Himeko Murata Is Dead / Nuwa Mends the Sky

"Otto once discovered a method to maintain memories in a loop through his research on the Aether Anchor. Yue's memories are also not erased under the influence of the Aether Anchor, but there are two people who maintain their memories in very strange ways."

"Me, and...you, Mugentou Himeko."

Himeko stared blankly at the man whose weakness did not diminish his cold aura. She asked, slightly puzzled, "But isn't this because..."

"Because Theresa drank our blood?"

Lin spoke first what Himeko wanted to say, which also meant that he was going to refute this viewpoint.

"At first, I also thought that when Theresa lost her mind, drinking blood could allow people to retain their memories in the cycle, since she was born under the influence of the Herrscher of Erosion's power, but there are two doubts."

"First, Theresa herself, has no cyclical memory."

"Second, besides you and me, there are other people whose blood has been drained by the out-of-control Theresa, including the victims of the serial blood-drinking case, and Kallen."

"Neither Theresa's special circumstances nor the special nature of being a vampire can explain why you and I were able to retain our memories, until I remembered something Otto said."

From the perspective of someone outside the World Bubble, the World Bubble is like a cassette tape.

Lin initially thought this was just a metaphor for a time loop, but he later realized that the focus wasn't on the cassette tape, but rather on "people outside the World Bubble."

When a person views the World Bubble as if it were a cassette tape, whether playing normally or rewinding, the memories of what they have seen before will not disappear.

Lin retains his memories in the cycle, not because he was sucked blood, but because his consciousness was detected by the World Bubble, and his identity changed from someone inside the World Bubble to someone outside the World Bubble.

Therefore, the identity of the red-haired girl in front of us is now clear.

"You don't belong to this world either."

Chapter 84 Mugentou Himeko is dead.

"Me? I'm also from outside this world?"

Himeko was clearly caught off guard by the sudden accusation. She blinked, her high ponytail trembling, as she looked at the stern-faced man staring straight at her.

"How is this possible? I have lived in this world for a full nineteen years."

"..."

"I... lost my mother when I was 13, and my father last year... I like Tianwen and I also like making coffee, but now I like drinking alcohol even more..."

"..."

"I've met Instructor Ragna, and I want to be a member of the Stormtroopers, so I'm still working on it..."

"..."

"Although I don't agree with Archbishop Otto's approach, I've kept the lessons I learned from him in mind..."

"..."

"I am Mugentou Himeko. How could I not be a person of this world?"

The red-haired girl with a high ponytail murmured, her fiery long hair now appearing somewhat listless. Lin merely listened to her self-talk until she squeezed out the last word from between her teeth, at which point he said indifferently, "You are indeed Mugentou Himeko, but you are not Mugentou Himeko of this world."

"..."

Lin's words silenced Himeko like a ship hit by a cannonball.

Lin ignored Himeko's reaction. He struggled to support himself and continued to calmly state his speculation, "Remember when you said you joined Schicksal before finishing Caltech? When Yue and I were looking for information in Schicksal's database, we looked up your relevant information."

"It says that Mugentou Himeko received her Ph. D. from Caltech in 2006."

Himeko's Amber eyes reflected the man's disheveled yet resolute appearance. He was definitely not in good condition, but his tone remained completely still, as if frozen in a certain moment.

"In 2005, 18-year-old Mugentou Himeko experienced an event that changed her life: her father, Ryusuke Murata, died mysteriously, and she almost collapsed as a result. After completing her studies, she had two paths to choose from."

"Either investigate the cause of Murata Ryusuke's death, live a normal life, or join Schicksal and pursue the truth."

"Ultimately, after careful consideration, Mugentou Himeko underwent Artificial Stigmata modification and joined Schicksal."

"Your life trajectory should be similar to that of Mugentou Himeko in this world, but the difference is that while you were still in school, you probably left your original world due to some incident."

Lin finished speaking in one breath, and then silently waited for the red-haired girl's reaction.

Summer days are indeed hot and humid, making people feel annoyed. Glistening sweat drips from the chin onto the scorching stone road, sizzling and emitting blue smoke.

The wind that blew up the bright red ponytail carried a restless, irritating heat.

The girl's initial surprise had faded, and her pretty face, bathed in the blazing sun, seemed lost in thought.

Why... why do you think about all this?

"Because you said that you only did what Mugentou Himeko was supposed to do."

"..."

The first cool breeze of autumn blew away the summer heat.

"Okay, where should I begin?"

"I, Mugentou Himeko, was born in 1987. There's nothing much to say about my birth, or rather, my life has probably been unremarkable."

"In 2000, when I was 13 years old, I sat on a cold bench listening to my mother's cough and rapid breathing. When my father, Ryusuke Murata, who was obsessed with his space dream, opened the door, my mother's heart had already stopped beating in the dark corner."

"After that, my father realized that he had neglected my mother's need for companionship, and he devoted all his remaining love to me, becoming a good father."

"Perhaps influenced by my father, I also have an unparalleled yearning for that unknown deep space. In 2002, at the age of 15, I graduated first in my class and applied to the Department of Interplanetary Dynamics at Caltech."

"Looking back now, our family's fate was probably changed without us even realizing it, influenced by our dreams about the universe."

"In 2005, my father died mysteriously, leaving behind only a suicide note. I wanted to investigate the truth behind his death, so I decided to join Schicksal."

"But on the very night I was about to undergo the Stigmata modification, I found a strange device among my father's belongings. After I activated it, I 'detached' from my world and entered the Quantum Sea."

"Thus the writer of the story ended the prologue of Mugentou Himeko."

Just like their late-night chat, this time they found a place to sit, each holding a bottle of low-alcohol beer, sipping it casually. Himeko's clear voice, like the refreshing beer flowing down her throat, barely stabilized Lin's seemingly broken body.

The cracks in the sky are still quietly widening. The entire World Bubble is like a peeled orange, and it is unknown when flies and mosquitoes will swarm in, or when it will collapse.

Drinking together amidst this apocalyptic scene, surprisingly, has a strange poetic and picturesque quality.

Himeko glanced at Lin, who was silently drinking and not saying a word: "Although it is said that we have entered the Quantum Sea, it should actually be a rather special World Bubble. The gap between that World Bubble and the Quantum Sea is transparent, and you can observe the appearance outside the World Bubble from inside the World Bubble. Isn't that amazing?"

Indeed, even though Lin had visited many World Bubble, he had never seen a World Bubble from which the Quantum Sea could be seen.

"What surprised me was that there was also a Mugentou Himeko there. When she saw me, she looked at me just like I did when I saw her, as if we were looking in a mirror." Himeko couldn't help but reveal a gentle smile. "That was really interesting. We thought some kind of monster that could imitate human appearance had appeared. It took us a long time to confirm that we were both Mugentou Himeko."

"After that, we became best friends from two different worlds, and I lost the means to return to my original world, so I decided to explore the Quantum Sea with her."

"What a fascinating existence, the Quantum Sea, deeper than the night sky, and then, just as we were pondering how to solve the problem of how to explore the Quantum Sea, we found something... wonderful."

"We worked together to fix it, and after activating it, we were able to leave that World Bubble. But, during the process of leaving the World Bubble, I... fell again."

"This time, I came to a World Bubble that made me think I had returned to my original world."

"And here, Mugentou Himeko of this world is already dead."

Chapter 85 Nuwa Mending the Heavens

What kind of world is this?

What Lin was thinking about was not this World Bubble, nor a specific world, but... everything that could be perceived.

Lin recalled the former captain who left behind the Hyperion and those documents. What were his feelings when he went to save the World Bubble? And what were his feelings when he left all of this behind and departed alone?

Why keep saving others, and then suddenly give up on your own principles?

There are too many "whys" in the world, and too few answers to them.

Lin didn't ask the red-haired girl in front of him how Himeko of this world died. It could have been during a mission, during the search for the truth, or... it could have just been an accident.

She didn't say anything, but just took a couple of sips of alcohol. She didn't seem to like coffee, but she definitely liked alcohol.

... But perhaps the Himeko of this world likes to drink.

"Glug... Ha..." Himeko, with her high ponytail, possessed the youthful cuteness unique to a girl, but her bold drinking style was nothing like that of a nineteen-year-old girl; it was more like that of a woman in her thirties. She gulped down the last can of sake, shaking the can with a few drops of alcohol remaining. A flush of alcohol-scented red rose on her fair cheeks as she said to the man who was silently drinking, "Have you ever, after choosing a path, often thought back to your initial choice and wondered what would have happened if you had chosen a different path?"

"..."

Another path? Lin Cong thought of it, nor did he have the opportunity to choose, nor was there a second path.

"Which of us, Mugentou Himeko of this world, me, or the Mugentou Himeko who has gone to a place I don't know, is on the right path? I don't know, but we are all just doing what 'Mugentou Himeko' would do."

Lin Xiang already knows what happened next: Mugentou Himeko became Mugentou Himeko.

She took Himeko's place and lived in this world, following Himeko's original path.

Lin could see from her eyes that her reasons for taking over this identity were complicated. It wasn't out of pity for the original Himeko, nor was it to make up for the path she hadn't finished walking.

If fate has already inscribed revelation in everyone's soul, then surely, at that moment, that revelation will be revealed.

"Later, I completely integrated into the World Bubble. Perhaps because we were too similar, my arrival did not cause any rejection in the World Bubble."

"The World Bubble's rejection phenomenon doesn't involve expelling outsiders every time they appear, but this time is just too special," Lin casually added, and Himeko nodded in agreement.

"Until you arrive."

"..."

What happened next is already known: vampires, Blood Moon, Herrscher... Like Rin, Himeko was tainted by the characteristics of the Herrscher of Erosion after being infected by vampire consciousness. Due to her "outsider" nature, she was rejected by the World Bubble and the Quantum Sea.

Therefore, in this "carefully arranged" strangulation in the Quantum Sea, Lin, Theresa, Tsuki, and Himeko are all targets.

Moreover, it's not just that.

"You have Aether Anchor inside you, don't you?"

Lin asked calmly, but the question was anything but indifferent.

Himeko, however, did not show the same panic as before, but instead nodded calmly.

"That's enough."

Lin didn't say anything more. He stood up shakily, his whole body like a Lego figure made of small cubes, ready to collapse along the purple stripes at any moment.

"... What do you plan to do?"

The crack, like an eye without a pupil, silently and terrifyingly watches over everything in this world.

When Lin wakes up after losing her memory, she always feels that she is now a blank sheet of paper, which will be painted with new colors on her journey ahead, making her a person who is different from the past and has her own future.

But just as the white-haired man said.

He can't escape.

No one can escape the shadows of the past—not Otto, not Theresa, not Kallen, not Himeko, and of course, not Rin either.

It follows people like a shadow, silent and unseen, yet it exists objectively.

So he did what "Lin" was supposed to do.

Have you heard the story of Nuwa Mending the Heavens?

The man stood alone under the blazing sun, like a monument, or perhaps a...

Grave.

"Come to think of it, we've never spoken alone together, have we?"

"You never want to talk to me alone because you don't talk to a tool."

"Just like you wouldn't talk to insects?"

"That's right."

The conversation between the two was full of jumps, but both of them understood each other's meaning. The blond man, unusually, did nothing else. He simply stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the little girl in front of him who could easily destroy most of human society. Her bloodshot eyes were like a mirror, but they could not reflect his own blurry image.

"Miss Yue, won't you explain why you came to see me?" Otto, alone with this extremely dangerous creature, displayed an arrogant attitude. His neat purple suit gave him a slightly sinister air.

"I'm here to make a deal with you."

Yue uttered cold words from her thin lips with a serene expression.

"Oh?"

"That human... Lin, right now, he should be thinking about whether to choose this world or me and Theresa ... No, he has no choice. He will only do his best to save everyone, like a bird flying towards the sun, and then his feathers will melt and he will fall to the ground."

The moon's cold, blood-red eyes softened slightly when that person was mentioned.

"As long as you exist, he cannot leave in peace."

Otto's lips curled into a playful smile. He spread his right hand and smiled at the moon, "So, you intend to use your power to kill me? Indeed, the power of the Herrscher of Erosion can directly attack a person's consciousness. Even if I upload my consciousness to change my body, you can still find my consciousness like a Trojan horse."