Who hid My Corpse!

"Miss Hewinia... can I ask you a question?"

"Hmm? Sure."

"Why are you willing to be my friend?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're a Golden Sound Player, but I'm just a Copper Sound."

"So what? Being a Player is just a status."

"What else can it be?"

"Idiot, it's being 'human'."

...

Ogg opened his eyes.

It was pitch black in front of him.

If not for the pain on his forehead, he might have thought he was already dead.

He touched his forehead and felt bandages, sticky with what was likely seeping blood.

This wound was wrapped carelessly, as if sloppy, yet also as if... deliberate.

And this made him recall everything, recalling the expression of grief and despair on the male breeder who lunged at him, and the stone that relentlessly struck his head.

Ogg fell into silence.

He still remembered that breeder, because the breeding room was closer to him and the breeder's health was poor, so Ogg had specially looked after him.

He even helped take care of his child at the start of the festival.

But, the child was gone, and he nearly killed Ogg.

The reason for trying to kill Ogg was simply that Ogg, in an attempt to save his child, accidentally disturbed him from listening to the Holy Sound.

...Why did it come to this?

Ogg sat alone in the darkness, feeling profound exhaustion and helplessness.

Just like the leaders had been cursing him these days.

What was the point of what he was doing now?

He tried to save those children but failed.

He tried to help those dying breeders, yet only received their hatred.

The managers said he was foolishly doing pointless things and wished to chase him away immediately.

He stood against everyone else.

Why had the world become like this?

As he thought about this, he soon felt it wasn't right.

The world seemed to be like this from the start, and the Seed District he lived in was like this too.

So... it must be his problem after all.

But why had he become like this?

Ogg's hand slowly reached for the pendant on his chest.

Evidently it was against his heart, yet the pendant was cold, without a trace of warmth.

This made Ogg realize, he hadn't seen Hewinia for a long time. It felt like the last time wasn't two months ago, but a lifetime ago, making all memories of Hewinia seem so unreal.

He even felt that he was about to forget Hewinia's voice.

Since coming here, Ogg had never longed so much to hear Hewinia's voice, as if a person plummeting off a cliff desperately waving his arms, trying to grasp that single rope.

But, is there really another chance?

Ogg clutched the pendant tightly, yet his eyes were grey with despair.

There was no opportunity left, Miss Hewinia was still... hmm?

He suddenly thought of something, and the dimness in his eyes began to flicker again.

The festival!

Right! The festival!

He hadn't heard Miss Hewinia's music yet!

Ogg struggled to get up.

He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, nor if he had missed the Chapters. He could only hope he hadn't.

But his body was too weak, and as soon as he got out of bed, he collapsed onto the ground, almost fainting again.

The room was pitch black, the floor uneven, only a faint light from outside barely illuminating the path ahead.

Ogg crawled from the darkness, inching towards the door.

As if just reaching that place, he could hear Hewinia's voice.

As long as he could hear Hewinia's voice, everything would be better.

Just like the beam of light before him.

The light that shone into the darkness.

Ogg felt as if he crawled half his life just to cover those few meters.

And when he finally crawled out of the room, the scene before him became immortal in his memory.

He finally saw that beam of light.

Not from the moon, nor from any bonfire.

But a towering pillar of light cast onto the earth from the murky sky.

It was clearly far in the distance, yet in Ogg's eyes, it was so vivid, so majestic, as if it were right in front of him.

And beneath that pillar of light were countless kneeling worshippers.

Everyone wished they could bury their heads in the dust, offering their most sincere reverence to this pillar of light.

Because everyone knew where this light came from.

...Holy Sound Master.

As a Player, Ogg naturally understood what this meant.

The Master cast "Her gaze" upon the earth, enjoying the final chapter about to be played for Her.

In the face of this divine power, Ogg nearly forgot why he even crawled out, and involuntarily bowed down, wanting to bury his head in the dust like everyone else.

Just then, a gust of wind rushed over, fluttering the pendant on Ogg's chest.

The pendant tinkled with metallic sounds, not loud, yet incredibly clear to Ogg's ears.

Ogg regained his senses, staring blankly at the small pendant struggling in the gale.

"Miss Hewinia..."

...

"The Lord's light is still so dazzling."

The entire Hailuo Family knelt under the Holy Light, except Ivan Hailuo, who hadn't completely knelt and was slightly awe-inspired and admiring of the distant Holy Light, softly speaking.

"Just like twenty years ago, just one glance makes one want to surrender."