Dad, Please Let Me Be Your One-Person Fan!

To be precise, the bad ending was already foreshadowed in the future dream sequence??? I genuinely wrote that part as the finale, so the remaining ending can only be better, not worse???! Probably?

Volume 1: Final Chapter - The Shining City (Part 1)

Crimson Extreme Realm.

This is the origin of Magical Girl, the foundation of ether technology, and a special zone containing the core of the covenant, closest to the stars.

Therefore, even during the critical period when the Disaster God frequently rioted, the Countermeasures Bureau did not relocate the [Witch] stationed here.

But strangely enough, this Orca, its body enveloped in silver magic, moved about as if it were in an empty place. It blew happily and played with the ice floes by slapping its tail, as if on an autumn outing, carrying a silver bubble with it. It was completely undetected by the Magical Girl and various monitoring devices, easily ignoring the strict defenses that human civilization had placed over the entire Crimson Extreme Realm.

The Witch emerged from the bubble, like a mermaid enjoying the sunlight for the first time. She beamed with joy, facing the sea breeze, her raven-black hair fluttering in the breeze, and exclaimed:

"Wow, Xiao Qing, everything here is really red! It's so beautiful."

As soon as she finished speaking, the person who had been sleeping in the bubble for so long reacted. Her thick, pure white eyelashes trembled slightly, revealing her cracked lens.

Chu Yuanqing's left eye remained unchanged, but his right eye became increasingly desolate and broken, like a broken mirror pieced together, reflecting thousands of images when he looked at the world.

These were terrifying and absurd pupils, but fortunately, the gilded radiance filled them, grand and magnificent, concealing their inhuman and otherworldly quality, leaving behind only a few strands of bright and dreamlike sorrow.

Have we arrived yet?

Chu Yuanqing exhaled, and through the bubbles and seawater, she looked up at the Witch's profile, and at the clear, boundless world of ice and snow, she felt as if she had been transported to another world.

A week ago, in order to ensure the smooth convening of the final project of <Flash Dance>, she used [Pure White] to give humans a three-day map cheat, and was therefore unconscious for three whole days.

After that, he woke up feeling listless and confused, spending most of his 24 hours sleeping, and even the promised payment to the Orca family was long overdue.

Fortunately, I was in good spirits yesterday and the day before. I not only rewarded the animals with music, but also made up for the underwater adventure that the Witch had been dreaming of. I saw many fantastic and romantic sights in the nearby waters with the Orca family.

Now, they have reached the end of their journey, and it is time to get off this "bus".

The silvery bubbles slowly peeled away, no longer clinging to the Orca's smooth skin, but emerging from the beautiful reddish-pink waters, bathed in the cool, moonlight, allowing the long-rested creature to see the light of day again.

Chu Yuanqing emerged from the bubble, and the Orca sensed the impending parting. It no longer swam excitedly and joyfully in the crimson sea. Its large black and white head emerged from the water, as if trying to look up at this person and let out a long, reluctant cry.

The Pure White Witch tiptoed through the void, walking step by step to the nearest ice floe. She stopped, turned, and looked back at the approaching Orca. A slight smile played on her lips as she said:

"Alright, we've arrived at our destination. It's time to say goodbye. Your family is waiting for you."

The Witch lowered her head and stroked its head, concealing the reluctance in her eyes, and solemnly threatened it:

"Xiao Qing is right, let's hurry up and leave. Don't linger here. We must leave this red sea area before this silver membrane disappears, or you'll be caught and severely interrogated!"

The Orca circled the ice floe where the two were located more than a dozen times, like a spoiled cat. Only after being urged by Chu Yuanqing and the Witch did it let out a few low cries, reluctantly swimming away into the distance to find its family Crimson Extreme Realm, slowly disappearing from sight.

The Witch twirled on the ice floe, and her light kimono transformed into a heavy down jacket, wrapping her slender figure up like a clumsy penguin, adding a touch of charm and cuteness.

The girl walked briskly to Chu Yuanqing's side, gazed in the direction Chu Yuanqing was looking, and sighed:

"It's become increasingly intelligent lately, and I'm a little reluctant to part with it."

Chu Yuanqing's expression softened considerably, and she offered a concise evaluation:

"So cute."

The Witch was somewhat disappointed:

"It's a pity. If Xiao Qing were still the Emperor, he probably could have enclosed a section of the sea to raise them, right?"

Emperor?

Chu Yuanqing was suddenly startled, recalling the pilgrimage that billions of people in the empire had longed for but she had been unable to attend. A complex mix of emotions welled up within her, and she answered softly:

"That was just a dream."

"Emperor do not exist in reality."

"And rather than keeping them in captivity, Yayoi would probably prefer them to be free forever, so that she can visit them again to play whenever she has the chance, right?"

The Witch smiled, blinked, and said:

"Of course, I've also thought about holding a sea festival with these little animals, but only Xiao Qing can get them to behave so well. If it were just me, I wouldn't be as popular."

"Yes, she will." Chu Yuanqing turned to look at the Witch and said earnestly, "Whether in the past or now, Yayoi is beautiful and charming, and she will definitely be more popular than me."

The Witch's eyes crinkled into a smile, and she couldn't help but chuckle. Meeting Qing Bao's slightly questioning gaze, she hugged the soft body from behind, rubbing her cheek against the slightly cool, tender skin, and said with a smile:

"Does Xiao Qing think I'm very charming? Do you know that you're a million times cuter than those little animals?"

"Although we haven't updated recently, our TikTok followers have already reached 1.64 million! Everyone loves you so much. The piano I gave you was bought with the proceeds from those live streams."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yuanqing praised him sincerely and earnestly:

"That's all thanks to Yayoi. You're the one who runs the account, and you handle all the filming and editing of the videos. The number of followers has absolutely nothing to do with me."

The Witch's lips brushed against the other's ear, her breath like a spring breeze carrying cherry blossoms, a gentle warmth that dispelled the frigid chill of the Crimson Extreme Realm, making Chu Yuanqing's cheeks tingle slightly. She seemed to have been holding back for a long time, ignoring the other's reply, and continued muttering:

"Xiao Qing really has no self-awareness. I'm a complete novice! I know absolutely nothing about video editing or managing an account. Your follower growth is purely due to your looks!"

The girl said with absolute certainty:

"But that's only natural. Even if you're forgotten by the world and lose everything, becoming broken, fragile, and incomplete, there will still be many people who like you and can't help but help you, because no one can bear to see someone like Xiao Qing sad and heartbroken. Everyone hopes that you can live a happy and joyful life."

Chu Yuanqing found it somewhat amusing, her eyebrows curving into smiles. Her vibrant appearance was both alluring and adorable. She reached out and placed her hand on the hands that were wrapped around her lower abdomen, and couldn't help but softly remark:

"How strange, you make me sound like some kind of popular female lead in a movie. If I had to say, Charlotte would be a better fit for Yayoi's description, wouldn't she?"

The Witch sensed the dismissive tone in the other person's words, so she puffed out her cheeks and, with a biased attitude, uttered her outrageous statement:

"I don't care, no movie heroine is cuter than Xiao Qing."

The Witch kissed Qing Bao's cheek with a self-righteous air, and said with slight annoyance:

"Furthermore, Xiao Qing, don't you know that mentioning another girl in front of a girl is a very inappropriate thing to do? Even if Charlotte is the official girlfriend, it's still unacceptable!"

Chu Yuanqing felt bewildered by the Witch's self-identification as a "concubine," but under the humiliating tickling onslaught that followed, he endured the tingling sensation and, feeling slightly flustered, tried his best to coax the cunning Witch was actually not angry at all, with clumsy but sincere words.

After playing around for a while, the Witch stopped cuddling with Qing Bao and instead sat with him on the edge of the floating ice, gazing together at the horizon.

Crimson patches of color, like fireworks falling from the sky, splash across glaciers and the sea; the reddish-orange glow races across ocean currents and ice surfaces, resembling an eternally radiant sunset, dazzling and mesmerizing.

"Xiao Qing, I've been very happy these past few days."

"If only... I could always be by your side."

The girl's voice became ethereal, like a distant and gentle breeze.

Chu Yuanqing sensed something was amiss. She turned to look at the Witch, at that exquisite face that was full of smiles yet increasingly transparent. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but then stopped, and her eyes revealed a quiet, profound, and lonely sorrow.

In the cold yet beautiful glow of the sunset, the figure of this person was fading further and further away. Even after transforming back into an ethereal and fleeting form of longing, the fading did not stop, like a withering flower about to fall into the mud and be crushed into dust.

Chu Yuanqing understood.

That cherry blossom tree rooted in her soul was a small miracle created by Kiriwake Yayoi in her second playthrough, combining [Heart Forging] with Xie Qingxuan's Destined Magic. It helped her resist the erosion of [Void] and also extended into the Witch's thought body, accompanying her to this day.

But as time goes by, the power contained within the cherry blossom tree will eventually come to an end.

Whether it was the Witch maiden or her, they understood this from the very beginning.

However, during this week, in order to help all of humanity tear apart the conspiracy woven by the Disaster God during his uprising, the cherry blossom tree helped Chu Yuanqing bear part of the backlash, causing this time to arrive earlier.

In the next few minutes, or even less, this person who accompanied her through Xiaoxiao, traveled the world, and chattered away her loneliness and solitude, bringing her much joy and happiness, will completely vanish and cease to exist.

Chu Yuanqing would naturally feel sad.

Even knowing that the real Kiriwake Yayoi still lives somewhere in the world, and that she herself will soon face an even more complete death, she still feels a sense of loss and reluctance.

But these emotions are fleeting, like mist melting in the sunlight.

The Pure White Witch's eyes curled up at the corners, revealing a bright, sunny, and gentle smile. She touched the illusory cheek with her fingertips, as if tracing the trajectory of a rainbow, her movements soft and careful, and whispered:

"It's alright, Yayoi."

"I will be with you, and everyone will surely find happiness."

The Witch's eyes reddened, and tears fell like pearls. She could no longer conceal the sorrow in her heart. She pursed her lips and said, word by word:

"Idiot, Xiao Qing knows perfectly well that's not what I want to hear."

"I am an illusion, a falsehood, a non-existent entity, a fake that will crumble sooner or later. What happens to me doesn't matter at all, but I really, really, really want Xiao Qing to live."

"I hate [nihilism], I hate Disaster God, and I hate the world without you even more. This journey is far too short compared to all the suffering, isn't it?"

Chu Yuanqing lowered her pure white eyelashes, as if denying the Witch's self-deprecating words. She brushed her lips against the Witch's tear-stained lips, as if kissing a flower petal, and finally, earnestly, clumsily, and softly uttered the lie:

"Yes, I know, so I will try my best to live on."

"Don't be sad, okay?"

The Witch inhaled the fragrance of the roses. Even though they couldn't touch skin, the true selves reflected from their souls could be perfectly transmitted between them, melting like soft candy, bringing an intoxicating tenderness. She gazed at the person's face, remained silent for a moment, and whispered:

"Liar! You lied until the very end. Xiao Qing is so wicked."

Chu Yuanqing met her gaze and asked:

Will you hate it?

The Witch shook her head, then hugged the Pure White Witch tightly. Her eyes, brimming with tears, held a mixture of sorrow, reluctance, and overwhelming happiness. She smiled through her tears, giving her final answer:

"My favorite."

As soon as the words fell, the person in his arms shattered and disintegrated into countless cherry blossoms, each one glowing with light. They danced in the wind, then withered and faded away, along with the cherry blossom tree in his soul, withering, shrinking, and disappearing without a trace.

Chu Yuanqing sat alone on the ice floe, her eyes lowered in a daze. Until the last cherry blossom fell, her gaze remained fixed on the ice surface reflecting the orange glow of the sunset. She remained silent for a long time, feeling a deep loneliness in her heart.

The tear stains on her chest faded, but the Witch's final confession still lingered in her heart. It was so light, like love conveyed through a stack of paper, yet so sincere and passionate, like a lone sail standing firm in a tsunami, like a cry bursting forth from a storm.

Chu Yuanqing raised his eyes and gazed into the distance, then snapped back to reality.

Turn out to be...

It's so lonely to be alone.

It's strange, so much time has passed since that Public Performance, but only now does she suddenly feel the reality of being truly forgotten by the whole world.

Suddenly, images from the past month flashed through her mind in a jumble. Whether it was under a bridge, in a subway station, in her rented room, on the street, in a square, in a snow-capped mountain, or in the beautiful scenery of a foreign land, she could see the Witch with a phone or camera in hand, giving her a bright smile, whenever she turned her head.

"I'm an idiot."

Chu Yuanqing was as sluggish as a koala; her eyelids drooped, and the brilliance of her golden eyes dimmed.

Although she inherited the memories of the second timeline, the foundation of the thought body is ultimately the Witch from the first timeline. She was born in the apocalypse, and her childhood was full of tragic, bloody, and painful memories. Her personality was also honed to be dull, extreme, and sharp as a blade, and she had nothing to do with sunshine, gossip, or liveliness.

Aside from the first day, one can still see the shadows of the era originating from the first playthrough. After that, the Witch seems to be trying hard not to feel lonely, and she begins to become less and less like herself. She becomes talkative, more cheerful, gluttonous, and lively...

"You are not alone."

The Witch seemed determined to make her understand this matter at all times.

The deeper the loneliness in her chest, the more successful her efforts have been.

Chu Yuanqing patted his cheeks. Even though he arrived a little earlier than expected, he couldn't waste time being dejected.

As her gaze shifted, she suddenly noticed a phone still on a selfie stick, taking pictures, on the ice to the side.

"... Was it filmed by Yayoi?"

The Pure White Witch hesitated for a moment, then took the phone, ended the recording, looked at the finished video, saved it to the drafts folder of the video software, and after browsing through it, found that there were still several long videos that had been edited but not yet published, as well as nearly a hundred scraps.

Chu Yuanqing fell into deep thought. She felt that the Witch probably really liked editing and making videos, and maybe Little Sakura also had a latent interest in becoming a content creator?

The girl looked down at the red signal bars on her phone and the unrefreshable program list after exiting the app, muttering to herself with some hesitation:

"Should we help Yayoi send it out? But there's no internet here; we'd need magic to send it."

Let's click and see what Yayoi photographed first? I have a feeling there will be some unexpected surprises.

The first draft in the drafts only showed the scenery of the Crimson Extreme Realm. When I opened the second draft, I was greeted by an endless blue sea, surrounded by schools of fish and Orca swimming around.

This must have been taken by Yayoi while she was asleep?

"Hello, hello, Xiao Qing, can you hear me?"

The camera shook for a moment, followed by a rustling sound, and then the Witch's exquisite and beautiful face appeared. She blinked her thick eyelashes, seemingly fiddling with her phone, and after a while, she took a few steps back with satisfaction, flashing a big smile at the camera:

"The trip is almost over. After I disappear, Xiao Qing definitely won't be thinking about the account anymore; all she'll be thinking about is saving the world, right?"

The Witch maiden raised her finger earnestly and solemnly began to lecture:

"That won't do. Even if our account persona is that of a super mysterious guitarist, we still need to say a proper goodbye before leaving, so as not to let down all the people who love us."

"So, Xiao Qing, why don't you try filming a video yourself and then use magic to upload it to the account?"

Chu Yuanqing hesitated for a moment, about to say something, when the Witch in the video seemed to have anticipated his thoughts and continued:

"Don't you dare say you don't know how to film! I've already prepared the outline for the last video in my phone's notes app. Xiao Qing just needs to follow along."