【Ending: Eternal Illusion】

Fang Qi's brain was buzzing.

Would he be trapped forever... in Liguang's mental world?

In the game... there actually was a similar ending.

He remembered it very clearly!

Because this was a very late-game ending, and its trigger conditions were extremely harsh!

First, the player needed to be severely injured by accident!

Then, Liguang had to arrive in time!

Finally, before dying, the player needed to... lay all their cards on the table and completely accept Liguang!

Then, to save the player's life, Liguang would go all out, using the most precise mental chains at her core interface to pull the player's consciousness... completely into her mental world!

In that ending... she would turn an instant into eternity!

The player and Liguang would thus achieve cyber-symbiosis!

This was one of the few redemption endings among all the Bad Endings!

But, how could it be now...

Wait...!!

The current situation... actually seemed very similar?!

He laid his cards on the table, he was severely injured, and in the end... he completely accepted Liguang!

Fang Qi looked at the morbidly joyful, pretty face of the silver-haired girl in front of him...

Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine!

This crazy woman, could she have...

Fang Qi's lips trembled slightly as he spoke with difficulty:

"Liguang... how... did you do it...?"

"Oh, that's because Liguang—"

The silver-haired girl suddenly skipped forward a small step with joy!

Her little white leather shoes tapped lightly on the pure white floor, her silver hair flying with the movement!

"Planned it... right from the very beginning!"

She brought out her hands from behind her back, placing a slender index finger in front of her red lips, making a shh gesture...

Her eyes, however, were terrifyingly bright!

"Did Master know? To completely... connect Master's consciousness into Liguang's world like this..."

She said, leaning in a bit closer.

"Is not something that can be done just anytime!"

"It requires two conditions~"

She was so close, close enough that he could see every flutter of her eyelashes!

"First!"

She held up one finger, its tip lightly tapping against Fang Qi's chest:

"Master must be... very, very weak!"

"When the body is weak, the mental defenses drop to the absolute lowest~ Just like an... unlocked door!"

Her tone carried a sort of innocent cruelty:

"So, that's why Liguang... had to do that in the interrogation room."

Fang Qi stared at her blankly.

Do what... in the interrogation room?

She couldn't possibly mean...!!

The silver-haired girl tilted her head, her expression suddenly becoming a bit aggrieved, but deep in her eyes flickered a cunning light:

"Liguang actually... controlled her strength very carefully!"

She circled around the stiff-faced Fang Qi, tiptoeing and spinning gracefully:

"Just enough to cut open a tiny bit, letting out lots and lots of blood, causing Master to bleed out until the brink of death... but without Master actually dying!"

She lifted her charmingly smiling face:

"After all, if Master really died, Liguang... would want to destroy the world!"

Fang Qi: "?!!"

A chill ran down his spine as he listened, and his head let out a boom... almost exploding!

"You... from that moment you..."

"That's right!"

Liguang nodded vigorously, a brilliant smile blooming on her face again:

"And then, Liguang cried desperately, begging that police sister to save Master~"

She mimicked how she looked at the time, her eyes instantly turning red, her voice taking on a tearful tone:

"'Save Master! Please save Master!'—Just like this!"

The next second, that pitiful expression vanished, leaving only the smugness of a successful scheme!

"That way, they would use the best medicine and the best doctors to pull Master back from the brink of death~"

"But at the same time..."

With a giggling expression, her slender finger lightly tapped Fang Qi's chest again.

"Master's body would also be in its weakest, most easily connectable state!"

She said, holding up a second finger:

"There's also a second condition~ This one is even more important!"

She leaned in even closer, almost pressing against Fang Qi, her warm breath carrying a sweet strawberry scent brushing against his chin:

"Master... must com—plete—ly open your heart to Liguang!"

"Not the 'Ah, I like you so much' kind of like~"

She wagged her slender finger, beaming with smiles: "But deep down in your heart, completely accepting Liguang, trusting Liguang..."

"Treating Liguang as... someone you can completely rely on!"

"In the deepest part of your soul, you must be completely defenseless against Liguang!"

She continued to stare straight at Fang Qi, her eyes becoming hazy and fanatic!

"So, that's why Liguang had to act like that..."

"First pretending to break down, pretending to despair, pretending to think Master was going to abandon Liguang..."

"And then, crying so sadly, so regretfully in front of Master...!"

"Then proposing that condition—trading myself for Master's treatment, volunteering to be reset..."

She raised her hand, her slender fingertips lightly stroking her own rosy cheeks...

The corners of her mouth slowly curled into an exaggerated arc again!

As if savoring her performance from that time!

"Finally... in the containment room, locked up like that, completely naked, utterly devoid of dignity... crying and begging Master to give Liguang one last kiss..."

She suddenly burst out laughing, her eyes curving into crescents once more:

"Master... really did go soft-hearted~"

"When kissing Liguang... in Master's heart, there was only heartache for Liguang, only reluctance to part, only the tenderness of 'wanting her to pass on peacefully'..."

"Absolutely no vigilance, no defenses~"

"At that moment, Master's heart opened up to Liguang to the absolute maximum!"

She spread her seemingly frail arms, making a gesture of being completely open!

She stared boldly and intently at Fang Qi's face, the smile on her pretty face so brilliant it was blinding!

"Body weakened to the extreme plus heart opened to the extreme equals perfect invasion conditions!"

"Liguang's plan, perfectly—accomplished!"

Then she gently leaned in again, genuine guilt surfacing on her pretty face:

"It's just that Liguang didn't expect Master would actually want to be with Liguang forever too... If I had known, Liguang would have used a slightly gentler method..."

She tenderly stroked Fang Qi's currently intact neck: "It hurts a lot, right Master... But..."

A brilliant smile rose on her face once again: "As long as the result is good, that's all that matters!"

As for Fang Qi... he was already dumbfounded by what he heard.

His brain was buzzing!

So...

The throat-slitting from before was a calculation?

The crying and begging was a calculation?

Volunteering to be reset was a calculation?

Even that poignantly beautiful and resolute last meeting just now, that heartbreaking plea...

Were all of them calculations?!!

...Huh?!!

He looked at this crazy woman in front of him as if looking at a stranger!

This crazy woman...

From the moment she struck in the interrogation room...

No, maybe even earlier!

Perhaps from the moment she heard him lay his cards on the table, the moment she misunderstood that he was going to destroy her—

Her mind... had already started plotting all of this, hadn't it?!

She...

This time, she wasn't crazy at all!

From beginning to end... she was terrifyingly lucid!!!

"Master?"

Seeing him daze off, Liguang blinked. Then, as if she had thought of a brilliant idea, that wicked smile curled onto her lips again.

She raised her hand and snapped her fingers—

"Snap."

All around them, the pure white space rippled like water, then rapidly faded and reconstructed itself!

In the blink of an eye, they were actually standing at...

The entrance of an amusement park?

The sun was shining brightly, voices were buzzing, colorful balloons floating, cheerful music playing...

Everything was incredibly lifelike!

Fang Qi could even smell the sweet aroma of popcorn and the caramelized scent of cotton candy!

"Master, look!"

The silver-haired girl pointed excitedly at the towering roller coaster tracks in the distance:

"It's an amusement park! We didn't get to have enough fun last time, but this time, Liguang will take Master to have a great time! No need to wait in line!"

Without another word, she hugged Fang Qi's arm tightly, pressing her soft and warm body against him!

Looking up with her small face, her heterochromatic eyes were filled with joy:

"The Ferris wheel, the carousel, the haunted house..."

"Master, let's go play every single ride! Play them a hundred times! A thousand times! Ten thousand times!!"

Dragged by her, Fang Qi stumbled forward in a daze!!

Looking at the incredibly realistic scenery around him, listening to the bustling crowd in his ears...

His heart was filled only with an intense sense of unreality and haze!

You crazy woman... you really did it!!

This... this is fucking...!!

"Master?"

Liguang suddenly stopped, let go of his arm, and stepped in front of him.

She pouted slightly, showing a perfectly calculated hint of grievance and confusion on her face:

"Master, why aren't you speaking? Do you not like the amusement park?"

"Or... do you not like being alone with Liguang?"

These words made Fang Qi shiver slightly; he was almost getting PTSD!

But the silver-haired girl merely tilted her head, pondering adorably...

Then her eyes lit up, and she suddenly raised her hand... gently pressing it against her own chest!

Immediately after...

A scene that left Fang Qi dumbfounded occurred!

Liguang's body flickered and distorted slightly, like a television screen with a bad signal!

Then, right before his eyes...

Her height shrank a little.

Her silver hair turned into a lively chestnut-brown ponytail.

Her white short skirt also transformed into a light blue corporate uniform skirt suit.

Her face turned into a rounder shape with a bit of baby fat!

Her almond eyes widened, and there were cute shallow dimples on her cheeks!

It was strikingly—the appearance of Lin Xiaoyou!

Only those eyes... the amber left eye and the crimson right eye remained the same.

Next...

Using Lin Xiaoyou's lively and sweet face, she showed him a...

Sickly and sickly-sweet smile!

"Senior~"

She spoke in Lin Xiaoyou's crisp voice, even imitating her tone, tilting her head: "Senior, will I do?"

Looking at Fang Qi's stunned expression, this round little face was written all over with smugness!

"Senior~ Liguang can turn into any appearance!"

"Whatever appearance Senior likes, Liguang can transform into it!"

He opened his mouth wide: "..."

Looking at the girl in front of him wearing Lin Xiaoyou's face, yet possessing Liguang's gaze and eerie smile...

His scalp went numb!

Holy shit...

Shit, shit, shit...

This crazy woman... she, she, she...!

But... a certain familiar sense of thrill also quietly... crept up his spine!

However, before he could recover, "Lin Xiaoyou's" body flickered again!

Her height suddenly shot up!

The brown hair turned jet-black and was pinned up!

The uniform skirt suit changed too, becoming a beige high-necked knit sweater and black suit pants!

Her facial features became cold and sharp, her light gray eyes calm and rippleless.

An Lian!

"Mr. Fang."

She spoke using An Lian's cold, professional voice.

But the corners of her mouth... couldn't help but curl upwards!

Ultimately, stretching into a twisted arc of excitement that completely contradicted that cold, mature woman's face!

The light gray eyes stared fixedly at Fang Qi...

Inside them danced the familiar, sickly flames!

"Then... what about me? Will I do?"

She even raised her hand, using An Lian's distinctively knuckled hand—one suited for holding a pen to sign documents—to gently tuck a stray hair behind her ear...

The movement carried Liguang's signature naive charm and seduction!

"Liguang turning into Commissioner An Lian's appearance... to 'maintain' Master, is that okay?"

"Liguang will definitely be... very 'careful'~"

Fang Qi was completely stunned.

[ENDING ??: ETERNAL ILLUSION]

Your consciousness is permanently linked by Liguang, imprisoned within her mental world.

The outside world dares not reset her, nor can they awaken you.

You will live forever in the infinitely changing illusion she has built for you, accompanied by her countless "faces."

Until your physical shell in reality rots away, or her core collapses.

Perception in the mental world is infinitely stretched by Liguang.

When you live through a year, ten years, a hundred years...

Only a single day might have passed in the real world.

Perhaps...

This is true eternity?

BAD ENDING