Elysia approached the crowd.
Griseo was sitting on the sofa, playing through the newly updated event in Honkai Impact 3rd. Kosma watched quietly beside her, while Kevin and Su were engrossed in conversation...
Naturally, Elysia drifted towards her dear Eden.
"Eden~~ Let's..."
"Elly, look at Kalpas."
"Kalpas?"
Elysia looked over and was surprised to see Mobius standing behind Kalpas, who, for some reason, was wearing a mask.
"What are those two up to?" Elysia asked curiously.
"No idea, but they've been like that for a while now," Eden replied.
"Oh?"
Elysia's eyes lit up instantly. Mobius and Kalpas, wow, she was really interested now!
"Eden~~" She put a finger to her lips, signaling Eden to be quiet.
Eden smiled indulgently and nodded lightly.
Elysia, feigning nonchalance, quietly sat down not far from Kalpas, close enough to overhear his conversation with Mobius.
Mobius: "Kalpas."
'Sunshine Boy' Kalpas: "Piss off!"
"Hah... That's why I dislike you, you know. With such a rotten temper, I seriously doubt you can survive in this society."
Mobius sighed, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I really wouldn't want to hear from Sakura at next year's end-of-year party that..."
She paused, her voice becoming even more piercing, "Kalpas, oh, he got his legs broken because of his terrible temper and couldn't make it."
Kalpas: "..."
"That would be truly amusing."
"Hahahaha, Mobius, are you talking about yourself? Using that weird tone with people all day, you don't actually think you're humorous, do you?"
Kalpas held his phone in one hand, the other steadying his mask as he roared with laughter.
"Mobius, shut up!"
"Kalpas..."
The atmosphere between Mobius and Kalpas grew increasingly tense.
Pardofelis, who was nearby, couldn't help but speak up, "Sister Snake, Brother Jie, please calm down. Sigh, Sister Elly, don't just stand there watching."
"Alright, alright." Elysia stepped forward. "Since Phelis has spoken, I'll have to take the liberty of interrupting this... joyful exchange between you two, Kalpas and Mobius."
"Joyful?" A question mark seemed to pop up uniformly above the heads of many who had noticed them.
"Come on!"
Elysia completely ignored the astonishment of those around her and said enthusiastically:
"It's still early. Let's have a little warm-up activity to liven things up."
"Elysia, what are you planning to do?" Mobius asked.
"Let me think~~" Elysia mused, tapping her chin with a finger.
Just then, Griseo suddenly put down her phone and said.
"Stargazer is dead."
"Huh?" Elysia turned to Griseo, puzzled.
"Stargazer died in the latest event story. It's happened several times already," Griseo said sadly.
"?"
"Stargazer died, multiple times?"
Elysia, along with others curious about the plot, began to move towards Griseo.
On Griseo's phone screen, a cutscene of one of Stargazer's Bad Endings was playing.
The night sky suddenly brightened. The stockpiled fireworks in Kougetsu City were ignited, exploding simultaneously in the night sky.
The bamboo forest was briefly illuminated, then quickly returned to darkness.
A few fireworks streaked across the night sky, thousands of points of light falling like meteors, an utterly brilliant spectacle.
As the fireworks flickered in and out of existence, Sir Stargazer leaned crookedly against a rock, gazing quietly at a corner of the sky through the bamboo forest.
Her body was ice-cold, her pupils devoid of any light.
Wind howled from all directions, carrying the distant, intermittent sounds of explosions.
Countless fireworks bloomed in the night sky, their splendid light overwhelming everything.
The light flickered, dazzling and brilliant.
Yet the world seemed to stand still.
Even though they hadn't seen the preceding plot, just watching this CG, accompanied by the sorrowful BGM, stirred their emotions.
How could the resourceful Stargazer suddenly die?
It was well known that many players had a soft spot for this Stargazer, who, despite looking identical to Theresa, was much smarter.
That look of disdain, yet patiently helping out, it really gets one excited... cough, cough, cough.
In short, this event had portrayed the character of Stargazer exceptionally well. Among the player base, dedicated Stargazer fans had even emerged.
But now, she lay there on the ground, her eyes lifeless, bereft of any sign of life.
At this moment, options appeared in the game.
[Try again.]
[Give up.]
"Stargazer died again," Griseo's voice was low.
However, she seemed to already know what to do. She quickly began operating her character.
When the others saw Griseo use Tesla·Zero to restart the timeline, attempting to save Stargazer, only to unlock more ways for Stargazer to die, never managing to reach a timeline where Stargazer survived, they all began to understand what kind of story "The Day You Vanished with the Stars" truly was.
Just as the plot was now narrating:
Endless darkness engulfs me. Before my eyes, there is no light, no path, no echo.
I don't know how to stand up, or rather, what can I change even if I do?
I stumble forward, but no matter how far I walk, I am still like a trapped beast, unable to reach that future no matter what.
A future where Stargazer lives.
As Griseo tried again and again, failing every time, with Stargazer dying tragically repeatedly, the plot had become utterly saturated with despair.
"I remember you saying this event was very joyful, Elysia, right?" Mobius asked.
"This..."
Elysia blinked, then said with genuine confusion, "Because 'Honkai Kingdoms' was Kiana's script, wasn't it? Look, Kiana is such a cute and clever girl, how could she write such a desperate script?"
"Clever?" Mobius hesitated, then said, "Forget it... Kiana indeed couldn't write this kind of script."
So what was the deal with this script?
As they pondered, both of them simultaneously looked towards Fu Hua.
Fu Hua, being stared at by the two, completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, blinked innocently, a little bewildered, and explained:
"Because this part of the story, 'The Day You Vanished with the Stars,' was written by Su Luo."
"..."
So it was Su Luo who wrote the script.
Suddenly, everything seemed to make sense.
They completely understood... understood jack squat!
"Is miHoYo's scriptwriter suffering from some kind of psychological trauma?" The one who spoke was Kalpas.
He paused for a moment, then suddenly asked Elysia a question, "Elysia, I remember he lives next door to you, right?"
"Mm... Yes."
"Perfect, then."
Kalpas turned around and walked out decisively.