[I knew it. The big one is coming.]
[Is it her? But it's not her...]
[Who understands, friends? Who the hell understands? The moment I heard this voice, my goosebumps rose.]
— —
"Hey, stop keeping me in suspense. Hurry up and tell me — what exactly did you see?" Phainon spoke extremely quickly.
"Haha, I just wanted to see your reaction. Here, I'll tell you —" The pink-haired girl took out a card and showed the front to Phainon. "Is it this card? Its name is 「Deliverer」."
"「Deliverer」… What does that mean?"
"Hmm… I won't read out that long string of interpretations for you. Simply put, this card means… you will become a hero worshipped by everyone. You will use the sword in your hand to protect the world and save many, many people from terrifying enemies! How about that? Pretty great, right?"
Phainon did not look as happy as expected. "Mm..."
"What's wrong? This is a good card."
Phainon sighed and lay back down in the wheat field, using his hands as a pillow. "But I don't want to be some great hero! I just want to stay in the village with everyone. Grandpa and Grandma always say that there are many bad people outside the village, which is why there are always wars… I don't want to save those bad people! I only want to be a little hero who protects the village!"
"Haha..." The girl let out a silvery laugh. "Then, little hero… if one day we must say goodbye to Aidonia, would you be willing to become the 「Deliverer」?"
"We must… leave the village?"
"Mm. If something like that happens… it means the world needs someone to save it."
"Then… then..."
Seeing Phainon hemming and hawing, the girl covered her mouth and laughed. "Haha, I was just teasing you~ Don't worry. Aidonia is very peaceful. Bad people will never find us. Are you going home… If you're not in a hurry, how about we go play with the fairies again?"
"Fairies! Okay! I love playing with them the most! This time, I'm definitely going to win back the wooden sword I lost to them!"
[Wait, fairies? Could Mem be a fairy?]
[Mem is a fairy. Phainon shouldn't fail to recognize that.]
[Assuming Mem is Elysia's counterpart, wouldn't that mean he wouldn't recognize her?]
[At least the same species, right? It's like you don't recognize a specific husky, but if a husky stands in front of you, you should still know it's a dog, right?]
[That makes sense.]
— —
Suddenly, the screen went black.
"Hehe… You're really full of energy. Let's go then..."
Only the girl's voice remained in the video.
The next moment, a painting suddenly appeared.
The girl's image was split apart by a slash, leaving a black void and golden blood.
"I hope this world will never need a 「Deliverer」."
[Hahahahaha, miHoYo, miHoYo, NMSL.]
[Zero-frame start. Truly impossible to guard against!]
[666666, not even pretending anymore?]
["About how a pink-haired character went from appearance to death in only five minutes!"]
[Ah?????]
[Honkai: Star Rail, what medicine did you take?]
— —
However, the visual feast had only just begun.
Several system hours earlier, aboard the Astral Express.
"Pom-Pom, is your 「staff meal」 ready?" Himeko's tone sounded somewhat tired. It was clear she was truly worried at the moment.
"Of course, it's ready, Pom! Since March passenger isn't feeling well, I specially prepared an easily digestible Conductor's custom menu." Pom-Pom had specially changed into a chef outfit, looking even cuter. It handed the tray to Himeko. "Himeko, could you trouble yourself to deliver it to her?"
"Of course, no problem. By the way..."
Pom-Pom instantly understood Himeko's meaning. "No no no, you can't give coffee to a sick person, Pom!"
"Heh… Fair enough."
...
"Knock knock..."
A knocking sound came from outside the room.
"March, I'm coming in, okay?"
At that moment, the camera gave a close-up of the room, filled with drifting cold air.
Himeko pushed the door open.
Clang.
The tray in her hand fell to the ground!
Himeko's breathing became increasingly rapid and uncontrollable.
The camera shifted to March 7th on the bed.
March 7th's body seemed to be once again being wrapped in the Six-Phased Ice.
Several thin layers of ice locked the unconscious March 7th onto the bed. The originally warm and cozy room now exuded a chilling coldness.
The girl curled within the crystal-clear ice was tranquil and flawless… just like when she had once drifted alone through space.
The girl huddled in the transparent ice layer, eyes tightly shut, silent.
Although the ice layers were not freezing to the touch, the usually lively and cheerful girl falling into silence felt especially heartbreaking.
Then the Astral Express logo appeared. Season 8 Part 0, To Be Continued!
[Please transform in an orderly manner.]
[Gaia!!!!!]
[miHoYo's specialty cliffhanger is here!]
[Aaahhh, I hate you for this cliffhanger!]
[This cliffhanger actually made me laugh from anger.]
[Hahaha, as expected of you, miHoYo. You have a grudge against pink-haired characters, right?]
[Let me count. Jiaoqiu? Pink hair? Blinded my eyes! This pink-haired girl who looks like Elysia — stabbed. Huh? How come I didn't notice March 7th also has pink hair? Mm, frozen.]
[666666666...]
[So that's why March 7th didn't appear much this season. She was already frozen?]
[Damn it, why is the follow-up attack still chasing me?]
[Beautiful Frozen, March Ice!]
[No, I just want to ask if March 7th can still appear?]
[She probably will. You can refer to Dan Heng's Xianzhou storyline. Maybe they'll give you a hidden power reveal later.]
[Then how long do we have to wait?]
[Actually, this season, I feel the plot charm isn't that strong because it's all setup. Honestly, it feels just okay.]
[Setup is normal. After all, they need to introduce an entirely new world. Probably only miHoYo dares to film it this way. Other companies wouldn't dare — the audience would have left long ago.]
[I'm afraid they'll keep setting up and then suddenly hit you with something huge!]
[I think it's fine. As long as it's not meaningless setup, there's no problem.]
[Believe in miHoYo. Old mi really knows how to write outlines!]
[Let's disperse, disperse.]
[Don't leave, bros. There are still bloopers!]
— —
As expected.
To reassure the friends, miHoYo still released some appropriate bloopers.
At this moment, our Miss Stelle was holding her handheld camera in front of an Earth Beast base.
"Everyone, this is the Earth Beast base. Of course, Earth Beasts aren't real creatures — they're all mechanical! However, once the Amphoreus region opens, you can still come here to play~"
"Eh?" Stelle slightly moved the camera and saw Phainon and Castorice standing beside the Earth Beast. "Everyone see that? Our protagonists Phainon and Castorice are over there. I wonder which scene they're filming?"
With that, Stelle turned the camera toward herself. She raised an eyebrow at the lens with what should have been a stunningly beautiful face.
A strong "scummy" aura almost overflowed the screen.
...
Soon, she approached the two of them.
She heard Phainon looking up and shouting at the Earth Beast, "Teacher Anaxa! Teacher Anaxa..."
[Who is Anaxa?]
[I don't know?]
"Sigh..." Phainon felt his throat dry. He turned to look at Castorice. "Why don't you try?"
"Uh… Okay." Castorice took a deep breath, then used all her strength to softly shout, "Teacher Anaxa!"
[Castorice is so cute!]
[Is that really calling someone?]
[Damn it, the way she shouted makes me want to commit a crime. What do I do?]
Stelle walked up behind the two of them at this moment. "Yo? What's going on with you two?"
"Eh? Why are you here, Stelle?" Phainon looked around. "Where's my big brother?"
"Him? I heard he's developing a game called Honkai Impact 3rd: The Abyss. Who knows?" Stelle glanced at the Earth Beast. "By the way, what are you two doing?"
Phainon looked embarrassed. After a moment of silence, he still spoke. "Actually… it's Teacher Anaxa. He..."
"You three, shut up!"
At that moment.
A green-haired man wearing an eyepatch suddenly jumped up from the seat behind the Earth Beast.
He moved nimbly and leaped.
Then.
Thud. He landed face-first.
[????]
[Hahaha, bros, is this guy here to be funny?]
[Damn, what kind of comedy geniuses did miHoYo find?]
The green-haired man stood up as if nothing had happened and casually patted the dust off his clothes.
Phainon hurriedly stepped forward. "Teacher, are you okay?"
"What teacher? Do you people have any public decency? Can't you see I'm sleeping? I still have to go see the Earth Beast tomorrow!"
Castorice scratched her head. "But Teacher, aren't you looking at it right now?"
"I said I'm looking tomorrow. What does that have to do with whether I'm looking today?"
Phainon: "..."
Castorice: "..."
Phainon cleared his throat lightly. "It's just that, Teacher, you've even set up a tent on the Earth Beast's back."
Anaxa nodded thoughtfully. "I also think it's a bit inappropriate. The container house I ordered should arrive tomorrow."
"Hey, Teacher Anaxa, I have to say something to you. You're almost developing a fetish at this point." Stelle took a step forward with the camera.
"First, please don't call me Anaxa. Call me Anaxagoras. Second, anyone can say that about me, but not you!"
"Oh, right. Sorry, Teacher Anaxa."
"It's fine, Miss Stelle."
[What exactly am I watching?]
[These are the bloopers?]
[Why does it feel so absurd!]
Phainon patted his forehead. "Castorice, let's go first. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow. There's no rush anyway."
— —
Suddenly, the camera turned.
It moved to the next scene.
It was still Anaxa, sitting on the Earth Beast's back. Mydei stood beside him with a lifeless expression.
The Earth Beast was currently in motion.
Not far ahead, Aglaea was running lines with Tribbie and her sisters.
Stelle held the camera, keeping it pointed at Anaxa the whole time.
[Did you notice something off?]
[What's off?]
[It seems like the Earth Beast is getting closer and closer to Aglaea.]
Sure enough, under everyone's watchful eyes.
"Ouch~"
Aglaea was directly knocked over by the Earth Beast.
"Uh." Mydei suddenly startled. "Mr. Anaxa, did we hit something?"
Anaxa slightly turned his head. "I saw a strand of golden hair."
Then he turned to Mydei and said, "It's fine. It's Aglaea. I thought it was a speed bump. Keep going."
"Ouch~"
The Earth Beast rolled over her again.
Not long after,
Aglaea slowly stood up. The corners of her mouth couldn't stop rising.
"Hahahaha... Anaxagoras!! Hehe..."
With that, she chased after Anaxa with a frenzied aura!
Seeing this, Stelle didn't bother filming bloopers anymore and directly threw down the camera.
The camera fell sideways, pointing toward Kephale's position.
However, some audio could still be heard.
"Oh no, this is saving humanity!"
...
The screen seemed to have fast-forward pressed, constantly speeding up.
Suddenly, a cat-like girl picked up the camera and pointed the lens at herself.
Her face completely blocked the dawn machine behind her. "It's really over now, meow!"
At this point, the progress bar finally couldn't hold on anymore. Season 8 Part 0, completely ended.
[????]
[How should I put it? I feel like I watched something incredible.]
[Perhaps miHoYo wanted to tell us that web dramas are web dramas and reality is reality. There's no need to feel sad over some plot points. They all truly exist in this world.]
[Although… what you said is good, but is that the reason miHoYo casually hands out knives?]
[I suspect miHoYo's boss has some kind of system where the more knives he gives characters, the more rewards he gets. Otherwise, it's hard to explain his behavior.]
[That makes sense!]
— —
Inside the interactive city.
Su Chen was sitting in his office.
Dan Heng was reporting some Season 8 related data to him. "The data reception for this season isn't very good."
"As expected. Don't worry too much. The audience will come back to watch after a while anyway."
"I'm not worried about that. I also know the future plot. I just hope miHoYo doesn't go berserk again."
"Oh, right. How did the big eater competition go this time?"
Dan Heng sat on the sofa and took out his phone. "The top four of this competition have already been decided. They are Kiana, Yunli, Anby, and one named Artoria Pendragon."
"Oh, to use a name you're more familiar with, she is also one of the heroines of the Fate web drama series — Saber."
Su Chen smiled charmingly. "Very good!"