50% in one go?
Why did that feel like a child bride... ahem.
"Idiot ghost, get me a glass of water."
"Can't you be a little more polite?"
"Alright, Mr. Idiot Ghost, please get me a glass of water." Mobius, who had already begun studying high school material, said without the slightest courtesy.
"...Keep reading all day and you'll end up wearing glasses." Liu Bai grumbled as he poured Mobius a glass of water.
At only six years old, Mobius was unquestionably a genius in every respect.
"Do you expect me to play in the mud with those little brats if I don't read? You're an idiot... Oh, sorry, you were already an idiot to begin with."
"..."
Liu Bai looked at Mobius's childish face, then at the high school textbook in her hands... Well, six-year-old him really had been playing in the mud.
Liu Bai silently shut up.
He wanted to argue, but if he lost, he might go from Idiot Ghost to Moron Ghost.
And if he won... Was beating a six-year-old really something to be proud of?
"Oh, right, Idiot Ghost, there's something... Um..."
Mobius slowly raised her head and looked toward the offered glass of water. A rare trace of dejection appeared on her face.
"They say children can see many unusual things, but as they grow older, they can no longer see them..."
"? Then what am I?" Liu Bai shrugged.
"...I can't see you anymore, Idiot Ghost—from this morning onward."
Farewell to the Past
Unlike other children, who formed memories late, Mobius—who could only be described as a genius, or perhaps a monster—could still remember the moment of her own birth.
Mobius clearly remembered that she had once been able to see a blurry figure, like a stick figure smudged all over.
But now...
Mobius looked toward where the glass of water was—there was nothing there.
Perhaps that figure had been gradually fading for a long time. She had simply been too immersed in her warm daily life to notice.
Only after that blurry yet familiar figure vanished today did Mobius suddenly feel an inexplicable sense of panic.
Even though she could be called someone born with knowledge, and understood birth, aging, sickness, and death, still...
She had never known that "loss" could make someone feel so uneasy.
After failing to see that familiar figure today, Mobius experienced what it meant for her mind to go completely blank for the first time since her birth.
"Growing up? You're just a little brat who isn't even halfway through being six."
A piercingly mocking voice came from the air, followed by an impudent gaze that had already crossed into territory sensitive to her as a woman.
"No chest, no butt, not even a waist. Tsk, growing up... Tsk tsk tsk."
Mobius's face immediately darkened. Her sadness and unease were instantly replaced by anger.
"Hmph, it would be a good thing if some ghost disappeared. Out of sight, out of mind. At least I wouldn't get infected by the idiot virus. Ah~ I wonder whether some Idiot Ghost even knows how to solve problems."
Mobius took down the glass that had been pressed atop her head and retaliated without mercy.
"..." Liu Bai was speechless.
If he had been a high school senior before transmigrating, he definitely would have fired back. Unfortunately, before transmigrating, he had been a college student about to graduate...
"Ah~ Don't tell me there's a ghost who can't even do this?" Mobius covered her mouth, an expression of surprise appearing on her face.
Where did this bratty little girl come from?!
After your guidance, Mobius was no longer so panicked about your disappearance. However, in exchange, she began ordering you around as a tool more and more often.
Mobius Compatibility +15%
Time passed swiftly, and Mobius grew to the age of nine in a happy family.
However, that happiness did not last long. Mobius's mother died of illness that year, while her father was unfortunately infected with Honkai disease and could only barely sustain his life with medication. Their once happy and complete family fell apart overnight.
Mobius's father became irritable and violent, even beginning to use physical force against Mobius. Fortunately, under your protection, he never succeeded. But accordingly, that man, who was gradually losing his mind, became increasingly convinced that Mobius was the source of all misfortune.
On Mobius's ninth birthday, you could sense that she had already made some kind of decision.
"Idiot Ghost, are you still here?"
"I'm here."
Liu Bai placed his hand on Mobius's shoulder. That dependable sensation made Mobius feel incomparably at ease.
Over these three years—or rather, after merely one year of hardship—Mobius's demeanor had rapidly matured.
If six-year-old Mobius had only possessed intelligence far beyond ordinary people, then nine-year-old Mobius could already be considered an adult in both mentality and emotional intelligence.
Nothing described it better than a child forced by hardship to grow up early.
Even though Liu Bai had done his best to create a happy and complete family for Mobius, fate was like a massive truck bursting around a corner, forcing her original destiny upon her through sheer violence.
"Idiot Ghost, are you feeling sad?"
Leaning against the wall, Mobius looked at the somewhat filthy and messy home. Her childish face wore an expression that was half helplessness and half mockery.
"You don't need to feel sad for me. After all, haven't you already tried very hard, Idiot Ghost? Ah... Though this idiot made me get my butt smacked when I was born, thinking about it carefully, if I had really said something like, 'Mobius... Is that... my name?' right after being born, I probably would have been treated like a monster."
Liu Bai moved his hand from Mobius's shoulder to her head and rubbed it hard—though he did not have much strength.
He suddenly felt as though his daughter had grown up.
"You, stop treating me like a child."
Mobius complained helplessly.
"Besides, you helped my mother give birth to me safely back then, didn't you..."
Mobius took a deep breath and tilted her head up toward the ceiling, an indescribable expression appearing on her face.
"Nine years of happiness... Perhaps that was already an excessive gift for me. Mm, thank you, Ghostly Gentleman. I've troubled you all this time."
"You're making it sound like a farewell."
Liu Bai tugged Mobius's hair in dissatisfaction, hiding the fact that his nose felt a little sore.
"It is a farewell." Mobius straightened up, a teasing yet captivating smile appearing on her face.
"—I'm saying farewell to the past, Ghostly Gentleman. In the future, will you continue walking beside me?"
"I—"
Liu Bai opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.
He did not know how long this part of Mobius's childhood storyline would last, either.
Perhaps it ended at this turning point on her ninth birthday?
Or perhaps it lasted through her childhood in the truest sense?
"No, you don't need to answer me immediately. If you answered now... I might lose my courage."
Nine years of happy life had carved the word family deep into Mobius's heart.
"Oh, right. If that man... If my father wants to hit me again this time, don't stop him."
"...We'll talk about it when the time comes."
Hearing Liu Bai's answer, Mobius's lips curled into a pleased arc.
Mobius expertly prepared the water and pills, then walked toward that man's—her father's—room without hesitation.
Creak—
Pushing open the door, Mobius looked at her father with pity.
...How ugly.
—From body to soul.
Mobius silently offered the glass of water and the pills, while staring steadily at the man before her.
She did not need to infer anything. Her intuition had already told her what the man before her would do.
He would simply raise his hand high, then bring it down upon her face.
Even after failing time and again, the man would still raise his hand under the urging of instinct.
...How ugly.
Only this time, she would probably have to taste that slap with her own body.
Come to think of it, she had never been slapped before... That Idiot Ghost had protected her far too well.
Mobius sighed softly in her heart.
Slap—!
The next moment, a crisp slap rang out beside Mobius's ear, but she unexpectedly felt no pain.
"You bastard, I've put up with you for months!"
Nine Years Old, Eighteen Years Old
Mobius looked up to see that man covering his face as he staggered backward.
Coupled with the voice only she had just heard, Mobius did not need to think to know that Liu Bai had done this.
However, Mobius did not stop him as she watched the scene before her. She knew Liu Bai's strength was not great; he could probably only lift one or two kilograms.
One slap would not make someone...
Slap—!
"You like slapping people, do you?"
Mobius watched the man clutch his other cheek and collapse onto the floor.
"Don't cover your face! I'll give you another—"
"Ahem."
Mobius coughed lightly twice, and only after hearing the sound did Liu Bai stop.
At that moment, the man who was Mobius's father sat on the floor, looking up at Mobius, who held a glass of water and pills in her hands. Fear and hatred flashed through his eyes.
"...Monster."
The man squeezed out those two words through clenched teeth. He could not hear Liu Bai's voice, but that did not stop him from believing it was true.
Then, he instinctively curled himself up.
That invisible force had originally only protected Mobius, yet now it was attacking him...
"...You want to kill me?"
"...How ugly."
Mobius had originally thought she had many things to say to this father of hers, but at this moment, looking at the man sitting on the floor...
Mobius suddenly lost all interest.
"I... will bring 'evolution' to 'humanity.'" Mobius looked down at her wretched father.
"No matter what kind of disaster, what kind of medicine... I will never let them humiliate 'humanity' like this again..."
"I will never... let them become something as disgusting as you..."
"—Monsters."
Mobius let out a long breath and looked down at the pitiful man with pity.
"I'm done. Do you still want to hit me?"
"..."
Before you continue