There’s no response. I get impatient and press the girl.
However, she gently moves about, and I cannot touch her.
“‘If you know something’? I don’t know anything, and that’s that — you’re the one who knows something, right? You should be the one who knows about all of this, so why are you acting like you don’t?”
I know something? What is it I know? I become uneasy. But then, like a child trying to get the attention of their parents who are worried over finances or work, the girl suddenly pulls my arm.
It’s faint, the feeling of her fingertips. Her face, dyed in black, might be close to mine, as I can feel her breath. However, no matter how close she gets to me, I cannot see her face.
I don’t know her. Is it because I don’t know her face?
“Hey, when I was trying to express my gratitude earlier, when I said thank you. Well, it’s because you tried to give me that cute hat and scarf. I was so happy. I felt I should be happy. So, thank you.”
The girl speaks with a lisp.
“It’s not just the hat and scarf; you tried to give me several things — delicious food, a warm bed, hugs and kisses. You tried to gift me so many things. You were planning to take my hand and take me to so many places.”
The girl whispers as she pulls me along.
At that moment, the scenery changes.
I’m surprised and stagger. I’m standing somewhere fairly high up. There are blocks, much like children’s toys. And I’m up at the very top. Several of these connected, three-dimensional forms are standing there. They are like stacked toy blocks, but ones of an uncanny size.
If I get careless, lose my footing and fall, I could be crushed flat. Whenever a wind blows through, it knocks me off-balance.
That girl deftly supports me.
It’s a gentle touch. At least this girl is trying to show me some kindness — saying nothing but friendly things like “thank you” to me.
I let my guard down a bit, but without being able to comprehend anything, I remain in a daze.
There are several of these three-dimensional objects, making the scene look like the inside of a toy box. I’ve seen it somewhere before. It’s a place easily accessible from one of those doors. However, the three-dimensional structures there are far too tall and cannot be climbed.
We are up so high, and the girl dyed black keeps me one pace behind her.
Somehow, she can pass through a variety of different worlds.
So it seems, yet we aren’t moving — at least I don’t think we are. I think that this girl might exist anywhere and everywhere. At the heart of this dream, connected to a variety of points. She is there, amidst all of those memories, all of that knowledge.
Omnipresent — everywhere at once.
This girl takes up even more space than anything else in this world of dreams.
At least, that’s what I’m made to think.
“You wanted to visit so many places with me. To go on adventures, holding hands, walking along. But you couldn’t. And because you couldn’t, you have regrets. It was so painful, you couldn’t accept it. Not one of your dreams has come true, so those unfulfilled dreams rot within your heart and mind, distorting and piling up.”
She’s trying to tell me something.
But the words aren’t enough, they’re vague, and they baffle me further.
“You know nothing. It’s all fantasy, restricted to your dreams.”
Still holding my hand, she walks along as if dancing.
Now that our surroundings are no longer pitch-black, I can clearly see her outline. She really does look like a human being that has been dyed black. Her features are vague — the faint form of a girl. Only the hat and scarf are clearly visible.
That’s all that I know.
Is that why those are the only parts that I can see?
“Not knowing makes us uneasy. So everyone reads books and comics. We do research on the net. Watch movies. Listen to the wisest people. Having these kinds of experiences, it’s like we’ve entered some kind of tale, taken a journey, like we can have our own delusions. Your feelings, your heart and dreams, can freely lift you to so many different places. But, if you don’t see it with your own eyes, or feel something with your own hands, then knowledge is just knowledge — it’s just words on a page, splotches of ink, pure imagination. ♪”
The girl pats my head.
Like she’s babying me.
Like I’m a child who has just told her parents about something she discovered on her own.
“No matter how many video game dungeons you take on, items you gather, demons you defeat, or worlds you save — no matter how grand an adventure you have, you won’t advance one step in reality. You still know nothing. Knowing nothing, you merely expand your imagination.”
The scenery changes once more.
Just like the girl was saying, it’s as if we’ve entered the world of some game.
It’s flat, like a game from long ago. On closer inspection, somehow even the girl’s scarf has adjusted to this world’s style, looking like some sort of pixel image. The same touch has been applied to the blocks and rocks, making everything look like ancient ruins.
All of it’s so flat. So shallow and dull. Here and there, things that look like primitive men walk about, but they show no signs of being concerned with us. So even if we defeated these primitive men like in a game, for example, nothing would come of it. No matter how much money you accumulate in a game, how many achievements you unlock, it has absolutely no impact on reality.
The brain reacts to light, color, and sound, creating a feeling of pleasure. That’s the only benefit to games... The primitive reaction, the stimulus, temporarily grants enjoyment. However, it’s just a sensation. It might make you feel good, but that’s all.