Has school become too boring? I actually skipped school for the first time in the past six months since returning...

Without even saying hello to the teacher or class monitor, I just casually walked away to have some fun!

In the end, is it because I've changed too much, become more introverted than before?

Yukari sister has been desperately trying to find me, but now I don't even know where I am. After walking for a long time, I no longer recognize this place.

"Ahem...ahem, I used to live here with my wife and daughter, but..."

The uncle's face had some nervous wrinkles, squinting his eyes and forcing a smile.

"It seems like this place has been sold, huh?"

The one speaking was a middle-aged man with slightly gray hair. Despite being in front of a luxury car, he exuded an aura of desolation.

As if someone who had hated him used to live here.

"I won't let go, I won't give up... if I could go back to that moment again!"

"Uncle?"

"Huh?"

It seems like he noticed my presence. The uncle appeared to be someone who had suffered deep wounds, just like me.

And somehow, we ended up striking up a conversation.

We randomly found a bar nearby, and the uncle cheerfully said,

"It's on me, drink whatever you want!"

"Sorry, hehe... I'm underage."

"Is that so? That's such a pity..."

The uncle swayed the nearly empty bottle of alcohol, swaying it back and forth as he pursed his lips.

"Alcohol... even though it's not good, it's definitely a good medicine that can make you forget everything!"

The dissolute uncle unintentionally reminded me of Yukari sister.

In the moment I was lost in thought, the uncle poured another large glass of alcohol into his own stomach.

Under the anesthesia of alcohol and sorrow, the tight wrinkles on the uncle's face finally relaxed. At this moment, he opened his heart to me and began to recount his past.

"Ah, I... I used to be born and raised here, and it holds my most...most purest memories. But... it's also the place where my love was buried!"

"I see, knowing that, why did you leave, Uncle?"

I wasn't comforting him; I was just learning a lesson from someone who had experiences that were similar to mine!

The uncle slowly crawled out of his sadness, as if the alcohol hadn't affected him at all, and it only made his mind clearer.

"Young man, I once stayed overseas, endured all the blame alone, but when faced with my wife's worries, I chose to escape. I lied and deceived my family, saying I had a new love and wanted to divorce her..."

As he spoke, with a hint of remorse, he once again emptied the glass of white wine that had just been filled.

"At that time, I was almost unable to stand up overseas. I was deep in debt and afraid they would go after my family! You know, my daughter had just turned eight years old...ugh!"

As he spoke, he unknowingly drank more and more.

His enunciation wasn't as clear as before.

"Ugh...! I... I shouldn't have borne it alone... We're family, but I abandoned my wife... ugh, is this how a family member behaves?"

This time, the uncle was truly drunk. His whole body leaned forward, and eventually he collapsed on the table.

Meanwhile, my mind was filled with thoughts. Is it really because we're family that we should bear it together?

I learned a valuable lesson from him! However, I can't just leave him like this in his current state. He's really causing trouble...

So, I had to take him out of the bar and find a nearby hotel to leave him in.

"Huff...huff...!"

Dragging this nearly 200-pound man to the hotel, I was already exhausted like a pile of mud!

Seeing him sleeping there, drooling all over the place, I had no choice but to give him the room key, gently close the door, and leave.

"Ah, what an amazing guy...his story."

Compared to that man, it seems like I don't have the same level of determination. I just followed my sister's thoughts, but in the end, all the burden fell on me!

Yukari's excellence is like a shadow that I can't get rid of, covering my own soul.

And I still continue to live in my own world, where only the past and present versions of myself coexist.

The me from before her accident stood before me, warning me with a very mocking expression.

"Please stop bothering Yukari. By doing this, you're only holding her back, you..."

"Just shut up, you bastard!!"

I grabbed his collar, trying to lift him up from the ground.

Thud!

But I ended up empty-handed, passing through his transparent figure and falling to the ground.

"You really are stubborn. Do you know how much energy it takes to take care of you?"

"Shut up...just shut up!"

"Enough. Is this all the determination you have? Are you willing to keep running away like this?"

That guy...

I had no grudge against him, why did he push me into an abyss like this?!

Later on, even though the other me disappeared completely, I couldn't accept myself, just like Yukari couldn't forgive me.

But when I think about it...

Right now, all I want is to have a good laugh, it's been a long time since I laughed like that!

"Hehehehe!"

Although I said I wanted to laugh freely, I can't even take a deep breath.

I am indeed a coward, unable to open my heart even to laugh...how could I possibly feel liberated?

I slowly put down my smiling face and wiped the corners of my mouth.

"Give up, it's already too late...really too late."

My eyes were filled with tears, the most I've had in these years, flowing down my cheeks.

Unseasonably heavy rain, with a few snowflakes, started to pour down at this moment...

Although it's not the rainy season, the rain was still pouring heavily. It flowed from my forehead and shoulders, burying me in water.

Soon, I couldn't tell what liquid was clinging to my cheeks anymore. Which ones were raindrops and which ones were...tears?

"At such an important moment, friends are really comforting to the depths of one's soul!"

With a glimmer of hope, I took out my phone from my pocket and a call notification popped up.

I looked at the name on the phone-Yuanhui, and smirked.

"It's true that when you mention someone, they will appear. Hello~!"

"Hey, buddy..."

"It's me, I actually have something to talk to you about. You see~!"

"Hey hey hey, hold on a second. I have something important here..."

Yuanhui, who called me, started speaking seriously.

"Hehehe, it's not a big deal."

"What is it? Hurry up and tell me, don't beat around the bush!"

"Oh, come on, Juxi, you seem especially energetic today. Can you do tomorrow's duty in the afternoon?"

Sigh, just when I haven't resolved my own troubles, now he's adding more to it.

So, I was about to hang up the phone.

"What could you possibly want? Go get it done yourself... I'm hanging up!"

"Hey! Hey... please, wait!"

"What now?"

Impatiently, I picked up the phone and asked him.

It really annoys me to no end. Although I don't feel like listening to his trivial matters, we've been friends since junior high after all.

I heard him casually say the most hurtful words.

"Listen to me first, I have a very important date, so... "

"Got it!"

"Huh?"

He seemed a little surprised that I agreed so easily.

I repeated it emotionlessly, making sure he listened more carefully.

"I will take over your duty, so don't worry and go."

"Hey hey, are you really okay? Your voice doesn't sound like it!"

I said again, "I said it's fine. The date is important, right... with the girl you like."

"Mm, thanks for taking over tomorrow's duty."

"Got it."

I hung up the phone and headed towards the school.

The next chapter of my life will be written by myself, and I will follow my own thoughts without letting the people around me make unnecessary sacrifices.

I am like this, and so is Yukari!

Both of us have lost ourselves on the path of seeking each other.

Even if sometimes we would rather abandon each other, we will bear the heavy responsibility and guilt ourselves!

Years later, we will also regret our foolishness and immaturity, just like that uncle, right?

Perhaps, as Black Monster said, we humans have always been tormented by desires, enduring endless suffering, slowly consumed by the darkness in our hearts.

Finding a warm haven seems so luxurious at this moment!

The only thing we can pursue is the frost-covered forest deep in our nightmares.

Although it was only in a very brief moment, I managed to grasp the light that can never be reached, and from that moment on, I already anticipated it.

Does the future we are in deviate greatly from what we imagined?

Touching my heart, I realized that only undisturbed sighs remained.

The surrounding Jianzhong was completely wiped out in front of me. This doesn't look like the school I'm familiar with!

The tree-lined path that I often walked through in school seemed like transparent crystals suspended in mid-air, as if there was an endless void below, making it a bit dazzling.

"Where is the school?"

Looking at this scene, I was stunned.

But the endless black world was fleeting, and soon colors filled my vision.

Although it was monotonous, there was only a vast expanse of white snow covering the ruins of the school site. Wiping away the thick layer of snow revealed a panoramic view that had gone through several centuries of splendor and serenity, something I had never experienced!

Sister... right, where did my sister go?

Not only my sister, but everyone has vanished. Could it be that this city, or even the entire world, is now just me alone?

In this world, is it really true... true that even the most pitiful despair is no longer present?

Strewn along the streets are fragments so rotten they are unbearable to look at, perhaps once humans, or maybe some kind of animal.

But the dead can only become the past, mere trash that will never be valued.

Facing this empty world, I question myself, almost in a dazed state.

"Have I found the icy forest?"