Chapter 469
Fortunately, this feeling only lasted for a moment, or even less.
When she came to her senses, she had already habitually joined in the group's silliness; her fingertips seemed to have developed muscle memory, and she typed out a string of words on their own:
"How can anyone live without Qing Bao to look after? I'm just putting on a brave face! Damn it, I can't take it anymore, tonight I'll smash the world to pieces! I'll steal Qing Bao away!"
Almost without thinking, this message was sent to the group.
"Qing Bao, who is that?"
"Some idiot copied this wrong, didn't he? Did you find it in that unknown Little Idol's fan club?"
"I don't recognize it, it's probably a typo."
"Ling Bao, you're still sleepy, did you stay up late again?"
Everyone found it strange, but no one really cared.
Soon, dozens of group messages appeared, quickly covering up those words, like water droplets falling into the sea, leaving no trace.
Xu Ling stared blankly at the reactions of her group members, completely bewildered.
Huh? Right, who is Qing Bao? Why did I type this out?
Pat, pat.
Tears welled up without her even realizing it, carrying emotions she herself didn't understand, one drop after another tapping on the phone screen.
In the fan group, members were discussing Pure White's newly added fifth member.
In the Living room, a small speaker was playing some version of "Slowly".
"Try again, slowly."
"Perhaps she would come back again, I only realized that later."
The past is the past, and no one can change it.
"The love she couldn't let go of ultimately turned to dust."
Xu Ling no longer had the energy to wipe away her tears. Her heart was filled with a vast bitterness, a kind of incomprehensible sorrow, which, along with the fragments of memories frantically replaying in her mind, turned into a sob stuck in her throat.
Chu Yuanqing, Chu Yuanqing, Chu Yuanqing, Chu Yuanqing, Chu Yuanqing.
That name, both strange and familiar, filled my mind, along with my earliest and latest memories, like a ring linked together in my consciousness, slowly piecing together the broken, messy, and old fragments to reveal their original form.
She is Magical Girl forgotten by the world, an idol abandoned by fans, and the fifth member forgotten by Pure White.
She is still that Mysterious Guitarist journey around the world.
She was the Pure White Savior suddenly appeared on stage during the most desperate moment of that great battle half a year ago, took control of the Shining Mech, turned the tide, and saved everything.
Memories become clearer, and "Slowly" comes to an end:
Perhaps she already understood that time was lingering.
"The future is the future, the past is gone."
"Slowly, you get used to it, slowly it becomes natural..."
And so, the [Supreme Proof] shines in the souls of all mankind, beginning to add a new footnote to the story.
There's no time to celebrate Charlotte joining Pure White. Next up is the only hero of all the heavens, the Savior of the first playthrough, the Pure White Witch chosen by the stars, and the [Void] UR who has swiftly cleared the Sea of Truth, a history that is no longer frozen and begins to flow anew.
--Chu Yuanqing.
Epilogue: Dad, please let me push this one! (Part 2)
No one can say for sure who started the storm first.
When the forgotten name Chu Yuanqing first stirred up ripples on the internet, networks around the world became extremely lively. However, the most serious fermentation and the center of the storm was in the Great Xia Nation of the Donghuang Federation.
"Waaaaah, Qing Bao, my Qing Bao???"
"No, it's not April Fool's Day today. Who is this 'Chu Yuanqing' trending on social media? Did <FlashDance> really have such an idol? Are you all making fun of me?!"
"Mom, I think it might be real! I dreamt about an incredibly cute, perfect, gentle white-haired, golden-eyed girl during my afternoon nap today. No, is this real or fake? I can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality anymore! I really can't tell!"
"Hey buddy, stop acting like this, I'm getting scared."
"Oh no, this is like The Truman Show???"
The day after the world concert, similar discussions gradually gained momentum, even trending on social media with the help of official channels. The news of Charlotte officially joining Pure White was overshadowed by this somewhat fantastical, April Fool's joke-like event.
Initially, many unsuspecting netizens thought it was a joke, making fun of it while simultaneously making comments. However, as more and more posts and videos filled with genuine emotions, personal experiences, and detailed anecdotes emerged, the people who had been sitting on the high platform gradually realized something was amiss.
This is an era of information overload. If you really investigate, you can find the source of any meme, not to mention that many people who claim to be fans of Chu Yuanqing say that he is a former member of Pure White.
Once pure white is involved, even the smallest matter deserves serious attention. This idea of a fictitious fifth person is akin to fabricating history and disrespecting the nature of heroic deeds. Any country in the world would deal with it strictly; there is no such thing as "the law does not punish the masses."
In other words, unless the people posting and making videos are crazy people who only care about having fun and disregard the law, the fact that they would say such things only proves that, from their perspective, there really was an ideal, perfect, gentle, and sacred Pure White Witch, a popular idol, and the fifth pure white person.
This is truly terrifying to think about.
Many casual viewers who were busy with work and only had an impression of "Flash Dance" and had heard of the name Chu Yuanqing barely remembered anything else. Faced with this storm of public opinion, they felt as if they had been transported to April Fool's Day and began to suspect that this was a bizarre Mandela Effect.
Meanwhile, switching perspectives, those Little Idol who started liking Chu Yuanqing from the moment he appeared in <Flash Dance> all regained some of their memories. The stronger their liking, the faster their related memories recovered.
For example, Xu Ling, a true fan with delicate and intense emotions, a soul slightly stronger than the average person, and who had had offline contact with Chu Yuanqing, almost recalled all her memories after watching the concert for just over ten minutes.
Even if ordinary die-hard fans and dedicated supporters don't recover as quickly, they can still recall many things in their dreams that day. As a result, when these people wake up and subconsciously open Chu Yuanqing's fan group, check in on her Weibo super topic, or look through the photos of the Pure White Witch saved in their phone albums, they will suddenly experience a huge conflict between their cognition and reality.
Ultimately, amidst confusion and entanglement, I realized something extremely cruel.
That is, the person they loved, who even saved them and the lives of all humanity, has been completely forgotten by the world, without even leaving a trace.
This despairing and powerless reality has ironically silenced the desire of some to speak out.
Aside from a few die-hard fans, or even those who are obsessed, most fans who have regained their memories begin to doubt their own mental state due to the vast discrepancy between themselves and the world, and become hesitant.
If only you think of it, even if you post it online, it will only be seen as a joke, no different from a ripple on the ocean. No one will believe it. With this mindset, silence becomes the norm.
But what broke this deadlock early on was a live stream started by a blogger with nearly ten million followers. She held a little dinosaur doll with teary eyes, embarrassingly wiping away her tears while talking about Chu Yuanqing's past, which brought out the self-doubt of many of her Little Yuan Xiao.
Meanwhile, she stayed up all night, pulling her assistant, who was forced to work overtime, and used her incredible cooking skills to generate unbelievable efficiency. While live streaming, she organized the relevant timeline and events, and used PPT and videos to logically lay out the Worldline without Chu Yuanqing and the Worldline with Chu Yuanqing, providing an explanation that was both emotional and rational. The presentation was released to various platforms the next day at noon.
These videos became an anchor point for fans, bringing out a bunch of Little Yuan Xiao who had regained their memories, stopping their infighting and doubts, and giving them the courage to speak out.
Immediately, numerous voices echoed from all sides.
Even the Magical Girl who debuted from Flash Dance have spoken out in support after inquiring about the situation.
The first to speak out was not Pure White, who were in the eye of the storm, but CJLLR, an idol group that also participated in the world tour six months ago and is currently ranked second in popularity in Great Xia.
Chen Yining, Ji Shuzhu, Liang Xiaoxiao, Lin Bao'er, Ruan Wutong.
These five Magical Girl, who once shone brightly on stage to fight against disasters and encountered Great Cataclysm, repeatedly escaping perilous situations, now enjoy immense popularity across the nation, boasting nearly two billion fans throughout the entire Eastern Empire. They are a world-class super-popular idol group, having toured 21 shows in the past six months, a truly remarkable feat.
They are sitting in a row in the video.
Ji Shuzhu glanced at the camera with her phoenix eyes. Back when she first participated in "Flash Dance", she was a beautiful but world-weary woman who was like a walking corpse and had a worrying mental state.
But as time passed and the hidden dangers of "Hyperthymesia" were resolved, and with the world at peace and free from any burdens, her indifference diminished considerably, and she appeared somewhat lively and vibrant. When her lips curled up, shallow dimples could be seen, creating an adorable contrast.
In the eyes of fans, this Genius Choreographer was thoroughly pampered by his childhood sweetheart—a certain Young Lady —for half a year, directly completing a stunning transformation from aloof and world-weary to an occasionally sweet girl, causing the number of "Ri Yi Yue Shu" CP fans to double, making them arguably the most popular CP in the idol circle.
Chen Yining sat beside her, smiling sweetly.
The Young Lady's appearance remained unchanged from before.
If I had to put it into words, the sharpness that came with that pride in his demeanor has become more restrained.
At the same time, due to the interference of magic, the raspberry red she had dyed became her true hair color, and her eyes also turned into a beautiful rose red. Overall, she was prettier and had more of an idol vibe.
Liang Xiaoxiao sat beside the Young Lady. The spiral in her eyes was no longer concealed. Her short, gray hair, which had been a sickly white like withered straw, had grown into a light, pure gray long hair, which was tied into an elegant low ponytail. The deathly stillness and coldness that had once been used to fight against her beastly nature had been softened, as if she had returned to her original simplicity and become that beautiful girl who loved to laugh again.
Lin Bao'er was sitting next to her, wearing a patchwork denim jacket similar in style to Lin Bao'er's, and matching mesh hot pants. Her exposed ankles had a series of burn marks, clearly scars, but because her skin was smooth, they looked like tattoos.
There have been many versions of this scar circulating online, with various opinions. Finally, in a variety show interview, Lin Bao'er revealed that "this is proof that Xiaoxiao saved me," which made fans feel that a bombshell had been dug up, causing a huge uproar and directly converting into a large number of CP fans.
At this moment, the two were sitting side by side, looking quite intimate.
In contrast, Ruan Wutong, who is indirectly caught in the middle, seems to be in a rather delicate position. She looks like the group's darling, but also like a clueless and straightforward girl with no one to match her. Fans manage to see a bit of adorable naivety in her pretty face.
Well, all I can say is that when it comes to shipping, fans of Magical Girl idol groups are incredibly accurate at it, and the number of people who get shipped is almost always questionable, with some genuine romantic interest involved.
After all, Magical Girl of this generation are truly Idealistic Being with generally unknown lifespans. If they fall in love and marry ordinary people, they will inevitably suffer the consequences of the lifespan theory sooner or later. It is more in line with human nature to resolve things internally.
In this situation, two couples were formed in the team, leaving Ruan Wutong as the only remaining couple, which was seen as quite awkward by fans.
You might think she's all alone, but her teammates dote on her, and she doesn't seem to care much—she's a total straight-laced girl. But sometimes, when neither team includes her, she gets lost and alone, which is quite funny and has almost become a running joke in the community.
Lin Bao'er leaned closer to the camera and tested the sound:
"Hello everyone, can you hear me?"
This is a live broadcast.
Although it had only been open for less than two minutes, it had already attracted nearly a million real viewers, with bullet comments crowding every corner of the screen like snowflakes, responding enthusiastically to the teenage idol.
Lin Bao'er raised an eyebrow, waved her hand, and sat back down.
Chen Yining smiled broadly, randomly selecting questions from the live chat and answering fans' questions in a evasive manner until the number of online viewers multiplied several times over again. Only then did she get to the point, directly addressing the issue that everyone was most concerned about:
"I believe everyone watching the live stream wants to know something about Chu Yuanqing."
"I'm just as confused as everyone else, but as a Magical Girl, I'm certain this isn't the so-called Mandela Effect, because my teammates and I, like many others, have memories of this person flashing through our minds."
"If I had to put it in a way, it's more like someone used magic to show us another possible world."
Chen Yining began to recount her speculations and even the information she remembered about Chu Yuanqing to the viewers in the Live Broadcast Room.
Meanwhile, Ji Shuzhu, Lin Bao'er, Liang Xiaoxiao, and Ruan Wutong joined in the conversation intermittently. The five of them seemed to be reminiscing about their most dazzling classmates from junior and senior high school, drawing the audience into their perspective to see that mysterious figure.
But throughout this time, none of the five revealed a suspicion they were holding in their hearts.
That is, the one most likely to use this "magic" is none other than Pure White, who yesterday linked the minds of hundreds of billions of people with the Golden Tree and held a world-class concert. In addition, considering the close relationship between Chu Yuanqing and them in the memory, the answer is already obvious.
Chu Yuanqing existed; those memories are all true.
However, in the past six months, all traces of her have been erased.
Regardless of whether this was caused by a terrifying being like the Disaster God, or whether the other party used some kind of magic to pay such a price, Pure White is now actively trying to find traces of the other party, and the current storm of public opinion across the internet is all due to this.
Therefore, whether as comrades-in-arms or former classmates, they had no reason to remain silent.
Moreover, in that memory, Chu Yuanqing not only helped them a lot, but he was also a respectable and gentle senior. No one would refuse to lend a helping hand when they could.
Liang Xiaoxiao looked at the camera, as if trying to glimpse the person's voice and smile through millions of "snowflakes".
Chu Yuanqing.
Should I call you Xiao Qing, or Teacher Chu?
Where have you gone now? And why have you been forgotten by the whole world?
The girl's feelings were complicated. When she spoke of the past, her emotions were heavy. Her spiraling gray eyes dimmed, and a sorrowful light, like the moonlight, filled the spacious room.
If Lin Bao'er was the little sun that warmed her heart.
Chu Yuanqing was the salvation who traversed the vast ocean and pulled her out of the abyss.
Even though time has passed, in the present moment when memories resurface, she clearly remembers being healed, warmed, and moved by the other person, her heart pounding, her whole being coming back to life, and the feeling of ambition coursing through her blood.
Chu Yuanqing was special to her.
Even if we set aside that subtle, bewitching emotion...
Liang Xiaoxiao still respected her, was grateful to her, and liked her as purely as she admired the starry sky.
The awe of being forcibly pulled out of the abyss by a beam of light in a moment of despair, returning to the blue sky and white clouds, still lingers deep in my heart, like a pillar supporting the heavens.
Without the desire ignited by the other person, she might still be so conflicted, half-hearted, and confused, unable to fully embody the word "effort," let alone persevere to be chosen by Chen Yining as a teammate and advance to the second round of <Flash Dance>.
Without the hope given by the other party, she would not have been able to borrow the power of the Calamity Beasts during that attack, and would have died helplessly, unable to save Lin Bao'er, whose limbs were broken and who was bleeding to death.
Without the Quicksilver Blood given to her by the other party, and without the subsequent careful guidance, she would not have been able to resist the instincts of the Calamity Beasts, and would have been taken in and killed as a monster sooner or later. She would not have been able to enter the Ideal Kingdom and become a knight recognized by her companions during those six months.
These "ifs" piled up to form a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid in a lifetime.
So now...
"If I could get her back by giving up something, I would gladly give up everything."
With a complex yet clear feeling, the girl looked earnestly at the camera and softly uttered the words that caused the Live Broadcast Room to erupt in excitement.