In a silent hut, Patchouli sat opposite a maiden dressed in a red and white witch costume. The two fragrant teas of Pen, Fun and Pavilion www.biquge.info are steaming, and the green smoke rises in this cold winter, like clouds and mist.

"Here...... What is it? The magician in the purple pajamas put his hand on the cup and broke the silence first, "I, I should have used the 'Kamiyo. 'Honkai', it should be completely gone. Why, here again? ”

"Why?" The red and white shrine maiden seemed to sigh softly, and seemed to say to herself, "There is infinite unknowns in this world, and no existence can know everything. On the other hand, exploring unknown paths is interesting in itself. ”

The shrine maiden picked up the teacup and sipped the tea, focusing her gaze on Pache Li.

"Where is this? Your heart already has the answer, doesn't it? ”

"I don't need this kind of guessing answer!" Patchouli snapped the teacup and let the hot tea drip down the edge of the table onto her clothes, "I just want to know if I've disappeared!" ”

The next moment, however, the agitated magician softened and slumped on the tatami mat with a sob.

"I, I can go back, right? Certain...... Can you go back...... Back to everyone, back to the head of the regiment...... Right? ”

The shrine maiden raised her hands lightly, and the broken teacup flew back to its original state, as if going back in time.

"Do you really want to go back?"

"Of course, no, I definitely want to go back!" Pache bit her lip and let her teeth pierce her skin, bleeding scarlet blood, "I still have so many things I haven't done, how can I die here!" At the very least, at least get the job done! ”

"I've ...... I don't want people to disappoint me anymore......"

The shrine maiden let out a long sigh and sipped the bitter tea indifferently.

"Now you. I can't see the 'heart' anymore. Well, I'll tell you personally. ”

She put down the teacup and let out a crisp "thump".

"Here is the One, here is the All, here is the 'Being', here is the Non-being—"

"This is Gensokyo."

"Phantom. Gensokyo? Pachuari's eyes widened and she lost her voice in shock, "Impossible, how could it be!" ”

"Why can't it be?" The shrine maiden raised her eyebrows playfully, and Ruyu's fingertips tapped the tabletop, "You are sitting in the 'Hakurei Shrine' and drinking tea with the 'Hakurei Shrine', so why is this not 'Gensokyo'?" ”

"You...... Reimu? Pache felt a wave of vertigo in her brain and exclaimed in disbelief. You're not the Reimu I know at all, and you're not a shrine maiden before. You, who are you! ”

"This generation of shrine maidens is 'Hakurei Reimu', the previous generation of shrine maidens is also 'Hakurei Reimu', and the 'shrine maidens' of all previous generations are 'Hakurei Reimu'. Even if the one who was exiled and sealed away by you in fear, and who was accepted again, and even obtained the 'calamity' of his own shrine, it is still 'Hakurei Reimu'. ”

The corners of Miss Miko's mouth curled in an imperceptible curvature. As if teasingly, he continued: "It's just that I'm the first generation of 'witches'. The one who really walked the world in the name of 'Hakurei Reimu', and also created 'Gensokyo' with Yakumo Murasaki. ”

Patchouli opened her mouth and struggled to spit out a few words.

"Are you...... The first shrine maiden?! ”

The red and white shrine maiden nodded and smiled slightly.

"This is the original Gensokyo?! So I, how did I get here? Patchouli asked urgently. There was a glimmer of hope in my heart.

Perhaps, can you go back?

Perhaps, we will be able to meet everyone again?

Maybe...... Perhaps, I can return to the super red lotus group that I can't forget!

"Why are you here...... Because this is the final resting place for all Gensokkyo residents. The first and last 'Gensokyo'. ”

Patchouli slumped back and sobbed in despair.

"Sleep in peace...... I'm really just delusional......"

Miss Miko didn't answer, but slowly stood up with the round table that had been passed down from generation to generation in the Hakuri family.

"I [know] you,' Pache Riche. Noregi'. ”

With a wave of her hand, the entire shrine vanished without a trace. Outside, there is an endless field, and the grass that has just reached the ankle is everywhere, like a sea of verdant green. In the sky, the dusk sunset slowly sets, but it seems that the sun will never set.

"Not only you, but every Gensokyo resident, I know it. Whether it's their past, or their dreams, or their ambitions...... I know it all. ”

The light of the setting sun reflected on the endless grassland, turning the land into a sea of emerald fire.

"Emotions? Memory? Aspiration? Love? Plaintive? Grieved? Mirth? In my eyes, these are like a book spread out, with no secrets to speak of. Miss Shrine Maiden turned, her red skirt glowing brightly, "Just like you, Patchouli." ”

"Before you entered Gensokyo, you were a magician. But until then? ”

A phantasm suddenly rose from the sea-like grassland.

It was a dilapidated town. Dirty streets, ornate churches; The ragged numb populace, the glamorous noble missionaries...... Like every medieval town, there is no life, no future, and it seems that the meaning of existence is only lost in the long river of history.

In such a town, there is a little girl with a light in her eye.

"Until then, you're just a failed human. failed in the audition of the Holy Maiden, and also exhausted the last vestige of the family wealth. Parents are dead of illness, and relatives are nowhere to be seen—this is you, Patchouli. ”

The phantom shifted, and suddenly turned into a dark basement. There, the little girl held a thick book in her hand, as if she was reading something.

"Because of the hope in your eyes, you were rescued by a passing magician and became her disciple. However, you are not talented enough in magic to become a noble magician, and you can only wander in apprenticeship for the rest of your life—and that's you, Pache Rich. ”

The phantom changes again. This time, the little girl was an adult, but she was still sitting in the dark basement. It was surrounded by profound magic books and powerful magic tools, but only a candle flickered, illuminating only that inch of space.

"You have been discovered by the people of the church. The last resort is to fight. The others have fled, and you are the only one who is still fighting alongside the teacher, even if you are only an apprentice. At the last moment, your teacher used the Philosopher's Stone to spur you into a magician, and the church captured you without being able to move despite the explosion of power, and he took the opportunity to run away without a trace. What sustains you down from the stake. What sustained you to return to this big library, which is not called 'home'? ”

The phantom is constantly changing, but this time it is already in Gensokyo.

"After that, I don't know how many years later, the 'rebellious young moon' of the Scarlett family suddenly found you and forcefully brought you into Gensokyo. Oh, it was a good day for you, at least you had friends. ”

The shrine maiden paused and looked at her with pity.

"But you know what? That 'rebellious young moon' just wanted to find a prop to use to rebel against the family. It was like the sixteenth night when I was young. It's just a pawn that she'll throw away when she's done with it. Even her own sister, Flandrew, was no exception. ”

As soon as the phantom turned, many familiar angels suddenly appeared in the picture. Brünnhilde, Ekonis, Hiyori Kaze, Icarus, Nimfu, Astrea...... The angels who are famous today were only seraphims at that time, and ordinary ones could not be more ordinary. They gathered around the purple-haired and blonde magicians, listening silently.

"The meeting with Nasrad, maybe it was an unexpected surprise, or maybe it was just a 'mistake' by some stupid person. In a word. You've met them. At the instigation of the Rebellious Moon, you and Alice become the angels' spell initiators. He even created the prototype of the 'Angelic Sanctuary' for them. For you, and for many of the residents of Gensokyo, this time was extremely happy, right? Unfortunately, joy is always so short-lived. ”

In the illusion of the illusion, the hideous youkai suddenly rushed into the large underground library. Hordes of angels are torn apart and eaten by youkai. Even now they are alive. And what about the magician? She was powerless to stop it, so she could only drag her badly injured body to the side and weep.

"The youkai of the main battle faction believe that eating angels can greatly increase their strength. Of course, that's what they did. And you? You've tried to block, but you've been badly injured by a move. Because you're just a normal person. The magician of the Seven Dawns—it's still you, Pache Valley. ”

The monster retreated, leaving a mess all over the place. The young girl with the batwing wept and lifted up the magician, whispering in her ear about her mistakes.

"Because of this incident, the 'rebellious young moon' suddenly woke up. Since then, she has become a true 'rebel' of the Scarlett family, and her body is forever fixed at the age of 12 under the curse of the patriarch. 'Forever Red Young Moon', how many people still remember the origin of this title? ”

The shrine maiden shook her head and continued.

"You, Sixteen Nights, Red, and Sister Scarlett witnessed Gensokyo's break with Sinapus. Since then, you and some like-minded residents have been trying to make up for the good past, and what have you gained? ”

The witch sighed softly with a bitter curvature at the corner of her mouth.

"Angel's ...... Revenge. Some of the main battle hawks died, but some of the main and peaceful doves were also killed by the red-eyed angels. Some of your friends are also sad members of the list of the dead. Patchouli, your efforts have not paid off, but have only failed one after another. Because it's still you, Pache the 'loser'. ”

The picture in the phantom suddenly turned to the crystal wall system where Xu Tianshi was.

"You've been through many, many things in this world. From the confusion of the first arrival, to the fear of death. It's not like you didn't save yourself, but that failed; It's not like you didn't think about calling for help, but it still failed. In the end, you are left to lay dying on the side of the road, waiting for death in a silent wail...... Until the demon god Evil Dragon who arrived home suddenly appeared in front of you. ”

The picture is constantly changing, and Patchouli's experience in this world reappears and disappears bit by bit, like a silent scroll.

"For his sake, you have fought against the powerful anti-matter pseudo-gods, but you have no power to fight back; For him, you took charge of the Holy Grail War, but in the middle of the shot, you were cut in the chest by the ripper, and you were seriously wounded and near death; For him, you vomited blood in the Spiral City Fortress to construct the technique, but it was not as good as the sentence 'Super Red Lotus Regiment, all assembled', for him, you sought the way to awaken from all the members of the Primordial Spiral who had awakened, but you still couldn't find your own Primordial Spiral ......"

"For him. You are willing to erase even the traces of your existence, just to complete a mission. The result? Still failed, and finally came to this 'Gensokyo'. 'Pache Rich. That's you, Noregi', an unquestionable, hopeless. There will be no future 'losers'. ”

The shrine maiden looked at Pachouli, who had her head bowed, and told the truth coldly and cruelly.

"Your life is constantly experiencing 'failure', repeating 'failure', and even the root cause is 'failure'. Even if I let you go back, do you want to experience another failure? ”

“…… Fail? Patchouli raised her head sharply, her eyes shining with a crazy and decisive light, "That's right, I've been repeating defeat over and over again. ”

"The Magician's career is good. Whether it's the life of Gensokyo, or the redemption of the Super Red Lotus Regiment—"

"I'm just going further and further down the path of failure."

"Haven't you ever wavered? Haven't you ever thought of giving up? Didn't you ever have the idea of 'ah, so be it'? Yes! ”

The girl stared at the shrine maiden without the slightest waver in her words.

"But so what? Only if you have tried, worked hard, and struggled can you be qualified to say-"

"I failed!"

Not knocked down by the constant failures that keep coming. Just because I still have ...... in my heart

Wish!

Walk on the path of failure, or even go further and further down this path. Just because I don't want to......

Abandon!

In this world where there is no light, it is not swallowed up by darkness, but because there is still a piece of ...... in my heart

Pure Land!

"First shrine maiden, please let me go back! Even if you fail again, even if you don't even have a chance to sleep in Gensokyo next time—"

"I want it too, try again!"

"This is the last chance to sleep. Next time, you will really disappear. The shrine maiden stared into Pache in the eyes, "You know it's impossible, but you want to try?" ”

"If you don't try, how do you know it's impossible!"

Get your feet wet. Maybe there's a chance.

No matter how small the chance of success is, even if you know that you will fail......

So what?

It's just a repetition of the previous experience.

But if you give up this last chance......

Haven't I even been deprived of the possibility of failure!

"I know I'm going to fail, but I want to go back?"

"Even if you fail, you have to go back!"

What are you afraid of?

What else are you afraid of?

Since you are already a "loser", why can't you try again?

Even if it's just once!

Even if...... Just for the last time, too!

"yes, yes, that's right." The shrine maiden sighed and placed a gray irregular boulder in front of Patchouli, "If you still want to pursue 'failure', hold her." ”

Pache looked directly at the stone as if she were looking directly at herself.

The same gloom, the same shoddy, the same everywhere......

Also, just as hard and stubborn.

"Hold your hope, hold your -"

"[Roots]."

[Hope]?

[Roots]?

The past of failure is like a never-ending nightmare.

Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Why, keep trying?

Why, still have nightmares?

Just because, don't want to give up!

Originally......

Am I just looking for that ray of light that doesn't exist anywhere?

It turns out that -

That's where I come from!

"Thank you......"

Pache clung to the boulder and let the water chestnut pierce her palm.

"The First Shrine Maiden ......"

Blood flowed out like an emerald light.

"Thank you......"

The verdant grassland, like a sea of fire, slowly fades away. The breeze blew and swept the corners of the shrine maiden's clothes.

"Gensokyo ......"

The warm smile disappeared along with the emerald green scene, and only the dark space remained the same. Everything before seemed to be an illusion, only the stubborn stone in the girl's palm told her that everything was not a dream.

Maybe it's also a dream, a dream that you can't wake up from?

"Even if there is no way forward, keep going!"

Pache pressed the boulder to her chest hard, and the nine-colored brilliance in her eyes flowed endlessly.

"Even if you keep failing, you should never give up!"

"My prayer, my hope, my roots—"

"Here's my God's name weapon!"

"[Divine Stone. Never wake up from a dream]! (To be continued.) )

PS: (If the future is a dream that you can never wake up from, then why not move forward in this dream?) Afraid of what? Fear of what? And what is more terrible than giving up! ）