Chapter 188

188: Main Quest

Throughout the entire afternoon of classes, Lina did not listen to a single word.

After all, these were lessons she had learned long ago. Listening to them again would only put her to sleep. So Lina simply took advantage of the time to use detection magic to scan the surrounding environment.

The results were exactly as Lina had expected. The detection magic, which should have had a range of at least three kilometers in radius, was now completely restricted to the orphanage grounds. Anything beyond the orphanage was like a void, impossible to detect.

To verify her hypothesis more accurately, Lina even made a special trip to the orphanage gate during the break between classes.

The result was that although she could see the outside scenery from within the orphanage, she could not run out no matter what. It was like being trapped in an endless loop. No matter how she ran, she could not reach the reality beyond the gate. When she turned her head, she would find herself still standing in the same spot.

After that, Lina spent some time exploring the exact boundaries of this illusion. It included the courtyard and the back hill, basically all the areas that nominally belonged to the orphanage in this vicinity.

Analyzing from the nature of illusions, this type of environment necessarily had a "main quest" running through it from beginning to end. Just like classic Japanese RPG games, only by completing the "main quest" could Lina escape this illusion.

As for what exactly the "main quest" was... based on Lina's guess, it most likely had something to do with Jasmine's birthday.

Judging from appearances, this was probably the time when she and Jasmine were seven or eight years old.

This time period... unfortunately, Lina could no longer remember clearly if anything special had happened.

The flow of time within an illusion was generally slower than in reality. She would have to take it one step at a time.

……

Over the course of the next hour, Lina tried communicating with the other children at the orphanage.

Although she could not accurately remember the personalities of every child from the orphanage back then, judging solely from the reactions of the children and teachers, the scale and performance of this illusion... was truly overpowered.

The entire orphanage, over a hundred people, were all living their lives in an orderly fashion just like real, living people...

Illusions were generally formed based on the memories of the person caught in them. But given Lina's memories, which had already been almost completely forgotten... trying to create an illusion of this level was absolutely impossible.

Moreover, when she tried communicating with these former teachers and friends, one history teacher even remarked that Lina seemed to have grown a little taller.

This meant that the people existing within this illusion possessed intelligence even higher than Lina had imagined.

Therefore, after going around in a circle, Lina had no other leads apart from admiration for this illusion.

At this moment, Lina was lying on her bed in the dormitory with vacant eyes, looking utterly despondent.

This dormitory room was also exactly the same as the one she remembered living in at the orphanage as a child. Simple white wallpaper, two large beds placed separately, and the rest consisted of paired sets of daily furniture.

As for why all the furniture in Lina's room came in pairs... that was of course because she and Jasmine lived together.

This was one of the "privileges" of having a Bishop as an adoptive father. The other children at the orphanage were crammed four or five to a room, while she and Jasmine had a room to themselves.

But today was a bit strange... based on Lina's past impressions, at this time of day, Jasmine should have already finished dinner and returned to the room to study. But today, Lina had already brought dinner back, and Jasmine was still nowhere to be seen.

Not to mention, today was her birthday.

"Abnormal... absolutely abnormal..."

Lina pondered while taking small bites of bread.

Based on her past impressions, every time Jasmine had a birthday, the teachers at the orphanage would buy her a cake to celebrate. But today something was off. Although the teachers at the orphanage had still given Jasmine birthday presents and offered their blessings, there was no sign of the usual birthday party preparations.

And most importantly... as soon as the afternoon classes ended today, Jasmine had hurriedly left the classroom, as if she was anxious about something.

Lina had always been a bold yet careful person. Combining this with the truths she had learned from Jasmine in reality today, Lina suddenly felt like she had figured out what the "main quest" of this illusion was!

With a little "heave-ho," she jumped off the bed, wanting to run out and look for Jasmine. But instead, she tripped over the textbook she had casually tossed on the floor and fell onto the ground with a "thud."

"Ouch, ouch, ouch... huh? What is this?"

Lina rubbed her head in pain. Suddenly, her gaze landed on something hidden under her bed. Curiously, she pulled it out and discovered it was actually a small white box.

What was this? She did not recognize it...

Lina opened the box doubtfully to take a look. The moment she saw the item inside, her pupils dilated, filled with disbelief.

"Th-this is..."

Lina reached out with trembling hands and carefully picked up the item lying quietly in the box.

It was a finely made photograph in a picture frame.

And there were only two people in the photograph.

It was her and Jasmine.

In the photo, she was leaning against Jasmine with a big smile on her face, making a large "V" sign at the camera.

The Jasmine beside her, on the other hand, looked somewhat at a loss. Her expression was impossible to tell whether she was crying or laughing, and the "V" sign she made looked quite stiff.

Lina remembered what this was.

This was the birthday present she had prepared when she was little, intended for Jasmine's eighth birthday.

This photo had originally been taken by a photographer who had come to visit and offer condolences at the orphanage a while back. That photographer had originally planned to just take two group photos of the children. But after Lina's persistent pleading, he agreed to take a separate photo of just Lina and Jasmine together.

Since Jasmine's birthday was coming soon, Lina wanted to give her a birthday present with commemorative significance. It just so happened that photographer had come to the orphanage. Lina suddenly had an idea and decided to take a nice photo to have developed and give to Jasmine.

Actually, she had also prepared some pocket money at the time, thinking that if the photographer did not agree, she would pay him to help take the photo. But after hearing Lina's intention, that kind-hearted photographer chose to take the photo for her for free.

He even told Lina that if one photo did not turn out well, he could take a second one, a third one, until Lina was satisfied.

But after all, this was a secret birthday present. If too many photos were taken, Jasmine might notice something was up. So Lina decisively chose this first photo as the birthday present for Jasmine.