36: Chapter 32 Manipulated at Will?

The delicate game interface on the phone screen emitted a faint glow in the dim little room.

Rin instinctively leaned closer, looking at that small screen.

In the image, Kaiwen was curled up in the corner of the bed, her finger slowly sliding across the screen as story text and character art flowed under her touch.

"...Because at that time, besides playing games, I didn't seem to have anything else to do." Kaiwen's voice came from the side, very quiet, like she was talking to herself.

"I read through every part of the story again and again, and I remembered every character's story crystal clear."

As her voice fell, the phone screen in the memory picture suddenly enlarged, occupying their entire field of vision.

What was playing on the screen was a story animation filled with Japanese-style aesthetics—a village with falling cherry blossoms, a maiden dressed in shrine maiden robes, and an ancient shrine standing at the end of the village.

Rin's body suddenly stiffened.

She recognized this place.

That was Yae Village.

"At that time, I was playing a chapter called Sakura Samsara," Kaiwen's voice continued. "It was about a shrine maiden named Yae Sakura who was trapped in an endless samsara, experiencing the tragedy of her younger sister being sacrificed and her village being destroyed time and time again."

The images continued to scroll.

"Later, I came across deeper story lore, about the Previous Era... about the Flame-Chasers, about the Thirteen Flame-Chasers."

The images on the screen switched rapidly, flashing scenes of archives and memories from the Previous Era—the magnificent Flame-Chasers headquarters, MANTISes in uniform, and that cold underground laboratory.

"Then, I saw your story."

Kaiwen stopped in her tracks.

The image on the screen froze as well, showing a tiny room surrounded by reinforced glass, inside of which sat a little girl hugging her knees.

The little girl's face was filled with fear and helplessness. Fully armed soldiers stood outside the glass wall, everyone staring at her like she was a monster.

Rin felt like she had been struck by lightning, and her legs unconsciously took a step back.

"I saw you locked in that glass room," Kaiwen said softly, "and I saw your older sister, risking everything to save you."

On the screen, a woman with long pink hair was charging recklessly toward the laboratory, with her companions behind her trying to stop her.

"But in the end..."

Kaiwen didn't finish her sentence.

She didn't need to finish, because Rin knew better than anyone what the outcome was.

On the screen, the story text on the phone slowly scrolled, finally stopping on a short line of description:

[Inside the glass wall, the little girl closed her eyes in fear and despair.]

Rin didn't speak. She just stared fixedly at the little girl curled up behind the glass wall on the screen, instinctively turning her face away.

"So when you asked me how I knew about you, the reason is just that simple."

Kaiwen shrugged: "It's all written in the game."

"So in your world, I'm just a game character?"

Kaiwen thought for a moment and nodded: "Pretty much."

Rin was silent for a few seconds, then let out a cold laugh: "Then you're quite interesting, coming into a game to talk reason with a game character."

Kaiwen didn't take up her words, nor did she refute them.

She just looked at those memory scenes that were gradually dimming, stayed silent for a moment, and then said something completely unrelated: "Perhaps this world is fake to me, but as long as it's real to you, that's enough, isn't it?"

Rin froze.

She opened her mouth to argue, but found that she couldn't find any words to counter with.

That was true.

Regardless of whether she was just a game character in Kaiwen's world, her fear when locked in that glass room fifty thousand years ago was real, her sister's tears shed to save her were real, and her despair when killed by humans was also real.

"It's about time to leave."

Kaiwen didn't give her time to keep dwelling on it, turning to walk toward the end of the memory.

The surrounding scenes faded in color frame by frame, gradually returning to darkness.

The footsteps of the two echoed in the empty void, and the surroundings were once again enveloped in familiar dimness.

Just as they were about to step out of the river of memories, the scene behind them suddenly flashed.

Rin instinctively looked back.

In the final frame was a luxurious villa engulfed in blazing flames.

Within the collapsing firelight, the once arrogant rich kid was crawling on the ground covered in blood and grime, only to be crushed under Kaiwen's foot, unable to move.

Meanwhile, Kaiwen just stood quietly in the middle of the raging fire, watching cold-eyed as her enemy struggled in despair amidst the flames.

The image came to an abrupt end on that desperate, terrified face, shattering into a sky full of light specks that dissipated into the darkness.

The train of memory had reached its destination.

Silence returned to the surroundings.

Rin stood in place, looking somewhat absentmindedly at the dissipating light specks. Only after a long time did she slowly turn her head to look at Kaiwen.

Kaiwen was standing there quietly at this moment, her expression calm.

"You... went to their house and killed them all?"

"Yeah. Since the law wouldn't pass judgment on him, I became the executioner myself."

"Just for revenge? You didn't even care about your own life anymore?"

Kaiwen lowered her eyelids and said indifferently: "If I didn't do it, justice wouldn't come knocking on its own. I just wanted an answer. If the price was just my life, I think it was quite a good deal."

Rin stared blankly at Kaiwen's calm face, then suddenly lowered her head, looked at her hands, and laughed self-deprecatingly:

"For the sake of the person who matters most, we both turned ourselves into monsters."

"...You and I don't seem to be any different."

Kaiwen looked at her, sighed softly, and said in a quiet voice:

"Perhaps."

Red mist slowly drifted and dispersed between the two of them.

After a moment, Kaiwen broke the silence.

"Rin."

"...What?"

"I'll ask you one last time."

Kaiwen looked at her with a flat tone, as if talking about something completely ordinary:

"Do you want to see your sister?"

Rin bit her lip, keeping her head lowered without speaking. Fine cracks began to appear on the surface of the lab coat she was wearing, and blackish-red mist seeped out bit by bit from the fissures.

"...Even if I go, she's just a memory."

"So what?"

Kaiwen's voice wasn't loud, but it was crystal clear:

"Even if it's just a memory, don't you still want to see her?"

Rin was rendered speechless.

Kaiwen reached out her hand to her.

"Come with me. Stop this samsara, and I'll take you to see your sister."

Rin looked at the hand suspended in mid-air, remaining still.

Kaiwen didn't pull her hand back, but just looked into her eyes and said in a calm tone:

"I've told you my biggest secret—my past, my background, even how I died."

"No one knows these things except you."

Seeing that Rin still kept her head lowered and pursed her lips, refusing to cooperate, Kaiwen sighed in her heart.

Looking at this little girl who hadn't grown up in fifty thousand years, she smiled with a hint of helplessness, then wiped away her previous serious expression and put on a playful look:

"Alright, let me change the subject... Rin, do you want revenge?"

"What?"

"Inside the Elysian Realm, there's not just your sister, but also the simulacra of those Flame-Chasers who once stopped your sister."

"With your ability, you can easily... play with those simulacra in the palm of your hand."

Rin looked at her somewhat dazed, for a moment even doubting if she had misheard.

"Play with... in the palm of my hand?"

"That's right." Kevin blinked at her, a hint of mischief in her tone. "For example, that Kevin who stopped your sister—his data is definitely stored in the Elysian Realm. When the time comes, however you want to mess with him will be entirely up to you."

Hearing this, she lowered her head and pondered for a moment, an eerie flash of inclination passing through her eyes.

Immediately after, Dr. MEI before her began to shatter piece by piece, revealing a delicate little face.

Rin slowly raised her head, a wicked smirk curving on her lips, and then placed her right hand very lightly into Kevin's palm.

"Then it's a deal. When we get to the Elysian Realm, Kevin is mine."

Although she didn't know why Rin only wanted Kevin, Kaiwen didn't care as long as she finally convinced Rin.

"Deal!"