Being judged by a top artist as having only such insignificant flaws was already incredibly impressive! Unlike me, I couldn't even see where the lack of detail was!
The more they analyzed it, the more I wanted to see it! GKD! GKD!
The show's director had found a treasure like Su Nian. Wasn't his grin practically reaching the sun by now?
They were absolutely right. If Su Nian heard their discussion, he would break out in a cold sweat and wonder whether this Honkai-free world had superpowers.
Otherwise, how could they read what was in Su Nian's heart?
Just as the three judges had said, that was exactly what Su Nian intended.
Everyone was the protagonist of their own story, weren't they?
Setting only one "protagonist" was indeed the traditional approach, but it couldn't achieve the best effect.
From Kevin's perspective, he could see those things. From someone else's perspective, it would be an entirely different sight.
For example, the person mainly dealing with the Eighth Herrscher this time was actually Su. The others were also people connected to him, so the detailed story was best told from his perspective.
There were also quite a few parts Su Nian hadn't written.
For instance, Blanca and Griseo had also fallen into the Eighth Herrscher's clutches. Griseo lost her mother in this disaster, and it was during this calamity that Mobius put her on the operating table.
Hypermutation Surgery was the method that had allowed Griseo to survive at the time.
Then there was Dessidobia, Moth of the Fire's first psychic-type warrior. During this incident, she was unfortunately killed due to the Herrscher of Consciousness's suppression on the mental plane.
Her interpersonal connections leaned more toward Cosmo's side, and Su Nian hadn't written about them either.
And... another firsthand witness of the Eighth Honkai Outbreak... Chijie.
The Eighth Herrscher had dragged him into the dream as well...
Then he got a thorough beating.
Su Nian hadn't written any of these matters into Kevin's character sheet.
But...
Just when everyone thought Su Nian would continue writing, his hands left the keyboard.
Please Summon Dr. Mobius
Su Nian opened several more individual sheets with his mouse and typed the words "Character" onto them. Including Kevin's, there were thirteen in total.
What he was writing now was Kevin's character sheet.
But likewise, it was time for Su Nian to start opening character sheets for the others...
Although many of them had yet to appear in the story Su Nian was writing, according to the timeline, quite a few Flame-Chasers had already made their entrance.
If Su Nian remembered correctly, Griseo had already become a Flame Chaser during the Eighth Honkai Outbreak.
Excluding Vill-V, whose timing was unknown.
That left only Pardofelis, Hua, and Chijie, the three who hadn't undergone Hypermutation Surgery yet.
It was time to begin building their character sheets.
Character: Elysia
Character: Aponia
Character: Eden
He created character sheets according to the Flame-Chasers' order, writing down their names first and waiting to flesh them out later.
Su Nian raised his head and looked again at the studio's broadcast system. It issued another reminder about the time.
Attention, contestants. Four hours have now passed. Please manage your creative time carefully.
The production team has prepared lunch, snacks, and desserts for everyone. If needed, please order food through your computer. Please arrange your rest time reasonably.
Su Nian temporarily set aside the work at hand. The timing was just right.
It was time to eat.
Hunger rose in his stomach at just the right moment, his biological clock promptly informing Su Nian that it was time to replenish his nutrients.
He could use the break while eating to think about the next part of the plot...
Outwork them all!
Su Nian was taking another break, but this time he hadn't stopped at a crucial point.
Yet the viewers were still filled with complaints.
Su Nian was the biggest attraction of this competition.
Now that he was resting, countless viewers in the livestream room could only watch him ponder what to eat for lunch.
Under normal circumstances, no matter how skilled Su Nian was, if he showed up online, people would still say he needed more practice.
But now the viewers couldn't force themselves to be stubborn. This was even more unbearable than a cliffhanger.
He dropped twelve character sheets at once, and several of those character names hadn't even been mentioned by Su Nian before.
He's not going to take another break, is he? Please don't! Stopping so abruptly hurts!
No edging, no edging! I'm going to make a scene! I've already started making a scene!
Bro, please update a little more, just a little! Big bro, I won't watch anymore after this. Just let me see Eden, please! Big bro! Give us a little more update! This hurts so much!
I strongly suggest the production team dismantle that reminder bell.
But it wasn't only time for Su Nian to rest. The production team needed a break, and so did the judges.
"The opening ceremony of this competition has concluded. Thank you to all guests for participating. Use your tickets to claim reimbursement for meal and travel expenses on the production team's official website. All viewers may also enter a prize draw."
"The contestants' livestream rooms will remain open, and you may continue following the competition online."
Kevin's expression was solemn. He hadn't initially thought much of the number thirteen.
But all the names that appeared were people he knew. Combined with the scenes he had seen in Su Nian's writing, the more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong.
Now was the perfect time to send the audience away and discuss the scenes he had witnessed.
Just who was Su Nian, and what exactly was going on with his writing?
This question lingered in Kevin's mind.
The stadium's nighttime display was shut off. Though the audience still wanted more, they knew it was time to leave.
The production team was indeed generous. In other programs, an event like this would clearly have hired actors in the venue, but they had spent that money rewarding their loyal audience instead.
Under the security staff's guidance, the audience slowly left the stadium. Kevin pulled Elysia along with a grave expression and motioned for Eden to join them as the three headed into the lounge.
"...I saw quite a few things in the story Su Nian wrote. I don't know whether it was just my imagination."
Kevin was mentally dazed.
He couldn't tell.
He couldn't tell whether Su Nian's writing truly possessed some kind of magic.
Or whether he was suffering from delusions, or had become too immersed in it.
To everyone else, Su Nian's writing was no different from ordinary prose, at most a good story.
But to Kevin, it was something he had personally experienced.
The more detailed Su Nian wrote, the more detailed Kevin's experience became. During the Sixth Honkai Outbreak, when confronting the Herrscher, Kevin could only see what had happened on site and the images of it.
But during the Seventh Honkai Outbreak, he first felt a wave of bitter cold. That must have been the setting that his body temperature remained below thirty degrees year-round.
Then came the towering flames around him, as well as the Herrscher-transformed Himiko.
It could no longer be explained as coincidence, nor could it be because he had immersed himself too deeply.
One more point confirmed Kevin's suspicion: Hua had not been written into Su Nian's text.
But Kevin had seen her.
There was no mistake. Within the words "frail young girl," he had seen that girl's appearance.
The exact same figure and face. Without a doubt, that was Hua.
During the Eighth Honkai Outbreak's plot, he had seen Su with his eyes open.
...It was far too strange.
Yet beneath that strangeness lay a sense of reality.
After telling the two of them everything he had seen, Kevin had already prepared himself to be sent to psychiatry.
"Kevin, so you had that feeling too? You kept acting like you didn't notice, so I thought you couldn't see it." Elysia pretended to be mildly troubled as she twirled the end of her hair. "Actually, I saw it too~ From the moment I saw the introduction."
"Still, he wrote it so well. He perfectly captured my personality, you know? I couldn't bear to shift my attention to thinking about these things. Eden, you felt the same way too, didn't you?"
Eden shook her head. "Unfortunately, I have not yet experienced what you two described. My name only appeared for a brief moment; it was merely mentioned."
"But he just wrote Eden's name too. Maybe it will happen later, since my dear Eden's charm has never been lacking?"
"Elysia, I don't think this is a good thing. No, I need to ask him directly."
Now that he had confirmed it wasn't a problem with himself, Kevin wanted to go straight to Su Nian and ask what exactly was happening.
"Don't be so hasty, Kevin. It hasn't affected us in any way. At least before we alert him, shouldn't we find someone capable and ask around first?"
The character sheets Su Nian was setting up now also matched the names of their friends.
As long as they didn't read the text, it wouldn't affect them at all.
Even when they did read it, they merely experienced the plot firsthand.
At least, that was how it seemed for now.
How could something so interesting be "kept to themselves" like this?
Elysia could be playful, but in certain matters, she was the senior one. Kevin suppressed his emotions and prepared to wait for the "capable person" to arrive.
A massive update at midnight on Monday. At least four chapters, around five.
Thanks for the support. If you have time then, please take a look, okay?
The Birth of the Stigmata Project
Waiting was torture. Su Nian couldn't see it, but the resentment in the livestream room was enough to feed ten Evil Sword Immortals.
Su Nian lay quietly on the soft sofa, stretching his body. He picked up the tablet provided by the production team from the table and began taking a short break.
Eden was a wealthy investor who spared no expense, and the production team hadn't skimped on conditions for the contestants either. Whatever they needed, they didn't have to leave the studio; they only needed to place an order on the tablet.
At this moment, Su Nian was contemplating the one question every human thought about: what should he eat for lunch?
The story of the Previous Civilization was fairly short. Su Nian had already written up to the Eighth Honkai Outbreak from Kevin's perspective.
Today's task was only to organize the outline.
Su Nian wasn't in a hurry at all.
I can't take it anymore. I'm sharing Su Nian's livestream room right now. I can't be the only one waiting for updates!
By the way, Su Nian went big right from the start. What will he do with later prompts? Does he even have more stories to write?
Don't ask. Mind your own business when it comes to a genius.
A good story is worth waiting for. Burn it for me after I die.
As he waited for the lavish meal to arrive, Su Nian ate while thinking about the next part of the plot.
The Eighth Herrscher's appearance was quite important.
The Previous Civilization had left behind many plans. To defeat Honkai, they had tried everything.
The Previous Civilization's tech tree was basically investing points into everything: Flame Chasers, Divine Keys, Armed Dolls, even the ultimate weapon, the Moonlight Throne...
Those were all branches of technology the Previous Civilization had explored.
And along the way, the Previous Civilization had devised many different plans.
Before you continue