Teacher Daxiang, let’s form a lifelong band!

"But... the Underworld Soul Chaser should be able to cure Soyo's illness, right?"

"There's nothing wrong with this child's mental state. She's healthier than anyone else." After examining Nagasaki Suyo, the Ghost of Hell said this to you and her mother.

"But my child clearly..." Nagasaki Suyo's mother was puzzled. If her daughter was healthy, how could she be like this?

"She was simply caught up in her own fantasy. Everything she saw was her own imagination. You can understand it as her own choice..."

[It turns out that Nagasaki Suyo is not crazy, she just locked herself in her own world. Because repeated failures made her unwilling to face reality, she found a way to relieve herself in this way.]

"When will she recover?" you ask.

[“After her wish is fulfilled, or after her spirit completely collapses…”]

[With this answer, you and Nagasaki Motoyo's mother walked out of the hospital.]

"Auntie, can you give Soyo to me? I love her. I will do whatever it takes to fulfill her wish and heal her. I swear to you!"

You swear to Nagasaki Soyo's mother that you will save Soyo because you love her.

[Hearing your heartfelt confession, Nagasaki Suyo's mother was moved and entrusted her daughter to you.]

"Soyo is in your hands."

[“Leave it to me!”]

[And so, you embarked on the long journey of helping Nagasaki Suyo break through her illusions and return to normal life.]

[In Nagasaki Suyo's vision, her first mission is to eliminate Ave Mujica's bassist, Hachiman Kaisuzu, because in her eyes, that position belongs to her.]

You found Toyokawa Shoko, told her about Nagasaki Suyo's situation, and pleaded with Toyokawa Shoko and the other members of Ave Mujica.

"Everyone, I'm Soyo's lover. Soyo is sick, and I need your help."

You told everyone in Ave Mujica about your plan and asked them to help you, but Ave Mujica is very busy right now, and some of the members don't even know Nagasaki Suyo, so your request was not approved.

For the sake of your lover, you lowered your status, took out everything you could afford, including but not limited to all your savings, agreed to some conditions and everything else you could do.

Finally, moved by your sincerity, everyone at Ave Mujica agreed to perform a play with you, a play that could fulfill Nagasaki Suyo's wish.

[Under your arrangement, Ave Mujica's bassist, Hachiman Kaisuzu, temporarily disappeared, and Nagasaki Motoyo joined the band.]

Even so, Nagasaki Suyo's heartache still hasn't improved, so you have to make plans for the next step, and the band's drummer, Yutenji Wakami, has temporarily disappeared.

[However, even with Yutenji Wakami's departure, Nagasaki Motoyo's fantasy has not ended. What she wants is the revival of Crychic. The current band only has herself, Toyokawa Shoko, and Wakaba Mutsu, but this is not enough...]

[There's no other way. You can only discuss with Toyokawa Shoko and see if you can bring back the former crychic members Takamatsu Deng and Shiina Tatsuki.]

【But this time, Toyokawa Shoko rejected you. 】

"Mr. Lu Li, I know you love Soyo deeply, but this method won't heal her. You should be very clear about that. Even if everything goes according to your wishes, I don't think Soyo will be able to return to normal."

[Of course you understand what Toyokawa Shoko said, but Soyo is already like this, you can only go down this path...]

Volume 1: Chapter 53: Dream, Time to Wake Up

I'm so tired, so alone

"Mr. Lu Li, you've already sacrificed so much for Soyo. She's not sick at all, she's just clinging to the past. As long as she can't move on, she'll always be like this. Mr. Lu Li, that's enough. Really, you've done enough..."

Toyokawa Shoko truly feels sorry for you. You've done everything you could for Soyo, yet Soyo clings to the past. In her eyes, you've always been a villain, a witch. She's clearly not completely mad, but she refuses to face it. She ignores all you've done for her and only wants to rebuild the long-disbanded Crychic.

[Toyokawa Shoko couldn't stand it any longer, so one night, in front of you, she took Wakaba Mutsu to find Nagasaki Suyo.]

[From a distance, Toyokawa Shoko glanced at you. She felt a little envious of Nagasaki Suyo. If she had someone like you by her side during her most difficult times, her life might have been different, right?]

In order to ensure the normal operation of her band, and to help you convey your love to Nagasaki Suyo so that she can see everything clearly, Toyokawa Shoko stood in front of Nagasaki Suyo and revealed the truth.

"You're just a person whose mind is full of yourself..."

[A dream is always a dream. No matter how beautiful it is, there will be a day when you wake up. But if the person who is obsessed with the dream is unwilling to wake up, then her broken dream will only become the last straw that breaks her back.]

"No, don't go, Xiangzi, don't go... Please, I'll do anything..."

You watched as Nagasaki Suyo knelt before Toyokawa Shoko. At that moment, she was no longer mad, she had woken up, but it was too late.

It rained heavily in Tokyo again that night. You carried Nagasaki Suyo, her eyes dimmed, back to her home. This time, she wasn't mad; she was just like a puppet without its strings, letting you take her wherever you wanted.

【"soyo, soyo?"】

After returning home, Nagasaki Motoyo's mother looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes.

"Sorry, Soyo..."

She will probably never wake up.

[The Ghost of the Underworld said that one can either wake up happily after achieving their wish, or lose everything and sink into despair, and Nagasaki Suyo chose the latter.]

Like a mirage, the world she sees now is probably just as she said, a world of "witch." In her eyes, the world is filled with all kinds of indescribable monsters...

[“Soyo…” Nagasaki Motoyo’s mother cried. She didn’t know what to do next. She was just a single mother. She had worked hard until now for Soyo. Now Soyo had become like this, what should she do?]

"Ms. Nagasaki, are you willing to believe me?" You looked at Nagasaki Suyo's mother and asked.

"I have a way to get Soyo back, but I need you to give me some assurance."

"I believe you. As long as Soyo can recover, I'll agree to any conditions you offer!"

[Hearing Nagasaki Motoyo's mother's assurance, you smiled and nodded.]

"Then please give me some time...Ms. Nagasaki, I promise I can wake Soyo up and bring her back to you."

Nagasaki Suyo dropped out of school, and you stopped selling crepes. You moved in with your sister at Nagasaki Suyo's house. You asked Nagasaki Suyo's mother to adopt your sister Lu Lian as a guardian, so that you would have no worries.

[In the days that followed, you began to meticulously take care of the already broken Nagasaki Suyo, even though she had become a madman in the eyes of others. She would punch and kick you, and she would even pick up heavy objects nearby and throw them at you to drive you away, but you didn't care at all.]

You will stay by her side before she wakes up, you will feed her the cut fruits one by one, you will carry her on your back while strolling in the cherry blossom park, you will smile and say to her, Soyo, I love you.

As time went by, Soyo's symptoms gradually improved, and she slowly began to accept you. However, this only applies to you being by her side. The world in her eyes is still so indescribable, and when facing people other than you, Soyo's behavior is even worse than before.

[You know, this doesn't mean Soyo's symptoms have improved. On the contrary, it means that her rejection of the world has become more severe.]

You tried various methods to wake up Soyo, but it was all in vain.

[Because the arrogance buried deep within her inferiority complex makes her selectively want to face you who is good to her. As for other people, even her mother, they have now become "witches" in her eyes.]

Not wanting to see the blood from the wounds within her heart, she covered her eyes with bandages. Soyo was running from the past, locking herself in a cage called the past. The tears that once filled her eyes weren't regret, but self-satisfaction.

Perhaps even now, Nagasaki Suyo's heart still echoes with that gentle Kasuga Shadow, the crychic master.

Just as Toyokawa Shoko said, simple and gentle methods cannot make Nagasaki Suyo wake up. Her eyes have been covered with a thick fog. If you want to make Nagasaki Suyo return to normal, you must pierce this fog and reach Nagasaki Suyo's heart.

[But now, Nagasaki Suyo can no longer listen to any words, so how easy is it to wake her up? ]

"Ms. Nagasaki, I'll leave Rei to you."

Finally, on an ordinary afternoon filled with sunshine, you smiled and entrusted your sister to Nagasaki Suyo's mother. Then, as usual, you took Nagasaki Suyo to the top floor of the apartment to bask in the sun.

You pull out your phone and gently play the video you've been deliberately avoiding for the past few years you've been taking care of Soyo. It's of Ave Mujica, now active in Tokyo.

"Take it away! Take it away!!!"

[As you might expect, after watching Ave Mujica's performance video, Nagasaki Suyo, who had just been like a puppet, immediately went crazy. She punched you hard. At that moment, you became a "witch" in her eyes.]

"Soyo, this is reality. Crychic is over. Toyokawa Shoko and Wakaba Mu have moved on. It's time to wake up."

"No, it's impossible. Crychic will never disband. This is all fake, fake! You are a witch, all of you are witches! It's you who stopped me, it's you who caused Crychic to disband! You are all witches, you all deserve to die! As long as all the witches in this world disappear, everyone in Crychic will definitely come back..."

"Witch, Soyo, who is this witch in your eyes?" You murmured. You knew you needed something to stimulate Nagasaki Soyo. If you couldn't heal a person's heart, then only deeper pain could wake them up.

You smiled.

"Soyo, I saw the witch too."

"Really? You saw it too?" Soyo fell silent after hearing your words.

You pointed at the azure sky above, your eyes soft and gentle: "Yes, I see it. The witch is right in front of me."

[It doesn't matter whether there is a witch or not. What matters is that she said there is, and that's it.]

"There really is a witch! If we kill her, Crychic will be resurrected, right?!"

You nodded. "Yes, Princess. The knight who loves you most will go and kill the witch for you..."

【With a smile on your face, you leap towards the sky. 】

[“Soyo, dream, it’s time to wake up.”]

Volume 1: Chapter 54: My Brother is Missing

"I want to do it again!"

"What kind of witch is this? I don't want to accept such a weird ending!"

Nagasaki Suyo didn't even bother to look at what her rewards were. Although those rewards were good, they were not something difficult for her to obtain. Compared to material things, she cared more about the simulation.

"One more time, one more time, Crychic will definitely be resurrected!"

[Ms. Nagasaki Suyo, are you sure you want to do this again? ]

"I want!"

【OK.....】

【Simulation starts】

"I'm going to reorganize crychic, and I'm sure I can succeed this time!"

[You once again returned to the beginning, but this time you were different from the previous two times. You woke up in your room and ran to the rooftop of your apartment the moment you opened your eyes.]

"What am I going to do on the rooftop?"

You arrive at the rooftop. The moment you push open the door, the warm afternoon, the azure sky, and the dazzling sunlight shine upon you. But even so, you can't feel a single bit of warmth. You look up at the sky, and tears unconsciously fall from your eyes...

"???"

"What's wrong with me? Why am I crying?!"

"Simulator, are you malfunctioning?!"

【...】

"Ms. Nagasaki Motoyo, the simulator is not malfunctioning. Each simulation is a fresh deduction based on you and the previous simulations. There are absolutely no bugs in the deduction. Everything is reasonable and logical."

"If everything makes sense, why would I end up on the rooftop for no apparent reason? Why would I even cry? My last simulation clearly showed me turning into a witch..."

"and many more!"

Nagasaki Suyo suddenly realized something.

Witch?

"Simulator, are you saying that all simulations are based on me and previous simulations? In other words, all simulations can be realized in the future, right?"

[Yes, Ms. Nagasaki Motoyo, you noticed it.]

"..."

She is not stupid, how could she not understand?

Since everything can be reproduced in reality, how could there be such a thing as a witch in reality?

Since there is no such thing as a witch, then...

"Did I see those things in the last simulation?!"

"But that's impossible. I saw all that with my own eyes!"

Yes, she clearly saw those with her own eyes, because she participated in the physical mode, everything was seen with her own eyes, seeing is believing, how could those be fake?

"unless......"

Thinking of some possibilities, Nagasaki Suyo immediately made her request.

"Can I rewind the last simulation?!"

[Yes, but I do not recommend that you, Ms. Nagasaki Motoyo, go back in time.]

"why?"

[First, the simulation has ended. There's no point in replaying it. Secondly, for the sake of protecting your own spirit, Ms. Nagasaki Motoyo, I don't recommend that you replay the last simulation.]