By then, dusk had fallen.
Bathed in the twilight sun, the city looked dreamlike.
"What do you think? This place."
Nene Arakawa walked over to Firefly's side as well, but she did not look at the scenery below. Instead, she watched Firefly's profile, watching her admire the view before her.
Compared to the scenery here, she was even more beautiful at this moment!
"It's really... beautiful..."
Firefly stared unblinkingly ahead, completely immersed in the sight before her.
"Yeah."
Nene Arakawa withdrew her gaze as well. She had timed it perfectly when bringing Firefly here, because this was when the view was at its most captivating.
And Firefly's reaction did not disappoint her.
"How beautiful. If only time could remain forever at this golden moment..."
Firefly slowly raised her hand, as though she wanted to grasp the light before her.
But the sun would always set, and the moon was bound to rise. Whether you liked it or not, that could not be changed!
"..."
Hearing that, Nene Arakawa said nothing more. She simply quietly watched the last rays of the sunset with Firefly until the sky had completely darkened.
At the same time, colorful lights appeared throughout the city below.
After quite a while, Firefly suddenly turned to look at Nene Arakawa. She looked somewhat conflicted, hesitating to speak.
"Firefly-chan?"
Seeing Firefly like this, Nene Arakawa's eyes showed a hint of confusion.
"I'm sorry. Actually... there are many things I've been hiding from you."
After thinking it over, Firefly still could not hold it in.
She placed one hand over her chest, her voice full of apology as she softly apologized to Nene Arakawa.
No matter what she had thought in her previous life, in this world, Nene Arakawa had wholeheartedly been thinking of her, while she herself had other motives.
She truly felt terrible about it.
"Huh? Hiding things from me?"
Nene Arakawa was somewhat confused upon hearing that.
In truth, she had always known Firefly was mysterious, but that was Firefly's privacy, so Nene Arakawa had never pressed her too much.
"The Oddity I gave you before had another purpose. Essentially, it was a tracker."
Setting everything else aside, this was the main reason Firefly felt guilty toward Nene Arakawa. Regardless of the reason, she had indeed used her.
"A... tracker?"
Nene Arakawa was startled. She had not expected that to be the case.
"Why?"
She did not understand why Firefly had done that.
And now Firefly had confessed it herself.
"I'm sorry. For certain reasons, there are some things I still can't tell you in full right now. But there are also things I should be honest with you about..."
Firefly took a deep breath and moved closer to Nene Arakawa. She felt there were some things she should be honest about. There was no need to hide everything from her, and it would also let her prepare herself mentally in advance.
The reason she had not told her before was that things were different now.
Today's experience had made it impossible for her to continue using someone who wholeheartedly cared about her without feeling any guilt.
If she had previously only regarded Nene Arakawa as a familiar character from the story, Firefly had now completely come to see her as her friend.
PS: Still asking for monthly votes, recommendation votes, and blades! Please, everyone.
"Actually, the DGP Grand Prix isn't some mysterious organization that saves the world."
"It's a reality show put on by people from the distant future, using this world as their stage to satisfy their own desires—or rather, their twisted amusement."
"The DGP's management and those viewers behind the scenes do not care what happens to this world. To those extreme Future People, human lives and happiness are merely things to satisfy their warped emotions."
"Even when the game ends and the grand finale begins, this world will enter a countdown to its apocalypse..."
Firefly told Nene Arakawa everything about the DGP Grand Prix. To be honest, she was not very good at being cryptic.
But Nene Arakawa was not Ace Ukiyo or the others. Firefly believed that with her warning, Nene would not act recklessly or spread the news around.
Of course, if Nene really did act recklessly, then Firefly could only say that she had misjudged and trusted the wrong person. There were still plenty of ways to remedy it.
"Future People... a reality show..."
"Viewers who enjoy the misfortune of others..."
As Nene Arakawa listened to Firefly's words, she was utterly shocked and found it hard to imagine.
The amount of information was overwhelming. It felt like it had to be fake.
It was difficult to believe that the DGP Grand Prix was really like this—that a group of Future People had turned their world into a stage for entertainment.
Everyone, everyone's happiness and misfortune, was freely toyed with by these Future People.
"How could this be?"
Nene Arakawa held her head, looking somewhat dazed...
"That's everything I wanted to say. I have no other purpose. I only want to stop those Future People and keep them from doing whatever they please."
"Let me process this, Firefly-chan. What you've told me is far too shocking."
Nene Arakawa crouched down. She needed to properly digest it all.
"Mm."
Firefly did not say anything more. She simply stayed quietly beside Nene Arakawa and waited for her to process the information.
After who knew how long, Nene Arakawa finally stood up again, not knowing what to do for the moment.
"No wonder that Stellaron Hunter Sam said something like that. So he was also targeting the DGP's management and the Future People?"
She let out a deep breath. Now she understood what the Stellaron Hunter had meant when he said last time that he had personally sent all the Future People on their way.
Before, she had not understood what Future People were. It had seemed completely inexplicable.
So the people behind the DGP all came from the distant future.
But such a future truly made people feel miserable. If Future People had become like this, then there was nothing to look forward to in the future.
Nene Arakawa did not connect Firefly with Stellaron Hunter Sam. How could that mighty, powerful knight possibly be the same person as a delicate girl like Firefly?
Perhaps they were connected, perhaps they belonged to the same faction, but they could absolutely not be the same person.
First of all, they were not even the same gender!
Stellaron Hunter Sam was obviously a man, so Nene Arakawa had never suspected her.
But...
"Then, Firefly, who are you?"
Since she was targeting the DGP Grand Prix, Firefly was clearly no ordinary person. That did not seem strange; it was evident from the miraculous items Firefly had produced.
"I'm sorry. I will tell you, but... not now."
After hesitating for a few seconds, Firefly answered like that.
"If that's the case, why did you tell me all this?"
Nene Arakawa did not understand.
"Because I don't want to lie to you."
"I don't want us to part ways and become enemies. At least... I don't want that to happen."
"..."
Nene Arakawa fell silent. Only after quite a while did she look at Firefly again.
"I understand. If you haven't lied to me, then I... am willing to help you."
"If the DGP Grand Prix really is just a reality show for those Future People's amusement..."
Though she did not want to admit it, she was indeed part of the Kurama Family. As a member of the Kurama Family, there were some things she had to do.
That was what her father had taught her.
"That's good."
Hearing that, Firefly smiled.
Then her expression became serious again as she continued apologizing to Nene Arakawa.
"Lastly, I'm sorry once again!"
After saying that, Firefly turned around and prepared to leave.
She was no longer suited to stay with Nene Arakawa. Although she had never harbored any malicious intentions toward her and had instead been helping her.
But using someone was still using someone!
Yet just as Firefly turned to leave, Nene Arakawa grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"Huh?"
Firefly stopped walking, her expression blank.
"Firefly-chan, where are you going?"
"I already..."
"I've never blamed you, Firefly-chan! Even if it was a tracker, the truth is... Firefly-chan really was protecting me. I should... be thanking you instead."
Nene Arakawa looked at Firefly with a serious expression. She was not lying. Although she was shocked by the DGP's true nature and the fact that Firefly's item had been a tracker, she had never hated Firefly.
Much less would she let this matter create a rift between herself and her only friend.
If she let Firefly leave like this, it would be difficult for their relationship to recover afterward. She would definitely regret it.
What Firefly had done did not really count as deception at all.
Besides, the fact that she had told her everything here now proved that Firefly trusted her, didn't it?
She had not even needed to tell Nene Arakawa about the tracker, yet she still had.
That was enough to show what kind of person Firefly was!
"Nene..."
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Since we came all the way here, let's take a photo as a keepsake, Firefly-chan."
Taking out her phone, Nene Arakawa cheerfully pulled Firefly into a suitable position, preparing to take a photo together as a memento.
"...Mm."
Firefly hesitated for a moment, then said nothing more and obediently cooperated with her.
"3, 2, 1..."
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