Chapter 101.

"Okay, you're really nerding out on me right now. I feel like you've also just completely ruined the mystery behind ghosts and what makes them scary."

"Just because you have a hypothesis about them doesn't really make them any less scary though. They are still a completely incomprehensible entity, that alone is enough to make them scary. If they truly existed, just our lack of understanding towards them, their thought process, and views towards us lower dimensional beings is a scary thing."

"Is that really so?"

"Yes, it is. Because if they truly existed… well, have you seen Attack on Titan?"

"Of course I have. How could I not watch a classic like that?"

I looked at Val with eyes laced with slight trauma and despair for added effect, "Then aren't we just caged by our plane as countless higher dimensional beings are looking down upon us from places we are unaware of? Are they not just watching an amusing sitcom play out before them? We would never be aware of a thing just like how the fictional characters that we create in two-dimensional planes aren't aware that we created them or how we control their lives, decisions, relationships, and emotions, all for our own twisted amusement and entertainment. Perhaps, just like how there are people in our world who fall in love with these two-dimensional characters that we see as being fictional, there exist fourth, fifth, sixth, and up dimensional beings that feel the same way about those nth minus one-dimensional beings below them including us three-dimensional beings."

"Stop trying to act all dramatic. There's no way that's really possible."

"Haha. Right? It's complete nonsense... or are we merely controlled and scripted to believe that way?"

"Does it really matter?"

"It doesn't. Ignorance is bliss after all. It might be best if humanity never uncovers such a despairing truth like that anyways."

"We really got off topic there, didn't we?"

"How did we even get to this point anyways? Weren't we betting about Adele being my neighbor? Our conversation just now really makes me feel like the whole, Adele turns out to be my neighbor, isn't even a big deal anymore."

"Right? What's with us?"

"We actually got so off-topic I didn't even realize when we arrived at my front door."

At some point in our conversation, we went off in our own little world in front of my unit chatting back and forth, completely ignorant of our surroundings. The door to my neighbor's unit was right beside us, only a short distance away. It was presently closed and it was unknown whether anyone was currently inside.

I glanced at Val as I tried to think about how to proceed. She smirked at me like she knew of my internal dilemma and she wore a face that suggested she'd suddenly thought of some sort of fun trick to play. She wrapped her arms around mine, pulled me toward my neighbor's front door, and without giving me a chance to react, she rang the doorbell.

I was slightly flustered and unsure of what I'd say when the tenant answered the door. Regardless of whether it was a random person or Adele, I hadn't come up with a topic or excuse for what we were here for.

From behind the door, I heard the sound of movement, along with a familiar voice call out, "I'm coming. Just give me a sec."

I instinctively tried to flee to my room, but I was blocked from doing so by the woman with the abnormally strong vice grip locked onto my arm. When I looked at her, she had a devious smile plastered on her face.

"Well Mr. Genovese, it's looking like it's going to be my win. Naturally, you can't try to run away and later on claim that you never verified it with your own two eyes to try and invalidate the bet."

"I concede defeat. Please let me leave. I promise b-"

Squeak.

Before I could escape or finish my words, the door flung open wide and I was left petrified. Not because I was shocked by the sudden appearance of the person behind the door, but because right when the door opened, Val simultaneously leaned forward. She pressed her body firmly against mine, pulled me by the tie in her direction, and locked our lips tightly together.

"Eh? Tch. It's just a stupid couple with PDA issues who aren't aware of the appropriate time and place? … Wait… Mister? Is that... you?"

Those were the words I heard from the side after the door opened up. I felt lightheaded when my brain tried to process the present situation. It felt like endless incomprehensible random strings of hexadecimal error codes were popping up non stop in my head from overheating.

It was both embarrassing and definitely not something I ever wanted Adele to see. What if a scene like this jogged her memories or something? Wouldn't that be completely terrifying? It would be the return of the psychotic version of Adele. I didn't want her to return to being that way, I wanted her to find her own happiness. If the old her really returned, I would have nobody left to cry to.

It appeared Val had her own hidden agenda and I couldn't understand her thought process at all. What meaning was there in doing this directly in front of Adele? Was it to prove whether she'd really lost her memories and that Adele wasn't simply acting like she'd forgotten everything?

When Val finally released me, she smiled and said, "Darling~, you're so daring to kiss me so passionately out of nowhere like that."

My face paled the moment the words left her mouth. Are you trying to get me murdered? What if she really was just feigning amnesia? Do you have any idea how dead I would be right now?

Scary! Women are freaking scary!

I nervously looked over to Adele to check on her reaction, only to feel a slight stinging sensation in my heart. She didn't appear to be affected at all. She just looked confused like she didn't understand the situation.

"Mister, what are you doing here? Are you stalking me?"

"Me? What am I doing here? Uh… no, what are you doing here?"

"I live here obviously."

"Darling, why are you acting so flustered. We just came to greet our new neighbor, right?"

"New neighbor? Mister, you live next door?"

"Ah. Uh. Yeah. That's... right."

"How long have you lived there? I just want to make sure you're really not stalking me."

"I moved in over a month ago. I was away for the last two weeks because I had some medical issues pop up."

"Medical issues? You really were hurt from back then after all? Are you okay? Is it all my fault?"