"I'll always be here, lighting the way ahead for you~"
When Elysia finished that last line, the game popped open the Signet selection screen.
A row of signets—one of them clearly hers.
Fallen casually picked one, and right away Elysia's pink dialogue box popped up again.
"Have you ever heard this saying—the choices you make under pressure reveal your true self, and they also decide what kind of person you'll eventually become."
…
As always, Elysia explained her signets in that half-clear, half-teasing way.
"This is my signet—the engraving of Elysia's soul, the proof of why I am me."
"But then again… showing your true self to other people does make a girl feel a little shy~"
Mei: "If I remember right, you said there are thirteen fusion warriors' memories here. If so, I should be able to witness the choices the others made."
"That way, you don't have to be shy, do you?"
Elysia put on a wounded tone: "Mei… is that how you comfort a girl—by making her even sadder?"
Mei: " …I was only repeating what you said earlier."
Elysia: "Compared to listening to me talk, seeing it for yourself is better, right?"
Mei: "That reminder didn't sound like something a sad person would say."
Elysia giggled: "That's because I realized my worrying just now was totally unnecessary~"
"You'll see later—you won't be able to bear missing anything about me~"
…
Players read through this exchange feeling a little "huh?", but they still couldn't help going, "She's so cute again."
What they didn't know was: a lot of what Elysia was saying right now… had double meanings.
When they finish the whole Elysian Realm storyline and then come back to reread this bit, every one of these lively, coquettish lines…
…will turn into a knife.
…
Just when Fallen thought the game was about to throw him back into a fight, another dialogue box appeared.
And the character on-screen—
"Holy—Class Monitor!!" Fallen blurted out.
Chat exploded too.
Everyone knew Fu Hua's memory would show up in Elysian Realm, but nobody expected it this soon.
[CLASS MONITOR!!]
[Ayyy this version of the class monitor is cute too~~]
[Still the same… flat…]
[Same tier as Hall Master (滑稽)]
[Don't you insult my class monitor QAQ]
[Say that again and Fu Hua will crack your skull with Inch Fist!! (angry)]
In-game, Fu Hua's calm voice floated out.
Hua: "Nice to meet you, successor. My name is Hua. These are the Signets of 'Floating Life.' I will help you get used to them."
The way she looked at Mei was the way a stranger looks at another stranger.
Which made sense—this was 50,000 years ago's Hua.
But Mei's heart was complicated.
Ever since the Second Eruption, when Kiana awakened as the Herrscher of the Void, she hadn't seen Fu Hua again.
Now, seeing that familiar face here in the Realm, memories of their St. Freya days rose up unbidden.
"Class monitor…" she murmured.
Hua: "Hm?"
Mei: "…"
"Nothing… I should've thought of it sooner…"
Back in Sky City, she'd already realized Fu Hua's identity wasn't simple.
So seeing her in the Realm now was… just a moment of emotion.
"Thank you for your help. We… should be able to meet again, right…"
She was talking about meeting the real Fu Hua again.
But the Fu Hua in the Realm misunderstood.
"At the very least, you must survive until then. This place is far more dangerous than you imagine. You mustn't drop your guard."
Players felt their hearts pinch again.
Fallen couldn't help sighing: "I wonder when Mei and the others will be able to get back together…"
After the little sigh, he clicked on.
Another signet screen.
Signets of Floating Life.
"So this is the class monitor's signets…"
Fallen skimmed the effects and picked the Elemental Penetration one.
But just as he finished picking Fu Hua's signet—
Elysia's voice slipped in again.
"How is it? Compared to the others' signets…"
She paused halfway—then lowered her voice sneakily.
"Can't talk loud, she hasn't gone far yet."
Then, in a conspiratorial whisper:
"Compared to the other signets… don't you think mine's better~?"
Chat went feral again.
[HAHAHAHA]
[Elysia… why are you like this!!]
["She hasn't gone far yet" 😂]
[If it's the class monitor, I don't think she'd mind]
[Elysia probably knows that too, she's just—]
Fallen couldn't help grinning like an auntie.
"This kind of cheerful storyline really is the best…"
"As long as Elysia's here, the mood can never stay heavy."
"I think Elysian Realm is just to fill in the Previous Era's holes. There shouldn't be any tragedy."
A lot of people in chat agreed.
They figured: these people are already dead, and we already know the ending—so it's hard to get emotional anymore.
…
After Fallen picked Fu Hua's signet, Honkai beasts spawned around him.
He cleared them easily—and two doors appeared ahead.
One with a pink sword hilt with sakura petals, the other with a Heavenly Fire greatsword emblem.
"A real man picks manly pink!"
Fallen walked straight into the pink one.
After clearing another wave, Sakura appeared—wearing [Goushinnso Memento].
Pink hair, fox ears, and that tiny bit of thigh squish from the leg rings.
Even though it was technically a "battlesuit," on her it just looked… crazy hot.
Her voice was the warm, big-sis kind.
"Welcome to the trial, successor."
"My name is Sakura. I exist here to pass down the arts of 'Transience' to those who come after."
"Take this signet. For you, I won't be using the step-by-step method."
At this point Fallen realized:
"So the Thirteen Flame-Chasers are going to appear one by one like this."
His anticipation shot up.
Sure enough, the next floor—another dialogue.
That confirmed his guess.
"It's actually Kevin…"
"And the signet is called 'Deliverance', huh."
But just when he was excited to meet the next Flame-Chaser… the next floor was a shop.
No Flame-Chaser, but a new name showed up—Pardofelis.
Then the game went into another tutorial segment.
And the guide… was still that same cute, lovable Elysia.
Calling it a "tutorial" wasn't quite right.
More like: exploration.
Right now, for every player, Elysian Realm was covered by a veil of mystery.
Peeling that veil back layer by layer—was half the fun.
Finally, after one more round of Elysia's playful comments, the hot-blooded Kalpas showed up.
His lines dripped swagger, but also a tiny bit of tsundere, which made everyone curious about him.
From Elysia's explanation, players also learned:
In the Previous Era, there had never been a Herrscher like Mei—one who still kept her humanity.
Right after that—
The person everyone had been waiting for finally appeared.
Eden.
And her entrance was different from everyone else's.
She came in… singing.
Class. Through. The. Roof.
"That's Eden's singing~ I should've mentioned her to you before, right?"
"Hmm… how should I introduce her…"
"Everything you see here is Eden's gift. If not for her giving it her all, Elysian Realm might've been canceled in the planning stage."
"Her wealth and fame were unmatched even among the Flame-Chasers."
"Model, artist, musician, brand owner, designer… before the world fell, she held more than a few identities on the surface."
"If I am the embodiment of 'cuteness,' then Eden is the embodiment of 'beauty.'"
"She's the one who answered the world's hunger for beauty and brought it to perfection~"
"She was one of the symbols of that age—a superstar who lit up the world."
That long, glowing intro had everyone stunned.
[666 no wonder it's Eden, she's still that radiant in-game]
[To sum up: Eden is a rich lady (滑稽)]
[Not accurate—she's a top-tier rich beauty~~]
[Isn't that what she's like IRL too? The in-game setting isn't even exaggerated]
[I'm gonna nitpick: the "fusion warrior" part is a bit exaggerated (滑稽)]
…
Then, as everyone waited, a short cutscene played.
At dusk, Eden held a wine glass, her figure graceful and deadly, long hair lifting in the wind.
"Hello, visitor~"
That breathtaking CG, plus Eden's soft voice, made half the viewers howl.
[Aaaaaaa Eden!!]
[She's too pretty, I'm turning gay QAQ]
[Wait… why does this outfit… look kinda familiar?]
[Of course it does, she posted a photo in this exact look not long ago!]
[No no, I mean… HOLY—now I remember!! Rock King Princess!!]
[??? HOLY! I remember it too!!]
[It really DOES look like it!]
[LOOOOOOL your brains are insane 😂]
Ever since the "Otto in a dress" meme blew up, some chad had also taken Mo Li's other cosplay—Zhongli—and did a genderbend version.
They named it: Rock King Princess (岩王帝姬).
And now netizens realized—Eden's in-game outfit colors… looked exactly like that genderbend Zhongli.
At a glance—it really did.
Instantly, everyone was dying.
[6666 never thought Otto-the-dog-thief would look this good as a girl]
[It's over, I can't look Zhongli in the eye anymore QAQ]
[Lmaooo you people are too much 🤣]
[Strongly suggest: Mihuyou boss should cosplay Eden once. If not, at least cosplay Rock King Princess~~]
[sniff sniff I inhale]
People immediately screenshotted Eden's CG and put it side by side with the fan-made Rock King Princess—
Then started @-ing the Mihoyo official account like crazy.
Kiana, who had nothing better to do, quickly saw the memes.
"Pff—hahahahaha…" She laughed for a good while, then grabbed her phone and ran over to Elysia and Eden.
"Look what I found~"
Elysia and Eden were just pushing through the story themselves.
Seeing Kiana so hyped, they leaned in too.
And the second Elysia saw the comparison pic—she burst out laughing.
Even Eden couldn't hold it in.
The others, hearing them laugh, all came over.
"Aiya~ who would've thought, Boss Mo Li in a Zhongli dress would be this good-looking~ hee~"
"I have to make him cross-dress once~"
Right then and there, Elysia made up her mind: no matter what method she had to use, she was going to get Mo Li to cross-dress once.
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