[You truly have a silver tongue. It seems you've learned quite a bit these past few days. By your logic, you are indeed correct. You do symbolize the emotional side—no, you symbolize the me from my childhood.]
[The one who believed that good is rewarded and evil is punished, that the good and the bad were clearly distinct, that the world was black and white. The one who worshipped heroes, admired heroes, and dreamed of becoming a hero—that most naive version of me.]
[I truly miss that time… when I could shamelessly shout that I wanted to become an Armored Warrior, that I wanted to roam the world with a sword, that I wanted to become an Ultraman. Unlike now, where just saying the words out loud feels somewhat embarrassing. Is it because I've finally grown up, and so I've cast aside the me from the past?]
As he spoke, the black-robed figure took down the hood that had been concealing his face, revealing features that were eighty percent similar to Xin Yu's, but more mature. He looked like an overworked office drone who had just finished a long shift.
"The past me, I am so sorry. As I grew up, I abandoned you. Yet when I needed you, I picked you up again and used you as my shield. But like a despicable coward, once you began to mature, I wanted to steal the fruits of your growth to achieve my own goals."
"I even acted like the most detestable of villains, wanting to turn this world, and indeed the entire universe, into kindling. I wanted to use it to ignite my divine fire, to forge my power."
"I am a despicable man, an irredeemable adult, a dark and selfish bastard. I have deceived one person after another, and I have even deceived myself."
"I even lie to myself, telling myself that I am still that same Xin Yu, that homesick wanderer."
"Hello, Xin Yu. I am your Heart-Demon."
The black-robed man revealed his true identity.
"Hello, my Heart-Demon."
Xin Yu returned the greeting with a faint smile.
"The real Xin Yu actually died long ago."
"Just as I said before, after being infected with the Honkai disease and simultaneously eroded by the Void, his own condition had deteriorated so severely that he couldn't hold on for much longer. For the sake of that ethereal, desperate hope of returning home, he chose to split himself into several parts just before the system uninstalled itself, thereby causing a glitch in the system's departure protocol."
"Through his prior probing, he already understood the rigid nature of this system. So, with this glitch, the several parts he split into successfully obtained many of the things the system left behind when it departed."
"You represent the past. You represent the purity, dreams, and naive fantasies that were once cast aside."
"The one who was discovered and chose to commit suicide represented reality—the greatest obsession of returning home."
"And I, this Heart-Demon, am the final insurance policy. When the 'reality' was discovered and died, I was born from your fantasies. Because your memories contain knowledge of cultivation novels that have been filtered to some extent, you would inevitably recognize that a Heart-Demon Tribulation would arise in your future. And so, I have returned from death, inheriting the will of the deceased 'reality' and the dream of the original Xin Yu."
"I will seize you, obtain everything, and burn this universe to ashes, converting it into the purest form of energy to allow myself to grow to a level where I can transcend worlds in the truest sense. If even that is not enough, then I will continue to devour other worlds, devour other universes, until I possess the power to return home and reverse everything."
"I want to carry sufficient power back to my original world, back to my original time, and accompany my father. If my father desires immortality, I will reshape that world, usher in an era of spiritual energy recovery, and give my father a perfect and magnificent life. If he does not wish for immortality, then I will stay by his side, let him watch me build my own family, live a happy and fulfilling life, and allow him to pass away peacefully in the company of his children and grandchildren."
"After that, I will also fulfill your dream. I will save this universe I have destroyed, allowing every living being in it to live a happy and wonderful life. Even if they can only relive a single perfect day in an infinite loop, I can guarantee them eternal happiness and bliss."
"If I win, I will inherit your last wishes and fulfill all our dreams. If I lose, then please, take my share with you and go live freely in this world, doing whatever you wish."
Xin Yu looked at the Heart-Demon, at the faint smile on his face, and suddenly asked, "You've said so much, but what about your own dream?"
"We are all parts split from the whole, inheriting things the original Xin Yu possessed. I inherited the desire for a beautiful life and the admiration for heroes. That other 'me' inherited the desire to go home and the helplessness of reality. What about you? What did you inherit?"
"Nothing. I inherited no dreams. Or rather, the original him in his own world was just like that—devoid of any dreams or hopes, just blindly living the life he was supposed to live, day after day."
"You are the part from childhood. He was the part from youth. And I am the part from adulthood."
"You want a better world, so you try to make this world better. He only wanted to achieve his goal, becoming a little crazy to cope with this world that caused him so much pain. And I am the adult part—drifting with the current. Anything is fine, nothing matters."
Xin Yu looked at the Heart-Demon, able to understand what he meant. After becoming an adult, who has that many dreams? Who has that much aspiration? In the end, it all gets ground down into the trivialities and drudgery of life.
The Xin Yu of the past had no illustrious family background, nor did he possess any great talent. He was just one among the countless unremarkable masses, merely repeating each day. It wasn't a good life, but it wasn't a bad one either.
As for those dreams he once cherished, they ultimately became nothing more than fantasies he indulged in when he was alone.
And his love and filial piety for his father were simply things he felt he ought to do, born from years of accumulated moral values and a sense of responsibility.
Of course, he would cry and laugh, hate and love. He would still smile while playing games and reading novels. But if you were to ask him what he wanted to achieve, what kind of life plan he had, he would only fall silent, unable to give any answer.
"This is the reality for the vast majority of people in this world."
"The next time we meet will be the time to decide our fate, a battle of life and death. I will promise you this: if I win, I will let the people you love depart without any pain, and in the future, I will weave the most beautiful dreams for them. If I lose, then congratulations to you. Congratulations on finally walking your own path."
"To trap all that is beautiful within a single day, forcing people to experience that wondrous day countless times… they will be immersed in that eternal, unchanging day, never discovering the endless cycle. This seems like a wonderful thing, but I can't help but feel it's also a deeply tragic ending."
"I would still prefer to create more beautiful futures with more people."
"Then try to defeat me. Cross over my corpse and go to the future to achieve what you desire."
The Heart-Demon smiled as he bid farewell, vanishing before Xin Yu in an instant, as if he had never been there at all.
Xin Yu silently picked up the can the other had tossed aside, and after finishing his own portion of beer, he too disappeared from the school's rooftop.