What's Their Relationship?

The fact that she couldn't win was still a thorn in Yan Luo's side; she herself hadn't even realized that she had such a strong competitive spirit.

She thought about the person she hadn't yet defeated, his eyes and his back, her mind a jumble of complicated thoughts. Then, without realizing it, she stopped and silently looked up at the sky.

The night sky over Changkong City is truly unique.

It has the bright lights of a big city, as bright as day, yet you can clearly see the starlight behind that curtain of lights.

I feel like... something's missing.

There's a sense of loss, like forgetting something very important.

What exactly is it...?

"It was you who wanted to escape."

"One day, I will prove it to you."

"Da, da, da..."

The footsteps grew closer, and Yan Luo stopped, watching warily as the gathering shadows walked into the light of a streetlamp in the distance.

Perhaps because she returned too late, there were very few people on this road; she hadn't seen a single one.

The figure whose footsteps were spaced exactly at the same intervals finally came into the light and revealed its true form.

"You!" Yan Luo recognized the person; her pupils contracted. He—

He walked expressionlessly to the streetlight, wearing a pink wig and a little skirt.

"..."

"..."

"Abnormal?"

"No."

Yan Luo felt he couldn't quite understand this person's thought process. Was it possible that the more insane a person was, the more powerful they were? Was this some bizarre setting from anime or manga?

Lin made a peace sign with a blank expression. "I'm Miss Pink Fairy."

"... Excuse me, besides pink, what else is it related to?"

What's wrong with this guy whose name we don't even know? From refusing to pay when he got on the bus to becoming a stalker, then engaging in a series of battles with her for days, and finally revealing his cross-dressing identity after saying a bunch of nonsensical things.

The only element of unrest in Yan Luo's peaceful life came just like that.

"What exactly do you want to do... no, who exactly are you?"

"Miss Pink Fairy".

"... Can you be normal for once?"

"I am Miss Pink Fairy."

"I didn't ask you to emphasize that."

Yan Luo gave him a disgusted look and then tried to avoid him and go home.

But Lin turned around and followed behind her. After walking a distance, Yan Luo's pace gradually changed from a jog to a run.

Lin followed without hesitation.

So the chase between the two people, one of whom was a cross-dressing pervert, continued until they reached Yan Luo's doorstep. She stood at the door, took a few breaths, and looked at the person wearing a pink dress and wig not far from her with dissatisfaction.

"Enough! Who are you?!" Her gaze was hostile. If necessary, she would use force. She didn't believe that this guy was good at playing games and also good at real-life PvP.

"Pink..."

"Your name!" Yan Luo didn't want to hear that word again; her mind was trembling, resisting. "I'm asking for your name!"

"Just call me Yan Luo," Lin said calmly.

"Yan Luo, what is your purpose? I am just an ordinary person..."

"Could an ordinary person have such strong reaction abilities and physical strength?" Lin interrupted Yan Luo. "Don't you think there are many strange things about you, considering your age and status?"

"... There will always be special people in this world."

"So you think your specialness is just a coincidence?" Lin's breathing was steady, just like his words. "You're right, you're just an ordinary person, or at least you should have been just an ordinary person. But your thinking ability, information gathering ability, physical strength, and appearance... are all the same as mine. You shouldn't be a naturally occurring anomaly."

"... What exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I mean is that you would also look good in a pink dress." Lin pointed to her lower body.

"... Bang."

Yan Luo calmly closed the door, keeping the pervert out.

Chapter 71 What is the relationship?

The 24-hour rule has disappeared.

After Yan Luo made his wish, the size of the World Bubble expanded, and the clock tower disappeared, as if it had become a normal world.

What exactly was the wish of Yan Luo that the monkey's paw fulfilled?

And where are the monkey's paws now?

Lin didn't take off his cosplay outfit for someone. He came to the side of this familiar house and leaned against the wall, listening to the sounds inside.

He didn't know whether Yan Luo's current state was good or bad.

They should now find a way to leave the World Bubble. When Kelin saw Yan Luo genuinely smiling at those he knew, he silently closed his eyes.

Yan Luo and his peace is just an illusion. After leaving the World Bubble, she will resume her pursuit of him. And her living here... doesn't seem so bad, does it?

To be an ordinary person, no longer tormented by the past and the Honkai.

This is the life he has always dreamed of.

So Lin is facing yet another choice.

He always seems to personally choose the next path at these important turning points in his life, and this time, the choice is between himself and others.

Is Yan Luo running away? She's running away from her past and doesn't want to face the future anymore, while Lin holds the opposite view, but... is he necessarily right?

What's wrong with a fake world?

Yan Luo had already told him that she had nothing left, that her world was empty and destroyed because of her, and that she was the one who bore the sins she herself had chosen.

Does he have the right to demand that everyone face the future the same way he does?

Could it be that he... won't become Yan Luo, someday?

"..."

No, Lin believed that the future could be changed, and that predetermined fate could not bind humanity. They were not gods in mythology who were helpless in the face of prophecy; they were... mortals.

Forge your own path with your own will, and persevere onward...

He has always done it this way.

Lin took a deep breath. He decided to find the monkey's paw and use up his last wish. If this World Bubble was a game with rules, then the monkey's paw was the key to clearing the level, and the conditions for clearing the level were already clear.

The only thing we don't know is who the "you" in the third wish is.

Is it Yan Luo? Is it Lin? They are essentially the same person, so does that mean it could be anyone?

I don't know, but Lin is willing to try.

Lin stood up, pondering where the monkey's claws might be, and was about to leave when the window behind him was opened.

"You have nowhere to go?"

"..."

Yan Luo stood at the window and asked in a very unfriendly tone.

She had already taken a shower and changed into her pajamas when she got home, but she saw Lin still standing at her door, looking lonely and melancholy. Considering that he couldn't afford to take the bus and that she often saw him at the arcade, Yan Luo thought that he might be homeless and wandering around.

Lin looked at her silently. He thought about it and realized that he really had nowhere to go, but he didn't need a place to live in the first place.

"Come in."

The voice of Yan Luo, which was at minus fifteen degrees Celsius, commanded.

Then, after a pause, he added—

"Take off your skirt."

Yan Luo watched coldly as Lin found her room as if she were returning to her own home. She narrowed her eyes and observed the person's every move until the other person took off her skirt and put on trousers before she spoke, "Wig."

"... You didn't say."

Lin also took off her pink wig.

"I have a question for you."

Lin knew, of course, that she had questions she wanted to ask, and he was prepared not to deliberately hide anything, nor to tell her everything.

In other words... he answers whatever she asks, just like they did back then.

"Where did you come from..." Yan Luo sat on the sofa, subconsciously reaching under the coffee table to grab something, but then remembered that Lin was also in the room, so she subtly withdrew her hand. "I think with your appearance and how perverted you are, you shouldn't be unknown."

This person seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Just based on that face, Lin should be on a magazine cover right now, instead of wearing a little skirt and acting like a pervert in front of her.

Of course, she was the same, except...

But what?

Yan Luo couldn't quite recall what measures he had taken to prevent his appearance from being spread around.

"A place that doesn't belong here."

"...nonsense."

Yan Luo changed the subject and asked, "What is the reason you sought me out?"

"Because we know each other."

"You know me?"

"You know me too."

To reiterate, if Yan Luo had ever seen Lin, she would never forget him, so she believes Lin is lying.

"You've lost your memory now," Lin Xinping said calmly. "We knew each other before."

"... What kind of relationship?"

"..."

Lin really couldn't think of a way to summarize their relationship.

The main reason is that the two have too many similarities and too many differences. Yan Luo and his experiences led to different views of each other, which in turn led to different actions and considerations.

In short, it's a relationship that's too complex to describe.

Lin thought about all the things Yan Luo had done to him so far. He pondered for a while and felt that there was a phrase that could describe it, "A relationship where he would bite my tongue off when we kissed."

"..."

Yan Luo's brow twitched a few times.

"You and me? Kissing? Why?"

"... That's exactly what I wanted to ask."

Yan Luo's temper was similar to his, but there were differences in the small details, so Lin couldn't figure out what she was thinking at that time.

Yan Luo was speechless. After sitting on the sofa for a while, she raised her head and pointed at Lin: "You, delusional. Me, mentally ill."

She really felt that she must have lost her mind to take Lin in; this guy never told the truth and just spouted nonsense.

But deep down, she had a strange feeling.

Don't accept what he says... accept what he says...

A conflicting feeling.

"It's okay if you don't accept it."

Lin shrugged, indicating that he had made the choice for her.