“At least now, we’re finally reunited.” Her recollections came to an end here.
Aemeath looked at that group photo and revealed a crescent-moon smile.
A-Yu was right.
Wherever everyone was — that was home.
Not a single person could be missing.
Now, the wounds in her heart had been filled by overflowing happiness.
She was thoroughly content with this.
“Oh my, I should get to bed early too.
Seems like A-Yu’s taking us out tomorrow.”
And so Aemeath swiftly dove into her goose-down bed, wrapped herself tightly in the covers, and in no time at all, drifted into dreamland with a sweet smile on her face.
…
Of course, not everyone could hit the pillow and fall right asleep like Little Ai.
“Can’t sleep…”
How strange.
Wasn’t our little Denia normally the little sleepyhead who loved dozing off more than anything?
How come today, for once, she was uncharacteristically free of drowsiness?
Denia herself didn’t know either.
She glanced at her phone.
It was already past midnight.
“Could it be the effect of staying up late all this time…”
She reviewed her sleep schedule over the past few days.
Good grief.
It was basically sleep during the day, play at night.
She’d truly turned herself into a night owl routine.
Before, in Solaris, it was couldn’t sleep at night.
Now, here, it was didn’t want to sleep at night.
Denia suddenly found this rather comical.
“Wonder if that guy Ling is asleep…
though I think the probability is mostly that he’s not.”
Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, Denia simply threw off her covers and got out of bed.
She didn’t put on slippers, stepping barefoot onto the tile floor.
It was ice-cold and very comfortable.
A faint click sounded.
Denia pushed open her bedroom door and stepped out.
Cat-like, step by careful step, she approached Xiao Ling’s bedroom at the very end.
The door wasn’t locked.
Denia gently pressed down the door handle and quietly pulled it open a crack.
Sure enough, Xiao Ling, this seasoned night owl, was currently gaming on his computer.
He’d just showered.
His somewhat messy hair still carried a bit of dampness.
He wore a black tank top and big shorts.
The exposed biceps were very well-defined.
He looked like the type who exercised often.
His black over-ear headphones were casually slung around his neck.
His entire being was completely focused on his gameplay.
This was the first time she’d thought to come take a peek at Xiao Ling’s night life.
Mouth saying “cut back on late-night gaming,” yet here he was gaming away with gusto.
Truly, a bad guy who was strict with others and lenient with himself.
Denia didn’t plan to indulge him.
She was determined to add a little trouble to his gaming life.
Thus, Old Ling, in the midst of fiercely assaulting Denia’s weekly boss, discovered a certain blueberry mousse cake persistently burrowing into his arms.
‘Hey?
When had this girl come in?’
Xiao Ling felt Denia truly belonged to the cat family.
She’d walked over without making a single sound.
Even though his attention was on the game, that didn’t mean he couldn’t hear the door opening.
So Xiao Ling stopped the movements of his hands and watched as Denia worked hard to burrow into his arms, then as if it were the most natural thing in the world, settled herself down on his lap.
“Someone told me to cut back on late-night gaming?” Denia raised her head and met Xiao Ling’s eyes, using her jade finger to poke his head with exasperation.
“Yet here he is, secretly gaming in the middle of the night?
Didn’t even notice me coming in?”
“I’ve been a night owl for several years now.” Xiao Ling smoothed down Denia’s fur.
“You expect me to change my sleep habits overnight?”
“Then should we cancel going out tomorrow?”
“I’ll sleep earlier.
As for right now~” The corner of Xiao Ling’s mouth curved up slightly.
“Since neither of us can sleep anyway, how about you keep me company and game?”
Denia didn’t reply.
She just leaned a little further back into Xiao Ling’s embrace.
Xiao Ling smiled helplessly and continued operating the computer.
To be honest, if he really were the type of innocent sould who’d never seen big winds and waves, he probably wouldn’t be able to hold back his physiological reactions by now.
Although Xiao Ling often goofed around with fellow fans in the circle, spouting raunchy jokes about wanting to vigorously inject this blueberry mousse cake with cream and whatnot, Xiao Ling himself was perfectly clear in his heart — those could only be immature jokes.
Because losing control of your desires in front of the girl you liked was the number one behavior that ruined the other party’s goodwill.
From the moment they truly descended into reality, this sincere feeling was no longer a one-way street but a two-way road.
Enough with the chicken soup for the soul.
Xiao Ling continued operating his character, fiercely attacking the in-game Denia’s weekly boss.
Meanwhile, Denia quietly used her phone to farm the map. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
After farming the map for a while, Denia looked up and glanced at the computer.
She discovered this guy was still using herself to beat herself up?
“What are you doing?” Denia poked his face in dissatisfaction.
“Why do you keep hitting me?”
“You’re admitting this is you now?” Xiao Ling didn’t explain directly.
He just pointed at the weekly boss Denia, whose stagger bar had been emptied and was now drawing circles on the ground, and counter-questioned.
“It is me, and it isn’t me.” Denia gave an ambiguous answer.
“What did it feel like for you back then?” Xiao Ling brought up this matter casually.
Truthfully, Xiao Ling really did feel terribly heartache for Denia.
She had no past, and even less of a future.
And that Fractsidus Overseer was completely inhuman — wouldn’t rest until this good girl had been squeezed dry of her very last shred of usefulness.
In the end, she could only choose self-exile, atoning for her own mistakes while also using this method to protect the friends who were very important to her.
“My consciousness was very clear.
My body hurt like it was being burned by fire.
Clearly knew what I was doing, yet couldn’t do anything about it.” Gaming as she spoke, Denia very lightly and casually recounted her feelings from that time.
But in truth, even if the Fractsidus Overseer hadn’t controlled her back then, she would still have stood there — just to get an answer she wanted.
She suddenly felt Xiao Ling’s breathing behind her abruptly become somewhat rapid.
So she used her own smooth, soft hand to stroke the hand Xiao Ling had on the mouse, as if to soothe him.
“Didn’t Chisa already say it?
The story in Solaris is already in the past.” Denia raised her hand and, wearing a smile, flicked Xiao Ling’s nose.
“Walking forward together with friends — the present and the future — that’s what’s more precious.”
And of course, the time spent together with you.
Xiao Ling froze for a moment.
Then he put his gentle smile back on and said, “Then would the head coach like to take the field personally?
Think of it as saying goodbye to your past self.”
Saying this, he completely released control of the computer, handing the stage over to Denia.
Denia smiled knowingly.
She promptly took over the keyboard and mouse.
After familiarizing herself with the keyboard and mouse controls under Xiao Ling’s guidance, she once again opened her weekly boss, ready to properly bid farewell to her former self.
(Head Coach is warming up.jpg)
…
“Starlight over the seas.
Scorch through the Void!
(Aemeath)”
“Come… meet your end.
(Chisa)”
“Don’t blink…
you’ll miss the best part!
(Linae)”
“Stars, hear my queries!
(Mornye)”
“I deliver…
merciful death.
(Luuk Herssen)”
“Straight to the stars.
(Sigrika)”
“Radiance no more…
(Denia)”
Behind every character’s Resonance Liberation voice line was a weekly boss Denia being executed.jpg.
Denia felt this method of violently beating up her former, disappointing self was indeed quite stress-relieving.
No wonder she’d seen quite a few videos on Bilibili of characters beating up their own weekly bosses.
After finishing her final weekly boss run, she returned control of the keyboard and mouse to Xiao Ling.
But Xiao Ling didn’t immediately take over.
“I’m done, you know?” Denia softly reminded him.
“Don’t you have one more character you haven’t used?” Xiao Ling teased.
“Our Miko of Flaming Sakura is very strong in-game, you know.”
“Er, er, let’s not…
I know that Miko Hiyuki is very strong…” Denia’s face went a little red, somewhat awkwardly.
‘Xiao Ling, do you have any EQ at all, hello?!
I got PTSD precisely from being slashed by Hiyuki back then, alright?!’ Denia raged internally.
Seeing his little scheme had succeeded, Xiao Ling didn’t make things harder for her.
He took over the keyboard and mouse and logged off.
“Not playing anymore?”
“Switching to a different game.”
Denia nodded and continued using her phone to farm the map.
“How many pulls have you done?” Xiao Ling asked about Denia’s gacha situation while starting up the game.
“Over a hundred pulls or so.
Just ten more and I’ll have her.” Denia tapped her cherry lips with her finger in a pondering pose.
“Hit full pity?”
“About to max out her Resonance Chain.”
“Oh come on, I hate lucky players!” This time it was Xiao Ling’s turn to be utterly exasperated.
A series of dun-dun-dun-dun-dun sounds rang out from the computer.
Denia briefly shifted her attention to the screen.
“Delta Force?” She asked, puzzled.
“What kind of game is this?”
“You’ll know once I demonstrate a round.” Xiao Ling chuckled.
Xiao Ling queued with randoms.
The three of them each picked their best characters and entered the match.
“Are you guys about to go rob someone?” Denia’s curiosity was piqued.
“You could understand it that way.”
Had to say, Xiao Ling was indeed a gaming god.
In this game that demanded intense concentration, he could still direct the flow of battle and glide like a dragon while holding a girl in his arms.
It was just tough luck for the two teammates in his squad.
Hearing that extra soft mousse-cake voice line coming through Xiao Ling’s mic — the envy, jealousy, and hatred were real.
After Xiao Ling, alone, led his two random teammates in clearing out three enemy squads, just as they were about to pack up and extract, they suddenly heard the classic ceasefire signal of FPS games.
Xiao Ling maneuvered his character over to look.
It was a butterfly mouse.
When he found her, she was holding up a “Happy Birthday” sign and dancing.
Xiao Ling used gestures to signal her to follow him and led this adorable butterfly mouse off to eat leftovers.
“You’re letting her go?” Denia asked, puzzled.
She’d clearly seen that when Xiao Ling faced others, it was always two shots to the chest and one to the head, no questions asked, direct elimination.
“Sort of a game quirk, I guess?” Xiao Ling patiently explained.
“For players who proactively sue for peace like this, we usually let them go.
Even if you kill them, you might not necessarily get anything good off their bodies.”
“Robbing the rich to aid the poor?”
Big miss, how had this search-and-loot extraction shooter turned into something like ancient chivalrous bandits doing heroic deeds in your words?
But in the end, Xiao Ling tacitly approved her interpretation.
After taking the butterfly mouse to eat leftovers, the butterfly mouse likewise opened a keycard room for them as thanks.
Finally, these four strangers, brought together by chance, were about to happily pull the switch and extract.
But not every story’s ending could be perfectly beautiful.
Just thirty seconds before they were about to extract, this poor butterfly mouse was sent back to the operations center by a cold shot from the direction of Garden.
“Oh my, she died.” Denia watched the butterfly mouse, who’d just been enthusiastically interacting with Xiao Ling and the others, get taken out by a single shot.
She paused briefly, then timely fanned the flames.
“So what are you planning to do?”
Xiao Ling smiled and asked for Denia’s opinion.
Denia said nothing.
She simply made a throat-slitting gesture with her hand.
Xiao Ling understood tacitly.
He turned and spoke into the mic to his two teammates, who were already fuming.
“Next switch, we extract.
First, we’re taking this team of rats who fired that cold shot and offering them up as libation for that butterfly mouse.”
“I’m naming my price!”
“Deploying bomb!”
“Trust my professional expertise.
I never miss!”
A man’s tacit understanding was just that simple.
In an instant, all three activated their abilities at the same time to hunt them down.
…
Denia now knew that the suffering she’d once endured had all been a script written for her by others.
An arranged fate always makes one feel powerless.
At that time, it was probably because of this that she’d wanted to just give up on herself and walk to the end of her life, right?
Though in the end, she was still saved by the Rover.
She always felt that life now was so beautiful it felt unreal.
She’d even developed a suspicion — was she truly worthy of receiving this beauty?
But Ling had simply told her this:
“Would the head coach like to take the field personally?
Think of it as saying goodbye to your past self.”
The solid embrace behind her was real.
The friends sharing meals with her were real.
This world’s goodwill toward her was also real.
If that was the case, she had no reason to continue wallowing in the scars of the past.
That test subject of the Fractsidus was already the past.
Now, she was just an ordinary girl named Denia.
She could freely go make friends.
Freely go eat delicious things.
And freely go love someone.
That person she loved would resonate with her past self, would treasure her current self like something precious, and would want to walk toward tomorrow together with her future self.
There was nothing more blissful than this, was there?
So you see, a person can never truly empathize with their former self.
Because one day, they will grow, and then smile away their past self.
But right now, she seemed to be a little sleepy.
She thought about just falling asleep like this.
That dummy Ling would only helplessly chuckle a couple of times, then carry her back to her room anyway.
And so she truly did nestle into Xiao Ling’s arms and fall asleep, just like that.
It wasn’t until Xiao Ling pulled himself out of his gaming state that he discovered Denia was already sound asleep in his arms.
“Hey, this girl.
Tired but won’t go back to her own room.” Xiao Ling smiled helplessly and complained, then scooped her up by the waist and carried her back to her own room.
Lightly and carefully, he placed her on the bed.
After tucking her in properly, he said “goodnight” and quietly left the room.
This lovely girl, who had once never believed happiness existed, had now, at last, obtained the happiness that belonged to her.
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