The room finally quieted down.
Only the cooling fans of the computer tower continued to emit a faint hum.
Su Yu leaned back in his chair, exhaling a long breath of turbid air. He felt that the last half-hour had been more exhausting than fighting Titans in the Abyss for a whole day.
He turned his head to look at Kiana beside him.
Kiana was still sitting on the floor bed, hugging her knees. Her entire face was buried in the crook of her arms, revealing only the top of her head, which was flushed red.
The white cat named "Chongchong" had jumped onto her lap at some point and was purring contentedly, completely unaware of the human tragedy that had just occurred.
"...Um."
The girl's voice came out muffled, carrying obvious guilt.
"Sorry."
"I told you, I don't blame you." Su Yu waved his hand, grabbing the water cup from the desk and taking a large gulp. "It was me who forgot to mute the mic, and I was too confident. Who could have known that Miss Pink Elf's ears were so sharp?"
The room fell into a brief silence.
Outside, the moonlight spilled in through the curtains, casting a patch of silvery-white light on the floor.
Su Yu looked at the System panel.
[Main Mission: Incubate Honkai IP, push the production of "Honkai Impact 3rd"]
[Current Progress: 2%]
[Friendly Reminder: Completing different stages of the Main Mission unlocks the following rewards—]
[Stage One (20%): Kiana's range of activity extended to 5 meters]
[Stage Two (30%): Daily Experience Card duration increased to 1 hour]
[Stage Three (50%): Kiana's range of activity extended to 50 meters]
[...]
He remained silent for a few seconds.
"Starting tomorrow, we're going to push the Main Mission forward."
He couldn't go on for another day living this life where they were bound together even for bathroom breaks, living in constant fear of social death.
Kiana raised her head, her heterochromatic eyes filled with confusion.
Su Yu pointed at the panel in the void. "As long as we get the progress of that game up, your range of movement can increase. And the duration of that Experience Card... can also be extended."
He paused, his tone carrying a desperate resolve, like burning one's bridges.
"So that I can go to the bathroom alone in the future, and so that you don't have to tremble in a changing room anymore... this game must become a hit."
Kiana froze for a moment. She looked at Su Yu's face, which was written all over with "victim of circumstance," then looked down at the free-spirited cat in her arms.
That awkwardness, that shame, and that powerlessness of being treated like a ghost... she didn't want to experience it a second time either.
"...Mhm."
She nodded. Although her voice was soft, it revealed a sense of certainty.
"Got it. I will... try my best to cooperate."
.....
The sunlight was like an tactless visitor, forcefully squeezing through the gap in the curtains and stepping right onto Su Yu's face.
Su Yu frowned and opened his eyes, his consciousness still lingering in a groggy state.
He habitually turned over, his hand groping around to find his phone, but his fingertips touched something soft and slightly cool.
It was hair.
White, like high-quality silk.
Memory returned instantly.
Su Yu's movements stiffened.
His gaze shifted downward. Kiana was still curled up on the floor bed.
She had wrapped herself up like a silkworm baby, revealing only half her face and a few strands of messy white hair. The cat named "Chongchong" was curled up in the hollow of her neck. The breathing rhythm of the human and the cat was surprisingly synchronized, so peaceful that one couldn't bear to disturb them.
Su Yu sat up as lightly as possible.
He picked up his phone and habitually refreshed his social media app—
Then he froze.
On the phone screen, a red number hung on the top right corner of his avatar.
That small red dot, which usually only held single digits, had now turned into a shocking '99+'.
In his private message list, people he knew, people he didn't know, tea sellers, promoters... it was as if everyone in the world had remembered the existence of Su Yu overnight.
He tapped open Weibo. A keyword was blatantly hanging on the Hot Search list:
#Elysia's Love Classroom#
Su Yu's heart skipped a beat.
He tapped into it. The pinned post was a video with an explosion of views.
The thumbnail featured Elysia's signature smiling face, accompanied by a title in bold, enlarged, flowery font:
"Elysia's Love Classroom" Episode 47: What is a man who builds a Golden House to hide a beauty thinking?
Su Yu's pupils constricted slightly.
He tapped to play the video.
In the video, Elysia was sitting on her signature pink sofa, holding a small notebook in her hand, her expression as serious as a scholar's.
"Welcome to Miss Pink Elf's Love Classroom"
She opened the notebook, revealing a meaningful smile.
"The case we're analyzing today comes from a good friend of Miss Pink Elf—to protect his privacy, let's call him Mr. S~"
[LMAO Mr. S]
[Might as well just read out his ID number]
[Ellie, your way of protecting privacy is too perfunctory]
"Mr. S~ is usually a lazy person~ He's not very active with livestreams either~"
Elysia held up a finger.
"But last night~ Miss Pink Elf discovered a shocking secret~"
The screen switched to a recording of last night's stream.
After post-production audio cleanup, the gunshots in the background were suppressed, and that female voice—trembling, soft, sticky, and mixed with grievance—was clearly amplified ten times over:
"I need to use the bathroom..."
[Here it comes, here it comes]
[Every time I hear this sentence my heart stops]
[Brother Su, you're finished. Now the whole internet knows]
Su Yu closed his eyes in pain.
This was simply a public execution. It was placing his dignity on a barbecue grill to be roasted repeatedly, then sprinkled with a handful of cumin named "Onlooked by the Entire Internet."
The video continued. Elysia counted on her fingers, listing the evidence of his crimes one by one:
"First, Mr. S definitely has a cute girl hidden in his home."
"Second, their relationship has become intimate enough that... hmm, they don't even need to avoid each other for physiological needs."
"Third, and the most important point—Mr. S refused to admit it even to his death! He even made up a clumsy excuse like 'watching anime'!"
The tip of the pen in Elysia's hand tapped against the table, making a crisp sound.
"This is typical psychology of 'Hiding a Beauty in a Golden House'~ Treating her as a treasure to be hidden away, not wanting anyone else to covet her, not even Miss Pink Elf~"
[Brother Su, you betrayed the working class!]
[We agreed on the Single Dog Alliance, yet you secretly took extra classes?]
[Mr. S? I think it's Mr. S(mut)! That girl's voice sounded like she was being bullied hard!]
"Hiding the treasure because he doesn't want others to discover it~ Hiding the most precious thing in a place only he knows~"
Elysia's eyes were sparkling.
"This shows that Mr. S is actually a very devoted person~ Although he looks lazy usually~ deep down inside, he must be very gentle~"
[?]
[Ellie, isn't your analysis off-track?]
[This guy is clearly a traitor, okay?]
[What happened to the Single Dog Alliance?]
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