"No matter whether your world has the concept of day or night, allow me to first wish you a good morning, noon, and evening! I'm your old friend Adrian, and this time, I'm bringing you the latest Aeon gossip, titled [Elation]."
"Countless Aeons shine across the cosmos, like stars in the sky. I'm sure you've all heard tales of their deeds."
"So… would you like to know the little secrets… hidden behind the Aeon of Elation?"
At the Xianzhou Luofu, in a milk tea shop situated across from the [Sleepless Earl] teahouse.
A young man dressed in a black brocade robe, with refined features, was muttering to himself at the counter.
"I want to know! I really want to know!"
A laughing mask materialized before Adrian, letting out a cackle brimming with the signature flair of Elation.
"[Elation] and the cosmos—savor these two words… their pronunciation isn't all that different. What does that tell us?"
"Haha, it means Elation is one badass Aeon!" the mask suddenly burst out excitedly.
"An Aeon doesn't speak falsehoods—so it is, so it is." Adrian quipped, giving the mask a playful slap.
"?"
The mask tilted to one side, feeling like it had just been played.
"Waaah~ Aha's got no face left!"
After a long silence, the mask wobbled and grumbled before vanishing from Adrian's sight.
"Just kidding~"
The mask reappeared, but seeing no reaction from Adrian, its laughing expression shifted to one of sorrow, even its color turning pitch black.
"Waaah~ Aha's really got no face left!"
"Didn't I just hear that?"
Adrian stood up, conjuring a bottle of Immortal's Delight tea out of thin air and tossing it to the mask, which was still shedding little pearls of tears.
"Plan successful!"
Catching the Immortal's Delight, the mask burst into laughter and vanished again.
Gazing at the empty teahouse, Adrian began pondering the philosophy of life.
The laughing mask was, of course, an incarnation of Aha, the Aeon of Elation. As the universe's ultimate trickster god, Aha now spent every day devising ways to scam a cup of milk tea from him.
Why didn't Aha just ask Adrian directly? Where's the fun in that?
Naturally, to keep up with Aha's antics, Adrian was no ordinary person either.
In fact, he wasn't even human…
Just a run-of-the-mill Aeon of [Eternity], that's all.
When had he arrived in this world?
He couldn't quite remember. The only thing that stuck was the memory of pulling a full-fate Sunday in a single ten-pull during Honkai: Star Rail's version 2.7 launch, only to drop dead and end up here.
After drifting through the cosmos for who-knows-how-long, the concept of [Eternity] flashed through his mind, and just like that, he ascended to become an Aeon.
He also awakened a system, which didn't bother giving him any missions. Instead, it stuffed him with a bunch of survival skills and promptly went offline, never to be heard from again.
[Eternal Shackles]: Select a target and seal their imaginary energy.
(Hint: The universe is filled with mysterious imaginary energy. Why not be bold and target the entire cosmos?)
[Eternal Grace]: Select a target and hurl them into a specific black hole space to experience eternity!
[Eternal Moment]: Select an area and halt the flow of time within it.
(Hint: You know what I'm getting at.)
[To Be Unlocked…]
After reviewing these three core skills, Adrian rubbed his chin. Pretty useful, all things considered.
The [Eternity] Path was vast. Becoming an Aeon with infinite lifespan—wasn't that a form of eternity too? Moreover, as the Aeon of [Eternity], he was eternity itself!
Everything, all things, could be eternal!
Thus, among the Aeons, Adrian's strength was firmly in the T0 tier.
He wouldn't dare claim to rival [Nihility], but he was definitely above [Elation] and could probably pummel [Destruction].
Poor Nanook, no face left!
After becoming an Aeon, Adrian wandered the cosmos aimlessly… spending his days doing nothing but sleeping.
This Path of his—how was it starting to feel a bit like [Nihility]?
He figured IX, the Aeon of [Nihility], was too lazy to bother with him. After all, IX spent its days loafing around the universe, doing nothing. Why would it care about a new [Eternity] Path popping up?
But something felt off…
As long as Adrian was alive, he wasn't betraying the [Eternity] Path.
Didn't that mean he could… do other things?
No need to mimic [Nihility] and be a slacker all day!
These past few millennia in the cosmos had been a complete waste of time. He needed to find something worthwhile to do!
And so, tales of the [Eternity] Aeon began to spread across the cosmos.
"Good morning, Mr. Adrian!"
As Adrian was lost in thought, a clear, cheerful voice interrupted his reminiscing.
A girl radiating an aura of slacking off pushed open the door, humming a tune as she strolled in.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Qingque! What'll you have today?"
Adrian immediately shifted his tone, flashing a professional smile as he handed Qingque a menu.
"One Boba Milk Tea, extra boba, light on the sugar."
"Three minutes."
Adrian changed into his work attire and headed to the counter.
Due to the unique nature of his Path, his experience as an Aeon might differ from his peers.
Having caused too much chaos… ahem, after being an Aeon for so long, he occasionally wanted to switch things up and return to a normal person's life.
He needed a good place to slack off…
His top choice was the Xianzhou Alliance. [Zhuming] and [Yaoqing] weren't quite comfortable, but [Luofu] had that homey vibe.
Originally, he planned to buy a house on the [Luofu] and laze around, but how was that any different from when he acted as an Aeon?
It went against his slacking philosophy!
Slacking off meant doing something productive while not doing something productive.
So, the goal was simple.
Working at a teahouse would do, but it might hurt his reputation.
Thus, Adrian opened his own milk tea shop. As the boss, he had the perfect excuse to slack off.
To blend in better, he crafted a physical body for himself—the one he was using now.
It held about half his true power; any more, and the body would explode.
The shop had been open for a while, and only Qingque occasionally helped out.
After all, the [Sleepless Earl] was right across the street. Why settle for less when there was a better option? Adrian didn't care about profits, as long as it didn't interfere with his slacking.
Even as an Aeon, he held fast to his slacker's heart.
Adrian smacked his lips. Why wasn't there a [Slacking] Path?
He glanced at Qingque, lounging on the sofa, scrolling through her phone.
If there was a [Slacking] Path, this girl would definitely be its Emanator.
Pulling a fresh Boba Milk Tea from his system space, Adrian handed it to Qingque.
"Mmm~ Delicious!"
Qingque took a few more sips, then asked Adrian for a to-go bag.
"Saving it for the Divination Commission, hehe."
"Give my regards to Master Fu Xuan," Adrian said, tidying the counter. In front of others, he still had to maintain a good image.
Did he even have an image?
Adrian began to question himself.
"Don't tell me, one of these days I'll get Master Fu Xuan to try your Boba Milk Tea."
Qingque didn't understand why, after all these years, Adrian's shop remained so lukewarm. It seemed like she was the only regular customer.
She was even tempted to put in a good word with Fu Xuan to boost the shop's business.
"Sigh~ My luck at cards has been awful lately. Haven't won a single game, and I've got that annoying performance review to deal with," Qingque started chatting with Adrian about daily life.
"How about you help me write it?"
Qingque's eyes gleamed with mischief, even switching to polite speech.
"I don't know how to write performance reviews."
Adrian brought Qingque a plate of fruit. He wasn't unaware of her talents.
From enrollment to graduation, every exam she took scored exactly sixty points—a true master of score control, even better than score suppression.
And you're telling me a genius like her can't write a performance review?
"Come on, you know I spend all day at work playing [Celestial Jade]. What performance do I even have?" Qingque's tone softened. She really didn't want to write this review. With that time, she could play several rounds of cards.
Her job at the Divination Commission was just managing the library. Recently, she'd been reassigned to gate duty, occasionally running errands—trivial tasks, all of them.
"I feel for you, one second."
Adrian had no such worries. He almost pitied Qingque.
"Let's not talk about that! You might not know, but lately, I keep feeling like someone's watching me. I suspect it's Master Fu Xuan!"
"What makes you say that?" Adrian's interest was piqued.
"For some reason, whenever I have free time, random tasks keep piling up—assigned by her personally. No way to dodge them."
"These packed workdays are suffocating. If this keeps up, I'll have to visit the Alchemy Commission for medicine in a few days."
Qingque rubbed her temples. "I'm so jealous of you, Mr. Adrian."
"Jealous?"
Adrian thought for a moment before speaking slowly:
"Well… would you like to take over my shop?"
"Huh?" Qingque froze, thinking she misheard. She confirmed again, "Is that okay?"
"Of course. To be honest, I booked a tour group, and I'll be boarding soon."
Adrian figured it was about time for the main storyline to kick off. He needed to go make an appearance.
"True, you're not a local, Mr. Adrian." When Qingque first met him, he'd said he was a wanderer traveling the cosmos.
"So, does that mean I'll be running this shop from now on?"
"Pretty much, but the trip won't be long. I'll be back in a few weeks."
…
After seeing Qingque off, Adrian glanced around, confirmed no one was nearby, and flipped the sign on the door from "Open" to "Closed."
Work hours are over—time to clock out!