Stepping onto the ice, Hui Mengyi used her magic to transform into a magical girl.
The biting wind lifted the tips of her hair, and beneath the violet hexagram, her conviction had already solidified.
The mistakes she made—she had to make up for them herself.
She could only hope it wasn’t too late.
Looking out across the endless frozen lake, Hui Mengyi shouted her thoughts aloud.
“Master… tonight, I don’t want to talk about justice or morality or the greatness of humankind. Tonight, I only want you. I only care about you!”
With that, she removed the Bubble Bell from her waist and began shaking it into the empty surroundings.
Ding-ling-ling~
With the chime of the bell, the world around her changed instantly—the frozen lake became an asphalt road, and countless skyscrapers surged upward from the empty horizon.
The full moon of the night sky was replaced by a blazing sun directly overhead.
Hui Mengyi knew she had just forced her way into the subspace hidden by the government using her Mirror Flower, Water Moon ability.
There was no doubt—she had now fully crossed the line into crime.
But Hui Mengyi no longer cared.
If she had to be a criminal, then so be it.
A traitor to a traitor—how shameful.
But if she couldn’t even forgive herself in her own heart, then there would be no difference between living and dying.
Who would’ve thought—admitting guilt could feel this good.
Yes, I am a sinner.
So what?
I just want to stop following this world’s rules and do what I want—what’s wrong with that?
As Hui Mengyi walked down the asphalt road, she suddenly realized—owning up to her crimes was actually a joyful thing!
“So doing evil… feels this good?”
“No need to care about morality, no need to care about justice, no need to care about humanity, no need to care about all that fake nonsense!”
“Yes, I am me. I have no reason to be the god who saves the world.”
“I’m just me—a child born into this world, nothing more than the name Hui Mengyi.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
“I feel so happy right now. For the first time today, I’m truly breathing air that belongs to me.”
This feeling—of dropping everything, of letting go—was so joyful, so beautiful.
No burdens.
No responsibilities.
Living just for herself.
Doing whatever she wanted.
No one could chain her down.
Funny, wasn’t it?
The first day she truly lived for herself… was as a sinner.
As she walked down the vast, empty road, Hui Mengyi realized she had a problem.
In a space this huge, finding one person was going to be seriously difficult.
Still, this subspace environment proved at least one thing.
Ye Jinyi wasn’t as dangerous as everyone said she was.
“What should I do now…”
Hui Mengyi fell into momentary confusion.
A needle-in-a-haystack kind of problem—something she really had no solution for.
And worse, the needle doesn’t run, but Ye Jinyi clearly would.
“Guess I have to use that move?”
Hui Mengyi took out her crystal pen, still feeling a bit uneasy as she looked at the barrier.
“Hope… I have enough magic.”
After saying that, she raised her Dream Pen and activated the ability Dream Refraction.
*
Ye Jinyi sat up in the hotel bed.
After changing clothes, she left the building.
Looking up at the eternal sun hanging in the sky, Ye Jinyi had long lost track of how many days had passed.
Or rather, in this world, there was only one concept: today.
She stood at a street intersection, planning to cross diagonally to reach the corner up ahead on the left.
Since this world was empty, it didn’t matter how she walked—there was no one around anyway.
Bonk!
“Ow!”
Just as Ye Jinyi crossed to the other side and was about to continue forward, something suddenly bumped her in the head.
“Ow, that hurt…”
She rubbed her little head and stood up, but her tone carried no trace of frustration.
“What is this?”
Ye Jinyi reached forward into the seemingly empty space and found that something invisible was blocking her path.
“An air wall?”
She instantly felt speechless.
Why did this world have air walls now?
“I swear this road was open before I went to sleep…”
With no choice, she reached out and kept feeling around to see where she could go.
She wandered aimlessly, unable to walk into a single building.
Ye Jinyi drifted on like that, too dull to care why the world had changed again.
After all, she was already used to these strange days. One more oddity didn’t make much difference.
*
Hui Mengyi walked high above the city.
Thanks to Mirror Flower, Water Moon, she was now distanced from this world.
She wasn’t actually in it—only walking along the ground of her own world, looking in from outside.
At least this had one advantage: the magical girls outside the barrier couldn’t detect her, because she wasn’t technically here.
Rubbing her tired eyes, Hui Mengyi recalled how just moments ago she’d finished sketching the entire city’s walls.
To conserve her magic, she had to compromise and leave them uncolored.
Her gaze swept the entire city, again and again, trying to spot the only figure that could still move within this massive space.
“Hope the path I designed works.”
Hui Mengyi didn’t feel very confident.
She knew that no matter how the route curved, there was only one exit.
But that plan had one fatal flaw: Ye Jinyi had to move.
If she didn’t want to move, it wouldn’t matter how perfect the layout was—she’d never reach the exit.
So Hui Mengyi had no choice.
Instead of waiting at the exit for nothing, she roamed the entire space, hoping to find where Ye Jinyi was.
After searching who knows how long, she finally spotted a small, pale yellow figure on a bench near Exit 5 on North Road.
“Master…”
As soon as she spoke, Hui Mengyi immediately deactivated her Mirror Flower, Water Moon, and during the fall, she quickly used her Dream Pen to sketch out a large umbrella, allowing herself to descend slowly.
After landing on the ground, she tossed the umbrella aside and ran straight toward the girl sitting on the bench.
“Master!”
Hui Mengyi threw her arms around the girl, holding her tightly in her embrace, unwilling to let go—not even by half a step.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
In that moment, Hui Mengyi finally let herself breathe. Her tears could no longer be held back, and the calmness in her heart shattered completely.
“Please forgive me, okay? No—don’t forgive me. I’m a sinner beyond redemption. I’m a traitor who betrayed everything… there’s probably no place left in the world where someone like me could ever be forgiven, right?”
“I did so, so many stupid things. I hurt you, and I hurt everyone else too. I’m begging you, please, pass judgment on me—please?”
She said so, so much.
“Master… why won’t you say anything?”