Chapter 107 - 107 - You've Been Tricked!

Words : 1272 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

"Everyone... what's wrong?" Xin Yu's pupils contracted violently. Seeing everyone trapped in an uncontrollable fit of wild laughter, he immediately sensed that something was amiss. There had to be a problem with the video playing on the phone. Without a moment's hesitation, Xin Yu shattered the phone into dust. At the same time, he tried to use the power of the Void to corrode the laughter that they couldn't stop. But the power of the Void, which had always been invincible—a power that could be considered a near-perfect counter to emotional forces—was utterly overwhelmed when it came up against the sheer joy of everyone's laughter. The laughter even traveled along the energy pathways and began to invade Xin Yu himself, forcing an irrepressible smile onto his own face. However, Xin Yu quickly brought the smile under his own control. The multiple Paths-based energies within him circulated rapidly, swiftly expelling the invading concept... but a very small part of it had nearly caused him to lose control. The situation left Xin Yu drenched in a cold sweat, his face a mask of shock and bewilderment. "Ah! Hello! Hahahaha! Why aren't you laughing along with us? Always keeping a straight face, always pretending to be happy, but that's not real happiness! You have to try laughing with everyone, you know! Only then can you experience the happiness you truly desire!" A voice filled with absurd laughter echoed in his ears. Xin Yu could feel his own mind being corrupted. The smile he had just suppressed reappeared on his face, and he even began to laugh out loud along with the others. He laughed with abandon, laughing as he never had before. He laughed until tears streamed down his face, laughed until he was bent over, but he still couldn't stop the smile, still couldn't control his own expression. He didn't know why, he didn't know what he was doing it for. He just wanted to laugh. "Ahahahaha! At this very moment, can't you feel the purest, most primal joy? Hee hee! Ho ho! Heh heh! Are you happy? I'm happy! Are you delighted? I'm delighted! Do you want to laugh? Of course, I want to laugh too!" "Oh~ my dearest friend, my most loyal and trustworthy friend, ah ha, I've brought you this surprise! Aren't you happy? Aren't you surprised? Isn't it unexpected? Isn't it thrilling!" Xin Yu fought to suppress his own smile, fought to control the expression on his face, but no matter what, he still wanted to laugh. He saw Welt clutching his back as he collapsed to the ground from laughing too hard. He heard Stelle's voice, which had been the loudest, grow hoarse as she continued to cackle. He saw fear welling up in March 7th's eyes, yet she was still powerless to resist the urge to laugh out loud. Xin Yu gritted his teeth, a bizarre laugh escaping his lips. He finally couldn't bear it any longer. He activated his power over spacetime, trying to travel back into the past. Although he couldn't return to his own present timeline, he could go back to a more distant past, to alter the history he himself had altered. But the power of spacetime, which had always been infallible, failed to have the slightest effect at this moment. "Oh no! It seems my new friend here doesn't much like the gift Aha sent, and even wants to leave. Oh~ Aha's losing face~ Haha!" "By the way, since we're friends now, it's not very fair that I've seen you, but you haven't seen me. Don't you agree?" "Lord Deity." Yae Sakura suddenly appeared before Xin Yu, still wearing the shiro-muku from their wedding. Her eyes were filled with tenderness and warmth, filled with love for him. But that gentle, loving expression vanished in an instant, replaced by... a face contorted in a maniacal grin. "Haha! According to unofficial records, Aha once wore a wedding shiro-muku for someone! Oh! Aha got married!" Yae Sakura's form shattered like a soap bubble, and in her place appeared a laughing, red mask. As soon as the mask appeared, the seemingly unstoppable laughter finally ceased. The moment the smiling stopped, Xin Yu collapsed to the ground, panting wildly, his forehead drenched in sweat. "...Ha... Aha, the Aeon of Elation." Xin Yu sat on the floor and looked up at the mask, slowly speaking its identity. "Hello there! I'm the universe's biggest clown, former Nameless, former Trailblaze Emissary, your most trustworthy and most deceptive friend, and also the Aeon with the least face, Aha!" the Aeon chirped, seemingly never able to stop his laughter. "...When? When did you notice me?" "Of course, I've been watching from the very beginning! From the moment you set foot in this universe, I've been watching you, spying on you! Hee hee!" "...What exactly do you want?" "You haven't figured it out yet? I'm greeting you!" ...This is how an Aeon says hello? Mortals really can't handle it. "Oh! After that round of laughter just now, did you find a trace of the purest joy?" Xin Yu fell silent. Though he wanted to say no, he couldn't deny that the laughter just now, as terrifying as it was, had allowed him to find a sliver of pure joy. It wasn't a joy born from the happiness of others, but his own most primal, most pure laughter, born simply from his own desire to laugh. "Toot toot!" Xin Yu's silence seemed to be answer enough. Aha transformed into a small, mask-wearing figure riding a unicycle. He began to circle Xin Yu, all while starting to play a suona. ...Huh? What is that thing? Xin Yu's eye twitched as he watched the Aeon of Elation playing the suona and laughing to himself. "Hey! Look at you before, you were just like that black egg—a smiling face on the outside, but completely dull and uninteresting on the inside! So very dull!" "Xin Yu, think carefully. Why did I do this?" Aha's expression switched to a serious mask, his tone becoming incredibly deep, as if it truly held some profound meaning. Xin Yu couldn't help but wonder. Was it because Aha, as the Aeon of Elation, saw the emptiness and void within his heart? And because he despised that emptiness, he made him laugh in the purest way possible, to help him reclaim a part of himself? "Mmm~ Yep, that's exactly what you're thinking." Aha's mask changed again, this time to a light, smiling expression. "But why would you help me?" Xin Yu asked, confused. "Because..." "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you~" ??? Xin Yu was completely bewildered. As he stared on in a daze, Aha, with a great burst of laughter, drove a large truck straight towards a distant wall of golden crystal. Xin Yu then heard a tremendous crash, followed by the enraged roar of some other entity, and then he was back in reality. The real people around him had also stopped laughing at some point. Every single one of them was slumped on the floor, recovering the stamina they had lost from the earlier bout of intense laughter. ...So, what the hell was he even here for?

Chapter 107 - 107 - You've Been Tricked!

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