"Sorry to bother you. Excuse me—are you Mr. Huo Linfei of the Astral Express?"
The gentle question from the gray-haired young man reached Huo Linfei's ears—yet what hit him first was a wave of intense wrongness, followed by dizziness.
Astral Express… yes. Huo Linfei… also yes.
But why "Mr."? Such a formal address, coming from a stranger who looked about his age, felt bizarrely out of place.
And that face…
Huo Linfei blinked hard, trying to chase the haze out of his mind, and studied the young man in front of him.
Gray hair. Clean features. Clear eyes. There was an inexplicable sense of familiarity to him—yet Huo Linfei was certain that in his memories, there had never been a companion like this.
"I'm Huo Linfei…" he answered hesitantly, brow tightening. "And you are…?"
Instinctively, he glanced back into the room. The attendant who had been there earlier was gone—quietly, completely—as if they'd never existed.
The gray-haired young man saw Huo Linfei's blank caution and looked confused himself. He tilted his head slightly, as though something clicked, and his tone turned helpless.
"Huo Linfei, are you okay? Don't tell me you got so deep into testing Herta's Simulated Universe back on the space station that you cooked your brain. It's me—Caelus."
Caelus?
The name fell into Huo Linfei's mind like a stone into still water, stirring the faintest ripple—only for deeper confusion to flood in right after.
He had no memory of anyone named Caelus. Yet the other's attitude was so natural, so intimate, like they'd been close for a long time.
"Caelus…?" Huo Linfei repeated without thinking, digging through an empty mind for any scrap of association.
Nothing.
Worse—some nerve deep inside him, the one seared by that "Black Sea Abyss" in the simulated universe, started throbbing again.
"We… know each other?"
Caelus studied Huo Linfei's unfeigned disorientation, worry thickening on his face. He even stepped forward and—like it was the most normal thing in the world—pressed the back of his hand to Huo Linfei's forehead, the gesture practiced and familiar, like checking on a friend who was always getting himself into trouble.
"No fever… so why don't you even recognize me?" Caelus withdrew his hand, sighed, and launched into a detailed "introduction."
"Listen, Huo Linfei. I'm Caelus, a Nameless on the Astral Express. You joined us at Herta Space Station—remember? Things were messy back then. The station got attacked by the Antimatter Legion… and then we got on the Express together."
Huo Linfei's pupils tightened.
Space station… Antimatter Legion… Stellaron… those all checked out.
But—
"After that, our first stop was Belobog," Caelus continued, voice firm. "We solved the Stellaron crisis there, sealed it, helped Bronya stabilize the situation. Then we came to Penacony for the Charmony Festival. Right?"
Belobog… crisis resolved… and then straight to Penacony?
"Wait!" Huo Linfei cut him off sharply, a chill crawling up his spine. "No—after that, didn't we go to the Xianzhou Luofu? There we—"
"Luofu?" Caelus's expression turned extremely strange, like he'd just heard something impossible. "Huo Linfei, what are you even talking about? When did we ever go to the Xianzhou? After leaving Belobog, the Express jumped straight to Penacony. The Xianzhou Alliance has been turbulent lately, sure—but we didn't go anywhere near that star region. Did you mix up the Simulated Universe's plot with reality?"
We… never went to the Xianzhou?
Huo Linfei froze.
The High-Cloud Quintet… the war against Shuhu… Jingliu, Jing Yuan, Baiheng… memories of fighting side by side; heavy emotions; laughter and farewells—
Were they all… fake?
Just Simulated Universe data?
Or… something else?
The cognitive shock blanked his mind. A harsh ringing filled his ears. He instinctively tried to grab the Luofu memories—only to realize they were turning blurry, slipping away like a receding tide through his fingers.
The harder he tried to recall, the more the images of March 7th, Dan Heng, and Welt on the Luofu dimmed and twisted—replaced by a forceful, intrusive "common sense":
His journey had been Herta Space Station → Belobog → Penacony.
His companions were… Himeko, Welt, Dan Heng… and the Caelus in front of him.
No. No—something was wrong. Something was absolutely wrong.
Why… in these "extra" memories… was there no March…?
He clutched his head, as if a stronger invisible power was forcibly overwriting his memory, correcting his cognition.
"Huo Linfei!" Caelus panicked and grabbed his arm to steady him. "Hey, don't scare me! Is this a Simulated Universe aftereffect? I told you—stop listening to Herta and living in that thing day and night—"
"Where is she?" Huo Linfei gasped, fighting the nausea of having his memories rewritten in real time. "Where's March 7th?!"
"March 7th?" Caelus's face went from startled to completely baffled. He tilted his head, seriously thought for a moment, then shook it with absolute certainty.
"Who's that? On the Express it's just you, me, Dan Heng, Mr. Welt, Auntie Himeko, and Pom-Pom. Are there any other passengers? Huo Linfei… are you sure you're okay? Should I call Mr. Welt over to take a look?"
He doesn't know March 7th…?
A cold spike shot up Huo Linfei's spine.
He desperately tried to pull March 7th back into focus—the lively girl who loved taking photos, with pink-and-blue hair—
And then something horrifying happened.
It was like a giant eraser was rapidly scrubbing her out of his mind.
March 7th's face blurred. Her voice faded. The adventures they'd shared collapsed like a sandcastle—crumbled into nothing. The harder he tried to remember, the faster he forgot.
"System!" Huo Linfei screamed inside his head. "Is there something wrong with my memory?!"
[Detected abnormal hyperactivity in host's cerebral cortex. Confusion signals present in hippocampal memory retrieval regions.]
[Preliminary diagnosis: Multiple high-intensity connections to the Simulated Universe in a short time span, combined with overload-level mental shock and data-stream impact, have caused partial memory module disorder, overlap, and false-memory projection.]
[Regarding the specific designation "March 7th": upon retrieval of deep-layer memory fragments, high probability that it correlates with a strong psychological imprint formed on the date host first boarded the Astral Express.]
[Brain may have, under chaos conditions, personified that date-symbol and projected portions of emotional attachment toward other companions, constructing a nonexistent "shared memory collective."]
[Recommendation: Relax, reduce Simulated Universe connection frequency, gradually recover…]
The system's analysis was cold and rational—yet it did nothing to calm the storm inside Huo Linfei.
Was that really it?
Just Simulated Universe fallout?
Was March 7th… truly nothing more than a phantom born from scrambled memories?
"No way… you even linked with her before…"
[No visitor records found for an individual named "March 7th."]
He tried—pointlessly—to clutch at the fragments disappearing at terrifying speed, but in the end, only a hollow, piercing obsession remained:
There was someone—something—he absolutely must not forget. Someone crucial beyond words.
But what… he couldn't remember at all anymore.
Only a dull ache in his chest, and an inexplicable, wrenching sense of loss.
"You look really awful," Caelus said, watching Huo Linfei's face shift between pain and confusion. He patted Huo Linfei's shoulder, worried. "How about you rest a bit? Stop thinking about all that messy stuff. Auntie Himeko and Mr. Welt went to talk to the hotel staff, I think. Dan Heng ran back to his room the second we arrived—probably researching something again. I didn't see you come down, so I waited. How about it—can you walk now? I heard the Golden Hour is super lively, tons of fun stuff. Wanna go check it out together?"
Huo Linfei took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.
He knew his state was off. Fixating on the wreckage of his memories wasn't going to help. He needed time alone—time to process this sudden blow to his reality.
He shook his head, making his voice sound as normal as he could.
"Thanks, Caelus. But… I think I'll go somewhere else on my own. If everyone crowds into the same place, it feels like a waste—Penacony's huge. I want to see different scenery."
Caelus assessed him. He still looked strange—but at least coherent. Caelus nodded.
"Alright. Just be careful. Don't get lost. Message anytime. If you start feeling worse, come back and rest right away."
"Yeah. Got it."
After Caelus left, Huo Linfei stood alone by the Dream Pool and drew in a long breath.
He reached into his pocket and gently touched a small snowfield-bear plush. The memory of where it came from had already blurred—only a warmth remained.
Then he stopped hesitating and stepped into the pale blue water.
It was cold, but not biting. Instead, an odd buoyancy lifted him. His consciousness grew lighter as the world around him blurred and began to spin…
[Image: "Moon?"]
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
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