Epilogue

[Host Cen Lingqiu, mission assessment in progress… Result: Mission failed.]

[Plot triggered, emotional storyline completed successfully, female lead's love interest identified as Cen Lingqiu. Character malfunction, reporting to the Detection Center.]

The cold mechanical voice of the system rang in Cen Lingqiu's ears. Ever since she had woken up, she had been in a daze, as if living in a dream she never wanted to wake up from.

She finally made her way to the system center today, wanting to negotiate terms. However, before she could discuss anything, the system had already assessed her mission results.

As expected, she had failed again.

She understood the first part, but the latter half of the message left her confused.

Before she could process it, System Seven spoke up excitedly, [Lingqiu, this is great! Your wish has come true.]

"What?"

The system explained.

Originally, her mission had failed, and the center intended to assign another agent to the world. But at the last minute, the system detected that the emotional storyline for the female lead had been completed.

Since this was a romance-driven novel, the female lead's emotional journey was the core of the plot. Everything was built around her romantic arc.

Initially, with Lin Dong imprisoned, the emotional arc had come to an end. However, the system then detected a confession from the female lead. She had completed her emotional journey, and her love interest turned out to be Cen Lingqiu.

The system couldn't destroy the female lead's emotional bond, as that would violate the world's consciousness. But Cen Lingqiu, being an outsider from the world, wasn't allowed to remain there indefinitely according to the rules.

On one side, there was the world's consciousness; on the other, strict regulations.

The system center pondered the dilemma for a long time before coming up with a solution.

Since Cen Lingqiu hadn't completed the mission, the center decided to allow her to enter the world in her original body and continue the task in Yu Mingjiao's world.

The system was even more excited than she was, saying, [Even though you're being sent to complete the mission, it's really just an excuse for you to live peacefully in that world. This way, the world's balance won't be disrupted, and the regulations won't be broken either. You'll just be there to do your task, but the center has relaxed the requirements.]

[You still need to lower her self-destruction coefficient, but the exact number isn't specified. Which means it's a task that can never truly be completed. As long as the task isn't finished, you'll never return to your original world.]

[You'll stay in Yu Mingjiao's world until the day you die.]

–

Iceland.

Yu Mingjiao wore a black coat, a scarf around her neck—one that Cen Lingqiu had given her. The black sand beach was scattered with sparkling ice.

She sat in her wheelchair, her expression calm and indifferent.

The wind was strong, blowing her long black hair into disarray.

This wasn't her first time in Iceland. Since Cen Lingqiu had left, this was her fourth time coming here.

Every year, she made this journey.

Lin Qiu's body had already been buried. Cen Lingqiu would never return.

She could no longer see that face.

Yu Mingjiao didn't even know why she kept coming back year after year.

Perhaps she still believed in Cen Lingqiu.

After all, Cen Lingqiu had never lied to her.

She had always said she would come back.

Yu Mingjiao told herself this lie every single day.

She no longer experienced hallucinations or heard voices. She ate regularly, worked, and had become a dazzling, glamorous person.

She wanted to be at her best when Cen Lingqiu returned.

Cen Lingqiu had always loved beautiful things.

It seemed like it was going to rain, and the people along the beach hurried back.

Yu Mingjiao's phone rang. It was one of her colleagues.

"Xiao Yu, where are you? We can't find you."

"I'm at the black sand beach."

The colleague sounded surprised. "You're still there? Didn't they bring you back? It's about to rain, and the cars have all left. How are you going to get back?"

Yu Mingjiao didn't respond, feeling the first raindrops.

Her colleague on the other end of the line was panicking. She had accompanied Yu Mingjiao to the event, and if something happened to her, she'd be in deep trouble.

"I just remembered—" her colleague suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "There's a woman on our translation team who also went to the beach. She should still be there. I'll give you her number. Oh, what's her name again…"

Her colleague struggled to remember.

Just then, the rain began to fall harder. Yu Mingjiao had already resigned herself to getting drenched, but in the next moment, a black umbrella appeared above her.

She turned her head.

Her colleague's voice came through the phone.

"Her name is Cen Lingqiu."

"Hello."

The woman before her was dressed in a peacock blue coat, in her thirties, with long, curly black hair casually draped over her chest. Her monolid eyes, thin, light-colored lips, and narrow gaze bore a resemblance to Lin Qiu, though this face was more distant, more aloof.

In her arms was a vibrant bouquet of lisianthus flowers. Her posture was graceful, and there was a faint, gentle smile on her face.

"My name is Cen Lingqiu."

"Ling as in listening, Qiu as in autumn."

"Would you like me to take you home?"

[The End]