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Chapter 258 - 255: "Darling, Remember This

Chapter 258: Chapter 255: "Darling, Remember This

"Listen, my dear, dear, you must remember."

"You are a unique existence."

"You should remember, you are the star of your own life’s stage, the brightest color in the painting."

"You should remember, you are a fledgling bird in flight, a shining star, a radiant future."

"Remember, you have the vast skies and the seas, your pen tells of miners in distress, the bloody truths, you care about food and vegetables, you have in your eyes the injustice and outrage of the world."

"With your pen as your sword, you break out of your cocoon; you can build your own High Tower."

"You must remember, you are never someone else’s Shadow."

"You should not become a standardized foundation stone, your eyes always hold light."

"—You are always encouraged to be creative."

"You [swear to fight to the death], you [Heaven Rewards the Diligent], you gradually understand that the slogans you write also serve to awaken yourself."

"The land is worth loving, the world is always marvelous."

"...And you have an endless future."

...

The fine rain, like a string of beads, gradually merged into one, falling like a heavy curtain of rain outside the cave.

It was as if the heavens were pouring down the waters of the four seas, and the continuous sound of the rain gradually drowned everything.

Inside the cave, the blood-red color vibrated vividly.

The girl shivering from the cold hugged herself, head bowed, body curled up, the vibrant colors dancing on her hospital gown.

As she lifted her head, the light in her eyes was like a whale about to sink.

"You say, guilt?" she asked.

"Yes." Su Ming’an said, "To admit that one is ordinary is not something to be ashamed of. Being content with being ordinary is the same. We should be free to choose our own way of life. But... there are always those who feel guilt because of this—Dong Xue, when you made the choice to not face things, did you ever regret it in your heart?"

"..." Dong Xue turned her head away.

"But, I remember..." she said.

As she spoke, she suddenly stood up.

The thin hospital gown clung to her like paper, wrinkling as she got up. Her wet black hair stuck to her cheeks, her fists clenched, her slender body trembling violently.

"...Once, someone said this to me."

She spoke with bated breath, her dark eyes fixed on him.

"...That person said to believe in what I believe, love what I love—that person said I wasn’t sick at all." She said, "Is not wanting to grow up a sickness? Xia Luoyang—when I wanted to leap off the building top countless times, it was you who held me back, it was you who held me tight... You made me continue to face life. Now, you’re telling me to face this world again... but I’m scared."

"[Time slips away quickly amidst setbacks and disappointments, and yet you haven’t even seen what true life is,]" Su Ming’an said. "If you won’t regret for these things you’re missing, I won’t try to persuade you anymore."

Dong Xue lowered her eyelids.

On her, the unchanged, soaked clothes trembled with her form, and the Ruby Pendant at her chest flickered like a flame. Her wet hair clung to her, and under the oversized hospital gown, her exposed arms bore traces of electric shocks and whippings.

...Those were scars etched into her flesh, engraved at the bottom of her heart.

She shuddered slightly, then took a step forward, moving closer, slowly.

...

[During her days of correction, Dong Xue had often thought of suicide.]

[Later, she gradually found that a woman named Xia Luoyang had appeared by her side.]

...

Su Ming’an’s gaze drifted slightly, his thoughts somewhat stuck, still considering the phrasing of his next sentence.

—That’s when he saw Dong Xue suddenly step forward and embrace him.

The dampness of the rain hit him in waves, her skin wet, her hair scraping his neck, the thin fabric of her clothes wrinkling noticeably.

At that moment, his mind was devoid of any sentimentality; he only felt absurdity.

He knew that Dong Xue’s love was for Xia Luoyang, and only Xia Luoyang.

As an Otherworld visitor who had come in midway to complete a quest, and who had blathered on for the sake of the last clue, he shouldn’t be the target of her emotional outpouring.

His mind was still full of various organized phrases, and he had already divided these phrases into different persuasion sections based on Dong Xue’s possible reactions. Yet he hadn’t expected her to say nothing and just embrace him, catching him completely off guard.

He didn’t feel any thrill from being held; at this moment, his thoughts were extremely rational.

——He was thinking about whether Dong Xue’s favorability toward him would change based on his next action.

While he was rationally thinking on his end, the online audience’s comments suddenly exploded:

[Damn! Damn! Damn!]

[She’s gone for it, so decisive——]

[NMD, let him go! He’s not your Xia Luoyang! Back off——]

[This, this is too much, taking advantage of the strategy time without any shame? If it were me——]

[Damn, am I the only one jealous of Su Ming’an?]

[Damn, you didn’t forget that Dong Xue is a guy, did you?]

[Damn, suddenly I’m not jealous anymore.]

[Confronted with a transgressor of gender boundaries... some words are really hard to say, I don’t even know how to persuade such a person, it feels like pushing them away will definitely lower their favorability...]

[Dong Xue is quite pitiful too, she’s just sick... with a psychological illness.]

[...]

Dong Xue hugged him with her eyes closed.

Her embrace felt somewhat cold and damp; the flame had not dried her clothes, and she was shivering all over.

Su Ming’an quickly thought about his next move, suddenly feeling that something was amiss.

The neck on his shoulder where Dong Xue leaned against seemed to lack an Adam’s apple.

He also felt the softness pressed against him was not like that of a male body.

"Xia Luoyang," she suddenly whispered in a trembling voice, as though pleading for affirmation, "You are my creation, do you love me?"

By the time she asked "do you love me," her voice had become nearly begging, each word trembling intensely.

...

[Xia Luoyang has appeared beside Dong Xue.]

[But everyone says that Xia Luoyang is fake——she has fallen in love with her own imaginary creation.]

[Dong Xue doesn’t believe it.]

[She promises Xia Luoyang that they must always live together forever.]

[But Dong Xue gradually finds out that Xia Luoyang only persuades her to become better, to mature. She confesses to the other, but is rejected.]

[Dong Xue is puzzled.]

[——Why would a creation not love its creator?]

[——Why can’t her imaginary creation fulfill all her wishes?]

...

"..." Su Ming’an didn’t respond.

He was pondering over a certain possibility.

Some special clues were gradually connecting in his mind.

"——But, I don’t want to grow up," her emotions suddenly surged violently.

Like a taut string suddenly being snapped, she opened her eyes wide, red with fury, her tone was laced with hysteria:

"——If I grow up, if I leave the past behind... I, I..."

Dong Xue’s embrace grew tighter.

She held him closely, as if encircling an entire world.

Her head buried in his shoulder, he could feel a warm sensation slowly trickling down, mixing with the cold rain.

"In the present, in the future, even in the far more distant time ahead—I will never meet someone like Xia Luoyang again!"

She screamed in anguish.

"——The things she taught me, I haven’t learned anything; the qualities she possesses, I don’t have any of them!"

"Such a me, such a me..."

Her eyes closed, her body trembled with cold.

She had awoken countless times from deep midnight dreams, seeing the silhouette of her Xia Luoyang standing in the brightest spot.

Xia Luoyang was looking up, holding an umbrella, as if forever staying in place, gazing at her.

—She had always been childish, burdened with the "sin of never growing up," bearing the sin of being scolded by her parents.

But that person would always wait for her in place, like a blue whale that accompanied her to the ocean depths, like a bird carrying twigs for her.

—In this world that did not tolerate outcasts, she had experienced an indescribable unrequited love.

Through the long passage of time, braving the heat and cold of many summers and winters.

"She will be grateful that she met a renewed you," Su Ming’an said.

Dong Xue’s body shook violently.

It was as if a mask that covered skin and bone was violently torn off; her emotions fluctuated wildly, her fingers gripping tightly, clenching with strength, like a pair of claws strangling him.

The secret emotions in her heart had long since become a tranquil dead lake in the deepest dreams of her mind, unable to withstand even the smallest ripple.

When she spoke again, her voice was almost hoarse:

"...Xia Luoyang," she began, "stop persuading me to mature."

Her voice carried a chill of pleading, as if she feared he would reveal something.

"...Please, Xia Luoyang," she said, "...let me go."

Su Ming’an smiled faintly.

He pushed her away.

As Dong Xue’s emotions shifted, the clues in his mind were gradually lining up.

As he gently pushed her away, pulling down her wide collar, he saw the condition of her neck.

Dong Xue’s skin was not delicate; in fact, it could be described as rough, with marks left from abuse on the front of her neck, resembling a light red brushstroke.

He confirmed the absence of an Adam’s apple on her.

"But I have understood, Dong Xue," his tone gradually changed.

Dong Xue’s body jerked violently.

"Dong Xue—are you truly the figment of my imagination?" he said relentlessly, his tone sharp as a blade’s edge.

Su Ming’an knew his actions were perhaps cruel.

But he needed that final piece of the puzzle, needed to clear away all the fog.

...Even if it meant hurting someone in the process.

But he had never let anyone off out of pity.

He looked at Dong Xue, the softness in his tone slowly fading.

"Dong Xue—come back to your senses," he said, "Admit it, between us, who is the one truly conjured up by imagination."

"Ding-dong!"

The long-missed system voice rang in Su Ming’an’s ears, melodious as celestial music within the curtain of rain.

The next second, like a switch had been triggered, a series of system prompts lined up and sounded one after another.

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!—"

As if dominoes were collapsing in an instant, the sounds of clues connecting were incessant.

He gradually cleared the fog and saw the truth that he had once overlooked.

The words of Dong Xue from the past echoed in his mind.

["...I’ve been searching for Xia Luoyang, night after night.]

["But she will grow up, she will mature, she will drift away from me.]

[...Why would my creation not love its creator?]

...

["Clue One: Xia Luoyang’s Diary, Key Clue: Dong Xue, Clue Connection Occurring!"]

["Key Clue: Xia Luoyang’s Words, Key Clue: Flax’s Words, Clue Connection Occurring!"]

["Key Clue: The Disappearance of Student Number 30, Key Clue: Dong Xue’s Words, Clue Connection Occurring!"]

...

[Clue Link · Xia Luoyang’s Words: "Luoyang, you have already walked out of the past, so why do you still want to come back?"]

[Clue Link · Flax’s Words: "I remember you, I see you who are pursuing [the past], Doctor—reconcile with your past self."]

[Clue Link · Night Walker of the Night: "Why face reality? So submissive to reality, such a ’healthy’ you—why do you still want to come back?"]

[Clue Link · The Disappeared No. 30 Student:

Ming’an: a transgender, homosexual, fantasized about having a virtual girlfriend, sent by his mother to a correction facility. (Current condition showing improvement, a candidate for outstanding student.)]

...

[Speculation Link: — Contradictorily, the actual male Dong Xue possesses a female body, while the fantasized virtual girlfriend Ming’an has a male body.]

[Clue Link: "The only one without a record, the disappeared 30th student—who is the one who truly doesn’t exist?"]

[Clue Link completed, you have formed a speculation!]

[You have formed the final speculation, please proceed to the final deduction reveal.]

...

Su Ming’an watched as the clues lined up before him, the deep blue connecting lines flashing across his view like electricity.

The firelight in the cave shone brightly, and the girl’s tears slowly fell.

"Dong Xue," Su Ming’an said, "—our positions have been exchanged, Dong Xue."

Dong Xue was trembling.

As if snapping out of a foggy dream, her hands were shaking, her hair quivering with her tremors, her entire body violently shaking as if she was close to freezing in the cold rain.

"Ah... Hahaha..."

She suddenly began to laugh loudly, tears falling with her quivering.

The oversized blue-and-white hospital gown completely enveloped her figure. She hugged herself, her body curled up tightly, her fingers exerting a great force, her form planted in the ground like a stake.

Her throat was as dry as a desert at that moment, yet not a drop of water could moisten it; the pervasive agony, like dampness, was more pronounced everywhere on her body. With a hoarse voice, she gasped, inhaled, laughed, and cried.

Like a plank of wood suddenly splintering, she stood in place, her long hair sticky, her light-colored clothes drenched, like a sheep that might topple over at any moment.

For her, even the raindrops hanging in the air felt heavy.

Without a word, Su Ming’an observed this scene.

The firelight danced in his eyes, and through the jumping colors, he saw behind Dong Xue the elongated black shadow, reflected in the light, like a chasm steadily expanding.

In the rain, the sheep collapsed before his eyes.

Amid the sound of the heavy rain, she fell before him like a blue whale.

Everything was so tragically beautiful.

Everything was filled with despair.

...

...

[Later, Dong Xue gradually realized.]

[— She was the one who had been created.]

[While the truly corrected, mature, and stable main persona, Ming’an, had walked out of the white sand’s gloom.]

[She had been abandoned in the past memories.]

[... Because this society doesn’t need her, who can’t adapt and can never grow up.]

...

[Ming’an, a transgender person, a homosexual patient, with an imagined virtual girlfriend.]

[That girlfriend, named Dong Xue.]

...

[She finds it laughable.]

[The world has never let her go.]

...

[Perfect Completion Progress · Escape Line: 90%]