Sunny
“You said your name is Mi Yi… Eh? Mi Yi?”
“Sleep.”
“What?! Hey—”
Qiao Yu frantically shouted, but was unable to hold back the dissipation of the shadow, watching helplessly as the other party once again disappeared into the mist, all the while courteously waving goodbye to her.
“What the hell…”
Leaving Qiao Yu standing there dumbfounded, her mind in a tangled mess, still reeling from the shock of the true identity of the original author – I mean, how can someone just leave after saying that! Just stay for another two minutes at least!
Darn it, this nonchalant attitude really resembles Mi Yi…!
Her temple was throbbing incessantly, so she decided to sit cross-legged right where she was, taking a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart and then began to reorganize the information she had just learned.
One, the system had deceived her; that world was not a simple world of a book, Lin Qing and Cong Ye are real people, even Qiao Yu.
Two, Mi Yi is the original author of 《Love’s Unique Bell》. And at the point when she started writing the book, the Lin Qing and Cong Ye she knew were already together.
“…”
I really don’t understand what is going on.
Let’s talk about this person “Qiao Yu” first – why does she share the same name and appearance as this person? Qiao Yu held her head in her hands and carefully reviewed her life, confirming that her memories of the original world were smooth and complete. She was certain that Lin Qing and others had never appeared in her life.
Moreover, she has never lived in the Northern City, and her family background and the Qiao Yu here are completely different. They are two individuals with completely different life circumstances, yet they happen to share the same name and appearance.
It’s hard to believe this is just a coincidence, especially since the system deliberately concealed the existence of Qiao Yu in this world. Why?
“…Mom and Dad…”
Trying to find other breakthrough points, Qiao Yu struggled to recall the names and appearances of her parents from her original world.
This was an incredibly difficult task for her.
In that world, when Qiao Yu was five years old, her parents both passed away in an accident.
After that, she was raised by her grandparents, but they also passed away one after the other. She endured a lot of hardships, even facing ridicule from classmates for being an orphan when they were all still immature, which led her to learn how to fight – all of these were things of the past, quickly brushed over in Qiao Yu’s mind.
She should have heard stories about her parents from her grandmother, she remembered seeing a photo of them together, one on each side holding her, looking very young in the picture –
“…Can’t recall.”
(Originally translated on littlepandatranslations.com, let's go!)
The crucial faces were all blurry, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember, not their names, not even the most basic impressions.
Perhaps this was just normal memory blurring, after all, this memory was quite distant for her. However, in the current situation, Qiao Yu couldn’t shake off the feeling of something odd.
Who is she? What is her relationship with the Qiao Yu here? What is going on in this world? Is it related to her original world?
Qiao Yu felt like she was in a maze of the Minotaur, without the thread of guidance to show the way, constantly hitting walls, unable to find an exit.
There are now three known worlds – her original world, the world brought to her by the system, and the world of the great Mi Yi, where she wrote 《Love’s Unique Bell》. The second world might have been created earlier based on the memories of the great Mi Yi to allow Qiao Yu to continue and finish writing –
“…Hold on.”
Setting aside the mysteries of the first point for now, this led to the second point. Qiao Yu suddenly thought of a chilling conjecture.
“Then… her readers… should be people from that world too, right?”
Qiao Yu sorted through the information, sweat dripping uncontrollably down her back.
“…Lin Qing and the others, they probably don’t know that Mi Yi is writing… right?”
This dreadful conjecture gradually expanded in Qiao Yu’s mind, sweat pouring down, feeling restless. She carefully recalled Mi Yi’s words and desperately remembered that she seemed to have mentioned “obtaining the approval of the original author” before writing this book.
That means they know, right!
Qiao Yu’s already embarrassed feelings were exacerbated as she hugged her head.
What is this! How could an author use real names of people around them in their book! Does that mean the chapters she continues to write will also be seen by Lin Qing and the others! That would be a disaster!
…No, no, no, wait, what is the situation in Mi Yi’s world now? Shouldn’t Mi Yi be considered missing at this point? It’s so strange that the story is still updating in this situation, right? Does that mean there’s a possibility that Lin Qing and the others over there can’t see it?
Thinking about how in Mi Yi’s world, Lin Qing and Cong Ye have become involved in this, Qiao Yu couldn’t imagine what kind of feelings those two would have if they read her work, not to mention the Qiao Yu in that world –
The feeling of embarrassment suddenly burst out, and Qiao Yu found herself calm once again.
“Upon careful consideration, it’s not like it has any relevance to me anyway, right?”
Her thoughts were clear at this moment. After all, this piece of writing is credited to Mi Yi’s name, she is just an unknown contributor, and the readers are unaware of this fact. So, the conflict won’t affect her, right?
Even if those acquaintances over there happen to see the book, the ones who will face the consequences are Mi Yi and the great Qiao Yu – haha, it seems like making friends with everyone might not work out after all.
Qiao Yu, feeling resigned, decided not to dwell on it any longer, choosing to ignore the situation like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
As for the three worlds full of doubts – there’s no point in pondering over them now, all conclusions drawn are mere speculations. The most crucial thing is to communicate more with the key figure, Mi Yi, to gather information.
As her mood slightly calmed down, Qiao Yu closed her eyes, suppressing the restlessness in her heart.
The most fundamental question remained unsolved, yet new mysteries continued to pile up. However, Qiao Yu still remembered the purpose she was pursuing.
No matter how many worlds there were, or how vast the connections behind them, the reason she had always strived here was just one.
It was for her Lin Qing.
From the last conversation, Qiao Yu learned that every time the great Mi Yi appeared, it was in a different location. She couldn’t always appear right in front of Qiao Yu – it was like a rare monster randomly respawning within a map.
In order not to miss her appearance, Qiao Yu often wandered tirelessly in the mist, but thankfully, the third meeting didn’t come too slowly.
“This might be the last time I can come here.”
After finally meeting with Mi Yi, the outcome was bad news as soon as she opened her mouth. Qiao Yu’s heart skipped a beat as she listened to Mi Yi calmly explain,
“Listen to me, this time I probably won’t be able to stay for too long. To make it short,”
“Do you remember what we last talked about when we met? That’s probably a secret.”
“We two should never have had any intersection, but now things have taken an unexpected turn, so the gods – yes, I can only think of calling them beings of a higher order than us – are starting to interfere with our meetings.”
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This person always brings explosive news every time they come. Qiao Yu suppressed the trembling in her heart, nodded calmly, and listened as the voice, more mature than Mi Yi’s, softened, speaking to comfort her.
“But don’t worry too much. I’ve done everything I can during this time, and I’ve delegated all the permissions that can be granted to you to the system for activation. Oh, honestly, seeing my name pop up in someone else’s story does make me a little shy!”
“…Didn’t you do the same thing before?”
Seeing the embarrassed Mi Yi scratching her head, Qiao Yu was momentarily speechless.
“You two really hit it off! That Lin Qing actually has such a cute side… She was extremely aloof when she was with me!”
“Is that so…?”
Qiao Yu couldn’t imagine what an extremely aloof Lin Qing would be like. Seeing the shadow vigorously nodding at her, adding with clarification, “I never expected her to fall for girls too… Who knows, maybe the me over there has already confessed my romantic history to her? Our relationship seems quite good from your writing.”
“Romantic history?”
“Oh, it seems like you’re not aware yet.”
After a moment of contemplation, great Mi Yi waved her hand nonchalantly.
“I do like girls, you know.”
Qiao Yu was truly taken aback, holding her breath in shock. The other party seemed indifferent, saying casually, “I realized it back in junior high… Well, I feel like everyone in your article is so tolerant of same-sex relationships. Maybe it’s because the system, using my memories to build the world, added a bit of my orientation into it.”
“Oh, speaking of building worlds, regarding the overlapping characters from our two sides, I have an unconfirmed hypothesis.”
Her voice turned serious, and Qiao Yu also had thoughts in her mind. As they transitioned into the main topic, she sat up straight and listened attentively as great Mi Yi began to speak.
“It’s just, you know, parallel–“
Qiao Yu’s vision suddenly flickered, dazzling white for a moment, as if an old TV had suddenly short-circuited and lost power. When her vision returned, the shadow in front of her had vanished.
“…”
Qiao Yu pressed her lips together, lifting her head to gaze at the black mist slowly drifting above her, seemingly no different from her surroundings. Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that a pair of emotionless eyes were peering down at her from within the mist.
Knowing that great Mi Yi was likely not going to appear again, she stood in silence, swallowing her thoughts and exhaling heavily.
“If someone cherishes a unique flower blooming in the vast cosmic sea, then when they raise their head to gaze at the stars, they will be content.”
She spoke slowly, her tone calm, as if merely reciting a passage from “The Little Prince.”
“There may be many stars, but there is only one flower that I love.”
She could disregard it all, all of it.
Whether she was a pawn of the gods or part of a patched-together world, Qiao Yu could deceive herself, cover her ears, shut her eyes, forget the secrets of the world, and it wouldn’t matter. She had no demands, no ambitions. She simply wanted to strive with all her might to live like an ordinary person.
“I just want to be with her.”
These words drifted lightly into the mist in the empty world, echoing into silence.
What followed was a long stretch of time, spent alone.
Qiao Yu returned to a state similar to before encountering great Mi Yi, wandering aimlessly, listening to criticisms, occasionally encountering remnants of exiled hosts.
Time gradually turned into stagnant water, and Qiao Yu lost track of how long had passed. She grew quieter, speaking to herself less frequently. Her frail figure moved through the mist, sometimes feeling like she was no different from those remnants.
The intervals between the appearance of critical voices grew longer, as if even the exiled world was gradually descending into silence. This was a place for sinners, forgotten by the gods as a matter of course.
But Qiao Yu had not crumbled.
Once, she had come across a short review among the critical voices: “Wait, and hold hope in your heart.”
At that moment, Qiao Yu was walking on the road and couldn’t help but stop, smiling at the familiar voice.
Great Mi Yi seemed unharmed, though she could no longer speak to her about those possibly too crucial matters. At least she could still leave comments below her articles.
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It sounds like worrying about her, but she would wait, continue waiting.
She still had many things to do, many words left unsaid.
She just… needed to rest for a while.
For some reason, feeling suddenly drained of strength, Qiao Yu lay on the ground, breathing lightly. She raised her hand in front of her, feeling the silver chain on her wrist countless times.
Lin Qing.
Perhaps I should thank exile for still showing some mercy, not stripping me of everything on me, allowing me to bring the gift you gave me here. It has accompanied me for a long time, and I always can’t help but look at it.
Lin Qing.
To this day, I have no idea how much time has passed on your end. Has your birthday already passed? I heard that in a certain world, you in your twenties are a very aloof person. It’s hard for me to imagine because the you in my memories always smiled, so beautiful that one couldn’t look away.
Lin Qing.
I did something very excessive to you. I was cowardly and weak, so I chose to leave without a word. I won’t say you must forgive me. I just feel like I owe you an apology all along. I’m really sorry for that.
Lin Qing.
I long to be by your side.
The empty view began to blur, the surrounding mist suddenly ceased its movement. Qiao Yu’s body gradually went numb, losing all senses little by little, from sight to hearing, and then to touch. Finally, uncontrollably sinking into the dark sea of consciousness.
There was a faint light in the distance. Qiao Yu seemed to be standing on a path that didn’t belong to her, but she unhesitatingly followed that path, focusing solely on the journey.
The feeling of longing, as if tangible, pulled her relentlessly forward to far-off and unimaginable places. Passing through endless time, crossing the boundaries of worlds, Qiao Yu was like a solitary migratory bird, solitary and lonely, with the vast universe and starry skies behind her. Even as she felt suffocated, even as her body was dragged down by unknown forces making her feel heavy, even as her wings melted from being too close to the sun, she still wanted to cast her gaze in the direction of that person before falling.
Qiao Yu abruptly opened her eyes, almost dizzy from the blinding white light.
“…Host…”
Countless mixed voices sounded in her ears, stimulating her eardrums with a familiar yet unfamiliar sensation. Qiao Yu trembled uncontrollably, feeling her brain continuously throbbing in pain.
She had no choice but to close her eyes, enduring the surge of stabbing pain, with the feeling of suffocation gradually fading. She twitched her nose, sensing a faint smell.
“…Host!”
Finally, she could hear the voices clearly, a mechanical tone that sounded like it had a hint of crying in her mind.
Qiao Yu tried to move her fingers and felt something soft, like bedsheets.
Suddenly, she remembered the smell permeating the air – it was the smell of disinfectant.
Without warning, she found herself back in the world of the living.
yehey!