[You had worked at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor for many years, met countless spirits, and witnessed the Memory Remnants left behind by the dead.]
[Ghosts could communicate. They held their own consciousness, still bound to this world because of regrets or unresolved hatred, unable to move on.]
[Memory Remnants were different. They were nothing more than the final fragments of memory before a spirit's energy dispersed.]
[They could not speak. They could only repeat the last moments of their life, over and over.]
[All these years, you had been running from the truth.]
[Katarina had lingered far longer than Grandpa Li, yet her energy had grown even weaker.]
[Grandpa Li barely lasted a year. How could Katarina endure any longer?]
[You had been lying to yourself, clinging to false hope just to ease your guilt.]
[With heavy steps, you walked to Katarina's side and sat down beside her.]
[You looked at the longing in her eyes and spoke softly.]
["Katarina, I'm sorry…"]
["Before I left Snezhnaya, I should have found a way to come back and see you again."]
["I was selfish. I only thought about myself."]
["I took it for granted, assuming you would always wait for me."]
["I'm sorry… for making you wait so long…"]
["For letting you hold on to hope until it faded… I'm sorry…"]
[Katarina sat by the door for a long time, from daytime until nightfall.]
[You watched the anticipation in her gaze slowly fade, until her eyes grew hollow.]
[As night fell, she murmured in disappointment, "Kael… he still didn't come back today."]
[I'm here, Katarina…]
[Katarina seemed to sense her end approaching.]
[She lowered her head, her eyes filled with sorrow.]
["Kael, I'm sorry… it looks like I'm going to break my promise. I'm leaving now…"]
["I wonder how that little fool is doing. Still as easy to trick as before?"]
["If he comes back and can't find me, will he be angry…?"]
["I never even told him that… actually, I liked him…"]
["If only I could have grown up with him…"]
[Her body grew more and more transparent. She closed her eyes, accepting her dissolution.]
[You could only watch helplessly as Katarina vanished.]
[Old Director Hu's words echoed in your mind.]
[When the soul scatters completely, it will never be reborn…]
[You finally broke down, crying without restraint.]
[Katarina had waited for you until her last moment. She had thought of you until the end.]
[Yet you had left her behind, alone in that cold, empty house, waiting with a hope that never came.]
["I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"]
[Your voice filled the hollow space, trembling with guilt as tears streamed down your face.]
Kael's own eyes reddened as he read this part of the life simulation.
"System, is there any way to restore Katarina's soul?"
Back in Sensory Mode, he had spent real time with her. The lively, adorable girl was still vivid in his memory.
He didn't want to watch her soul disappear forever.
The System's cold voice echoed in his ear.
[Host, Katarina is not a character from the Genshin storyline. The System cannot use any abilities on her.]
"Why…?" Kael whispered. "Even if she's not from Genshin, she existed in my life. Everything we went through… all of those feelings—they were real…"
[Host, in this life simulation, you have invested far too much emotion in unnecessary individuals, whether they were simulated family members or other non-story characters.]
[You must not forget your original purpose, or the reason the System exists.]
[Do not form attachments to characters who cannot generate energy. It will only harm you.]
Kael knew the System's logic was correct.
But he was not a machine. He wasn't built with a switch to turn off his emotions.
His mother had truly loved him. Katarina had too.
How could he possibly stop himself from caring?
"So every time a life simulation begins, you make me an orphan in some form, and keep my life centered around characters from Genshin… all because you don't want me getting too close to non-story characters?"