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

Chapter 8: Others' Content Homogenized, Already Won

"Rita Rossweisse, the contestant I have the highest hopes for. I'm sure she will bring surprises to everyone." Otto was quite confident, as if the fruit of victory was already in his hands.

Su Nian indeed had her merits, but judging from her current performance, Rita was certainly capable of crossing swords with her.

Everyone except Su Nian was nothing to fear.

It was just a pity that the occasion wasn't suitable for him to savor some wine—not elegant enough.

When the feed from Contestant No. 31's room appeared on the screen, Otto was somewhat petrified.

"Don't speak too soon."

Welt finally had the upper hand and couldn't resist needling Otto. The "war" that had barely subsided seemed about to reignite.

Both men's reactions were due to what the screen displayed.

All the studios should have been identical in layout. The program had been running for years, so they knew what to prepare for the creators.

Cigarettes, alcohol, drinks, computers, paper and pens, blackboards... They covered almost every personal habit to avoid affecting the contestants' states.

After all, depending on their profession, some people needed material things to relieve psychological pressure.

Rita's style was different from everyone else's.

"Wow~ It looks like Contestant No. 31 is a very refined and unique person?"

If what made Su Nian astonishing was her quick conception and rapid entry into the zone.

Then what set Rita apart was how leisurely she was.

As if the act of creation had nothing to do with her.

Their micro-expressions and movements told them that Rita wasn't just pretending to be calm.

The black tea and pastries on the table were still steaming, making one wonder—where did she conjure those from?

They had never heard of anyone having the quirk of needing afternoon tea before creating. Perhaps this was the ease of a foreign contestant?

"Every contestant has their own familiar rhythm. It's just an appropriate rest." Otto was still putting up a brave front.

But clearly, the contestants didn't know their live feeds were being watched by the program team—this was a surprise attack, catching them off guard.

Rita's computer was in its initial state, clearly untouched.

"Contestant No. 31 faces pressure with composure, obviously backed by confidence. Let's take a look at the other contestants now."

Otto changed the subject, and the backstage staff switched the feed again.

But this time, they didn't find many promising contestants, and the inspection progressed quickly.

This kind of situation was normal. It was just that seeing Su Nian already creating from the very first moment had unconsciously raised their expectations.

In the early stages of the competition, it was hard for contestants to show their true strength.

Su Nian was the seed contestant noticed first.

And dark horses weren't so easy to find.

Even if someone managed to guess the prompt correctly, they still hesitated back and forth among their few themes.

Not to mention that those themes weren't even good.

Eden looked at these themes, her golden eyes still calm, but a faint trace of disappointment lurked within.

They had all fallen into a state of aesthetic fatigue. Among 64 contestants, only a handful performed well.

Judging by the contestants' current performance, it was unsatisfactory...

They hadn't yet started writing the main text, but the themes they listed were all emotion-based.

Love, friendship, parents, youth... The themes revolved around these. A few touched on patriotism and history...

Most contestants' choices were here, and clearly they themselves were aware of it.

If all contestants wrote like this, the homogenization would be too severe.

People of Shenzhou knew from childhood that writing required finding a new path and being original to stand out from others. But at times like this, they didn't dare to gamble.

Without the ability, they played it safe and scored as much as possible.

This was the New Youth Competition. Due to the contestants' own life experiences, their horizons were limited, which was why they only had those themes.

Playing it safe meant urban settings, but those stories had long been written by their predecessors; the themes were no longer fresh.

However, there were still a very few who wrote about other themes.

Cultivation and wuxia themes—three or four of them—were passable enough not to be too disappointing.

Those daring to take a risk and write something truly different were far too few.

They had thought Su Nian was the starting point.

But they never expected that she was already the peak among these people.

Great disappointment was the feeling of the judging panel and even the audience.

[Only one worth watching? I've wasted over an hour here.]

[WTF is up with this year's batch?!]

[At least last year we got a few decent adaptations. How'd it turn into this mess?]

[Alright, alright, I'm going back to watch "Empresses in the Palace." Never thought it'd still be the peak after all these years.]

[Why isn't Su Nian moving yet? Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!]

[No main story to read—feels like Kevin's crawling all over me.]

This era is one of fast pace.

Creators hesitate, but before they can even settle on a perfect theme, the audience has already grown impatient and moved on to something truly worth watching.

No one gives second chances unless you have real skill.

The atmosphere on site had sunk into a slump. The heat they'd just built up was about to fizzle out.

If this kept up, it'd be hard to calm the audience's discontent. The tickets weren't paid for, but they'd still spent time and effort snatching them up.

What was there to do...

Some viewers had already switched back to admire Eden or busied themselves with other things, but a portion chose to keep watching.

[Let's give it a bit more time... They haven't even settled on a theme yet, right?]

[It's not even two hours in. Chill, let's see what happens.]

Quite a few comments urged patience, and the restless audience barely managed to calm down.

They decided to hold on and watch a little longer.

After everyone had taken a look around, they all ended up back at Su Nian's stream without any prior agreement.

A flood of viewers surged back into Su Nian's livestream.

Right now, whether it was progress, the freshness of the theme, or the story's development, Su Nian was ahead on all fronts.

This advantage naturally pulled traffic his way.

Plus, he was the only contestant the judges had praised without hesitation. The audience had the most faith in him.

The momentum was strong!

That "way ahead" from earlier was truly way ahead.

Otto had never been wrong about judging people.

After stretching properly to ease his discomfort, Su Nian sat back down at the computer at his own unhurried pace.

Under the eager eyes of everyone, he began drafting the rough outline for the second part of Kevin's life.

Chapter 9: True "Salvation"

The judging panel exchanged glances and decided to cut the camera back to Su Nian's stream.

He was now immersed in his creation, eyes sharp, his focused expression strikingly handsome.

In that cruel world of the Honkai...

He had witnessed the duel between Kiana and Mei, friends turned foes.

He had seen Otto lose the love of his life.

He had experienced much, yet his mission and promises had never soured.

Kevin was always Kevin.

Su Nian's fingers clattered across the keyboard at a speed that left people stunned.

[High yield like a sow, I crown you the strongest!]

[At least he's got something to show.]

[You gotta work hard, man. Someday I'll brag that I boosted you to the top (lol)]

[It's not bad writing either. Once the details are fleshed out, it'll be watchable.]

[Isn't it already looking up?]

[Cyber Pal +1]

[Nah, that commenter—you're the real Pal.]

The outline he'd just written was just an appetizer.

The real main course hadn't arrived yet.

[A few months after Kevin joined the Moth of the Fire, he officially became a new recruit. At a banquet, he met a cute...]

Su Nian paused. He remembered that someone had been the host, right?

Before entering the studio, he'd been backstage with all the contestants in the waiting area.

When he'd looked at the stadium, besides Kevin, he'd also seen Elysia.

[At a banquet, he met a pink-haired girl in a maid outfit, a maiden as shy as a flower, radiating an air of mystery.]

Su Nian still remembered that Elysia's first impressions were the two images of "tempting Merus" and "bad woman."

This setting, combined with the popular "pink equals dark" impression at the time, led almost everyone to misunderstand Elysia.

[The sunny boy and the enthusiastic girl became friends]

Elysia looked at this passage, and her heart couldn't help but leap with joy.

When the names of familiar people like Kevin, Mei, Su, and Eden appeared in this story, she already had a hunch.

She didn't expect to have a role herself, and the praise was spot on.

Yes? This description must be referring to her.

It even made her a little embarrassed.

After briefly describing the acquaintance between Elysia and Kevin, Su Nian once again focused on Kevin's story.

[The Honkai erupted time and time again, and peace seemed like a luxury.]

[After countless brutal battles, Kevin had become an excellent anti-Honkai warrior.]

[The Sixth Honkai Outbreak occurred, and this time, humanity still emerged victorious.]

[The Sixth Herrscher knelt on the ground. She was no longer the lofty Herrscher. Kevin's gun was aimed at her head; with a pull of the trigger, she would die.]

[Herrschers were enemies of humanity, but Kevin, who knew this well, did not act immediately this time.]

[Her expression was no longer what it had been moments ago; instead, she looked like a frightened little girl, and she had become approachable.]

[The Herrscher... had regained a shred of humanity?]

[Kevin hesitated for a moment, but things did not go as he thought.]

[Everything was the Herrscher's disguise.]

[The Herrscher of Death's power erupted instantly, catching everyone off guard. An entire city's worth of ordinary people, under the influence of this power, were annihilated in an instant--]