Su Yu's little e-bike was clearly out of commission, so he had to hitch a ride in Danzhu's car.
It was a compact red two-door, plastered all over with itasha stickers. From the rearview mirror dangled a stubby little Fenghuang bird plushie, bobbing and swaying with every bump in the road.
That little Fenghuang character was quite famous in the fandom — and it was Danzhu's prized darling. After all, she'd designed it herself. The inspiration? A certain clueless little old-fashioned named Ah Hua who didn't understand people at all.
A creator loving her own work. Perfectly normal. Perfectly reasonable.
Su Yu reclined in the passenger seat, eyes half-closed as though resting — but in the private channel of his mind, he was already holding a quiet meeting with Fenghuang.
"Squad Monitor, you just came face to face with Dr. Mobius. How did it feel?"
Su Yu asked inwardly, his tone carrying a hint of playful teasing.
Fenghuang's voice rose in his mind, laced with a weariness and wistfulness that spanned ages: "It felt... no different from before. The moment she sees something worth researching, her eyes light up."
She paused, and something like sympathy crept into her voice. "And Klein — I never expected that even in this world, she still can't escape the fate of working overtime. Some things really are carved into the soul."
Su Yu almost failed to hold back a laugh.
It seemed that no matter which timeline you were on, Klein was the undisputed ceiling of the Office Slave archetype.
Which is exactly why they say Elysia is the woman of 'boundless grace' — 无瑕 — while Klein is the woman of 'no free time' — 无暇. Shenzhou culture, rich and profound: one radical's difference, two entirely different meanings.
He slid a glance at Danzhu, who was focused entirely on driving, humming some unidentifiable anime opening theme to herself. She seemed to be in a fine mood.
"And what about Danzhu? This world's version of her — is she the same as the one in your memories?"
Two seconds of silence in the consciousness space.
Then came a very soft sigh — carrying a touch of relief, and a touch of helpless resignation.
"She's... happier now."
"Back in that era, even during the most grueling stretches of the Ark Project, she would always secretly collect those... peculiar little figurines. She hid them in the cracks of cryogenic pods, tucked them into the gaps between data archives. She said they were the treasures of human civilization — sparks that had to be passed down."
"Figures," Su Yu smiled inwardly. "The soul of the otaku transcends all. Fifty thousand years or five hundred million — a shut-in is a shut-in."
"She also sculpted clay figures."
Fenghuang's voice shifted into something strange — like she was desperately trying to conceal an embarrassment but couldn't quite manage it.
"She said she wanted to leave behind the legend of Fenghuang the Immortal for future generations, so that they would never forget what we looked like. But..."
"But what?" Su Yu asked, fully knowing the answer.
"The figure she sculpted..." Fenghuang seemed to struggle to get the words out, her voice dropping lower. "The proportions were... excessively generous. Everything that should be there was there, and some things that shouldn't be... were also there. And the overall impression was... too..."
She trailed off, apparently searching for the right word.
"Voluptuous?" Su Yu couldn't help himself, twisting the knife inwardly.
"...Impertinent."
It was a rebuke, but Su Yu could feel that there was no real anger behind the voice.
It was the flustered embarrassment of someone whose "dark history" had just been exposed — like a stiff, serious antique who'd suddenly had their edgy teenage photos unearthed, along with a video of them posing in front of the village gate.
All one could say was: yes, that was very awkward indeed.
The image flashed instantly into Su Yu's mind — that legendary meme from Honkai Impact 3rd: Fenghuang the Immortal, and the gulf between the seller's listing photo and the buyer's actual product.
The Fenghuang that Danzhu had sculpted: voluptuous figure, chest out, hips back, an air of gracious majesty radiating maternal radiance in every direction.
And the real Fu Hua... well. Flat. Inch Force. Shenzhou Tablet.
Su Yu's thoughts drifted, and he involuntarily began sketching in his mind that "stacked and statuesque" big-sister version of Fenghuang—
"...Su Yu."
Fenghuang's voice went cold without warning, carrying a note of flustered indignation.
"You're thinking about something extremely rude right now, aren't you?"
Su Yu jolted, immediately sat bolt upright, nearly headbutting the car roof.
"Squad Monitor, you can hear what I'm thinking?!"
"Our Spiritual Link is active. I usually make a deliberate effort to block things out — but when a thought like yours appears, carrying such a... such a vivid and colorful charge... it becomes very difficult to ignore."
Fenghuang's voice sounded like she was one step away from crawling through the wire to punch him.
"Please cease your imagination. That is not real. That is Danzhu's artistic embellishment. That is... fraud."
Su Yu immediately sat ramrod straight, eyes fixed ahead, and began furiously looping the Heart Sutra internally to cleanse his mind.
The car turned into an upscale residential complex and pulled up beneath an apartment building that looked expensive just by existing.
Danzhu killed the engine, pulled the key, all in one fluid motion.
"Come on, let's talk at my place."
She had absolutely no intention of treating Su Yu like a guest requiring formality, and saw nothing improper about a man and a woman alone heading to a single woman's apartment. She swung her car keys and walked straight toward the elevator.
That kind of no-nonsense directness suited Su Yu just fine.
None of those convoluted workplace dance-arounds. Just the easy rapport of people who shared the same passions.
The elevator doors opened. Danzhu punched in the door code with practiced ease and pushed it open.
"Welcome to — Danzhu-sama's Secret Lair!"
The moment Su Yu stepped inside, the sight before him stopped him cold.
This was a true shut-in's holy land.
An entire wall of glass display cabinets, densely packed with limited-edition figures and models of every kind.
From long-discontinued magical girl variants to the latest mecha series — a complete collection, wanting for nothing.
Giant posters covered the walls. The sofa was buried under throw pillows printed with 2D anime girls.
Soft lighting fell across the collection, refracting a kind of sacred radiance.
So Mobius might work her employees to the bone — but the pay was clearly real.
Danzhu kicked off her heels without bothering to swap them for slippers, and padded straight across the shaggy carpet in bare feet.
She pulled two cans of Happy Water from the fridge, tossed one to Su Yu, then collapsed into the beanbag chair like a person entirely without bones, releasing a long, satisfied sigh.
"I'm dead... Dr. Mobius is a genuine labor-exploiting demon."
She cracked the tab, tipped her head back for a long swig, then fixed Su Yu with a sideways look. The relaxed brow began to furrow just slightly — the unmistakable signal of: I'm about to start settling accounts.
"Alright. Talk, Director Su."
Danzhu's tone was laced with vinegar.
"You ghosted me at the last con, said you were busy. Then I heard from Sister Ellie that you were actually there — with your little girlfriend?"
She put heavy emphasis on the word "girlfriend," her eyes swimming in aggrieved reproach.
Her tone had that particular sourness of someone whose cabbage had been nibbled by a pig they hadn't even decided to keep yet.
She hadn't made up her mind about this pig — but having it poached was still infuriating.
"Aren't we supposed to be partners in suffering? And you went and found someone without telling me? Is that appropriate?"
Su Yu could only laugh helplessly. "She's genuinely not my girlfriend — she's my junior sister from the sect. Did Ellie not explain that properly?"
"Live-in brother and sister disciples. How is that any different from girlfriend?"
Danzhu pursed her lips. Those feet in their thin black stockings were dangling off the edge of the coffee table, swaying back and forth.
"A man and a woman under the same roof! If you try to tell me you two spend every night playing board games, not a single soul would believe you!"
Su Yu looked at her "I have seen through everything" expression and couldn't resist firing back.
"By your logic, right now it's just the two of us alone in a closed room. What does that make us?"
Danzhu blinked — and then her cheeks flushed faintly pink.
"Psh! If I wanted to make a move on you, I'd do it when I felt like it!"
She huffed a couple of times, trying to claw back the upper hand.
"I thought you'd forgotten I existed. But since you want me working for you, there are some things I need to get straight first."
She straightened up, reining in the sprawl, projecting just a hint of professional composure.
"Why the sudden interest in making a game? You had that huge blowup on stream out of nowhere — made quite a splash. And—" she fixed her eyes on his, "—why didn't you come to me from the start? Did you think my skills weren't up to scratch? Were you cutting me out?"
That was where she really took issue.
As a friend — as one of the top animators in the industry — the fact that Su Yu had launched something this big without coming to her first was a genuine blow to her pride.
Su Yu read the room perfectly.
In a moment like this, explanations were useless. The correct move was to stroke the fur in the right direction.
He sat up straight, his expression shifting into one of grave and sincere professionalism, as though about to conduct a critical business negotiation.
"Danzhu-sama, you've misunderstood."
"The work before this was all grunt work, rough labor — how could I possibly trouble someone of your stature with that? It would have been a waste of your talent."
Su Yu produced the PV proposal he'd prepared in advance from his bag and presented it with both hands, like an offering of tribute.
"But this is different. What comes next involves the most core elements of the visual style and animation direction. In this field, looking across all of Arc City, I cannot think of a single other candidate besides you."
"The animator's throne belongs to no one else."
That compliment landed with precision and a satisfying crack.
Danzhu's tightly drawn expression melted in an instant, the corners of her mouth rising helplessly.
She accepted the proposal and gave a performative little cough.
"Hmph. At least you know what's good for you. Since you've gone to such sincere lengths to ask, I suppose I can lower myself to lend you a hand."
She flipped open the proposal, and her mood visibly improved with every passing moment.
The foot dangling in mid-air swayed wider and wider — like the tail of a very smug cat.
At first her expression was casual, even a little critical.
But as her gaze moved further down the page, her movements slowed.
That swaying foot went still.
On the document was a character splash art of a white-haired girl.
"Kiana..."
Danzhu murmured the name.
An overwhelming surge of déjà vu hit her like an electric current straight to the brain.
White hair.
Senba Academy.
Wasn't this...
She snapped her head up, staring at Su Yu with wide, unblinking eyes full of shock and disbelief.
Her mind conjured the image of that manga that had set the entire internet ablaze not long ago — The Three-Year Sakura.
The protagonist of that manga was also named Kiana.
And the writer of that manga — that mysterious figure, whose prose was delicate as silk and every plot beat a blade — went by the pen name—
"Moonlit Sea's Roaring Fishy Cat?!"
Danzhu practically launched off the sofa, the finger she was pointing at Su Yu visibly trembling.
"You — the protagonist of that PV is Kiana, which means..."
She sucked in a deep breath, eyes wide as saucers.
"The writer who collaborated with Teacher Painted World to create a masterpiece like The Three-Year Sakura... that's you?!"
Su Yu looked at her expression — the expression of someone who had just spotted a UFO — and calmly nodded.
"That's me."
Clean and simple.
"Oh my god..." Danzhu covered her mouth and sank back into the sofa.
The way she looked at Su Yu changed — no longer the look for a "partner in suffering," but the look for a "legendary figure."
"I knew that writer's style seemed weirdly familiar... that particular sick pleasure in tearing something beautiful to shreds and making you watch — of course it was you!"
She was so excited she was starting to lose coherence.
"And Teacher Painted World?! That Teacher Painted World whose artistry is absolutely divine and whose color use feels like a celestial being descended to earth — who is she? You're the writer, you must know her, right? Can you introduce us? I'm her biggest fan!"
Su Yu smiled, cryptically.
Griseo's cover still needed to stay on.
If Danzhu found out that the brilliant artist behind The Three-Year Sakura was the sweet little painter next door, her entire worldview would probably collapse.
Besides, Griseo didn't want too many people bothering her — he and Griseo had an agreement not to reveal her identity.
"Teacher Painted World is quite socially anxious. She doesn't like meeting new people."
Su Yu said this with perfect composure and absolutely no shame.
"But now that we're collaborators, there'll definitely be chances to work together down the line. Maybe the next project will bring her in for original character design?"
"Really?!"
Danzhu's eyes lit up like two giant lightbulbs.
"It's a deal! If you dare lie to me, I'll have you turned into a figure and put you on the very top shelf of my cabinet, and stick pins in you every single day!"
She excitedly snatched up the proposal, every last trace of her earlier grievances blasted into the stratosphere.
"I'm taking this job! Not only taking it — I'm going to do it perfectly! For the sake of collaborating with Teacher Painted World — ah, no, for the sake of our great and glorious game endeavor — let's go!"
Before long.
click, click, click —
Danzhu in front of the computer had entered a state of pure, feverish obsession.
She had curled herself into the ergonomic gaming chair like a flexible cat.
Her previously neat professional pencil skirt had been casually hiked up, revealing the faintest hint of where it bit into the skin at the top of her thigh.
She seemed to have entirely forgotten there was another living person in the room. Her eyes were locked to the screen, lips moving with murmured commentary, punctuated by the occasional burst of unsettling laughter.
Things like "this part needs a duang special effect" and "the absolute territory needs to go even higher" — truly fearsome territory.
Su Yu settled back into the beanbag chair, and that cool, clear voice rose in his mind right on cue.
"As expected. Same as always."
Fenghuang's tone was like someone watching an unruly child finally find a new toy to fixate on.
"Whenever she encounters something that interests her, her energy is simply boundless."
"Although... Dr. Mobius used to frequently complain that Danzhu's greatest achievement in the laboratory was adding metric tons of completely pointless work to everyone else's load."
Su Yu raised an eyebrow and replied inwardly.
"That's called craftsmanship, Squad Monitor. Even if her craftsmanship currently manifests mostly in making the skirts on beautiful girl figures more aerodynamically accurate."
"Please do not apply such professional terminology to that sort of thing."
Fenghuang sighed.
Su Yu's gaze drifted across the living room air to where Danzhu's legs were swinging restlessly with excitement.
Her calves in their black stockings were tracing lazy circles in the air. Her toes occasionally hooked around a chair leg, or rubbed absently against each other.
"But, Su Yu."
Fenghuang's voice dropped in register.
"Even though I've witnessed the power of the System, and I understand your plan... there is still something I can't quite grasp."
"The stories of that world... those memories filled with despair, sacrifice, and endless battle... will the people of this peaceful world truly embrace them?"
Su Yu could sense the unease in Fenghuang's emotions.
It was the worry of someone who had lived through it.
To Fenghuang, those were not stories. They were raw, blood-soaked history she had lived through herself.
She had watched her comrades fall one by one, watched civilization crumble to ash beneath the Honkai. She could not imagine how something so heavy could become a form of entertainment.
Su Yu pulled his gaze back, the corner of his mouth lifting in a quiet arc.
"Squad Monitor, do you know? Tragedies are often more powerful than comedies."
He said it softly, inwardly.
"What I'm making is, yes, the story of Kiana Kaslana. But it isn't only hers. When the time comes, all the people you knew — Elysia, Kevin, Su, Pardo — everyone, all those epics that once happened and were forgotten — all of it will appear in this story."
Su Yu paused.
"Squad Monitor — aren't you even a little curious? When the people of this world — the Counterparts living in the peaceful sunshine — discover what happened to their other selves in another world, those vast and heartbreaking events... what expression will cross their faces?"
A moment of silence settled over the consciousness space.
After a long beat, Fenghuang gave a bitter, soft laugh.
"If I had a choice... I would rather they never know any of it. Let them live out their ordinary lives in this world without Honkai — that would be the right way."
That was Fenghuang's tenderness.
She would rather carry the memories alone than let those peaceful souls be touched by the smell of smoke and gunpowder.
Su Yu sat up straight, and with a perfectly serious face, began to spin his yarn.
"That's a form of inheritance too, Squad Monitor."
"Forgetting is the true death. To pass the story on, to let tens of millions of people know it, to let tens of millions of people remember it."
"As long as the story doesn't vanish, the Thirteen Flame-Chasing Moths will live on forever in people's memories. Don't you think... that's a power only stories possess — the power to transcend time?"
It was a speech that rang like a bell in the valley — lofty in meaning, luminous with humanist spirit.
Fenghuang was clearly shaken.
She paused, as though genuinely contemplating the philosophical depth of those words.
But soon enough, she caught on.
"...Sigh."
Fenghuang let out a long, long exhale.
"Tell me honestly. What is your real purpose?"
As expected — a fifty-thousand-year-old antique wasn't so easily bamboozled.
The smile at the corner of Su Yu's mouth spread wider. It was the kind of smile that belonged to a gleeful troublemaker — undisguised, unabashed mischief.
"The honest truth is —"
In his mind, he conjured the image of Elysia's face — that face that always wore a perfect, unflappable smile.
"I want to see what happens when Miss Pink Elf — the one who's always smiling, always acting like nothing in the world can touch her — gets served an emotional gut-punch by the game, and watches the story of her own sacrifice for humanity play out..."
"Will she cry?"
"Oh, just thinking about Elysia dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, all teary and devastated — that alone makes this game absolutely non-negotiable to make!"
This was the player's final form.
I got stabbed, so now I'll sharpen that blade myself — hone it to a razor's edge — and hand it directly to the original, just to watch her break.
What do you call that? That's the Warrior of Love! That's the spirit of the devoted tormentor! That's drinking in the lamentations!
The consciousness space fell into a silence like the grave.
Fenghuang appeared to have been rendered completely speechless by this rationale.
After quite some time, the Squad Monitor's voice drifted back, low and hollow.
"You, at your core... you're just a rubbernecker who loves stirring the pot, aren't you."
Su Yu shrugged, lifted his can of cola, and clinked it against the air in a toast.
"High praise, Squad Monitor — life is short, you've got to find your fun where you can, right?"
Just then, an excited shriek erupted from the direction of the computer.
"Yes! That's it, that's exactly what I wanted to see — !!"
Su Yu's gaze settled back on that animated little tyrant, watching her clutch her head in front of the screen like a person going gloriously mad.
Cherish this happiness while it lasts, Danzhu.
Because when you finally work your way to 'The Final Lesson'...
Heh heh.
I hope your tears come gushing out just like your inspiration is flowing right now.
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