When Herta, shaking all over, removed Ruan Mei's blindfold and saw those familiar eyes wide open, she herself went rigid.
Just like Ruan Mei had frozen when she first heard Herta's voice, Herta now forgot how to breathe.
Every effort she'd made up to this point seemed to crumble in an instant. Everything she'd sacrificed, everything she'd given up to keep Ruan Mei from being defiled by Jing Ye—
All of it had turned into a cruel joke.
In that dead-silent instant, Herta could almost hear deafening laughter ringing in her ears.
As she and Ruan Mei stared straight into each other's eyes, countless emotions flickered between them in that trembling gaze—shock, confusion, accusations, anger, and pain.
All the times they'd discussed research together, talked about life and ideals, drunk tea and chatted, the moments when they had clashed yet understood each other so well—
All that warmth and unspoken understanding between friends shattered completely the moment Ruan Mei's blindfold came off, the instant Jing Ye forced Herta to pour a basin of "warm water" over her head.
Everything broke.
At that moment, as they both stood there stunned and speechless, that devilish whisper sounded behind Herta's back once again:
"How is it… running into your best friend like this? Feels good, doesn't it?"
"Ruan Mei—she's very… soft."
That whisper smashed the last of Herta's illusions, dragging her out of her dazed questions and slamming her back into reality.
The tears she'd never shed through countless experiments with Jing Ye now spilled like a broken string of pearls.
"I knew… I knew you were scum…"
"I knew you'd nev-never keep your word… I knew you'd… never let Ruan Mei go…"
"I… I was so stupid… so stupid…"
And even as Herta collapsed, trembling and sobbing, Jing Ye gave her no mercy.
After all, experimental work was serious business. You couldn't just stop halfway. It had to continue.
While the relentless "crackling" of the ongoing experiment filled the room, Ruan Mei still couldn't digest what she was seeing.
Why was her good friend Herta here? Why was she doing this with Jing Ye… and with such obvious familiarity?
Why was this happening in front of her? Why was she tied up like this?
What had Herta just said? That she'd done all this so Jing Ye wouldn't lay hands on Ruan Mei?
Then what was she now?
Not just her—both she and Herta, were they nothing more than tools Jing Ye used to satisfy his own desires?
In that instant, even Ruan Mei's genius mind couldn't keep up. She could guess the general shape of what had happened, but the feeling of being so deeply betrayed dimmed the light in her eyes.
Betrayed by Herta? Her first love stolen by her best friend? No…
Betrayed by Jing Ye.
Yes. Betrayed by Jing Ye.
The moment that thought formed, the light in her eyes dimmed even further.
From the moment Jing Ye approached her, it had all been leading up to this scene, hadn't it?
Ruan Mei realized it all at once, and the glow in her eyes faded again.
It had all been for humiliation—humiliating Herta and trampling Ruan Mei's dignity at the same time.
In Jing Ye's eyes, Ruan Mei and Herta were both just…
"Curios," weren't they?
So, with her eyes now completely hollow, Ruan Mei let the shocking scene in front of her continue.
She let the man she had once liked, Jing Ye, keep forcing her old friend to dump more "cold water" on her again and again, soaking her like a pathetic drowned chick.
...
When Jing Ye finally left the immersive experience, he felt more refreshed than ever before.
Compared to having to hide everything from Herta when he touched Ruan Mei, and going to such lengths so Ruan Mei wouldn't find out about his experiments with Herta—
This open, brutally honest confrontation was far more satisfying.
If you're going to be a person, you should be open and aboveboard, lay everything bare. Don't keep little dark secrets from your friends.
Isn't it better for Herta and Ruan Mei to be this honest with each other? To drag out everything they've been hiding and let it all burst out, like opening a floodgate?
To live like Jing Ye—a kind, upright man—that was the right way to be.
He'd never find better sisters than Herta and Ruan Mei. What other "good sisters" would be willing to go so far as to act as cushions for each other?
Though, with his help, maybe he'd manage to recreate this kind of "deep bond" again someday.
[You have inflicted immeasurable damage on the minds of Herta and Ruan Mei. Please note that after this "sisterly bonding," both of their personalities have changed drastically.]
Whatever effect that had on them, they could worry about later. Surviving came first; you needed to be alive to even have a "personality."
Besides, a corpse didn't get a say.
As for exactly how he'd got Herta to use Ruan Mei as a cushion in the immersive experience—that wasn't the point.
The point was what came next—
The Herta family that had already killed Jing Ye several times, along with his two "toys."
By smashing through the final barrier between Ruan Mei and Herta and forcing them to face their relationship head-on, Jing Ye had finally pushed "Equivalent Exchange" to 100%.
[You tore through the paper wall between Ruan Mei and Herta, forcing them to witness the most shocking, terrifying sides of each other.]
[You betrayed your promise to Herta. Everything she sacrificed to protect Ruan Mei was turned into a joke. She now feels bone-deep cold and despair.]
[When Ruan Mei's figure entered Herta's vision and you knocked Ruan Mei out right in front of her, whatever remained of Herta's pride and precious things shattered completely.]
[You betrayed Ruan Mei's feelings. Though you approached her with bad intentions from the very start…]
[You were still the only one Ruan Mei ever entrusted her heart to—yet you betrayed her, too, and dragged her best friend Herta down with her.]
[Ruan Mei can't bear the thought that while she was whispering sweet nothings with you, you and Herta had already done who knows how many similar things.]
[She cannot accept that the man she loved and the friend she treasured were hiding all this from her. The impact crushes her.]
[When she lost her parents, your presence kept her from falling too deep into grief—but now, the revelation about you and Herta slams her heart shut completely.]
[Result: your "Equivalent Exchange" trait has reached 100% destruction.]
[To gain enough magic power to face the Herta family's pursuit and save Herta and Ruan Mei, you choose to shatter "Light-Fingered."]
[Please confirm once more: fully shatter "Light-Fingered"? Once destroyed, it cannot be restored or undone.]
[After shattering, you will be unable to use it in future simulations. You won't be able to repeat the past.]
[Yes? No?]
-------
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