36 How will I ever forget you?

"We'll have to go to a random world selected by the system... we can't use the Xinghai Space* since this is your first official world..."

But even though Yao Yan explained all of this to Qiu Yue, she seemed to not register her words at all.

"...please."

That's all Qiu Yue would say. For her, right now everything here just reminded her of him. She knew she would have to leave him someday, but how could she have known something like this would happen?

She just clutched the wedding band in her hands like it was a driftwood holding her above water, barely stopping her from drowning.

Yao Yan hurried to the office to get the wedding ring Huo Zi Feng had kept in his desk, but when she looked for it, it was gone. She sighed. He had probably taken it with him on the trip at the very last minute or something.

Since there was nothing else Yao Yan could do to help Qiu Yue right now, she went back to Qiu Yue's place just to see her sitting lifelessly on the bed.

Qiu Yue was clutching the wedding band and the hairpin Huo Zi Feng had given to her as she slowly looked at Yao Yan. There was no emotion present in her eyes. Although she spoke no words, Yao Yan knew what Qiu Yue wanted to ask her.

She nodded, and with difficulty, tried to suppress the pain in her heart seeing Qiu Yue like this.

"You can take the ring and the hairpin Ah Yue..."

Yao Yan took a deep breath and started the process of changing worlds.

"Transfer process commencing."

"Target player Qiu Yue, System no. 00663."

"Anomaly detected. Player Yao Yan transfer process clashing, player isolation transfer protocol initiated."

Even though Qiu Yue could hear the mechanical voice, she wasn't actually listening. When the darkness overcame her in the form of a soothing sleep, she welcomed it.

When Qiu Yue opened her eyes, she was in a different place. Her ears started to ring as she took in the unfamiliar faces and location. Listlessly, she looked around.

There was no difference.

No matter where she went, there were humans, families, couples, happiness… things that reminded her of the future she could have had with Huo Zi Feng. And yet, he, the only person who she had wanted to spend her life with, was gone.

Gone?

Qiu Yue started to feel sick, nauseous at that thought. She'd thought she understood death but now she realized that she only understood the word, not what it would mean for her.

Currently, she stood in something that seemed like those practice rooms she saw idols use. She was the only one in there but right now the white walls and closed doors were suffocating her.

She swallowed heavily, frantically looking around but her eyes were hazy and her head started spinning. But Qiu Yue didn't want to faint here. She couldn't allow herself to do it. She didn't want to show weakness. Not to anyone other than him.

She pulled open the door that she hoped would lead her outside with her unsteady feet. She let the feelings of the original owner's body, the muscle memory... guide her outside.

On the way, she saw many other good-looking people. They all seemed to be actors, musicians, singers, idols, etc. but the only thing they had in common was the disgust in their eyes when they looked at her.

They tried to mask it but Qiu Yue could see it plain as day. Some tried to feign concern, asking her why her face was pale but she didn't have time to waste here. She hurried outside, the cool air should help her stay conscious until she could call Yao Yan.

She reached the outdoor practice arena that seemed to be a part of the overall big campus. She was fortunate because as soon she sat down a wave of nausea hit her. Qiu Yue's head was spinning around and she couldn't hear anything other than the terrible incessant buzzing. But she placed her hands onto the rock bench and held herself steady with sheer willpower.

No matter what, she didn't want to show weakness in front of the others.

Her breathing, although she hadn't even noticed, was very heavy and only after sitting down for some time did she regain some amount of feeling in her senses.

Before she could think about calling Yao Yan she could hear something ringing in her pant pocket, and she took out the phone the original owner of this body used.

"Ah Yue! We might have a problem..."

Yao Yan frowned with anger but didn't let it show in her voice. Things already were going so bad, why did this have to happen?

"The system saw me as a separate host or system-user and used the system protocol to send me half a world away from you. The standard of space and size of this world is the same as your earth but it'll still take at least a day to reach you."

"...en."

Qiu Yue said softly. Of course... she'd always been unlucky. In fact, she couldn't understand why she had thought this could change?

Why had she ever thought she could be happy? She couldn't.

It wasn't meant to be.

She was suited to be the antagonist.

Not the protagonist that was showered in love, favored by everyone. Each and every time she felt that perhaps things could change... that illusion would be shattered.

Maybe... maybe it all had been a dream.

Maybe she hadn't ever met him...

She brushed her hair back with her hands and something glinted in the sun filtering through the rain clouds.

Looking at her hand, she saw that the wedding band she'd chosen for him was on her finger.

She gently slid it off her finger, rubbing it in her hand and swallowing back her tears even as they start to accumulate a heavy weight at the back of her throat.

She had wanted to give this to him.

Ask him to spend the rest of their lives together.

Tell him how much he meant to her. How much he helped her, how without him she'd be lost.

And here she was- lost.

How could she ever forget him?

What would she do with his smile? The warmth within which he held her close to him, his beating heart that was strong and steady like the ocean. His eyes that only looked at her, how he always, always believed in her.

The way he made her feel, when he was with her it was all… alive.

When he was there she could talk to others, look at things differently, confidently walk in front of people and do the things she'd wanted to do.

Qiu Yue couldn't stop the tears. She had never cried so much but at this moment she felt like no amount of tears could help her.

She held the wedding band in her hand, clasped it tightly and cried her heart out.

Some people came outside to see her crying and were shocked to see the ever snobby princess look like this.

Qiu Yue didn't feel an inch of beautiful right now. She just felt broken. Her shoulders shook violently and her throat started to hurt as she cried but the pain in her heart made sure the tears wouldn't stop.

Slowly it started to rain and the water drenched her, seeping into her bones with a chilling cold. With her hair stuck to her body, the rain camouflaged the tears that ran down her cheeks.

But right before her eyes lost sight, her consciousness faded. She felt like someone had wrapped their arms around her and perhaps, it was because her body was too cold but the warmth she felt was very familiar.

•———•

*Xinghai space is an area created by the system where the host can learn skills or spend time in between worlds.

_________________

Right! So next arc, this one will be shorter I think.

Quick notes:

- if it seems rushed, it's for a reason

- if it seems like something was left forgotten, it's for a reason

- other than like grammatical errors and just plain English errors more often than not I do things cos I've planned them in such a wayyyyy so don't ditch :')

- I can't really give reasons, I mean, spoilers! But yeee

- as for whether ml dies every arc... no, at least I don't think so.

- do you guys want a sort of Q&A with our Mc? Gimme your questions xD