I'm Trapped in the Block

"Who’s Martin?"

Hearing Li Luo’s question, Mo Ling felt his hair stand on end.

’The Black Tower’s distortion hasn’t disappeared?’

He glanced at the red bandana on Li Luo’s head. Donkey ears poked out through its gaps, but the bandana itself was perfectly intact.

’It shouldn’t be the Black Tower’s problem.’

Mo Ling forced himself to calm down and asked Li Luo to look up "Martin" on her electronic screen.

But the search results were completely unrelated to the relic "Martin." The record was gone, as if it had never existed in the first place.

Seeing Li Luo’s growing confusion, Mo Ling had her look up "Blood Exchange Therapy."

This time, something came up, but the result was completely different from what he remembered:

[Relic: Blood Exchange Syringe]

[Cost: Blood]

[Ability: Can use blood to change a living organism’s species, form, age, etc. Any substances mixed in the blood will form a symbiotic relationship with the organism.]

[Place of Discovery: Earth]

[Discoverer: Belle]

...

The record stated that this was a relic discovered by a Doctor Belle at a sanatorium. The object itself, a syringe, had already been sealed away by the authorities.

The part of its history involving Martin was completely gone.

’Who’s Belle?’

Mo Ling couldn’t believe his eyes. He had Li Luo connect Bai Zhou’s storage device to the electronic screen and play the animation.

The content of the animation was also completely different.

In the animation, the Master of Right Words had become a robed figure distorted by the Core, creating a ritual book according to his own understanding.

Many plants were added to the ritual—plants that could develop the brain and accelerate the "correction plan."

The ritual book became a true ritual book, with no connection to Blood Exchange Therapy.

But in the end, after this robed figure learned from the Core that he was originally human, he couldn’t accept this fact and decided to rebel. He ended up helping Bai Zhou and the others kill the Core, dying in the process.

The exquisite scenes in the latter half of the animation, once produced by Martin, had reverted to the same low-quality visuals as before.

It was as if an incomparably powerful corrective force had erased all traces of Martin’s existence.

"What’s wrong?" Li Luo didn’t understand why Mo Ling kept asking about it.

Mo Ling himself was completely baffled.

’Could there be something wrong with me?’

’Did Martin never exist?’

Mo Ling looked at the hard bed inside the Block and the color-changing button resting on it. He was certain his memories were real.

’My memory isn’t wrong! And there’s nothing wrong with me.’

’It’s the world that’s wrong!’

Mo Ling decided to find a way to prove it.

He planned to teleport the bed he had brought back from Dream Layer 0 outside and tell Li Luo where it came from.

But when he placed the bed outside, the content on the electronic screen in Li Luo’s hands suddenly changed.

The animation, which had been playing on a loop, suddenly reverted to its original, exquisite visuals.

Mo Ling was shocked. He once again asked Li Luo to search for "Martin."

Everything was normal. The data file for the relic "Martin" reappeared, identical to the first time he’d searched for it.

"Why are you looking up Martin again?" Li Luo asked, confused.

"I want to know how Oasis City will handle him," Mo Ling said, testing the waters with a question.

"I don’t know. He destroyed the Core, so they’ll probably lift the warrant for his arrest, right?" Li Luo mused.

’She remembers again!’

In his shock, looking at the plain, unremarkable bed, Mo Ling had a sudden realization.

’It’s the bed!’

He kept his eyes on the "Martin" file in Li Luo’s hands as he sent the bed back into the Block.

And just as he expected, it happened.

The dense text on the electronic screen vanished in an instant, as if wiped away by an eraser, leaving only a blank screen.

When he questioned Li Luo, she had once again forgotten Martin’s existence.

Moreover, Li Luo had also forgotten their recent conversation about Martin, only asking curiously why Mo Ling wanted to rewatch the animation.

After Mo Ling fobbed her off with an excuse, she nodded, put away the electronic screen, and continued on toward Oasis City.

At this point, Mo Ling could no longer contain his shock.

He stood inside the Block, looking at the featureless little bed placed against the metal wall, his mind a tangled mess.

’This bed isn’t as simple as it seems.’

As long as it was outside, everything returned to normal.

But while it was inside the Block, everyone would forget Martin.

Mo Ling recalled the empty space in the sea of beds and couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.

’This bed... is it Martin’s existence? Did I strip Martin’s very existence from the world?’ A bold conjecture formed in Mo Ling’s mind.

’What the hell kind of place is Dream Layer 0?’

’Why would just moving a single bed trigger a correction of the entire world?’

’Can the world shown in a dream really affect reality?’

Mo Ling never would have imagined that his actions could have had such terrifying consequences.

And from the looks of it, neither he nor Martin himself had forgotten anything. The change didn’t seem to affect them at all.

But the entire world had directly corrected itself into a version without Martin.

’I’ve really caused a disaster.’

Seeing the color-changing button that had fallen on the floor, Mo Ling picked it up as if possessed and pressed it.

But nothing happened.

’Does it not work inside the Block?’

Mo Ling knew the metal walls of the Block could insulate against many things; perhaps that was also why the button wouldn’t work.

After sitting on the bed for a long time, Mo Ling finally calmed down.

’Martin hasn’t vanished, and the world hasn’t undergone any huge changes for now. I’ll leave it like this for the time being and find a chance to put the bed back later.’

Mo Ling had no idea what kind of butterfly effect the disappearance of Martin’s existence might cause, but for now, there was nothing he could do. He could only maintain the status quo.

Patting the hard bed beneath him, Mo Ling recalled Martin’s advice—

"You need to study your own abilities."

’He was right. My abilities really are a mystery. Such a simple action actually had such a huge impact.’

’I’ll have to be more careful when using my abilities from now on.’

...

To Li Luo, Mo Ling’s questions were just a small interlude. She paid them no mind and simply followed the route toward Oasis City.

The distance shown on the map wasn’t that far, but the actual journey was extremely difficult.

Although the sandstorm had passed, the dunes were still fraught with danger.

The moisture brought by the recent sandstorm had attracted many small animals, and these active critters, in turn, drew in predators.

One creature preyed on the next, and soon enormous beasts began to appear in the vicinity.

A predator resembling a stingray slithered through the dunes, its body hidden beneath the sand as it skimmed the surface in search of prey.

Upon spotting prey, it would shoot down the dune and wrap around its victim like a fast-moving sheet.

Li Luo, advancing alone through the dunes, also became a target for this creature. It seemed humans were on its menu.

Mo Ling, who had just resolved to be more cautious with his powers, had no choice but to intervene, slicing the sand rays that descended upon them in a massive swarm into pieces.

’This counts as studying my abilities, anyway.’