Chapter 28: Betrayal

Huimengyi glanced at the photo in the article, then quietly looked at Ye Jinyi who was still eating…

That sense of déjà vu—every glance made the resemblance even stronger.

Only then did Huimengyi realize… she’d never actually asked Ye Jinyi about her background.

That day, she’d only asked about her age and family and when Ye Jinyi said she didn’t have any relatives, Huimengyi had impulsively decided to become her big sister.

Now that she thought about it, a wave of shame rushed over her at that decision.

What kind of god-tier thought process was that?!

Shaking her head quickly, Huimengyi tried to clear her mind.

What am I even thinking?

Ye Jinyi had noticed that exaggerated reaction and looked at her with curiosity.

“Is something bothering you, Sis?”

“N-No! Nothing! I just saw a really weird video—kinda gross.”

Huimengyi quickly shut down the topic, steering attention away from the alert she had just seen.

Something inside her warned that if she brought it up, the consequences might be unimaginable.

“I see. Then I’ll keep eating~”

Ye Jinyi took Huimengyi’s words at face value and happily resumed stuffing her face without a care in the world.

Seeing that Ye Jinyi had dropped her guard again, Huimengyi finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Hidden behind her phone screen, Huimengyi’s eyes continued to observe her.

That’s when she realized—aside from the hair color, Ye Jinyi really did look nearly identical to the blonde-haired loli in that photo.

What should she do?

Huimengyi felt lost.

As far as she could tell, Ye Jinyi had never shown any intention of harming the world.

Should she believe the words written in some official report?

Or should she trust the real, living girl right in front of her?

She couldn’t make the decision.

And yet, as a magical girl, her duty demanded that she decide right now.

Huimengyi knew—every second of hesitation could be a blasphemy against life itself.

She had to make a decision, one that would affect all of humanity.

It was suffocating…

Huimengyi felt like countless eyes were watching her, waiting for her to press the wrong button—one wrong move, and she’d have to apologize on behalf of everyone.

If only Mom and Dad were here…

The truth was, Huimengyi just couldn’t make the call.

At the end of the day, she was still a child.

She didn’t have the strength to make such a world-shaking decision on her own.

After a long internal struggle, Huimengyi finally decided to try and sound her out.

“Sis…”

Hearing her name, Ye Jinyi quickly lifted her little head.

“What is it, Sis?”

Ye Jinyi’s wide eyes locked onto Huimengyi, the ahoge on top of her head bouncing up and down in curiosity.

Looking into the cross-shaped stars in those wine-red eyes, Huimengyi took a deep breath and asked carefully.

“Sis, have you ever… wanted to destroy the world?”

That question made Ye Jinyi freeze on the spot.

What kind of edgy, chuunibyou question was that?

Still, Ye Jinyi took a moment to consider it.

After all, when the big sister-slash-meal-ticket asks something, you better answer seriously. It’s just like dealing with a moody boss—say the wrong thing and you’ll be out begging for food again.

Ye Jinyi shook her head.

“Never thought about that kinda thing. If the world were destroyed, what reason would I have to exist?”

“I don’t really hate anyone, and there’s no one I want revenge on. It’s just that sometimes, I fantasize about getting through a whole day happily, without having to think about anything. I think… if I could do that, life would be really happy.”

“That’s true…”

Huimengyi suddenly felt awful.

The purer Ye Jinyi acted, the harder it became to do what she had to do.

Morality… sometimes it was just so annoying.

Who was right? Who was wrong? Huimengyi couldn’t tell anymore.

For a moment, she just wanted to hand this over to some other magical girl. Even if they chose wrong, it wouldn’t matter—at least then, the one to be blamed wouldn’t be her.

Fate is ridiculous like that.

It often gives decisions about the fate of the world to people who are completely unfit to make them.

And those who are truly capable… somehow never get the chance.

A choice that should’ve been left to leaders was now resting on the shoulders of someone like Huimengyi—a child, still so young.

When she didn’t know Ye Jinyi’s identity, they could laugh and eat together without a care.

But once she found out this girl could potentially destroy the entire world at any moment—who could still look at her the same way?

I’m sorry.

Huimengyi couldn’t bring herself to look at Ye Jinyi anymore.

In the end, she caved to the world.

The death of one person… versus the death of everyone.

Huimengyi realized she didn’t really have a choice.

She quietly posted a message on the official website, hoping someone else would make the final decision for her.

Yingmeng:

“The Flame That Burns the World’s host has been located. Currently beside me. Situation is relatively stable. Location has been posted—requesting backup.”

After submitting the post, Huimengyi forced herself to look again at Ye Jinyi, who was happily snacking and scrolling on her phone.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry…

“I’m sorry!”

Huimengyi suddenly leapt up from her chair, rushed over to Ye Jinyi, and hugged her tightly, finally voicing the guilt she had been holding deep inside.

“Sis?”

Ye Jinyi was completely confused. She didn’t understand why Huimengyi was acting so weird today.

“Don’t forgive me… I’m a terrible person… a horrible, awful person…”

Huimengyi clung to Ye Jinyi like she never wanted to let go. Maybe this really would be the last time…

Tears streamed from the corners of Huimengyi’s eyes.

She didn’t want to make this impossible choice—but fate was forcing her to.

She wanted to uphold justice, yet in this moment, she no longer knew what justice meant.

A magical girl, sworn to protect the world, couldn’t even protect the one person right in front of her—and might even end up hurting her.

“Sis… are you okay?”

Ye Jinyi wanted to comfort her, but didn’t know where to begin.

“No, I’m fine! I… I just suddenly saw a really scary image in my head.”

“I saw myself hurting you… and everyone around me was clapping and cheering for it. But I… I couldn’t feel happy at all. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.”

“Can you bite me? I just… I want to feel like I’m still alive, still living in a world where you exist.”

Huimengyi felt like she was being torn to pieces, bit by bit.

Was she a just magical girl, or a wicked criminal? She couldn’t tell anymore.

The only thing that still felt real in this moment—was the girl she had betrayed, the one who had once saved her.

“Sis…”

Ye Jinyi didn’t know what to do. She could only feel that the sadness in Huimengyi’s heart was about to swallow her whole.

“I get it.”

In the end, Ye Jinyi decided to do as Huimengyi asked.

She leaned in and kissed Huimengyi’s lips.

Her sharp front teeth tore through the soft skin, and blood began to seep from the wound hidden underneath.