13: Double Trouble

Ning's drowsy mind gradually cleared, and his consciousness began to return.

“Ugh… I feel like my head hurts more than usual. Is this what a hangover feels like?”

“I know, right? Ah… this is truly tormenting me.” “I know.” Ning started talking to himself.

“Hmm… was I just talking to myself?” He was surprised.

“This is too strange,” he muttered to himself.

“Holy crap! Am I going crazy? Why can I hear my own voice?” “No way. I hope I’m not going insane. That would be terrible.” “System, what’s wrong with me?” Two voices simultaneously echoed in Ning's mind. He felt as if he were two different consciousnesses, merged into one.

“You have unlocked Parallel Thinking.”

“This is Parallel Thinking? I thought I just needed to think twice as fast. Not have a weirdo yelling in my head.”

“Hey, you’re the weirdo!! Don’t talk so much. You’re giving me a headache.” “I am the primary thought, you are just a part of me.”

“Hey, if anyone’s the main character, it’s me. Don’t call yourself the main character when you’re just a copy.”

“Hey, System! Quickly tell this idiot who’s in charge here!!”

“Yes, tell this idiot his place.”

“You are both the master of Ning Ruogong, but neither of you are.”

“You are both a part of the original Ning Ruogong, and your original mental abilities have been equally shared so that you can process things faster.”

“Oh, so I’m not the original one?”

“Hmm… want a truce?”

“I don’t mind.”

'Alright.'

“By the way, System. From an energy perspective, isn’t Parallel Thinking very far off for me?”

“I thought so too? System, why was it suddenly unlocked?”

“You have completed the quest.”

The System did not explain further.

“Do you remember how much energy we needed to unlock Parallel Thinking?”

“It should be around 200,000, right?”

“Yes, I think so too.”

“How do you think we got so much energy overnight?”

“That’s exactly my question. Was the cabin burned down?”

The two immediately began to look outside. Unfortunately, they had to share the same vision, so they argued again over who would be in charge.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll control the body every 6 hours, then switch seats, okay?” one of them said.

“I thought so too,” the other replied.

“Alright, let’s play rock-paper-scissors.”

Rock-paper-scissors.

“Haha, I won!” “Damn it,”

“Alright, sit back and enjoy the view for 6 hours,” “Hey, System, remind us to switch our consciousness every 6 hours, okay?”

“Affirmative.”

“Alright, let’s pick names too. I’ll be Ning A, okay?” “Why do you get to be Ning A? I want to be Ning A.” “Alright, let’s play rock-paper-scissors again.” “Ready? Rock-paper-scissors.”

Ning, who was supposed to temporarily step back, won the battle and called himself Ning A, while Ning, who was supposed to temporarily take control, was named Ning B.

“Anyway, let me see what’s happening outside.”

He looked out from the sheath and found that everything was normal. The young girl named Freya was still cultivating, the window was wide open, and cool air was blowing in.

“Hmm… did she change her clothes at night?” “What? Do you want to see? Heh heh.” “No, I just—shut up.”

Ning B looked out the window, and in the distance were green trees. He was stunned, “Green trees? Not white? Isn’t it winter?” As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that although the wind blowing in from the window was a bit cool, it was far from the cold that winter should have.

'No way!'

'What does this mean?'

“System, how long have we been asleep?” Ning B asked.

“You have been unconscious for 3 months, 11 days, and 13 hours.”

'What??!!!!'

Nings father and son were startled.

“Why did you set up this system?”

“Yes, you should have woken us up in the morning, not 100 days later.” “The host’s direct command was ‘Wake me up when the sun comes out.’”

“Today is the first time the sun has emerged from the clouds since winter.”

“But that’s not what I meant.”

“Yes, I meant for you to wake me up in the morning.”

“This error was caused by the host, as the host did not specify clearly.” “Man, this system is so stupid.” “I know. How dare it say it’s our fault.” “Yeah! How dare it.”

“So, what’s the next unlock?” “I don’t know. Let me check. Status.” “[Status. Energy: 1,128,000. Quest: Collect 872,000 more energy. Reward: You gain Full Vision. Shop: Locked.]”

“Wait, is it still on vision?” “What about the shop then?”

“Please accumulate more energy to unlock the shop.”

“You just keep saying that.”

“At least say something different, damn it.”

The two surprisingly had the same opinion on things they liked or disliked. However, since they were the same person, it was not surprising.

Ning B started looking outside again. He began to feel a little sad because he had missed three whole months of winter and snow, especially after he had been so excited to see them. But he comforted himself by saying that he could watch winter as much as he wanted later.

Finally, after a long while, Freya rose from her cross-legged position, tidied her clothes, then walked to the sword, picked up Nings father and son, and walked out the door.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, radiating warm heat to everything it touched.

“You have gained 100 energy.”

“You have gained 100 energy.”

When the sunlight shone on the shell where Ning resided, he began to receive notifications.

“Hmm… maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that we missed a hundred days.” “We’re finally getting closer to unlocking the shop. Hopefully, it will happen in the next 3 unlocks.”