Chapter 326: Script, an Inescapable Scam
“You…”
Tan Han looked at me in disbelief, not expecting such a decisive answer from me.
“Look—asking questions requires some thought. Don’t expect even a shred of compassion from outsiders. Can you really pretend you never asked this question? I don’t think so.”
Seeing Tan Han’s shocked expression, my own demeanor relaxed. I didn’t think that outright rejecting her would send her away, but there were some things I simply couldn’t bring myself to say. However, it was possible for me to educate her a bit.
The dilemma she was facing was something even I found unsolvable. Just think about it—who can pierce through a world woven of lies?
And the people she typically interacted with were just expressing their genuine emotions without any knowledge. This is why the script is the most exquisite director, guiding the protagonists’ development without even calling “cut.”
“So you know, right… Sorry, Xiao Han. There may be some unpleasantness between us going forward. I will find my answers in my own way!”
Faced with my sarcastically educational remarks, Tan Han’s expression shifted from confusion at my initial rejection to a darkening face, and then to determined resolve. In that moment, she underwent too many internal changes.
When she mentioned unpleasantness, she had already made a decision she would never regret, for it was her only breakthrough.
She needed to understand the truth in order to break the current state.
“Such a decisive choice.”
I was also quite surprised by Tan Han’s sudden offensive, but after expressing my initial shock, I quickly caught on.
Even Tan Han, wanting to obtain answers in such a “violent” way, needed to use a spellbook. This was the foundation of her strength and her source of confidence.
“Sorry, I had no choice!”
At this moment, Tan Han had made up her mind. Her guilt and helplessness after taking action were quickly overshadowed by her determination. She only spoke comforting words, but her statement about having no choice was so ambiguous that even Tan Han didn’t know if she was saying it to her opponent or to herself.
In the face of Tan Han’s attack, her burgeoning magical assault didn’t advance an inch the next moment. The fire spell, erupting in intense flames, felt as if it had solidified. The chill overwhelmed Tan Han’s entire body in an instant, and her initially resolute expression gradually transformed into fear.
Fear… of the unknown.
“You see, you’re not as strong as you imagine. In the face of failure, has your heart begun to… fear?” I said, looking at Tan Han standing barely a breath away.
“What… kind of power is this…”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You clearly have such power. Why? Why don’t you take action? Don’t you know what we’re facing? The students from Witch Academy, they face nightmares, face that dream demon. If you had acted sooner, they wouldn’t be in such danger. Do you know how many will d*e this time!”
“Are you done?”
“No!”
“Then keep going and see if you can move me.” I watched as Tan Han erupted in a desperate “no,” and I remained unfazed. However, after those two words escaped her, she felt like a deflated balloon, unable to say anything further.
“It seems you have nothing left to say. As for me… I just want to say, don’t stand on a moral high ground to accuse me. Do you really care about those students? Does their survival genuinely affect you? I don’t think so. With so many people outside Ninglan New City who haven’t found refuge, I didn’t see you going to look for them. Now, Ninglan New City is also unsafe, and the Underground City has become your last retreat. I haven’t seen you bring them all down either. What… time doesn’t allow? Opportunities don’t allow? Those are just excuses that make you feel justified, the same ones you said to me while we were on the road. Come on, doesn’t rephrasing it make it sound different? Accusations have no power over me.”
“I’m just curious… where did the Tan Han of the past go? What I can’t understand is your incompetence. Once, your combat power was similar to mine. Now it seems the same. The difference in magic sources isn’t much, and the gap in spellbooks… doesn’t seem significant either. But why? What is the gap? You have the power to destroy the entire Ninglan New City, yet you don’t act…”
“Aren’t you the same? Haven’t you done nothing either?”
“Yes, but so what? Can’t you tell why I’m saying all this? I’m teaching you how to converse concisely. I know my chat talent is poor, and you surely know this well. I’m teaching you how to communicate with me, efficiently. Let go of that unwillingness in your heart, stop parroting nonsense for others, and just tell me what you want to ask.” I said calmly.
“Earlier, I promised Ninglan Qiuyue I would talk to you, and you said you were discussing things related to yourself. But look at what you’re saying to me? It seems Ninglan Qiuyue didn’t convey all that I had said… If you already had answers in your heart before asking, then don’t ask.”
“Why don’t I act? Why don’t I do anything? I have power, and so do you. The dormant curse has developed to this point, and you still haven’t made any move. Do you care about the innocent people caught in this? No, you only care about the answers you want, using this opportunity to demand them from me.”
Having delivered such a lengthy monologue, I returned to my bed and quietly observed Tan Han.
At this moment, without my power to control her, Tan Han knelt helplessly on the floor.
“There are many things I can’t say to you, due to objective factors.” Seeing her silent, I spoke again.
“Since you’ve chosen to resist fate, the first thing you must learn is to grow. No one will simply tell you anything unless… you have that kind of value.” I stated.
This made me reflect on myself. In Witch Academy, Teacher Ji would share many things with me, Lina would talk to me extensively, and even the Academy Head would discuss many matters with me, as if they didn’t know what was taboo, or perhaps they didn’t care. Maybe this was the benefit gained from demonstrating one’s own value.
“Value… no… no one is a fool. You, Teacher Lina, and even the Academy Head are not fools, nor would they do things without benefit. I must have such value to be able to be manipulated by you. The so-called value you speak of is meaningless, and even… I don’t want it.”
“Because you lack the ability to grasp this value, so you will be a puppet easily manipulated.” I shook my head.
In fact, on some level, Tan Han and I were quite similar; we both bore values that we couldn’t bear.
I was born with Spirit Vision, a Floating World grade Spirit Vision, while Tan Han was a Child of Fortune.
Wasn’t I initially manipulated by Teacher Ji? A single phone call could lead me, willingly, into Witch Academy.
If an ordinary boy became a girl, who would accept that?
Then, as promised by Teacher Ji, I joined her group with the exemption from courses. I was to be a tool on the journey of researching the Great Spellbook. However, what happened next changed my course.
When I began to embrace the Spirit Vision talent I had previously avoided like the plague, the value I showcased gradually increased, and I was swept into competitive matches and exchange competitions under the torrent of the script, where I exhibited even more value.
The ceiling of my value was the total amount of value I bore, and I was gradually gripping that value in my own hands. When this value helped the Academy Head complete that Great Spellbook, it reached the peak of my current life stage.
I had already escaped Teacher Ji’s absolute manipulation because I had mastered the corresponding value. To put it bluntly, I could even switch teachers at any time; after all, there are many teachers who will dig at the walls.
But I wouldn’t do that because I know very well what Teacher Ji means to me. She is a benefactor. She changed my understanding, broadened my horizons, gave me opportunities, and elevated my stage. Although the initial intention may not have been entirely altruistic, what does it matter?
However, at this moment, after surpassing Teacher Ji, I faced the Academy Head. Of the Academy Head, I naturally couldn’t see through, but I could feel the goodwill radiating from her. Regardless of what lay hidden behind this goodwill, when the Academy Head handed me the Great Spellbook in the form of a “trial,” I understood that many things didn’t need to be overly complicated.
I felt as if I had become a piece on the Academy Head’s chessboard, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Because being a piece in someone else’s hands does not only represent being controlled by fate, but also having a support system. What is a support system?
It means as long as I can keep my value intact, that support system is a protective charm that will cost its owner to safeguard me.
Everyone hates benefactors, as they use their meager abilities to obtain results that don’t match their worth, yet everyone wants to become a benefactor.
Isn’t Tan Han the same?
Becoming a Child of Fortune, enjoying the dividends brought by the script, she hasn’t lost her identity as a Child of Fortune. Thus, everything in the script is backed by someone.
But this is where the difference between me and Tan Han lies—Tan Han hasn’t grasped this layer of value of being a Child of Fortune in her own hands.
I still remember hearing from Teacher Ji that Tan Han was very bold, directly asking the Academy for the Omnipotent Spellbook and ultimately settling for something else. That is, her original allocation of magic sources far exceeded that of any new student, along with a vast and high-quality supply of spellbooks, giving her the most primitive accumulation.
This is the proper use of her value.
And then?
Then she went astray, increasingly lured by the bait of power.
The value Tan Han initially grasped traded for raw accumulation, which was how she utilized her own value. But isn’t this also a trap set by others?
Leading her to follow the script.
The difficulties she faced were no longer on the same level as mine.
It is because Tan Han bore the pressure and gaze in such a great environment for me that I could struggle for breathing space.
So… in principle, I should thank Tan Han.
However, as someone on the Academy Head’s side, I should defend the interests of the Academy Head, at least analyzing what benefits her from the information I shared with the Academy Head.
But it certainly isn’t informing Tan Han of the truth.
This is the crux of the matter between us.
But there’s also the question of whether Teacher Lina’s actions represented the Academy Head. After all, the contract was signed by Teacher Lina and me, and the unspoken rules relating to these matters were revealed by Teacher Lina.
From continued contacts, the attitudes of ordinary Extraordinary Witches and someone at the level of the Academy Head toward the script are different.
Tan Han had reached this point in recounting to me. As long as I provided a hint, I could bypass the contract and reveal the truth. This is the charm of communication; contracts are dead, and people are alive. Even if I had signed a contract stating I could not reveal anything, not even hints, practice yields truths—my communication with Sister Bai proves that some hints have exceeded the limits of the contract.
Yet the Academy Head has remained silent until now.
That is where my hesitance lies.
Wasn’t Tan Han a major surprise? Shouldn’t she care?
Or has Tan Han become a dispensable presence now that multiple Child of Fortunes have appeared?
Fights between Fortune Seeds are inherently a life-or-d*ath struggle, and in the end, only one remains. This is what Teacher Ji told me, so… does self-disclosure also count as one of the script’s default screening mechanisms?
These thoughts and pieces of information collide in my mind, but I can’t draw a clear answer.
It can be said that at this moment, both Tan Han and I are equally lost, facing choices without knowing how to decide.
But on the surface, I hold the initiative and the power of speech.
“I have no ability to control my value… What value do I have? Perfect score on the college entrance exam? All these turning points began when I entered Witch Academy. I can’t understand what my value is. Xiao Han… can you tell me?”
“…”
I didn’t answer immediately; instead, I was thinking about how to respond in a way that would suggest something while remaining detached.
But it was evident that I wouldn’t be able to think of such an answer in a short time.
I looked at Tan Han, who seemed almost to be pleading. This was the first time I had seen her show such an expression—facing something she longed for yet succumbing to absolute power, she struggled again in her final moments of unwillingness.
Pitiful yet tragic.
“I can’t explain, but I’m very curious… when did you start having this thought?” I forcibly changed the subject.
After all, as a Child of Fortune, her value holds no significance to me. I can’t empathize to understand something whose value I don’t know.
“When… I lost for the first time… that is, when we fought for the first time.”
“That match, you won.”
“Yeah, Xiao Han, don’t you find it absurd? I won. How ridiculous are those three words?”
“So what?”
“I cannot lose. The belief in winning is rooted deep within me; this is a conclusion drawn from so many battles.”
“But when we fought in the dream world, you didn’t win.”
“True, because no one witnessed it, and no one knows.” Tan Han rebutted again. “Do you remember what I said in the end? Let me win once. Precisely because I said that, I came to understand one thing—that wasn’t what I was pursuing.”
“So at the end of the exchange competition, you admitted defeat.”
“Yeah… that was my most significant act of resistance against fate, but… after that, you vanished, as if you had evaporated from the world.”
“…”
When Tan Han said this, I instinctively wanted to argue that it was a coincidence, but… is there any coincidence related to the script? Maybe my actions were also influenced by the script, merely aligning with my thoughts, and the script nudged me forward.
“Xiao Han… do you know what your biggest flaw is…”
“Flaw?” I looked at Tan Han, who slowly raised her head, surprised that she was counterattacking now.
“Do you remember Fool Village Secret Realm?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Those little ones are called… Fool Dreams. There’s also a bunch of little ones here called Fool Dreams. In the Fool Village Secret Realm, they were troubled by nightmares, and here everyone is troubled by nightmares… now… Fool Village Secret Realm is gone… I have no evidence, but I know that so many coincidences are not mere coincidences…”
“…”
“Not speaking now? It seems I don’t need evidence after all.” Tan Han said.
“Threats are useful but limited. Then, within this small value of threats, what do you want to exchange for from me?” After calming down and thinking for a moment, I replied.
From this perspective, it seems I had nothing to counter.
“Is this the correct way to communicate with you, Xiao Han?”
“It is one of the correct methods.”
“I want to know how big this scam really is…”
“Do you want to escape?”
“If possible.”
“Then it’s not possible. About this big.”
“Thank you…”
“No need to thank me.”
