119: Chapter 119 Misunderstanding Cleared Up

As soon as these words were spoken, the bullet chat that had been laughing wildly clearly stalled for a moment.

However, the veteran players who had been baptized by the Final Singularity had long since evolved into heartless "wicked machines."

"No way! Lu Lu, you have a persecution complex!"

"Arash was just a game mechanic; we just wanted to give you a little surprise! Doctor Roman is the main story!"

"Right, right, right! The story is sacred! We would never lie about the Doctor's ending! He really does go off to live a peaceful life in the end!"

"We swear on the integrity of every player on the server that the Doctor definitely doesn't die! If he dies, may Old Thief Gu get hit by a car the moment he steps outside!"

Looking at the screen full of solemn oaths, even going as far as to use a curse like "Old Thief Gu getting hit by a car," the suspicion in Lin Lu's eyes faded slightly, but a knot remained in her heart.

"Alright, alright, this young lady has taken ten thousand points of damage today. My heart can't take it anymore; I'm ending the stream now."

Lin Lu indignantly took off her VR headset and exited the game.

Leaving the bedroom, Lin Lu went to the living room and found her roommate, Chen Jiajia, in her pajamas, holding a box of potato chips and watching a drama on the sofa with great interest.

"Chen Jiajia." Lin Lu walked over and sat down next to her, her expression serious.

"Hmm? What's up? Did the great film critic Lu hit a snag during her first run today?" Chen Jiajia asked, stuffing a chip into her mouth and speaking indistinctly.

"I want to ask you something."

"First off, you have to answer me honestly!" Lin Lu stared intently into her best friend's eyes, as if trying to see through her soul.

"That NPC called Doctor Roman—what is his final ending exactly? The bullet chat says he lives until the very end and has a beautiful happy ending... Are they all ganging up to lie to me?"

Hearing the name "Doctor Roman," Chen Jiajia's hand holding the chips froze slightly.

That heart-wrenching "The Time of Parting Has Come," that figure turning into light and dust as it vanished before the throne... it instantly pierced her heart, making her nose sting and almost bringing her to tears again.

But...

When she looked up and saw Lin Lu's expression—wary, yet faintly tinged with affection and expectation for the Doctor...

As a veteran Master who had completed FGO, a "wicked instinct" originating from the depths of her soul instantly suppressed her sadness and took control of Chen Jiajia's brain.

How could I be the only one to suffer from such a nuclear-level gut punch?!

I have to drag my best friend down with me!!

Without even a half-second pause, Chen Jiajia forced her tears back, and her face instantly bloomed with an incredibly sincere and brilliant smile worthy of an Oscar-winning actress.

"Oh, you're overthinking it, Lu Lu!"

Chen Jiajia affectionately took Lin Lu's arm and said in a longing tone, "The bullet chat really didn't lie to you this time! Doctor Roman is the gentlest person in all of Chaldea; how could Gu Yi ever bear to kill him off?"

"In the end, not only does he save the world, but he also finally sets down all the burdens on his shoulders. He gets to eat his favorite strawberry cake every day! It's a true super-happy ending!"

"Don't play dumb."

Lin Lu crossed her arms and leaned forward. "I'm asking you, if Doctor Roman really has a beautiful, healing, happy ending like the bullet chat says, then why were you crying like a dog in my room in the middle of the night?"

Hearing this, Chen Jiajia's hand holding the chips jerked, and half a chip fell onto her pajamas.

The air suddenly went silent for two seconds.

No! This heart-piercing despair absolutely cannot be tasted by me alone! If Lu Lu finds out the truth now or builds up mental defenses, won't Old Thief Gu's legendary blade have been for nothing?

I have to fool her completely!

"Ahem..." Chen Jiajia's mind raced. She blinked and gave an actress-level helpless smile. "Lu Lu, you've watched too many movies and lost your mind. Who says a happy ending can't be a good cry?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Lu's brow furrowed.

"I was moved! It was an emotional release, don't you get it?"

Chen Jiajia crossed her legs and began to talk nonsense with a straight face. "Lu Lu, you're underestimating Gu Yi's writing skills. Simply killing off a healing character with a bit of tragedy is a low-level trick used by third-rate writers to squeeze out tears."

Hearing the words "third-rate writer," Lin Lu's film critic radar pinged, and she instinctively nodded. "Right, that's exactly what I said in the stream."

Chen Jiajia keenly seized on Lin Lu's preconceived notion and immediately pressed her advantage. "Gu Yi wouldn't use such a cliché death. He arranged an ending for Doctor Roman that's full of philosophical reflection and is romantic to the extreme!"

"Philosophical reflection? Romantic?" Lin Lu's curiosity was successfully piqued. "For example?"

Chen Jiajia took a deep breath and began to speak like a riddler, choosing her words carefully:

"In the final battle, to save everyone, he cast off thousands of years of destiny and turned to leave."

"Cast off destiny?" Lin Lu mused.

"Yes, and more than that."

Chen Jiajia's gaze became deep and distant, even carrying a hint of genuine melancholy. "He went to a place that none of us can ever reach or observe."

"There, he completely broke free from the shackles of his identity as a 'Chaldea Doctor.' He no longer needs to fight, and he no longer needs to face endless overtime. He achieved an eternal, unrestrained, absolute freedom."

When a person is doing something bad, their potential is limitless.

Chen Jiajia's montage-style speech was technically true in every word, but under the clever linguistic packaging, it perfectly concealed the cruel truth.

Lin Lu's pupils dilated slightly. The classic film theories in her brain began to operate frantically, and she fell perfectly into the trap.

"Unobservable... absolute freedom..."

Lin Lu slapped her thigh, suddenly enlightened. "I get it! Isn't this the most classic 'Hero's Retirement' trope in Hollywood?!"

"Just like the ending of The Dark Knight Rises, where Bruce Wayne uses a spectacular explosion to fake his death and escape, eventually living an unknown life as an ordinary person in a cafe in Florence!"

Lin Lu grew more excited as she spoke, her defenses vanishing instantly:

"Gu Yi is using a 'conceptual disappearance' as a metaphor for his complete spiritual liberation!"

"Brilliant! No wonder you guys dared to swear he didn't die. This kind of open ending, with a bit of regret but finding new life in the distance, is indeed much higher-level than a cliché happy ending!"

"Right, right, right! It's just like Batman! Exactly the same!"

Chen Jiajia nodded like a chicken pecking at grain, struggling to keep her lips from twitching, and held Lin Lu's hand with a heavy expression:

"That's why I cried. That sense of destiny—'I know you're eating strawberry cake in some corner of the world, but I'll never see you again'—the aftertaste is just too strong. He didn't die; he just went to enjoy a life of his own."

Listening to her best friend's seamless description, especially that phrase "achieved absolute freedom," which perfectly matched what the bullet chat said...

The last sliver of doubt in Lin Lu's heart finally melted away like ice and snow.

"Phew... that's good then."

Lin Lu breathed a long sigh of relief, and that proud smile of someone who had seen through everything reappeared on her face.

"Hmph, I told you, how could my eyes as a professional film critic be wrong? Alright, I'm reassured now. I'll continue pushing the main story tomorrow. I want to witness for myself how our Doctor 'retires from the world'!"

Just as she was about to get up and return to her room, Chen Jiajia suddenly grabbed her with a serious expression:

"But Lu Lu, I have to warn you in advance. When you're pushing the main story, you must never, absolutely never, search for any analysis or endings regarding the Doctor online!"

"Why?" Lin Lu was taken aback.

"Think about it. For this kind of suspense involving 'high-dimensional sublimation' and 'heroic retirement,' the most important thing is the process of peeling back the layers and finally reaching that shocking explosion!"

Chen Jiajia fooled her with a serious air, "Once you see spoilers online and find out at what point and in what way he leaves, that purest, most perfect immersive experience will be completely ruined!"

"You're a professional film critic; you wouldn't want the ending of a suspense blockbuster spoiled for you before you even watch it, right?"

"That makes sense." Lin Lu nodded in deep agreement and gave an "OK" gesture. "Don't worry, what this young lady hates most are spoiler dogs. I promise not to look at any related forums or fanworks. I'm definitely going to experience this romantic curtain call you've praised to the heavens for myself."

Watching Lin Lu's back as she completely let down her guard and even hummed a little tune while walking back to her bedroom...

Chen Jiajia collapsed back onto the sofa, the corners of her mouth curling up wildly into a smile that was both sad and cruel.

Retiring from the world? A cafe in Florence? Eating strawberry cake?

Like hell he is.

Sorry, my dear Lu Lu.

Since you, this proud white swan, have walked into the oven yourself and even closed the door behind you...

Then get ready to be blown into a sobbing mess by true ninth art in the Grand Temple of Time.