"Yeah… I have… the right to be happy…"
Kiana murmured the words to herself. The thin haze of tears in her eyes slowly dispersed, replaced by a flickering light.
She lifted her head, looking at Su Yu, then at Mei not far away.
For the first time, the future Su Yu had described—the peaceful world with no Honkai, only ordinary days—felt real inside her.
The feeling was unfamiliar, like a tender sprout in spring cautiously pushing through frozen soil.
She drew in a deep breath. Her hands clenched into fists on her knees, as if trying to hold on to this hard-won courage.
Since Su Yu said so, and since Sister Mei was so gentle…
maybe she really could try. Try stepping out. Try reaching for this world.
And then—
"Heh heh… the right to be happy? You mean you?"
The voice detonated inside the deepest part of her mind.
Sharp. Mocking. Carrying that familiar chill that made her whole body shudder.
Kiana's body locked up.
The fist she'd just tightened loosened instantly, her fingers trembling out of control.
That voice.
The one that had dragged her into despair again and again—
was back.
Why now?
Why now, of all times?
She'd checked so many times—so many times. It should have been gone.
It should have disappeared.
Before she could stop it, her mind snapped back to the dream she'd had that night.
The shadow coiled around her heart… had never left.
"Do you see it, Kiana? In a world without you, Mei's life is so happy."
The voice slithered along her nerves like an icy snake, climbing inch by inch.
"That Mei who smiles with confidence in the laboratory… that woman leaning against her lover…"
"That's the life she was meant to have."
"And you?"
"You're nothing but an extra stain."
"You're the blot of ink that ruins a beautiful painting."
"N-no… that's not true…"
Kiana tried to argue in her mind, but the voice echoed straight through her soul, every sentence striking with surgical precision at the place she feared most.
"Is that so? Is that so, is that so, is that so…"
The laughter turned sharper, dripping with malice and insinuation.
"You're jealous, aren't you? Jealous that Kevin Kaslana gets to have all of this."
"You want to destroy his happiness with Mei—just like you destroyed Mei's life back then."
"You want them to become like you and Mei…"
"Trapped in this abyss, torturing each other in despair."
"Shut up! I don't!" Kiana's pupils contracted violently. Her breathing grew fast and ragged, her chest like it was being crushed by a stone.
"You don't?" The voice sank lower—heavy, like a verdict being read.
"Then why do you still dare to appear in front of her?"
"You want to make that girl lose her peace and happiness again."
"You selfish monster, Kiana."
"As long as you're alive—so long as you get close to her—disaster will come sooner or later!"
"Look."
"Even in a world without Honkai energy… I still exist."
"If I want, I can tear everything here apart with ease."
"That woman named Mei."
"That man named Kevin."
"And Su Yu, who keeps trying to save you…"
"They'll all die because of you."
"Shut up!"
Kiana tried to force the voice down—but she suddenly realized her body wasn't obeying.
Her hand curled into a claw on its own.
The target was Su Yu's throat.
That familiar suffocating sensation—like being turned into a puppet on strings—made Kiana's eyes go wide.
In that instant, she felt like the air around her had been sucked dry.
The tension that had finally started to loosen under Su Yu's gentleness—
snapped, under the weight of that awakening voice, with a sound like a breaking bowstring.
Crack—
Shattered.
All her hope.
All her courage.
In that moment, it broke into pieces.
So this was the truth…
she had never escaped.
Those whispers that had circled her ears and mind—
they were never hallucinations.
The Herrscher had never left her.
It was a tumor in her soul.
A curse written into her fate.
A monster.
She was a monster who would bring death to everyone.
She didn't deserve happiness—
she didn't even deserve to live.
Su Yu was about to reach for another tub of popcorn when, in the corner of his vision, he caught that something was wrong with Kiana.
Her face was paper-white, cold sweat beading densely on her forehead. She was shaking violently, her eyes vacant, like she'd lost focus entirely.
"Kiana? What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"
He reached out instinctively, trying to touch her shoulder—just to steady her.
"Don't touch me!!!"
Kiana let out a raw, piercing scream and slapped his hand away.
Smack!
The sound cracked sharply.
Fear and despair flooded her voice, and in the relatively quiet private box it was painfully loud.
Mei and Kevin both jolted, turning around in confusion.
"What happened? What's going on?" Mei started to move toward them.
"Don't come over! None of you come over!!"
Kiana stared at them, eyes full of terror.
Like she was looking at a flood-beast, she backed away, shaking her head.
"I'm a monster… I'll kill you… don't come near me…"
Before Su Yu could even process it, Kiana spun around and bolted for the door like she'd gone mad.
"Kiana!" Su Yu shouted, springing up to chase her.
But Kiana was impossibly fast.
She yanked the door open and, without looking back once, disappeared into the noisy crowd outside.
"T-this… what's with that kid?" Kevin was completely lost. "Did she eat something bad and need the bathroom?"
But Su Yu knew it wasn't that.
Because the instant Kiana rushed out—
the system panel that had been silent all this time popped up in front of him, and bright red numbers began flashing madly—
[Absolute Free Time Countdown: 29:58]
That was…
the free time she had just activated.
During this window, she wasn't bound by the 1.5-meter limit.
She wasn't bound to him, the anchor.
She could go anywhere.
Su Yu's pupils shrank hard.
He remembered Kiana's eyes as she left.
That wasn't the look of someone trying to escape.
It was…
the look of someone who'd gone dead inside, and then made a decision.
A look that wanted to sever every connection—
to make sure this world would never be harmed because of her again—
a look that was ready to die.
"No…"
"No, that's not right."
Su Yu stared at the rapidly draining countdown, his face turning pale.
He knew that look too well.
It wasn't sickness.
It wasn't a tantrum.
It was the look of someone who believes the world has abandoned them—
and who, in turn, has decided to abandon the world first.
....
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