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Rinascita, the Seven Hills.
Standing by the precipice where Mia had taken her own life, Rover, alongside Cartethyia and Lupa, paid their respects. She was a girl who had chosen death over yielding to the whispers of a Threnodian.
Gazing out toward the horizon, the dying sun bled across the sky. The final, searing rays of dusk spilled over the distant ocean, catching the steel of Mia's blade and setting it ablaze with a dazzling light.
With daylight swiftly fading, the three wrapped up their somber vigil and boarded a Sky Courier back to the city of Seven Hills.
By the time they returned, night had already draped itself over the city.
The grueling battles against the Fractsidus and the Threnodian remnants had completely drained them. Without a second thought, they headed straight for the Leonidas Hotel to rest.
Lupa had already secured a room for Cartethyia, right alongside the luxurious long-term suite perpetually reserved for Rover. For the star gladiator of the Seven Hills, pulling a few strings was child's play.
On the way back, Abu popped out from Rover's Tacet Mark. With its stomach grumbling loudly, the little Echo threw a fuss, demanding a midnight snack.
Left with little choice, Rover parted ways with the two girls, sending them back to the hotel while he detoured to the Blazing Sun Tavern with Abu in tow.
Inside the bustling tavern, Rover sat quietly, nursing a single alcoholic drink. He had no appetite. He just drank in solitude, watching Abu devour an absolute mountain of food.
"Rov... er, why aren't... you eating?"
Abu, face deep in a plate of food, finally looked up and noticed Rover silently brooding over his cup.
Rover offered a faint, reassuring smile and gave a slight shake of his head.
"I'm not hungry, Abu... Eat up."
He raised his glass, taking a slow sip. His golden eyes locked onto the rippling surface of the amber liquid, lost in thought.
Looking back at his time in the Seven Hills, it had been a relentless gauntlet of chaos and endless battles, all crammed into just a few short days.
He never allowed his exhaustion to show. But even if this immortal, unweathered body could endure anything, his mind was utterly drained.
"If there ever comes a day... when you don't want to save the world anymore, I'll just steal you away, and we'll slip off together!"
For some reason, the face of that camellia-adorned girl surfaced in his mind. Her voice echoed in his ears—half-joking, yet fiercely serious—just as it had under that starry sky.
Maybe, just maybe, taking Camellya up on her offer wouldn't be such a bad idea?
The thought bloomed for a fleeting second before Rover firmly shook his head, burying the notion back where it belonged.
He may have lost his memories, forced to constantly chase the breadcrumbs his past self had left behind, but he knew one thing for certain: the man he used to be would absolutely despise him if he gave up now.
Jinhsi, Changli, The Shorekeeper, Camellya, Coletta, Cantarella, Cartethyia...
It had barely been a year since he awakened, yet he had met so many incredible people, weathered countless storms, and averted crisis after crisis.
Defeating The Lament was still a distant dream, but Rover had a gut feeling that this time, he was finally on the right path. So maybe, just for tonight, he could afford to let his guard down.
With that comforting thought, Rover nodded to himself, closed his eyes, and downed the rest of his drink in one gulp.
But the very next second, the world violently pitched sideways. His eyelids turned to lead, and before he could even register the anomaly, his head slammed onto the wooden table.
"Rover? Rover! What's wrong?! Wake up!"
In his final fading moments of consciousness, he saw Abu frantically drop its half-eaten chicken leg and lunge toward him...
...
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.....
Darkness. Pure, suffocating darkness, pierced only by the muffled, frantic shouts of a familiar voice.
His consciousness clawed its way back from the abyss. The mental fog began to lift, replaced by an unprecedented, razor-sharp clarity. Yet, something within his very soul felt fundamentally... different.
What... happened to me?
Then, the floodgates shattered.
A chaotic maelstrom of fragmented memories violently invaded his mind: fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Jinhsi, the seamless synchronization with Changli atop Mt. Firmament, the tender warmth of The Shorekeeper, Camellya's teasing whispers, Coletta pouring out her heart, Cartethyia's rebirth, and the absolute, unwavering trust in Lupa's eyes as they fought side by side.
The images crashed into him like a tidal wave before finally settling, fusing into a single, cohesive truth.
As the intense vertigo subsided, a bizarre, profound epiphany took root in his mind.
He was still Rover. But now, a set of "future memories" belonging to a player had completely integrated into his soul, granting him an omniscient understanding of the world.
He understood the reality of his situation perfectly. He was the Rover of this world, but he was also a Wuthering Waves player from Earth. The two existences had seamlessly merged in the crucible of that splitting headache, becoming utterly inseparable.
He snapped his head up, pressing a hand to his throbbing temple as he forced himself to sit upright.
Before he could even take in his surroundings, a white, rabbit-eared creature buried itself into his chest.
"Rover! You're awake! You scared the life out of this Echo!"
The little creature's voice trembled with genuine panic. "You just passed out! Yours truly thought somebody poisoned the booze!"
"Abu...?"
The name slipped from his lips automatically. His voice was hoarse from unconsciousness, but it carried a profound, breathless disbelief—a shock born directly from his newfound memories.
He blinked, his signature golden eyes adjusting to the tavern's lighting. He looked down at his own hands, studying the familiar black gloves. He brushed his fingers against his clothes.
The memory fusion was flawless.
He finally understood.
If these sudden player memories were accurate, just moments ago, he had been pulling on the latest Wuthering Waves banner.
He remembered the desperate, brilliant golden flash on his screen—the absolute last hope of a Supreme Grandmaster of Bad Luck who had lost nine out of ten 50/50s.
And then... out popped a familiar, day-one "comrade."
A white-haired man carrying a massive broadsword, facing away from the screen.
"Motherf—! You son of a bitch! Bro Calcharo?!"
"Fuck me, why is it Solaris's 'strongest' Resonator again?!"
"Shit!"
Driven to absolute madness by the gacha gods, he had... kicked his power strip in a fit of rage?
And then came the blackout, followed instantly by the electrifying, brain-scrambling sensation of a lethal shock coursing through his veins.
So... I suffered a fatal workplace injury while gaming, and ended up getting pulled right into the banner itself?!
The absurd, yet undeniably real deduction exploded in his mind.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Everything concerning Earth was already blurring at the edges, fading away like a sun-bleached photograph. He couldn't even remember his original name. The only thing that remained perfectly, vividly intact was his omniscient player knowledge of the game's future plotline.
The raging torrents of two different souls had violently collided, ultimately converging into a perfect union.
At this moment, he was Rover, and Rover was him.
"Rover? Seriously, what's wrong? Are you sick?"
Abu pawed anxiously at his arm, watching his face shift through a dozen emotions before finally settling into a mask of iron resolve.
The Echo's voice snapped him out of his internal tempest.
Then, a realization hit him like a freight train—
Wait! This point in the timeline... The Seven Hills... Mia's memorial. I just came back from the cliff with Lupa and Cartethyia...
According to the original storyline, isn't this exactly when the Tidal Episode pulls that intentional, ambiguous fade-to-black cliffhanger at the hotel?!
A scene he had once agonizingly fantasized about behind a monitor was now physically within arm's reach!
He took a deep breath, forcibly burying the chaotic storm in his chest. When he opened his eyes, the heavy exhaustion from moments ago had completely vanished, replaced by an intense, burning fire in his golden irises.
Looking down at Abu's worried face, he reached out and gave the little Echo's head a reassuring rub. His voice was calm, yet laced with an undeniable, urgent edge.
"I'm fine, Abu. I just... suddenly figured out something incredibly important."
Rover stood up. His body swayed slightly as the lingering dizziness of the soul-fusion fought back, but he planted his feet firmly.
"We need to head back. Right now."
"B-Back where?" Abu blinked, taken aback by his sudden intensity.
"The hotel!"
Rover's gaze locked dead onto the direction of the Leonidas Hotel, his voice leaving zero room for argument.
"Now! Move!"
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