I'm Trapped in the Block

The Little Elf floated to one side and sat down on the current.

Though it had always seemed so optimistic, it now looked utterly dejected.

"My wish is coming true. I should be happy," the Little Elf muttered to itself.

"I don’t even have to make it happen myself. Someone will help me, slowly bringing it to fruition. All I have to do is watch. So why am I still not happy?"

The Little Elf looked deeply troubled.

Mo Ling watched it, unsure of what he should do.

The historical phantom had already revealed much to Mo Ling: the emergence of Oasis City, the origins of Li Xiangyi, and the birth of the Wishing Spring. The only thing he couldn’t understand was this Little Elf.

It was born from a golden light that even the creatures of the Purple Veil feared, and it possessed the powerful ability to both seize and grant wishes.

You could even say it was a lifeform capable of manipulating wishes.

Everything about the Little Elf was shrouded in mystery.

’But this unknown being before me is actually contemplating whether it’s happy or not?’

"My future self... do I look happy?"

The Little Elf suddenly looked up and asked Mo Ling.

"You don’t know? Can’t you see the future?" Mo Ling retorted, confused.

"I can only see parts of it, and I can’t see myself in it," the Little Elf said, shaking its head without hesitation.

Mo Ling didn’t answer immediately, his mind drifting back.

The future Little Elf seemed to be constantly granting the wishes of Oasis City’s children, its face always adorned with a smile.

When it interacted with the children, its tone was always gentle, without a hint of impatience.

Scenes from his memory surfaced one after another.

This also reminded Mo Ling of how the future Little Elf’s smile would vanish the instant someone lied.

The Little Elf would create relics with unknown side effects as punishment for the lies.

Thinking of this, Mo Ling asked curiously, "What happens if someone lies and doesn’t make a wish according to their heart’s true desire?"

Hearing Mo Ling’s question, the Little Elf paused. "So my future self encounters a situation like that."

It mulled this over for a moment before answering, "If they don’t make a wish from the heart, then I can’t acquire their wish. That means the price hasn’t been paid, so I suppose I’d just ask them to leave? Is that what my future self does?"

Faced with the Little Elf’s questioning gaze, Mo Ling had no choice but to tell it what he had seen.

After listening to Mo Ling’s explanation, the Little Elf lowered its head.

"My future self actually does that... A wish is a sacred thing. It must have been very angry."

"But I can understand why. My future self must tamper with the relics given to the liars, making them pay the price they deserve. It’s to prevent being taken advantage of."

As it spoke, the Little Elf’s voice trailed off, and it lowered its head. "So I’m still not happy in the end."

Mo Ling didn’t know how the Little Elf had come to such a conclusion. Thinking it must be a misunderstanding, he quickly explained, "The liars are just a small minority. From what I saw, it seemed to be smiling quite happily."

The Little Elf remained dejected. "I hope so."

As if it had realized something, it sat there for a long time without speaking.

While the Little Elf was lost in thought, Mo Ling continued to observe the familiar, watery space. Droplets of water passed right through his body without any sensation.

He reached out to catch a drop, but there was no familiar sensation of touch, only a grasp of damp, slick vapor.

’Still just an illusion.’

’The concentration of this illusory mist seems very high.’

’Could the concentration of the mist be related to how far back in time I’ve gone?’

’The higher the concentration, the further back in time?’

Mo Ling furtively teleported a stream of water into the Block.

And just like that, a puddle of water SPLASHED onto the metal floor.

’My teleportation ability really can penetrate time and illusions.’

This reminded Mo Ling of what Martin had told him: that his teleportation ability seemed capable of creating things that didn’t exist out of thin air.

Turning illusion into reality.

Mo Ling then remembered the time he’d hit the bird with the can.

’Can reality also become illusion?’

’Or was it never an illusion to begin with?’

’I need to find something to test this,’ Mo Ling thought, glancing around. The only thing he saw was the dazed Little Elf.

The only thing here that could possibly connect to the future was the Little Elf.

After much hesitation, Mo Ling decided to act.

Although the Little Elf was full of mystery, it seemed to be a relatively friendly creature, and they had been able to communicate without any conflict.

"Can you do me a favor?" Mo Ling asked, breaking the silence.

The Little Elf, shaken from its thoughts, paused for a moment before looking at Mo Ling.

"Do you want me to grant your wish, too? I can’t see your wish, so I can’t grant it. You’ll have to fulfill it yourself," it said apologetically. "You seem... empty. As if you have no wishes at all."

Mo Ling was taken aback.

’Empty?’

He thought for a moment. The Block was indeed empty, with only him inside.

’But aren’t I the Block person right now?’

After a moment’s thought, Mo Ling decided not to get hung up on it.

"I’m not asking you to grant a wish."

"Then what is it you want me to do?" The Little Elf seemed quite expectant. "Do I have another use?"

Ignoring the Little Elf’s odd-sounding last question, Mo Ling took a few steps forward and made his request. "I’d like you to take something for me."

"Take something?" The Little Elf was puzzled.

"Yes."

Mo Ling shifted his perspective into the Block and began to search.

The inside of the Block was a bit messy now. Martin’s bed was in one corner with a button resting on it. A large pile of food was stacked in the corner beside the bed, and another corner held various miscellaneous items Mo Ling had collected.

The last corner was left as open space for Mo Ling to move around in.

The Block itself was spotless; the teleportation ability had swept away every speck of dust.

His gaze swept across the Block’s interior for a moment before he spotted an item.

A can of cola.

Mo Ling often used this can of cola to practice the speed of his teleportation ability, tossing it into the air and catching it on its way down.

However, he would often get distracted for one reason or another, and the can was now badly battered and dented. The aluminum was covered in scars, and its surface was covered in all sorts of strange scratches.

’This will do.’

In the blink of an eye, Mo Ling was holding the can of cola.

"Please take this can of cola for me. If you see me in the future, or if you see a Block-shaped relic, please give this to him."

With that, Mo Ling handed the can of cola to the Little Elf.

The Little Elf took the can with both hands, examining it for a moment before asking curiously, "Why are you carrying this around?"

"For an experiment," Mo Ling said nonchalantly.

"Alright." The Little Elf didn’t hesitate. It placed the can into the nearby current, and a stream of water glowing with golden light enveloped it protectively. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Do you need any payment?" Mo Ling asked, a bit worried.

He was terrified the Little Elf would make some exorbitant demand. His request sounded simple, but in practice, it involved many uncontrollable factors.

Especially since he was dealing with an unknown, relic-based lifeform.

"No need. Thank you for trusting me." The Little Elf actually bowed to Mo Ling. "It’s hardly any trouble at all."

Hearing this, Mo Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

He just wanted to see if introducing a real object into this historical phantom could, in turn, affect reality once more.

An aluminum can takes two hundred years to decompose.

If the experiment was a success, this would be a can of cola that had traveled through time.