Chapter 154: Boundaries

The Abyss?
Hiroyuki was silent for a moment, then asked somewhat uncertainly, "You're going to the Abyss? ...What is the Abyss?"
"What do you think?" Tregear countered with a question.
"The Mariana Trench," Hiroyuki replied almost instantly, then chuckled himself. "To me, the so-called abyss usually refers to the deepest part of a body of water, so I suppose the only one I know is the Mariana Trench right here on Earth."
"And unusually?"
Hiroyuki pressed his lips together. The thought of it brought him only a profound sense of unease. "If unusually, then it's..." At this point, Hiroyuki faltered, as if the words were right on the tip of his tongue, yet simply refused to come out.
With no other choice, Hiroyuki looked at Tregear as if seeking help.
"It is... a boundary."
Tregear finally spoke. Only then did Hiroyuki notice that Tregear wasn't looking at him; the brilliance in his eyes was fading, muttering to himself as though his mind had drifted far away.
"It is a boundary that exists in all dreams. The dreams of countless living beings are interconnected by the Abyss. In other words, any creature capable of dreaming is connected through dreams and the Abyss to the dreams of all living beings. Once you cross beyond that place, dimensions dissolve, light and darkness lose their original forms, and all concepts return to their primordial state. There lies the origin and truth of everything."
Hiroyuki was momentarily speechless. As he looked at the person before him, he could only feel that his presence was fading, as if he might vanish from the spot at any second.
As for Tregear's explanation, Hiroyuki had no way to refute it, nor could he even join the conversation. He knew nothing of any abyss or dreams. Strictly speaking, the only things he knew of were the parallel space "Emerald Dream" from Azeroth and the material world "Dreamlands" from the Cthulhu mythos, neither of which matched what Tregear was describing.
Through Tregear's subsequent narration—which even carried a hint of complaint—Hiroyuki roughly pieced together what had happened: back then, after Tregear resolved the berserk Snark, his last remaining tie with the planet Cucuola was severed as well. He had originally thought that he and the little Snark would live in seclusion on that planet for a very, very long time. Yet, right now, he no longer had any reason to continue staying here. So, feeling dazed and lost, Tregear left the planet Cucuola, began a aimless interstellar drift, and ultimately arrived at the planet Borges.
It was a mysterious planet with an extraordinarily bizarre gravity. Even the space-time surrounding the planet was distorted, yet it still had not collapsed into a black hole. Under such bizarre gravity, almost no life could adapt to the planetary environment, except... except for a Giant of Light.
And so, Tregear landed on this planet without the slightest bit of pressure. Only after drawing closer did he realize that the supergravity wasn't generated by the planet itself, but by some "entity" lurking upon it... Believing he had found the entrance to the Abyss, he drew closer.
As it turned out—yes, the result left him bitterly disappointed. He did not find the imagined entrance to the Abyss; it was merely a monster sealed here. Through the ancient texts inscribed on the ruins of the sealing structure, Tregear learned the identity of this creature. Although taking the sealed monster into his possession made the trip worthwhile for Tregear, he ultimately failed to find what he was truly looking for.
Hiroyuki's lips twitched slightly. He wanted to ask Tregear: Are you going to look for the entrance to the Abyss, or are you going to commit suicide?

Certainly, he was not going in pursuit of power.
Indeed, at the very moment Tregear was stunned by the berserk Snark, he probably had indeed thought that he needed power, that he wanted power, so that he could stop the Snark's rampage.
Yet immediately afterward, he used his technical prowess and a scientist's methods to resolve the berserk Snark, thereby eliminating the motivational source of his "desire for power." Left with only emptiness and bewilderment in his heart, he had run off to the forbidden zone of life that was planet Borges. You tell me what he went there to do.
Yet, in the end, Hiroyuki left the words unsaid. Moreover, through this journey, Tregear had obscurely set a new goal for his own meaningless, hollow life: to seek the chaotic origin of the universe's beginning, located right within what he believed to be the "Abyss."
Everyone is born empty and devoid of meaning. After all, arriving naked and unprepared into this world, no one is born bearing inherent meaning. Existence exists precisely to fill this meaningless void, making life meaningful and enriching it.
Even if the things stuffed inside aren't all that wonderful, it is still far better than doing nothing and simply letting life revert to emptiness.
"I understand."
Hiroyuki said. Meeting the eyes fixed upon him, the trace of mockery previously concealed within them seemed to withdraw from the depths of his gaze. Perhaps it was because the grand Dao he sought was right before him, making him no longer care for Hiroyuki's arrogant, solemn declaration of "I understand."
"What you mean is that this world is composed of zeros and ones, and you are going to pick apart the source code of this world. And that so-called abyss might just be a decompiler, hidden within what you call 'dreams'."
"..."
Ah, this...
Perhaps the analogy Hiroyuki found was far too unconventional, leaving Tregear unable to find a counterargument for a moment. Anything, once reduced to the macro-level "0" and "1," seemed impossible to break down any further. To call it the origin was truly irrefutable.
What if the truth of this world was perhaps nothing more than underlying code composed of zeros and ones?
Could the so-called light and darkness merely be two different sequences of zeros and ones?
Hiroyuki reached out and grabbed the cuff of Tregear's sleeve, saying earnestly, "Mr.雾崎, if you find the 'truth' you have been searching for, please make sure to come back and tell me."
Hiroyuki looked earnestly at the person before him—whose presence had just been so faint it nearly vanished—as he returned once more to this world.
"Hear the Dao in the morning, and you may die in the evening" was hardly a good thing.

Please, by all means, come back safely.
*
"......Taro, Taro."
In a daze, Taro vaguely heard someone calling his name. He turned his head and was momentarily stunned to see his eldest brother standing upwind, holding a small white porcelain cup, having just woken him up.
...What was with all this smoke and fire?
Only then did Taro abruptly realize that the wind direction had shifted at some unknown point. He withdrew his gaze from the distant dormitory building, and as he turned back, the smoke from the grill billowed straight into his face. He quickly scrambled back two steps, practically fleeing upwind.
Arriving beside his eldest brother, Taro decided this spot was ideal; without needing to constantly look back, he could still see Tregear, Hiroyuki, and the others.
"Are you sure you want to eat this?"
The captain pointed to the skewers Taro was blindly clutching in his hand. They were charred black, making it hard to tell what they were originally supposed to be.
Taro: "..."
Meanwhile, Soya and the others had already fetched various instant ramen, instant rice, small hot pots, and a large thermos of hot water from the cafeteria. Riku held a bowl of instant ramen, carefully picking through the charred potato and mushroom slices that still looked edible and piling them atop his noodle cake.
Truly, one should never expect these adults to produce anything edible.
As expected of the captain, Riku couldn't help but admire him. With such far-sighted vision, he had prepared only instant foods on the island rather than any fresh meat, vegetables, or even an induction cooker.
After all, instant food is truly your permanent home.