Chapter 49 The Person I Like

Chapter 49: The Person One Likes

Only a tiny sliver of the setting sun remained, struggling to cling to the edge of the sky. Yet, the moon had already made its appearance. Liu Mengchao could not help but raise his head, gazing at the starry sky above him.

The moon and the sun hanging in the sky simultaneously—what a bizarre and magnificent sight it was.

However, Liu Mengchao looked into the distance, but Mei Misaki’s figure did not appear before him.

Jingle bell...

The mobile phone in Liu Mengchao’s pocket suddenly rang.

With a click, the phone flipped open to reveal an unfamiliar number.

Liu Mengchao frowned. He remembered that after fixing his phone, he had not given his number to anyone.

"Hello, this is Liu Mengchao."

"It's me, Mei Misaki."

Mei Misaki’s voice suddenly came through the phone. Liu Mengchao smiled.

"Are you not coming?" Liu Mengchao looked at the surrounding scenery. The offerings in front of Fujioka Misaki’s grave were still neatly placed there—a doll, a pair of twin dolls.

"I’ve made up my mind." There was a pause on the other end of the line before Mei Misaki spoke slowly, "I hope you can come to Yomiyama South Junior High School."

Yomiyama South Junior High School?

Liu Mengchao hesitated, looked at the slowly descending sun in the sky, and unconsciously nodded.

"Wait for me."

The call ended.

Yomiyama South Junior High School was on the other side of Yomiyama Town. Following the Yomi River, which ran straight through Yomiyama, Liu Mengchao walked all the way to the end of the river.

Yomiyama South Junior High School looked no different from Yomiyama North Junior High School, perhaps even slightly smaller. However, none of this was what Liu Mengchao cared about.

As soon as he arrived at the school gates, Liu Mengchao smiled, smiling as he looked at the person standing by the entrance.

A figure was standing in front of Yomiyama South School, smiling and waiting for Liu Mengchao.

"Why did you think of waiting for me here?"

As soon as they met, Liu Mengchao asked eagerly.

Mei Misaki shook her head and smiled.

"This is Misaki's school. Yomiyama South Junior High School." As she spoke, Mei Misaki stood beside Liu Mengchao, looking toward the grand entrance.

It was now the time when school let out, and students trickled out of the school gates in twos and threes.

Suddenly, Mei Misaki’s eyes lit up.

"That's him."

Him?

Liu Mengchao followed the direction of Mei Misaki’s finger and saw a rather gentle-looking young man walking out of the school grounds. He looked quite fair-skinned and scholarly.

"What about him?"

Liu Mengchao turned his head and asked Mei Misaki, who was standing beside him.

Only a smile in response.

Mei Misaki smiled at Liu Mengchao, without answering, and walked straight forward.

The petite Mei Misaki did not originally look like a girl full of courage, but the girl standing before the boy now suddenly gave Liu Mengchao, watching from afar, a sense of towering presence.

"You are..."

The boy who had just emerged from the campus was clearly startled by the girl who had suddenly appeared before him. He stood frozen in place, his gaze filled with a trace of confusion. Had he seen this girl somewhere before? Before he could ask about her identity, the girl spoke first.

"Do you remember Fujioka Misaki?"

Mei Misaki asked.

He froze.

The boy froze completely. Mei Misaki’s words were like opening a window; in the back of his mind, he vaguely remembered having a classmate with that name, but... she seemed to...

"Fujioka Misaki seems to have... already died...?" Although he had heard such rumors, the boy was still somewhat unsure, especially since the girl before him looked almost identical to Fujioka Misaki.

Mei Misaki slowly nodded, the smile on her face quite radiant. Her uncovered red eye stared intently at the boy standing foolishly before her.

"Fujioka Misaki asked me to tell you that she likes you."

Suddenly confronted with a confession, the boy’s face instantly flushed red. However, before he could ask for news about Fujioka Misaki, the girl in front of him had already turned to leave.

Having finished speaking, Mei Misaki didn't wait for the boy to react, turning on her heel and running off, leaving the bewildered boy staring at her retreating back.

What a pretty girl. Was she using this opportunity to confess her feelings to him, using Fujioka Misaki’s name as an excuse?

Just as this romantic fantasy blossomed in the boy's mind, it instantly shattered. Because Mei Misaki walked over to another boy.

To Liu Mengchao's side.

The two exchanged a smile, looking very affectionate. It was just his imagination. The boy sighed, yet a new doubt arose in his heart.

Why would this girl suddenly run over and say those words to him?

"Is it over just like that?"

Liu Mengchao raised an eyebrow, looking at Mei Misaki standing before him and asking.

"It's over." Mei Misaki nodded, removing the white eye patch covering her eye. One green eye and one red eye both gazed at Liu Mengchao, her gaze filled with a sense of nostalgia. "One night, Misaki stayed at my house."

"And then?"

"Then she suddenly asked me if I had someone I liked. I said no at the time, and when I asked Misaki, she said she did," Mei Misaki said, a look of nostalgic reminiscence welling up in her eyes. "A boy from their school—the very one I just spoke to. His name is Ayata Sota. He looks very frail and scholarly, right?"

Mengchao nodded; that boy indeed looked somewhat delicate and weak against the wind.

"However, this boy apparently plays rock music, so he's very popular at their school." Mei Misaki smiled as she said this. "After I came back from Tokyo, there was only one thing left to do: bid farewell to this boy."

"You?"

"Not me, it was my right eye." Mei Misaki pointed to her red eye. "The eye that looked at this world in Fujioka Misaki’s place. Before leaving, shouldn't one say a word or two to the person they secretly loved?"

"You should."

Liu Mengchao raised his head and looked at the setting sun on the horizon.

The sun was about to set, leaving only a final streak of red that had yet to fade from the edge of the sky.

"So, is everything ready?"

"Ready."

Mengchao nodded and said with utmost seriousness, "Then, let me ask you: do you want to know the meaning of living? Do you want to... truly live?"

It should have been a very solemn question, but upon hearing it, Mei Misaki simply smiled, looking at Liu Mengchao with a smile.

After a long while, as the sunset cast its light upon Mei Misaki's face, she slowly spoke.

"I do, whether for myself or for Fujioka Misaki."

In Liu Mengchao’s mind, the voice of Valeria suddenly resounded.

"Detection: A new participant in the Reincarnation Game, Mei Misaki... Notice, notice, one minute remaining until departure from the Another world. Countdown starting now... Fifty-nine seconds..."

Liu Mengchao smiled faintly, looking at Mei Misaki before him. Tiny white light particles gradually emerged around the girl.

"We'll be seeing each other again very soon, Liu Mengchao," Mei Misaki said with a smile. "Just like Liu Ling told me, see you in the Lord God's space."

"Yeah," Liu Mengchao listened to the countdown in his ear and smiled along, "very soon. By the way, you said you didn't have someone you liked back then—what about now?"

"What do you think?"

That was Mei Misaki’s final sentence. As soon as she finished speaking, her figure vanished, returning to the Lord God's space. Only the last lingering glow of the setting sun shone before Liu Mengchao's eyes.

"What do I think?" Liu Mengchao looked at the empty space where Mei Misaki had just been and smiled. "You definitely have someone now."

As he finished speaking, the countdown in his ear reached its end.

Ten,

Nine,

Eight,

Seven,

Six,

...

Two,

One.

"Countdown ended, preparing for transmission..."

Valeria’s voice slowly echoed around Liu Mengchao. Gradually, a white light welled up from before Liu Mengchao, enveloping him bit by bit, until his world once again turned into a patch of pure white.

The world of Another had come to an end.