On the TV.
Kiana and Mei were still maintaining their original posture. Kiana couldn't help but think:
"It's been so long… Has Mei entered my mental space yet?"
"Is there… something wrong?"
To verify her thoughts, Kiana secretly added a bit more strength to the fingers interlocked with Mei's.
The softness still lingered at her fingertips, but the warmth felt in her palm had increased noticeably.
"As expected… it looks like we're still in the same place."
Kiana slowly slowed her breathing, trying to suppress the chaotic thoughts that had just appeared.
She decided to use the method most commonly employed by insomniacs in legends to concentrate.
"Enter the mental space… enter the mental space… enter the mental space…"
While Kiana was using the counting-sheep self-hypnosis method, Mei's thoughts also began to wander.
"What is Kiana… doing?"
"With her like this, it makes it even harder for me to focus…"
"Or is hearing the echo — actually proof that I have already entered Kiana's mental space?"
"No, how is that possible? What exactly… am I thinking?"
For Mei at this moment, whether she should continue maintaining the status quo became the most troubling thing.
An impulse to speak up and ask the other party kept surging in her mind.
But she had not yet realized…
"Ah… sorry, Mei. I-I won't recite anymore."
Since their consciousnesses had already become connected, Mei's hesitation and doubts were also known to Kiana.
The two kept talking, and their hearts kept drawing closer.
"Like before… right?"
Listening to Mei's words, Kiana smiled softly: "That really is something only Mei would say."
At this moment, the two hearts completely merged, indistinguishable from each other. The instant their thoughts touched and fused into one point.
A light, shallow-sleep-like buoyancy quietly arrived.
No one knew whose thought moved first — they suddenly rose into the air, turning into two kites lifted by warm winds, fluttering up and down.
That time felt both long and short…
Afterward, the girls opened their eyes in unison.
It was St. Freya — a place that felt like home to both of them.
While the audience was watching with full concentration, the ending BGM quietly began.
"Aaah, damn dog director! Can't you release a few more episodes per week?!"
"How are Kiana and Mei? I want to ship CP, I want to ship CP!"
"Can't ship Kiana-Mei, it feels like the dog director is crawling all over me. So scary!"
"…"
Because there were no knives, the hostility toward Hessian in the group chats gradually weakened.
But the resentment that should exist was still there.
In Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company.
Elysia was beside Kiana and Mei, trying to squeeze between them like a yellow-haired interloper.
But the problem was… this wasn't in the plot. Even if their relationship was good, they wouldn't actually do that, right?
"Huh? Where did the dog director go?"
At this moment, a small gray-haired girl popped out of a trash can and asked curiously.
SAKURA and Aponia subconsciously looked toward Hessian's original spot and found that the person had indeed disappeared.
Mobius, however, stared expressionlessly at the small gray-haired girl named Stelle: "If you crawl into the trash can again, I'll dock your pay."
No one knew what was wrong with this girl. It was one thing to be a bit of a rascal usually.
But ever since Elysia picked her up, she had developed a habit of hanging around every trash can in the company.
Thankfully, the company's trash cans were produced by Vill-V. Not only were they usually empty of garbage.
They were also large enough to accommodate Stelle's size… thinking about it made people even angrier!
Even with such a hobby, Hessian still doted on her quite a bit.
Including Himeko, who had a good impression of this small gray-haired girl. She was clearly an older aunt who loved drinking.
Yet in front of Stelle, she would radiate a maternal glow.
"I'm also curious. Where exactly did the director go?"
Kevin, who was slurping instant noodles, also came over and asked with unconcealed curiosity.
Normally at this time, Hessian should have been in the company, engaging in battles of wits with everyone.
Mobius snorted coldly: "Who knows? Maybe he went on a date with some young lady."
As soon as these words came out, they instantly attracted many people's attention.
People like Theresa and Seele subconsciously turned their gazes toward Elysia.
As a result, they saw this woman with one arm around Mei and her head resting on Kiana's shoulder.
It inexplicably gave the impression that rather than worrying about being cuckolded, one should worry about how heavy the director's head must feel.
Never mind then.
Even if he really went on a date with some young lady, it was probably one that Elysia had picked out first.
And sometimes reality was just that coincidental.
...
On the street, Hessian looked at a beautiful woman playing an erhu with black cloth wrapped around her eyes and fell into deep thought.
What was this?
Life is hard, so Jingliu is busking?
Most importantly, the place where the other party was busking was one given by Elysia.
The reason was that Elysia had already arranged to meet a great beauty today, and Jingliu never performed in the same place.
So she could only ask Hessian to come and recruit this one into the company.
Whether it should be said or not, as expected of Elysia.
As soon as Jingliu finished a piece, Hessian quickly clapped, approached, and praised:
"Miss, with such outstanding talent, don't you think busking on the street is a bit of a waste?"
As a result, he saw Jingliu directly remove her blindfold: "Dog director? Have you eaten today? If not, eat my fist!"
This whole sequence completely shattered Hessian's filter.
It wasn't until Jingliu learned that Hessian had come to invite her to join Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company.
Jingliu smiled awkwardly: "May we make peace?"
She was very interested in Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company!
Right now, if you grabbed anyone off the street, who didn't know the name of Honkai Impact 3rd?
It was all about sunshine, positivity, beauty, and health.
Especially after the Elysian Realm arc, some smart viewer started recommending Honkai Impact 3rd to friends and family.
They especially loved enthusiastically promoting it to those who hadn't watched it.
The special effects were cool, the budget was full, and the actors' looks were higher than the last.
Most importantly, while the plot was super sweet, there was even the big star Eden making a guest appearance later.
Mm, the big star Eden wasn't important. The main point was that the plot was very sweet and beautiful.
Jingliu had been pulled into the pit this way and binge-watched the entire Elysian Realm arc in one go.
Now she didn't quite dare to watch the later plot and was full of resentment toward a certain person.
Yes, it was Hessian!
But resentment aside, he was inviting her to join his own company!
Hessian showed a kind smile: "Of course we can make peace. After all, I'm not a petty person."
"However, Honkai Impact 3rd's plot has already reached the later stages, so I'm mainly inviting you to participate in another work."
Of Five People, Three Must Pay a Price.
Jingliu, you are one of them!
Jingliu, who didn't yet know how petty someone could be, immediately followed Hessian back to the company after hearing this.
After signing the contract with Mobius, she even praised Hessian.
She completely failed to notice the strange, pitying looks from Mobius, SAKURA, and the others.
Participating in Honkai Impact 3rd was one thing. Anyone with eyes could see that the dog director had started collecting knives.
But just as a dog can't change… cough cough, or rather, old habits die hard.
In the next work, if Hessian didn't release any knives, Mobius would dare to eat the desk in front of her.
Jingliu had offended Hessian. Did she think she would have a good ending?
No chance!
...
One week later.
With the filming of a new episode of Honkai Impact 3rd completed, there were a few more figures in the company.
But everyone had already gotten used to it and instead showed goodwill toward the newcomers.
After all, they were all the same — invited in by that woman, Elysia.
Especially after the Elysian Realm arc, Elysia's fame had skyrocketed both domestically and internationally thanks to the popularity of Honkai Impact 3rd.
Although it gave her the trouble of needing to dress up to hide, it also made recruiting people much easier.
When Hessian recruited people, he would get called "dog director."
When Elysia recruited people, she only needed to show her face and it was guaranteed.
Back when Stelle was brought into the company, the moment she saw Elysia she dove straight into her arms.
"Elysia, I'm your fan!"
After Hessian painted her a big pie (pie in the sky) with high expectations, she unhesitatingly called him "godfather."
"Stelle has drifted for half her life, only regretting not meeting a wise lord sooner…"
Cough cough, getting sidetracked.
As the new episode of Honkai Impact 3rd began broadcasting.
Countless viewers across the country opened their TVs or used other methods in perfect sync to watch it as soon as possible.
"Kiana-Mei Kiana-Mei Kiana-Mei! Knives and all that are just clouds. Today I'm going to eat sugar until I puke!"
"Last episode already officially confirmed Kiana-Mei. This episode definitely has sugar!"
"Refuse knives! Starting from the dog director — damn, isn't he doing pretty well this time!"
"I don't know why, but when the dog director doesn't release knives, I feel a bit uncomfortable?"
"Shit, the person above is addicted to eating knives, huh!"
"…"
Amid the lively group chat, the new episode of Honkai Impact 3rd premiered as scheduled.
Kiana and Mei's figures appeared in St. Freya, talking about their past.
It was mostly Kiana speaking, while Mei acted as the listener.
Especially when mentioning Himeko, Hessian slyly played the soft version of the BGM from "The Last Lesson."
And later when Mei began talking about her experiences in World Serpent and Elysian Realm.
A gentle and friendly BGM played, as if bringing everyone back to Elysian Realm once more.
The nationwide audience, who had originally been expecting sugar, were all stunned.
From Himeko to Elysian Realm, and then to their shared past.
The once-inseparable girls leisurely wandered through St. Freya and finally arrived at Senba Academy.
The starting point where their stories intertwined, and also the famous scene location of Criminal's (domestic violence) Lament in the eyes of countless viewers.
What made people lose it the most was the very detailed large hole in the wire fence.
After Mei personally said it was made when she knocked Kiana down.
This large hole in the wire fence was also happily given the nickname "wormhole."
From releasing knives to making people laugh, it managed to steady the excited hearts of the nationwide audience.
As Mei and Kiana continued reminiscing and opening their hearts, the former barriers gradually crumbled.
Until the very end.
Under the wishes of countless viewers shouting "get married," the scene on the TV screen shifted.
Kiana looked around: "Ah, the world has changed again."
"But where… is this place?"
"It looks like Nagazora, but…"
As she kept looking around, the expression on Kiana's face became increasingly puzzled.
Mei spoke at this moment: "This might… be my memory."
"Perhaps because of my arrival, the mental space that should have been centered on you was affected somewhat."
"Do you remember?"
"When you were riding Benares, trying to close the Imaginary Singularity in Nagazora, you were attacked by Imaginary creatures."
"And this place is where Benares fell… She blocked a fatal strike from the Imaginary Tree God Remains for me, who was chasing after you, in order to protect me."
"…"
"After that, her consciousness completely dissipated."
Kiana's face showed no visible loss, but her tone was difficult to describe: "So… it really was like that…"
"This is the origin of Kukikara, right?"
Mei responded: "…Mm."
Kiana said slowly: "Benares… No, it's better to call her Bella."
"During the confrontation with the Herrscher of the Void, Bella supported me more than once."
"Without her help, I couldn't have overcome my inner demons and defeated the Herrscher of the Void."
"But… as a phantom within the Herrscher Core, she ultimately disappeared together with her summoner."
"I — owe Bella a thank you."
Mei pursed her lips: "Me too."
"Now that I think about it, the reason she saved me was actually very simple — because I am your good friend."
"Because she was afraid you would be sad, or perhaps simply because we both carried Sirin's shadow…"
Everyone originally thought the knives were over, but the nationwide audience never expected.
They could still get knives from a Honkai Beast!
"Baby Benares, wuuu, my Baby Benares, you died so tragically!"
"Such a loyal Bella, dog director you have no heart! Why did you write Baby Benares' death!"
"Although Kukikara is also very cool, I still want the loyal Bella…"
"For Baby Benares, dying for Sirin might have been a release for her, right?"
"Stop talking, the child is really about to be stabbed silly. To actually believe the dog director would only release sugar and no knives!"
"…"
Although their hearts were extremely complicated and they even wanted to immediately rush to Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company to stab the dog director.
But watching the plot still continuing on TV, everyone barely managed to suppress this wave of anger.
On the TV.
Kiana nodded: "Mm. Bella… her good and evil were both very simple."
"Precisely because of that, if we define her existence based on only any one of those things, it would be biased."
"From a perspective outside the world, there is probably no absolute evil nor complete good in this world."
"We can say that both Bella and Sirin were slaves of Honkai and prisoners of fate."
"But World Serpent, or rather Kevin — aren't they the same?"
"If the Stigmata Plan means an eternal dream, then it is equivalent to forcing the entire world's people to become prisoners of fate together…"
"Even worse, right?"
As she spoke, Kiana subconsciously clenched her fist.
Experiencing a dream woven by others…
This kind of experience was not unfamiliar to Kiana.
Precisely because of this, she could personally understand the terror of this matter.