Music Can't Save the Zaunites

They sympathized with the masses but never truly immersed themselves among them. Never having done so, they still loved to see themselves as the masses' enlighteners and saviors. Yet when it came to specific problems, they could only offer naive answers filled with impractical romantic fantasies.

Li Wei was exactly that kind of person.

Before inheriting his predecessor's painful memories, he too had only engaged in lofty talk from the clouds.

But what he hadn't expected was that Seraphine's "sickness" was even worse than his own, a modern city youth's—and by a long shot.

"Mr. Ervin must love you very much."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. I just envy you—having a good father."

At this very moment, the tribal folk of Freljord were still struggling to survive in the frozen wilderness. The old farmers of Demacia were toiling away for their knightly lords. Bilgewater's pirates were locked in endless bloodshed and gang wars. Shurima's natives were barely scraping by amid warlord conflicts and colonial rule. Ionia's people were fighting desperately against Noxus's invasion and encroachment, while Noxus's slaves eked out a miserable existence in weapon workshops, military farms, noble estates, arenas—every place that could squeeze the last drop of life from them.

As for Zaun, just across the river, there was no need to elaborate further.

He truly envied Seraphine. To have grown up so pure and innocent in such a terrifying, cruel world.

Her parents had really taken good care of her.

They'd never let her see a shred of the world's true face.

"Sing," Li Wei said abruptly.

"Huh?" Seraphine tilted her head.

"Don't you believe that music can move people and solve problems?"

"Then sing now—"

Li Wei thought this was a rare opportunity. A chance to completely shatter this young lady's naive fantasies. It was time for her to face the real world:

"Those beggars are still fighting tooth and nail over the few coins you threw out."

"If you think singing can solve problems, then put your idea to the test right now—see if your voice can actually save them?"

Li Wei didn't step in to stop the chaos himself. Instead, he left the chance to Seraphine.

"M-Me?" Seraphine was flustered.

"Yes, hurry up. We don't have time, and they have even less."

Over there, blood was already being drawn. If the beggars kept fighting like this, someone might end up dead.

And all of it was her fault.

"I-I understand."

"But which song should I sing?"

"Shouldn't you have figured that out before offering this solution?" Li Wei criticized coolly.

"I, I—" Sweat beaded on Seraphine's forehead. She seemed to finally understand why Li Wei and her father both called her naive.

"Then I'll sing that nameless nursery rhyme. It's one my father brought from Zaun. When I was little and tormented by the 'noise,' he'd always use it to lull me to sleep."

"Enough talk. Sing!"

"Yes." Seraphine nodded pitifully, her presence as weak as a cat with drooping ears.

But once she cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and immersed herself in emotion, her demeanor gradually shifted.

She began to sing. And when she sang, she was always confident.

Because she was the Starry-Eyed Songstress, a born soul musician.

"La~" The first note rang out.

It was soft, even completely drowned out by the sounds of fighting nearby.

Li Wei watched indifferently from the side.

But gradually, the music found its stride.

Seraphine let her voice soar, carrying her sympathy and compassion, her tender, sentimental heart.

"That song..."

"Have I heard it somewhere?"

The beggars, who had been bloodthirsty moments ago, actually began to stop one by one.

As if the gold coins no longer mattered, as if all their troubles had vanished. They just wanted to listen—to this familiar song.

It was a nursery rhyme from Zaun, and of course, every Zaunite had heard it.

But Seraphine elevated this ordinary lullaby to new heights. Her voice was so gentle, so soothing, warm and full of hope.

Everyone was captivated.

Even Li Wei, who had initially dismissed it.

When the song ended, the chaotic battlefield had fallen into a peaceful silence.

They looked at each other, having forgotten to keep fighting.

"Everyone," Seraphine asked with her warm voice, the melody still lingering in the air, "please stop hurting each other, okay? Whatever the trouble, we can solve it together!"

"Y-yes," the beggars murmured in reply.

The hostility in their eyes had vanished completely. Even though the music had stopped, they inexplicably lost all murderous intent, unable to muster the will to fight.

It was as if they'd suddenly realized: "Yeah, what's there to fight over? We're all fellow townsfolk and friends—why tear each other apart instead of uniting and helping one another?"

"It works, it really works." Seraphine clenched her pink fists in excitement. She immediately turned to Li Wei: "Mr. Li Wei, see? My singing really does something!"

"Yeah." Li Wei sighed from the bottom of his heart. "Seraphine, I misjudged you! Your voice is pure heaven—a hand that soothes the soul, a medicine that heals the pain, a—"

"A load of bullshit!"

Li Wei snapped back to his senses, still shaken.

Holy shit.

Is this even singing?

This is SP Sona dropping her ult!

"Mr. Li Wei, why are you suddenly cursing?" Seraphine looked hurt. After one-on-one lessons from the Zaunite Master, she'd learned that wasn't a nice word.

"Cursing you is the least I can do!"

"Seraphine, is this what you call using music to make people understand each other?"

"Yes." The girl didn't even realize she'd unconsciously tapped into an ability she couldn't control.

"But this isn't singing at all—in scientific terms, it's brainwashing; in magical terms, it's enchantment!"

"Seraphine, do you have any idea what you're doing?" For some reason, Li Wei was furious.

Seraphine looked at him, frightened: "I—I don't know."

"You're shoving Brainrot Music down their throats! You're dulling their drive, corroding their spirit, making them more content with their lot! No, it's worse than that."

If it were just pleasant singing, it'd only be Brainrot Music—fine for entertainment and relaxation when exhausted.

But Seraphine was a mage.

Even if she couldn't fully control it yet, her voice carried magic—and that magic could directly influence the emotions of her listeners.

For the suffering Zaunites, that was practically—

"No different from Shimmer!"

Shimmer could temporarily boost one's physique, giving the weak a rush of power, hooking them in, making them crave it.

Seraphine's magical music, on the other hand, could drown people in a false dream, twisting their minds into a sick pleasure. It made them forget reality, stop thinking, numb themselves.

As if, as long as they sank into the music, all the pain in life just vanished into thin air.

If she debuted as an idol with this kind of singing, she'd become the biggest drug dealer in the Twin Cities—bar none!

"Seraphine, look at these people who heard your song." Li Wei pointed at the beggars, now oddly docile. "Do you see any difference between them and those Shimmer addicts from before?"

"Think about it—once your magic wears off, will they still be this 'happy'?"

Magic's effects weren't permanent, just like the strength Shimmer gave—it always faded. In the end, it was treating the symptoms, not the root cause! Overuse only brought endless harm!

"I—" Seraphine was speechless.

She thought of the Shimmer addicts, of their terrifying, zombie-like state.

She thought she could help people, give everyone a better life, keep them from falling into such miserable despair.

But now, Li Wei was telling her that her so-called good deeds were exactly what turned people into that.

"Was I... wrong?"

Tears burst forth like a broken dam.

They traced down Seraphine's spotless cheeks, over her smooth, delicate chin, and finally fell into the dust, onto this land she'd never set foot on before.

"Wahhh..." He had scolded her awake—and, of course, scolded her into tears.

She sobbed hard, her body trembling like a pink-haired rabbit.

"Sigh." Li Wei let out a breath. "Stop crying. How could it be your fault?"

She wasn't at fault, of course.

She was just too naive.

"Mr. Li Wei, then—what should we do?"

"We'll figure that out together, but first—" Li Wei offered a sincere suggestion: "I think you need to understand the suffering of the Zaunites before you talk about saving them."

"This—" Seraphine took it seriously. "How do I understand that?"

"Simple—"

"You can read minds just by touching someone, right?"

"Maybe this time, you should step down from that high stage, come back to the ground, and shake hands with the people you want to help."

Li Wei boldly extended his hand:

"Are you willing, Seraphine?"