Chapter 20 Precarious Days (1)
Zihua’s expression changed, her smile vanished, her pupils dilated, and her irises lost their luster.
“Then don’t blame me for being rude…”
Her tone shifted from its previous relaxed demeanor, carrying a heavy and terrifying deterrence! This made me feel once again that the person before me was definitely not Lanhua!
If Lanhua was a benign yandere, Zihua was undoubtedly a malignant yandere! She would stop at nothing to achieve her goals!
Zihua raised her hand, and water coalesced from the air beside her.
Perhaps the water condensed from the air, and the quantity was not much, only enough to form small water balls the size of bullets.
My instincts reacted before my body could think, and I immediately lunged forward, rolling and scraping my elbow.
In the next second, I heard the spot where I had been standing being pierced by a small water ball, leaving impact marks on the asphalt.
She indeed had other abilities!
I quickly pushed myself up with my right hand and ran forward, trying to get behind obstacles like streetlights or flower beds while keeping my body low to avoid being sniped.
After running to the corner of the intersection, I immediately turned and fled into a building.
Adjusting my breathing…
…
The ability to control water? It’s… it’s good that there are no nearby water sources. If there were, I’d be caught immediately.
What are these abilities of Zihua?
Zihua is the future Lanhua, but Lanhua herself doesn’t have these abnormal abilities.
Did she gain them later?
Speaking of which, the young miss Jibing and Xueqing also didn’t have abnormal abilities from the start; they only gained them after awakening as “Witches of Calamity.”
So, did Lanhua too?
But there are only four Witches of Calamity, and their identities have all been confirmed… Right…
This means she awakened her abilities through other things? And she also has the powerful ability of time backtrack, making her unfathomable.
Yet, Zihua, who possessed such powerful abilities, still died in the end.
What happened in the future that even Lanhua, who had become so powerful, died? Since even Lanhua died, what about the others? What happened to Juncheng?
Zihua said she came to “stop me.” Does that mean my other self’s plan succeeded, and Juncheng ended up living in the mirror world within Yatagami Town forever?
… No, it’s pointless to think about that now.
Besides, I’m in danger right now, what’s the use of thinking about these things?
If I can’t escape this “closed time,” then there will be no future.
After stopping and starting, and changing hiding spots several times, around dusk, time began to rewind again, and I found myself facing Zihua once more.
“It’s useless to run anywhere.”
“But I can only run now, right? Unlike you dangerous girls with abnormal abilities, I don’t have various powers.”
“Hoo, you yourself are an anomaly. You’re just a fabricated existence, a sacrifice used by the main body to restrain others. Don’t you feel any resentment?”
…
Resentment…
Of course, I do.
After learning everything from Zihua just now, I felt an inexpressible complex feeling.
It was like something was stuffed into my chest, making me feel so uncomfortable that I was about to faint.
That resentment…
The resentment of not being able to save Juncheng in the end.
At the moment of Juncheng’s death, no one was by his side. It seemed so, but it wasn’t.
‘I’ was there, watching as Juncheng’s body was entangled and devoured by Kaoru Tsukiyose’s hair, unable to do anything.
Extreme resentment.
However.
“Trying to persuade me? What a shame, I won’t be swayed… Interrogation is also useless, so if you want to get serious, just kill me!”
“Zi’ai An…”
Get angry, then lose your mind and attack me freely.
Attacks launched in anger have reduced accuracy.
The water ball didn’t hit me. I escaped and blended into the crowd, heading in a different direction than before.
I continued to dodge attacks with the same routine, and the randomly fired water bullets…
Zihua said I was a fabricated existence, a phantom virtual entity. This resentment was so strong that even I could feel it.
If ‘I’ had a body, if ‘I’ had strength, I could have helped Juncheng, and Juncheng wouldn’t have to sacrifice himself to protect others.
But, ‘I’ at that time couldn’t, so I could only lurk and wait for an opportunity.
In the very end, at the moment Juncheng’s soul was about to be devoured, ‘I’ took Juncheng’s soul and infiltrated the Yata no Kagami, escaping into the mirror world.
If it were in that world, ‘I’ would have the authority to change the world, to create a normal world where Juncheng could enjoy peace and tranquility.
But the girls who depended on Juncheng wouldn’t allow it. Even if Juncheng died, they would pull him out of the underworld, out of hell, and revive him by any means necessary.
They wouldn’t let him rest even in death.
The original me also thought the same way, wanting to revive him by any means possible. But that was because I didn’t know that I myself was a mental reflection from the mirror world.
But now I know. If Juncheng goes to ‘my world,’ I’ve decided to change my mind.
For Juncheng, living in that world would also be a kind of happiness.
Even if it’s fake… What does it matter if it’s fake?
A mental reflection isn’t a completely fabricated guy, but a mental body replicated by referencing reality.
A mirror is a reflective object. Can you say that the person in the mirror isn’t you?
It could be according to Juncheng’s wishes to “adjust” that world. He could have anything he wanted.
He could even start a new harem and do as he pleased. In that world, there were girls with identical personalities and appearances for him to play with, without worrying about harem disputes. A dream world.
But the girls in the real world wouldn’t allow it… Juncheng staying in the mirror world means the girls in the real world could never see him again, so if they found out, they would definitely bring him out of the mirror world.
… Someone else needs to attract their attention. That person is me. My task is to tie down these girls.
And in order for me to gain their trust, I was sent from the mirror world to this world several months ago, and a parallel world theory was fabricated to make them mistakenly believe I was Juncheng from another world.
And because I merged with Juncheng’s mental reflection, I perfectly played this role and successfully gained the trust of others.
To prevent any flaws from appearing in the plan and from being discovered by the girls, I deliberately didn’t remember this fact. That’s what’s meant by “deceive others first, then deceive yourself.”
And I don’t need to be told – I can “recall” it myself.
Because that’s how it was designed.
If Zihua hadn’t appeared, I would have continued to search for Lanhua. Of course, Lanhua wouldn’t have the Yata no Kagami, and then I would find someone else. This process would repeat.
At first, I wondered why things became so long and complicated, like a quest in an online game. Now, I realize it was just to stall for time.
Afterward, I would follow Ariadne’s thread to find the Yata no Kagami – and then I would “remember everything.”
Then, the next step would be to move the Yata no Kagami again so that everyone couldn’t find it.
However, now Zihua has appeared and messed up the entire plan.
After a long while, time stopped once again, and then flowed backward.
No matter how many times I play hide-and-seek, Zihua won’t let me go.
When time backtrack ends, this time I preemptively and sternly said to Zihua.
“You’re from the future, yet you don’t know where the Yata no Kagami is? Ah, meaning, you weren’t told what happened ‘at that time.’ Heh, being excluded, how pathetic?”
“Hmph, stop your babbling.”
At that time, because Zi’ai An deceived everyone, no one knew the truth. By the time we knew, it was already over… But this time, I won’t repeat the same mistake.
“Heh, aren’t you repeating the same mistake right now?”
A water ball was shot silently.
Of course, I wasn’t stupid and immediately dodged it, but because of the experience from the previous two times, Zihua predicted my hiding spot, and the water ball pierced my upper arm.
“Ugh…”
Although I was prepared to be injured, I couldn’t help but groan when my arm was pierced.
Gritting my teeth, I ran to the corner. A water ball grazed my back, tearing my shirt and cutting my skin.
After escaping to the side of a public restroom in the park, I took off my sportswear and used the nail clippers on my keychain to tear off a part of my T-shirt to bandage the wound.
I still have to hold on until time backtracks… At that time, the wound will also recover.
But Zihua’s next attack will likely be even more accurate.
However, she shouldn’t kill me if she wants to find out the location of the Yata no Kagami. No matter what injury I sustain, I have to endure it.
It seems Zihua cannot use this ability freely.
Although she said she would repeat it infinitely and wouldn’t let me go no matter what, her ability should have a usage limit.
First, there’s the ‘cooldown period.’ Time backtrack always happens around dusk. If she could really backtrack time at will, she should have backtracked time the moment I fled and repeatedly tormented me until I confessed.
Then there’s the ‘duration.’ Zihua’s backtrack time should be limited. If she could backtrack for a few days, why not wait until I let my guard down and I go to find the Yata no Kagami, then follow me to find its location, instead of forcing me to tell her? Moreover, she said she would “confine me to today,” meaning she can only backtrack for less than a day.
From all angles, doesn’t this ability resemble magic?
Just like consuming MP to use magic in a game, Zihua must be consuming something when she uses this ability. Although I don’t know what kind of energy it is, it must have a limit.
And for such a terrifying ability as time backtrack, the consumption must be absolutely not small.
So, as long as I hold on until her usage limit is reached, and when Zihua can no longer backtrack time, I can escape from her.
That will be my victory.
“Hold on until I can’t backtrack anymore… That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
My heart trembled! The voice came from above!
“Yes, your deduction is correct. Using ‘Reverse Samsara’ does consume a lot of fate… But do you think I’ll give you a chance to hold on until the end? The previous two times were just to ‘record your choice of direction’.”
Damn it…
I forgot one fatal fact. She, who was once Lanhua–
Zihua is also a natural-born [stalker]!
