【Interstellar Contract Magician】Ruyuanke

I've been feeling a bit dazed lately. I don't know why, but sometimes my mind goes blank. I can't concentrate.

This trance-like feeling always strikes me unexpectedly, as if a certain area of ​​my mind has been briefly emptied of energy. It's not true fatigue, but rather an inexplicable sluggishness that makes my mind feel like it's stuck in a slow-moving quagmire.

Sometimes, I'd lose focus during training, only to snap back to reality at the instructor's voice. Sometimes, I'd stare at the words on the screen, familiar phrases taking a few seconds to process. Even in the beast control class, standing next to the students controlling the beasts, I couldn't react quickly enough, just staring blankly at the confrontation.

This state of mind made me a little uneasy. Although the pace of life at the military academy was rigorous, I wasn't exhausted enough to become distracted. But if it wasn't fatigue, then what was affecting me?

I don't like this feeling of being out of control.

The trance-like states became more and more frequent, and could not be avoided even during physical training.

During long-distance running, my steps would occasionally go astray, as if my brain had not given my body timely instructions; during strength training, the equipment in my hands became heavy, and my grip was inexplicably unstable; during combat training, even though I could clearly see my opponent's movements, my body's reaction was a beat too late, and I was knocked back heavily.

"What's going on?" The instructor frowned and looked at me.

"Nothing." I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus, trying to ignore the momentary blankness in my mind. But the subtle sluggishness in my body still existed, as if there was some subtle, yet lingering interference that prevented me from fully recovering my former fluency and sharpness.

Others also noticed my abnormality. Qianmo stood not far away, looking at me quietly with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.

"You haven't been acting right lately." He said calmly.

I didn't respond, only lowering my head to adjust my wristband, my fingertips tightening. Something was definitely wrong, I knew it better than anyone else. But what was the reason? Or—had I experienced something similar before?

There seems to be some vague shadow deep in my memory, but I can't capture it no matter what.

This situation worsened unknowingly.

At first, I just felt more sleepy at night, my light sleep becoming heavier, and when I woke up, it was already bright daylight. Then, my lunch breaks became longer than before, and even between classes, I would feel a moment of daze, my eyelids so heavy that they seemed about to close at any moment.

I should be brimming with energy after training, but lately, every time I finish, all I want to do is curl up in a corner, even if it's just for a few minutes with my eyes closed. But when I do close my eyes, a lot more time has passed by the time I open them again.

This state of mind made me vaguely uneasy. My physical condition had always been excellent, and I'd never been so easily fatigued. But now, even my normal thinking seemed to have slowed down.

Qianmo would occasionally glance over at me, as if noticing something was amiss with me. But he didn't ask any further questions. After one training session, he simply walked over to me and handed me a bottle of energy drink.

"Have you been...very sleepy lately?" His voice remained calm.

I glanced at him, saying nothing. I unscrewed the bottle cap and took a long gulp. The slightly sweet taste of the energy drink melted on my tongue, bringing with it a vague sense of clarity.

"Yeah," I finally admitted, "kind of."

He looked at me worriedly: "Are you going to have extra training tonight?"

"..."

I clutched the bottle of energy drink, silent for a moment. Logically, the training load wasn't excessive; other students were doing the extra training without issue, so I shouldn't be. But my current state was definitely a little unusual.

"Forget it." I raised my hand and rubbed my brow, my voice a little low, "I won't add you today."

Qianmo seemed relieved, but stared at me with a bit of worry: "Go back and rest early."

"Yeah." I responded casually, shaking the drink bottle in my hand, "Thank you."

He nodded, said nothing more, and stood there watching me leave.

But I seemed to have forgotten something. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a strange room and a strange bed.

I blinked, my gaze slowly focused on the ceiling. It wasn't the familiar metal panels of my dorm room, but a smooth, light gray ceiling. Soft lighting nestled around the edges, casting a slightly cool hue. The air was thick with the faint scent of disinfectant, and my nose felt incredibly dry.

The room was silent, a silence that made me uneasy. I twitched my fingers to make sure I could move, then slowly raised my arm and placed my palm against my forehead. My skin felt slightly cool. My body didn't ache, but my mind felt incredibly slow, as if something important was stuck in the cracks of my memory, and I couldn't recall it.

I pulled myself up and noticed I'd changed my clothes. No longer a training suit, I was wearing a loose, light blue garment, resembling a hospital gown. I looked down at the white sheet covering me, then around me—a tidy room, an operating table filled with medical equipment, and a closed door in the corner.

This is not my dormitory.

I frowned, trying to recall my last memory—I refused the extra training and said goodbye to Qianmo. What happened next? Did I go back to the dormitory? Or...what happened?

I pressed my temples hard, trying to force myself to remember, but my mind was still blank. It was as if someone had forcibly plucked a part of my memory away, leaving behind a bottomless black hole.

This feeling makes me inexplicably irritated.

I took a deep breath, threw back the covers, and stepped out of bed. The cool sensation of my bare feet on the smooth floor instantly sobered me up. Just as I was about to take a step, I heard footsteps outside the door, steady and rhythmic, approaching slowly.

The door was pushed open and a figure walked in.

It's the paths.

When he saw me standing by the bed, he frowned slightly, then sighed softly, walked up to me, put his hand on my shoulders, and asked me to sit back on the bed.

"Don't move." His tone was still calm, but it revealed a rare hint of helplessness.

I stared at him, opened my mouth, and said in a hoarse voice: "...What's wrong with me?"

Qianmo looked at me, silent for a moment, and then slowly said: "You fainted, in the training ground."

I frowned and tried to recall, but my mind was still blank, as if someone had erased a memory.

Qianmo stood in front of me, wanting to say something but stopping himself, with a rare hint of hesitation in his eyes.

"Do you... have something to say?" I stared at him, trying to read something from his expression.

He was silent for a while, and finally spoke: "Have you been in a bad mental state recently?"

I was slightly startled, then lowered my head and stared at my fingers.

It wasn't something I hadn't noticed. The trance, the memory gaps, the longer sleep times... but I had never investigated further, even deliberately ignored these abnormalities.

"...I'm okay." I answered perfunctorily, curling my fingers unconsciously.

Qianmo stared at me, seemingly unsatisfied with my answer. He pursed his lips, as if he wanted to press the issue further, or perhaps he was choosing his words.

"You should get checked out." His voice was soft, yet it carried a rare seriousness. "This isn't a solution."

I was stunned and looked up at him.

Qianmo's eyes were calm, but there was a hint of imperceptible worry.

"You..." His expression was a little unnatural. I looked at him in confusion. "Your clothes... I helped you change them..." His face flushed, "I didn't mean to do that!"

I froze for a moment, then looked down at my clothes—they weren't my usual training clothes. The loose fabric carried a faint scent of detergent, and I could even feel the softness of the fibers, tanned by the sun.

Qianmo stood there, his ears red and his whole body tense, as if he had done something terribly wrong, yet he refused to run away. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, "You didn't mean to? What's going on?"

"You... were unconscious at the time, and your clothes are soaked." He sounded a little embarrassed, and subconsciously clenched his fists, as if to give himself courage. "If you don't change, you'll easily get a fever."

I tilted my head and touched my forehead. It wasn't hot, and I felt much better than before I passed out. But he looked like he was suffocating, his face slowly turning from red to pale, and he was extremely nervous.

"So, you changed it for me?" I deliberately dragged out the last syllable and stared at him.

“…” He pursed his lips and nodded silently, his fingers tightly grasping the corner of his clothes, as if he was ready to run away at any time.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, Qianmo, I'm just checking." I stretched lazily, a smile in my eyes, "It's not like I don't have eyes to know that you didn't do anything to me."

He finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the embarrassment on his face still lingered, and he muttered in a low voice: "Can you please not take it for granted..."

I blinked, then suddenly moved closer, looking at him with interest. "Then why are you blushing?"

“…” Qianmo turned his head away abruptly, his ears red as if bleeding.

I raised an eyebrow.

He seemed to notice my gaze, his blush deepened, and his lips moved slightly, but he said nothing.

I couldn't help but chuckle, "You look like you're afraid I'll misunderstand you."

Qianmo said nothing, but he didn't dare to look me in the eye. His hands hung low, as if he was afraid I would see through him. His silence and nervousness made me want to tease him.

"Or did I really misunderstand?" I smiled mischievously, my eyes swept over his face playfully, and joked, "Maybe you really have something on your mind."

Qianmo shook his head almost subconsciously and whispered, "No."

I suppressed my smile and looked at him seriously, seeming to sense his inner panic. This sincerity made me feel a little reluctant to continue teasing him.

"Okay, I won't say anything." I sighed softly, turned and walked to the table next to me, and picked up a bottle of water. "But you don't have to be so nervous. Even if something really happened, I wouldn't blame you."

Qianmo murmured a response, still not daring to look at me, as if he had hidden himself in a corner of silence. I couldn't help but frown, suddenly confused: this boy always seemed to carry a subtle sense of repression and uneasiness.

After a pause, I decided to break the silence: "Are you surprised?"

Qianmo's shoulders trembled slightly, as if he hadn't expected me to ask so directly. He raised his head, his eyes flickering for a few seconds, as if he was weighing whether to speak or not. Finally, he nodded lightly, his tone a little low: "Some... a little."

I couldn't help but smile, put down the bottle, walked closer to him, and whispered: "When you look at me like that, I thought you were thinking about something."

Qianmo pursed his lips and turned his head slightly, looking a little embarrassed: "I... just didn't expect you to be so frank."

I raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit complicated. "Frank? Do you mean I'm not hiding anything, or do you mean I accidentally said something I shouldn't have?"

He was silent for a moment, as if thinking for a long time, and finally responded in a low voice: "No...it's the way you say it."

There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice, as if he didn't quite understand why he felt that way.

I stared at him with a probing look in my eyes: "What do you mean?"

Qianmo finally raised his eyes and looked at me. There was a fleeting firmness in his eyes, as if he wanted to say something but didn't dare to say it out loud. "You... aren't afraid that others will see what you're thinking."

My heartbeat quickened slightly. This topic, coming out of his mouth, didn't sound so ordinary anymore. I frowned slightly, a hint of doubt rising in my heart: "Are you saying... I'm too straightforward?"

"No..." he replied in a low voice, his eyes flickering, "I just think... you are never afraid to expose yourself."

"It's not that easy to expose..." I muttered softly, "But I'm curious how you found out." I was very sure about how flat my chest was, and it was almost impossible to tell my gender without a close look.

His eyes dodged: "Body...body proportions."

I raised an eyebrow, feeling a subtle shift in my mind. Body proportions? That was a strange statement, totally unlike anything he'd say. Could he have figured it out from that kind of detail?

"Oh? Body proportions?" I asked casually, a hint of joking at the corner of my mouth. "So, are you also trying to say that my movements also reveal something?"

Qianmo's face flushed, and he turned his head away almost immediately. "No... I just felt that your figure and movements were indeed a little different."

I couldn't help but laugh, feeling a little relieved. This kind of thing might have sounded a bit offensive, but he said it so carefully, even a little at a loss.

"Do you think... I'm not 'masculine' enough?" I deliberately emphasized the word "masculine" with a hint of provocation in my voice.

He was stunned for a moment, not daring to look me in the eye, and said in a low voice, "That's not what I meant...it's just that you look a little special, not quite the same as the others."

"Hmm?" I walked closer, deliberately forcing him closer, staring at him sharply, "So what do you think of me being 'special'?"

He seemed stunned, staring at me blankly, clearly at a loss. After a moment, he whispered, "I don't know. I don't think you're like everyone else."

I stood in front of him, a playful smile still on my lips: "So, what is in the eyes of this 'special' me?"

Qianmo was silent for a few seconds, as if he was fascinated by my gaze. Finally, he spoke carefully: "There are things in your eyes... that others can't see."

That sentence was like a key that suddenly opened a door in my heart.