Chapter 576
A black-haired young man stood at the school gate, smiling and greeting the girls who came out.
"Brother Fang Ming!"
Upon seeing the black-haired young man, Xiao Chun's eyes lit up. She ran happily to his side, her face slightly flushed, and asked, "What are you doing here, Brother Fang Ming?"
"Ah, I've come to pick up Xiao Bai."
Fang Ming looked at Xiao Bai.
In this story, Xiao Bai is Fang Ming's younger sister.
But Xiao Bai rolled her eyes at Fang Ming, then her gaze fell on Xiao Chun, and she said meaningfully:
"Brother, you'd better come pick me up."
"Tsk, you're one to talk. I told you to bring Dongdong back with you, why did you let Dongdong walk home alone?"
"There's no way around it, the Student Council has just too much to do."
"If you played fewer games at night, maybe these jobs would have been solved long ago?"
"... You idiot, do you think Student Council work is homework?! And who taught me how to play video games, huh?"
Xiao Bai picked up his schoolbag and patted Fang Ming on the back.
Xiao Chun covered her mouth and chuckled, while Chen Xiaoxia huddled up in a ball to the side.
After all, she was one of the people who Xiao Bai to play games.
Amidst the girls' laughter, Fang Ming led everyone into the car and drove towards his home.
Tonight, everyone will have dinner together at Fang Ming's house.
--If you and Fang Ming were two different people...
As Xiaoxia narrates her story, the scene gradually darkens and fades into the distance.
Chen Xiaoxia herself, radiating a faint glow, appeared at the edge of the frame, observing everything before her.
Her eyes were filled with a sense of bewilderment, yet also with longing for what lay before her.
Behind her, the Desire Demon embraced her from behind, tempting her like a devil:
"... Go, as long as you take a step forward, all your 'what ifs' will become reality. Go, move forward..."
Under the allure of the Demons, Xiaoxia couldn't resist walking towards the warm-toned scene in the distance.
The darkness behind her was gradually receding, and it seemed as if she was abandoning her dark past and heading towards a happy ending.
But everyone knows that the darkness behind them is the reality, and the beautiful scene before their eyes is actually a false illusion.
Once you step into it, you've entered the Abyss from which there is no return.
Volume 6 <Magic Autumn> Season 4: Chapter 616 Let's Be Friends
Should we go over there?
Should she go to that world, a world constructed from her Desire, a world that could completely satisfy all her needs?
Chen Xiaoxia didn't know; she was just following her instincts.
In fact, Chen Xiaoxia had experienced similar encounters with illusionary worlds and Dream World more than once, but this time was completely different from before.
If someone used Chen Xiaoxia's memories to weave a world that would fascinate Chen Xiaoxia...
This world of Desire is entirely composed of Chen Xiaoxia's own Desire.
Indeed, what constitutes all of this, the demonic realm that can completely engulf the girl, is the girl's own self-awareness.
It was her own Desire.
Therefore, Chen Xiaoxia couldn't actually tell whether this was an illusion or reality; she just felt... she really wanted everything in front of her.
I really... really want to.
With each step forward, Chen Xiaoxia was about to enter the world created by her own Desire, just as the Desire Demon had hoped for.
But...
Someone grabbed her.
"... Idiot, don't step into the mousetrap!"
A silver-haired girl appeared behind Chen Xiaoxia.
The figure of the Desire Demon had vanished without a trace, leaving only the silver-haired girl and Xiaoxia standing against the pitch-black backdrop.
Hearing the voice behind her, Xiaoxia did not turn around; her gaze remained fixed on the world of Desire she longed for.
She suddenly said:
I regret it.
"..."
"I regret... becoming Magical Girls..."
As she spoke, she stopped, gazing at the world before her—a world created if she hadn't become Magical Girls, if Xiao Bai and Fang Ming were two different people—and murmured to herself:
"Magical Girls, it turns out, isn't as great as I imagined."
"I will fight against very powerful enemies, I will lose people who are very important to me, and even in the future... I may lose my own life."
Are you scared?
"I'm scared." Chen Xiaoxia answered almost without hesitation, "Yes, I'm scared. I'm scared to see everyone's sad faces, and I'm scared to think about what my family would think if I sacrificed myself."
"So, you're not afraid because of Xiao Bai's sacrifice; you're afraid because you see your own future in Xiao Bai."
The silver-haired girl behind her spoke to Xiaoxia from a third-person perspective.
She's not actually Xiao Bai.
Xiaoxia knows.
This silver-haired girl was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.
But at that very moment, the silver-haired girl seemed to be possessed by her true self, and said to Xiaoxia:
"Everyone is afraid, everyone feels fear. It's normal for you to want to escape reality right now, but..."
As the silver-haired girl spoke, Xiao Qiu's phantom appeared beside her, and then she continued to speak to Xiaoxia:
"There's someone else waiting for you."
"... Enough!" Xiaoxia suddenly shouted at the silver-haired girl, "I don't want to do this anymore! I... I don't want to see anyone I care about die in front of me! Rather than that, I'd rather... I'd rather..."
Her gaze continued into the distance.
In the world she built from her own Desire, those she knew and cared about stood before her, reaching out their hands.
They seemed to be saying... 'Come on, just hold our hands and you'll have a happy life.'
Xiaoxia wanted to take that first step; the line between fantasy and reality was just a step away from her feet.
But...
She didn't cross over.
Why not keep moving forward?
The silver-haired girl calmly asked, "Didn't you want to escape all of this?"
"..."
"You know very well that if you stay here, then the so-called 'happy ending' will never exist."
"..."
"Or do you think it's enough for you to be happy on your own?"
Thump--
The silver-haired girl's words were like the tolling of an ancient bell, ringing loudly in Xiaoxia's ears, causing her to widen her eyes in surprise.
She looked up at what was in front of her again.
The fantasy world she had built from her thoughts and reflections over the past year was beckoning to her, extending an invitation.
She only needs to move forward a little more, just a tiny bit more, to embrace the happiness she has dreamed of.
But this step is impossible to take, no matter what.
"Don't listen to her." In the world of Desire, the girl who looked remarkably like the silver-haired girl said to Xiaoxia, "Come here, this world is the real one, this world is the life you've always dreamed of, isn't it?"
"So come over, I... will be your friend forever."
The silver-haired girl, standing within the realm of fantasy, reaches out her hand to Xiaoxia.
Not just her, Xiaoxia's friends and everyone she cared about were extending invitations to her.
The silver-haired girl behind her did not try to stop her; she simply stood there quietly, like a painting hanging on the wall.
Looking at the fantasy before her, Xiaoxia gritted her teeth and lifted her foot, but her foot hesitated to land.
Finally, the foot retracted, returning to the dividing line.
Unseen by her, opposite her, the imagined silver-haired girl wore a fierce expression.
The silver-haired girl behind her remained calm.
Xiaoxia didn't see any of this, nor could she see it from her perspective. She just kept her head down and muttered to herself:
"... I'm very selfish."
"Um."
"I'm arrogant, sometimes I act recklessly, and when I encounter enemies, I don't use my brain and just charge in, causing a lot of trouble for everyone..."
"I know."
"What you said is actually quite right. Perhaps I really am not a qualified Magical Girls. If I were a stronger, more powerful Magical Girls, perhaps you wouldn't have died right before my eyes..."
"..."
"... So I often fantasize that it would be great if I weren't Magical Girls, and it would be great if you weren't Magical Girls either, and it would be great if you weren't Fang Ming's brother...
"We might argue, we might not like each other, but... we might also become very good friends."
"We play games together, we bicker together, we argue over the most trivial things, and we don't speak to each other for a whole day, but the next day we make up as if nothing happened..."
"Just like Xiao Qiu and me."
As Xiaoxia recounts her story, the scene changes in accordance with Xiaoxia words.
Nobody knows... maybe even Xiaoxia herself doesn't realize that she actually really wants to be Xiao Bai's friend.
Although Xiao Bai always criticizes her, the two of them mostly bicker when they meet.
But just as Xiaoxia said, no matter how much they argued, their relationship would return to normal the next time they met.
Unfortunately, Xiao Bai is Fang Ming, and... she's already dead.
They may never become friends.
Should we give up?
When Xiaoxia calmed down, the silver-haired girl behind her asked.
Xiaoxia did not answer.
The silver-haired girl continued, "Are you going to give up? Give up becoming Magical Girls and go to that other world?"
"..."
Xiaoxia didn't speak. She suddenly raised her head and looked directly at the person opposite her.
The figure opposite, constructed by Desire, revealed a joyful smile upon seeing Xiaoxia's actions.
But after glancing at her, Xiaoxia turned around without hesitation and strode forward.
The silver-haired girl behind her was still standing there. Chen Xiaoxia quickened her pace and, upon reaching the silver-haired girl, hugged her tightly in her arms.
"..."
The silver-haired girl's eyes widened slightly, as if she were quite surprised.
Xiaoxia suddenly burst out laughing: