She forced herself to stay calm, but her heart was racing faster and faster.

Because the system's alarm in her mind kept sounding: [Affection level dropped to 30... 25...]

What to do?

What on earth happened?

Julian’s expression was cold. He lowered his eyes, pulled the IV needle from the back of his hand, and got out of bed, standing tall: "When you blocked me at my gate that day, my memory became disordered afterward."

"Nina, who are you, and what did you do to me?"

Nina felt as if she had suddenly fallen into an icy river; her limbs grew weak, and her head felt dizzy.

So... in the end, Julian had remembered everything.

But why?

He was just a character in a book; how could he have the power to resist the system?

[Beep!]

[The target’s affection for the Host has dropped to 0! Warning! Warning!]

Nina’s face was pale, as if her spine had been suddenly ripped away, and her whole body slumped in despair.

"I worked so hard for so long... Impossible, this is impossible!"

She suddenly looked up again, her eyes reddened with unwillingness: "Why did you remember? I clearly had the system erase the memories of Clara Ke from your mind! Why do you still remember?"

Julian frowned: "System? What is that?"

Nina truly felt it was absurd.

He didn't even know the system existed, yet he could stand against it.

She grabbed his hand: "Julian, you love me, right? No, you can only love me; I am clearly your destined lover!"

"Say you love me, say you love me..."

Large drops of tears fell from Nina's eyes, not because of sadness, but because the alarm in her mind had disappeared.

At the same time, the progress bar representing Julian’s affection for her turned completely gray!

It was useless.

No matter what she did now, it was useless.

The system’s final announcement sounded at this moment: [Mission failed, preparing to abort. The system will detach from the Host in five seconds.]

"No... don't!"

Nina suddenly stood up and clutched her head: "Don't abort, don't abandon me, I can still do it!"

However, all that echoed in her mind was a cold countdown.

[5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Starting detachment. Detachment successful.]

As the voice faded, Nina's mind became deathly silent.

No matter how hard she screamed at the top of her lungs, no voice responded to her.

It’s over...

Nina felt as if she had been lashed with a whip, and she collapsed to the ground instantly.

Julian watched her inexplicable mumbling and actions, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper: "Nina, who are you talking to? Is it that system?"

Nina shook her head, her eyes vacant: "There is no system anymore... I failed the mission, and it abandoned me."

"I have to stay in this world forever... as a lunatic..."

Chapter 21

The moment the system completely vanished, Nina's thoughts came to a complete standstill.

It was as if she had been frozen by a giant block of ice, unable to think or act any further.

Only one thought remained in her mind: What should she do now?

How could the system abandon her so easily?

Julian had merely remembered; if she just used the memory erasure one more time, he would forget her again.

Then his affection for her would rise once more.

Why couldn't they just give her one more chance?!

Nina clawed at her head, pulling at her hair, muttering to herself incessantly.

That eerie scene made Julian's gaze grow cold.

What he found even stranger were his own changing emotions.

The moment he opened his eyes and saw Nina, he had still felt a sense of affection.

But looking at that face now, he only felt annoyance.

He couldn't even remember why he had been attracted to her in the first place.

That supposedly stunning first impression now seemed like nothing more than a hallucination.

Had he truly ever loved her?

Why did his past feelings for her feel so unreal and ethereal when he looked back on them now?

Julian knew this must be connected to the "System" Nina had mentioned.

And Clara Ke...

He still hadn't found Clara Ke!

Julian bent down and gripped Nina's wrist tightly: "Tell me, what is going on here? Do you know where Clara Ke is?!"

Upon hearing the name Clara Ke, Nina’s vacant eyes flickered.

She then began to murmur again: "That’s right, Clara Ke... it’s all Clara Ke’s fault! If it weren't for her, how could I have failed?"

She reacted like someone suddenly jolted awake from a dream and grabbed Julian back: "Julian, Clara Ke is dead; you will love only me wholeheartedly, right?"

Julian’s face darkened: "What did you say? How do you know she’s dead? Did you do it?!"

Nina burst into laughter: "Of course she would die. She is nothing more than the most insignificant, inconspicuous supporting character in this world. She wanted to snatch a man from me, the female lead—of course she would die!"

Julian froze, vaguely understanding something.

He tightened his grip: "You say 'this world'—are you not a person from here?"

Nina shook him off: "Of course not!"

"This is just a world in a trashy novel. I transmigrated into this body, and I had to accumulate 100 points of your affection to leave... Everything was going so smoothly, so why did you keep remembering Clara Ke?"

"You like her, don't you? But what is so good about her! If you really liked her, why didn't you end up together after all those years?"

"I clearly had the female lead halo, I clearly should have been loved by you to the depths of your bones! I clearly erased your memories of her, so why do you still remember her?"

Nina spoke word for word, each one sounding like a sob, as if they were dripping with blood.

Listening to her incoherent rambling, Julian had largely figured out what was going on.

But he had no heart to investigate further right now. He grasped Nina’s shoulders and shook her hard, trying to wake her up: "Tell me where Clara Ke is! The body the police found at the bottom of the valley that day wasn't hers. Tell me where she is?!"

Nina's consciousness became increasingly chaotic.

She looked at Julian, but her eyes lacked focus; in reality, she couldn't see anything at all.

She shook her head unconsciously: "I don't know... I don't have the system anymore, I don't know anything."

"It was the system that said it would help me get rid of the obstacles, it was the system that made Clara Ke get sick, but it was Clara Ke’s own idea to die... Even if she hadn't fallen to her death, the system wouldn't have let her live."

"Haha... I haven't lost yet. In the end, neither I nor Clara Ke got you—I haven't lost yet!"

Nina broke free from Julian and laughed loudly.

As she laughed, she began to cry again.

Finally, she grabbed Julian’s pant leg: "Tell me, why did you remember? You are just a character in the book, how could you resist the system? It clearly erased your memory!"

Chapter 22

The door to the hospital room was pushed open at that moment.

Several doctors and nurses, sensing something was wrong, had come to see what was happening.

Unexpectedly, they were stunned by the scene before them.

They could only look at Julian: "Dr. Julian, this is..."

Julian lowered his eyes and said coldly, "She is insane; take her to the psychiatric department for an evaluation."

The word "insane" stung Nina. Watching the group of people closing in on her, she flailed her arms and legs in a panic: "I’m not insane, I’m not insane! Let go of me, let me go!"

"Julian, tell me, why on earth is this happening!"

The doctors and nurses pressed Nina onto the hospital bed, tied her down with straps, and wheeled her out of the room.

Her voice grew fainter and fainter down the corridor.

Only when she could no longer be heard did Julian clutch his chest, leaning his arms against the bed to steady himself.

Pain. Intense pain.

Ever since he had that dream, his heart had been wracked with severe agony.

Julian knew nothing of the "system" Nina spoke of.

He didn't even know what kind of systematic force he was fighting against.

He had only felt something was wrong after dreaming of Clara Ke, and dreaming of her telling him that he must forget her.

If it were truly as Nina had said—that he and Clara had little interaction—why would "Clara Ke" emphasize repeatedly in his dream that he must forget her?

Julian found it eerie; the more that invisible force tried to make him forget, the more determined he became to remember.

He watched Clara receding further and further away, yet his feet felt as if they were stuck in a quagmire, unable to move.