I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

"I don't know what your story is like, but what are your thoughts after hearing about the ending of the other version of yourself?"

Bathed in moonlight, Yue Zhengling smiled, but an unusual, bewitching aura alerted Arthur, for the aura surrounding him constantly reminded everyone: Do not approach me.

“Yes, that’s right, that’s exactly it,” he laughed even more as he looked at Arthur, who had become wary. “I would rather you be on guard against me like this than have you get close to me—only strangers who brush past me are good people.”

Behind that smile lies utter emptiness and desolation. Does everything in this world mean nothing to you?

"Maybe? When I turned—when I was born into this world, I thought it would be an ordinary continuation, but I never expected that when my life ended again, I would find out that it was all a lie."

Le Zhengling squinted and chuckled softly, a smile that was both gentle and deeply painful. He slowly began to count on his fingers.

"Can you believe it? What you perceive as an ordinary day is actually a lie fabricated by your loved ones." (A single finger)

"When I realized something was wrong, a kind person told me I was going to die." Two fingers.

"Hoping to leave something behind, but unable to deliver it to someone else." Three fingers.

"Trying hard to survive, but because of its own weakness, even after struggling with all its might, it still dies in the end. So what if it dies? Its body might be used by someone else for other things." Four fingers.

"Although he was saved, his soul could only watch his body and could not return. Later, his soul almost dissipated." Five fingers.

Le Zhengling stopped counting here, kicking his feet like a mischievous child.

“What must have happened before my soul arrived in Avalon? But I can’t remember anything at all. And what happened before I came to this end times? But I’ve forgotten that too.”

"I've encountered all of these, but they're not the most important ones."

At this point, Yue Zhengling put away her fist, tapped her head, and stuck out her tongue. "Most importantly, I've forgotten my own name! And it's not just my name; my mental age seems to have regressed as well. It's as if a part of my past memories has been taken away, and the remaining part seems to have been rearranged by someone, turning those memories into experiences."

“Memory is meant to be recalled, not to be viewed like a movie. Because memory is real, while movies are fake, and my memory has been tampered with, so now it looks like a movie.”

"These things that belong to me, the most important things, were first taken away by someone I don't know. Then, the person I used to be became someone else. This state is terrifying~ You can't even imagine it, can you, Arthur?"

As Arthur looked at the increasingly erratic Yue Zhengling, a chill ran down his spine. He had previously forced Yue Zhengling to tell him about his past, but he hadn't expected it to turn out like this. Moreover, Meryl had said that the family was known for producing madmen, so Yue Zhengling's current state must be what she described.

"I feel that my life is like that of an insect in a cage, being observed and played with at will, and when the observer loses interest, it will starve to death because it is forgotten to be fed."

Le Zhengling pulled her braid over and tossed the ends of her hair. "Hmm, this analogy is a bit off, but it's pretty close."

"And, I don't know if it's because I'm a spirit, but I seem to be easily influenced by things. Like right now, even though I'm a man, I'm naturally making these feminine gestures..."

He tossed the ends of his hair, looking quite confused. "I've been subconsciously resisting those strange influences, but whenever I lose control of my emotions or get distracted by something, my behavior becomes increasingly strange."

"You can't even imagine how hard I work. Even when I'm sitting, I try my best not to cross my legs, and when I'm lying down, I make sure my hands aren't in the wrong place."

"Since I've already gone through so much, why do you still bother me? It's making me want to give up and become self-destructive." Le Zhengling's red eyes formed an eerie contrast with the bright red moon behind her.

All calamities arrive with the red moon—at this moment, Arthur remembered this saying from his homeland.

“But running away won’t solve anything.” After hearing Yue Zhengling’s confession, Arthur felt bitter. Faced with someone whose heart was twisted, even someone as powerful as him was powerless.

At this point, the area involving mental health falls entirely within Mary's sphere of influence.

“Yes, running away won’t solve anything, but all I’m seeking is peace of mind. So why should I solve it? To remain myself, I can’t be changed anymore.” Yue Zhengling looked at Arthur with a puzzled expression, his eyes as innocent as a baby’s.

“…I cannot agree.” Arthur stared directly into Yue Zhengling’s eyes.

"Everyone, no matter who they are, is pursuing their own meaning of existence. Because the so-called meaning of existence refers to the reason why a person is 'himself'. If you take this away from that person, he has nothing left. But you are not pursuing it, but standing still."

“This kind of escape is wrong. Moreover, you are not seeking peace at all, but—” Arthur said, looking at Yue Zhengling with a sad yet understanding look in his eyes, “but seeking the relief of death.”

"No, you're mistaken. How could someone as afraid of death as me actively seek it out?" Le Zhengling looked at him reproachfully. "How many people aren't afraid of death, which is the opposite of life? Those who aren't afraid of death are heroes like you. I'm just an ordinary person, and I'm terrified, okay?"

"Hmm, wait a minute, let me do the math. From the past to the present, there have been about 1060 billion people on Earth. If we divide the world's population into those who are afraid of death, those who are not afraid of death, and those who want to die, then the ratio is about 1000:10:1. If we further subdivide those who want to die into those who are desperate, those who are suffering, and those who are at peace, the ratio is also 1000:10:1."

"If we divide the people in this '1' by age group, two-thirds are elderly people over fifty, and two-thirds of the remaining people are ignorant infants. So, if we calculate it this way, the number of people who are truly not afraid of death and can calmly accept death is probably 4.6."

"I'm definitely not one of them. And I'm neither a 'desperate person' nor a 'suffering person.' If I can survive, I can lie down anywhere and stay there forever."

"You're afraid of not becoming yourself, which is why you're trying not to be changed, right?" Arthur calmly exposed Yue Zhengling's thoughts.

"As the saying goes, don't expose people's hardships, King Arthur," Yue Zhengling said in a joking tone, as if he wasn't the one whose thoughts had been exposed.

"Is this your true nature?" Arthur conjured the Holy Sword, his intuition telling him that Yue Zhengling might do something next.

"Hehe, who knows~" Yue Zhengling smiled shyly, as if he was really embarrassed. "How about we make a deal, Holy Sword Master?"

His eyes lost all their luster, as if he were facing an Outer God.

“We don’t need to pay attention to each other. Let’s just pretend the other doesn’t exist. I just want to stay here and not go anywhere, while you continue your journey, how about that?”

"I reject."

“You have your stubbornness, and I have my will. You don’t want others to pay attention to you because you don’t want to be changed anymore. But after listening to what you just said, I’ve decided to guide you. That’s my will.”

Arthur suddenly laughed. Just as Mary had said, this kid needed to be disciplined, and most importantly, he couldn't argue with him.

So the question is, how did the Celtics solve this problem?

Of course, if you're unhappy, just fight it!

Moreover, since the other party has already made the first move, this can now be considered a self-defense counterattack!

Looking at the large number of floating mechanical creations that had come into view, Arthur still didn't know how Yue Zhengling had gathered them together, but now was not the time to talk about that.

“Okay, negotiations have broken down.” Le Zhengling shrugged and stood up, leaning against the windowsill.

A series of orange-yellow rays pierced through the building's walls, but completely bypassed Yue Zhengling.

Arthur dodged the mechanical attacks with quick, light steps, but his gaze never left Yue Zhengling.

"Since you like staying here, you can have it. I did learn a few tricks from Merlin, so fooling these simple AIs shouldn't be a problem. You can have some fun with them. I'm leaving now."

After saying that, Yue Zhengling flipped backward and fell down.

“Interesting. I’ll take this game of hide-and-seek. I didn’t have any excuse to teach you a lesson before, but you’ve given me one.” Arthur shouted out the window, completely ignoring whether Yue Zhengling heard him or not.

As Yue Zhengling was in freefall, she frowned, revealing an expression of annoyance. "So, the king really doesn't understand people's hearts."

These words made Arthur, who was under siege, raise an eyebrow and decide to be ruthless after finding Yue Zhengling.

Le Zhengling fell from the seventh floor to the ground without stirring up any dust. After all, as a soul, he was actually weightless. Looking at the floor above, which was flashing with sparks and making a series of impact sounds, he put away all his smiles and said softly, "What a busybody."

After saying that, he pulled up his hood and took out the pillar. After all, this was his exclusive weapon, and the lake fairy had made it into a staff as requested. It was a bit ugly, but as long as it was practical, that was fine.

"A dream of cooking, an illusion of getting drunk." A light mist blended into the night, and Yue Zhengling's body slowly disappeared within the mist.

Chapter 117 Hide and Seek

“Arthur, since you say this is hide-and-seek, then let’s make a deal,” Yue Zhengling said to the floor where the battle was taking place after he had hidden himself.

"Ten... no, seven days. If you don't find me within seven days, then don't show up in front of me again, and don't bother with me anymore."

Still engaged in battle, Arthur frowned, hacking away at the guarding machines before him as he considered his options. Finally, based on his confidence and the robes on Yue Zhengling's body, he declared loudly, "Alright! I promise you! But if I find you, you must heed my advice!"

"Don't joke around, Arthur," Yue Zhengling said with a shrug. "This game is just something I'm using to sever ties with you. It's not a deal, and it's not fair. I agree to your suggestion of playing hide-and-seek, but I won't grant your request."

"The scope is set in this London area; take it or leave it."

Le Zhengling had thought it over. Rather than wasting time hiding until Arthur left this world, it would be better to end things once and for all. Since he couldn't predict when Arthur would disappear, it was better to take the initiative himself.

In addition, Yue Zhengling believed that his time in Avalon was not wasted. At the very least, he first went from an ordinary person to an ordinary person who was good at hiding, then became an ordinary person who was good at hiding and very resilient, and finally became a magician who was good at hiding, very resilient and very long-lasting.

Merlin may seem unreliable in many ways, but his teaching skills are actually quite good. The white-haired online swindler may seem to be casually telling him bits and pieces of magic knowledge every day, but those things are surprisingly practical.

By meticulously recording all of this, Yue Zhengling, relying on the intuition and patience honed through dodging training and endurance races, summarized and researched a magic trick that was exceptionally suitable for him.

That is 【A Dream of Cooking, An Illusion of Getting Drunk】. If we had to categorize this magic trick into a system, then it should be classified as an illusion.

Merlin, who had witnessed Yue Zhengling use this magic, vouched for it in his capacity as a dream demon. He asserted that it transcended the realm of illusion and was something he himself could not learn; it was a unique magic exclusive to Yue Zhengling.

This magic trick was developed for the purpose of concealment. Coincidentally, during the chase in Avalon, some of the fantasy beasts possessed speeds that surpassed Yue Zhengling's reflexes and dynamic vision. What's even more outrageous is that these fantasy beasts were also surprisingly strong. Every time Yue Zhengling was hit, he would feel pain for a while.

Therefore, Le Zhengling, who adhered to the principle of "escape if you can escape, avoid if you can't escape, and endure if you can't avoid," had to add the spiritual principle of "hide if you can hide, and escape if you can't hide."

After all, escaping is very physically demanding, while hiding requires little to no movement most of the time.

Therefore, this magic trick takes the concept of "concealment" to its extreme, and its effect is even comparable to Merlin's illusion.

Illusion, in general, refers to intervention in the mind, such as projecting illusions into the real world.

Once you reach Merlin's level A, not to mention creating nightmares on a mental level, you can easily create a village in reality to deceive others.

Although Yue Zhengling's ability cannot create a village, his trick can deceive all things through the "six senses." In other words, not only can the five senses not perceive him, but even the guidance of the sixth sense is ineffective against him.

Therefore, after activating this magic, Yue Zhengling stood on the street outside the supermarket, waiting for the battle above to end.

The reason why so many floating mechanical creations were attracted is actually quite simple. The information obtained from Arthur was that as long as objects were moved away from the building, these things would appear and attack those people.

If that's the case, can we understand it as meaning that they will appear whenever they detect a moving object outside the building?

As a result, Yue Zhengling tried it and came to the conclusion that it was feasible. Just now, when he was in a stalemate with Arthur, he covered his braid with his body and swung it outside the window. Then he adjusted his posture so that he and Arthur were on the same level.

Next, the instant he pulled back his braid and leaped out of the window, the floating mechanical creations immediately attacked, giving Arthur the illusion that they were attacking him, which prompted him to retaliate.

Just as Yue Zhengling had guessed, the rigid machinery was not artificial intelligence, but a pre-written program. The moment Arthur countered, the program listed Arthur as its primary target, helping to entangle him while it landed safely and used the magic trick.

"Hey, hide-and-seek and all that. You can play by yourself." Yue Zhengling stood still, watching Arthur stick his head out of the window to track his location.

Just as he had expected, Arthur did not notice him standing directly below. A short while later, Arthur walked out of the mall, scanned his surroundings, and after his ahoge (cowlick) spun around like a radar, he ran off in the west.

Le Zhengling stood there watching his departing figure, making no other move, remaining rooted to the spot like a statue.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Arthur returned silently and went into the mall. He came out half an hour later with a furrowed brow, as if he had encountered a problem.

"He really got away?" The Holy Sword Master stared at the pitch-black street. "And there was absolutely no trace of him, no footprints, and no fighting broke out anywhere else. How did he manage to fool those things?"

Arthur was puzzled and worried. He had thought that Yue Zhengling could not possibly escape his senses, but he did not expect that he would be proven wrong so suddenly and that he would completely disappear in the blink of an eye.

"There's no other way. If we don't find any other strange creatures fighting, it means he must have already escaped indoors. Now we can only rely on our intuition to search room by room."

As he said this, Arthur fixed his gaze on the nearest house and ran off quickly.

Looking at Arthur, who was speaking so pretentiously in front of the mall, Yue Zhengling smiled and thought to himself: You really think I'm a three-year-old who would fall for this kind of trick?

Having grown accustomed to spending time with the fantastical monsters of Avalon, hiding for hours or even days, letting those monsters be ravaged by Avalon's high concentration of magic, had become an instinct, practiced to the extreme, just like running away.

He closed his eyes, ignoring his external environment, because humans receive 90% of external information through sight. He was afraid that he might give himself away if he wasn't careful. So, he figured it was better not to look at his surroundings at all. Besides, he was confident that unless he took action himself or ran out of magic, no one could possibly find him.

This stop lasted for two days and three nights. During these two days, Arthur returned here several times, but because Yue Zhengling had not entered the room, he ultimately gained nothing and had to give up.

Yue Zhengling had tried it before. The maximum operating time for this magic trick was ten days, and that was in an environment like Avalon where magic power could be replenished infinitely. What limited this magic trick was his mental strength.

Although his magic power can keep up, if he overuses this magic, he will eventually become mentally confused and even unable to control his actions. To put it simply, he will be unable to stand and will need to rest for a long time (become a couch potato).

So on the morning of the third day, he took the opportunity to go back inside the mall, found a super large wardrobe, padded it with velvet, closed the door, and lay down.

Time passed day by day, and on the fifth day, Yue Zhengling was still hiding in the wardrobe, waiting for the victory to arrive.

However, fate played another trick on him. Just as he was waiting for victory, an extremely strong tremor erupted outside, and a huge explosion slowly approached from afar.

He guessed that Arthur was destroying the London district in a fit of rage to force him out, but he quickly dismissed the idea. After all, the other party was a king, and a man of high moral character, who wouldn't be so tasteless.

Thinking this, he closed his eyes again, deciding to ignore it.

Not far from the shopping mall, Aozaki Touko and Gray were doing their best to avoid the attacks of the colossal demon boar.

It was daytime, and the scorching sun and fierce sandstorms were constantly draining their strength. The demonic boar had been chasing them for five days. Ever since they left the clock tower through the secret passage, two of the five demonic boars surrounding the clock tower had been relentlessly pursuing them, forcing the four of them to split into two groups.

The strongest, Barthezello, led the slightly weaker Imaginary Number Magician, while Orange, whose strength was average, led Gray to escape separately.

The reason why we separated instead of working together to deal with these two demonic pigs goes back to before we set off.

Just as the four of them gathered to set off, the person in charge of monitoring at the Clock Tower suddenly told them that one of the two targets that had been together had suddenly disappeared, while the other was lingering not far away.

After discussing it, the four decided to first find a target that could be observed, and then make further plans after finding that target.

However, after they left the Clock Tower area through the secret passage, two of the demonic boars suddenly chased after them. They originally intended to eliminate one of them, but at this moment, Ad, who was being carried in Gray's robe, suddenly spoke up: "The target you detected earlier has not disappeared; it is still in the same place."

Because of this news, Barthezmero hesitated for a moment before deciding to split his forces into two groups.

After all, the four's main objective was to find the two beings who could break through the current predicament of the Clock Tower, and according to reliable sources, the one that suddenly illuminated the entire London district that night was likely King Arthur's holy sword.

Therefore, it was originally planned that Aozaki Touko and Gray would be responsible for finding the being who wielded the Holy Sword, while the other two would be responsible for finding Yue Zhengling.

However, Yad added, "You can't find the hidden one without me, since your magic detectors aren't working, right? In that case, only my senses can find him."

Therefore, the two groups were switched roles, and Grey breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had mentally prepared herself to meet the owner of her face, the feeling of uncertainty still made her resistant.

"Grey, are you alright?" Aozaki Touko, who was running at high speed, looked at the gray-robed girl beside her. Over the past five days, the number of familiars protecting them had decreased from ten to five, but Touko remained extremely calm.

“No problem, Miss Orange.” Wielding the scythe transformed from the Holy Lance, Gray spoke with steady breathing, “Yard, how much further?”

Attacks from above were blocked by the black curtain formed by Orange's familiars, and attacks from behind were also neutralized by Orange's rune combinations. Gray was responsible for the surprise attacks from the sides.

“At your current speed, it will take about fifteen minutes to cover the distance!” Gray responded with the scythe in her hand.