Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 560 - 526 Doomsday Basement

Chapter 560: 526 Doomsday Basement

In my memory, candles are items with significant symbolism.

Before becoming a "supernatural power user," I used to delve into various knowledge and objects related to supernatural powers all day long. For a long time, I also imitated the ancient monks in some classical texts, focusing on the candle’s wick and imagining myself lighting it with my gaze, never expecting that I could actually ignite it at a moment. This was also the beginning of my formal transformation from an ordinary person into a supernatural power user.

As for the decisive turning point in my formal entry into the abnormal world, although I’d like to say it was the day I met Mazao, what comes to mind first is the night I entered the basement on the 15th floor alone.

That was not only the first abnormal event I encountered but also the first time in my life I faced the experience of vanishing directly. There, I transformed from a "horror story enthusiast" into someone with real awareness, becoming an adventurer who could put life and death aside to pursue his ideals.

After that, although I made multiple attempts to open the door to the basement again and touched the illusory basement in Changan’s dream, as time passed, I gradually accepted the fact that I could not truly access the place that changed my destiny again. I shouldn’t keep thinking about that mysterious location because more, potentially more mysterious realms await my exploration in the future. I must look forward.

However, I never expected that I would see the basement on the 15th floor again here, or even see a white candle quietly burning, connected to my soul consciousness inside it.

It’s not a dream, nor is it an illusion. At this moment, the enclosed space filled with gray shelves presented in my perception undoubtedly appears to be the 15th floor basement. I definitely won’t mistake it.

How could such a thing be possible? Why is it here?

Before that, what’s up with the white candle on the ground? Why is the flame burning on it my flame? When did I light such a thing?

No, hold on, let me calm down first...

"Brother Zhuang Cheng?"

Little Bowl’s telepathy echoed in my mind. She probably sensed my disturbance and asked with unexpected emotion in her voice, "What’s wrong? It feels like you’re somewhat shocked. What kind of place is that scene? How come there are no doors or windows..."

She obviously can also sense the scene of the 15th floor basement through Spiritual Synchronization.

"That’s a basement. I went there a long time ago."

I answered while sorting out my thoughts.

Alright... I remembered.

Even though I was surprised just now, the white candle in the 15th floor basement was indeed lit by me.

After all, with my photographic memory, if I really try to recall, I can still remember. When I entered the basement on the 15th floor in the past, I rummaged through boxes on the shelves hoping to find clues to escape from within. Although most boxes were empty, a few contained small items. For instance, cartoon stickers, plastic keychains, and candles.

At that time, to help myself focus, I stopped using fireballs for lighting and only placed the lit candle in front of me. Needless to say, this candle was lit with the fire I released myself. Later, I found a way to exit the basement on the 15th floor and left directly. As for the candle, I forgot it in the basement.

The 15th floor basement has a peculiar nature: the inside and outside of the exit are entirely different space-times. At that time, I couldn’t sustain myself by allowing "Firefly" to automatically maintain itself using space and air as fuel; thus, when trying to probe with "Firefly" from outside, they would disappear upon disconnecting from me.

Logically, when I left, the flame left in the basement should have extinguished due to losing connection with me, but the flame on that candle was a reasonable exception. The candle acted as fuel, allowing it to continue burning for a while, even after I left.

The mysterious origin of "Firefly" is thus unraveled.

Then... a new problem arises.

The last time I entered the basement was September last year, so why hasn’t the white candle burned out yet?

Is it because of a time anomaly in the basement on the 15th floor? Thinking back, after escaping the basement and going home, I regretted forgetting to use my phone to confirm if there were time differences between inside and outside.

Considering that I couldn’t perceive the white candle’s flame in the modern world but could sense it during the Doomsday Era, it can be concluded that the coordinates of the basement in Different Space are likely situated within the Doomsday Era. Perhaps it’s unnecessary to be particularly meticulous about the "time" aspect.

To be honest, I’m very concerned why the ritual array set up by Agent Kong inexplicably connected to the basement in Different Space during the Doomsday Era, but currently, there is no clue as a hint, so I have to defer this issue and focus on the basement itself.

While thinking, I roughly explained the whole process of my past contact with the basement to Little Bowl.

Upon hearing this, Little Bowl immediately grasped the key point.

"Since Brother Zhuang Cheng, you’ve fallen into this basement before and found a way to escape and return to the original world, then can I understand that..." she said, "as long as you move into this basement now, you can summon a door from inside to return to the modern world?"

"..."After careful thought, I replied, "...Yes, since it was possible last time, there’s no reason it couldn’t be achieved this time."

"So, Brother Zhuang Cheng, can you transport yourself there now?" Little Bowl followed up, "Flame Transmission... As long as it’s where your flame is, it’s essentially where you are. You can transport yourself there... right?"

Strictly speaking, it’s not like that.

As long as the target location has my flame, I can transport myself—this is just a general circumstance. There have been failures in the past, notably the Independent Realistic Space where the Human Bureau headquarters is located. I could leave my thermal energy marker there, even observe the scene changes through the mark, but could not send myself into it.

Upon sensing the scene of the basement on the 15th floor, I tested whether I could achieve transportation, but encountered the same failed result. Not only couldn’t I move there, but I couldn’t manipulate the candle flame either.

However, unlike the failure situation with the Independent Realistic Space, when facing that space in the past, I felt as if blocked by an immense, solid wall, or faced with a challenging math problem I couldn’t solve no matter how intelligent I was; whereas now, there’s no specific feeling to summarize, it’s just simply not doable.

This feeling might be similar to someone asking me to solve a math problem without telling me what the problem is, randomly giving out a number, and they won’t inform about the deviation from the correct answer, nor whether there’s indeed a correct answer. This no longer has anything to do with intelligence; it’s inexplicable nonsense throughout, utterly meaningless.

Meaningless, a waste of time, and void... void, yes, it’s void.

I suddenly realized why I couldn’t transport there. Currently, I’m blocked by the void.

I couldn’t even determine where the basement was headed. Despite the connection with the candle flame becoming clearer, I couldn’t do something as simple. It might be due to spatial chaos in the Doomsday Era, which brings a sense of direction disorder? If so, there is an immediate way to resolve it.

After informing Little Bowl, I said: "Little Bowl, I heard from Wandering Souls that even in the Doomsday Era, you could reach your desired destination, possibly using Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena. Now you’re sharing the connection with the candle flame, can you discern the direction of the basement relative to our location?"

After listening to my words, Little Bowl seemed to start trying immediately, then suddenly froze, shook her head with regret, and said: "No, I can’t do it... Normally, I should be able to distinguish the direction of the flame, but... as Brother Zhuang Cheng mentioned, it’s like being blocked by a force of void.

"Possibly, our initial speculation is close to correct. That basement is not really in the Doomsday Era. The notion of ’boundary between void and Doomsday Era’ might have issues. To be precise, although it’s in the void, it’s very close to the time-space realm of the Doomsday Era... Perhaps, there’s no concept of proximity or distance in the void, just trying to describe it this way.

"That place exists in the ’Virtual Barrier,’ so we can’t easily reach there."

I recalled my past experience exploring outside the basement on the 15th floor.

Beyond the wall, it’s material-less, boundless darkness. Thinking back, it also seemed to prove the basement’s existence within the void.

With a thoughtful expression, Little Bowl uttered a seemingly absurd statement: "However... even if ’transportation’ doesn’t work, maybe we could walk directly to that place."