Celeste’s sanity began to fray. She pulled out her phone and compared the signature of the person who had accepted her mission with the one on
the release form. They were a perfect match.
And that same gang had just accepted a new mission: “silence the loose ends.” The payment was ten times what she had offered.
The mission poster’s avatar was a familiar little white lamb, wearing a bow tie and an innocent smile.
Just like Julian.
No, his real name was Adrian. “That devil… he killed my brother!”
Celeste clutched my urn and began to wail.
【Why are you crying now?】 the System asked, genuinely perplexed. [Weren’t you the one who was so cold–hearted before, who ignored my warnings and insisted that Noah také Julian’s fated death, pushing him to his doom again and again?]
【Oh, right. And you even gave away the university spot he worked so hard for.]
【To the enemy who stole everything from him, Adrian White.]
[Also known as your precious Julian.]
The System’s sarcastic tone was so sharp it made my sister cough up blood.
She stared at the crimson on her palm, and then she smiled.
“The pain I feel now… Noah must have felt it a million times worse before he died.”
[Is there any point in dwelling on that now? He’s dead, you’re all going to die with him. That’s the end.】 the System said glumly. [A pity I have to be dragged down by this pathetic little world.]
“How can there be no point?”
“To die early or late, at whose hand, in what manner, if it was by choice, if one accepted the final moment with peace… all of it matters.” Celeste’s voice was heavy with a crushing guilt.
The System was unimpressed. [If you’re really so guilty, then kill yourself to atone. You’re the one who caused all of this, after all.]
My sister bit her lip, a storm of emotions in her eyes. “I never wanted him to die.”
【Irrelevant,】 the mechanical voice stated. [The result is all that matters. And his death was your handiwork.]
【For example, the only reason Adrian could afford to hire those thugs was because of the allowance you used to give him.]
Celeste choked, another mouthful of blood spattering from her lips.
The System, alarmed, ran a diagnostic on her.
【Strange. What did you do? Why is your body decaying so rapidly?]
【Wait! Not just you! Adrian, your family, this entire city… the whole world! Heavens, what have you done?!]
“Is it so surprising?”
“Someone who has died and been reborn… we all have a few hidden tricks, don’t we?” Celeste’s calm was now tinged with a terrifying madness.
The System no longer dared to provoke her. [But you were willing to sacrifice your own brother for Julian. Now you’ve gotten your wish. He surv- ived his fated death…]
【Why would you sacrifice the entire world for a fleeting, impossible chance?]
[You know the protagonist’s fate is irreversible. Once he is dead, it is almost impossible for him to be revived!]
“Almost,” my sister whispered, her eyes flashing with a wild, desperate resolve. “Not completely.”
“And even if he can’t be brought back, I will not stand by and watch the people who hurt him live happily.”
Chapter 2
11:35
The System sighed. [You truly are a glutton for punishment. You deserve this.]
“Don’t worry,” my sister laughed softly. “Even if I die, I’ll drag the ones who deserve it to hell with me.”
She began to hum a soft tune, gently patting my urn and the panda plushie, just as she had when I first came home, when she would sing me
lullabies to soothe my insecurities.
The love she had given me was real.
Which only made the pain that much more unbearable.
[By the way, I just checked the world’s destruction progress. It’s impossible to measure. It could be now, or in the next second.]
【If you have anything left to do, you’d better do it quickly.]
“My brother… he’s really dead?” Celeste stared out the window at the passing cars, as if waiting for someone to return.
【His ashes are in your hands. What more proof do you need?]
“But he’s the protagonist. Shouldn’t the protagonist live to the very end, to a ripe old age?” My sister still couldn’t understand. In her memories of
her past life, I had simply faded away.
The System
checked its logs and came to a conclusion.
