The Chain of Fate (Continued)

So some people say that if there is no hope from the beginning, then the pain will continue until it becomes numbing. And if you lose hope after having it, the pain will be doubled, to the point that you will hate the world that gave you hope, and the people who gave you hope.

But at least there are objects to hate.

The man found the sunlight very bright, even through his mask.

"Hmm." He nodded, and then the Nun smiled.

"This is... the story of how Lin and I first met..."

What was supposed to be a thrilling encounter turned out to be a beautiful one, like an Aponia meeting her prince in a fairy tale.

A chain reaction that began with a single deception.

Mei analyzes which parts of the story are true and which are false, and what message Aponia is trying to convey...

"Your time is up, Mei. Please go back now."

Mei's vision went black, her consciousness immediately began to blur, while Aponia's voice echoed around her from afar...

"I believe in him more than fate, so, Mei ..."

The indistinct words faded into the distance.

Special episodes will be released tomorrow.

We're on our way back to our hometown for the holiday. We'll probably arrive around 5 p. m., and after a nap, it'll be 3 or 4 p. m.

I thought about it and decided to release a special feature. Last time, the weird literature special was taken down, so I'll have to tone it down this time. Do you want to continue watching the story of the cream puff making machine Lin, or is it a special feature about a typical Flame-Chasers high school boy?

Dragon Boat Festival Special: The Miko and Zongzi (Part 1)

The morning sun cast dappled shadows, illuminating a few emerald green leaves, while the continuous chirping of cicadas sounded like a grand concert.

"Click".

One foot broke off a tree branch and stepped into the pool of water.

Cherry blossoms drifted in from afar and landed on my shoulders. Deep in the dense forest, the Cherry Blossom Shrine, like a paradise, appeared before me.

The hooded boy, his eyes glazed over, stared at the shrine not far ahead, enveloped by cherry blossom trees. He then checked his hooded long-sleeved shirt, trousers, and mask, which seemed out of place in the sweltering heat. He hesitated for a moment, but still slowly approached the shrine at the edge of the dense forest.

A little girl with short pink hair was collecting cherry blossoms that had fallen in the courtyard of a shrine, intending to take them back for her older sister to make cherry blossom rice cakes. As soon as she looked up, she saw a strangely dressed man approaching.

"Excuse me, are you here to pay homage?" the little girl asked curiously, holding a basket of cherry blossoms.

"Heh... If only praying to gods and Buddhas would work..." The boy twitched the corners of his mouth, but he couldn't even manage a bitter smile.

He felt that his emotions had completely disappeared from his body. How long had it been since he last showed a normal expression?

"That voice... Brother Lin?"

The boy frantically pulled down his hood; he was now even somewhat afraid of being recognized.

He blinked his sore eyes and said wearily to the surprised little girl, "Long time no see, Ring..."

"Please use it, my sister will be right there."

Rin knelt on the tatami mat beside Lin and handed him a cup of tea. Lin stared silently at the tea stalks, lost in thought.

Ling carefully observed him. She remembered that the last time she saw Lin was when he first entered school, and now it had been two whole years. He had changed so much that she almost didn't recognize him as the confident and cheerful boy.

With his thin frame, taciturn demeanor, dazed eyes, and sunken eye sockets, if she hadn't been told, she would have thought he was a 996 office worker who had been struggling in the workplace for many years.

Moreover, she was wearing such a thick coat and had half of her face covered by a mask.

He doesn't seem like a young person at all.

"Forest?"

Sakura's voice came from outside the door. Before she arrived, her voice preceded her. When Rin saw the panicked expression on Sakura's face, she wisely and quietly left.

Lin managed a relieved smile when he saw Ying, but it was hidden by his mask, making his face look distorted and terrifying, like a zombie.

"Sakura... my good friend... my good sister..." His almost faint voice left Sakura, who didn't know what had happened, at a loss. "I'm sorry for showing you this pathetic side of me."

What's wrong with you?

Sakura sat in front of him, wanting to reach out and take off Lin's hat, but he instinctively dodged her, leaving her hand frozen in mid-air.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little..." Lin shook his head painfully, gritted his teeth, and took off his hood and mask. The "view" below made Ying's eyes widen.

To be precise, Lin hadn't changed much in appearance compared to before, except that he had lost some weight, but his lifeless face made Ying think she was looking at a corpse, and...

His neck and the area near his earlobes on the back of his neck were covered with bite marks of varying depths.

Judging from their size and shape, these bite marks all belonged to the same person. Judging from their direction, they all bit into Lin's ears from the front. Some bite marks were just two shallow rows of indentations, while others were so deep that they broke through the skin. There were even a few wounds that looked like they had just healed.

Sakura's mind went blank. Countless guesses flashed through her mind in an instant, but after seeing Lin's almost deathly gaze, the answer became obvious, "This... this is..."

"You're the only one I can trust now. You're the current Miko; you wouldn't do anything blasphemous." Lin lay vacantly on the tatami mat. "Do you want to know what happened?"

"Um."

Of course, I'd like to know who did this to Lin.

Then Lin began to recount the most terrifying, hellish two months of his life... no, even more terrifying than whispers.

As the principal of the Chienyu Academy, Mobius would occasionally go to the school to complete her work, but the longest interval between her departure and return home would never exceed three hours. Her work efficiency allowed her to stay home for a week and finish her work in three hours.

So, how did Lin manage to get by?

Basement, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, swimming pool, second-floor entertainment room, car in the garage, rooftop, basement... This route was deeply imprinted in his mind, and he didn't need to memorize it at all. His fixed daily routine had formed muscle memory, and he could walk the route even with his eyes closed.

As Mobius said, she had suppressed her desire for Lin for about ten years, and the result was that now when Mobius touches his face, he will subconsciously open his mouth.

Given Mobius's expertise in pharmaceuticals, he had no reason to worry that his body wouldn't be able to hold up.

Fortunately, Mobius didn't like some of the... weird ways of playing, otherwise Lin would have doubted whether he could have maintained his rationality and disguise until Mobius relaxed and escaped.

Even now, thinking back on it still sends chills down my spine.

"That's it in a way."

After releasing the fear and resentment that had been building up for two whole months, Lin finally felt a little better, while Ying had listened to the bizarre story in complete silence.

After escaping, Lin considered where to go. First, he knew he couldn't go back to his home, as Prometheus and Mobius both knew where it was. Similarly, the school would be a trap. Then, he could go to his male friend's house, but that would be easy for them to guess. He estimated that Mobius had already ransacked Kevin's house during his escape.

After much thought, he remembered Sakura, the shrine Miko he had met by chance.

Sakura's Yae Shrine is a family tradition passed down through generations, and it still retains the rule that Miko must dedicate herself wholeheartedly to the gods during her term of office and must not be involved in matters of love.

If even Mobius, with whom he had a sibling-like relationship spanning nearly ten years, could betray him, then the only hope lies in faith in the gods.

"So... what do you think?" After listening to Lin's description, Sakura's eyes flashed with contemplation and pity. She sighed and asked.

Lin stood up indignantly, clenching his fists. "Of course, it's about severing all emotions and desires, and becoming a monk!"

"... But this isn't a Buddhist temple!"

"Tch, of course I know. I don't really want to be a hermit who can't enjoy life." Lin clasped his hands together and pleaded humbly, "Sakura, please, let me hide here for a while. I'll leave once I figure out a way."

Sakura watched his expression and his movements, and after a moment, she smiled.

"OK."

Dragon Boat Festival Special: The Miko and Zongzi (Part 2)

"Brother Lin, it's time for breakfast."

Lin woke up yawning. This was the most comfortable sleep he had had in three months. There was no sudden kissing and suffocation that woke him up, no terrifying experience of having his blankets pulled off and clothes removed in the middle of the night that caused him to catch a cold. It was just a normal sleep and wake-up, which was enough to satisfy him.

After getting dressed, Lin stood in front of the full-length mirror in the room and looked at herself. Her complexion looked much better. Her pale and loose skin had become rosy and elastic after just one night. Was this also the result of Mobius's transformation?

However, she never actually gave herself even half a day of rest...

"..." Lin Lue fell silent for a moment. The problems that had arisen in his life and interpersonal relationships meant that his previous behavior had gone wrong. From now on, it would be better to be cautious in his words and deeds, and it would also be best to cover his face. Although his previous playful banter with Kevin was partly joking, to be honest, he thought he was quite handsome.

He will likely develop PTSD from now on regarding contact with the opposite sex. The glorious deeds of Mobius and Prometheus will become an indelible milestone in his life, causing him to undergo a tremendous change.

"How were things, Lin? Did you sleep well last night?"

Sakura, dressed in a Miko's outfit, was cleaning the courtyard when she saw Rin, who looked energetic, walk out. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I haven't slept this soundly in a long time." Lin pressed her hand to her heart with lingering fear. "I don't have to worry about waking up to find myself merged with someone else."

"..."

Sakura, holding a broom, said calmly, "That's good. I was worried you wouldn't be used to it. Sit down for a while and wait for me to finish cleaning so we can eat. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, we'll eat Zongzi."

Oh right, today is the Dragon Boat Festival.

Lin was so confined that he lost his basic sense of time, and only then did he remember that today was the Dragon Boat Festival.

He looked up at the sunlight, which he hadn't looked at for more than three seconds in a long time, stretched, then picked up another broom from the side and began to help Sakura clean.

"Hurry up, you two. I'm looking forward to eating the rice Zongzi you made." Lin smiled at Ying's puzzled look. He didn't dislike Ying. They had known each other for more than five years. This self-disciplined Miko maiden had both the maturity of an adult and the honesty and kindness of a young girl. She was an outstanding girl that even an extremely narcissistic guy like him felt somewhat inferior to.

She can rival him in cooking, is even stronger in combat, and is gentle as water—she's practically his ideal type.

So although Lin might act silly, vulgar, and mean to many people, he wouldn't be too arrogant towards Sakura... Before that, there was also Mobius.

Lin had been tricked twice before, so he was quite wary this time. Sakura probably wouldn't drug him, but her fighting skills were higher than his, so he just needed to be careful that she wouldn't launch a surprise attack.

As it stands, Sakura is the same as before. That makes sense; she's not like Mobius, who tried to cultivate and devour him. I've known Sakura for two years now, so she definitely wouldn't do something like that.

The thought of having ordinary female friends she could get along with brought tears to Lin's eyes.

"Oh, right."

Lin's skin crawled instantly. He stared in horror at Sakura, who had suddenly remembered something.

Could it be that it's starting again?

Sakura clapped her hands with a smile, "The Zongzi I made have cherry blossom filling. Do you like them?"

"...too..."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"It's so normal! It's just too normal!" Lin covered his eyes, tears streaming down his face. He still remembered saying he wanted to build a harem when he was having a fit, but now he just hoped that the girls around him could be as normal as Ying.

Before seducing someone physically, shouldn't you at least try to win their heart? Why do they all skip the most important step right from the start?

Has everyone succumbed to lust in this day and age? Are people like him, who just want to have a normal relationship, now rare?

He hated all the bastards who treated relationships as sex transactions, because that made him look like a stubborn idiot.

A slightly cold hand wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes, and Sakura smiled, feeling both confused and helpless.

"Lin, look forward. Being bound by the past is not a sign of a qualified person."

"Your words..."

"You taught me."

"..."

The river water was up to my chest, making it hard to breathe, and the dirty water splashed into my nostrils, all of which made me feel physically uncomfortable.

But... it doesn't matter anymore.

If she had taken just two more steps, she might have stepped into an underwater cavity and become a floating corpse in the turbulent river a few hours later.

Easy...

"It's really ugly."

"Click".

Sakura turned her pale face away, shivering from the cold. She stared blankly at the boy sitting on a boulder not far behind her, eating potato chips and wearing a mocking smile.

He poured the potato chips into his mouth and ate them with relish, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a girl about his age was about to jump into the river and commit suicide.

"There are about 350 million people with depression worldwide... oh, let's exclude the 'celebrities' online, that's roughly the number. About one person commits suicide every forty seconds. I feel sorry for them because most of their suicides aren't entirely voluntary." The boy crumpled the potato chip bag in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. He let out a tasteless burp and still gave Sakura that mocking look. "What about you? Are you depressed too?"

"..."

"I can tell from your eyes that you feel you have recently encountered the most difficult thing in your life, which has hit you so hard that you can't go on living. The world is so cruel, and life is so bleak."

The boy jumped off the boulder, but showed no intention of pulling her up. Instead, he continued to mock her, "But you're just a coward. You're afraid of living, even more afraid of dying."