112. After the Incident, Elaina's Strange Feeling
"Looks like I won."
Ute looked at everyone at the table with a happy expression, but just as everyone thought he was about to make his move.
Ute stood up from his stool and bowed to everyone.
"Everyone, I'll be leaving now. I had a lot of fun playing this game."
After saying this, he actually left the room under Xia Yin's gaze, and the other party's earlier promise to take someone's life after winning was not fulfilled.
The room was silent for a long time.
Finally, Xia Yin spoke first.
"Perhaps... this was another fraud. Let's all go back and talk."
After saying this, Xia Yin also disappeared from the room, and the others gradually disappeared as well, leaving only the blond man sitting in the room, with cold sweat pouring down his face.
He had a premonition that the other party had come for him, and that his secret had already been exposed!
Then why hadn't the other party killed him? Had the other party let him go?
Yes, that must be it.
The man tried to reassure himself, and soon disappeared from the room.
—
Elaina lay slumped on the hotel's wooden table, her cheek pressed against the cool surface, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the faintly glowing photograph.
She felt something was strange.
What was strange about it?
Fragments of memories would occasionally flash through her mind, like shattered dreams, like forgotten memories. They were blurry, always slipping away quietly just as she tried to grasp them, leaving only a strange sense of melancholy.
Even stranger, whenever she thought of a certain guy—that annoying person who always rejected her application to travel through to his world—a strange emotion would rise in her chest.
Irritation? Resentment? Or… something else?
"What's wrong with me…" she murmured, her finger gently poking the face of someone in the photograph.
Two days had passed since that incident.
It was called an incident, but she didn't even know what exactly happened. She only remembered falling asleep, and when she woke up, it was all over.
"This is so inexplicable..."
Although her memory was hazy, she was certain—she must have been involved in something.
Otherwise, how could she explain the changes in her body?
She raised her hand, palm up, and a wisp of pale moonlight slowly condensed, transforming into a miniature moon that was hovering at her fingertip.
—[Broken Moon's Authority]
This was a skill that had inexplicably appeared on her character panel after she woke up.
"What is this all about...?" She sighed, flicking her fingertip lightly, and the tiny moon vanished like a bubble.
She completely couldn't understand the source of this ability, let alone what it meant.
"And..."
She rolled over, lying back in her chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Why hasn't Xiling said anything in the group chat these past two days?"
What annoyed her even more was that—he actually rejected her request to travel to his world!
"He said it was too dangerous, and it's better if she doesn't come… Humph! He's never been this nervous before!"
She pouted, rolled over, and buried her face in her arms.
Actually, she knew he was worried about her.
But this feeling of being protected only made her more irritated.
"I'm not a child…"
She stared at the familiar face in the photo, her fingertips lightly tracing the other's features.
Have they been through something?
Has she… forgotten something important to her?
—
Moonlight Town.
Xiling and a man placed flowers they had bought on a tombstone, which read:
Father, Garan.
"What are your plans after this? Continue being a priest?" Xiling bowed to the tombstone and then asked the man.
"Spare me, I'm not cut out for that." The man shrugged.
"Really? I think you did quite well."
The man smiled.
"That was just a fraud. I probably won't be a fraudster again."
"A promise?" Xiling asked with a smile.
"Yes, a promise." Lanster nodded gently.
"That's good. By the way, don't you think it's a pity? You and the priest did so much for the town, and in the end, no one remembers." Xiling looked at the many townspeople who had walked past the cemetery that day.
"I already knew it would happen, and I never expected their gratitude. I just did what I promised." The man turned his head, his smile tinged with amusement.
"But don't you think it's a pity?"
Xiling looked at him questioningly, clearly not understanding what he meant by "pity."
Lanster nudged Xiling, a gossipy look on his face.
"Your little girlfriend, you've done so much for her, and yet she knows nothing about it. Don't you think it's a pity?"
Lanster wouldn't forget that scene—the man in front of him had pierced his own heart with a sword, the cycle of repair and death repeating endlessly within him.
He couldn't even imagine how painful that must have been.
Xiling elbowed him back, speaking as he clutched his waist, wincing in pain.
"First, we're not in a relationship."
"Second, there's nothing to regret."
"Like you said, I never asked for anything in return, and in a sense, I failed to protect her."
Tsk tsk tsk.
The man, clutching his waist, placed a hand on Xiling's shoulder.
"Ambitious, very good. It seems my efforts weren't in vain."
Faced with Xiling's renewed puzzled look, the man said nothing and walked out of the cemetery.
She had spoken of her feelings before, and she was serious about them. So, he did something.
Although it was a projection of a dream, there was some connection between it and his true self. So he intervened, pushing that connection forward, allowing the dream memories to flow into her true self.
"Oh, young man, you'll find out sooner or later. If you two end up together, I'll be the biggest contributor."
The man shook his head with a wry smile inwardly.
"...Couldn't you just speak more clearly?"
Leaving the cemetery, Xiling walked above Moonlight Town.
Two days had passed since the events in Moonlight Town. The residents felt as if what had happened was a dream, a long, drawn-out dream, and upon waking, all their ailments had vanished—of course, this was Xiling's doing.
As for the ancient god at Moonlight Lake, it had long been taken back by the Magic Society, and everything seemed to have returned to normal. But Xiling knew it wasn't over yet.
Why did that ancient god know about the hero? Had a hero once been in this world?
If a hero had been in this world before, then why would this world call for another hero?
Xiling stopped, his gaze piercing through the sunlight to the town below. Laughter and cheerful voices echoed again in the once-silent town; everything was so peaceful. To this day, Xiling still didn't know what his true enemy was.
Xiling continued walking.
What exactly was the ancient god? Xiling had a rough idea.
When he killed the ancient god, the moon disappeared. Although it quickly reappeared, Xiling knew it wasn't the original moon.
Someone created a new moon, replacing the original.
What is this world hiding? What is the truth?
Xiling sighed deeply.
He couldn't understand.
Forget it, if he couldn't understand, he shouldn't think about it. He should think about what he wanted to know.
For example, who sealed the corpse of an ancient god beneath Moonshadow Lake?
He reported this to the person who had captured him. And the response Xiling got was:
"I think I know who did it. I'm going to kill that guy now."
After that, there was no further communication.
Thinking about it, it seems like it has nothing to do with him. So what should he do now?
Just as Xiling was contemplating what to do, the familiar notification sound rang out, and Xiling's face instantly turned pale.
"Not again!"
He almost reflexively raised his hand and waved it away, canceling the time-travel application.
He was genuinely terrified now.
If this happened a few more times, he'd probably have a heart attack—the first hero to die of a heart attack? That would be truly laughable.
—
Meanwhile, in a certain room.
A certain witch, rejected by a certain hero, was currently rolling around on her bed.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! That annoying guy, Xiling!"
Her complaints echoed in the room until she finally tired herself out, lay back, pulled the blanket over her face, and let out a long sigh.
Silence fell, broken only by the occasional sound of the wind outside the window.
After a while, a low murmur came from under her pillow—
"...Actually...it's not that annoying..."
Her voice was very soft, as if afraid of being overheard, with a hint of awkward softness.