Three days later.
After seeing off Kevin—that perpetually stone-faced guy who was, annoyingly enough, actually pretty warm-hearted—the living room was left with only Su Yu and Kiana.
The air still seemed to carry some trace of Kevin's presence, as if the temperature had somehow dropped by two degrees and left behind a faint, indescribable pressure.
On the coffee table sat the black velvet box that had just arrived.
Stamped onto it was the logo of Mei's institute—a strange design that looked simultaneously like a DNA double helix and like someone flipping the middle finger.
Su Yu opened the box. Inside lay a sleek silver metal collar.
It didn't look like some dangerous restraint device. If anything, it resembled a boldly modern accessory.
That was probably for the best. Otherwise, wearing it out in public would definitely make people think they were into some very questionable collar play.
Its streamlined metal surface gleamed with a cold sheen, and along the inner edge were several tiny electrode contacts.
That, according to Dr. Mei, was the glory of her minimally invasive technology.
"This," Su Yu said, picking up the collar and weighing it in his hand, "is the anti-cat-scratch device Dr. Mei pulled an all-nighter to make."
"It's got a bio-monitoring chip inside. According to that research maniac, if it detects your emotional fluctuations crossing a certain danger threshold, it'll discharge a powerful electric current on the spot."
"Of course, there's also a remote control."
He pointed to the other device in the box, which looked something like an electronic wristband. It was paired with the collar.
"It won't kill you, but apparently the experience is..." He paused. "About ten times worse than sticking your fingers into an electrical outlet. Definitely enough to ruin your day."
Then he turned and looked at Kiana, who had been standing there silently, staring at the collar the entire time.
"You sure you want to wear it? You can still back out now."
Kiana said nothing.
She simply stepped forward, turned around, and lifted the hair at the back of her head, exposing the slender pale line of her neck to him.
That silent gesture was the clearest answer she could have given.
Su Yu looked at that defenseless nape. Her skin there was still a little too pale from all her time wandering, and beneath that thin layer of skin, the faint lines of blood vessels were just visible. It made her look terribly fragile.
He took a slow breath, then brought the collar around her neck with both hands.
The moment the metal touched her skin, he felt her body tremble ever so slightly.
"It's cold," she muttered in a small voice, and there was a slight tremor in it.
"Bear with it. Dr. Mei probably didn't bother adding a temperature regulation system."
Click.
A crisp mechanical sound rang out as the clasp locked into place.
The collar sealed neatly shut. The little indicator light blinked twice, then settled into a steady blue glow.
Su Yu's fingers did not immediately move away.
Almost unconsciously, he let his fingertips brush lightly over the skin at the collar's edge, checking that none of her hair had been caught. The sensation of warm skin against cold metal traveled back up through his fingers.
"How does it feel?" he asked softly. "Too tight? Does it feel like it's choking you?"
That heavy sense of restraint felt like an invisible hand forever resting against her throat, a reminder that she was a monster who could lose control at any moment.
And yet, strangely, she felt no fear.
No humiliation.
Instead, what surged up in her chest was a sense of security she had never known before—solid and grounded, like finally having both feet on the earth.
She lowered her hand, turned to face him, and looked at him with those mismatched eyes that were usually clouded with tension and wariness. For the first time, there seemed to be less shadow in them, and more clarity.
"Do you feel safer?" he asked.
"...Very."
"Good."
Kiana nodded. Her gaze drifted slightly, as though she were looking far past him, into some distant memory.
"I never understood before..." she said quietly, "why the Mei from my world—why, even after knowing there was a bomb implanted in her heart that could go off at any moment—she could still smile so gently, still act like nothing was wrong, still cook for everyone."
"But now I think I understand."
A faint smile curved her lips, mixed with bitterness and relief.
"Because with this... I won't hurt the people who matter to me anymore."
"It's like a final safeguard. A wall. As long as it's there, then I can... I can dare to get a little closer to you all. I won't have to keep worrying that the monster inside me will wake up and destroy everything."
Su Yu looked at her, and something in his chest gave a soft, quiet jolt.
This idiot.
She was actually grateful for handing over her freedom to a collar that might take half her life if it ever went off—because it meant she could protect other people.
"And you're not putting yours on?" Kiana asked, glancing at the wristband on the table.
"Can I?" he asked.
Su Yu looked at her.
"Didn't you say so yourself?"
"What?"
"Back on the rooftop. You said I was your heroine, that you were going to take responsibility for me to the end, or something like that."
Just repeating the words Su Yu had once said made Kiana's face flush red all over again.
"Ahem—cough, cough, cough!"
Su Yu gave an awkward cough. In the heat of the moment, those lines hadn't felt like much, but now that the crisis was over, thinking back on them really was enough to make him want to die of embarrassment.
Still, even if time rewound and he had to say them a hundred times over and die of secondhand shame every single time, he would still say them.
If it meant bringing this little stray cat home safely, it was worth it.
"You talk too much."
Kiana shot him a look, grabbed the wristband, and without any room for objection, strapped it around his wrist herself.
"There."
Once she had finished, she let out a long breath, as if a huge stone had finally been lifted from her heart.
"Now my life is really in your hands," she muttered, turning her face away. "So there, isn't this what you wanted?"
But though she turned away, Su Yu noticed that the corners of her mouth had stayed lifted the whole time.
Looking down at the wristband on his arm, Su Yu felt the weight of her trust settling on him.
"Thanks," he said.
"Are you stupid?"
Kiana rolled her eyes and turned her back to him.
"...I'm pretty sure I'm the one who should be saying that to you."
Su Yu looked at her for a moment, then instinctively reached out as if to ruffle her hair.
But his hand paused halfway and instead landed lightly on her shoulder.
"Now that it's on," he said with a smile, deliberately steering the topic into something lighter, "we should probably thank the people who made it."
"Dr. Mei and Kevin pulled three all-nighters on this. Apparently even Mobius got dragged in to help. So you should show a little gratitude. Write them a thank-you note or something."
"...How do I do that?" Kiana asked blankly.
"Send a message."
He pointed at the phone on the table.
"This is the kind of thing that means more if it comes from you directly. Even if it's just a thank you, those stiff old blocks will probably be happy enough to eat two extra bowls of rice."
Kiana hesitated, then picked up the phone.
Her fingers hovered over the screen for a long time. She typed, erased, retyped, frowning like she was locked in mortal combat.
Several minutes passed before she finally took a deep breath and hit send.
Ding.
The reply came almost instantly.
Startled, Kiana hurriedly tapped the screen open.
"Dr. Mei says..." she read aloud, and there was unmistakable delight creeping into her voice, like a schoolkid who had just gotten a perfect score, "'I'm glad I could help. If it feels uncomfortable anywhere, let me know. I can adjust the parameters remotely.'"
"And Kevin..." She looked down at the next one. "'Get some proper rest. Come over next time for noodles. I'll give you extra meat. A lot of extra meat.'"
Seeing the bright, unguarded smile on her face—a smile he hadn't seen in a very long time—Su Yu couldn't help smiling too.
That feeling of being accepted by the world, of being wrapped in other people's kindness, was better medicine for Kiana than anything else.
She was no longer that lone ghost wandering by herself.
Just then, the phone in Su Yu's pocket began vibrating frantically.
The vibration was so aggressive it felt like it was trying to numb his entire thigh.
He pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
There was a pink profile picture.
And an entire barrage of exclamation marks that looked ready to burst through the display.
Elysia: Honestly! If I hadn't grilled Kevin about it, I never would have known you got hurt!
Elysia: Su Yu dear, something this serious happened and you didn't tell me? And it happened during Eden's concert, too! I was right there nearby! I even had two slices of cake backstage!
Elysia: So mean, so mean, so mean! What, am I really that kind of friend in your heart? The kind who can't share hardship with you? ♡¥¥¥°**
Looking at the flood of messages, Su Yu's eyelid twitched.
Even through the screen, he could vividly picture Elysia puffing out her cheeks and pretending to be angry in that utterly disarming way of hers.
That pink menace was always frighteningly overwhelming with her enthusiasm.
"What is it?" Kiana leaned over curiously, peering at the constipated look on Su Yu's face.
"Nothing," Su Yu sighed. "Just a pink... problem coming to claim my life."
He shook his head helplessly and started typing at high speed, his survival instincts kicking in.
Su Yu: I just didn't want to ruin your celebration. And it's only a minor injury. I'm already mostly fine, really.
Su Yu: You're only this worried because if something happened to me, you wouldn't have anyone to play games with anymore, right? Don't think I don't know you.**
The moment he sent it, a reply popped up almost instantly.
Elysia: Caught red-handed~ Hehe ♡ But I am worried too! After all, Su Yu dear is my precious gaming partner ♡**
Elysia: You just wait, I'm heading over to your place right now! I need to inspect your injuries in person! And I'll bring care packages!**
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—!"
Su Yu jumped and hurriedly typed back to stop her.
Kiana right now was like a stray cat that had only just barely stopped being on edge.
If Elysia, with all the overwhelming force of a pink fairy missile, actually showed up in person, she would absolutely scare Kiana into exploding again—or worse, into hiding under the bed and refusing to come out.
And there was also the matter of the collar.
That would be even harder to explain.
Su Yu: No! Absolutely do not come! I'm not in any condition to receive visitors!**
Su Yu: The house is... kind of a mess. Not suitable for guests!**
Elysia: Hmm? Not suitable?**
The typing indicator kept flickering for several seconds, and then she sent over a reply that positively radiated dangerous curiosity.
Elysia: So... does that mean someone is looking after you at home right now? Is it the girl from the stream the other day—the one whose voice we heard? Hmm~ ♡**
Su Yu let out a pained laugh.
Of course.
Nothing ever escaped this pink fairy.
And with Kevin, that honest slab of a man, around, it was practically guaranteed that the events of that night had already been "confessed" in full.
He glanced at Kiana, who was still peeking at his screen in innocent curiosity, completely unaware that she had already been exposed.
He sighed and decided that honesty was the path of least suffering.
Su Yu: Yes. She's my... junior sister. Fresh down the mountain.**
There was a reason he went with that explanation.
All right, the biggest reason was that Himeko had already half convinced herself the "junior sister" story was real.
Especially after witnessing with her own eyes a six-foot-tall grown man getting carried around by Kiana.
And as everyone knew, once you told the first lie, you naturally needed a hundred more to support it.
So in for a penny, in for a pound.
If anyone asked about the sect—deep in the mountains.
If anyone asked about the master—an old immortal wandering the world.
Yan was huge, and weird people were everywhere. The old Celestial Master could smile and say, "There's no such thing as cultivation in this world," and then immediately float down the mountain with lightness kung fu.
Su Yu had seen plenty of videos like that before. As for what was real, what was fake, and what was AI special effects—nobody knew, and nobody really cared.
In the age of traffic and clicks, everyone was just there for a laugh.
If he tried telling people Kiana was a Valkyrie from another world who had crossed dimensions, that really would shatter some worldviews.
But if she was a junior sister from some hidden sect, raised in the mountains since childhood by a wandering master—hence her being a little... slow about modern life, and also not having household registration—
Well, considering how much Yan people loved cheap web novels and martial arts stories, that version was actually a lot easier to swallow.
Besides, Su Yu really had been thinking about the future.
If Kiana could ever truly step away from him someday, how would she survive in this world?
With her abilities, she would shine if she became something like a police officer. She could actually find a place for herself here.
So she needed a clean backstory.
Elysia: A junior sister? So Su Yu dear really is some disciple of a hidden sect? Very suspicious~ But if someone's taking care of you, then I'm relieved!**
Elysia: In that case, tonight's stream absolutely cannot be canceled! You have to make it up to my wounded heart properly! I demand a huge rank climb!**
Su Yu finally breathed out in relief.
Annoying as it was, he still replied with a simple Okay.
After all, Kiana's living expenses, the future equipment costs for the full holographic game project... all of that required money.
His savings alone would never last long.
He glanced at the "Recognition" value on the system panel, which was slowly inching upward with the stream's popularity.
Using streaming as a convergence point for popularity might be the fastest way—other than releasing the game itself—to increase Kiana's movement range.
He had already advanced quite a bit of the main storyline lately, and the stream's cap had been partially lifted accordingly.
Even if the increase was only a few miserable dozen centimeters.
Sometimes Su Yu really suspected the system was taking kickbacks somewhere. It was absurdly stingy.
"Looks like I'm working overtime tonight," he muttered, pocketing his phone and shrugging at Kiana.
Life was hard. Poor old Su Ningyu could only sigh.
"It's to earn us some money. And also to help you leave this room a little sooner and go out for hotpot."
Kiana blinked. She didn't fully follow what had just happened, but she understood the part about helping her leave the room sooner.
Almost unconsciously, she touched the collar at her neck, then nodded with resolve.
"I'll do my best too," she said softly.
Though by "do my best," she mostly meant "try not to cause trouble."
Night fell, and the room filled with warm, gentle lamplight.
Su Yu adjusted the microphone, then straightened his slightly messy hair.
Tonight he had even gone out of his way to wear a collared shirt and a tie, which made him look like a respectable office worker.
In truth, though, it was mostly to hide the bruises on his neck.
He was an old streamer by now, but tonight, for some reason, he felt oddly nervous.
Probably because of the white-haired girl sprawled out on the sofa behind him in full "Ge You slouch" mode...
And because of the pink menace on the other side of the screen, who was all but guaranteed to turn the night into chaos.
At Elysia's insistence, Su Yu absolutely had to turn on his camera tonight. She'd declared she needed visual proof that he was all right.
If he refused, she'd fly over in person—and then, apparently, send him flying too.
Faced with that kind of threat, Su Yu had no choice but to reluctantly become a face-cam streamer for once.
"Hey, Kiana," he said, turning back to remind her, "once I turn the camera on, stay over there, okay? Don't come too close. If you get caught on stream..."
He made a dramatic snapping gesture.
"They might actually decide you're an alien and drag you off for dissection."
Kiana looked up from her phone. She still had half a potato chip hanging from her mouth, and her response came out muffled.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're so noisy. It's not like I'm three years old."
At the moment she was completely absorbed in an app called Encyclopedia, trying to use the glowing little rectangle in her hands to figure out what the world had become over the past fifty thousand years—and also why a drink called cola existed, because as far as she was concerned, it was basically divine nectar.
Seeing her like that, Su Yu knew she hadn't actually taken a word of his warning to heart.
According to the system's progress bar, they had already gathered a considerable amount of data for Honkai Impact 3rd. Once Vill-V finished building the high-precision mocap rig, one of the most crucial missing pieces would finally be in place.
Which meant it was about time to start thinking seriously about promotion.
A good game still needed attention.
Traffic. Popularity.
And those were exactly the things Pink Fairy had in abundance.
In fact, she could very well become the best promoter the game could possibly have.
Letting Kiana herself appear during the stream would undoubtedly be one of the most effective ways to attract attention and traffic.
But for now, Kiana still had the problem of being a complete legal ghost.
Which meant that, as the protagonist of this game, she would eventually have to step into the spotlight—
But until he found a proper solution, it was best not to let her show up on camera just yet.
Human nature was dangerous. He couldn't afford to gamble on what might happen.
Oh, right.
Before, Mei had casually mentioned that their institute hired a few so-called "special talents" every year.
That might actually be the perfect chance to give Kiana some kind of official identity.
Su Yu was already planning how to gradually bring his "junior sister" into public view in a way that wouldn't blow up in their faces.
But for the moment, streaming came first.
People still had to eat, after all.
He let out a quiet breath, turned back toward the desk, inhaled deeply, and clicked Start Streaming.
....
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