1044's solution was to have Lu Mi, who had only taken human form after entering the game, replace the old woman.
1044 directed the guards to clear the scene, then contacted the staff at the Central Control Building, saying something about deleting the memory data for this dungeon instance.
"Wait," 2044 said, pointing at Lu Mi. "Delete all his memories separately."
"Why?" 1044's brow furrowed. "Don't tell me you-"
"Yes." He looked straight into 1044's eyes. "In the real world, I asked him to give me a name. That's all."
"After doing something like that, I want to get to know him again, from the beginning."
1044 was both angry and exasperated. "You're always doing pointless, meaningless things. Your serial number is your name. Don't tell me you want to become human-"
"One day," 2044 said quickly, "we'll disappear. Humans have feelings and loyalty. Their strength is far greater than we imagine."
As 2044 finished speaking, the scene gradually faded.
Grandma's body, which Lu Mi had been staring at all this time, disappeared too.
She should have been able to live out her twilight years in peace.
Even without his memories, the mere thought that he had once spent his days with such a kind old woman brought Lu Mi a moment of peace.
"Lu Mi, put the shard down." Roman rested a hand on his head, guiding it onto his shoulder.
Lu Mi's voice was muffled. "I thought that once I left this game... I could turn into a cat again and bask in the sun on Grandma's lap..."
They sat quietly against each other, letting the bleak winter afternoon sunlight stream in and gild their clasped hands.
The shard had cut Lu Mi's hand, and it was still bleeding.
Roman's hand enclosed his. Blood ran through the gaps