After leaving Mo Li's office, Mei wobbled all the way back to her room.
Even after she flopped face-first onto the bed, she still felt mortified.
"Uu… that was so embarrassing…"
Her face was burning red, and the scene from just now kept looping in her head—
Including that warm, very obvious… "bump."
"How did it end up like this…"
It was supposed to be just modeling for a character. Yet she'd gotten so shy she went lightheaded, then actually fell into his arms and refused to get up.
But… at that distance, Mo Li's serious, handsome face was really hard to ignore.
When she was in his arms, she didn't feel any rejection at all.
In fact, she even remembered all the times Mo Li had teased her before.
"What do I do now… how am I supposed to look him in the eye…"
The moment she thought of that strange, pressing feeling on her lower belly, Mei shivered all over.
Not out of disgust—but out of a whole mess of complicated feelings.
Really complicated—so many emotions tangled together that she didn't even know what to do with herself.
If it's him, then…
"What am I even thinking…" Mei buried her face into the pillow, trying hard to empty her mind.
But no matter how she tried to distract herself, she still couldn't shake off the image of Mo Li carefully trimming her bangs.
Right then, the door suddenly opened.
Mei practically jumped, and quickly pushed herself up to look back.
"Kiana…? What are you doing here?"
Seeing Mei sprawled on the bed, Kiana immediately crawled up, too.
"Mei~~~" Kiana snuggled into Mei's arms like she was the one acting spoiled.
Mei was still a bit flustered, but when she saw that it was just the white-haired dumpling trying to cuddle, she finally relaxed.
She stroked Kiana's fluffy head. "What's wrong… Kiana?"
"Boss said you were sick, so I came to see you~"
Mei: "Who visits sick people like this…"
"Hehe~ Mei smells nice~" Kiana hugged her arm, enjoying this rare moment of getting Mei alone.
"Oh right—how are you? Where does it hurt? I can take you to the doctor~"
The second she said that, Mei immediately remembered what happened in Mo Li's office.
Her flawless face flushed red again.
She cupped her cheeks and said, slightly guilty, "I-I'm fine… I just got a little dizzy. I'll be okay after lying down~"
Right then, there was another knock at the door.
"Is Miss Mei inside?"
"That's Sister Aponia!" Kiana jumped off the bed and ran to open the door.
Mei slowly sat up too.
"Boss Mo Li said you were sick, so he asked me to come check on you."
Mei: "…"
It was just an excuse—how did it spread this fast…
Was she going to have to fake-sick all day now?
Aponia had already come over to the bed.
"I worked at a hospital before. If anything's uncomfortable, tell me."
Only now did Mei react—
Right. Aponia used to be a doctor…
Even though it was nice to be cared about, Mei started to panic for real.
Was her lie about to get exposed?
"I… I just… felt a little tired, dizzy…"
Aponia touched her forehead. It was a bit warm. She asked softly, "Sore throat?"
Mei shook her head hard.
"Any coughing?"
Still no.
"I'm really okay, I don't have a fever…"
Aponia thought for a moment, then nodded. "Mm… but it's best to check anyway, just in case—"
Before she could finish, Mei scrambled off the bed and started pushing Aponia toward the door.
As she pushed, she babbled, "I'm really fine! I just need some rest!"
"Kiana, don't worry either, let me be alone for a bit…"
This out-of-character move startled both Kiana and Aponia.
Gentle, considerate Mei… was actually kicking them out?
"Aponia-sis, is Mei really okay?" Kiana asked.
Aponia shook her head.
…Whether she was saying "she's fine" or "I don't know," was unclear.
Kiana rubbed her chin and started thinking hard.
"That's weird… Mei is obviously acting strange…"
Suddenly, her imagination fired.
"Could it be that… the Herrscher personality is controlling her again?"
Aponia: "…"
This kid… really has ideas.
She looked at Mei's closed door.
Since Mei had chased them out, it wasn't good manners to knock again.
After thinking it over, Aponia decided to tell Mo Li.
…
On Mo Li's side, he was actually worried too.
But thinking of what just happened, he figured with Mei's thin skin, there was no way she could face him right now.
So he didn't go himself—he asked Aponia to check instead.
Soon enough, Aponia texted back.
Aponia: "Miss Mei should be fine. Just a little bit feverish. I'll go get her some medicine."
Mo Li replied right away: "Thanks a lot."
After putting the phone down, he went to Kiana to confirm Mei's condition.
And Kiana said—Mei had actually gently pushed them both out.
…Right. That tracked.
Wait.
"A little fever" and won't let Aponia examine her…
Even Mo Li, who could sometimes be slow, figured it out.
In a situation like earlier, with how shy Mei was—of course she'd be so embarrassed she couldn't show her face.
"A little fever"…
Obviously just her face being red…
He guessed it, but he didn't stop Aponia from bringing medicine.
Better to be safe.
All the way until evening, Mei didn't come out.
Dinner was made by Rita and Kamisato Ayaka.
By then, everyone in the studio knew "Mei was sick."
But since Aponia said she'd already checked on her, none of the other girls went to disturb her.
It wasn't until Kiana went to call her to dinner that Mei finally ended her self-imposed isolation and came out.
When they saw her—
Even though Mei looked calmer now…
Her new hairstyle made everyone's eyes light up.
"Is that Mei? That's a huge change~" Yae Miko covered her lips in surprise.
Himeko was just as stunned. "You look so much more mature~"
Mei got a little shy. Her eyes slid—just for a second—over to Mo Li.
And instantly turned red again.
"Mmhmm? Even when she's shy, Mei is even more charming~" Elysia chuckled.
Mei protested, flustered: "Elysia… please stop teasing me…"
"Hehe~" Rita chuckled too, then asked curiously, "Didn't you say you wanted to cut it short? How come it's a whole new hairstyle now?"
At that, Mei immediately remembered this afternoon in Mo Li's office—and she nearly bolted again.
"Ahem…" Mo Li cleared his throat and pulled everyone's attention back.
"Alright, let's eat first. Mei just got better; don't bully her."
That was rare.
Mo Li didn't tease Mei—he actually protected her?
Bronya and the others all stared at him.
"Why are you all looking at me like that…"
Mo Li was helpless.
If nothing had happened that afternoon, he definitely would've joked around.
But Mei was probably ultra-sensitive right now. If he kept poking fun, she really would dig a hole and jump in.
"Okay, okay~" Mo Li finally threw up his hands.
"Mei's hairstyle—I helped her with it~"
The room froze for a second.
Mei's shoulders trembled. She lowered her head even farther.
"Aiya~ so Boss Mo Li likes this kind of Mei, huh~" Elysia sang.
Mo Li gave her a "enough out of you" glare and hurried to explain:
"I just asked Mei to model for me—so I could design a new Genshin character."
With that, he smoothly dragged the topic off Mei to save her.
"This character is Inazuma's Raiden Shogun."
That line did the trick—everyone perked up.
Even Mei was stunned.
It was one thing to be a main heroine in Honkai 3rd—
But now she was going to be a god in Genshin?!
What did that mean?
It meant: she was popular?
It meant: Mo Li paid special attention to her?
So Boss Mo Li really does think highly of me…
Mei's heart bloomed.
After all, the other girls were only playing one role.
She was the first one to have a role in two different games at the same time.
Here, Mei very naturally ignored Yae Miko and Kiana.
After all, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles just looked like someone, and Honkai's Yae Sakura was just Miko's sister.
She was the one truly playing two roles!
Thinking that, Mei felt incomparably happy.
Her earlier embarrassment? Temporarily gone.
"Oho~ so Mei is my God now~" Yae Miko circled around Mei, eyes gleaming.
"Very interesting setting~"
After that, the girls bombarded Mo Li with questions about the Raiden Shogun.
Mo Li didn't hide it. He gave them the outline:
A nation's Archon. Looks cold and noble. Actually a little wooden. Likes sweets. Likes light novels. Has a wife-face, but can't cook.
…
They burst out laughing.
The whole table atmosphere turned warm.
Only Mei was a little unconvinced.
She puffed up her cheeks. "Boss… it's fine if you say I'm a bit wooden, but you can't insult my cooking."
That made everyone laugh again.
Mo Li finally relaxed.
If Mei could still talk back, that meant she'd mostly gotten over what happened in the afternoon.
"Speaking of which…" Himeko stared carefully at Mei, then nodded thoughtfully.
"This hairstyle really does look like a married woman's."
"Looks more mature than me~"
Bronya muttered from the side: "Hmph. Strange XP."
She didn't name names, but everyone knew who she meant.
Mo Li certainly did.
He wasn't embarrassed—he just chuckled. "The traitor may die, but the spirit of the traitor lives on."
…
Meanwhile, the internet was already boiling over with discussion of the new Honkai 3rd story.
On Doyin, streamer Fallen had been live since afternoon and still hadn't closed.
By now, he'd finished the whole Elysian Realm segment.
From the files, from the dialogues with the Flame-Chasers, he'd pieced together quite a lot.
He was eating takeout while talking with tens of thousands of viewers.
"Guys, I was actually shocked."
"Of everything I saw this afternoon, the most terrifying was still Mebius's story."
"A damn memory body trying to hijack Mei's body and escape the Realm! That's insane…"
[What? Memory body backstabs the main body? Bro I think you misunderstood.]
Fallen swallowed, took a sip of water, then laid out his theory.
"I think the real body was always playing the memory like a fiddle."
"On the surface, the original Mebius is dead, and her memory copy replaces her. But…"
"Actually, the memory is still walking down one of the infinite futures Mebius calculated for herself."
"So yeah, the memory failed—but it also succeeded. Failed, because she's still on Mebius's path. Succeeded, because she's become Mebius."
"You say the memory modified Mebius's consciousness?"
Fallen sighed. "That's just recursion. How do you know the original Mebius didn't notice she'd been modified? Maybe everything the memory did… was inside the original's expectations, and the original just didn't care."
"Of course, why Mebius had that change of heart—giving up on immortality, accepting death, leaving everything to the memory… that part we don't know yet. We have to wait."
Chat was stunned.
Screens full of 666 rolled past.
Being praised like this, Fallen was very pleased with himself.
"Anyway—Mei went into the Realm to look for the Honkai God, right? She wanted to know why the Honkai God can't affect her, a mere Herrscher."
"Then Kevin told her to come here to find the answer…"
"But after seeing the Realm story, our focus totally shifted to the Flame-Chasers."
"Like—damn. When you think about it, Mihuyou's really cracked!!"
"They used the Honkai God mystery to build expectation, then once we followed it in… we got even more invested in the scraps of info about the Realm…"
"Tsk tsk… Mihuyou really is a master of PUA!"
"But right now, the one I care most about is still Elysia… she's too mysterious."
"'Betrayer,' censored signet, her death… and it affected the other Flame-Chasers that much!!"
"And that unrecorded 13th Herrscher… bro, what if Elysia is the 13th Herrscher?"
"And Kevin killed her himself?"
"Do you all still remember what Kevin said in his recollection?"
He pulled the Elysian Realm page back up and found Kevin's archive.
Elysia: "If one day… if pulling the trigger on me like this could save the many…"
The moment that line appeared, everyone felt a knife slide into their hearts.
It's fine, it's fine… tiny knife. We'll recover…
Even Fallen was spooked by his own idea.
What the hell? Was he… actually looking for knives to stab himself with?
Damn Mihuyou—had they already trained him into a masochist?
MMP.
He hurried to change the subject.
"Right—there didn't seem to be the concept of 'Herrscher personalities' in the Previous Era, right? And there wasn't a humanized Herrscher like Mei."
"So I'm betting—when Mei finds the real answer, that'll be when we learn why the Honkai God can't affect Herrschers of the current age."
"And that reason… was probably made by the Previous Era!"
"If that's true… then the Previous Era was actually insane. They could even influence the Honkai God!!"
…
Even though it was already night, even though Fallen had stopped playing—
Because Elysian Realm had left too many holes, everyone was still debating like crazy.
Fallen's viewer count kept climbing.
And in the end, everything boiled down to one line:
The story of the Previous Era… is way too despairing. Way too oppressive.
But also—
That's exactly why players are even more obsessed. Even more excited.
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