Sentient

"Do you have other questions? We don't have much time– only around an hour."

An hour? Does that mean nearly two hours have already gone by? Also… "I feel like this is a study session. I'm the student and you're the teacher."

"... Just ask already!" # `⟱′

"Fine, fine… I was joking. Why are you so fussy?"

"..." It was a proper and dignified soul guardian. It won't argue with this type of lowly being! It just won't!! m(_ _)m

Yang Jingshen didn't ask anything at once. In fact, he kept his silence for so long that even the soul guardian was starting to think that this rascal might not have any more tiresome questions in his arsenal.

Nono– that's wrong! Such an inquisitive and erratic individual– how can this type of person not have more troublesome questions to bother his tutor with?

And just like how the soul guardian feared, Yang Jingshen asked his next question after what seemed like an eternity. But this question though…

"Is this novel a sentient being?"

If the soul guardian had a physical body at this moment, it would have– what do humans call that? Jump a foot in the air? Ah, yes… that was it! Anyway, it would have jumped a foot in the air! After all, what kind of query is this?

Hurriedly pressing down the feeling of trepidation that came out of nowhere, it quickly and diligently responded. "Of course not! Why should it be alive? It's just a book!" =⁰𝟶⁰=

A short silence and then, "You're lying!"

"I'm not!" The soul guardian vehemently refused. It really wasn't lying.

And when it realized that this human had more counterarguments against its claims, it interjected, "I'm not lying. Look… when I became your soul guardian, it means that I established something similar to a contract with your soul. Just like how Feng Xi did, but not quite the same. It stipulates that I can't lie to you when you ask me something directly."

This time, the silence was longer. The soul guardian waited with bated breath. Did this guy buy it? But…

"Fine! Let me rephrase my question. What is the power behind the novel plot? After all, if I'm correct, it managed to affect this world to this level, right? This power– is it some sort of god?"

"..."

"Can this power sense me making changes to this novel plot? If it can– will it try to harm me? Can I fight against this power? No– what I should ask is, can I even protect myself against it?"

"..."

The great universe and all its mighty creations! What kind of creature is this human!? Why is his imagination so- so vivid and wild and scary!!!? Wasn't he supposed to have damaged his intelligence!? T▽T

More than an hour and a half later, Yang Jingshen sat wide awake inside his room in the hotel designated for the crew, staring aimlessly at an object in his hands. Upon a closer look, it appeared to be a small glass test tube with a green infinity symbol on its surface and carrying a light blue liquid.

For a moment, anyone who saw it would wonder what sort of color was this? Why did it look so ethereal? With each breath Yang Jingshen took and every little move he made, the pale-colored fluid sloshed gently inside its container.

The effect was quite hypnotic. But, the person himself looked to be immersed in his own thoughts, and not at all interested in pondering over the mysterious hue of the liquid he was holding.

As for the set of questions, Yang Jingshens had asked the soul guardian regarding the plot of the novel 'How to be a superstar'– needless to say that they had been left unanswered. The guardian had of course hemmed and hawed, but in the end, its reply had been that 'Your authority level is too low to access knowledge related to this type of problem.'

It had explained that, for him to know about certain things, his soul power should be at a correspondingly matching level. And Yang Jingshen hadn't pressed further for answers as he would have usually done. This of course came as quite a surprise to the soul guardian– he could tell at least that much from its reaction.

But he acted this way– not because he thought that further seeking answers would prove to be futile, but mostly because he already got the solution to his questions. After all, the soul guardian's reluctance to answer was answer enough.

It might be true that his brain capacity or intelligence or whatever had been reduced due to some form of damage to his soul. But that doesn't mean that he had turned stupid. Just that– his brain was a bit slow in processing things than he used to do in the past.

'More importantly, it said something about having to truthfully answer my questions if I ask it directly.' Did that mean that all of whatever it told me before were half-truths?

Yang Jingshen tried hard to remember his past conversations with the soul guardian, his brow gradually furrowing as he did his best to recall the exact sequence of their discussion. But it was to no avail. He had a general memory of what they discussed, but not the correct wording.

In the end, he sighed and gave up this fruitless endeavor. If it was in his past life– he possessed an almost autobiographical memory. In other words, if he wanted, he could remember any conversation word-to-word. Unfortunately though…

"I need to collect those soul coins real quick and go on with repairing my soul. I need my memory and intelligence intact before anything else, if I am to deal with whatever is happening in this world." Yang Jingshen muttered as he slowly uncorked the cap of the glass container in his hand.

Apart from the fact that there really might be some form of powerful existence behind the novel plot influencing this world and that it was on the opposing side to the soul guardian, there were some other crucial pieces of information that Yang Jingshen gleaned from the earlier questioning session.

For example, this power– it might not be harmful to him at the moment. Or maybe it just wasn't aware of his existence in the first place. Also, it's most likely that he'll only have to change the fate of Feng Xi, achieve her dreams, and get revenge in the process, instead of influencing the novel plot as a whole.

So there might actually be a sliver of a chance that he can escape without drawing this god's or whatever powerful creature's attention. But how he was going to do that– Yang Jingshen honestly didn't know.

After all, he was no fool, and even just by using his toes to think, he could deduce that Feng Xi's biggest enemy to date could only be the novel's protagonist Guo Ying.

'Maybe, when it gets to the point that I have to properly deal with Guo Ying, Feng Xi's resentment would have reduced a lot, so I wouldn't actually have to deal with her after all?'

Yang Jingshen absentmindedly stared at the small amount of fluid in the tiny glass vial as his mind slowly emptied of thoughts. And suddenly, without a single warning whatsoever, he directly lifted it and downed the fluid in one gulp before resolutely slamming down the now emptied container, as his face gradually turned expressionless.

#####

A/N:

Heya all,

Here's the promised bonus chapter to celebrate reaching the 50-chapter milestone. I Hope ya all enjoyed it. ≧⧢≦