Night had deepened.
Outside the window, the city lights had thinned out, leaving only the streetlamps dutifully shining—casting bright slivers through the gaps in the curtains.
Kiana lay on the bed, staring at the unlit ceiling lamp.
Su Yu was on the floor bedding beside the bed, his breathing steady and even.
Because of that "one point two meter distance limit," she could even catch the faint scent on him—shower gel.
A very ordinary lemon fragrance. The same bottle she used.
This was already her eighth day in this world.
From being wary like a bristling cat at the start… to now being able to lie calmly in a man's room—she almost couldn't believe how quickly she'd changed.
Maybe it was because the food here was too good. Maybe it was because Su Yu, though sharp-tongued, genuinely didn't seem malicious.
Or maybe… it was just because she was exhausted.
Truly exhausted.
The story she'd told during the day kept looping in her mind.
She remembered the moment she described crushing the Thunder Herrscher's wings—that uncontrollable, nauseating surge of power.
That was the Herrscher of the Void, wasn't it?
The monster that had been lurking inside her all along. The one that took Teacher Himeko. The one that destroyed half the world.
Kiana sighed, turned over, and buried her face in the soft pillow.
This world was beautiful.
No Honkai beasts screaming. No sirens. Not even that lingering smell of smoke in the air.
But did that beauty really belong to her?
To someone like her… a "source of disaster" with blood on her hands.
Her mind flashed to Griseo's pale purple eyes—and the painting she drew.
Had that child seen something?
That "color" she mentioned… was it the color of that monster?
Even though that hateful voice hadn't appeared lately, Kiana couldn't shake the feeling it hadn't disappeared—only gone dormant.
Like a venomous snake coiled in a dark corner, watching coldly, waiting for the moment she let her guard down.
Her awareness blurred. Fatigue rolled in like a tide, dragging her into a deep darkness.
But it wasn't peaceful sleep.
…
Everything around her was an eerie, dead white.
Not a clean white—more like a morgue in a hospital. Cold, suffocating, corpse-pale.
"Living quite comfortably, aren't you, Kiana?"
That voice sounded.
The familiar arrogance. The chilling, bone-deep mockery.
Kiana whirled around.
A face identical to hers floated before her—wearing a vicious smile.
Golden eyes filled with ridicule.
"This world is so beautiful, isn't it?"
The Herrscher of the Void lifted a hand. Her fingertips traced Kiana's cheek without touching—yet it still burned like pain.
"Peace. Quiet. Someone even cooks for you."
"But its beauty doesn't belong to you."
Her tone suddenly sharpened—like nails scraping glass.
"Don't you think it's disgusting… how you can live here so shamelessly?"
"Have you forgotten how Himeko died?"
"Have you forgotten how that world became miserable because of you?"
"Shut up…" Kiana forced out.
She tried to step back, but her feet were rooted to the ground—she couldn't move.
"I told you." The Herrscher leaned closer, so close their noses nearly touched. "I'll appear again and again known your deepest nightmares… until you no longer have the strength to resist—"
The white around them collapsed, crumbling into a blood-red wasteland.
"Ah… it did take some time," the Herrscher mused, her smile deepening as if she'd remembered something amusing.
"But this time, that annoying Fu Hua won't show up again."
"The only person who could pull you back… you pushed her away with your own hands, didn't you?"
A cold hand clamped around Kiana's throat.
Even in a dream, the suffocating grip was terrifyingly real.
"This time… will anyone save you? My poor Kiana—hehehehe…"
…
"—Hah!"
Kiana jolted upright, gasping like she'd been dragged up from the bottom of the sea.
Cold sweat drenched her. Her pajama top clung wetly to her back, sticky and miserable.
Her heart hammered violently in her chest—thump thump thump—so hard her ears hurt.
She instinctively touched her neck. There was nothing there.
But the choking sensation still lingered on her skin.
The room was pitch-black—until her movement disrupted the steady sound of Su Yu's breathing.
"…Kiana?"
Fabric rustled from the floor bedding. Then came a soft click as the bedside lamp turned on.
Warm yellow light spilled out, driving back the darkness.
Su Yu rubbed sleep from his eyes as he sat up. The moment he saw her expression, the drowsiness vanished.
"What's wrong? Nightmare?"
He leaned in a little—but with restraint. He didn't reach for her, only looked at her pale face with concern.
Kiana didn't answer.
She gripped the blanket hard. She tried to search for traces of the Herrscher of the Void—closing her eyes, feeling through every corner of her body.
But it was empty.
No voice. No nauseating energy fluctuation.
And yet… that premonition—that certainty it had never truly left—was like a thorn embedded deep in her heart.
"…Su Yu."
It took a long while before she spoke. Her voice was hoarse.
"Yeah. I'm here." Su Yu sat cross-legged on the floor bedding, looking up at her.
"If…"
Kiana lowered her head, staring at her palm. A faint scar ran across it.
"If one day… I stop being me… what will you do?"
If that monster truly came back.
If she lost control again, became the Herrscher who brought only destruction.
If she hurt this world—hurt… the person in front of her.
Su Yu froze.
He looked at her.
The girl was curled inside the blanket like a startled cat with nowhere left to run—those mismatched eyes filled with fear and confusion.
He didn't answer immediately. And he didn't offer some weightless comfort like "That day won't come."
He thought for a moment, then asked instead:
"What did you say to Mei back then?"
Kiana blinked.
Mei…
The memory resurfaced.
The girl standing at the rooftop edge, crying, saying "Kill me."
Back then, Mei was afraid too—afraid the Thunder Queen would take her body, afraid she'd hurt the people she cared about.
Back then… what did Kiana say?
"I told her…" Kiana murmured, her eyes slowly refocusing. "No matter how many times it takes… I'll beat her awake."
Yes.
That was her promise.
Even if she cracked her own head open doing it—she'd beat that idiot awake.
Su Yu smiled. "Then there you go."
"Huh?" Kiana didn't quite process it.
"That's my answer too."
Su Yu looked at her.
"If you really turn into some 'Herrscher' thing… then I'll be the one to beat you awake."
"If once doesn't work, then twice. If a headbutt doesn't work, then I'll use a brick."
"Anyway, this dumb system's glued me to you. If I die, it probably can't finish its 'business' either. I'll grind it out to the bitter end."
He stretched, lay back down on the floor bedding, and pulled the blanket over himself.
"So stop thinking about all that."
"Right now you're just Kiana Kaslana—my game's heroine, and this month's Best Eating Champion."
He reached up and clicked off the bedside lamp.
The room sank back into darkness—yet that suffocating pressure seemed to loosen.
"Good night, Kiana."
In the dark, Kiana sat on the bed, stunned for a long time.
Her lips… tugged upward, just a little.
Really only a little.
"…Idiot," she muttered softly, then lay back down and buried her face in the pillow.
This time, the clammy chill was gone.
In its place was that faint, familiar scent—
Lemon shower gel.
"Good night, Su Yu."
....
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