Everyone was immersed in the immense grief of losing Victor, mourning him in silence... END
Wednesday typed the final letter on the last line of the manuscript with an expressionless face.
Click.
The crisp sound of the typewriter's carriage return was especially jarring in the quiet dorm room.
"Slurp... slurp..."
An ill-timed sound broke the silence.
Victor was holding a large cup of extra-thick chocolate milkshake, slurping it with gusto while protesting indistinctly:
"Uh, dear, so I'm already written off? Aren't I the male lead? Not only do I have little screen time, but I also die? This ending is way too frustrating!"
"Perhaps the author thinks you're too embarrassing as a male lead," Venom poked its head out from Victor's shoulder, its white eyes rolling in a habitual taunt. "Better to die early and be reborn."
Wednesday tidied the manuscript, deftly tying it with a black ribbon, her voice calm and detached:
"For a literary masterpiece aimed at exploring the emptiness of life and the futility of love, an ending filled with flaws, even destruction, is the most perfect conclusion."
She pulled open the desk drawer and placed the novel manuscript inside.
"Also, Enid," Wednesday turned her head to look at Enid, who was still clinging tightly to Victor like a koala, "you should let go of Victor now. He has 'revived.'"
"I won't!" Enid shook her head stubbornly, her arms tightening even more as she nuzzled her cheek against Victor's neck.
"I'm afraid if I let go, he'll disappear again! You have no idea, when I saw his heart stop beating, I... I was so desperate I wanted to follow him!"
Feeling Enid's dependence, Victor's heart melted completely. He stroked Enid's golden hair and chuckled:
"Honestly, I'm still a bit dazed. At that time, I thought it was truly over. If I had to say... it was nothing short of a miracle."
His thoughts drifted back to five hours ago, to that boundary line filled with despair and hope... Rewind to five hours ago, at the academy boundary.
In the deathly silence of despair, Enid's werewolf-enhanced hearing was the first to catch an extremely faint, yet distinctly different sound.
"Thump... thump..."
A slow, heavy, but undeniably real heartbeat!
"Venom! Victor's heart!"
Enid jerked her head up, tears still streaking her face, but her eyes blazed with incredible light as she let out a sharp, distorted cry!
"I hear it!"
Venom reacted faster than lightning, its black symbiote substance instantly merging completely into Victor's body.
Its "gaze" locked onto the heart that should have been scrapped—it was beating!
Though slow and weak, as if it might stop again at any moment, it was undeniably the pulse of life!
"Hahahaha!" Venom erupted into wild laughter in Victor's consciousness, babbling incoherently with excitement.
"Brother! I knew you weren't meant to die! You're a troublemaker through and through! The wicked live a thousand years! Hahaha!"
The pitch-black symbiote substance once again gently but firmly wrapped around the newly beating heart, carefully channeling energy into it, acting as the most reliable external pump.
"Uh..." Victor's long eyelashes fluttered a few times as his eyes slowly opened.
The real sensation of a pulse in his chest left him momentarily bewildered, followed by immense joy.
"I... I don't think I'm dead?"
"Oh, damn! Everything I said earlier was nonsense!"
Victor sat up a bit straighter, his words tumbling out like rapid-fire answers.
"What kind of crappy 'best ending' is that? It's terrible! I haven't lived enough yet! I still want to marry Enid and Wednesday!"
"And have a bunch of little maniacs! And have Mavis help me take care of the kids! Venom! Good brother! Keep it up! Steady! Oh my god! God! Whatever deity is passing by! I pray to you! Let me live! I'll try to do fewer bad deeds from now on... maybe!"
He rambled incoherently, but his face was lit up with the brilliantly mad, signature smile of Victor Black.
Venom poked its head out again, its white eyes curving into slits, its voice filled with relieved joy: "Success! Heartbeat stabilized! Welcome back, brother!"
"Hahaha! That's great!"
Victor waved a fist excitedly, then shouted up at the sky, "Fuck you! God! Looks like today's not the day! I'm not meant to die yet!"
He turned to look at the faces around him, which had shifted from extreme sorrow to shock and wild joy in an instant, grinning widely despite his still-pale complexion:
"Hey, everyone! I'm back!"
Before his words faded, Enid had already launched herself into his arms like a cannonball. Cradling his face with her hands, she kissed him deeply, her tears mingling with the overwhelming joy of having him back.
The kiss was passionate, domineering, filled with the werewolf girl's unbridled love and lingering fear.
Victor could clearly taste the salty, bitter flavor of tears mixed within the sweetness.
"Wow..." Victor felt a bit dizzy from the kiss, barely managing to make a sound.
Just then, Wednesday stepped forward.
Unlike Enid, she didn't throw herself at him. Instead, with her usual calm and even a hint of her customary bossiness, she grabbed Victor's shirt collar, pulled him down forcefully, and precisely sealed his lips with hers.
This kiss wasn't as fiery and unrestrained as Enid's; it was longer, deeper, carrying a gothic, icy possessiveness and an undeniable confirmation.
As if through this method, she was personally verifying his existence and marking him as her own.
Victor was completely stunned, his eyes wide.
"Ooh~~~"
From the side came the drawn-out exclamations of the two little ones, Dennis and Wednesday, their big eyes blinking unwaveringly as they watched.
Mavis immediately wore a relieved and slightly teasing "auntie smile," while elegantly covering the children's eyes with her hand, her voice tinged with amusement:
"Not for children, little ones. You're still too young for such scenes."
Under the sunlight, the youth who had narrowly escaped death was tightly surrounded by his girls, with family and friends encircling them. Though the future remained filled with unknown madness, at least in this moment, his heartbeat was real, and the embraces were warm.
A crow perched on a branch, quietly watching this scene, data streams flickering in its eyes.
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