“Ow… Elena…”
A slightly trembling voice, a hint of a sob, and a little effort to squeeze a few tears from the corners of her eyes.
Ai’er turned back, gave a small sniffle, and looked at the unsuspecting Elena with tearful eyes. In a childish, soft voice, she whimpered, “It hurts…”
A young girl’s tears were more powerful than any words.
At that single cry of pain, Elena immediately yanked her hands back.
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to… I just, I just…”
Just…
She just wanted to hold her. She just missed her warmth and the sound of her heartbeat.
She just wanted to tell her thank you for that day one year ago, for finding her and bringing her back from the center of that rampaging blizzard.
She wanted to tell her everything that had happened over the past year. She wanted to say that she could now control her mana to a great extent and that she had done things for the Duchy. People were surely beginning to change their minds about Elena the “Witch”…
And there was more—so much more.
There were too many things she wanted to say, and they all jammed at the tip of her tongue, forming a wall that blocked her emotional release. Elena stood frozen in place.
She reached out toward Ai’er but pulled her hand back mid-air, eventually folding her hands over her chest.
But before all those words, there was one sentence Elena had been waiting an entire year to say.
Elena took a deep breath and gently closed her eyes to calm her emotions. A moment later, those ink-blue eyes opened again. She forced a smile, condensing all her feelings into the shimmering tears at the corners of her eyes and all her words into a single phrase.
In the next instant, as a crystal-clear tear finally escaped her eye, she spoke.
“Ai’er—”
‘I really… I really missed you.’
“Welcome back.”
The words fell at the same time as the teardrop. As Elena’s tear hit the ground, it seemed to trigger an invisible ripple between the two of them.
This moment was like a fleeting glimpse at sunset, the kind of daze one feels when staring at a beautiful painting and being unable to look away. Ai’er’s lips parted slightly, her silent breath echoing the rhythm of her racing heart.
‘God… she looks so beautiful when she smiles.’
Ai’er blinked, snapping out of the spell cast by Elena’s smile and tears. She hadn’t expected Elena to say that, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.
By now, Ai’er’s faked tears had been retracted, while the tears of her target were genuine.
‘Did I really just make this girl cry?’
Ai’er didn’t know what to do next; her brain had completely stalled.
‘What do I do, what do I do?! I—I really didn’t mean to make her cry—ugh!’
In the next instant, that mysterious stinging pain flared up in Ai’er’s heart again, jolting her out of her confusion.
‘Hiss! What the hell? Why does it keep stinging like that? System, what exactly is the state of this physical body?’
The System did not respond.
But there was no time to worry about that now. Meeting Elena’s gaze, seeing the tears and the smile, Ai’er knew she had to say something in return.
Since the girl had said “welcome back,” she might as well play along.
“Oh… well, I’m back?”
**[Pfft.]**
‘You! System, what are you laughing at! If you’re so smart, why don’t you talk to her!’
A blush crept up Ai’er’s cheeks, even staining the tips of her ears red.
But a moment later, a gentle force accompanied by a faint fragrance interrupted her embarrassment. Ai’er was pulled into Elena’s warm embrace.
“Yes… welcome back.”
After a brief hug, the two looked at each other. Within seconds, they both burst into laughter simultaneously.
Eventually, Elena called the silver-haired girl’s name again, saying she wanted to tell her everything—to share every little detail of the past year.
Elena wanted to tell Ai’er about all the time they hadn’t been able to spend together, even if this was the only way she could convey it.
Although Ai’er had already heard it once from Fina and once from the System, she couldn’t exactly act annoyed when the target herself wanted to tell the story “in person.”
But—
‘The Host just needs to approach Elena.’
Ai’er remembered what the System had said earlier.
Since they were already talking, her next mission should be coming up soon, right?
And so, in the glowing remnants of the sunset, one girl spoke while the other listened.
The twilight gradually faded as it was chased away by the rising moon. But even as the red that ignited the clouds died down, the redness at the corners of Elena’s eyes remained prominent.
It continued until the sunset vanished, until the bright moon hung high in the sky, until—
Elena gently took Ai’er’s hand.
“It’s getting late. Let’s go back, Ai’er.”
Elena had finished speaking.
…But where was the mission?
‘System? Where’s my mission?’
**[The Host just needs to approach Elena.]**
‘…Huh?’
‘Again?!’
“Ai’er? What’s wrong?”
Ai’er had suddenly stopped in her tracks. Elena looked back, a hint of wariness in her eyes.
Elena didn’t know that at this moment, an exasperated Ai’er was “exploding” internally.
‘I’m just saying! System, couldn’t you make the mission triggers a little clearer?! Do you have to wait until something goes wrong to bring it up out of nowhere?! And earlier too! I only had 3 System Points left, and you insisted I spend two of them! Fine, I spent them to find out what happened this year, but then you tell me Elena’s impression of me is—”Moonlight”?! What the hell is that?! You could have picked like, dislike, or indifferent! What kind of nonsense is “Moonlight”?! I only have 1 System Point left, dear! If you don’t speak up, I won’t be able to complete the mission to get more points. Am I going to be forcibly deported the day after tomorrow?! Wait, hold on… System, you haven’t mentioned that part yet. Does that mean this transmigration doesn’t require—’
**[It does. The current points are only enough for the Host to persist until the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.]**
‘Then why are you—ugh!’
It was a sharp, stabbing pain, like a sword piercing through her heart.
“Ai’er? Are you unwell? Ai’er?”
Ai’er remained frozen and did not answer.
Seeing her lack of response, Elena gently pushed aside the silver-haired girl’s bangs and pressed her own forehead against Ai’er’s.
The moment their foreheads touched, an intense cold, seemingly manifesting as an invisible spike on Ai’er’s brow, caused Elena’s body to recoil instinctively.
A chill instantly surged down Elena’s spine.
She looked sharply into the silver-haired girl’s eyes.
Those golden pupils now looked like stagnant, dead water…
—
Within a pitch-black void of time and space, Ai’er’s consciousness drifted slowly.
She seemed to be in a deep sleep, completely silent within this realm.
**[Detected that Host has triggered the next node. Mission refresh beginning…]**
“So… it has come to this after all.”
A ball of light emerged from the darkness, gradually taking the blurry shape of a young girl.
If one looked closely—this girl seemed to bear a slight resemblance to Ai’er.
The glowing girl floated to Ai’er’s side and injected a beam of light into her body.
“Let me help you out.”
**[System%…%…$]**
**[System updating.]**
**[Given the extreme difficulty of the mission, the System will issue 10 System Points in advance as initial funding.]**
**[Time acceleration beginning. Accelerating until the Host’s body awakens on the following day…]**
While she slept, the System that viewed Ai’er as its host continued to refresh automatically even without manual operation.
Soon, the glowing girl disappeared.
It wasn’t until Ai’er’s consciousness finally resurfaced from the depths of her mind that she heard three final sentences.
**[Reminder: The Host’s current remaining Lifespan is 179 days.]**
**[Mission refreshed.]**
**[Current Mission: Get the Witch of Time, Elena White, to “kill” you.]**
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