Meanwhile, on the official forum, the event's duel cutscene was uploaded as a standalone video.
They'd even broken the sacred "PV-at-6pm" rule just to drop it early.
That was all players needed to confirm one thing:
Ye Luo was absolutely an official beloved child.
Countless creators immediately clipped the scene, added dramatic music, and uploaded it across every platform imaginable.
And players?
They lost their minds.
A beam cannon — a real, honest-to-Archons beam cannon.
And for the first time ever, they saw the Traveler fight so… freely.
Three different elements cycling flawlessly, close-combat swordplay, explosive choreography—
And Ye Luo, at the end, firing a brilliant, blinding laser.
It instantly hooked the entire playerbase.
And if their eyes weren't mistaken…
Was that… dual blades merging into one?
Holy—
Brother Hai?!
Was this a special variant?
Like Grandpa Kirito's dual-wielding style?!
And most importantly:
Instructor, why can his "Aranara star" protect him AND explode?! Why can't ours?!
The fandom erupted.
————————————————————
"Little one, from today on, I will teach you swordsmanship."
In his dream, a voice whispered beside the younger version of Ye Luo.
He looked up — but the figure before him was blurry, neither male nor female, appearance obscured as if veiled by fog.
Even the voice was androgynous, impossible to categorize.
"What do you want to learn?"
The figure asked with a gentle, mysterious smile.
"I want to learn the dual-blade style! I heard it's super strong!"
Little Ye Luo replied in a soft, milky voice, eyes sparkling with fiery enthusiasm.
He didn't know why, but something deep in his bones clung tightly to the idea of dual blades.
As if in a previous life, he'd watched someone wield them with such flair… the coolness engraved straight into his soul.
"Dual blades, hmm… that one is difficult."
The figure clearly hadn't expected that answer.
They hesitated, thinking it over.
"No! I want to learn that one! Only that one!"
Little Ye Luo shook his head vigorously, looking up with blazing determination.
He believed wholeheartedly that this person could teach him — because in his eyes, this blurry figure was the strongest warrior in all of existence.
"…Fine, fine. Just don't quit halfway."
The shadowy figure finally relented, ruffled his hair, and handed him a wooden practice sword.
And so their days of sword training began.
Day after day.
Week after week.
"Focus when you practice. Don't let your mind wander. Have you forgotten why you chose the sword in the first place?"
The figure sighed in exasperation.
"I have NOT forgotten, Master!"
Little Ye Luo answered loudly, full of conviction.
"Then tell me. Why did you choose to learn the sword?"
The figure's gaze softened.
Finally, the little brat had grown enough to understand why he picked up a blade.
Even though the figure had mastered all kinds of martial arts, the path of the sword was something one had to walk alone.
He couldn't stay by the child's side forever.
"To look cool!"
Little Ye Luo replied instantly.
"..."
"…Forget it. You'll understand someday."
The master helplessly patted his head again.
He was still too young…
The road ahead was hard enough already — especially in an era of chaos.
"IF SWORD TRAINING ISN'T FOR LOOKING COOL, THEN WHAT'S THE POINT?!"
In the present, Ye Luo shouted this line in his sleep — then jolted awake in an instant.
Just a dream.
He rubbed his forehead.
Great.
At least he wasn't having nightmares anymore.
The system had started injecting memories through dreams.
Memories that shouldn't exist… were gradually increasing.
But honestly?
It wasn't bad.
It felt like he got extra sword training while sleeping.
He couldn't fall back asleep, so he got up to practice.
Ever since those foreign memories started appearing, he'd developed an instinctive habit of going outside to train.
Ye Luo opened his door, mind wandering…
And for some reason, his feet brought him straight to Lumine's room.
He lifted his hand and knocked.
"Hmm… who is it…?"
A moment later, Lumine cracked the door open, rubbing her drowsy eyes, her expression small and pouty.
"So you weren't asleep either? Then… let's practice swords together."
Ye Luo reached out and grabbed her tiny hand without thinking.
The moment the words left his mouth, he snapped awake, quickly releasing her with an apologetic look.
Internally he groaned:
What am I doing? Some kind of "neighbor can't sleep, knocks on my door" situation?!
"…Alright. Give me a moment. I'll change."
To his surprise, Lumine blinked, stood there for a second in confusion—
and actually agreed.
She quietly stepped back inside, changed into training clothes without waking Paimon, picked up a wooden practice sword, and walked out.
Seeing Ye Luo frozen like a statue, she tilted her head.
"What's wrong?"
"N-no… nothing."
For a split second, the Lumine before him overlapped perfectly with fragments of his dream memories.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614