(All characters appearing in this book are of legal adult age.)
The Moon Temple, Star-Viewing Terrace.
“Teacher, tomorrow is the Moon’s Rite.”
“Mhm.”
“Yue will finally... come of age tomorrow. Teacher, do you still remember the promise I made to you when I was little?”
“Mhm.”
“Teacher, if the ceremony goes smoothly tomorrow, I’m going to confess.”
“Oh?”
“I’ll say, ‘Please date me.’ You’d better be mentally prepared.”
“Mhm.”
“They say the person who falls in love first loses, so Yue has already suffered a total defeat. After all, from a very, very young age, my world has only ever consisted of you, Teacher...”
“>>>.”
【Fast-forwarding text—】
【“Thank you for being willing to accept me, Teacher. In the past, now, and always...” the girl whispered softly.】
【You and Miaoyue lean against each other in the darkness, recounting every little detail of the past.】
【You turn your palm toward the blood moon in the sky, spreading your fingers as if trying to grasp that moon within your hand.】
【At that moment, Miaoyue’s small hand presses against yours. Between your splayed fingers, her slender ones slide in, and your fingers gently close together, filling the gaps.】
Exquisite CG
【Destined Crown: Miaoyue’s heart defense has been breached. Calculating mission rewards...】
【Obtained Bond Item: Moon’s Vow】
【Destined Crown: Seven Pillars progress (7/7). You have received the reward—Heart of Yin.】
Finally, I’ve finally finished the main storyline?
Hiso, who had been silently skipping through the plot, looked up.
“Teacher, all of this truly feels as beautiful as a dream,” Miaoyue whispered. She wore a sweet smile as her gaze met Hiso’s. “Teacher...”
Before the words could leave her mouth, Hiso interrupted her.
“Then you should just treat it as a dream.”
Miaoyue blinked. “Eh?”
The girl’s body stiffened visibly for a moment. She subconsciously tried to tighten her grip on his hand, but Hiso had already pulled away.
“Since you’ve come of age, this game of playing house ends here. I’m tired.”
Hiso stood up.
“Tea... Teacher?”
“Favorability is maxed, the bond is maxed, and I’ve got the bond item. Naturally, our relationship is over.”
“Wha... What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“Tea—Teacher, what are you saying... Aren’t we a community of shared destiny? Didn’t we agree to be together forever?” Miaoyue’s voice carried a slight tremor. “You—you are clearly the person who treats me best in the whole world!”
“Of course I was the person who treated you best. After all, I had to teleport to the capital every single day to buy flowers for you,” Hiso complained. “You were honestly the hardest one to grind favorability for out of everyone.”
“Wh... Why... Why would you say such mean things? You clearly said... Yue’s favorability was very high...”
“Favorability obviously refers to your feelings for me. I sent you so many gifts, so it’s only natural your favorability is maxed. I never said my favorability for you was maxed as well.”
“Yue... Yue will grow up soon. I’ll be able to help you in your future adventures. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. I beg of you, Teacher, please don’t leave me behind...”
“Go on an adventure with me?”
“Ye... Yes, Yue is actually quite strong...”
“Sorry, Miaoyue,” Hiso said. “You simply don’t have the stats.”
Miaoyue went silent.
She stepped forward, wanting to grab Hiso’s clothes and act spoiled like she used to, hoping to hear him say something like, “I was just joking.” After all, her teacher was someone who loved to play pranks.
But he didn’t.
Hiso pushed her away and turned his back.
Why?
Why, why, why, why, why?
Her mind was a chaotic mess, and her heart throbbed with a piercing pain.
Her feet felt light, completely unable to find their center of gravity.
Despondent, Miaoyue left the Star-Viewing Terrace and walked alone toward her quarters.
Right at that moment...
“Woo—!”
The desolate sound of a horn echoed.
The Solar Cult is invading? Now?
Miaoyue’s eyes widened as she spun around.
Above the temple, blinding gold-red light and pure red light were violently colliding.
Is Teacher fighting?
She immediately turned and ran back.
When she finally burst through the doors of the prayer hall...
Miaoyue’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The floor, which had once been spotless, was now covered in a thick layer of deep red liquid.
Three high-ranking assassins wearing the signature gold-trimmed black robes of the Solar Cult lay on the ground in a triangular formation, their throats precisely slit.
And the man who had always guided her, protected her, and could always flick away any danger with a snap of his fingers, was now kneeling in the center of the corpses.
Several pitch-black spears engraved with solar runes had pierced through his back at an angle, protruding from his chest. The tips of the spears were still dripping with that warm, viscous liquid.
It was his blood.
The blood of a god-like being that Miaoyue thought would never run dry.
“Ah...”
Miaoyue wanted to scream, but her throat could only produce a raspy, choking sound.
She felt her knees go weak, collapsing onto the threshold, before crawling forward on all fours.
“Teacher... Teacher! Hiso!”
She finally reached him and held him.
Hiso’s body was very cold. The chill radiating from his bones made Miaoyue feel a wave of dizziness. That coldness was spreading rapidly, gradually surging through her entire body.
“Cough... Cough... Why... cough, are you back again...”
Hiso’s voice was very faint.
“You really are a... disobedient... bad girl.”
“Teacher, why... You’re my teacher! You’re the Hiso who could clear the Forbidden Labyrinth alone and rescue me from the Solar Temple! These scum... assassins of this level, you could kill them just by moving a finger! Why have you become like this!”
Miaoyue shook her head frantically, reaching out with both hands to plug the bleeding hole in Hiso’s chest.
But she couldn't stop it.
She desperately cast Minor Heal, but the life force within the body she held continued to drain away.
Miaoyue wailed hysterically.
Her vision began to blur, and the world spun incessantly. She even started to suspect this was a low-quality illusion, a scene her teacher had set up to test her.
“Right? Teacher is joking, right? You’ll stand up soon and make fun of how ugly I look when I cry, right?”
She stared fixedly into Hiso’s eyes, trying to find that usual lazy, world-mocking playfulness in those pupils.
But she didn’t find it.
Hiso gave a weak, powerless smile.
He reached out his hand, as if wanting to wipe away her tears.
“Of course... it’s not a joke.”
“Because... for tomorrow’s rite... whew, the day the Moon Saintess comes of age, she needs a massive amount of... power... to baptize her soul.”
“Power of that level... only I could provide...”
“So, before I brought you to the temple... I had already poured almost all of my origin power... into the ritual.”
Hiso’s hand finally landed on Miaoyue’s cheek, but the icy touch made her freeze in place.
“The current me... cough, is just a slightly sturdier... ordinary person. Don’t worry, Teacher won’t die.”
“Just sleep for a bit, and everything will be fine...”
Lies.
All lies.
What he said before was a lie to force her away so she wouldn’t be in danger.
What he was saying now was a lie to comfort her.
Liar.
“Teacher... you idiot... you’re a big liar!”
Miaoyue cried until her heart felt like it was tearing apart. She buried her head in the crook of Hiso’s neck, feeling his body temperature slowly vanishing.
“You lied to me for so long... and you’re still lying to me at the end... I don’t need any rite, I don’t need to become strong, I just want you by my side!”
“Get better, please, get better.”
“Tell me this is just a joke... you liar of a teacher...”
Hiso’s gaze grew increasingly hollow, and his hand fell limply to the floor.
“Sorry... for lying to you... but...”
“The end of my life... was actually quite interesting. Although your... stats are indeed... not high, your personality... I truly... liked it...”
His voice stopped abruptly.
Those eyes, which always carried a faint, indistinct smile, completely lost their focus.
Hiso’s head slumped, resting against Miaoyue’s chest.
Miaoyue held him blankly, seemingly saying something in those final moments.
But Hiso could no longer hear her.
【Main Mission: Vow of the New Moon has failed.】
【Destined Crown: Miaoyue’s Regret: 100%】
【Destined Crown: Miaoyue’s Blackening: 100%】
【Congratulations, you have completed the special achievement: Crescent Moon’s Lament】
【Destined Crown: Miaoyue has gained Trauma: Crescent Moon’s Lament Lv.1.】
【Trauma Effect - Crescent Moon’s Lament Lv.1: If she had never let go of him, what would the result have been? On that night on the Star-Viewing Terrace, Miaoyue cried until she could no longer make a sound.
Since then, those who look up at the moon will inadvertently be tainted by a faint sense of loneliness. Even when sitting with a best friend, they will suddenly feel the surroundings are empty; even when holding a lover’s hand, they will suddenly doubt if they have ever truly been loved. Only when people use physical contact to confirm each other's existence will this sense of loneliness be dispelled.】
〈“I’m sorry... anyone who watches the moon with me will become a little lonely.”〉
【You have died. Do you wish to consume 1 point of Blood Essence to resurrect?】
Death is good. Death is a cool summer night, offering a worry-free, peaceful sleep.
Blue Star, Ideal City District 12-08.
Hiso took off his virtual reality helmet and stretched.
Seven main storylines, all played to the hidden endings of max Regret and max Blackening.
I really am a Galgame master, aren't I?
The part about the Moon’s Rite needing power to baptize the soul was true.
However, with his game character’s stats, he could perform a hundred rites without even breaking a sweat.
《Red Moon》 was a next-generation AAA single-player Galgame currently in its testing phase. As a famous single-player gamer, Hiso had received an invitation to the game. Although Hiso wasn't deeply invested in the Galgame genre, considering the game’s claim that its numerical design and plot were exquisite, plus the fact that he was getting paid, he accepted the invitation to become a tester.
The main quest of this game was to find seven heroines to host the Destined Crowns—essentially breaking the heart defenses of seven heroines to obtain the Heart of Yin, a crucial item for clearing the main story.
The only thing he was dissatisfied with was...
Once a bond mission was completed, the character created by the player could not accept the next bond mission.
To complete the main story, aside from the bond items being soul-bound and retainable, the rest of the account required a “Reincarnation,” a complete stat reset to start over.
Perhaps to the development team, characters have their own lives.
But Hiso had his own ideas.
After spending far more time meticulously studying the game mechanics than he did courting the heroines, he finally successfully found a solution.
First, he would deliberately get caught through an in-game villainous plot quest, then transform his character into a Vampire during a ritual—at the cost of fearing sunlight, garlic, crosses, silver, holy water, holy wafers, wooden stakes, and running water, the character could resurrect after death.
Vampires were truly weak, but luckily Hiso’s stats compensated for that.
In a normal playthrough, dying would trigger a mission failure screen and only allow a reload.
But Hiso, having become a Vampire, could continue playing after a mission failure.
What he had to do was simple—trigger the main quest, max out the heroine’s favorability, get the bond item, complete the soul binding, and then let the main quest fail at the very last step. He would use a death-fleeing tactic to move on to the next heroine’s main quest.
Aside from missing out on the CGs because he didn't finish the heroine's route, there were basically no downsides.
Anyway, the final main quest only looked at the number of bond items. He could just open the full gallery after finishing the first playthrough. At worst, he could make up for it in the second playthrough.
As for grinding the heroines’ Regret and Blackening values, Hiso could only say it was just a convenient byproduct.
If anyone was to blame, blame the fact that a heroine’s Blackening granted titles, and those titles added to his attributes.
Now, with all seven bond items collected, he had obtained the Heart of Yin, one of the keys to the true ending. Next, he just needed to fuse it with the player’s starting item, the Heart of Yang, to open the path to the Inner World.
I’ll grab some dinner and then finish the ending.
Hiso stood up, threw on a jacket, and headed downstairs to a convenience store for dinner.
While crossing the street, he was still considering which female character to bring into the final chapter.
Miaoyue’s intelligence and base mana are very high, but her other stats are too low.
Looking at it that way, is it better to take Shishi, who has the lowest charm but high other attributes and comes with the Rational trait?
Regardless, the charm attribute is pretty useless.
The seven heroines each had their own specialties, but Hiso preferred a heroine who was balanced and well-rounded without any particular specialty.
These current girls simply don't have the stats; taking them along is just a burden.
Right at that moment...
Screeech—!
The ear-piercing sound of brakes rang out. A bewildered Hiso looked toward the sound.
A construction dump truck was charging toward him?
Without slowing down in the slightest, it drove straight toward Hiso, who was standing on the crosswalk.
Thud—!
An irresistible impact.
His vision spun.
Like a torn sack, Hiso slid and tumbled across the ground, traveling a full dozen meters.
“An accident! Someone call an ambulance!”
“Good heavens, that person was thrown so far... is he still alive?”
“Damn, that’s brutal. The guy’s been smashed to pieces.”
Chaotic voices swirled around him, and Hiso’s vision grew hazy.
He coughed violently several times, each cough feeling as though his body was falling apart.
My butt hurts a bit.
Hiso struggled to open his eyes.
Then he saw his own lower half hanging from a tree.
Endless exhaustion swept over his body, and his physical self desperately craved sleep.
But he did not give in.
“Good thing I’m... a sports student.”
Under the horrified gazes of the onlookers, this man, who had only his upper body left, actually managed to shakily prop himself up on the ground. While spitting out fragments of internal organs, he forcibly hauled his upper body upright.
“Cough... cough... ha...”
Hiso wiped the blood from his mouth.
“Tsk, this generation of dump trucks isn't up to par. Thanks to my usual... cough, love for exercise...”
At that moment, he noticed the surrounding scenery suddenly grow dark.
Hiso looked up.
On that unreachable skyline, a massive, destructive, frantically burning sphere was falling toward the city with a grand momentum capable of incinerating the world.
It was a falling meteor.
To be precise, it was a meteor falling right toward his location.
“There’s a second phase?”
Those were Hiso’s final words.
...
Rate on N.U.
