The pale blue glow of the screen cast light over Huohuo's gray-green hair. Beneath her bangs, her eyes shimmered, glassy with unshed tears that threatened to spill over at any moment, like tiny pearls on the verge of falling.
"Tail… you… died?"
Seeing the mission's conclusion, Huohuo turned to the real Tail beside her, her eyes reddened. Her small hands clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, as if gripping Tail himself.
Under the weight of her pitiful gaze, Tail flustered. "W-what are you crying for?!"
"That was just game me! I'm right here, aren't I?"
Huohuo sniffled slightly, the tears in her eyes receding a little.
Then, the in-game Huohuo's voice trembled:
"Tail disrupted Cirrus… he saved us… but… but now he's gone…"
"I can't sense him anywhere…"
"Even though because of him, I've had to do all these awful jobs, live this miserable life…"
"Countless times, I thought how much easier things would be without him… but now that he's really left… I just feel… empty."
"I'm so pathetic—the one thing I kept wishing for finally happened, and I can't even smile about it…"
"Lady Xueyi said Heliobi flames never truly die… Tail must be out there somewhere…"
Hearing her own voice, Huohuo—who had just barely held it together—burst into tears again.
"Waaahhh…!"
"Tail… all these years, I've gotten so used to you…"
"I treated you like a friend… like family…"
"Please don't disappear like in the story, okay…?"
Tail froze.
It never expected a game would make Huohuo pour her heart out like this.
Family?
Friend?
Words it would've scoffed at before now felt… weirdly nice?
But it was still a proud Heliobi. There was no way it'd start bawling with her. Instead, it tapped open the Jade Abacus on the table, scrolling through the homepage updates—until its eyes lit up.
"Quit your blubbering, crybaby!"
"Look at this!"
A short film titled "Ghost-Hunting in Fyxestroll Garden", uploaded by Yu Ling two minutes ago.
"Pfft—look at this thumbnail! It's totally you!"
Huohuo rubbed her eyes and stared.
…It was her.
A chibi version of her face, eyes and mouth comically wide, looking seconds away from fainting.
"...Huh?"
"This… is about me?"
Before she could hesitate, Tail clicked play.
"Quit stalling! Let's see what this is about!"
The video began:
A pair of small hands held an electronic compass, its screen displaying several flickering signals. A narrator's voiceover played:
"The Xianzhou natives sail the stars, yet cannot escape encounters with the supernatural."
"Thus, countless tales of the paranormal are born."
"On that day, a novice judge of the Ten-Lords Commission received her orders… to vanquish a demon."
Huohuo blinked.
A novice judge?
But the clumsy little figure on screen… was undeniably her!
The setting was a desolate mountain village. "She" clutched the compass, sprinting in panic. Then, two children appeared ahead, their backs turned.
Hesitantly, she approached.
"Um… excuse me—?"
The boy on the right snapped his head around, lips curled unnaturally.
"Newcomer…"
The girl beside him mirrored the motion.
"We'll… take… good… care… of… you…"
Huohuo's ears shot upright.
Then—
Something horrifying happened.
Both children stretched their arms forward, their tongues lolling out—long, crimson, dangling like neckties down to their waists.
"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! WELCOME!"
Huohuo bolted.
The children hopped after her in perfect sync, their movements eerily mechanical.
Before she could catch her breath, Huohuo realized she'd taken refuge near a coffin—its lid already pried open. Trembling, she raised her compass and copper coin sword, peering inside…
Empty.
Just as she gasped—
A woman's silhouette materialized behind her, back turned.
Then, her head rotated 180 degrees.
"You… are the new one?"
Huohuo's heart stopped.
WHAT KIND OF SHORT FILM IS THIS?!
This isn't funny AT ALL!
Tail, meanwhile, enabled live comments:
"Xueyi's head can spin 180°?!"
"The perks of being a puppet, lol."
"PFFT—even Tingyun's jealous of that neck flexibility."
"This is Ten-Lords HQ… they're all colleagues."
"Is this her first day on the job?"
Huohuo finally processed:
Oh.
That's Lady Xueyi.
No wonder the neck twisted like that.
…Everything suddenly made sense.
Including the next jump-scare cameo from Hanya.
But in-game Huohuo was not handling it well—freezing in terror, then shattering like glass.
Finally, at the mountain gate, she encountered the most terrifying thing of all—
"HAHAHA—HEEHEEHEEHEE!"
The screen cut to Tail cackling with glee.
"You were the one who asked for a scary story to 'train your courage'!"
"This is literally your first day at work! How are you this scared of yourself?!"
Huohuo's soul visibly popped out of her body before Tail shoved it back in.
Revived, she hugged a pillow, whimpering:
"L-let's end today's bravery training here…"
Tail snatched the remote away with its mouth.
"We're just getting started! KEEP WATCHING!"
Unable to wrestle back control, Huohuo could only sit there—utterly defeated, face a picture of pure dread.
Then, watching her own pitiful on-screen avatar…
Huohuo snorted.
A laugh burst through her tears.
But just as quickly, she remembered something worse and clutched her head.
"Ack—! N-no…"
"Now the entire internet knows I'm… a coward…"
Silence.
Then—
"I'll change!"
"I won't be like the game version who just cries at everything!"
"I'll work hard! I'll make everyone see the new Huohuo!"
Tail stared, stunned, at her sudden determination.
She immediately pulled out her communicator, messaging Hanya:
"Lady Hanya… any abnormal activity on your end?"
"There might be Heliobi causing hallucinations nearby—"
Hanya's reply was calm:
"We've inspected the Creation Furnace. No Heliobi have escaped."
"General Jing Yuan likely took preventive measures, averting the crisis."
"We'll return shortly."
Huohuo blinked.
"Huh?"
"…No incidents?"
Her newfound resolve instantly deflated.
"Uuu… I finally worked up the courage…"
"But… I guess it's better this way…"
Tail, however, smirked.
"Doubt it."
"In the game, even after Cirrus exploded, the other Heliobi were still loose."
"Bet the whole Luofu's about to become a haunted house…"
Huohuo clamped her hands over her mouth.
"D-don't scare me like that!"
"Who's scaring you? I'm talking about the game!"
"But man, I can't wait to see how chaotic the Luofu gets—!"
To be continued…
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