People are in Mygo, and I can write their personalities.

Ai-yin's eyes became somewhat unfocused. "She said, since I'm in so much pain, why don't I choose to let the pain go unaffected?"

"So she first took away my 'sense of shame'."

"So during that time, I was able to say things that I would never have dared to say before, even if you killed me. I didn't care about Su Shi's cold stares, I didn't care about other people's opinions, and I could even shamelessly go to her after being deceived by her..."

Deng was dumbfounded. If anyone else had said these words, she would have thought they were making up a story. But looking at Aine's serious eyes and listening to those absurd yet logically consistent details, she felt a strange chill creep up her spine.

"Then... Su Shi-chan and Li hope-chan..."

"They are the same, ah... of course, the specific methods may be a little different."

Ai Yin nodded, her tone resolute, "Think about it, why did Su Shi suddenly become so strange? Although she was a bit fake before, at least she was gentle and kind on the surface, right? But recently? She has become aggressive, cold and ruthless, and even started to get impatient with you."

"That's because she had a conflict with Nanami Natsuki. I don't know the specifics, but I know that Su Shi must have suffered a great loss at Nanami's hands, or perhaps Nanami caught her doing something wrong, or perhaps she was driven crazy by Nanami's wicked personality."

"Her current behavior is either an imitation of Nanami or a product of being influenced by Nanami. She is using attacks on others to cover up her insecurity and fear."

The image of Su Shi's unpredictable face and her cold gaze in the rehearsal room flashed through Deng's mind. So... that's how it is.

“And then there’s Lixi,” Ai Yin continued, a hint of sympathy in her voice. “Haven’t you noticed? Lixi recently joined that Mujica band and switched to keyboards, and there’s that Lin Guzi who suddenly appeared…”

"I'm not afraid to tell you, that Lin Guzi is actually a 'puppet' using Li hope's abilities, or a substitute that Li hope found."

"Lixi... got something from Nanami Natsuki. It might be a talent she had always longed for but could not obtain, or it might be a kind of confidence that allowed her to stand in this band."

"As a price, she had to obey Nanami and even leave us to hide in the shadows. The talents she possesses now are not her own; they are a curse bestowed upon her by Nanami."

“A curse…” the lamp murmured to itself.

She remembered a chance encounter with Lixi on the street, her eyes bloodshot, and the evasive yet yearning look in her eyes when she gazed at her. So, Lixi had been carrying this secret all along?

"Therefore, the lamp."

Aine grabbed the lamp's shoulders, looking intently at her. "Everyone is actually broken. Broken by that witch named Nanami Natsuki, or by our own inner desires."

There is no wonderful revival of Crychic, only a bunch of drowning dogs struggling in the quagmire for their own purposes.

"Su Shi was obsessed with her ridiculous 'perfect home,' Li hope was obsessed with her lowly self-esteem and her desire for talent, and me... I was obsessed with my pathetic vanity."

“We all made a deal with Nanami Natsuki, and we all sold a part of our souls to that demon.”

Ai-yin's voice trembled in the night wind, carrying a heart-wrenching truth.

"But...but why..."

Takamatsu Akari's body trembled; her worldview had been utterly shattered at that moment. She had always believed that everyone had separated because of a misunderstanding, and that they could reconcile once the misunderstanding was cleared up.

But now Aine tells her that behind all of this lies such unfathomable darkness and twistedness.

"Why... am I the only one who doesn't know?"

Deng looked up, tears welling in her eyes, her voice filled with confusion and grievance, "Why has Nanami never come to see me? Why doesn't she come to make a deal with me?"

"Is it because...I'm not important? Is it because my desires...are too insignificant?"

No, that's not how it is.

Ai Yin shook her head, her eyes becoming exceptionally gentle, yet carrying a hint of cruel pity.

"Akira, that Nanami Natsuki, although she has a terrible personality, she has her own set of rules. She only targets people with cracks in their hearts, only targets people who are tormented by desires."

"She will exploit people's weaknesses, their greed, jealousy, vanity... and then take advantage of their vulnerability."

"But what about you?"

Aine reached out and gently stroked Lamp's cheek. "Lamp, you're too pure. Or rather... you hide yourself too well."

"You always keep all your thoughts to yourself. You never speak out your desires or show your wounds to others. You are like a stone, quietly sitting by the roadside, letting the wind and rain beat down on you, but never uttering a sound of pain."

"To Nanami Natsuki, someone like you is... the most 'boring' person."

"Boring..."

These two words were like a heavy hammer, striking the heart of the lamp with devastation.

“Yes, it’s boring.” Ai Yin gave a bitter laugh. “She likes to see people struggle, she likes to see people twisted by desire. But what about you? You only know how to endure, you only know how to blame yourself.”

"You can't even express your emotions. It's like a broken faucet. The water inside is about to burst, but the valve is blocked so that not a single drop can come out."

"Natsuki Nanami doesn't want to waste her time on you. Because she feels that even if she gives you a chance, you won't reach out and grab it. Even if she gives you power, you won't dare to use it."

"So, she chose to ignore you. Not because you're not good enough, but because... you don't even have the courage to become bad."

"..."

Takamatsu fell silent.

She felt as if she were standing naked in the freezing cold, all pretense stripped away, leaving only the weak, incompetent, and escapist version of herself.

So that's the reason?

Chapter 141 Chu Hua, You've Been Optimized

Everyone is fighting for their own desires, even if it's in the wrong way, even if it means selling their souls... But what about her? She doesn't even dare to face what her own desires are.

Xiangzi struggles for his family and dignity, Su Shi schemes for a sense of belonging, Li hope is falling into depravity for his talent, and Ai Yin compromises for vanity...

Only she, Gao Songdeng, stood there like a fool, waiting for someone to save her, waiting for someone to tell her what to do.

"Does my heart... also have a valve?"

The lamp covered its chest with its hand. It was throbbing, yet it felt utterly cold.

“Yes, we’re stuck.” Ai Yin sighed, sitting up straight beside the lamp and gazing up at the night sky dyed red by the city lights. “We’re all a bunch of broken people, lamp.”

"But it's precisely because it's broken that we want to desperately glue it back together, isn't it?"

"I know what I'm saying now might be going too far, and it might disillusion you. But... this is the real world. There aren't many fairy tales, just us, broken and incomplete, licking each other's wounds."

Ai Yin turned her head and looked at the silent lamp.

"Light, you don't need to rush to answer me. Nor do you need to force yourself to change."

"I'm telling you this because I don't want you to be kept in the dark anymore, protected like a fool by us 'bad guys.' You have the right to know the truth, and you also have the right... to choose your own path."

"Even if that path leads away from us, completely away from this quagmire filled with lies and distortion."

After saying this, Aine didn't say anything more. She sat quietly beside the lamp, listening to the sounds of traffic and wind in the distance.

After a long while, Takamatsu Akari slowly stood up.

She didn't look at Ai-yin, nor did she speak. She simply turned around silently and walked towards home.

Her back looked so thin and lonely, as if she could be swallowed up by the night at any moment.

The emotions that had been stirred by anger in the rehearsal room had now completely cooled, turning into a deep, sticky sense of inferiority.

She simply couldn't express her emotions as freely as others.

She really didn't even qualify to be an "accomplice".

"Nanami-kun..."

The lamp murmured that name.

That girl with magical powers who changed everyone's fate.

If... if it were her, could she help me open that rusted valve?

Could I also have the chance to shout out for my desires?

Even if the price is corruption, even if the price is destruction.

If only I could stop being like this, watching everyone suffer as an outsider...

As long as I can... truly stand with everyone.

Gao Songdeng paused for a moment, then quickened her pace.

This time, however, her destination wasn't home, but rather—

The direction represented by that name that Aine repeatedly mentioned, a name filled with mystery and danger.

She was going to find the answer.

Even if the answer is the abyss.

…………

As Ai Yin watched the thin figure gradually disappear into the night, the impulse in her heart quickly dissipated like the receding tide, replaced by a nameless panic.

Did she... talk too much?

www.sHUB123.com

Is telling Xiaodeng the truth really the right thing to do? Although you say you "don't want to protect me like a fool," isn't this actually a way of taking emergency precautions against trouble?

She seemed to have lost that savior complex that bothered her, but those words made her feel guilty, as if she had done something wrong and shouldn't have left Xiaodeng alone.

"Ugh... I guess I'm still an incurable bad woman!"

Chihaya Aine scratched her head in frustration, looking at the two long shadows cast by the streetlights on the ground—the spot where she and the lamp had just sat, now only a desolate chill remained.

"No! We can't just let the light go like that!"

What if Tama really does have a moment of madness and goes to find Nanami Natsuki? Although she raves about Natsuki to the skies, that girl is essentially a little pervert whose fingers are always sticky after she makes a move!

If a defenseless little rabbit like a lamp were to walk right into someone's door, wouldn't it be devoured until not even a bone fragment was left?

More importantly... if anything happens to the lamp, she, as the "whistleblower," will definitely become the target of everyone's criticism.

"Wait for me! Light!"

Ai Yin gritted her teeth, grabbed her guitar bag, turned around, and chased after the direction the lamp had gone.

She ran very fast; after all, this was an escape skill honed in unfamiliar territory like England (not really). Before long, she caught up with the slow-moving figure at a traffic light.

"Huff... Huff... Light! Why are you walking so fast!"

Ai grabbed the lamp's arm and said breathlessly.

Gao Songdeng stopped and turned around. Under the streetlight, her face was so pale it was almost transparent, and her eyes, which always seemed to hold a secret, were unusually calm, a calmness that was unsettling.

"Aine-chan..."

"Um... don't take what I just said too seriously," Aine explained somewhat incoherently. "Actually... it's not that serious! Everyone has their little secrets, but we're all good people at heart! That Nanami Natsuki... although she's a jerk, she did help us a lot..."

"Aine-chan." The light interrupted her rambling, her voice soft yet firm, "Thank you."