"Mom, please let me go out, just this once. My friend is already waiting for me..."
"Oh darling, didn't you see the sun fade away? I hope you remember our rules... What is it that makes you so rushed?" Said a middle-aged woman sitting on the sofa with her daughter, speaking gently while stroking her hair.
"Please... it's for a group assignment at my friend's house... a school project, Mom." The girl said.
Her mother raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh... if that's the case, ask your father to drive you."
"Eh..." The girl froze, panic rising in her heart. She knew her family's situation well. Her parents were strict and had rules that applied from evening until night; she was not allowed to go out alone. Whenever she went out, she was usually accompanied by her father.
"B-but, Mom..."
"What is it, honey? If you insist on going by yourself, I won't allow it."
"Neither will your father." Her mother added with a gentle smile, though her aura clearly warned the girl not to argue.
The girl had just thought she might still be able to ask her father, but after hearing her mother's words, she had no choice but to give up.
"Huft, okay, Mom..." She let out a sigh, stood up after saying that, and returned to her room.
Back in her room, the girl sent a BBM (Blankberry Message) to a boy:
Me: Babe, my mom didn't allow me. I told you I couldn't... what should I do?
My Bob: Hmm, sweetheart, isn't there another way? Like being a little naughty...
Me: Like what?
My Bob: Try sneaking out through the window. I'm already waiting in the alley next door. I'm afraid of getting caught by your dad, he's still sitting outside.
The girl stared at her boyfriend's message for several seconds. Doubt welled up in her heart, but her impatience to meet him, to be alone together, and to experience it all for the first time slowly overcame her fear.
While fixing her makeup, the girl thought through her plan. She boldly decided to climb out through her bedroom window, sneaking through the backyard so her father wouldn't notice her leaving.
She moved carefully and managed to get out while carrying a small bag. Nimbly, she climbed over the not-too-high fence covered in bushes.
"Ouch..."
As she landed, her body stumbled slightly. A thin scratch appeared on her right arm, but she ignored it. A happy smile bloomed on her face. Without looking back, she quickly ran toward the next alley, heading for her boyfriend.
However, what she didn't know was that a figure stood not far from her, present yet unseen.
"I see a black aura above her head."
"Hmm... the system says that people with a black aura above their heads will experience a bad death. A white aura, on the other hand, means a good death." Kael let out a quiet sigh.
Kael felt conflicted. Previously, he had only been an ordinary person.
Now, little by little, he was beginning to understand supernatural matters. He didn't know whether he had the right to interfere with the order of the universe.
However, he remembered something. The very fact that he had returned to the past was already a violation of that law.
[ The host does not need to worry about anything. The universe is still running as it should. ]
Kael fell silent for a few seconds as he stared at the system screen, then lifted his gaze toward the sky. If the universe worked through cause and effect, then this system was something outside that chain, or perhaps its guarantor.
The system had also stated that he could not change the past, and that what lay before him was merely a visual memory, something that could not be touched or felt.
With that realization, he gradually felt at ease.
Kael glanced back at the girl as she left, carefully observing her steps. From the moment she argued with her mother and ran away, it was the first time in her life she had ignored her parents' prohibition.
"Will be in trouble." Kael shook his head lightly and slowly faded away.
Then the scene shifted to night, around nine o'clock.
The streets were beginning to feel quiet, though cars and motorcycles still passed by occasionally.
A young man could be seen riding a motorcycle, with a girl sitting in the passenger seat, hugging him from behind. They looked absorbed in conversation and laughter.
"Woah, hahaha... please slow down, babe..." the girl said with a small giggle, though fear lingered beneath it.
She grew a little frightened as the speedometer hit 90 km/h and continued climbing.
"Ok ok, I'm sorry... I'm just too excited. You know, babe. This is our first time dating this late into the night, and everything's going smoothly," her boyfriend said. The girl smiled and replied that she was enjoying this precious moment as well.
"Fortunately, babe..." the girl replied with a soft laugh.
"By the way, sometime we should go back to that café again."
"Maybe tomorrow? Hehe, the milk coffee was really good. I liked it a lot," the girl replied with a smile.
"My parents are way too strict with me. I need freedom too. I don't want to be caged by them forever. They keep treating me like a child, even though I'm already grown up." she continued, rolling her eyes.
"Well, you can see for yourself, nothing happened when you went out. I'm the one protecting you. I also don't agree with you being locked up like a bird in a cage, baby." her boyfriend said, tilting his head slightly so she could hear him clearly.
The girl felt happy hearing his words. Just as she was about to respond, she noticed a car approaching from the right, and the traffic light ahead was red in their lane.
She wanted to say something, but her heart was pounding too fast. Her throat felt locked. Of all the words she could have spoken, only one escaped.
"Watch out."
The motorcycle was still moving fast, even though its speed had been reduced.
Fortunately, her boyfriend noticed and reflexively hit the brakes. However, only the front brake worked. The rear brake had long since worn out, leaving almost nothing.
The result...
The motorcycle crashed into the sleek body of the car in front of them.
Both of them were thrown off. Her boyfriend was flung several meters away, his body rolling and slamming against the asphalt multiple times before he lost consciousness.
The girl's fate, however, was far more gruesome. As she was flung through the air, her panicked screams tore through the night.
And—
Bang.
The back of her head struck a promotional pole by the roadside before her body fell back onto the asphalt, dragged slightly backward.
The back of her head was torn open, though not deep enough to reach her brain. Blood poured out heavily. Her arms and legs hung limp, broken beyond any need for confirmation.
Everything happened too fast.
"Huh..."
"Huhuhu... Mom, Dad... it hurts... it hurts."
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Her voice trembled pitifully. Her crying wasn't a scream, but short whimpers that escaped between ragged breaths.
The words were repeated, growing fainter. Every inhale felt like a blade, every exhale accompanied by suppressed moans.
Her body trembled violently, not from cold, but from pain she couldn't put into words.
At the side of the road, Kael heard the girl's sobs, and his chest felt tight. He wasn't cold-blooded. He still had empathy, and he felt sorry for her.
His heart pounded rapidly. Unable to watch any longer, he turned away.
He had witnessed the incident in perfect detail from beginning to end. Nothing had escaped his sight.
Suddenly, the surroundings shifted again. The scene before him distorted, then slowly transitioned, as if the world itself folded and receded. Kael felt a sensation as though his soul had just moved into another space.
...
"Huh..." Kael let out a breath of relief.
The memory faded, and Kael returned to the real world. Time had not changed at all, as if what had happened was nothing more than a single breath.
"Please..."
Kael was startled and immediately turned toward the source of the voice out of reflex.
He froze in shock when he saw the ghostly girl. Before, the distance between them had been far, but now she stood to his right, only a few meters away. Yet her voice felt incredibly close.
Her voice sounded human, not frightening. It was just low, with a hollow undertone.
Kael immediately looked forward, took a deep breath, and suppressed his fear. He muttered softly, "I can't help you..."
Then he forced himself to step forward, his fingers gripping the strap of his bag tightly, not daring to look to the right.
"Please help me.., I only want to apologize to my mother and father..."
Kael stopped again, inhaled deeply, and finally mustered the courage to turn toward the ghostly girl.
Her head was lowered, her expression depressed.
Kael's emotions had become sharper since gaining inner insight. He wanted to ignore her and avoid getting involved.
But his mind refused to stay silent. Wasn't every human born with their own line of fate?
Some walk a path of abundance, some grow up in scarcity. Some lives are made easy, while others must pay for everything with pain.
It all seemed to have been written long before they ever had the chance to choose.
As long as it was within his ability and didn't bring trouble upon himself, he had no reason to refuse.
And Kael could feel the greatest regret lingering within the ghost, regret toward her parents.
That feeling was so clear that Kael understood it without explanation. He knew that pain, because deep in his heart, he loved his own mother dearly as well.
Kael let out a sigh.
"Fine, tell me how I can help. But I won't do anything that involves staying at a grave for seven days and seven nights." Kael said, adding a small joke at the end to ease the tension.
The ghostly girl began to speak.
The moment he heard her words, Kael reflexively clenched his teeth, as if holding something back within his chest.