Mondstadt erupted into chaos in an instant. Citizens panicked; children fled into their mothers' arms. The Knights of Favonius guards blew the alarm horns, and every knight snapped into battle readiness. Jean rushed out of her office at once, staring at the sky in shock.
At Liyue Harbor, the bustling port fell dead silent—and then exploded into noise. Merchants forgot to haggle; sailors forgot to load and unload cargo. Zhongli's teacup paused midair. A glint of surprise and inquiry flashed in his golden eyes as he murmured, "A power that transcends the mundane… and not elemental energy…"
In Inazuma City, people dropped to their knees in fear, praying toward the Tenshukaku. The Raiden Shogun slowly opened her violet eyes; lightning flickered within as a chill aura spread around her. "A disturbance to that which is eternal…"
At the Akademiya in Sumeru, scholars nearly went mad. They couldn't comprehend the principles behind the sky-curtain; instruments across the board slammed their needles to the limit. Nahida stood within the Sanctuary of Surasthana, peering through the great leaves at the heavens, her small face written with confusion and worry.
In Snezhnaya, the Fatui Harbingers appeared one after another, their eyes grave. The Tsaritsa's gaze seemed to pierce her palace, fixing directly on the uncanny firmament.
The entire world plunged into unprecedented, global panic, unrest, and a feverish, overpowering curiosity.
Outside Mondstadt, Orien stood beneath the colossal screen that blanketed the sky like something wrought by a god's hand. Even as the mastermind, he felt his heart surge at the matchless spectacle.
This effect… it's insane. System, you're a beast.
He forced down his excitement, licked his dry lips, and let a grin creep across his face—one part thrill, one part anticipation, one part mischief.
"The stage is set. Lights and sound are ready…"
"People of Teyvat, watch closely… and learn well."
"Ready to take a critical hit from the truth—and savor the taste of a mental breakdown?"
"Broadcast… begin!"
At his silent command, the vast screen in the sky blazed to life.
The deep starfield background faded, replaced by a meteor streaking brilliantly across the night. The imagery was so vivid it felt real—you could almost feel the breeze the falling star carried.
A voiceover, magnetic and mysterious, rang in every ear. No matter the language, all understood it perfectly:
[Legend says shooting stars are symbols of dreams and hope.]
[But when the stars cease to twinkle, when fate is veiled by lies…]
[Can everything you believe in remain as beautiful as it once was?]
The camera chased the meteor's descent and settled over a familiar woodland—near Starfell Lake in Mondstadt.
A petite figure in a violet witch's dress and wide hat, and a blonde girl in peculiar garb with an eyepatch, stared in shock toward where the meteor fell.
Countless people who knew them gasped at once.
In Mondstadt, Mona—sneaking instant noodles in her astrology shop—saw her own face on the screen and promptly sprayed noodles across her crystal ball, eyes round as saucers.
"T-that's me?! And little Amy?! This is… from the recent Unreconciled Stars incident? Wait! What's with the sky? Who's prying into my destiny?!"
Near the Cat's Tail, Fischl was mid-invitation—in full "Prinzessin der Verurteilung" cadence—asking Noelle for afternoon tea. She froze. Her chuunibyou expression shattered, leaving only shock and mortified panic.
"Th-the Evernight Kingdom manifests upon the mortal realm? N-no… wrong! That is this princess—Oz! Oz! Who dares spy upon the princess's grand designs?!"
The night raven on her shoulder, Oz, was stunned as well, his beak opening and closing. "Milady, it appears… a drama engulfing the entire world has raised its curtain."
On the sky-screen, the footage flowed on with a lilting, faintly sorrowful score.
The narrator's voice returned, like a decree of fate, ringing clearly in every soul across Teyvat:
[Astrologist Mona Megistus, heir to a great master, a seeker who exhausts herself in pursuit of truth.]
[She believes her hydromancy reflects the truth of all things.]
[Yet she does not know… the starry sky itself is a colossal lie.]
[Are you poor merely because you hold to your principles?]
[Or did the fate you glimpsed stray from the truth from the very beginning?]
Boom!
The line struck like thunder—not only detonating in Mona's mind, but also sending tidal waves through every scholar and astrologer studying the heavens.
The starry sky… is a lie?!
Impossible!
Mona's face went pale. She lunged for her instruments, frantically calculating as she muttered, "No… impossible! The heavens bear destiny—hydromancy would never… A lie? Master… what is…"
But the screen offered no time to think. The scene cut to Fischl.
[Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, sovereign of the Evernight Kingdom.]
[Her chuunibyou fantasies are a fragile shell.]
[Her true self is just a normal girl—afraid of loneliness, longing for friends.]
[When the fantasy is torn away, when the real you is laid bare before the world's eyes…]
[Your Highness, how will you face yourself?]
"N-no… don't…" Fischl trembled before the sky, unconsciously stepping back. Color drained from her cheeks as a terror seized her—of being stripped naked before all. Noelle caught her, worried. "Fischl, are you alright?"
All across the continent, viewers stared, dumbfounded—especially in Mondstadt.
"What? That astrologer lady is that amazing? But what does it mean, the sky is a lie?"
"So the Prinzessin… was acting? Still… kinda pitiful."
"Who did this? This is… way too much!"
"Keep going! Don't stop now!"
Panic, shock, curiosity, sympathy, and gleeful rubbernecking spread through every corner of Teyvat.
Inside Orien's mind, system prompts cascaded like the sweetest symphony:
[Breakdown Value +99 from Astrologist Mona!]
[Breakdown Value +88 from Fischl!]
[Breakdown Value +15 from a Liyue astrology student!]
[Breakdown Value +20 from a Sumeru scholar!]
[Breakdown Value +10 from Jean of the Knights of Favonius!]
[Breakdown Value +5 from a bard named Venti! (ehe?)]
[Breakdown Value +8 from Zhongli of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!]
[…]
The numbers rolled fast. In just a few lines of narration, they blasted past two thousand and kept rocketing upward.
"Yes!" Orien punched the air. The rush beat pulling two five-stars in ten pulls by a hundred times.
And this was only the appetizer. The real bombshells were still to come.
The sky-screen dimmed slightly, then brightened again. Now it showed Mona anxiously performing a complex hydromancy derivation. Droplets formed an intricate star map in the air—yet in its center yawned a strange, ominous void.
The narrator's voice sank lower, laden with meaning:
[The hand of fate slips off its axis. Shards of truth scatter to the winds.]
[When mysterious meteors leave sleepers across the land, when ancient charts point toward a forgotten lie…]
[Is so-called "destiny" an unchangeable future—or… a carefully woven fraud?]
[Please look forward to Unreconciled Stars, Act I—"The Mystery of Sleep and the First Glimpse of Lies."]
The image froze, then slowly faded. The colossal firmament receded, the sky returning to normal—save for faint runes at the edges, hinting it had not truly departed and could reignite at any moment.
The broadcast cut off.
But all of Teyvat exploded.
After a heartbeat of stunned silence came a tidal roar of speculation, debate, and fear.
"It's over? Already? It cut off right at the juicy part!"
"The starry sky is a lie? What does that even mean?"
"What happened to the astrologer and the Prinzessin after that?"
"Who did this? What's their goal?"
"Will there be more? When?"
Mondstadt boiled. People crowded streets, squares, and taverns to argue about what they'd seen. The Knights of Favonius were instantly buried in pressure, and Jean called an emergency meeting on the spot.
Mona's shop door slammed shut. Inside came clatters of equipment and agitated murmurs.
With Noelle's help, Fischl fled the crowds and hid at home. Oz kept comforting his "Your Highness," who was on the verge of tears.
Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru… the upper echelons of all seven nations issued orders at nearly the same time to investigate the origin and purpose of the sky-curtain.
And the instigator of the storm—our classmate Orien—was grinning at the final numbers on his system panel.
[First-stage broadcast concluded. Total Breakdown Value gained: 5890!]
A short, teaser-style broadcast, nearly zero cost, and he'd pocketed almost six thousand Breakdown Value. The efficiency was off the charts.
"I'm rich, I'm rich!" Orien rubbed his hands. "A black-iron draw is only 1000—I can roll five times! Or save up for something better…"
He glanced at the still-buzzing Mondstadt, chuckled, lowered his hood, and turned toward Springvale.
The city gate was a hot zone; the last thing he wanted was to get dragged in by the Knights for questioning.
"Let the bullets fly a little longer… let the Breakdown Value climb a little higher…"
What he needed now was a quiet place to study the system shop—and to plan which even juicier material to drop in the next broadcast.
The trickster's journey… had only just begun.
(End of Chapter)
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