You wanted healing, but you wrote Honkai Impact 3rd?

["I was worried you'd need more time to warm up. After all... you've never fought a Herrscher from the next civilization era before—maybe it's not what you imagined."]

["Oh... even simpler than that, is it?"]

["How long are you going to keep acting, Herrscher? Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but no one's ever thought I was stupid." Chijie had long seen through Raiden Mei's inexplicable attempts to provoke him.]

[But Chijie didn't care what Raiden Mei's goal was. The Deepest Place she'd been so desperate to reach was right here—she'd gotten what she wanted. Now it was time to pay the price.]

[Chijie had been waiting for this moment, from the very first time they met, craving a bloody slaughter.]

["Haha... hahahaha... My rage has been left empty for too long... too long!"]

["Since you want it to reappear in this place, then try to bear it... with all your strength!"]

["Enough talk, come!"]

["In and out, kill all who cross! Come forth! Step toward death, step toward—me!!"]

Chijie's character—though hot-tempered, though reckless—had a sharpness beneath the roughness.

With his laughter, his fury, his thirst for battle... every facet of Chijie's character was laid out.

He was absolutely not just a madman.

Even if Chijie's screen time was relatively sparse, his current performance matched a term widely known.

Welt seemed to see a berserker.

Yes, a berserker.

But unlike the traditional berserker, he wasn't just crazed in battle—he loved it?

That subtle detail of roughness with finesse made Chijie even more precise.

To make a character three-dimensional, the simplest method was to establish a character that matched the public's stereotype, then use different techniques—some unique traits—to break that stereotype.

That way, there was something distinctive.

It kept the character from drowning in the sea of generic archetypes, while cleverly building a persona.

Like the framework Su Nian had written for the Previous Civilization story—Kevin and Cosmo. Both had the same goal, acted together, and under a straightforward narrative, Cosmo should have easily faded into the background.

But the death of Hen drove them apart.

Cosmo didn't simply inherit Hen's will; he dared to question Kevin.

The overlap in their personas split apart at that moment.

Each became distinct.

Because the anger Cosmo felt was something Kevin, here and later, no longer showed. Kevin had matured, closed off his heart.

But Cosmo still had that rage.

Thirteen Flame-Chasers—it was difficult to establish thirteen distinct personas.

In traditional works, heroes were noble to the point of flawlessness, even becoming objects of faith.

People almost wished they weren't human, but written directly as gods.

They wanted to pile every imaginable good quality onto them.

But that led to flatness, no differences—just different fighting styles.

Su Nian didn't write them as such lofty heroes. After all, they hadn't even achieved victory.

And some negative traits seemed to make them more three-dimensional.

Mobius seemed to have lost her humanity, Chijie was so combative he'd kill successors, Pardo loved hoarding goods and was greedy...

Not only did this not invite criticism, but it actually made their images quite well-received.

Because these Flame-Chasers didn't do anything hypocritical—unlike some protagonists who act like heroes while doing villainous deeds.

The purely evil stayed evil without redemption. The battle-hungry stayed true to their nature.

Pardo's little flaw was even treated as an endearing trait...

They might not be perfect, but they were open and honest.

This could very well be a new path.

Having a character design that was commendable was already impressive. Modern major works struggled more and more to shape protagonists.

Though Su Nian's writing here wasn't particularly brilliant, it was three-dimensional—definitely not a weak point.

Otto nodded in approval. Though the images Su Nian had set should have real-world counterparts...

In reality, they were still quite different.

The Mobius he knew was absolutely not as insane as Su Nian wrote.

And the Chijie he'd investigated, though bad-tempered, wasn't this arrogant.

Had she made certain modifications to suit the work and plot?

Still... these characters should probably be supplemented with something else to support their images.

In that case, what would Su Nian do?

The writing style Su Nian was using now still differed somewhat from a proper novel... it looked a little awkward.

Although people had been praising it as a masterpiece, as everyone knew, the world had the Praise Cult, whose main purpose was to pump up creators of works they loved.

While Welt wasn't wrong to think this had potential.

Otto, however, felt his vision was far too shallow.

A young uncle like that was just too impulsive. Otto kept shaking his head at his rival, leaving Welt completely baffled.

And he lacked experience, nowhere near as far-sighted as Otto.

If Su Nian wanted to reach the next level, this alone wasn't enough.

Relying solely on words to reach the top was difficult. He wouldn't mind giving Su Nian a hand, but that technology had some major issues...

What Su Nian didn't know was that Mind Imaging Technology wasn't shelved because the cost was too high.

It was because most people couldn't imagine things concretely enough to truly tap into its power.

Getting them to picture an image... was probably like an AI that hadn't learned how to draw hands yet.

It was too difficult for someone without an art background to operate.

Having to slowly adjust and sculpt a face was actually harder than just hiring someone to draw it.

After all, many clients didn't know what they wanted.

But the artist did...

So after that, the reward for those contestants became full character illustrations instead.

Still, there were a few people who could quickly use this technology, and their imagination was worlds apart from others'.

Due to the practical limitation of lacking imagination, that technology wasn't made a permanent fixture of the show.

"Hmm... aside from Mind Imaging Technology, Schicksal has also developed some relatively useful tech recently..."

"Otto, are you that lacking in confidence in him?... I believe he won't disappoint me."

"Of course I believe that too, but this isn't... forget it."

Otto naturally understood—after all, Su Nian had already settled on each character's image long ago.

Their appearances seemed identical to real people out there; all that was needed was a little inspiration and trial.

What was missing was the visual sense, and their movements.

And most importantly... the special effects.

"Then let's turn these into options. Every contestant with a passing grade can freely choose which one to use."

And so the two of them decided, instructing the production team to change the prepared prizes overnight.

What Su Nian had been hoping for had, by sheer coincidence, fallen right into his hands!

I'm speeding up now, heh. At this moment, my typing is invincible.

Because I am, a passionate, invincible beast of burden.

Wait for me, there's another chapter tonight!

Chapter 56: Aponia Appears, The Secrets Deep Within The Past's Paradise

Su Nian continued writing. The final segment of The Past's Paradise was just a little short of the truth being fully revealed.

[Countless flames fell from the sky, crashing onto the battlefield, interfering with Raiden Mei's movements. The clash between the two was currently evenly matched.]

[But Chijie... he hadn't used his full strength yet. Raiden Mei could sense it.]

["Come on, struggle for your life one last time for me to see!" Chijie leaped up, turning into a falling star as he crashed toward Raiden Mei. But her domain wasn't limited to the ground!]

["Roar, Kurikara!"]

[She summoned Kurikara and immediately took to the skies to gain the advantage. Chijie's terrifying strike missed, and Kurikara spewed a red-black energy beam from its mouth toward Chijie.]

["Hahahaha... now that's more like it, Herrscher!"]

[Within The Past's Paradise, the sigils the Flame-Chasers had bestowed upon them were not useless. They taught the successor how to use their own power through combat.]

[Thus, Raiden Mei improved rapidly, far exceeding Chijie's expectations.]

["Annihilate!" Drawing the blade at her waist, Raiden Mei descended from the sky and slashed at Chijie, actually forcing him back several meters.]

[Now, he had no choice but to show some real skill!]

["Congratulations, Herrscher. You've proven yourself with all your might... worthy of being killed!"]

["But this isn't a [battle]. This is a [hunt]."]

[A pillar of fire shot into the sky, enveloping Chijie. When the flames dissipated, his body seemed to have turned into flowing red magma.]

[Completely different from the power he had just displayed—this was Chijie's man-made Honkai.]

["I face a Herrscher? And you face... Chijie!"]

[The ensuing fight... no, this wasn't a fight. The ensuing slaughter had completely spiraled out of control. Under his power, which ordinary people could hardly fathom, Mei's situation grew dire.]

[But this was exactly what Raiden Mei sought—Chijie... revealing to her the truth of [No Survivors], revealing to her...]

[...the true face of [Fate].]

[The air grew scorching hot once more—everything was evaporating, burning, making it hard to breathe.]

[Chijie's hand had already risen. If this strike landed, from any perspective, she would undoubtedly be [annihilated].]

[Raiden Mei's vision went dark. She had broken... Aponia's fate, and the prophecy.]

[Yet no response came from anywhere—not a single word, not even a flash of memories before her eyes.]

[Aponia did not appear. Was her judgment wrong? No, perhaps she wasn't dead yet.]

[Mei tightened her grip on her weapon. If fate could not be broken by another, then she would break it herself!]

[At this moment, the past she had once severed with her own hands began to surface uncontrollably, scene after scene, surfacing...]

[Raiden Mei's goal was achieved.]

Seeing this, everyone was utterly stunned.

She just died?

That casually?

Wasn't the ten-day prophecy supposed to be broken? What's going on?!

[I admit your fight scenes are decent, but why kill her off now?]

[Bro, we were just joking around—you actually went through with it?!]

[Because there's no one familiar left around Raiden Mei, so you just kill her?]

[This time it's not painful at all. I don't even get why she got a boxed lunch...]

[Elysia? Save her! If she dies, who's gonna touch your horns?]