After the meal.
Kiana wiped her mouth contentedly, stood up from the dining table, and let out a small burp.
"Shu, I'll help you clean up!"
Shu waved his hand. "No need, you go play, I'll handle the cleaning."
"Uh..." Kiana, unfamiliar with the concept of polite refusal, gave Shu an embarrassed laugh. "Really? Then I'll go back to playing games."
Before she finished speaking, she had already run back to the sofa and dove headfirst into the computer.
Shu looked at her back, then at the pile of almost-empty bowls and plates on the table—
Yes, "almost."
This time, there was finally something left.
A bowl of braised pork still had two or three pieces, and there was still a small half-bowl of soup left, which meant he had finally found Kiana's true capacity.
Well, that's progress.
It really is exaggerated... This was clearly a table of food enough for six or seven people, yet Kiana finished it all by herself. And looking at her just now, there was no sign of her being overly stuffed.
Sigh... thankfully, thankfully... I can still afford to feed her...
This was Shu's confidence!
He stood up and began to clean up the aftermath.
Washing dishes, washing pots, wiping the stove, taking out the trash.
After the whole process, twenty minutes had passed.
He washed his hands, dried them, and walked towards the living room.
The white Tuna on the sofa was still curled up there, the screen's light reflecting on her face, her expression as serious as if she were doing something monumental.
Shu sat down beside her.
Not too close, not too far.
Just the right distance.
He leaned against the back of the sofa, his gaze falling on the screen.
Kiana didn't notice him; she was completely immersed.
Shu didn't make a sound either.
He just sat there quietly.
Partly to digest—having been stared at by Kiana to eat two bowls of rice today, he was honestly a bit stuffed, as someone who usually only ate until 70% full.
On the other hand—
His gaze swept across the screen.
Hmm, this progress...
Is Chapter 5 almost done?
At this speed, she'll reach it this afternoon...
The corner of Shu's mouth twitched slightly.
No, I can't laugh yet...
After Chapter 4... no, declare victory after Chapter 3.
As everyone knows, there has always been a group of heartless people living in the Honkai Impact 3rd community.
Their name: Captain-Ghosts (Jianchang - play on words for captains who lure others into suffering).
The core tenet of this group is: Since I've been stabbed by the plot, others must be stabbed too.
They are keen on promoting everywhere that "Honkai Impact 3rd is a healthy, sunny, and positive game," tricking newbies into the pit, and then smiling inhumanely from the side when the other party is tortured to death by the plot.
Shu wasn't that kind of person.
He never actively tricked people into the pit, nor did he go around saying "this game is sweet and not depressing at all."
But—
The situation is different now!
Kiana delivered herself to his door!
He looked at the girl seriously going through the plot in front of the screen and silently calculated in his heart:
She said he had shown her the original plot.
But that was watching it all in one go. Can the feeling be the same as playing the game personally, operating it personally, and immersing oneself in it?
The core elements of the ninth art are immersion and participation, not like movies and anime where one is purely a bystander. That must have been the format before, right?
And look at her now—
Muttering words, mumbling along with the lines in the game.
This is clearly immersion!
Can the intensity of the emotional damage be the same for an immersed player and a video watcher?
The corner of Shu's mouth twitched again.
He leaned back into the sofa, adjusting to a more comfortable position.
No rush.
Take it slow.
The game continued.
Kiana continued to be immersed in the plot.
Shu continued to sit beside her, watching quietly.
Frames flashed across the screen one by one, characters speaking lines he already knew by heart.
But Kiana was experiencing these "firsthand."
Her expression changed with the plot.
Encountering battles, she would nervously grip the mouse. Looking at her, she might be even more nervous than when she talked about fighting Honkai beasts.
And seeing funny dialogue... no, not even funny dialogue, just hearing those familiar people speak would make her giggle "hehe."
And when fed knives (emotional damage)... well... it wasn't time yet. It was just those background stories that made Kiana frown slightly, at most saying, "Wow, why is Cocolia so bad! Ugh... Wendy..."
Shu just watched her.
Watched her face constantly changing with the plot.
Watched her focused, fully engaged eyes.
Watched her eyelashes trembling slightly because of the plot.
He suddenly felt—
This afternoon seemed much more interesting than usual.
The plot continued to advance.
Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7.
Kiana's fingers tapped on the keyboard, muttering to herself.
"Ugh, this monster is hard to beat..."
"Wow! Mei's skills are so cool!"
"Bronya, why are you talking about Project Bunny again—ugh, luckily the Bronya I know isn't this cold, but..."
Shu sat beside her, watching quietly.
The plot went deeper and deeper.
Kiana's expression became more and more invested.
She was no longer just playing a game.
She began to truly care about the fate of the characters on the screen.
"The other me is so pitiful..."
"Sirin... Wendy..."
"Waaaaah Bronya—this Cocolia is really too bad!"
Shu watched her, the anticipation in his heart slowly climbing.
His gaze swept across the progress bar at the bottom of the screen.
Hmm...
Chapter 8 is almost done.
Then next is—
Chapter 9.
"Journey for Tomorrow"
Shu's gaze focused slightly, and his posture shifted from lazily leaning back to sitting up properly.
I have to sit up for this.
His expression remained calm, but if Kiana looked back at this moment, she would immediately discover that Shu's expression was already struggling to hold back.
But Kiana had no idea of the malicious intent of the person beside her.
She was just playing the game seriously, following the plot seriously, and worrying seriously about the fate of the characters on the screen.
Chapter 8 ended.
The icon for Chapter 9 appeared on the screen.
Kiana's mouse hovered over it, hesitating.
She went through the plot so seriously that even without the original plot Shu showed her before, she could tell that this chapter was definitely not going to be kind.
Not to mention Aunt Himeko, who had been planting death flags on herself since Chapter 7. seeing Himeko on the icon for this chapter now, she was really a bit scared.
Kiana hesitated for two seconds.
Then she turned to look at Shu.
"Shu, this Chapter 9..."
"Hm?"
"This chapter..." Kiana's expression was a bit conflicted. "Is it... very sad?"
Shu was silent for a second.
Then he spoke, his tone casual:
"It's okay..."
Kiana stared at him.
Shu looked back at her.
Then Shu decided to make a mistake that all Captain-Ghosts make.
"Himeko still has chances to appear later."
His gaze was open, his expression sincere, revealing no flaws.
Kiana fell silent. She felt Shu must think she was stupid.
Didn't she say she had already seen the plot once? Shu actually lied to her.
Damn it, at dinner tonight, she's going to use her Kaslana Super Strength to compress an extra scoop of rice into Shu's bowl!
She puffed her cheeks, turned back, raised her finger, and clicked.
The screen flashed, and the story began.