So Cold / First Meeting, Long Time No See

He always gives hope when despair is imminent, and then turns hope into despair just when it is about to become reality. Some say that God loves to roll dice to decide people's fate, but unfortunately, God doesn't roll dice; He only eats chocolate.

"Humans?"

Anyone in his position would have felt a sense of familiarity at this moment. Lin had died in this place more than three thousand times, and he could remember every stain on the ground at this location and time. After sorting through his memories once again, before he even looked up, he saw the girl's black stockings, the only ink stain in the orange-yellow twilight.

"..."

Compared to her usual aloofness, the girl's face seemed to show a hint of shyness, but after seeing Lin Ping'an open his eyes unharmed, she returned to her usual demeanor.

"I..."

"Wait a minute." Lin stopped Yue's explanation. He grabbed Yue's shoulder seriously and carefully checked her body for bite marks.

Although the possibility of "the Herrscher being controlled by a vampire created using her abilities" is very low, Lin feels it is not entirely impossible.

Yue didn't punch him into the ground; she obediently let him examine her thoroughly.

There were no bite marks, so it's clear this has nothing to do with Theresa. Was Theresa's loss of control really related to her vampire instinct?

"Human, are you alright?"

After releasing her, Tsukimi Rin frowned and pondered, so she tried to ask him a question.

"I'm fine." Lin shook his head. After summarizing the information in his mind, he said to her, "Do you remember what happened last time?"

"Um."

"Were you unable to control your body at that time? Or did you feel like your rationality was about to disappear?"

Yue shook her little head blankly, and that had already given Lin the answer.

She simply couldn't control what she did, so why was it that Yue never lost control before, and it was always Theresa lost control, but this time it was Yue?

It seems we can't leave until we've finished investigating the moon and this World Bubble.

"Human, the contract..."

"Ah, I've finally found you. I knew I'd run into you somewhere before."

The two turned their heads and saw a panting red-haired figure standing not far away. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and waved to them casually.

"Oh dear, thank goodness time was reversed, otherwise her gruesome death would have been too pitiful." Himeko randomly ordered a bunch of dishes from the menu, all of which were her favorites. After handing them to the waiter, she grinned at the two expressionless people sitting opposite her. "Anyway, Yue lost control, just like that vampire named Theresa from before?"

She glossed over the fact that she had been killed in one sentence, but her expression still seemed somewhat unnatural.

The experience of being killed is never pleasant, and it's impossible to adapt to it—this is the lesson Lin learned from thousands of lives.

Upon hearing Theresa's name again, Yue, who was devouring sundaes taller than her while sitting in the chair, glanced at Lin, who was writing something on a piece of paper, with her mouth full of cream.

His expression was indifferent, seemingly unmoved by anything. After hearing Himeko's words, he paused for a moment and calmly said, "Yes, so now I want to find Theresa and Kallen, and preferably also talk to Otto."

"Um, turning hostility into friendship?"

"I just want to get the answer."

It's not Theresa, not the moon, and not Otto.

It is not a specific person or phenomenon, but a more abstract concept.

The distortion of this world is getting worse and worse. With each restart of the cycle, Lin feels something is "approaching". The feeling of watching a sharp knife cut through a leather jacket, pierce the skin, and slowly penetrate the body and internal organs is terrible.

"Are you sure Archbishop Otto will talk to you? I feel like his axemen would chop you into mincemeat the very first second you meet."

"He will."

Lin said with a calm and unwavering expression.

"... Speaking of which, aren't you acting a little strange?"

At this moment, Himeko noticed Lin's unusual behavior. She poured herself a glass of hot water and glanced at him as he wrote plans in his notebook, "Were you this serious and indifferent before?"

"Your imagination."

"Is there?"

Even though Lin had no expression before, he never acted like this, pulling up his hood while eating and writing furiously in his notebook like some kind of freak or mad scientist.

And I don't know if it's just my imagination, but his movements and eyes seem more efficient and concise than before, and he doesn't waste any effort or time at all.

It's like he's a completely different person.

"Human beings."

Yue, who had already finished half of her sundae, glanced at Lin's empty table with only notes, then at the luxurious fruit sundae in front of her. She tilted her head, scooped up a large spoonful, and held it to Lin's lips.

"..."

Lin put down his pen, looked down at the spoonful of sundae that looked incredibly delicious, and turned to look at Yue, who was staring intently at him.

"Eat."

"..."

He paused for a moment, glanced at the smiling Himeko out of the corner of his eye, lowered his head to eat the spoonful of sundae, and then continued to write furiously.

"How is it?" Yue Gujing's calm tone carried a hint of anticipation.

"... It's so cold."

Yue nodded contentedly and continued to eat the food in front of her, while Himeko felt that something was wrong.

It's so cold? Shouldn't you be saying it tastes good?

Lin felt the entire sundae melt into ice water in his mouth and flow into his stomach. The coolness sank into his stomach as well. He pursed his lips, his eyes unchanged, as if he had known all along.

It has no taste.

"Hey, hey, hey, do you really want me to go?"

Himeko scratched her head in frustration. Yue stood in front of her, looking up indifferently. "It's you. We have things to do."

"I know you only have eyes for that cold-faced guy! But at least be a little nicer, you just killed me before."

"I didn't kill him."

"If not, then who is it?"

"It is not me, it is my hand."

"..."

Himeko sighed and called out to Lin, who was calculating the spatial distribution of Canghai City, "Hey! Lin, can you guarantee that Otto really won't make a move?"

"Please." Lin left without looking back, leaving Himeko tugging at her hair in frustration as she took out her communicator.

However, the communicator has a real-time locator, so if Otto really wanted to make a move, he could have done it long ago. So what Lin said should be true... right?

Meanwhile, Lin's dark eyes sank into the night as he walked into an inconspicuous alley...

Chapter Sixty-Seven: First Meeting, Long Time No See

"Human, what do you usually do?"

"Read a book."

Is it interesting?

"More interesting than most things."

"Is it more interesting than eating candied apples?"

"... There are so many things more interesting than rock candy apples."

Compared to Lin's sense of urgency, Yue still had the leisure and curiosity to ask about Lin's daily life, but unfortunately, only Rita could usually keep up with the topic of books. At least they would agree that Holden Caulfield was a spoiled brat, not a rebellious hero.

"I want to read books too."

Lin didn't stop walking. He just glanced at the silver-haired girl who took two steps to catch up with him and asked a question.

"Reading is boring." He paused briefly at a corner, then turned right.

"Didn't you say it was more interesting than most things?"

"It must be very boring for you," Lin said in a wooden tone. "You need to calm down and spend time to find it interesting, and most good books need to be read at least twice to appreciate the cleverness of the plot."

"Oh... but isn't it a terrible design to have to read it twice?" Yue tilted her head and asked, puzzled.

"Why?" This was the first time Lin had heard someone call it a failed design, so he asked in return.

"This shows that the author cannot accurately convey their meaning, and others need to spend time to understand it." Yue crossed her arms and criticized in her usual self-centered tone, "It's not something readers should do to spend so much effort trying to understand what the author is thinking."

"..."

Perhaps she is right, after all, Yue has always had this kind of personality, being self-centered.

"However..." Just when Lin thought the topic would end again with "Miss Yue's dictatorial remarks," she hesitated for a moment, blinked her bright red eyes, and changed the subject, "Maybe it's just that I don't like reading it twice."

"Hmm?" Lin paused for two seconds when he heard her seemingly self-reflective words. He then looked at Yue, who was actually seriously thinking, mimicking Lin by pinching her chin with her fingers.

This was destined to be a fruitless thought process. Yue would not attribute the mistake to herself, especially since it wasn't really a mistake, but rather... self-righteousness.

Lin was also a self-righteous person, so he knew very well that in the end Yue would still think...

"I want to read a book with you."

"..."

Her ethereal and clear voice, and the words she spoke, echoed coldly in the empty night sky.

"And we ate candied apples together, went on the drop tower, and..."

The silver-haired girl tugged at the man's sleeve and stumbled forward. Her eyes, as bright as the Blood Moon, gazed at the moon disc opposite the ground. Limited by her own understanding, she couldn't think of any other "interesting" things. Even Theresa wanted to see the sea and the end of the sky, but she only knew about the rock candy apple and the drop tower that Lin had given her.

But she still looked at him with clear eyes and expressed her meaning with clumsy words.

"And... I won't kill anyone anymore."

"Why?"

This is incredibly good news. Lin had gone to great lengths to stop her from killing people, and now that she had offered to stop killing humans, he should be somewhat happy.

But this time, it was his turn to ask why.

Yue's pretty face was blank and expressionless. Facing Lin's question, she stared at his face under his hood and said without hiding or hesitating, "Because... when that red-haired girl named Himeko died... I felt uncomfortable."

Yue is a Herrscher without universal values. Human lives are no different from ants to her. Even if she doesn't lose control, it would be perfectly normal for Yue to kill Himeko.

But at that moment, she felt something inside her body shatter, and when she stood in front of the irresistible Lin, something inexplicable controlled her to crush him as well. Yue felt a piece of her chest being ripped out, letting in the cold wind that blew painfully.

"Humans... do you know what that feeling is called?"

She tugged at Lin's sleeve, holding it tightly, unwilling to let go.

"... This is 'emotion,' an emotion that only 'life' possesses, a 'contract' that exists even without being established."

Lin also raised his head, and under the hood, his single black pupil shone like a twinkling star in the starless night.

"I see." The silver-haired girl nodded, seemingly understanding. "Also, you'll be unhappy if I keep killing people, won't you?"

I don't want you to be unhappy.

"You didn't say that before."

"Yes, but this is what I think now."

The girl removed her hand from her sleeve and grasped the hand that was much broader and warmer than hers. She had seen people at the water park holding hands like that, laughing and clasping their hands.

Two clueless people, unaware of their past and clueless about the future, hold each other tightly in this eternal, lightless night, and slowly move forward.

"Theresa, we have to go."

"But... I seem to have forgotten something. There's something very important here."

"Something very important..."

Two silver-haired girls, one tall and one short, were talking in an empty alley. The shorter one's pretty face was full of trouble.

"Who... is there?!"