"How did you know?" She lifted her right hand, brushing the strands of hair by her ear. Her eyes flickered briefly before she finally looked up at her and asked softly.
"Because the quests have been changing too frequently," Chu Lian said. She knew Ayase was still worried that she might learn too much and draw the attention of certain entities—but Chu Lian didn't care.
"No matter what kind of system it is, as long as it involves computation, it must operate through a program. These programs are fixed to some extent, especially things like quests. Once confirmed, they shouldn't be easily altered." Chu Lian slowly walked through the dark, vast space around her, reaching out a hand to touch the air. As expected, an invisible barrier shimmered faintly beneath her fingertips.
"Yet lately, my quests have been changing drastically. And these changes always swing between 'beneficial to me' and 'with severe side effects.'" Chu Lian pressed harder, but even with her strength—strong enough to rival a monster—she couldn't make the barrier tremble even slightly. She immediately understood that this was something beyond her ability to destroy.
"It's as if there are two groups maintaining their own core interests," she continued. "I can't think of a better comparison. Both sides are protecting what benefits them most. And for an organization, nothing matters more than its interests."
Leaning her slender back against the transparent wall, Chu Lian's eyes carried a trace of sorrow—and a profound clarity that seemed to see through everything.
"I must be the core interest shared between you, the system, and its creator…" She paused for a moment, then spoke again after a brief silence. "No—perhaps it's more accurate to say that the system's host is your true core interest."
"To ensure that this 'core interest' grows smoothly and achieves what you want, you'll do everything in your power to protect her—no matter what happens, her growth comes first. She's like a protagonist destined to stand at the center of the stage. She has everything, yet under your control, she loses both freedom and future."
A faint, bitter smile tugged at her lips. Speaking these words out loud hurt more than she expected. She had suspected this truth for a long time, but her heart had always refused to confront it. Now, after meeting Ayase again, she knew it was time to face it.
But as Chu Lian lowered her gaze, her expression dim, she didn't see the shadow of despair flickering in Ayase's eyes—a sorrow that seemed to extinguish every last light within them.
Ayase wanted to stop her—to explain, to tell her that she was wrong.
At least, that she wasn't like that.
But if she spoke now, it would only hasten the day when the "higher powers" marked Chu Lian for erasure.
If this misunderstanding had already taken root, then so be it. Let it continue.
Even if, in the end, Chu Lian saw her as the villain—so long as she could grow strong enough to no longer need protection, then none of it would matter.
"So these quests you've been assigning me—they're all just part of the process to mold me into whatever kind of person you need, aren't they?" Chu Lian said softly. "Honestly, I can't help but wonder what kind of ending awaits such a 'perfect' person."
Her tone was calm, but the words dripped with self-mockery—an acknowledgment of her own fate, and the inevitable, imperfect ending that awaited her.
After all, once a tool fulfilled its purpose, it would simply be discarded.
And when that time came—no one would care what became of her.
"The other faction," she continued, "must be trying to take over the system. But because of certain restrictions—or rules—they can't destroy the system's guardian, meaning the system's consciousness and host. So they use every method they can to suppress and manipulate instead."
"To their credit, they've succeeded to some extent since the system's consciousness fell asleep. Many functions have been sealed, and most of the remaining ones are in hidden states—locked until certain conditions are met."
"Of course, some can still be found. I suppose even they don't fully understand how many features the system truly has… which is probably why so many loopholes exist in the first place."
When Chu Lian lifted her head, the sorrow in her eyes made Ayase's heart tighten with pain—but she showed no sign of it. She brushed her hair behind her ear once more, met Chu Lian's gaze, and said softly, "To gather so much information from just fragments and recent changes… it seems you've truly grown. My worries were unnecessary."
"It's not really growth," Chu Lian replied gently. "It's more like I've just started releasing my true self. When I came to this world, entered this small body, encountered the system, and touched this unfamiliar place—everything made me build one layer of defense after another, all to protect myself."
"All my genuine emotions were buried deep. My personality changed. I stopped thinking things through rationally and simply got used to facing the world as a little girl—with joy and sorrow, love and hate, gratitude and resentment, or even the cycle of life and death, the struggles of the world. If I truly analyzed these things, I could find answers to many of them."
"But I didn't want to. My previous life, my previous identity… they were exhausting. After I jumped from that rooftop, I no longer wanted to 'open my eyes' again."
"Since I've been given a new body and a new identity, I decided to live as this person instead. That's what I told myself. But I never expected this new life to be just as tiring."
"Oh—looks like I almost got sidetracked by you." She smiled faintly. "Anyway, the main reason I know so much is because of what I saw in that dark space. It made me realize certain things. As for the specifics… I'll remember when I'm ready, but for now, I won't say."
"Back to those entities trying to seize the system—they exhausted the system's power by forcing it to traverse countless dimensions and timelines, slowly wearing it down before trying to suppress its consciousness entirely."
"But they failed. Not completely, perhaps, but they've lost any real chance of success."
"Not only did they fail to subdue the system, but during its descent into slumber, the system appointed a chief steward—someone with authority second only to its own—to manage its automated functions while it slept."
"The appearance of that steward marked their complete defeat. Not only that, but having wasted so much of their strength, all they can do now is keep suppressing the system's consciousness from awakening. After hiding many of its functions, they can occasionally manipulate quest flows—but only rarely."
"I have to admit, even though your side is still at a disadvantage, the situation seems far better for you than for them."
Hearing this, the ache in Ayase's heart didn't fade—but her eyes flickered with a trace of admiration.
Although Chu Lian's reasoning had strayed far from the true path, the conclusions she had drawn from such limited information were already astonishingly close to the truth.
It was just that she still hadn't broken through the mental barrier that kept her trapped. If she had, she might have understood everything this very moment.
It was like drawing two lines on paper—one straight line representing the true path to the destination, and the other, a slightly slanted one representing Chu Lian's deductions. At first, the angle between them seemed insignificant, even parallel—but as the lines extended further, the gap between them grew, until they ended in completely different places.
Still, the fact that she could reason this far was proof enough that Chu Lian's insight and intuition far surpassed most people's.
Ayase clapped her hands lightly, genuine admiration in her tone. Then, glancing at the stunned girl before her, she asked, "Are you finished?"
Chu Lian nodded, her smile brightening again. The sadness in her eyes faded, as though none of the earlier pain had ever existed. "Of course I'm upset—being just a pawn doesn't feel good. You told me before that the future is unknown and full of danger. I understand that now."
"But I don't care anymore. Because I've found my reason not to give up. No matter what lies ahead, I'll keep moving forward."
Her words made Ayase pause briefly before she smiled. "It's because of them, isn't it?"
"It is," Chu Lian said softly, "but more than anyone else—it's because of you."
Ayase's lips parted slightly, her crimson eyes widening in surprise as she looked at her, unable to find words.
"Don't think that just because I've said all that—because I've exposed your purpose—I'll start rejecting you." The girl's smile was radiant, as warm and gentle as sunlight, captivating beyond words.
"Not just you—even the system and its consciousness—I don't reject them. It's not about resignation to fate. I just don't want to dwell on things that haven't happened yet."
"Besides, you've always cared about me the most. That kind of care isn't born from personal gain, nor does it have anything to do with the system's missions."
Her smile bloomed like a flower, and at that moment, it became the most beautiful expression of her heart.
"That's something I've known from the beginning. And even now—and in the future—I won't change that belief. No matter what you do to me, I'll accept it willingly."
"Maybe it's a mistake—but it's one I'll never regret."
"When I saw you stand before a legion of enemies, before countless powerful foes, without taking a single step back—only to protect me…"
"I knew then—I'd never be alone again. I'd never have to fear solitude, nor ever doubt your intentions."
The knot in my heart, the tribulation in my fate—they are both you.
She smiled, her eyes slightly blurred, though she quickly forced them back to their usual calm brilliance—cold and elegant, as always.
And as she finished speaking, the white rose blooming over Chu Lian's chest silently unfolded.
In truth, it had been blooming all along—just very slowly.
Only when Chu Lian confronted her own heart, again and again, did it grow stronger, its petals unfurling one by one.
During this conversation in the system space with Ayase, every word she spoke—whether right or wrong—caused the flower to open further.
By the time her final words fell, the rose had fully blossomed—its beauty surpassing that of any real flower by a hundredfold.
As it bloomed, Chu Lian's spiritual consciousness within the system space became surrounded by a luminous white rose. Its petals folded inward, enclosing her like an unopened bud.
But Ayase knew—the stillness was only an illusion. The rose was quietly absorbing energy from its surroundings.
Once it had gathered enough power, it would bloom once more.
And when that moment came, Chu Lian would be reborn—in a way far beyond the physical.
At the same time, aboard the plane, Chu Lian—seated beside Inori—was suddenly surrounded by an invisible aura of spiritual power. To ordinary eyes, it was unseen, but in truth, a white rose of light had formed around her, mirroring the one in the system space.
The transformation left the surrounding girls wide-eyed and speechless, panic flickering in their faces.
She… was becoming more and more mysterious.