A meteor streaked across the starry sky, causing the creatures on Earth to stop and watch. Penglaiji Ryn was one of them.
Penglaiji Ryn took out the Star of Eden from her pocket, a strange emotion flashing in her eyes, and remained silent for a long time.
"Gu... this is my first love! It can't be gone just like that..."
Penglaiji Ryn leaned against a nearby telephone pole, her whole demeanor turning gloomy. "Hmph, mere love. I feel like I'll never love again. I'm going to turn to the dark side! Ahhh!"
"Ryn, what are you thinking about? Hurry up and catch up!"
Kiana, walking ahead, waved vigorously at Penglaiji Ryn.
"Maybe we should let Dr. Yiselian check on Ryn again? She's been talking even more strangely since she woke up..."
Mei looked at Penglaiji Ryn with concern. Although her eighth-grade syndrome had gotten a bit better, her mental state seemed even more abnormal.
"My divine vessel has not yet fully awakened from its long slumber, so it just needs a moment to recover. Hey, don't go! Wait for me! I can't keep up."
Penglaiji Ryn stumbled towards Kiana and Mei, who turned around with smiles and supported her as they walked forward together.
"It's a pity I didn't lose my memories due to the Stigmata's protective mechanism as Yiselian said. After all, no matter how miraculous the Stigmata are, they're not as miraculous as having a whole real world inside my body!
Everyone from the Fire Moth! Their stories are not acknowledged or known by people... but I will remember it all, and the world will remember it all...
As for big brother Ryn... Hmph, if you won't come find me, just you wait until I fight my way through the Honkai to find you!"
Riding Kukulkan in the sky and watching everything below, Ryn suddenly sneezed.
"Damn it, who's cursing me. Was it you!"
Ryn slapped Kukulkan twice in annoyance.
"Roar..." (My life is a sea of darkness...)
Penglaiji Ryn suddenly stopped and looked back towards the horizon.
Kiana followed suit and looked up at the sky.
"What's wrong, Ryn? Have Schicksal's people caught up?"
"No, I just feel like I sensed something..."
"Is it another call from destiny?"
"Mm... I guess so!"
Penglaiji Ryn shook her head, trying not to think about the possibility that big brother Ryn was watching her from the sky. After all, if it was big brother Ryn, why wouldn't he come to see her?
In the sky, Ryn silently watched Penglaiji Ryn and the others until they gradually disappeared down the street.
She has her own path to walk, and I have mine.
Life is ultimately full of regrets. Just like the saying, "In the end, we're not people of the same world," Penglaiji Ryn and I are destined to part ways.
If that's the case, why meet at all, only to add to the sorrow...
Ryn buried some things on the moon, hoping they might be of some help to Penglaiji Ryn and the others someday.
Finally, before leaving, Ryn thought, 'This won't do. I'm in a comedy novel, what's with this sentimental route?'
So he ran back to see Penglaiji Ryn one more time. Unfortunately, the night was already late, and Penglaiji Ryn was already fast asleep.
"Never mind... this is fine too."
Ryn left a few specially-made Stars of Eden, gently kissed Penglaiji Ryn's forehead, and silently left this world.
Not long after Ryn left, Penglaiji Ryn sat up in bed, clutched the Star of Eden from her bedside to her chest, and stared blankly at the moonlight outside the window.
"What an idiot..."
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How far must a person walk to reclaim their original self at the end of time...
Ryn didn't know, but he wanted to. Because he was a little lost...
The barrier between worlds was right in front of him. With just a gentle push, Ryn could return to his own world.
But he was afraid that when he returned, he would find that everything had changed. What if the timeline was long in the past? What if it was far in the future?
Just as Janna had said, he and she were ultimately just travelers passing through the world. This world bore their footprints, but it held no place for them to return to.
Everything he had was with Kiana, Mei, Kika, and the others. If the timeline was wrong, and they didn't exist, or had already vanished... what would he do?
Ryn stood outside the World Barrier, unable to take that step for a long time.
"Ryn? Are you Ryn?"
A soft, yet pleasant voice sounded from behind Ryn.
Ryn looked back and saw...
A green, illusory, humanoid ball of light?
But why does the humanoid figure formed by this illusion look so familiar?
Ryn searched his memories and then exclaimed in surprise, "Forerunner Su? What are you doing here! What form of existence are you in now?"
"My current form of existence is difficult to describe. To use the words of an old friend, I've probably gone from being a Forerunner to an Observer?
After I parted from you all, my physical body died, but my consciousness was taken away by a great and boundless existence to engage in an ethereal game.
I neither won nor lost, but by the time I came to my senses, It had already left, and I had become what I am now...
It's like an already lit, ever-rising 'sky lantern.' Although I've gained the ability to look down upon the earth, I can no longer touch a single blade of grass or tree.
Compared to me, I'm more curious about your existence, Ryn. In the visions I've seen, you had clearly disappeared from the world, so why have you reappeared here?"
Without a second thought, Ryn replied directly, "Because of love."
"Hehe... That's a very fitting answer for you."
Su chuckled softly and handed over a leaf.
"But since you can appear here and have been watching by the World Barrier for so long, you must be like me, no longer able to touch the prime world, right?
This is data I've obtained from studying the current situation for a long time. Although we cannot directly touch the prime world, we can perform some very limited one-way guidance. Only when beings in the prime world awaken and perceive our existence can we establish contact with them, but..."
"Wait, have you misunderstood something?"
Ryn returned the leaf to Su, then walked in front of him so Su could properly observe his condition.
Su observed Ryn carefully again, then exclaimed in astonishment, "Huh!? What! Why do you still have a physical body!"
"Because of love~ By the way, Su, you've been observing the prime world. Can you tell me how much time has passed since I first disappeared?"
"If we're going by the time in the prime world, it's probably only been three days since my death? But that's not important, why do you still have a physical body! If you still... Hey! What are you doing!"
As soon as he heard that only three days had passed, Ryn couldn't wait to dive into the World Barrier, return to St. Freya High School, and see his beloved Kiana and the others.
"Going home... Although only three days have passed here, I've already experienced the natural annihilation of countless stars... I want to go home..."
"But if your physical body is strong enough to roam outside the world, then the prime world won't be able to withstand your arrival!"
"Hmph, Su, you're not the only one who met a great being and received help. I got help from Janna and the others too~"
Ryn proudly squeezed the sphere in his hand. It was a solidified black hole, and inside it were Nana and Kukulkan. They didn't have the ability to cross worlds, so Ryn could only throw them into the black hole and keep them inside his body.
"Don't worry, I'll come back for you when I'm done with my business~ I'm very happy to see you again, but for now, it's goodbye. Bye-bye, Observer Su."
Ryn waved to Su, then passed straight through the World Barrier and returned to the prime world.
Faced with the decisive Ryn, Su was stunned. The light and shadow that formed his image vividly showed a wry, bittersweet expression.
"But the flow of time is different! By the time you're done with your business, who knows if I'll have been waiting here for thousands of years..."