Chapter 31: The Interrogation Begins

Drip… drop…

The icy drops of water striking the ground roused the unconscious man’s awareness.

He slowly opened his eyes, only for his still-hazy mind to sharpen considerably as a splitting headache erupted.

His face burned with a stinging pain, and his vision remained blurred.

The air itself seemed thick with a faint scent of rust and a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.

“Cough, cough.”

He coughed twice, his breathing more labored than anticipated.

Instinctively, he tried to move, but his limbs met with an even greater sense of restraint.

He strained his neck, which felt almost rusted into place, only to discover he was securely fastened to a metal chair, his hands and feet bound, rendering him immobile.

Cold, unfamiliar walls surrounded him.

Dim light fixtures hung from the ceiling, and the damp air, thick with dust motes dancing in the faint beams, served as a stark reminder that this was hardly a pleasant place.

As his five senses absorbed the immediate surroundings, his memories slowly returned.

He gradually recalled the events that had led him to this predicament.

“Awake?”

A voice, tinged with a hint of weariness, shattered both the silence and his thoughts.

He jerked his head around, a flash of terror in his eyes.

The black-haired girl who had materialized before him instantly brought back the nightmare etched in his mind.

This phantom-like Corrupted (TL Note: A being corrupted by a mysterious power, often possessing supernatural abilities) had attacked him for reasons unknown, and despite his desperate struggle, he had been brutally beaten into unconsciousness, utterly powerless to resist.

Even as he offered explanations and pleaded for mercy, the girl’s gaze remained as cold and indifferent as it was now.

Her face was devoid of any expression, yet her deep violet eyes held a chilling, unsettling glint.

‘Hoo… hoo…’

The young man gritted his teeth, striving to calm himself.

However, the unbearable pain in his head and face kept his thoughts mired in a swamp of confusion, making it impossible to concentrate or make any decisions about his current situation.

Putting aside the sensitive identity and nature of a Corrupted for a moment, his current predicament was, unequivocally, a kidnapping.

“You… uh, cough, what do you want?”

Clearing his throat, he forced out a few words, his voice distinctly trembling.

The feeling of being bound involuntarily conjured violent and bloody images in his mind, and this, coupled with the intractable pain in his body, seared fear deep into his very being.

The girl offered no reply.

Instead, she advanced towards him step by step, her silence pressing down on him.

Her footsteps echoed in the confined space until she stopped a short distance away, looking down at him, seemingly lost in thought.

A trickle of black fluid began to seep from the young man’s wrist.

Logic screamed that even if he transformed into his Corrupted form, he stood no chance against her, let alone of escaping.

The best outcome would be another beating; the worst, he dared not contemplate.

Yet, deep within him, a sliver of desperate hope urged him not to simply surrender like a fish on a chopping block.

After all, the only door in his line of sight was right beside the girl, merely three meters away—a seemingly attainable beacon of freedom.

Unfortunately, his subtle movement was effortlessly detected by her.

Fortunately, however, it finally prompted her to speak.

“I tied you up because I want to treat you as a human being.

If you’re planning any tricks, I won’t hesitate to treat you as one of my own kind.”

At her words, the young man immediately ceased his struggles, retracting his Corrupted abilities.

He harbored no doubt that if he made another move displeasing to her, that fair, slender hand would instantly clench into a fist and smash into his face.

He might even be knocked to the ground, chair and all, and that would undoubtedly be agonizing, just as it was depicted in movies and games.

He instantly deflated like a wilted eggplant, shrinking into himself as he replied, “Don’t… don’t hit me.

Let’s talk.

I’ll listen to whatever you say.”

The girl nodded at his words.

She took two steps back, then pulled a chair from nearby, positioning it directly opposite the young man, about a meter away.

As she sat down, the young man’s gaze dipped slightly.

In her right hand, she twirled a black ballpoint pen with a dexterity that left the young man wide-eyed.

However, considering there was no paper or anything similar for writing visible on her lap or near her, a faint worry began to gnaw at him that the pen might be about to perform a function entirely outside its intended purpose.

“From now on, I will ask you some questions.

I expect you to answer truthfully so we can both save time.

Understood?”

“M-hm, m-hm.”

The young man nodded like a pecking chick, straightening his back, which only served to make his already round belly more prominent.

“Name and age.”

“Wen Qiusheng, seventeen this year.”

“How exactly do you write your name?”

“Wen, as in ‘news’; Qiu, as in ‘autumn’; Sheng, as in ‘life’.”

“Where are you from?”

“I’m a Jihai native.”

“Jihai native…” The girl paused, her eyes slightly lowered as if in thought.

Then, she looked up, scrutinizing the young man once more before continuing, “Jihai City is nearly a thousand kilometers from here.

How did you get here, and why did you come?”

“Uh…”

Upon being asked this question, Wen Qiusheng exhibited clear hesitation, evidently resistant to answering.

“I…”

The young man felt his throat drier and stiffer than ever before, almost unable to swallow the air in his mouth.

The girl’s gaze was like an invisible hand clutching his throat; his secrets might offer momentary relief, but they couldn’t guarantee those hands wouldn’t later tighten their grip on his windpipe with even greater force.

“It’s alright, you can take your time thinking.

We have plenty of it.

If you believe lying or stalling will be effective, feel free to try.

I’m not particularly bothered.”

The girl did not appear aggressive for failing to receive an immediate answer, nor did she resort to any violence.

She remained calmly seated, speaking in an even tone, “As long as you can guarantee you’ll stay put in this chair, I guarantee I won’t lay a hand on you.”

Before Wen Qiusheng’s taut nerves could even begin to relax at the girl’s display of patience, her next words plunged his heart into an icy abyss: “However, until I get what I want, I won’t let you leave this chair.”

As if realizing she hadn’t been entirely clear, she then added, “Whether you want to eat, drink, or use the restroom, it’s out of the question.

If you want to sleep, please do so in this chair.

Until I’m satisfied, you will remain bound to it.”

Wen Qiusheng froze.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t comprehend her words; he simply couldn’t accept them.

The girl’s seemingly benevolent demeanor and apparent compromises were nothing but a facade; he had no choices left.

“You… you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you! Not even a sip of water?!”

Confronted with Wen Qiusheng’s near-frantic expression, the girl merely nodded calmly.

“I once read in a manga that when dealing with a criminal who refuses to confess, you absolutely must not give them a single drop of water.

Otherwise, their words will simply be swallowed along with it.

As for whether you’ll die of dehydration…”

She shook her head, feigning indifference, “In any case, we both know things won’t come to that, don’t we?”

Wen Qiusheng fell silent.

He opened his mouth, intending to speak, but ultimately lowered his head, reverting to his initial quietude, allowing a chaotic battle of thoughts, reason, emotion, and something else entirely to rage within him.

‘This one, she’s a fiend with an extreme mindset, treating life as a mere game.’

After a long moment, he lifted his head again, his chapped lips slightly pursed.

“I… I came with a friend by car.

As for why I came to this city, there’s no particular reason for me personally; I just wasn’t happy at home or school.”

“Unhappy, so you ran away from home to a strange city a thousand kilometers away.

Your initiative is quite remarkable.

And then what?

Did you come here just to waste your days idling between convenience stores and internet cafes until all your money ran out?”

Perhaps it was the casual summation of his life, or the girl’s flippant tone that offended him, or simply the annoyance of being defined with such indifference.

Wen Qiusheng’s shoulders twitched, a flicker of anger and dissatisfaction entering his eyes, and his voice dropped to a lower pitch: “That kind of thing doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Indeed, it doesn’t matter.

No matter how much pain, anger, hatred, or despair you harbor within, it means nothing to me.

The same goes for those who looked down on you, mocked you, and whom you secretly retaliated against.

In others’ eyes, you’re just an unkempt fat guy who sleeps in internet cafes all day, only daring to pull off petty, boring tricks behind their backs, all while feeling smug about it.”

“…”

Ignoring the sound of Wen Qiusheng silently grinding his teeth, the girl continued her interrogation.

“How many of you came to Jinghai City in total?”

“…Three.”

The girl ceased twirling her pen.

Its tip traced a stroke, a line, and another stroke in the air, resembling a triangle.

“Two boys and one girl skipping school together, and you’re the only one left behind.

It seems your relationships aren’t very strong.”

“You…! How did you…?”

The anger on Wen Qiusheng’s face quickly morphed into terror.

He had never mentioned that one of his companions was female, yet the girl before him spoke with absolute certainty, a playful smirk emerging on her face in response to his fright.

Before he could ponder the reason, the girl’s next question was already posed.

“Tell me about your two friends.

Where are they now?”

“…I don’t know.”

“If you contacted them, you should be able to find out where they are, right?”

Wen Qiusheng first nodded with difficulty, then hastily shook his head.

Realizing his response was unclear, he immediately offered an explanation.

“There’s one person I can’t reach right now.

I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing.”

“The reason?”

Wen Qiusheng lowered his head, his voice softening slightly.

“We had a fight.”

“What?”

“I said—” He grew agitated, his legs involuntarily twitching a few times, “I, I had a fight with him, and I deleted his contact information, so I don’t know where he is now.”

The girl blinked, seemingly considering whether to press further on the issue.

After Wen Qiusheng finished speaking, he himself realized that his explanation didn’t quite hold water; merely deleting a contact could easily be undone, provided he still remembered the person’s phone number.

However, the girl’s attention seemed to be entirely elsewhere.

Her subsequent words still struck directly at Wen Qiusheng’s sore spot: “You need help from others, yet you’ve strained your relationship with them, and you’re completely incapable of solving problems independently.

You truly excel at making a mess of your own life.

Perhaps while you’re spending your dwindling savings, your so-called friends have already abandoned you and gone back home.”

“I already told you, my business has nothing to do with any of that! And they wouldn’t abandon me, they—”

Confronted by the girl’s half-smile, the rest of Wen Qiusheng’s sentence caught in his throat.

He felt an urge to vent, yet there was no one before him to direct his frustration towards; everything felt absurd and ridiculous.

In the end, he could only grit his teeth and mutter, “Even without them, I can handle things myself.”

In truth, he didn’t believe he could handle things himself.

Everything was precisely as the girl had said: his life was a complete mess.

Whether in his hometown or here, he saw no hope, no way out, choosing only temporary pleasure to numb himself.

Now, even this brief joy was about to be cut short by reality, and what would he do then?

He often pondered this question, but each time, he would actively interrupt his own thoughts, forcibly severing the path to an answer.

He allowed the chaotic mist to obscure his musings; he couldn’t find an answer, he didn’t want to find an answer, he dared not find an answer, for that answer belonged to tomorrow—a tomorrow where everything remained unclear.

He didn’t want to face tomorrow, that tomorrow where he would have to do something, think something.

“It seems you still don’t have a full grasp of your situation, young man.”

Perhaps it was his conviction that the girl would indeed adhere to her verbal promise not to lay a hand on him, or perhaps the thought of his own miserable life led him to a fit of self-abandonment.

In a surge of irritation, Wen Qiusheng’s demeanor noticeably shifted.

He shook his tightly bound body, displaying his current predicament, while retorting in an unfriendly tone.

“What do you mean I don’t know?

I’m tied up, threatened, unable to control my own life.

No one cares about me, and no one will come to save me.

Isn’t that precisely my situation?”

In response, the girl merely sighed softly.

She rose, placed her hands behind her back, and circled Wen Qiusheng halfway.

Then, unexpectedly, she pressed the ballpoint pen in her hand against his chin, forcing him to look directly at her.

“You… you said you wouldn’t lay a hand on me.”

“Of course.

I merely want you to put that rusted brain of yours to work and think about something.”

“What thing?”

The pen tip traced a path down Wen Qiusheng’s chin, across his taut throat, finally coming to rest on his slightly perspiring chest.

“Think about it: what’s happening in the world outside this room right now?”

“You claim to be human, yet you attacked a Magical Girl who was trying to help you, and you transformed into a Corrupted right in front of her.

How do you think she’ll report everything that happened to the Magic Supervision Department? And how do you think the Magic Supervision Department will deal with you—an extremely dangerous individual who can blend into a crowd yet possesses terrifying power?”

The girl’s voice was exceptionally clear in the small, empty room, drawing Wen Qiusheng’s thoughts to the world outside.

“They will spare no effort to find you.

And when you face them again, your petty tricks won’t pose any effective threat to them.

At that moment, you might honestly choose to surrender, signaling that you pose no danger.

But… do you think they’ll readily believe you?

You’ve already harmed their comrade; this was your own personal decision.

Perhaps the moment they see you, they’ll launch a direct attack without question to eliminate you as a threat.

Can you guarantee your safety then?

I believe you already know the answer yourself.”

Her voice then shifted, seemingly coming from behind Wen Qiusheng, a place representing the unknown and uncertainty, a realm that could only be filled by imagination.

“And even if they genuinely believe you, you’d struggle to return to your former life, wouldn’t you?

I can tell that your control over your Corrupted abilities isn’t yet proficient.

While I don’t know where you acquired this power, I understand you can’t fully master it, much less strip it from yourself.

So… as long as you can’t definitively prove you’re just a harmless ordinary person, you’ll always be an unstable bomb to everyone else.”

The ballpoint pen in the girl’s hand tapped against the ropes binding Wen Qiusheng, urging him to imagine a lifetime spent in such captivity.

Regardless of whether he believed her pronouncements, his now ashen face at least indicated a deeper understanding and concern regarding his current predicament.

What finally shattered his psychological defenses was the girl’s light, almost airy remark in his ear.

“It seems, no matter which path you take, only a dead end awaits you, young man.”

On this early summer night in July, Wen Qiusheng felt a shiver of dread run through him.

He realized, with despair, that perhaps his current situation was not the worst of all possibilities after all.

“These… these are just your side of the story.

It’s useless to scare me; I don’t care at all.”

His slightly trembling legs, however, were far more convincing than the indifference he desperately tried to project onto his face.

“Alright, since you’re so optimistic and confident, there’s only one last thing.”

The girl retrieved the pen and circled back behind him.

Wen Qiusheng felt his bound hands being touched, his fingers pried open, then pressed against something that felt vaguely familiar.

Immediately after, a familiar object appeared before his eyes.

His phone.

In contemporary life, there are myriad ways to obtain information.

You don’t necessarily have to kidnap someone and extract valuable information through torture or coercion.

For instance, Black Mirror (TL Note: A character name, not the TV series) once saw a plot in a TV show where information was indirectly gathered and inferred by sifting through a person’s daily trash.

And if one could get their hands on a phone, which most people carry with them daily, then the target’s life, privacy, social interactions, and so on would be laid bare.

“You… you (TL Note: Original text uses a local dialect expletive, implying strong anger or frustration.)”

“Fingerprint unlock, huh.

Technology brings convenience to life, doesn’t it?”

The girl tapped a few times on his phone, then held the screen about five centimeters from his face.

Once his eyes refocused, he saw the image he least wanted to see.

The girl had opened his chat application, and the screen was currently displaying a chat interface with a user whose contact was saved as ‘Lanlan’.

“Call her, tell her you’re coming to find her, ask her where she is, and then tell her to stay put.”

“I can’t—”

“You two seem to have just had a fight, too.

You wouldn’t want the last impression you leave her with to be one of regret and misunderstanding, would you?”

“You, don’t—”

Before Wen Qiusheng could agree, the girl took the phone away from his face, and then the ringing sound of a call echoed in his ears.

‘♪’

‘——’

‘Don’t pick up, don’t pick up, don’t pick up, please don’t pick up,’ Wen Qiusheng silently pleaded, trying his best to twist his neck away from the phone.

But this only made his posture more uncomfortable, the slightly cold phone pressed against his face leaving him no escape.

The melodious instrumental music lasted for about ten seconds, then came the sound of the call connecting.

The other party didn’t speak immediately, which made Wen Qiusheng feel both relieved and a little pained; it was all because he had messed things up, and the other person must be angry with him right now.

At the girl’s silent urging, Wen Qiusheng hesitated before speaking, “Uh, well… I mean… I’m sorry to call you so late, I have a small favor to ask…”

With every word he struggled to utter, unpleasant imaginings rapidly swelled in his mind.

He couldn’t be sure what would happen if he followed the girl’s instructions, but it would most likely be something bad, something painful, something he wanted to escape at all costs.

Like what he was currently enduring, like the predicament he might face in the future, he didn’t want Lan to experience it too.

Although… he had always hoped to see the same sights as her, walk the same path, spend the same time, and share common topics that would bring her joy.

He had always yearned for that vision; it was his only wish in this wretched reality.

To personally extinguish this hope was undoubtedly painful, to sever this connection was undoubtedly despairing, but—

‘If my life from now on is truly doomed to eternal damnation, then… I absolutely cannot drag her into it too.’

Wen Qiusheng took a deep breath.

The girl beside him watched him expectantly, her violet eyes seeming to hold a unique encouragement that struck his chest, gently tapping on his heart.

“Lan, listen to me—”

At this moment, Wen Qiusheng suppressed all the suspicion, apprehension, and unease in his mind with another, stronger emotion.

This could only last for a moment, but he only needed this one moment of courage.

Straining his throat, using his loudest voice, Wen Qiusheng roared at the person on the other end of the screen: “Run! Get out of here!”

“Immediately grab that guy and run!

Leave this city! Don’t ever come back!”

The impassioned voice softened slightly.

The weakness surging from deep within activated Wen Qiusheng’s tear ducts, but he merely sobbed twice, using his last shred of strength to preserve his final dignity, and uttered his last words.

“Don’t worry about me… just go…”

With a ‘beep,’ the call was mercilessly cut off.

His sacrifice received no response, and the girl, looking disappointed, put away his phone, shaking her head lightly at his lack of cooperation.

“A pity.

I deeply regret your meaningless resistance.”

She did not appear annoyed that her plan had been disrupted.

However, in Wen Qiusheng’s eyes, her gaze was like that of someone looking at a worthless, deceased person.

“I respect your choice.

Since you wish to be a hero, I shall grant you that.”

A pair of somewhat cold hands touched Wen Qiusheng’s nape, the chill seeping through his skin and traveling down his spine to every part of his body.

“Please…”

Large tears squeezed from his eyes, tracing rounded paths down his cheeks, mingling with the fluid overflowing from his nostrils, soaking the front of his shirt.

His body trembled uncontrollably; the oppressive sensation of an unknown death had completely crushed his pitiable nerves.

Even so, he no longer pleaded for himself.

Instead…

“Please, let them go.

I’m the only one who did anything wrong, please…”

After a long moment, through tear-filled eyes, Wen Qiusheng heard the girl’s reply.

“That’s why I said you can’t see your own situation clearly, young man.”

The girl opened the door, leaving her final retreating figure for him to see.

“A corpse tells no tales.”

“…”

After a moment of silence, a strange squirming sound reached the girl’s ears.

Turning her head slightly, she saw the ropes that had bound the human torn to shreds, and a glistening, black, distorted humanoid lunged at her.

“Hmph.”

****

When Black Mirror emerged from the basement unscathed, she saw Rainbow, disguised as a middle-aged woman, sitting on the sofa, thoroughly engrossed in a crosstalk performance on TV.

Noticing Black Mirror, Rainbow pushed a plate of sliced apples towards her.

After a slight hesitation, Black Mirror sat beside her and picked up a fork from the plate, spearing a piece of apple.

The two men on TV, one acting as the straight man and the other as the comedian, delivered punchlines through clever language and gestures, eliciting bursts of laughter from the audience.

Rainbow laughed along, her laughter hearty and robust, full of a common urban charm.

In contrast, Black Mirror found nothing amusing, simply eating her apple in silence.

Pulling two tissues from the coffee table, Rainbow wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, then used another fork from the plate to spear an apple slice, simultaneously bringing up the matter of the basement: “How did our young man perform?”

“He feigned ignorance and refused to cooperate.”

Black Mirror picked up the remote control from the coffee table and pressed several buttons.

The crosstalk program on the screen switched to a surveillance feed, clearly showing Wen Qiusheng lying on the basement floor, his fate unknown.

Seeing Wen Qiusheng’s current miserable state, a touch of heartache appeared on Rainbow’s face.

“I thought that young man seemed quite honest.

Yet you beat him up again.

It’s not good to just leave him on the ground like that to catch a cold.”

“He chose it himself.”

With a crisp chewing sound, the tender fruit was consumed, transforming into nutrients to sustain this body in its continued mischief.

“Isn’t that just you, Little Mirror, intentionally provoking the young man?

I didn’t expect our Little Mirror to have such a mischievous side.

But such a difficult personality will cause trouble when dating in the future.

Auntie still needs to remind you, boys these days prefer straightforward girls.”

To Rainbow’s teasing, Black Mirror merely pressed the remote control buttons, switching back to the crosstalk program.

Incidentally, the crosstalk wasn’t live; after all, what TV station would broadcast such a program late at night?

What was on the screen was merely a replay from the TV box, and her thoughts remained as inscrutable as ever.

However, there was one point Rainbow had made that Black Mirror truly couldn’t refute: in dealing with Wen Qiusheng, she had indeed been a bit ‘mischievous,’ or perhaps, excessive.

Black Mirror retrieved Wen Qiusheng’s phone from her person.

Currently, his phone was running a game app on auto-battle.

This method ensured that the phone wouldn’t go into standby mode even without short periods of interaction, thus eliminating the need for Wen Qiusheng to unlock it—a small trick with no practical value that only wasted extra battery.

Wen Qiusheng had seen his chat interface with that girl and heard the voice call being dialed.

Therefore, he believed the person on the other end of the screen hearing his voice was that girl.

But this was not the case; Black Mirror had deceived him on this point.

The so-called chat interface was merely a screenshot; if one covered the timestamp with a finger, no one would immediately doubt its authenticity.

And although Black Mirror had dialed the voice call in front of Wen Qiusheng, the actual recipient was not the girl, but Rainbow, who was beside her.

By making a brief voice call to the girl beforehand to confirm she used the default ringtone, this simple trick would be very difficult to expose.

Opening the real chat interface, Black Mirror looked at the few messages the girl had sent to this phone.

The most recent conversation record was one that Rainbow had mimicked, adopting Wen Qiusheng’s previous speaking style to induce the other party to meet and provide their location.

Ignoring most of the other party’s emotionally charged messages, the remaining one contained the information she and Rainbow currently needed most.

The day after tomorrow, at seven in the evening, at Juxianghui B1F of Hongqiao West Station, the girl would be waiting for him there.

So, even before Wen Qiusheng woke up, he had already lost his greatest utility.

Sifting through his old chat records also revealed that the guy genuinely knew almost nothing, not even how he became a Corrupted, which he had stumbled into in a daze.

“Let’s call it a day.

Although the commotion was a bit large and attracted unnecessary attention, we’ve got the person and the information.

I’ll head back now.”

No longer looking at the slightly irritating messages, Black Mirror handed Wen Qiusheng’s phone to Rainbow.

Rainbow didn’t immediately take the phone; instead, she placed her hand on Black Mirror’s, gently gripping her wrist just before the girl instinctively recoiled.

“It’s so dangerous for a girl to go home so late.

Why don’t you stay over at Auntie’s tonight?”

The middle-aged woman’s face was adorned with a warm smile, even the wrinkles around her eyes softening.

Her kind voice was filled with concern, much like a familiar relative casually inviting you to stay the night.

However, Rainbow’s enthusiastic invitation ultimately received no positive response.

After a terse, “Sorry, I can only sleep in my own bed,” Black Mirror withdrew her hand, leaving the phone in Rainbow’s.

“Auntie’s wontons are excellent.

Stay and try them tomorrow.”

Black Mirror paused her steps, turning slightly.

“What filling?”

“Three-delicacy.

Auntie promises to put in big shrimp.”

“Then never mind.

I hate shrimp.”

With that, after a long ‘Oh’ from behind her, Black Mirror said “Goodnight” and turned the doorknob, stepping out.

“That’s the fifth food I’ve heard our little one doesn’t like.

Being a picky eater isn’t a good habit; you’ll surely be nagged by your mother-in-law later.”

Seeing her efforts to persuade had failed, Rainbow shrugged, muttering like a mother fussing over her children.

Pressing a button on the remote, the screen switched back to the surveillance feed.

“At first, she looked reluctant and bothered, but now she’s actively getting herself involved.”

Stretching her body, which had begun its decline into middle age, Rainbow picked up a red coat from the sofa and headed towards the basement.

“Let’s make sure our young man doesn’t catch a cold.

I wonder… if he likes wontons.”

On the other side, Black Mirror did not immediately return home after leaving, but lingered for a short while nearby.

A streetlamp by the road, emitting a dim yellow light, flickered a few times before falling silent.

This was “Fengya Jiayuan,” a mid-to-high-end residential area in the eastern part of Jinghai City, and one of the few strongholds of Rainbow known to Black Mirror.

Whenever Black Mirror wished to actively find or contact Rainbow, she would come here.

Tonight was such an occasion.

Black Mirror needed a safe and secret space to temporarily detain Wen Qiusheng.

Rainbow could easily provide a suitable venue, and with her presence, there would be no need to worry about the boy escaping—

Given Rainbow’s nature, she couldn’t be entirely trusted.

However, considering the common objective of this operation, Rainbow should not take any unnecessary actions before locating the girl named ‘Lan’… probably.

There were still many things that worried her.

Wen Qiusheng’s subsequent handling, the whereabouts of his two companions, and, most notably, the Magical Girl Polaris, that shorty, who had reappeared before her tonight, actually dared to return in such a state.

Thus, the situation might become far more complicated than she had anticipated.

Deceiving the brain cells that grew increasingly active late at night, Black Mirror closed her eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to dissipate the intertwined and mutually constraining thoughts into the night.

The night sky was a deep, profound curtain, devoid of twinkling stars or a dimly lit moon.

The darkness was as thick as ink, blurring the boundaries between heaven and earth, rendering them indistinguishable.

Few illuminated residences were visible around her; most windows were pitch black.

There was no human sound, no dog barking; even the wind passing through the streets and alleys sounded exceptionally faint.

The unique chill of deep night caressed the sleeping buildings, also prompting the lingering girl to yawn.

Despite not feeling any obvious sleepiness or fatigue as a Corrupted, the thought of having to drag herself to work in just a few hours made her wish she could simply collapse onto a pillow now and sleep indefinitely.

That was why she disliked those so-called youth-themed campus films.

She simply couldn’t appreciate the atmosphere where young people, whether falling in love prematurely, skipping school, or getting into fights, could ultimately be forgiven or fondly remembered with a simple phrase like “youth.”

Because in the end, the troubles they stirred up still had to be resolved by adults late at night on a workday.

However, this was not why she chose to “tease” Wen Qiusheng’s emotions and will in such an excessive way.

She merely, as she said, wanted to make his rusted brain work and think.

To think about his current situation, to think about his purpose, needs, and true desires, to think about the contradictions he created, to think about the consequences of his actions, to think about what else he could do, and what he should do.

Thinking is a great privilege of being human.

Thinking may not ultimately change anything, but thinking itself is a form of change.