"You will kill the one you love most with your own hands~"
As those words faded, the demon's delighted laughter echoed relentlessly, piercing and shrill, as if countless silver needles were stabbing directly into Kafka's brain.
She instinctively covered the left side of her face, a scene flickering incessantly before her eyes.
It was that recurring nightmare.
In the dream, Bai Heng lay in her arms, his vitality fading bit by bit, until finally... his eyes closed forever.
Along with it came a surge of uncontrollable grief, slowly solidifying into a suffocating weight that condensed in her chest, making her gasp for air involuntarily.
"Thwack!"
The sound of a blade piercing flesh abruptly cut through the air, and Kafka's vision suddenly cleared.
Not far ahead, Bai Heng was pulling a long blade—only slightly shorter than his own height—out of a massive eyeball.
"What are you doing up here?" Still dotted with fine beads of sweat, Kafka jogged over and asked.
"Your heart rate just spiked from 97 to 172. I was worried, so I came to check on you."
He showed her a data template on his terminal, explaining in his usual calm tone.
It looked somewhat like a character stats panel from a game.
Not only did it display Kafka's real-time heart rate, but it also had graphs tracking changes in her height and weight over the past week. A small exclamation mark in the upper right corner even reminded her that her recent vitamin intake was insufficient.
Besides that, Kafka could even see bizarre entries like "Interests," "Preferences," and "Recently Enjoyed Foods"...
It sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.
"Uh... a colleague from the organization developed this thing. He's... deeply obsessed with raising 2D characters." Noticing Kafka's strange expression, Bai Heng quickly added an explanation.
Kafka: "..."
'I don't really care who developed it. What I care about is why you're using it on me...'
Kafka didn't voice that thought aloud.
She knew Bai Heng used this oddly nurturing terminal software out of concern. Years of coexistence had taught her that the man before her was somewhat obtuse in matters of emotion.
His methods of caring for others were purely results-oriented.
She turned her gaze to the eyeball nearby, as large as half a grown adult, her expression turning solemn.
So this was the demon that called itself the "Past and Future." Ironic, really—claiming to see the future, yet it never saw its own end coming today.
"Won't this affect the assessment results?" Giving the eyeball a light kick, Kafka asked.
"Nah, this is an unexpected mutant. It doesn't impact the assessment results. Your evaluation was completed the moment you cleared the first wave of demons."
"As for this guy, according to the data, it was transformed from a Memokeeper of the Garden of Recollection, so it seems capable of making some vague predictions about the future. A demon mutant of this level shouldn't have appeared in your assessment, so don't worry."
Bai Heng's tone was as placid as ever.
Yet, it was precisely his calm delivery that made Kafka's heart skip a beat.
She swallowed almost imperceptibly and asked, "So... it really could predict the future?"
"Perhaps. After all, it's one of those from the Garden of Recollection. Such abilities aren't exactly surprising. So, what did it show you?" Bai Heng asked without looking back, busy uploading Kafka's assessment results.
"Nothing..." Kafka suddenly felt as if her throat were being squeezed, but she forced a smile. "Just... my birthday gift for tonight."
"Oh? And what is it?"
"A black coat."
Bai Heng abruptly froze. He looked up at Kafka, then down at the giant eye on the ground.
The next second...
He gave the eyeball a sharp kick, sending it flying like a ball.
Kafka: "..."
'So... did I guess right?'
Watching Kafka's growth and their conversation unfold, everyone in the live stream felt a wave of complex emotions, eager to share their thoughts.
--+--
Stelle: 「Now I can really say I watched my mom grow up!」
March 7th: 「Let's not continue this topic!」
Silver Wolf: 「So... this makeup and outfit were specifically to appear more mature? I always thought it was just Kafka's normal style.」
Firefly: 「Maybe it was for that before, but not anymore...」
Sparkle: 「Are you implying Kafka's gotten old?」
Stelle: 「As far as provoking goes, that attack was pretty weak, wasn't it?」
Kiana:「 Did no one notice that nurturing app in Bai Heng's hands?... It's like he's playing a real-life Kafka raising simulator...」
Keqing: 「But I'm more concerned about that demon's prophecy...」
Ganyu: 「'You will kill the one you love most with your own hands.' The person Lady Kafka loves most... would undoubtedly be Mr. Bai Heng, right?」
Raiden Mei: 「Although their current relationship seems more like family than lovers, the Kafka in the footage does seem to harbor some... distinctive feelings toward Mr. Bai Heng.」
Lumine: 「So... that demon's prophecy... could it be true?」
Black Swan: 「About that, there's actually some room for doubt.」
Black Swan: 「Peering so easily into the future and coveting the past, as that demon in the footage did, is an extraordinary ability even for us Memokeepers.」
Black Swan: 「But possessing such power, it was still killed so effortlessly by Mr. Bai Heng. That casts further doubt on the authenticity of its prophecy. As for the final outcome, there's no need to draw conclusions just yet.」
Fu Xuan: 「Then what about the demon's other claim? That the happiness and family you're experiencing now are shrouded in a layer of falsehood—what does that mean?」
March 7th: 「Could it be that Mr. Bai Heng adopted Kafka with some other motive!」
Silver Wolf: 「To be honest... given how much Bai Heng cares for Kafka, it's hard to imagine him doing anything bad to her...」
Stelle: 「See! I knew it! From the very start, he just wanted to raise himself a wife! All that talk about 'family' is just a pretext for his legally-questionable actions!」
March 7th: 「Suddenly that setup feels weirdly plausible...」
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.