Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity
Chapter 333: Reversal Refuses, This Life Ends Meaninglessly
"So, let her move into the house, let Jiang Si get familiar with her."
When Keke heard Shion's words, she thought she had misheard them at first.
It wasn't until she refused that the pressure radiating from Teacher Shion made Keke realize.
Teacher was being serious.
"For the time being, Keke, you can stay at Azure Cloud..."
"No way!"
After flat-out refusing Teacher Shion, Keke immediately ran away from the Disaster Control Bureau.
She decided she was cutting ties with Teacher Shion!
Teacher had never cared about her feelings, nor did she give a damn about Keke's own situation.
Letting that Black Keke replace her and live with her big brother—what the hell was she supposed to do then?
But realizing she couldn't beat Teacher Shion, Keke had no choice but to flee first, flee back home, then lock the door from the inside, making absolutely sure that girl who looked exactly like her wouldn't step foot inside!
What she hadn't expected, though, was that Black Keke, Silver Lotus, and An Shiyu had all chased after her.
Silver Lotus was even driving alongside her. "Don't be mad, Keke. Shion said you can stay at home too..."
"That's already my home!"
"Don't be angry, just get in the car... If you piss Shion off, she might forcibly take you away, and that won't end well."
After Silver Lotus coaxed her a bit, Keke reluctantly got into the car.
Only to find that Black Keke was already sitting inside!
For a while, neither side could stand the other, and no one spoke.
Until snowflakes began to fall over Beihai, suddenly making Black Keke all poetic again. She let out a sigh:
"I am an old acquaintance of rain and snow."
"I'm ninety years old now."
"Rain and snow have stared me to death."
"And I've stared them to death too."
Keke rolled her eyes beside her. "Oh, putting on airs now, are we? As if I don't know you—other than romance comics, you've barely read any real books!"
"Nonono." Black Keke wagged her finger. "Wait until you're my age, then you'll understand."
"Old hag."
"You'll get old too someday, don't be so smug." Black Keke wasn't angry, just said, "When you're as old as me, you'll appreciate the classics. Those comics and web novels can never compare to time-tested masterpieces. By the way, that line I just said came from..."
"Alright, alright, so you know the opening of one classic. Big deal."
Keke's tone was nothing but impatient.
This was the first time she had ever hated someone so much.
And on top of that, now that she knew this woman was the President of the Witch Association, that hatred ran even deeper.
This bitch was indirectly responsible for her parents' death.
Shion, what the hell are you thinking...?
Why should I bring home someone who killed my parents?
Just thinking about it made Keke seethe with anger.
Even the respect and admiration she once had for Teacher Shion faded a little.
To be fair, Keke had originally admired Teacher Shion only because she had saved her. If we're talking about actual feelings—well, okay, there were some.
After all, she had always been her big brother's girlfriend, and Keke had always considered Teacher Shion family. Even though she called her "Teacher" out loud, in her heart, she always saw her as a sister.
That initial admiration, combined with Teacher Shion's close relationship with her brother, had given Teacher Shion a significant place in Keke's heart.
But now, if you stripped away that closeness with her brother...
Keke realized that Teacher Shion might not be all that important?
Sure, as a teacher and someone she looked up to, she still held some weight in Keke's heart.
But if Keke had to choose between Teacher Shion and her big brother, she wouldn't even need to think.
No one was more important than her family.
Not even Teacher Shion.
At the end of the day, Jiang Si meant more to her than their actual father—or rather, ever since she was little, their relationship had been more like father and daughter.
Meanwhile, her actual father had felt more like a brother to her.
Choosing between parents and an idol might be a tough decision for some people.
But for Keke, it was never anything but a mandatory choice with no other answer.
So Keke had absolutely no intention of letting this bitch move into her house and cause trouble for her and her brother...
Speaking of which, was her big brother really back? Teacher Shion said he was.
But right now, Keke had decided not to trust Teacher Shion anymore.
"So how many of those god-tier literary openings do you actually remember? Memorize more—might come in handy someday." Black Keke was putting on airs, lecturing her. "Read fewer romance comics, focus on the classics, cultivate your mind..."
"This was the best of times, maybe yesterday. The old fisherman's mother died. Facing the firing squad, he found himself lying in bed transformed into a giant cockroach. And my life's light, my desire's flame—Scarlett O'Hara wasn't beautiful. Speaking of the grand trends of the world, all unhappy families are a pile of absurd nonsense. When the clock struck thirteen, a wealthy bachelor had to marry seven women to become Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov's third son. But then I realized there was only a spoonful of coffee left in the jar, so I packed my bags and walked to the window, watching the ship sail across the Indian Ocean. It was an unbearably hot evening; we were in the study hall when the principal walked in and said, 'I am a cat.' Finally, I realized there was only one kind of heroism in the world. Three hundred forty-eight years, six months, and nineteen days ago, I had already grown old. But then a hotter, shorter summer began, and going out for a walk was out of the question..."
Even Silver Lotus was stunned. "Keke, you've mixed up all those openings."
Keke, who had just rattled off a huge string of quotes without missing a beat, said expressionlessly:
"Mom and Dad used to drone this stuff into my ears every day when I was little."
Then she turned to Black Keke with a deadpan look. "You haven't actually read any of those yourself. Don't think I don't remember."
Black Keke let out a dry laugh. "I'm just helping you reminisce about the past..."
Although their experiences differed slightly, when it came to interacting with their parents, it seemed there wasn't much gap between them.
Black Keke put on a carefree expression, but her eyes were locked onto Silver Lotus the whole time.
It made Silver Lotus feel a bit uncomfortable.
The central tower of the city was already appearing in the distance. Silver Lotus almost stood up as she stomped on the accelerator, speeding up.
She was going to stay at Keke's place this time too, naturally because another sister of Jiang Si had popped up.
She had only just managed to secure the identity of Jiang Si's sister before this, and then she'd been busy with the Disaster Control Bureau, so she hadn't been able to stay at Keke's house.
This time, she had finally brought Keke back, but before she could even move in, this Black Keke suddenly appeared. That sister ecological niche had inexplicably gained another occupant.
It made her feel so redundant...
Although her original goal had been to start from the sister role and gradually build up their relationship, eventually becoming Jiang Si's girlfriend...
If she couldn't reach that goal, it was fine. At least with the sister connection, even if she failed, they wouldn't become strangers.
But then one new enemy after another kept showing up.
What pissed Silver Lotus off the most, though, was definitely this Black Keke.
There were already enough sisters for Jiang Si—her and Keke were enough...
"What's with that look?" Black Keke's tone turned soft and pleading the moment she faced Silver Lotus. "Don't hate me so much, okay? I haven't done anything bad. It really makes me sad when you're like this, Yiyi. Please, be a little kinder to me, alright?"
Even though Silver Lotus didn't want to listen to her nonsense—especially with Keke right there, she had to stay united with her friend.
But hearing Black Keke's soft, plaintive plea, even with her iron heart, she couldn't help but soften a little. She just stressed:
"Ting, you... your Witch Association really screwed Beihai over back then."
An Shiyu, who had been quiet all along, raised her hand. "The Witch Association's lab... it was really terrifying..."
"I almost died at the captain's hands too," Keke added. "Everyone here was screwed over by your Witch Association."
Black Keke didn't bother hiding her identity as the President of the Witch Association. Facing the accusations, she could only defend herself:
"I already told you, the Witch Association is a franchise system. People buy technology from us; their other action plans are mostly their own decisions. We don't control them... Oh, the Vice President of the New World does. You can go find Jialan. Kill her for all I care—I wouldn't mind."
"That doesn't let you off the hook!"
Far away, Jialan sneezed. She looked ahead at Thousand-Pinweed and smiled bitterly.
Sorry, President. As your close friend, I'm getting out of here tonight...
"Even without me, the Witch Association would still have been born, and it would have been even more troublesome." Black Keke seemed to be organizing something. "The biggest headache of the Witch Association has always been sealed right here with me!"
The car drove quietly toward home. Keke reached out to touch the snowflakes outside.
Sometimes, she felt a bit dazed and strange.
They had followed Teacher Shion up to the heavens beyond, witnessed the universe, seen the larger Chongxu, and glimpsed the bizarre world outside. Sometimes, it made her feel so small.
The world, history, time, life, death...
Back in Chongxu, Keke's mind had been filled with these grand narratives. She had almost forgotten about Beihai.
Because compared to those vast worlds, higher dimensions, and greater spaces, Beihai was utterly insignificant.
And it felt meaningless.
But when she returned to Beihai, the cold snowflakes and the unchanged buildings and scenery pulled Keke back in an instant.
Memories of her brother, of her friends, of the happy times with Mom and Dad—all surged back into her heart.
Making those grand narrative words seem tiny again.
Beihai was still the center of the world.
Because this was her most important home.
After all, they didn't live attached to their environment, but attached to the connections between people...
Staring blankly at the place where her parents had met their end, even though a long time had passed and the scars didn't sting as much anymore, when she opened her mouth, the feeling of tearing was still there:
"If what happened to us is roughly the same, then you must have known when our parents died, right? Why didn't you stop it?"
"There was nothing that could be done about it."
Black Keke said flatly, "When I was eight, my parents died. In an alley. That night, we had just finished watching a movie when we ran into a Disaster Beast. Our parents didn't even leave bodies behind. Later, no one came to hold a funeral for them."
"Compared to me, your parents stayed with you an extra year. You should be grateful."
"Don't make that face. Everyone's going to die sooner or later. Randomly changing the course of fate only causes more deaths."
An Shiyu and Silver Lotus didn't dare to speak. Listening to the two Kekes, both carried thick hostility in their tones.
Like a volcano that could erupt at any moment.
"If it was you as a child, you would never have stood by."
"If you've grown up, you'd make the same choice."
It was like the past version of herself questioning the future, or the future version of herself denying the past.
"I will never accept you. I will never acknowledge you."
"People always grow up and become what they hate." Black Keke said indifferently. "If, after going through so much, you can still make your past self accept you, first you have to ask yourself whether the friends who died along the way were worth it. The other meaning of sticking to your original heart is being completely numb to all the changes and sacrifices around you. You understand that, right?"
The sharp dialogue made the atmosphere in the car even more suffocating than the dust and smoke from Mochi's construction work outside.
Silver Lotus had to speak up. "Say less, both of you."
Keke turned her head away, sulking. Black Keke, meanwhile, kept smiling gently at Silver Lotus. "Alright, whatever you say, Yiyi."
Even though she wanted to side with her friend, the person her friend hated was acting like this, so Silver Lotus couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh.
She could only fall into helpless silence.
"So, what exactly happened back then..." An Shiyu couldn't help but ask quietly. "Senior Mùjǐn self-destructing isn't strange—she was always like that. She couldn't handle the pressure..."
"Who can handle the pressure!? None of us had a choice, okay!?"
Hearing the two arguing just like old times, Black Keke instead showed a nostalgic smile. "Yeah, Senior Mùjǐn would go Full Bloom and fight desperately at the drop of a hat for everyone. She was always talking about wanting to fall in love, but in the end, when she died, she didn't even leave a last word. And she was still a little virgin who had never even held a boy's hand..."
Seeing Keke and Silver Lotus casting pitying looks her way, Mùjǐn immediately shouted: "That's slander! She's slandering me! I definitely held hands with a boy in elementary and middle school!"
"What about high school?"
"In high school, I became a Magical Girl and started fighting. I didn't have time..."
Then Black Keke continued, "But the love manuals Senior Mùjǐn collected—techniques for charming boys, tips for close contact with them—those were pretty good..."
"Wait! Who told you to go through the stuff I had saved on my hard drive!?"
An Shiyu's face went blank. "Huh? Senior had that stuff saved on her computer?"
"Those are! Those are saved for Little An's future happiness! They're absolutely not because I wanted to read them! They were prepared for Little An!"
The noisy, bickering car was filled with a sense of happiness. Black Keke murmured as if in a dream: "Nothing much happened. The world just faced an end that couldn't be solved. Everyone struggled desperately to survive—struggled, struggled—but no matter how hard they tried, it was useless. In the end, everyone died. The world was destroyed. Everything returned to meaningless nothingness."
Black Keke looked at An Shiyu, then at Silver Lotus, her gentleness making both of them afraid to speak.
"I don't have any other dreams or goals. I only exist to save you all. If I can make you survive, I'll do anything. That's why I exist, and that's why I can stand here."
"With Miss Shion here... there shouldn't be too big a problem, right?"
Hearing An Shiyu's question, Black Keke shook her head. "Who knows? The end is always changing."
"Huh?"
An Shiyu wanted to ask more, but the car had already stopped in front of Keke's house.
And a lean, small figure stood right at the door, as if they had been waiting for them to arrive.
As if they had received the news in advance.
Keke was the first to get out of the car. As soon as she did, she ran over and grabbed Jiang Si's arm, pointing at Black Keke:
"Brother, she's the President of the Witch Association! The one who caused Mom and Dad's death!"
Silver Lotus and An Shiyu were both a bit stunned.
They hadn't expected Keke to be so direct, and to hit the main point immediately.
That was quite a skillful complaint, you could say...
Even Jiang Si was briefly taken aback, looking a bit surprised.
After all, from childhood to now, Keke had never tattled to him before.
Even if she went out to play with other kids and got bullied, she'd only come back and secretly wipe her tears by the bed.
He'd have to take her to go settle the score himself.
So Keke suddenly running over to complain genuinely caught Jiang Si off guard.
But after thinking for a moment, he just patted Keke on the head.
Keke, who had been about to keep complaining, was stunned by her brother's unusually affectionate gesture.
She even instinctively wanted to step away from him.
After all, from childhood to now, her brother rarely took the initiative to be this close to her.
But having her brother pat her head made her feel an overwhelming sense of safety.
All the anxiety and unease that had been building up since Black Keke appeared vanished in an instant.
So she just hugged her brother tighter.
"Keke."
The snowflakes fell. Jiang Si finally spoke: "Go back to your room first."
Keke nodded obediently, then hid behind her brother and made a face at Black Keke.
Hmph. Her brother wouldn't care about some random stranger who showed up out of nowhere.
Then she turned and walked back into the house with a light heart.
Jiang Si glanced at An Shiyu and Silver Lotus. "You two go in too."
An Shiyu and Silver Lotus both nodded and obediently went inside.
Black Keke finally got out of the car. Leaning on the door with an amazed expression, she looked at Jiang Si and the girls behind him.
"Wow, impressive. All the girls do whatever you say. Do you pick a concubine every night? Poor Keke, having to live with you. Turning the house into a fuck den must be rough on your little sister."
Jiang Si didn't say anything. He just slowly walked up to her.
Black Keke tilted her head back to look at him. "What?"
Jiang Si slapped her across the face!
Even Keke, who had run to her bedroom to spy, flinched.
That slap was brutal.
Black Keke's head snapped to the side. Her face swelled up instantly, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Just watching it made Keke's cheeks hurt in sympathy.
Thank goodness—her brother had never hit her like that growing up...
"A big brother is like a father." Jiang Si withdrew his hand and looked at her flatly. "You're the Keke from another world. If you grow up crooked, I'll still have to discipline you."
Black Keke didn't get angry. She just covered half her face and licked the blood from her lips.
"Why are you such a dad just like Shion? So full of daddy issues."
Another slap landed on her other cheek.
"Can't speak properly? Apologize."
After getting hit from both sides like a ping-pong ball, Black Keke finally raised both hands in surrender. "I'm sorry. I was just joking earlier."
Jiang Si, who had been about to hit her a third time, finally stopped.
He felt a bit refreshed.
Keke was his own little sister, and she had thin skin. He couldn't really bring himself to hit her.
Even if he was a bit annoyed with her on ordinary days, at most he'd say a few words.
Oppressive education didn't mean you could get physical. If he hurt Keke, he wouldn't be able to answer to his parents.
But with this Black Keke in front of him, he had no such concerns.
All the pent-up frustration from Keke's usual rebelliousness finally found an outlet, and it felt incredibly satisfying.
And Keke, watching from inside the house, was clearly frightened, her face shrinking back.
Kill the chicken to scare the monkey. From now on, Keke would behave herself and stop being such a pain in the ass.
"What do you want from me?"
"To save the world, of course."
Jiang Si sized her up. "Edgelord phase?"
"I come from the future." Black Keke said bluntly. "Of course, the future I come from is a bit different from yours. But the end result is the same. Everyone dies. The world can't escape its end."
"The past carved into the World Tree cannot be changed."
Black Keke blinked. "Huh? You actually know about that?"
Jiang Si frowned. It seemed she couldn't accurately know the information from the frozen timeline [Pseudo-History]?
Otherwise, there was no way she wouldn't know that this was information she herself had told him.
Putting on airs, but in the end, still trash.
"That's not exactly a secret."
"Like hell it isn't! I spent God knows how long with the Magical Girls to uncover that information! It's precisely because of this information that everyone gave up trying to change the unchangeable past, saving a ton of resources and time..."
Black Keke bit her finger. "Tch. You just casually knew it. Doesn't that make everyone's sacrifice feel like a waste?"
"It's not quite that bad."
"Forget it." Black Keke immediately discarded her useless emotions and just continued, "Other than that, any existence recorded by the world—even its future is locked in."
Jiang Si's heart sank.
So there was Predetermined Fate at work here too.
That damn [Causality] was set, [Time] was hard to change, [Fortune] was hard to sustain, [Calamity] was inescapable, [Destiny] was hard, hard, hard, hard... hard to say.
A bunch of Dao Masters, Dao Embryos, Dao Revered, Dao Fruits, Dao Gods, and annual gods were all blocking the path, sealing the heavens and cutting off communication from the Lower Cultivation, weren't they?
Sure enough, as long as you were Upper Cultivation, no matter what species you were, once you grasped that kind of power, the choices you made would converge.
Because it was the safest and most stable approach.
Sealing off the path of ascent for those below...
"So the past and future of every world cannot be changed. They follow the procedure set by the World Tree: birth, destruction... All the struggles and sacrifices of the Magical Girls are just a joke. Within the established process, we're just puppets putting on a meaningless show."
Black Keke closed the car door and walked over to stand beside Jiang Si, scrutinizing him.
"If you really want to change the world, change the predetermined future, we have to find someone who isn't recorded in the World Tree."
"Jiang Si, in my original world, you don't exist."
"I see." Jiang Si nodded, then casually asked back:
"How many times have you restarted?"
Black Keke's movements suddenly froze.