Volume 1, Chapter 8: All Is but a Dream

Since this is a transfer of consciousness, the subject’s physical body will remain completely unharmed. The process of time travel is more akin to a purposeful, conscious lucid dream; as long as you do not wish to wake, you may sleep for as long as you like. At that point, whether it is to escape the burden of heavy studies, to reunite with long-lost loved ones, or to learn the winning numbers for the next lottery, everything can be realized. Is this not the afterlife, the rebirth, that humanity has longed for? That is why I named it ‘The Other Shore’!”

“And this plan, which allows everyone to have their wishes fulfilled, is what I call the ‘Other Shore Flower’ project.”

The students in the audience erupted into an instant uproar. After all, this was the sort of thing seen only in films. However, Ran Yi quickly calmed down. Although he did not grasp the profound logic of quantum mechanics, he was familiar with the basic theoretical foundations, and he soon spotted the flaw.

“Professor Hu, I do not really buy into the feasibility of ‘The Other Shore.’ Although you have proposed many grand concepts, as everyone knows, the force of quantum entanglement is limited by the observer. Simply put, when no one is observing, matter can indeed maintain a quantum state, but when an observer is added, matter rapidly collapses into a confirmed particle form. It is just like Schrödinger’s cat with the lid opened; people only need one glance to know whether the cat is alive or dead. In your time-travel experiment, nearly everyone is an observer. It is impossible to maintain a quantum state during the process.”

However, Ran Yi’s aggressive questioning seemed to play right into Hu Chuan’s hands. He continued to smile faintly.

“This is precisely the purpose of my visit. To create stable quantum pairs for ‘The Other Shore,’ I need to recruit volunteers.”

“This student’s thinking is indeed sharp; he must have read quite a few books related to physics,” Hu Chuan said, seemingly praising Ran Yi sincerely, yet his words implied that Ran Yi’s questions had been within his expectations all along.

“As he said, the observer influences quantum entanglement. But what if we do not open the box containing Schrödinger’s cat? As long as no one observes the cat, it remains in a quantum state between life and death. In other words, the participants in ‘The Other Shore’ will enter a sealed experimental device. Once the experiment concludes and the subject leaves the device independently, we will use certain methods to specially process their memories of the time travel. This way, no one will know what actually happened during that journey, and no one will interfere with the stably formed quantum pair.”

“Therefore, I only need enough volunteers to help us produce more stable quantum pairs. Once the quantum pairs reach a certain scale, those who enter ‘The Other Shore’ afterward will be able to truly achieve unobstructed time travel.”

Even knowing it was likely an empty promise, Ran Yi’s questions had been perfectly answered by Professor Hu. At least on a theoretical level, there was no room for him to challenge it.

“Then why choose us, a group of college students with no social experience?” a male student in the crowd asked.

Professor Hu smiled slightly. “Having no social experience is precisely your most precious trait. College students have acquired certain social capabilities and are developing their own sets of values, yet you lack deep-seated malice. You will not act recklessly during the experiment, nor will you bring too much trouble to ‘The Other Shore.’ Relatively simple minds are also conducive to the formation of more stable quantum pairs.”

“Are there any side effects to participating in the experiment?” another girl asked.

Hu Chuan gestured for the young woman beside him to take the stage.

“This is my assistant, Song Qi, a core researcher of ‘The Other Shore.’ During the design process, she has personally entered the experimental apparatus countless times. You might as well ask her for her thoughts.”

Song Qi smiled brilliantly. After taking the microphone, she spoke without hesitation: “To be honest, it is quite dangerous; it is as thrilling as riding a roller coaster. Time travel requires a powerful will to support it, which is indeed not an easy task for college students. However, everyone need not worry; after waking up, everything that happened will be nothing more than a dream.”

“A dream? Doesn’t that mean everything I experience in there is fake?” a student from the audience asked.

Song Qi replied, “Classmate, then how can you prove that the world we are living in now is real? Trust me, the authenticity of the world inside ‘The Other Shore’ far exceeds your imagination. Interested students should definitely sign up!”

*Tch... so in the end, you still wake up.* The students in the audience began to whisper among themselves.

In truth, most people felt the same way as Ran Yi; few were truly willing to volunteer. After all, they were college students; even if they lacked social experience, they did not want to gamble with their own safety. Moreover, the “Other Shore” that Professor Hu spoke of had lived only in his presentation from start to finish—they had not even seen a single piece of physical equipment. Who knew if these so-called cutting-edge technologies could actually be realized?

Some even suspected that Hu Chuan’s display was an anti-fraud campaign arranged by the school administration, just waiting to see which students would take the bait.

Sure enough, after the meeting ended, Song Qi shouted for volunteers several times on stage, but not a single student came forward. Ran Yi also moved slowly out of the lecture hall, holding the attitude of someone watching a farce.

“If this really isn’t an anti-fraud campaign, what is the school thinking, letting a charlatan like this hold a lecture? They should be more focused on digging into the case, don’t you think, Tang Hui... eh?”

Only then did Ran Yi turn around, discovering that Tang Hui had not followed him out. Could she be angry because of their earlier disagreement?

He ran back, searching through the dispersing crowd, but he checked the classroom, the hallways, the playground, and the restrooms—Ran Yi searched everywhere, but Tang Hui was nowhere to be found.

The old library was empty; where could she have gone?

Ran Yi suddenly remembered that Jin Jingyang had also disappeared around the time of the evening classes. He sprang up and bolted out the door, sprinting toward the school gate.

To his surprise, however, as he neared the school entrance, he saw Tang Hui.

Even more surprising was that Tang Hui was sitting in a black sedan, and inside that car sat two other people—Hu Chuan, who had just given the lecture, and his assistant, Song Qi.

“How could she be with them?” This thought left Ran Yi stunned in place for a moment.

By the time he regained his senses, the black sedan had already left the school, driving into the night.

How could this be... No matter what, Ran Yi could not believe that the brilliant Tang Hui, who had deduced the Jin Jingyang case with such meticulous reasoning, would actually believe in such an absurd experiment.

He would rather believe that Tang Hui was just sulking because of their argument.

However, after returning to his dormitory, Ran Yi received a timed message from Tang Hui.

“Xiao Yi, do you know why I woke up? Because the other me killed me. The world is not real; everything is nothing more than a dream.”