"Big Brother, we made a promise—you have to keep it, okay? And when you remember this memory again, you'll know what you've lost." The girl, who looked exactly like her, hooked pinkies with him, tears streaming down her face. Her gentle voice could not hide the lifeless despair in her heart.
"I'll remember. I'll remember it—I definitely will..." After he said those words, she smiled, turning into a streak of light and disappearing. His soul completely merged into this body, becoming her.
After that, some time must have passed. When she opened her eyes again, she had already grown used to this kind of life—at least on the surface. Living as a girl, as a young lady.
"Phew... time for school?" The girl held a piece of bread in her mouth, waved to her family, and walked along while eating and drinking milk from a bottle, looking completely at ease.
Perhaps she already knew that if she didn't do this, the result at school would be being late. Either way, she was doing her best.
Now twelve years old, the girl stood at around 1.37 meters tall. Among her peers, she wasn't particularly tall. However, the way her single ponytail swayed as she walked gave her a charm that other girls her age didn't have.
Even if it was unconscious, it was a habit left over from when she used to act in cross-dressing roles. That maturity, slightly out of sync with her peers, contrasted sharply with her youthful appearance, creating a strange yet compelling allure. It was no wonder others often looked at her.
"Hm? What's happening over there?" As she walked along the Sudi embankment, she seemed to see a boy being chased—but there was no one behind him. It was rather strange.
"Help me!" For some reason, there were very few people around today. After quite a while, she was the only passerby. Seeing the boy reaching out for help, she couldn't help but feel a bit soft-hearted, so she extended her hand and pulled him.
Holding the girl's soft hand, the terrified boy gradually calmed down. Looking at the people behind him who seemed hesitant to approach, he knew he was probably safe.
"What's wrong with you?" Pulling her hand back without drawing attention, the girl stepped away from the strange boy. She looked at him, then behind him—there was nothing. Was he lying to her?
"Someone's trying to kill me." After catching his breath, the boy answered.
"Trying to kill you? Then why can't I see anything? You're not lying, are you?" The girl found it hard to believe. There had been no one behind him from the beginning, as if he had been acting alone.
"It's real. You just can't see them." The boy knew he couldn't explain it properly. Looking at the retreating figures from the Otherside, then back at the girl, he scratched his head and could only give that answer.
"You're lying." Even after experiencing time travel and becoming a real girl with a system, she still instinctively rejected certain strange things about this world.
Hearing the boy's almost perfunctory explanation, she gave him a look of disdain and turned to leave.
"Hey, don't go." The boy knew that if she left, those people would definitely come back. Not wanting to die, he rushed forward and grabbed her arm to stop her.
"What are you doing? That hurts!" Her body was too delicate, and the boy wasn't weak. That grab immediately caused sharp pain in her arm, making her turn back angrily.
"Sorry..." Realizing he had gone too far, the boy let go. Unexpectedly, the girl hurriedly stepped back, then ran off without looking back.
"Hey—" The sudden change caught the boy off guard. Watching her figure grow distant, then seeing the enemies closing in again, he tried to run—but it was too late.
"Help..." His body was struck by the enemy's spell. Although he wasn't injured thanks to protective items, the immense force sent him flying into the air. He tumbled several times before crashing onto the ground.
"There really are enemies?" Hearing his cry, the girl couldn't help but turn her head. She saw his body repeatedly flung into the air, falling, then thrown again—like a shuttlecock being toyed with.
This scene shattered her understanding and made her realize—there really were enemies.
"Won't someone save me? If... if I could just live..." At the brink of danger, with no one coming to help and no sign of the girl returning, the boy couldn't help but pray. At this moment, his greatest wish was simply to survive.
"Forget it... I'll help him. It looks like they can't harm me, and I can't even see them anyway?" Soft-hearted in the end, she couldn't bring herself to walk away while someone was being hurt before her eyes. She turned back and ran toward him.
As the boy was knocked down once again, she grabbed his arm and pulled him away, running.
The boy, who had already fallen into despair, was suddenly saved by the girl's return. The hope in his heart reignited. His wish to survive had been fulfilled, and the energy from that fulfilled desire transformed into points, entering the system—becoming the foundation for her future growth.
Seeing the boy escape, the enemy who had been chasing him roared in frustration, "Damn it! In the end, I still couldn't kill him. That brat has too many life-saving items—even injuring him takes me half a minute. Now that he's run off, I can't catch him anymore."
Indeed, this had been an abnormal intrusion. Being able to lock onto the boy's position and chase him was already difficult. Pursuing him in front of others was beyond his ability—unless it was through a proper method of entry. Otherwise, he could only watch as the target escaped.
However, he hadn't come away empty-handed. Although failing to kill the heir of the Wang family had disrupted their plan, encountering this girl made him feel that losing even ten heirs would be worth it.
"Daughter of Fate... the Daughter of Fate who vanished for a hundred years has appeared again! Hahaha! This means the rise of the Otherside is coming. The great army will arrive—tremble!" Though his assassination mission had failed, he was now lost in a frenzy of even greater excitement.
"I have to go back and tell them. I found the Daughter of Fate—I found her! Hahaha! Even if I die, my name will be remembered in the Otherside. You in the real world... just wait. Wait for our arrival. Once again, terror will descend upon you..."
Laughing wildly, he turned back as he spoke, until his figure vanished into the lake. Yet his discovery would bring the girl countless dangers in the future.
By saving Wang Tingsi, she obtained the Dream Points she most urgently needed to begin. But it was also because she saved him that one of her hidden identities was discovered by those from the Otherside, making her path of growth far more hellish.
Perhaps this was what people called karma—what you gain, you must pay for in equal measure.
"Thank you for saving me." After running a great distance, the boy turned back. Seeing no trace of his pursuers, he knew he had escaped danger. All of this was thanks to the beautiful girl before him.
When he first saw her in that perilous moment, he had already felt an inexplicable fondness. After she returned despite the danger to save his life, that feeling only grew stronger.
It wasn't as though he had never liked girls before—he had even had closer relationships. But none had ever made his heart stir like this. It was a feeling of wanting to pull her into his arms and cherish her carefully.
However, when that emotion turned into a gaze that sought to possess her, a look of disgust appeared on her face. She stepped back several paces, not even asking who he was nor telling him her own name, and simply ran off.
Yes—she disliked that look. A gaze that wanted to claim her, to possess her—how could she not notice it? That kind of look made her uncomfortable, made her unwilling to have anything to do with him.
More importantly, she glanced at her watch and realized class was about to start. If she ended up late just for saving this unpleasant boy, it would hardly be worth it.
"Can you tell me your name?" The boy reached out, trying to grab her, only to find he had no strength left. He could only call out to her hurriedly retreating figure.
Unfortunately, the girl had no intention of paying him any attention. She treated his voice like background noise and lightly ran toward her school.
In her mind, wasting time with someone like him was far worse than spacing out in class.
This was their fated encounter—the beginning of a bond entangled for over two thousand years, now connected once again. No matter what the future held, the two of them would eventually have a reckoning.
The longest scene thus far came to an end as the girl stepped into the school, dissolving into a flurry of falling petals.
Those peach blossoms formed a strange whirlwind, circling around her for a moment before soaring into the sky, turning into a rain of petals that fell alongside the storm.
"A boy and a girl meeting? Interesting... interesting. It seems different from what I remember. Why is that? Perhaps... I simply don't want to remember this scene."
With a faint smile, her figure—standing still—continued to move forward with difficulty. The path here was incredibly hard, yet it did not give her even the slightest thought of giving up.
"Even if I were to give up, it wouldn't be here. I haven't reached the end yet. As long as I still have the strength to walk, I will find the memories I seek—the past I long for." Hugging her shoulders with both arms, she slightly closed her eyes to keep the rain from hitting them and blocking her vision.
How long had it been? She didn't know. But there was a voice in her heart telling her to keep going—the end had not yet come.
That's right... as long as it wasn't the end, she absolutely could not give up.
She did not see that after she left, the previous scene reappeared. Only this time, two girls—one dressed in black, the other in white—stood at the school gate, watching her walk forward through the storm, their eyes filled with hope and encouragement.
"She can definitely do it... right?"
"Haven't you always believed in her? Believed so much that you handed your body over to her without hesitation."
"I've always believed in her. But if you say that was my body, you're mistaken."
"That's true. Whether it's you or me, we're both just supporting her."
"I lived under that identity for more than ten years. Only after she arrived did those memories gradually awaken. I understand her mission—and I understand mine. This is something that will take a very long time to accomplish."
"Yes... a long time. It means that our entanglement with her will only grow deeper in the future."
"Didn't you say before that you wouldn't have much time left?"
"I used to think so. But when I was in Nether City, after seeing certain things, I suddenly understood—whether it's you or me, we are both things she cannot abandon. No matter what happens, she will do everything she can to save us."
"But that's too difficult. You're not like me—a complete soul. You're just a fragment, a consciousness formed from a broken soul. You're too fragile. And your shattered soul is tainted with too many dark emotions—it will only make you more and more unable to bear the burden."
"Yes... that's why I said I won't last much longer. If she hadn't grown, I could have held on with all my will until she understood. But she has grown—grown so quickly that I feel she no longer needs me. So..."
"So in your despair, you lost hope for the future and resigned yourself to death? Then what about everything you just told me? Contradicting yourself isn't your style, Dark Chu Lian."
"Dark Chu Lian... haha, that's right. I'm her dark side. I should be cruel and mad, yet here I am rambling with you. It really doesn't suit me, does it?"
"You could say that. But I think it's nice. You only drop that violent side in front of me and her. Because we are you, and you are us. There's no need to lose your temper at yourself."
"No... both of you have complete souls. I'm just a broken fragment—a soul that's about to disappear, one that no one wants. We're fundamentally different."
"What's different? As long as a soul has independence and the ability to think, it's complete—you are too. When I say you're a fragment, I mean your composition, not your essence. You... will eventually become whole."
"But that will take too long."
"No. You should learn from me—keep believing in her. Believe that Big Brother can do it, that he can save you. If it's possible, then it will happen."
"The cost is too great. Too difficult. Even if I disappear, I won't let her pay such a price."
"It's good that you cherish her so much. But if you disappear, have you considered how she'll feel? You probably think you're unnecessary. But are you really?"
"I just... don't want her to pay so much for someone like me."
"You've already given so much for her. With her personality, she'll only give you even more in return. This will be revealed sooner or later."
"...Perhaps." The figure in the black dress gazed into the distance, watching the girl disappear into the storm, and spoke absentmindedly...