68: Chapter 68 Lin Xue's "Twins" Conjecture

Early morning at Tianqiong War God Academy is often accompanied by the bugle call for morning exercises and the energetic shouts of students.

But in Dormitory 404, only silence greeted the new day, along with someone's heavy sigh that sounded like it was coming from the depths of their lungs.

"What a sin..."

Gu Fan lay sprawled on the bed like a star, staring blankly at the mildew spots on the ceiling, feeling as if his body had been hollowed out.

This wasn't a rhetorical device; it was hollowed out in a physical sense.

The moment he recalled those three Clones last night, a triple dose of exhaustion hit his nerves.

The scariest part wasn't the physical fatigue, but the mental blow.

The memories that flooded into his mind at that moment were practically a documentary titled "The Grand Exhibition of Human Confusing Behavior."

He "saw" himself kissing a mirror for a full half-hour until his lips were swollen;

He "saw" himself hugging the leg of a senior he'd never met, crying and shouting for the meat bun in their hand, and finally gnawing on their shoelaces;

He "saw" himself in the School's most serious theory class, using that Professor Gu as a body pillow and drooling all over the desk... "My lifelong reputation..."

Gu Fan covered his face in agony, "Now I won't be able to clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River. If I don't explain clearly, tomorrow the School history museum will have an extra line of record: Gu Fan, a student of the XX class of Tianqiong War God Academy, diagnosed with severe schizophrenia, accompanied by pica and narcissistic tendencies."

He flipped over and sat up, grabbed his phone from the bedside, and skillfully opened the campus forum.

Sure enough.

The forum's front page was completely dominated.

The bright red, bolded title of the pinned post stung Gu Fan's eyes:

"Shocking Secret! That man is actually triplets?!"

"On the Genetic Diversity of the Gu Family: A Sleep God, a glutton, and a poser."

"Help! I fell in love yesterday with the Gu Fan who was dancing in the plaza, but today he seems like a different person, ignoring me and asking if I have food. Was I played?"

In the post, various blurry photos and videos were flying everywhere.

There was a GIF of him swallowing a stainless steel spoon in the cafeteria, with the caption: "Good teeth, good appetite."

There was a close-up of him sleeping on the podium, with the caption: "This kind of relaxation, I'd call it a finishing move."

There was also a video of him strutting in the plaza with his own background music, the bullet comments all saying "Ahhh" and "Too greasy but I love it."

Gu Fan's mouth twitched as he scrolled down with trembling fingers.

The analysis in the comment section was even more imaginative:

"Confirmed! Gu Fan is actually a code name; this is a mysterious organization! They've sent different people to infiltrate our academy!"

"The person above is talking nonsense. In my opinion, this is cloning technology! The one eating is clearly a failed product; its IQ didn't even fully develop!"

"Could it be the legendary 'One Qi transforms into Three Pure Ones'? Is Gu Fan actually a cultivation big shot?"

Seeing this comment, Gu Fan was startled.

"They guessed it? Are netizens this hard to lead nowadays?"

Fortunately, someone immediately retorted: "Cultivation? You've read too many novels. Even if it is cultivation, it's the Demonic Path. Look at those eyes; can a normal person have eyes that green?"

Gu Fan breathed a sigh of relief and threw his phone aside.

Just then.

"Click."

The dormitory's bathroom door was pushed open.

A pale Lin Xue leaned against the doorframe and wobbled out.

After a night of rest, plus Gu Fan's "fortified" brown sugar water, although her complexion was still poor, she could at least walk.

However, her eyes were fixed on Gu Fan, filled with inquiry, suspicion, and a hint of fear.

"You're awake?"

Gu Fan immediately hid his expression of collapse and put on an unfathomable look, "It seems my secret blood-replenishing soup worked well. You can even stand up and glare at people."

Lin Xue didn't take the bait.

She took a deep breath, seemingly emboldening herself, then slowly moved to the side of Gu Fan's bed and asked in a low voice:

"Gu Fan, just how many... brothers do you have?"

Gu Fan raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"

"Stop pretending."

Lin Xue took out her communicator and projected a set of data into the air, "This is... intelligence my friend gathered yesterday."

"Yesterday at 1:05 PM, you were sleeping in the dorm, and your snoring could be heard through the door."

"At the same time, at 1:06 PM, someone who looked exactly like you appeared in the second cafeteria, ate lunch for two hundred people in five minutes, and his digestive System seemed to be connected to another dimension."

"At 1:10 PM, in the third lecture hall, another 'you' was sleeping and hypnotized Professor Gu."

"At 1:15 PM, in the central plaza, yet another 'you' was holding a solo concert."

Lin Xue retracted the projection and looked at Gu Fan with burning eyes, "Unless you know a cloning technique, and the kind of Advanced cloning technique that has physical forms and distinct personalities, the only explanation is—you are multiplets."

"Moreover, you are genetically modified multiplet experimental subjects."

Lin Xue's voice trembled slightly.

As an agent of Chain Abyss, she knew all too well what this "multiplet experiment" meant.

In the organization's top-secret files, there had been such a crazy plan: cultivate multiple Clones with single but extremely enhanced functions, and then use some means to perform a Fusion on them to give birth to a "perfect human."

The one who only knew how to eat was the "Devouring Type";

The one sleeping was the "Hibernation Recovery Type";

The narcissistic one might be the "Mental Control Type."

And the Gu Fan in front of her, as the original body or the "brain," was responsible for coordinating all of this.

"The more I think about it, the more terrifying it gets..."

The way Lin Xue looked at Gu Fan changed, from looking at a pervert to looking at a collection of monsters.

Looking at Lin Xue's complex expression, Gu Fan was overjoyed.

This girl's imagination is as strong as ever.

Since you've come to help me round out the lie, wouldn't it be a disservice to your intelligence if I didn't go along with it?

The smile on Gu Fan's face gradually vanished, replaced by a deep melancholy.

He slowly stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Lin Xue, leaving her with only his silhouette.

"Since you've discovered it, I won't hide it from you anymore."

Gu Fan's voice became low and raspy, "Actually, I am also in great pain."

Lin Xue's heart tightened: "Pa... pain?"

"Yes."

Gu Fan turned around and pointed to his head, "Many people live here."

"What do you mean?" Lin Xue took a step back.

"Medically it's called Dissociative Identity Disorder, but I prefer to call them—my guardian spirits."

Gu Fan solemnly began to talk nonsense, "As you know, I grew up in the Gu Family and suffered cold treatment. To protect myself, my subconscious split them off."

"The one eating in the cafeteria is called 'Nickname'."

Gu Fan sighed, a glint of tears in his eyes, "When I was little, I was often punished and not allowed to eat, so hungry I could only gnaw on tree bark. At that time, I thought, if only there was a stomach that could never be full and could swallow all grievances. Thus, Nickname was born. He bore all the hunger for me."

Lin Xue was stunned.

She thought of the youth yesterday who even gnawed on a spoon, and a hint of sympathy welled up in her heart.

So... it was because of childhood trauma?

"Then... what about the one dancing in the plaza?" Lin Xue couldn't help but ask.

"That is 'The Vain'."

Gu Fan said with a bitter smile, "In the past, my Family members all said I was trash, ugly, and unloved. I was inferior to the extreme. To keep myself from collapsing, I imagined an extremely confident version of myself who believed the whole world loved him. That is The Vain. He is the last line of defense for my self-esteem."

Lin Xue fell silent.

Although that The Vain was really greasy, if interpreted from this angle... it was actually somewhat inspirational?

"As for the one sleeping..."

Gu Fan shook his head, "That is 'A-Shui'. Because reality was too painful, I only wanted to escape, only wanted to spend this life in dreams. He is the most fragile me, and the me who most wants to escape this world."

Speaking to this point, Gu Fan looked at Lin Xue, "Yesterday, it might have been because my recent pressure was too great, causing my mental defenses to loosen, so they ran out. Did they scare you? I'm sorry. Actually, they are all very kind. As long as you don't steal Nickname's food, don't steal The Vain's mirror, and don't disturb A-Shui's sleep, they won't hurt anyone."

"Probably," Gu Fan added silently in his heart.

Lin Xue was completely stunned by this set of logically rigorous and emotionally sincere rhetoric.

She looked at Gu Fan with a complex gaze.

She had originally thought he was a Devil King, but it turned out he was a beautiful, strong, and tragic figure.

How was this a mental illness? This was clearly the blood and tear-filled history of a youth fighting against fate!

Although her reason told her this all sounded absurd, combined with Gu Fan's experiences in the Gu Family, it felt reasonable.

In this world of Spiritual Qi recovery, there were precedents for the manifestation of personalities caused by abnormal Mental Energy.

"So... that's how it is."

Lin Xue lowered her head, actually feeling a bit guilty. She had wanted to draw blood from such a poor person yesterday; it was truly too cruel.

"Then... is your current state stable?" Lin Xue asked softly.

"It's hard to say."

Gu Fan clutched his chest, pretending to be weak, "The consumption yesterday was too great. Right now, my spirit is very unstable. Especially 'Nickname'; he didn't seem to eat his fill yesterday and has been roaring in my mind to eat meat... fresh meat..."

As he spoke, Gu Fan deliberately looked at Lin Xue with a greedy gaze and licked his lips.

Lin Xue's hair instantly stood on end.

She remembered the scene of him swallowing braised beef yesterday.

If the braised beef were replaced with... herself?

"That! I remembered I still have class!"

Lin Xue shrieked, and ignoring her physical weakness, she pulled open the door in a hundred-meter sprint, "President, get some rest! I'll go buy food for you! Lots of food! Whatever you do, don't let Nickname out!"

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Listening to the panicked footsteps fading away in the hallway, Gu Fan finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Naive. Too naive."

Gu Fan shook his head and lay back on the bed, "She actually believed it? Does Chain Abyss's agent training put all the skill points into lockpicking and blood drawing? They haven't studied psychology at all."

[Ding! Detected 'Lin Xue's' extreme fear and sympathy toward the host's 'sub-personalities'.]

[malice points +500!]

[malice points +300!]

Listening to the notification in his mind, Gu Fan closed his eyes in satisfaction.

"Not bad. Not only did I patch up the lie, but I also harvested a wave of leeks. This wave was not a loss."

"However..."

Gu Fan rubbed his stomach, "Speaking of which, although that fellow Nickname ate a lot yesterday, I, the original body, didn't get a single bite. I'm actually a bit hungry now."

He glanced at the empty dormitory.

"I don't know where that kid Xiao Fan has gone; he didn't even bring breakfast for the president. Young people these days have no situational awareness at all."

Just then, Gu Fan's phone vibrated.

It was a mass message from the Club Management Center:

[Warning: To the person in charge of 'Lying Flat Mutual Aid Society'. Upon review, your club's activity record for this semester is zero, credit output is zero, and presence is zero. According to Article 38 of the "Tianqiong Academy Club Management Regulations," if you cannot provide effective club activity results or pass the club rating assessment within a week, your club will be forcibly disbanded and the venue reclaimed.]

Gu Fan looked at the message and frowned.

"Disbanded? Reclaim the venue?"

He looked around this Dormitory 404, which, though dilapidated, had excellent Feng Shui and even came with free air conditioning.

This was his happy home in this world, the base camp for lying flat.

If it was reclaimed, where would he find such a comfortable place to sleep?

"Troublesome. Truly troublesome."

Gu Fan sighed and sat up from the bed.

"It seems that for the sake of my great sleeping career, I have to 'move' a little."

He opened his contacts, found Xiao Fan's number, and dialed it.

"Hello, Xiao Fan? Where are you?"

Xiao Fan's panting voice came from the other end, with the sound of heavy objects hitting in the background: "Pre... President! I'm in the Gravity Training Room! I'm doing ten-times gravity squats! What's wrong?"

"Stop squatting; it's bad for your knees."

Gu Fan said lazily, "Hurry back and bring that lion of yours... oh no, bring Wangcai. Our club is going to have its first team-building activity."

"Team building?!"

Xiao Fan's voice instantly became excited, "Are we going to hunt high-level Vicious Beasts? Or explore an unknown Secret Realm? I knew you wouldn't stay silent forever, President! Are we finally going to do something big?!"

Gu Fan picked his ear and moved the phone a bit further away.

"Do something big my ass. Go buy groceries."

"Buy... buy groceries?"

"Yes, buy more meat. Also, go to the logistics department and exchange for the largest pot."

Gu Fan looked at the bright sunshine outside the window and smiled meaningfully.

"Today, we're having hot pot."

"By the way, let's teach those who want to disband us what it means to—earn credits even while lying down."