You asked for healing, but wrote Honkai Impact 3rd?

Sweet and adorable, isn't she?

Su Nian felt that an illustration of Elysia was absolutely necessary here.

In MiHoYo's CG cutscenes, characters usually held a single pose, which gave rise to the meme of "striking a pose."

To this day, we still don't know how long Elysia spent perfecting that pose.

Of course, memeing was only part of it.

Su Nian didn't have much confidence—how could words possibly capture Elysia's beauty in such a short span?

The audience's imagination was one thing, but the other was that words simply weren't that intuitive.

From the words describing her actions and speech, one could grasp her personality.

But... in the end, only an image could make someone fall in love at first sight.

Though it seemed he didn't need to rely on an illustrator to achieve that effect...

Elysia truly existed in this world. When he eventually found her...

Could he just take a photo of her with permission and use it?

Woc, that idea was genius!

Su Nian filed it away in his mind as a "someday" series—something he absolutely had to do if the chance arose.

This was his only wish!

Ah, all my images died today. What a shame, though I saw it coming.

No drafts left. I'm completely tapped out. Yesterday's update was something I scraped together over the past two days.

I've always been a bit scatterbrained, and occasionally small issues pop up (like typos or whatever...), so please bear with me.

Chapter 44: The Paradise's Lady-Killer

Su Nian continued writing the story about The Past's Paradise.

By now, the audience seemed to have figured it out and finally realized this was the main story Su Nian was writing.

But this time, the story was told from a Herrscher's perspective.

That was baffling.

Especially with Kevin—Su Nian had focused heavily on his story, so the audience knew Kevin was irreconcilably opposed to the Honkai.

Why didn't he just cut down the Herrscher on sight?

And the Herrscher wasn't going on a rampage either!

It was too strange—wasn't this overturning the previous setup?

In the Previous Civilization, not a single Herrscher turned traitor. Kevin mistakenly believed Herrschers had humanity, and it cost humanity dearly.

So why was this happening in the current civilization?

Couldn't the "God" control its own apostles?

They shared the same question as Raiden Mei.

But they wouldn't get an answer anytime soon.

[Speaking of pink hair... Sakura wasn't like this, was she? Who is she?]

[Did Prometheus successfully hack in?]

[If she hacked in, why didn't the Honkai just vanish? A hacker could easily tweak the "data," right?]

[If it were that simple, why would they bother going into hibernation? Just declare humanity's victory over the Honkai!]

[The Pit-Digging Immortal is at it again. I said before he rushed Kevin's storyline too fast.]

[No clue. Let's see how Su Nian plans to patch up the lore.]

Though the "answer" had been thrown right in their faces from the start.

Clearly, they didn't grasp it immediately.

No one expected this.

Even Kevin hadn't seen through Elysia's identity back then.

Not until she confessed herself and sacrificed her own being.

Only after Elysia finished teasing Mei did she introduce her existence to her.

["Alright, let me introduce myself one more time. Make sure you remember this time, okay? If you forget again, I'll get a little upset."]

["My name is Elysia. As you can see, I'm a beautiful girl who lives up to her name."]

["In the common language of Mu, Elysia means paradise, a land of bliss."]

["My friends call me Ely. You can use that too—it sounds cute, just like me."]

[Elysia laid out her identity and her existence as a memory body without holding anything back.]

[The Past's Paradise is a world of memories, existing since the dawn of this civilization.]

[When Raiden Mei first stepped into this palace, this mysterious woman appeared like a ghost without warning, welcoming her arrival.]

[Having spent so long in the World Serpent, she was no stranger to memory constructs, but Elysia's presence still felt unsettling... or rather, puzzling.]

[She sought answers from Kevin, and this was the answer he gave. The history buried beneath dust was the secret the World Serpent had been hiding.]

Elysia holds nothing back; if Raiden Mei asks, she'll say everything.

But clearly, she hasn't made much progress yet.

Pushing the story from Raiden Mei's perspective keeps the pacing well-controlled, doesn't it?

Among the heroes in The Past's Paradise, there's Mobius, whose reputation is so poor that even her words are met with suspicion.

There's Kevin, who refuses to say anything, shutting down every topic.

And... Sakura, who died too early to know anything, along with Chijie, who only wants to fight.

Aponia, who seems to know everything, prophesied her doom the moment she appeared...

She's barely getting any useful intel.

Making the audience into Raiden Mei, turning things over in their minds, yet still unable to land on the right answer.

[Wait, Elysia... that name looks familiar, but I can't quite place it]

[That's because Su Nian barely wrote about her. Before this, only Kevin and Mei had much screen time]

[Exactly, we don't even know who's already dead]

[So the "pit-digging immortal" title has always been well-earned]

[But Su Nian's writing is genuinely strong. The descriptions are fresh and vivid—I can picture it, a beautiful girl!]

[Why isn't Kevin the guide? Come on, a cold-faced boy passing the torch would be pretty interesting too, right?]

[Concept art—you bidding bros in the livestream, just drop a picture and the promo effect is done, no?]

The audience buzzed with discussion about the story that had truly begun.

They'd seen the setting revealed from Kevin's perspective earlier, but now it felt to them like...

They'd seen it but not fully grasped it, yet it still had some connection, not enough to leave them lost.

They were about to start getting to know the other heroes beyond the Kevin they already had an impression of.

[The device in the center of the hall was perfectly preserved. Mei even wondered if the World Serpent had set up a base here just to protect it.]

[No one knows what Kevin was thinking back then, but asking Elysia about it yields no answer either—only Kevin knows the reason.]

[Watching the memories of The Past's Paradise is like exploring a library after an earthquake: immersive, yet chaotic. Different fragments pieced together, hard to form a concrete picture.]

[If this is the answer Kevin gave, it's far too unintuitive.]

[This is definitely not the answer Mei wanted.]

["More than a place of seeking, this is a trial ground."]

Then, Elysia showered her with praise.

["You're quite sharp, aren't you? See, this is why Kevin is so sparing with his words—he knows you can always find the truth easily."]

["But he didn't lie either. Answers... everyone comes for answers, no matter what they seek, The Past's Paradise can provide them."]

["Carving the moments of the past, letting people follow the savior's footsteps toward a more distant future—that's the meaning of its existence. Every result finds its root here."]

Only after knowing the truth of The End can one truly understand the meaning of "a more distant future."

Every word Elysia speaks hides profound meaning.

But these are things you only realize when looking back at the past.

Including that seemingly teasing line Elysia once said.

Su Nian's fingers flew across the keyboard, writing out the foreshadowing-laden text she remembered from her impression.

Hidden in an unremarkable conversation.

But if you savor it carefully, you'll know everything truly had its traces.

["The Thirteen Heroes of Fire... Flame Chasers... From Kevin's example, a Flame Chaser's power can even rival a Herrscher's."]

["An objective and precise answer—you've done your homework. You must be the type who's good at learning."]

["And confident too. In your eyes, Kevin is only on par with you."]

["That's not what I meant."]

["Don't be afraid. You can say that even to his face. I'll be on your side."]

Why would Elysia side with Mei instead of Kevin?

They were long-time comrades, with no disagreements or conflicts.

But Elysia directly stating she'd stand with Mei—that was quite telling.

At first glance, you'd think she was the lesbian queen of the Elysian Realm!

But she flirts with everyone like this—there's never been an exception.

There's no deliberate effort to win Raiden Mei's heart.

I still have a bounty open, not yet at the limit—could you give me your votes?

There should be two more chapters tonight.

Chapter 45: Becoming Kevin (not really).

The truth is only one!

It's not because Elysia is flirting (debatable).

Actually, whether Mei is a Herrscher or not, Elysia would always stand by her side—after all, Kevin can't do anything about her...

Does she love all of humanity?

After all, Elysia has witnessed the beauty of human nature and then seen many things afterward.

She understands how complex and contradictory the emotions of the human race are.

But this understanding didn't discourage her; instead, it deepened her love for humanity and strengthened her recognition of her own identity as a "human."

From these experiences of hers, one thing is certain.

Elysia deeply loves everyone.

Of course, the reason she stands by Mei isn't because she's at odds with Kevin.