Chương 61: Chapter 60

Will to live value: -30. Current will to live value: 12. Nina felt relieved, since they were fine now, she no longer needed to hold on. Just as she was about to move, she noticed Lily emerging from the subconscious state, nearly running toward her.

"Nina? What in the world happened?" Lily looked around, searching for her. Her eyes moved toward the center chair where Nina would always sit, but when she saw that it was empty, her expression immediately changed. Lily frowned. Just as she was about to call the others so they could search for Nina, she heard someone call out her name.

"Lily." She turned around and saw Nina. Nina had curled herself into a ball, staring at her with widened eyes, as if she could not understand why Lily had appeared. Surely, she did not need them right now. Lily walked over to Nina and carefully looked her over before gently touching her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Her expression was filled with concern.

"That situation was absolutely terrible. So, what happened?" After making sure Nina was alright, Lily laid down beside her.

"You should have seen me back there," Lily said, stretching out her hand.

"I was so cool, you know. It was really, really powerful." She turned toward Nina, a smile appearing on her face.

"Hey, Nina, I have a question." Lily's expression became more curious.

"When I took control, I was sure that I wouldn't have much time. But for some reason, after I threw up all the blood, instead of disappearing, I remained strong." She paused for a moment.

"Even controlling the barriers felt almost effortless." Lily lowered her gaze slightly.

"And during that time, I felt a faint sense of peace." She touched the place where her heart would be.

"You were the reason, weren't you?" Just as Nina was about to answer, another persona emerged. It was Elias. He appeared first, followed shortly by Lucian, who seemed as though he had already been preparing himself to stop a fight. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Elias walked over to Lily's location.

"Hey, why did you send out an alarm without giving much explanation? I was peacefully enjoying my time in the subconscious state, and then you suddenly interrupted it." Lily, who had been quietly waiting for Nina's answer, felt her eye twitch. This person could not be serious. She had been just about to help Nina face the reason she cared, and then Elias had to appear at the exact moment that mattered. The two immediately began bickering.

While Lily and Elias argued, Lucian quietly moved to the other side of Nina and sat down beside her.

"You two should stop." His voice was calm but firm.

"This is no way to act in front of Nina. Even if you want to know what happened, you should show some respect." After receiving Lucian's scolding, both Lily and Elias quickly stopped arguing. They lowered their heads and sat down beside Nina, still visibly sulking. As that was happening, Damien had also joined the group at some point. Quiet as always, his arrival barely caused any disturbance.

He simply sat with the others, calmly waiting for Nina to become comfortable enough to explain what had happened after each of them had entered the subconscious state. … Nina quietly watched the personas surrounding her. She did not know what to feel about this situation. After everything finally calmed down, Lily suddenly let out a scream of excitement. She was staring at the status screen.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness! We got the material back! I can't wait to do so many interesting things with it!"

"What are you talking about? Since when did we get the material back?" Damien tilted his head in confusion. Lucian, on the other hand, looked over everything carefully before turning his attention back toward Nina.

"Nina, can you share with us the memories of what happened during the time we were away?" Lily turned toward Lucian.

"Wait, are you saying that we were gone for a really long time? That doesn't make sense. It only felt like a day had passed." Lucian did not respond to Lily. Instead, he kept his gaze focused on Nina.

"Nina." Hearing him call her name, Nina sighed before allowing them to access the memories of what had happened during the time they were away. … After receiving the memories, the personas became strangely silent. Finally, someone broke the silence.

"Thirty days." Lucian spoke quietly.

"We were actually gone for thirty days." Seeing everyone in such a solemn mood, Elias decided to try and lift the atmosphere.

"Hey, we should thank Nina for that. While we were sleeping like pigs, she managed to accomplish so much in such a short period of time." He pointed toward the status screen.

"Look at this. Our debt is much closer to being completed than before, and our divergence points have increased significantly. This is something we should be happy about." After saying those words, Elias was met with silence. The corner of his mouth twitched as he began to feel awkward.

"You're right." Damien noticed his discomfort and decided to intervene. Lily, however, was focused on something else entirely.

"Nina, is it true that you drew me?" Nina stiffened. Out of everything she had shown them, she never expected Lily to focus on that.

"And every single one of us?" Lily reviewed the memories once more.

"I need to see them. Right now." She looked toward Nina.

"The memories are too blurry. I need to experience it myself." Just as Lily was about to stand up, Nina suddenly grabbed her hand tightly.

"Don't" She did not want Lily to leave. Lily was already preparing to move toward the paintings, but the moment Nina held onto her, she felt an immense weight press down on her. She could only quietly sit back down. After all, Nina was their main body. If Nina did not want her to go, there was no way she could force herself forward.