Chapter 230: Rupture and Farewell

[Main Quest 2 (Final Phase) has been refreshed: Kill the Witchified Ember, and attempt to guide the Magical Girl Three Giants into mutual destruction with the witch cult.]

Reading the text in the prompt window, Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow slightly.

In the absolute silence, the soda can he was crushing crumpled inward. Ice-cold soda poured out from the opening, drenching his entire sleeve.

No one spoke in the living room. The only sound was the fizzing of the can, and as the liquid drained away, even that faint noise vanished.

"What's that about?"

Xia Zili sipped her soda and tilted her head, frowning at him. "Are you that disgusted by the Sprite I gave you?"

Ke Mingqing remained silent for a moment. Soda still dripped from his sleeve onto the floor.

He shook his head and said casually, "I just didn't control my strength. Sometimes I forget I'm an Esper now—alas, this is the gap between me and the veterans."

With that, Ke Mingqing reached toward the table beside him, grabbed a towel, and leaned down to wipe up the spilled soda on the floor.

Xia Zili said nothing, only shooting him an annoyed glare.

An Youlu walked out of the kitchen, chiming in with a complaint, "You seem like the kind of freak who'd accidentally snap someone's spine during a hug. I should text the eldest miss and warn her to avoid physical contact while dating you."

"You sure talk a lot for a freeloader. You've eaten so many free meals at our house and I haven't even charged you yet, but here you are striking first—"

Ke Mingqing spoke expressionlessly, shooting her a cold glance. He tossed the crushed can into the trash and used the towel to wipe the sticky liquid from his hands.

"The eldest miss didn't come to school today," An Youlu suddenly remarked a moment later.

As soon as she spoke, the living room fell into silence once more. Xia Zili lowered her eyes and expressionlessly took a sip of her cola, listening quietly.

"Noted. And?" Ke Mingqing asked casually, his head lowered as he ran a mop over the floor.

"Aren't you going to go see her?" An Youlu pressed.

"Why should I?"

"You two are supposed to be a couple, but you haven't seen each other even once lately. In fact—it feels like you've been avoiding her."

"How am I avoiding her?" Ke Mingqing shrugged. "Sister, high schoolers are very busy."

"That's an excuse," An Youlu said flatly. "With all due respect, people who keep others waiting indefinitely are the absolute worst."

Ke Mingqing stayed silent for a second. "Could you stop speaking to me in that anime-dubbed Chinese? It sounds stupid as hell."

"I'll use it if I want."

"I really can't with you. I just haven't had the time lately. I'll go see her when I'm free," Ke Mingqing said, setting the mop against the wall by the stairs and turning to head up. "And mind your own business. Stop worrying so much about us, okay?"

Back in his bedroom, he tossed his backpack onto the tatami mat and slumped his upper body against the bed.

In the darkness, Ke Mingqing kept his eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling without blinking.

"Is this garbage quest absolutely certain that my little sister will turn into a witch?" he thought. "Whatever—as long as I bypass this task and turn Xia Zili back into a normal person, it'll be fine."

A moment later, he opened the roulette panel in the upper right corner of his vision.

He hadn't yet used the single draw chance rewarded by the weekly quest, so Ke Mingqing looked up and glanced at the six sections on the roulette wheel.

The prizes listed were "6,000 superhuman coins", "5,000 EXP", "C Rank item: Dragon Tamer's Helmet (Equipping this helmet increases the strength and agility of any dragon subordinates you possess)", "C Rank item: Chieftain's Straw Sandals (Hidden secrets lie concealed within the Chieftain's Straw Sandals)", "Consumable item: Persona Meeting Card (Face your inner self)", and "Consumable item: Wind of Torrential Rain (Summon the wind and rain today)".

The next second, Ke Mingqing raised his index finger and pressed the start button on the roulette.

The blood-red pointer moved. It spun rapidly in his pupils, eventually blurring into a circular afterimage.

Soon, the pointer slowed to a halt, resting on section number 3 of the wheel.

[Congratulations. The pointer has landed on Section 3. You have received the reward for this section: Dragon Tamer's Helmet. The item has been added to your inventory.]

"Sigh, might as well give me a Dragon Egg too. Now I'm a real dragon-taming master."

Suddenly remembering something, Ke Mingqing opened WeChat on his phone and pulled Xia Lingxue and Ke Linye into a newly created temporary group chat.

[Ke Mingqing: Speaking of which, are you two really not going to consider telling Dad about your true identities? Wouldn't it be better to just drop the bombshell together before you leave?]

[Xia Lingxue: No, keep it a secret for me for now.]

[Ke Mingqing: What about you, big bro?]

[Ke Linye: A'Qing, have you thought this through? If Dad found out I'm part of an anti-hero organization, wouldn't he break my legs?]

[Ke Mingqing: Uh, the student has surpassed the master. I don't think Dad could necessarily take you in a fight.]

[Ke Linye: Rare for you to be so sweet-talking, but I really might not win against Dad, especially not the current him.]

[Ke Mingqing: What do you mean?]

[Ke Linye: He's visibly gotten stronger since the battle with Clock Maker. His movements are faster. Even watching the footage now, it's hard to track his motions.]

[Ke Linye: Oh right, your older sister is leaving tomorrow. Aren't you coming out to the café to spend some time with her?]

[Ke Mingqing: Please, can you guys just stay home more often? You spend all day lounging in that café. I don't even know what's so special about the place.]

After sending that message, Ke Mingqing closed WeChat and went back to staring into space.

The dusk twilight flowed across the wind-blown curtains, shifting from a blood-like red to a warm tangerine yellow. Soon, the boy's cheeks were painted in the same hues.

He didn't know when it started, but Ke Mingqing had begun to feel that even spacing out for just one extra second like this was a beautiful thing.

Thinking about nothing, having nothing to do, just quietly watching the countdown tick away above his head.

Like a cancer patient lying in bed, watching the liquid in the IV tube slowly drain away.

But a moment later, a Chat Panel suddenly Popped up in front of him, intruding on his line of sight.

[Kuroki Hitomi: I want to see you tonight.]

Ke Mingqing sat up and replied to her message.

[Ke Mingqing: Let's not. Those foreign players haven't completely left yet. I suggest you go out less as well.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Tonight at nine. City center, beneath the Leijing TV Tower.]

[Ke Mingqing: Do you suffer from reading comprehension issues?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Whether you come or not, I'll be waiting for you there.]

[Ke Mingqing: Suit yourself. I'm not going anyway.]

Ke Mingqing yawned, let out a soft breath, and irritably closed the Chat Panel. Then, he pulled the covers over his head, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

At the park near the TV tower in downtown Leijing City, the evening breeze quietly brushed against the brightly lit iron structure. The warm orange glow radiating from the tower draped over the serene forest like the last light of sunset.

In a corner of the woods, a fountain sprayed water into the night.

A girl with a teardrop mole, dressed in a gray hoodie, sat on a wooden public bench. She gazed at the distant tower, drinking a coffee she'd bought from a vending machine.

"Drinking coffee all alone out here in the dead of night—not planning on sleeping?" asked a boy in a windbreaker as he walked over, not even lifting his head.

Kuroki Hitomi looked up from her coffee can, quietly studied his face, and said nothing.

Ke Mingqing fell silent as well.

After a moment, he sat down next to her, shoved his hands into his pockets, and casually asked, "So, what did you need to see me about?"

The evening wind passed through the massive iron tower and the pitch-black forest, ruffling Kuroki Hitomi's bangs. The girl lowered her eyes, her face devoid of expression.

After a long pause, she finally spoke. "We—"

"What about us?"

"We haven't spoken to each other in a long time."

"Does talking on the Chat Panel not count?"

Kuroki Hitomi shook her head, remaining silent. Ke Mingqing stayed quiet for a moment before shrugging in explanation. "I can't help it. The other players are still hunting me down, and my player Alarm hasn't been lifted this week. Who knows what might happen if I get close to you."

"Witches," she said suddenly.

"What about witches now?" Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow. "Could you stop talking in half-sentences?"

"I don't know what you plan to do next, and chances are you wouldn't tell me anyway," Kuroki Hitomi said, looking up. "So when the witches come, I'm staying in Leijing."

Ke Mingqing sighed. "Please don't. You're better off grabbing those other players and running away as fast as you can."

Kuroki Hitomi went silent for a moment. "Just like last time. Every single time, this is all you ever say to me."

"It's genuinely different this time, alright? Clock Maker only cares about Rain Crow, and the people from Death Crow just want the Comet Fragments. But witches? Wiping out an entire town is as mundane as eating a meal to them. If you get dragged into this, there's no telling how gruesome your death will be."

Ke Mingqing paused, waving a hand dismissively. "You guys are far too weak. They could flick a finger and your heads would pop off. Wouldn't it be better to have a little self-awareness?"

"Right. You have a new excuse to brush me off every single time—"

She spoke softly amidst the rustling leaves.

"Oh, since it's just an excuse, why don't you tell me what I'm really thinking, then?" Ke Mingqing hunched his back, crushing leaves under his shoes, a hint of impatience in his tone.

"You're thinking that if you ever change your mind one day and decide to betray the other players for the sake of your family, you'd feel guilty when it came time to attack me." Kuroki Hitomi paused. "That's why you've been hesitating—hesitating over whether you should cut ties with me sooner rather than later."

Ke Mingqing froze slightly.

Lowering her gaze, Kuroki Hitomi whispered, "Is that not what you're thinking?"

A moment later, Ke Mingqing tilted his head up, looking at the night sky faintly illuminated by the TV tower, and suddenly shook his head.

"You've got it backward," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Sister, I'm afraid that you wouldn't have the heart to attack me when the time comes."

Kuroki Hitomi knitted her brows slightly and fell silent.

"What do you mean?" she asked in confusion.

"What else could I mean? If I ever lose my mind one day and actually do the wrong thing, you can lead the other players to kill me—"

Saying this, Ke Mingqing shrugged. "Out of all the players, you understand me the best. The rest of them are no match for me, right?"

"Are you testing to see if I'd betray you?" Kuroki Hitomi asked after a moment of silence.

"Uh, can you stop being so stubborn?"

"Answer me."

Ke Mingqing shook his head with a sigh. "No. Everything I said is the honest truth."

Kuroki Hitomi raised her voice slightly. "But—you know perfectly well that I wouldn't do that."

"It's a very simple thing, why couldn't you do it—" Ke Mingqing interrupted her. "There are so many of you players. If my brain shorts out one day and I actually betray everyone, it would only take you guys a few minutes to take me out."

He thought for a second. "That way, you'd at least survive when the time comes. There's no need to throw your life away for a psycho like me. It's not worth it."

"By saying all this, will you feel a little less guilty when you shake me off?"

"I just don't want my selfishness to get you killed, that's all."

"Then what about before? Why didn't you say this sooner?"

Ke Mingqing rambled on, spouting nonsense. "I didn't think I was all that dangerous before—we all shared the same goal, right? Working hard together to kill off the superhumans, showing off that socialist spirit. Unity is strength, isn't that nice?"

He tilted his head and averted his gaze. "And as for now—"

At this point, Ke Mingqing's voice suddenly turned cold. "Now that I've already killed seven fucking players, do you honestly still think I'll obediently do whatever the system tells me to?"

Kuroki Hitomi's eyelashes fluttered slightly. It took a long time before she spoke. "But if you do that, you'll die—"

Ke Mingqing was unfazed. He tilted his head, his gaze sweeping into the distance. A moment later, he withdrew his gaze and looked at a maple leaf drifting past his feet, muttering, "Then I die."

"Why?"

"Drop the 'why's. I don't even know what I'm thinking myself, so it wouldn't be strange no matter what I end up doing. Anyway, it's best if you stick with the other players."

"But I clearly told you that no matter whose side you take, I will follow you."

"Are you stupid or what?" Ke Mingqing let out a long sigh. "If I really take the side of the superhumans, are you just going to obediently tag along behind me and commit lovers' suicide with me?"

"Yes—"

"May I ask, what exactly about me makes it worth going that far?"

"You changed my life," she said softly a moment later.

Ke Mingqing fell silent for a while before turning his head to ask, "Do you want me to tell you the truth?"

After a long pause, Kuroki Hitomi gave a slight nod. Ke Mingqing leaned back against the bench and said in a loose, lackadaisical tone, "Back in the orphanage, even if I hadn't given the chance to be adopted to you, I would've given it to someone else. Not only did I not feel it was a pity, I was actually glad to have dumped the trouble on someone else—having a family is too exhausting. Dealing with family members and faking affection is too tiring."

He paused, lowering his voice. "So, you getting adopted by that rich family was just because I figured tossing the baggage onto a bookworm like you wouldn't earn me any complaints. Are you satisfied now?"

Kuroki Hitomi sat frozen on the bench, not making a single sound.

Ke Mingqing continued, "You can delude yourself all you want, but stop with this self-indulgent melodrama around me, alright? If you hadn't brought it up, I would've forgotten all about that orphanage crap ages ago."

Kuroki Hitomi slowly lowered her head, her teardrop mole hidden beneath her hair.

Ke Mingqing clicked his tongue, mocking her. "Talking about 'I'll die with you, I'll fight the other players with you, we're accomplices'—honestly? Hearing all that just makes me want to laugh. How childish can you be?"

"I do it willingly." After a very long silence, Kuroki Hitomi spoke softly. "I'm doing it of my own free will."

"No, no, no, you aren't doing it willingly." Ke Mingqing sighed. "You were just used by me. You're too easy to fool."

"You've been lying to me right from the start?"

"Yeah. I've been lying to you from the very beginning."

The park was engulfed in absolute silence for a moment. Amidst the evening breeze, the girl's eyes widened, her lips trembling slightly on their own.

"Why?"

"Because you're stupid and you come running whenever I call. Why else?" Ke Mingqing said. "Even without you, I would've just found some other random player to do my dirty work."

Kuroki Hitomi fell silent. She didn't speak again.

A long while later, a tear suddenly rolled down from the corner of her eye.

"Since you don't care about me, then... couldn't you have just kept lying to me?" She opened her mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice. "Why did you have to tell me all this?"

Ke Mingqing was silent for a long moment before answering casually, "That time I got cornered by my second sister and big brother in the movie theater, I would've died if you hadn't helped me. So consider this my conscience finally kicking in, alright?"

He paused. "You saved my life. You don't owe me anything anymore. I can't be bothered to keep lying to you either, so let's just go our separate ways, okay?"

"I don't understand," the girl choked out.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand now; you will later. Anyway, starting today, let's stop contacting each other. I'm deleting you from my player friends list. That way, you'll have a bit less trouble when you interact with the other players."

Ke Mingqing spoke expressionlessly, raising his index finger to pull up the player list.

Before long, he found the name "Kuroki Hitomi". Silent for half a second, he lifted his finger and tapped the red option at the end of the name. A prompt box popped up before him.

[Notice: Are you sure you want to delete the player 'Kuroki Hitomi' from your friends list? (Warning: This action cannot be undone once completed.)]

His pitch-black eyes were reflected on the prompt box. Ke Mingqing lowered his head, a slight shift in his gaze, and after a moment of hesitation, he pressed "Yes" with his fingertip.

[Notice: The player 'Kuroki Hitomi' has been successfully removed from your friends list.]

"There. Now you won't have to live in fear every day, worrying they'll find out you know me. Take good care of yourself."

Leaving those words behind, Ke Mingqing walked away without ever looking back.

The forest park was quiet. The wind rustled through the leaves of the banyan trees, and the fountain continued to splash water into the air.

Kuroki Hitomi sat on the wooden bench for a very long time, her eyes lowered, silently watching the leaves by her feet without making a sound.

It wasn't until the lights of the TV tower went out that her eyes went completely dark as well.