Chapter 873: Thump

"Alright, alright, I'll stop messing with you."

Jiang Ruoxue grinned slyly. "To be honest, even I didn't expect you to use 'Causality' like that. It just goes to show—intelligent people and free-spirited people can wield 'Echo' in completely different ways. If only this 'Echo' were yours."

"If this 'Echo' were really mine... I'm afraid I'd be forever obsessed with finding the most rational 'Causality' and never reach your level."

"Is that so?" Jiang Ruoxue nodded, then continued, "But speaking of which, haven't you already figured it out? Why do you still need my advice?"

"I just can't figure this out..." I said. "If Aries isn't a 'Zodiac' anymore... what will he become?"

"What's so hard to figure out?" Jiang Ruoxue raised an eyebrow. "Just list out all the different kinds of people in this place."

"'List'...?"

"Exactly." Jiang Ruoxue nodded. Then she held up her hand and began counting on her fingers one by one. "Apart from 'Zodiac,' the remaining possibilities are 'Ant,' 'Original Resident,' 'Divine Beast,' and 'Participant.'"

I was momentarily stunned, feeling like the gears in my mind had suddenly clicked into place.

Jiang Ruoxue held up four fingers in front of me, then tucked two of them away. "'Ants' and 'Original Residents' can't communicate or think, so Old Sun wouldn't have any friendship with them. That means Aries could become either a 'Divine Beast' or a 'Participant.'"

"Yes... that makes sense." I nodded. I really wasn't that smart. The sudden upheaval had struck me so hard that my mind went blank, but now that I'd calmed down, my thinking was much clearer.

Thinking about it this way...

"Aries is very likely to become a 'Divine Beast.'" I said in a low voice. "Because he once said he wanted to become something other than human... With that in mind, he'll definitely develop in the direction of a 'Divine Beast.' There's no way he'd be a 'Participant,' right?"

"What? He's giving up being human?" Jiang Ruoxue exclaimed in surprise. "What kind of strange ambition is that?"

"That's what he told me himself." I replied.

I then recounted Aries's theory to Jiang Ruoxue in full detail. She had always been my best friend, and I'd never hidden anything from her—I'd even told her the meaning of "YNA."

"He's really something else..." Jiang Ruoxue sighed softly. "Solving the problem from its root... How come I never thought of it that way?"

"What, do you think he's impressive too?" I asked.

"Yeah." Jiang Ruoxue nodded. "It's like everyone in the world is thinking about how to make money, but he just goes straight to robbing a bank..."

She paused for a moment after saying that. "That example doesn't seem quite right, but you get the point."

"Do you want to meet Aries?" I asked again.

"Take me to see Aries?" Jiang Ruoxue raised her eyebrows. "Is that appropriate? You, with your social anxiety, are actually trying to arrange a social gathering?"

"What social gathering..." I couldn't help but laugh again. "It's because Aries once brought up a very profound topic with me, and I helped him solve it according to my own understanding... But I feel like something's missing."

"A profound topic?" Jiang Ruoxue looked a bit surprised. "What kind of profound topic could you and Aries possibly discuss? The origin of the universe?"

"Uh... not that profound." I shook my head. "He asked me what 'love' is, but Ruoxue, you know... I..."

"You've been single your whole life." Jiang Ruoxue said bluntly, without mincing words.

"Mm... that's right."

"Good heavens..." She let out a deep sigh. "Are you two really okay? Two people who've been single their whole lives, both with such smart minds, and you just have to sit around discussing what 'love' is? Couldn't you use that brainpower for something else?"

"Uh... I..." I awkwardly smoothed my hair. "After all, Aries has taught me a lot of things too. This counts as the first time he's come to me for advice... Even though I've never been in a relationship, at least I've watched some dramas."

"But why would he suddenly ask about that?" Jiang Ruoxue changed the subject. "Does he have feelings for you?"

I thought about it carefully and then said, "Honestly, I can't sense any romantic interest from him at all... In his eyes, I'm probably just a smart dog."

I also told Jiang Ruoxue what Aries had said about "hypnosis," and at that moment, she immediately fell into deep thought.

"Wait... love... hypnosis... and a powerful motive?" She seemed to understand something and directly tugged at my clothes. "This isn't good, Zhichun. When was the last time you talked to him about this?"

"Uh... about two years ago."

"Two years... That could be a problem." Jiang Ruoxue said. "I don't know if there's still time. Take me to him, quick!"

"I can, but what exactly is the problem?" I asked.

"I'm worried that the 'love' you theorized to him based on book knowledge is too perfect." Jiang Ruoxue said. "Nothing in this world that's too perfect can actually hold up."

At her request, I took Jiang Ruoxue to Aries's game venue that very afternoon.

To be honest, it was my first time looking for Aries in the afternoon. When the two of us arrived at the game venue, we found bloodstains at the entrance of his venue, as if someone had died.

But could people even die in "Human-Level Games"?

Aries was standing there, leaning against the door panel of his own game venue, his foot stepping on a bloodstain, staring blankly into the mirror.

His demeanor was different from before. In the morning, he would mutter to himself in front of the mirror, but now he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Is that him?" Jiang Ruoxue asked.

"Yes... but he seems a bit off..." I said.

Aries stared at the mirror without blinking for a long time. It felt like he had fallen asleep standing up.

"Hey!" Jiang Ruoxue walked up and called out.

Aries didn't react at all. He just kept staring blankly at the mirror.

"What's...?" She looked back at me in confusion.

"This..." I shook my head, indicating I had no idea what was going on.

"Hello?" Jiang Ruoxue called out to Aries again. "Are you asleep? Hey?"

But Aries still showed no reaction.

I had to admit, Jiang Ruoxue's way of doing things was vastly different from mine. If it were me in this situation, I would have backed off and never bothered him again.

But she directly walked up, waved her hand in front of Aries's face, and when she saw that he really wasn't responding, she reached out and rapped hard on the door panel behind him.

*Thump, thump, thump!*

Aries seemed startled by the loud noise and immediately snapped back to reality, looking at us. It was as if he had been conducting some deep hypnosis on himself, just as he had said.

The moment he saw the two of us, he blurted out instinctively, "Who is it?"

"So Aries does clock in for work!" Jiang Ruoxue said with a bright smile. "I called out to you for ages and got no answer. I thought Aries didn't show up for work!"