She stood in her room—the room that had accompanied her for nearly ten years.
She still remembered the joy she felt when she first had a room of her own. Somewhere along the way, she had forgotten it.
In this ordinary room, in this ordinary home, she had grown up.
Her parents were sleeping in the room downstairs. She was about to leave this home that had raised her for over a decade—an ordinary family she despised.
Strange. She should have left joyfully without a shred of regret. After all, this was the "special" development she had long anticipated.
But why did she stop in her tracks?
She sat by the bed, listening to the fireworks outside exploding in the sky. Stardust scattered across the heavens, illuminating her face.
She was afraid.
Having learned the price of being special and the truth of the world, she felt terror at the prospect of losing this once-hated, repetitive daily life.
How ridiculous.
It turned out she had always looked forward to a "playing house" plot from fictional works, rather than truly being tired of this boring, weary life.
What a childish and cruel joke.
After all, she was a childish person.
"Humans are such creatures; they only feel heartache after they lose something."
"Countless people have proven the phrase 'People only start to love me after I'm dead.' But fortunately, you have actually been loved all along, and you didn't wait until the people around you died to realize you loved them."
"You have that kind of talent. After you've seen the reality of the world and the things Lin carries, decide whether or not you want to come to this side."
Humans are emotional creatures. Because of emotion, countless follies have a source, and countless sins have a reason.
But also because of emotion, humans are so unique that they can even allow a person to undergo a metamorphosis.
"...Let's go."
What made her loathe the mundane was the surface of the world, but what made her linger for the mundane was the world's core.
And so, she stepped toward the "special."
From that day on, she had no name. In the dark corners of the world, in places unseen, she disguised herself as ignorant.
One day, recalling the reason she left back then, she thought for a long time before finding the answer.
Perhaps it was... responsibility.
...
Lin left.
Chiaki stood in the collapsing world, with only the last piece of ground left beneath her feet. She thought for a moment, sat down, and stared blankly as the azure sky vanished, replaced by endless void.
After the conscious world collapsed, she would return to that body that no longer belonged to her and lose all memory of this experience, becoming an ignorant doll until the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness woke again.
No, the real "her" had died long ago. The current her was merely a fake replacement created by the Eighth Herrscher's authority.
But even such a replacement inherited her memories and her responsibility.
"Being able to protect you at the end... that's great."
Patter.
She didn't care at all what would happen to her in the end. As long as she could protect humanity, as long as she could protect that person, nothing else matt—
Patter.
Patter.
Patter...
No.
That's not it.
She...
"...It's not true... I actually don't want to die at all..." She covered her eyes with both hands, yet countless transparent tears still flowed through the gaps in her palms. "I want to go back to a normal life... I don't want to be the protagonist on the stage..."
"I just want to hear Mom and Dad talk every day... I just want to go to school with my classmates... I don't want to carry this responsibility... I can't save anyone at all..."
"I don't want to... lie anymore... I want to tell him what's in my heart too... I don't want to lie anymore..."
"Waaaaah...!"
She wailed like a child.
In this empty world, only her crying remained.
...
"What's wrong, Lin?"
The double vision and lines before Lin eyes converged, and in a daze, they had turned into Elysia form. She leaned in with a worried expression.
Lin shook his head and took a step back. He stared at Elysia in confusion. After a long moment, he asked, "Elysia?"
"Hmm? Are you drunk?"
"No... I..."
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Lin didn't know what he subconsciously wanted to say. After racing through his memory—which showed no abnormalities—for a moment, he calmed down.
It seemed he had slept too little lately; his mental state wasn't great.
"It's nothing. I'm leaving."
"Eh, wait a second. There are two people who want to see you."
Lin waved his hand in refusal without looking back. He clutched his head—which felt no pain but was definitely abnormal—and walked toward the exit of the ballroom.
What was going on? This feeling like something had happened, yet also like nothing had happened...
After walking out the door, Lin heard a low commotion nearby. He turned his head and saw Chiaki looking at him with a dazed expression, two crystalline tear tracks trailing down her face.
Chiaki...
"You..."
"Huh? What's going on? Why did I suddenly start crying?" Before Lin could speak, Chiaki had already confusedly wiped the tears from her face with her fingers. She looked at her palm in shock, then at Lin. "Hey, what's up with you? Why did I start crying the moment you came out? Did you pull some trick?"
"...Who are you?" Lin asked calmly.
"Hey! I'm the hacker who was messed over by you and then dragged here! Don't forget people so easily!"
Chiaki instantly bristled, scrambled up from the ground, and roared at Lin.
Fuming, she wiped away her tears and glared at him. "You must have gotten some weird stuff from that green-haired girlfriend of yours to play pranks, right? I've heard what she does from others!"
"...If it were her stuff, it wouldn't be tears."
"Shut up! You bastard big-sister-con! I'm actually impressed you can hook up with so many girls in one night—and almost all of them are busty older women! You definitely used props and tricks to get them, didn't you?"
"..."
Seeing Lin fall silent, Chiaki huffed twice with an air of triumph.
"Let's get this straight, okay? Don't come looking for me. I'm not within your hunting range, and you're not my type. We'll stay out of each other's way. Otherwise, watch out, 'cause I'll make trouble for you. I'm no saint." Chiaki stood up straight, seemingly feeling much better after scolding Lin. She turned and walked away happily. "Bye-bye~"
Lin simply gazed at her back, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Perhaps he was just overthinking.
The two walked further and further apart—one with a smile on her face, the other as calm as water.
Further and further...
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Oh my gosh, this is the longest chapter in 1 volume that I have ever translated, to be honest, this is really my favorite Volume when I read it and yes next will continue to the next volume there is a 2 day gap for me to organize all the chapters to webnvel so that I can start daily updates with the correct time and not random, happy reading