The system’s electronic voice carried a trembling sob.
[At that time… I’ll be dead!]
Weiluoya felt a pang of panic.
“How much time do I have? What’s the specific time?” she pressed, her voice trembling slightly with fear.
[This… I don’t know.]
The system’s electronic voice sounded filled with regret.
[Like I said just now, the backlash trigger is random.]
[It could be a few days, or it could be the next second.]
“Then can I not die?”
Weiluoya’s voice grew even quieter, carrying a plea she hadn’t even noticed herself.
“I just got together with Xialvdi… I don’t want to leave so soon…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
Her throat felt blocked as if something were stuck, and she couldn’t utter another syllable.
Right.
She had just found her.
She had just understood what liking someone meant, had just clumsily learned to respond, had just been held so tightly by someone, who told her, “I will only ever like you.”
But now, the system was telling her that all of this would end soon.
She was going to die again.
To be mercilessly erased from this world.
Just like last time, after gaining a little bit of warmth…
[I can’t do that.]
The system gave the cruelest answer.
[This is a backlash at the level of the World Rules. It’s beyond what I can fix.]
She leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to sit on the floor.
Weiluoya fell silent.
Her heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand, squeezing tight with pain.
A suffocating feeling of powerlessness enveloped her again.
It was exactly the same feeling as when she first lay on the hospital bed, waiting for her life to slip away little by little.
[Host, please don’t be like this…]
The system tried to comfort her.
[Maybe there’s another way. I’ll go look again!]
Weiluoya didn’t answer.
She hugged her knees, buried her face in them, and said nothing.
Just then, the study door was gently pushed open.
Xialvdi walked out from inside.
When she saw Weiluoya curled up alone in the corner of the hallway, the composure on her face instantly vanished.
“Weiluoya?”
She walked quickly over and crouched down in front of Weiluoya.
“What’s wrong? Why are you sitting here?”
Xialvdi reached out to touch her face, but when she saw her hollow, vacant blue eyes, her heart sank.
She didn’t ask anything.
She just reached out and pulled the trembling little body tightly into her arms.
“I’m here.”
Xialvdi gently stroked her back, over and over.
“Don’t be scared. What happened?”
The warm embrace and familiar scent caused Weiluoya’s taut nerves to suddenly relax.
The tears she had been holding back welled up without warning.
She didn’t want to cry, especially not in front of Xialvdi.
But the tears fell uncontrollably, soon soaking the fabric of Xialvdi’s shoulder.
She made no sound, only cried silently, her body trembling uncontrollably in Xialvdi’s arms.
After a long time, she finally calmed down, her voice hoarse.
“We… we can’t be together anymore.”
“Mm, I’m here.”
Xialvdi held her even tighter.
“Who said that?”
There was a hint of coldness in her voice.
“As long as I’m alive, no one can separate us.”
Weiluoya wanted to tell her.
She wanted to tell her about the system, the transmigration, the missions, and her body that was about to collapse.
Everything.
But when she opened her mouth, she found that the words were locked behind an invisible barrier, and she couldn’t utter a single one.
She could only lean into Xialvdi’s arms, shaking her head in despair.
“Xialvdi.”
Weiluoya lifted her tear-stained little face and looked at her.
“Do you remember? In the last world, on the mountaintop of that town, the fireflies we watched together.”
Xialvdi was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
“I remember,” she said.
“They were beautiful.”
“Let me tell you a story.”
Weiluoya’s voice was very soft, as if speaking of a distant dream.
“Once upon a time, there was a very small firefly. Its life was very short; it could only glow in the summer.”
“After it died, its soul didn’t disappear. It turned into a vampire girl.”
Xialvdi listened quietly, her fingers gently wiping away the tears on her cheeks.
“That vampire girl met the most important person in her life.”
“But in order to set that person free, she died herself.”
“Then her soul drifted and drifted, and turned into a detective girl.”
“That detective girl also found her most important person.”
Weiluoya looked into Xialvdi’s eyes, tears blurring her vision again.
“But… but the firefly’s journey isn’t over yet. It will soon have to leave again, turn into something else, and go to another world.”
“But it… it can’t seem to keep anyone.”
“Even though it found a really, really great friend along the way, still…”
Xialvdi’s heart felt as if it had been violently twisted, aching so much she could barely breathe.
She finally understood.
She looked down at the lover crying like a child in her arms, at the deep, bottomless sadness and despair in her eyes.
“Then.”
Xialvdi interrupted her, her voice gentle, like a light piercing through the darkness.
“That firefly’s friend doesn’t want the firefly to leave alone anymore.”
Weiluoya stared at her blankly.
“So she will keep chasing, keep searching.”
Xialvdi leaned down, pressing her forehead against Weiluoya’s, her dark eyes filled only with her.
“No matter where the firefly flies, no matter what it becomes, her friend will find her, be with her, and walk together with her always.”
“Because that friend has long realized—”
“The little, silly firefly who always thought she wasn’t needed is the only light in her own life.”
Weiluoya couldn’t hold it in anymore.
She threw herself into Xialvdi’s arms and burst into loud sobs.
All the grievance and unease turned into scalding tears in that moment.
“Waaah… Xialvdi…”
“I’m here.”
Xialvdi hugged her tightly, letting her tears soak the front of her clothes.
Her chin rested on Weiluoya’s soft golden hair, and her own eyes reddened.
“Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
She whispered in her ear over and over.
“I will always follow you.”
That afternoon, the entrance of the Crinwell family home was completely blocked.
Reporters from the Golden City Special Report, people from the Jewelers’ Guild.
The ladies of the Nightingale Ladies who had personally witnessed the grand ceremony, and even the City Defense Office had sent a clerk, saying they wanted to do a “simple record.”
Simple record.
Just hearing those four words made it clear it was anything but simple.
Weiluoya wrapped herself in a blanket and sat by the window on the second floor.
She glanced down, then immediately pulled the curtains shut.
“So many people.”
Her voice was still a little hoarse.
Because she had cried, her eyes were still slightly swollen.
Worse still, the system’s words, “You might be done for,” kept spinning in her head like a never-ending alarm.
She just couldn’t muster any energy right now.