"What exactly were you sawing just now? I clearly heard a noise."
"I sawed this notebook."
Aidan pointed to the notebook in his hand.
"You sawed a notebook?"
March 7th took two steps closer, suspiciously examining the perfectly intact notebook.
"There isn't even a scratch on it. Who are you trying to fool?"
"I sawed it apart and then put it back together."
Aidan handed the notebook to March 7th.
"It was originally a notebook that brings bad luck, which is very bad. I performed physical transcendence on it using the Chainsword; now it is perfectly balanced."
March 7th carefully took the notebook and flipped it open to look. The pages inside were all blank. Other than the paper being slightly yellowed, it looked like an ordinary notebook.
"Physical transcendence..."
March 7th's mouth twitched.
"Fine, if you say so. What use is it now?"
"It's now a Wishing Notebook. As long as you write a wish in it, the wish will come true."
"A Wishing Notebook? Real or fake?"
March 7th's eyes instantly lit up, and the hands holding the notebook tightened.
"Anything I write will come true?"
"Of course. But—"
Aidan drew out his tone and raised one finger.
"Everything requires balance. What you gain, you must give up. Therefore, at the same time your wish is granted, you will also encounter an equal degree of misfortune."
The excitement on March 7th's face instantly froze.
"An equal degree of misfortune? Isn't that just wasting my time!"
She threw the notebook onto the table.
"I thought it was something good. What if I wish for a million credits, but then get hit by a car and break my leg the moment I step outside? What good is the money then?"
"That's where the wisdom of the wisher is tested."
Aidan took the notebook back and spun it a couple of times in his hand.
"You can't wish for big things that change fate; you have to wish for small, inconsequential things. For example, you wish you could eat strawberry cake tonight. The corresponding misfortune might just be choking on some water, or accidentally kicking your toe while walking."
"Kicking your toe hurts!"
March 7th retorted.
"Then do you want to eat strawberry cake?"
"...Yes."
March 7th hesitated. She stared at the notebook, her pink-blue eyes full of conflict.
"Are you sure it's only the level of misfortune like kicking your toe?"
She confirmed uncertainly.
"It won't suddenly summon a swarm of bugs or a giant monster, right?"
"I guarantee it won't. The law of equilibrium is very rigorous; it will precisely calculate the value of the wish and then match the corresponding price."
Aidan handed a pen to March 7th.
"Why don't you try? Just consider it testing the results of my modification."
March 7th took the pen and thought for a long time.
"What should I write..."
She bit the pen cap, racking her brain for ideas. It couldn't be too outrageous a wish, or the misfortune would be unbearable.
"How about I just write the simplest thing?"
March 7th held the pen and gestured over the paper, hesitating to put it down.
"For instance, I want a glass of starlight-colored juice, room temperature, no ice, and preferably a kind I've never had before but tastes good—this wish should be small enough, right?"
"Quite practical."
Aidan nodded.
"It's human nature. The value of a glass of juice isn't high. Even if there's misfortune, at most you'll get something stuck in your teeth while drinking it, or the juice will be slightly sour. Write it. I'm watching here; even if something really happens, I can pull you out of trouble."
"You have to keep your word!"
March 7th glared at him, took a deep breath, and as if making a major resolution, she neatly wrote the line of text on the blank page of the notebook.
After finishing, she quickly tossed the pen aside, clasped her hands over her head, and hunched her neck, waiting for a while.
One second.
Two seconds.
Five seconds passed.
The room was quiet, not a single sound.
"Is that it?"
March 7th cautiously raised her head, looking left and right.
Aidan walked over and glanced at the notebook. The handwriting March 7th had written was slowly fading, finally disappearing completely from the page.
"The words are gone, which means the wish has been accepted by the notebook."
"Then what about the juice? Will it fall from the ceiling? Or just appear in my hand?"
She warily stared at the ceiling.
"That's hard to say."
Aidan pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing his arms.
"The operating mechanism of the Wishing Notebook is a black box. It might deliver the juice directly to you, or it might lead you to obtain it through a series of coincidences. Of course, the equivalent misfortune is the same."
March 7th waited for a while and realized there was only air, so the tension in her nerves eased slightly. She lowered her hands and let out a long breath.
"What the heck, all thunder and no rain."
She pouted.
"I think your stupid notebook isn't working at all. You keep talking about balance, but I haven't even seen a shadow of juice."
"Don't rush, let the bullet fly for a while."
Aidan stood up, stretched, and yawned.
"I got covered in dust from the exploration. Coincidentally, didn't you say yesterday you hadn't had enough fun? Let's go relax on the Hyperion. Maybe the juice is waiting for you over there."
"Go swimming?"
March 7th's eyes lit up again.
"Great, great! I'll go get my swimsuit right now!"
She turned and ran out, but stopped at the doorway, turning back to point at Aidan.
"Don't you dare secretly add any weird settings to my wish while I'm gone!"
"Today I am the epitome of balance, the absolute, fair, and beautiful referee."
Half an hour later, by the swimming pool on the Hyperion.
The dome was still set to transparent mode, but today's scene was an open-air hot spring.
Aidan leaned against the edge of the pool, the warm spring water covering his chest, soothing the fatigue brought by the exploration.
March 7th sat on the shore not far from him, her two fair calves immersed in the spring water, occasionally kicking splashes.
As she raised her hand, she touched something cool—at some unknown point, a glass of starlight-colored juice had appeared beside March 7th's hand.
"Wow! There really is starlight-colored juice!"
The liquid in the cup presented a deep blue-purple hue, dotted with fine silver sparkles. As the liquid swayed, it truly looked like a miniature starry sky had been bottled.
"The wish has been granted, which means the law of balance has been activated. You can start looking forward to the equivalent misfortune now."
"It's just a glass of juice, how bad can the misfortune be?"
She tentatively took a small sip, and her eyes instantly brightened.
"Wow! It's delicious! Sweet and sour! But I wonder what fruit it is from..."
She happily swung her calves, her feet kicking up a few splashes in the hot spring water, then tilted her head back and took several large gulps, only stopping when the juice in the cup was half gone.
"Drink slowly, don't choke. I warned you, the price of balance is bound to arrive. The more you ignore the details, the more likely problems are to arise."
"This lady isn't afraid—Achoo!"
Before she could finish speaking, March 7th suddenly felt an itch in her nose and let out a huge sneeze without any warning. The sneeze came so suddenly that her whole body jolted, and the cup she was holding rather unsteadily wobbled violently.
With a soft'splat,' the remaining half glass of starlight-colored juice splashed all over her.
The deep blue-purple liquid quickly streamed down her skin. The juice not only stained her legs but also spread to the white gauze skirt tied around her waist.
Aidan:!
Wow, and wet...