Beside Kit City’s Public Large Teleportation Array, Hifny had just stepped out of the Teleportation Circle when she stretched her limbs, looking visibly tired.
She had been staying in the Kingdom’s most advanced secret laboratory for quite some time. At first, she had only gone there for a visit, never intending to stay that long. But when she arrived, Hifny discovered that the lab had many experimental subjects that piqued her interest, and simply touring was nowhere near enough to satisfy her curiosity. So, to feed that curiosity and also to change her pace a bit, Hifny spent a long time in that lab. Every day, she was either discussing with various researchers or participating in experiments. Though it was busy, she found it fulfilling.
Of course, she couldn’t stay there forever. When Hifny finally realized that she had completely missed the agreed-upon meeting time with Kolin and the others, she hurriedly bid farewell to everyone in the lab and returned to Kit City.
Looking at the streets she hadn’t seen in a while, Hifny felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. But before she could even sigh, she caught sight of a scene that left her utterly dumbfounded: Liyami, whom she hadn’t seen in ages, and Kolin, who had also been away for a while, were holding each other’s hands, acting like a pair of love-struck lovers.
‘What the hell happened?! How long have I been gone?! How did they suddenly end up in this kind of relationship?!’
Stunned, Hifny kept staring at Liyami and Kolin’s backs until they turned a street corner and vanished completely. Only then did she snap out of her shock.
‘No, no, no—this must be an illusion! Yeah, I must have seen it wrong! How could Liyami and Kolin have gotten to this point so fast?! Before I left, there was no progress between them at all! Right! I was just too worried, so I misidentified them! That has to be it!!!’
Hifny tried to escape reality with this self-deceiving logic, quickly heading toward the Mansion. She desperately hoped to see Liyami and Kolin inside the Mansion, which would prove that everything she just saw was merely a hallucination.
Under the influence of this thought, Hifny reached the Mansion’s front door in mere minutes. She took a deep breath, slowly pushed the door open, and saw several familiar figures inside. But to her disappointment, none of them were the ones she most wanted to see: Liyami and Kolin.
Disheartened, Hifny noticed Eleanor, who had a vacant stare and seemed to have been spacing out for who knows how long. That sight startled her.
Hifny quickly turned her gaze to Lavinia, who looked helpless nearby, and asked what was wrong with Eleanor.
Just as Lavinia was about to explain, the Mansion door, which Hifny had only recently closed, opened again. This time, a man and a woman walked in. Hearing the all-too-familiar voices and tones coming from behind, Hifny could guess who they were without even turning around.
But that only made her more frightened, and her whole body began to tremble. From the way the two behind her spoke to each other, she could already hear their affectionate feelings. The reality she had been trying to avoid was now impossible to escape.
Slowly, Hifny turned around. Sure enough, she saw the exact same scene she had witnessed on the street: Liyami and Kolin were intimately holding hands, chatting with each other in an atmosphere thick with romance.
This sight struck Hifny so hard that she lost her footing, stumbling and plopping down next to the vacant-eyed Eleanor, nearly ending up in the same state as her.
It was at that moment that Lavinia’s words finally reached her ears.
“Well, like you saw, because of this situation, Eleanor ended up like that. I mean, you get it too, right?”
Hearing that, Hifny took a deep breath, then immediately shouted: “No way! I was only gone for a little while—how did you two progress so fast?! And did you just forget about me?! I haven’t even entered the game yet, and you’ve already finished?!”
Hifny’s mournful cries did nothing but express her own pain more deeply. Liyami and Kolin still looked lovingly at each other, Eleanor remained in her daze, and only Lavinia couldn’t help but cast a sympathetic glance her way—which made Hifny even more unable to hold it together.
And so, the story came to an end with a decent conclusion. Liyami and Kolin, having mutual affection, successfully got together. As long as they were together, no matter how many troubles or difficulties the future held, they would surely overcome them. What a happy, happy ending!
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…
In the boundless darkness, a lone yet strikingly loud sound of applause echoed, and even after a long time, it showed no signs of stopping.