enough), reads, etc., and then goes to lunch with Gindo .

"Tomorrow's date, where are you going?" Qin Duo asked.

Siles said, "I don't know much about what's so interesting about Ramifa City," and he said it very honestly, "Perhaps you know a little better than I do."

Qin Duo laughed, and he said a little jokingly: "Your words are as expected-how about the southern suburbs? I heard that the food town in the southern suburbs has reopened. Maybe it can let you get rid of your psychological shadow."

Siles was taken aback, and finally nodded.He felt it was a good idea.Moreover, the winter weather also makes him want to eat some high-calorie, high-fat foods.

So it was decided.

During the dinner, Siles thought of another question, so he asked Qindo: "By the way, Qindo, in the files of the Praia family, did it mention whether the believers found the Tau cemetery?"

Qin Duo shook his head and said regretfully: "No. In my opinion, those wandering poets failed in the end. So far there is no definite news about Tau's cemetery."

Siles was stunned, and could only sigh regretfully.

After eating and saying goodbye to Cendo, Siles went to Bain Bookstore to attend the gathering of novelists.

"Good afternoon, Professor Noel." Ms. Antonia Cumming greeted Siles, "Last Sunday was really snowy. I'm afraid none of us went out."

"Indeed." Sirius nodded.

He looked around and found that besides the familiar three novelists Antonia, Maynard, and Arvid, there was also a serious middle-aged gentleman sitting here.Siles felt that his face was familiar, and after thinking for a while, he remembered it.

Mond Goldsmith, a historical novelist.Siles once traveled with him on the carriage to the October Fair.

However, they did not speak at the time and have not seen each other since.

Except for the last time they went to the October Fair together, this was the second time Siles saw him appear in Bain's bookstore.

Antonia introduced very gently: "I am afraid this is the first time you have met. This is Celeste Noel..."

"I know." Mond nodded briefly, his attitude couldn't be described as affectionate, maintaining a serious and rigid politeness, "Hello, I'm Mond Goldsmith."

"Hello." Siles said, "I have read your works, and your words are very sincere and simple."

This was not said casually, Siles had indeed seen Mond's works.It should be said that the original Siles Noel.

For people in this world, historical novels are like another interpretation of history.Most of the writers of historical novels have a very strong background in history, which also makes some students of related majors read these works from time to time.

I have read many books myself, and Monde Goldsmith is one of the very well-known ones.

Hearing Siles' praise, Mond's expression relaxed a bit, and he said more sincerely: "Thank you."

Maynard said from the side: "Come on, you two, there is no need to flatter you so much. The novelists who can come here are already very good, but don't underestimate yourself, we are all about the same level."

Maynard, Siles thought, had the ability to make sense out of reason.

Arvid said a few words about Circus almost immediately, and then asked a little curiously: "Mr. Goldsmith, why are you here today?"

"When I was discussing the new book with the publisher, I learned that some readers would write to Bain Bookstore to express their thoughts on the book and so on." Mond explained, "So, I came here to see if there are any Write to my readers."

They looked at each other.

Maynard was the first to say, "Anything else?"

Arvid also said: "I haven't heard of it...why did it get sent to the bookstore?"

Antonia explained: "There is indeed such a habit. First of all, our gatherings are not unknown. Some loyal old readers will know that such a meeting place exists, so they will write.

"Secondly, this is a bookstore after all. Many readers buy books here and want to give some suggestions or criticisms, but they don't know the address of the publisher or the author, so they will send letters to the bookstore.

"Of course, I've never read the letters. The bookstore owner handles them."

Antonia shrugged.

"I just heard about such a situation, so I just came here when I was free. I think I have an obligation to read letters from readers." Mond said seriously, "Of course, it's normal to return empty-handed." .”

Maynard seemed suddenly interested: "So, where are those letters?"

Antonia thought for a while and said, "It should all be in that cabinet." She pointed to a low cabinet in the corner on the third floor.

Maynard opened the low cabinet with great interest, and took out a stack of letters from it.He roughly glanced at the date on the envelope, and then said: "This seems to be a letter sent after the winter vacation, and it hasn't been opened yet."

He and Arvid sorted out these letters.Then Maynard said, "There's no letter here for us... oh wait, there's a letter for Professor Noel."

Siles, who was originally sitting silently by the side, was stunned, and he couldn't help raising his eyes, and said with some surprise: "Written for me?"

Maynard nodded, and then handed the letter to Siles, he said with a bit of coaxing, "Please open it and have a look!"

The rest of the people also looked at Siles.

Siles hesitated, then opened the letter.He was very relaxed, thinking that this was an ordinary reader, because he bought his "The Revenge of the Rose" at Bain Bookstore, so he wrote a book review after reading it.

Maybe a young girl, he thought.After all, "The Revenge of the Rose" is a romance novel.

However, when he actually read the letter, his eyes gradually showed extreme astonishment.

"Mr. Siles Noel, Zhan Xinjia.

"Forgive my liberty. After reading your work, I have had to write such a letter with mixed feelings. I don't think it will ever reach you, but I have to get through This is a way to show your gratitude.

"...Mr. Ludwig. The hero in your work. His past is somewhat similar to mine. It's just that there was no Miss Gwen in my life to save my gloomy life.

"I was born in a foreign country, and I went to the Land of No Embers when I was young. I met a beautiful girl, and I secretly admired her. She bloomed in my heart like a rose; but at that time, I was also young Furious, provoked some bad guys.

"...They killed her. To me, it was like a bolt from the blue. In order to get revenge on me, they wanted to kill my sweetheart... What a cruel thing!

"I feel that I am very sorry for her. But I can't even avenge her. I killed those who killed her, but I can't do anything to the people behind them. I despise myself for being so cowardly and incompetent.

"For many years, I have been indulging in this terrible nightmare. I often wake up in the middle of the night, as if I can still see the young girl in the opposite window. But, but, her life is always frozen at such a young age when.

"I have immersed myself in words over the past few years, intending to heal my wounds in this way. When I see your work, I feel