Got a new fanfic up; it will update at 7:00 and 19:00 GMT-4 or EST
It is called Genshin Impact: A Liyue Storyteller Makes Hu Tao Tear Up
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Scotty had barely made it out of the cinema when his phone rang. The caller ID read "Manager." He hesitated, then answered.
"Scotty! The entire IPC staff is waiting for you. We have three VIPs for a private screening—everyone needs to be here. Get back here now, or you'll be stripped of your IPC employee status."
He tried to explain, but the manager had already hung up.
If I run now, I lose everything. My position, my future—it'll be nearly impossible to ever return to the company. But if I go back and somehow draw Herta's attention again... I'll be clearing wasteland on some forgotten planet until my dying day.
He regretted it—regretted ever setting foot in Aurum Alley, regretted not letting go of his grudge against March 7th. One wrong move on the chessboard, and everything unraveled. The lone wolf who had clawed his way past so many, only to lose it all.
His phone buzzed again. He took a deep breath and turned back.
In the cinema, the manager led her staff in a warm reception.
"Madam Herta, Madam Ruan Mei, Station Master Asta—the Interastral Peace Corporation's Blue Planet Cinema is honored to serve you. All snacks and drinks are complimentary."
Ruan Mei kept her eyes closed, silent. Asta's attention stayed fixed on Herta and Ruan Mei.
Herta gave the staff a single glance. "Find somewhere else to be."
The manager's smile never wavered. "Of course, of course. We'll be just outside if you need anything."
The staff scrambled for the exit, desperate to avoid any lingering notice.
A body hit the floor.
Herta's gaze drifted toward the fallen figure.
Scotty kowtowed frantically. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Madam Herta! I was wrong, I was so wrong! I shouldn't be here! I should just disappear!"
Herta studied him. The face was vaguely familiar, but not worth remembering. "Go."
Scotty scrambled to his feet. "Yes, yes! Thank you, Madam Herta!"
Ruan Mei opened her eyes. Scotty? The man from Aurum Alley who challenged March 7th? He was a shadow of his former self—his arrogance gone, his glasses missing.
"Scotty?"
Herta's and Asta's attention sharpened. Ruan Mei remembered this nobody?
Herta's voice turned cold. "You're the one who provoked March 7th. You're still alive?"
Scotty's mind went blank. His colleagues edged away from him.
"I... I..." He scrambled for something, anything. "Woof! Woof! Grrr!"
He played the fool and made himself ridiculous. It was the only way to survive.
"You think this is a game?"
He was about to break when Ruan Mei waved a hand, dismissing him.
Scotty fled as if his life depended on it—because, for all he knew, it did. The manager followed close behind. She would make sure this loose end was tied up properly.
The film began.
...
Two hours later, the credits rolled. Ruan Mei noticed the film was financed by Peppy.
The plot was straightforward enough. A cold swordswoman from a sacred mountain. A proud, slowly sickening sorceress from a demonic land. They saved each other, turned against the world for each other, loved and fought in equal measure.
By the end of the first season, they had barely acknowledged their feelings. The sorceress's pride would see to that.
There was a hidden thread, though. A third woman who admired the swordswoman's aloof grace, who looked up to the sorceress's unshakable pride. She wanted to help them find each other—and then claim them both. No choice. No compromise.
Ruan Mei looked at Herta, who immediately averted her gaze.
For two hours, she spent at least half of them watching me. The rest, she spent glaring at the sleeve pendant on Asta's wrist.
"Herta, any thoughts on the film?"
Herta pulled down her hat, hiding behind it. "It was... good. We should come again."
[She hadn't been watching the film. She'd been watching Ruan Mei.]
Ruan Mei sighed and turned to Asta. "You wrote this, didn't you?"
Asta stiffened. Her eyes darted away. "No... I didn't. I don't have time for that. It must have been... some Mirage Maker."
"And the hidden thread? What did you intend with that?"
Asta's fingers tightened around the sleeve pendant at her wrist. "I... I don't know."
Ruan Mei let the matter drop. But she would find time to talk with Asta alone. To warn her. Playing this game with two geniuses had consequences. Better to steer her away while she still could.
She hoped Asta would listen.
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Bonus Chapters Owed: 5
I'll stop doing bonus chapters after I finish what I owe because I don't want to catch up to raw too quickly because it comes out slowly.