Siberian Duck controlled her character, charging straight ahead.
The next moment, without any warning, the maze map grew dark.
"Holy shit! They're actually doing this!"
Siberian Duck's expression grew tense, and her voice became much quieter.
[Smartweed Tree Eats Cats: Shit, who turned off the lights?]
[Had Another Ice Cream Today: Horrific Maze, turn the lights on! I said turn the lights on!]
[No One Sleeps Tonight: Okay, okay, okay, I'm already scared! I've got my diaper on, bring it!]
The background music turned sinister, accompanied by a constant stream of eerie laughter that sounded hollow and distant.
But Siberian Duck couldn't do anything except keep exploring and walking down the maze's dark, narrow passages.
She explored cautiously, not daring to run. It felt as though a lighthearted, cheerful game had suddenly turned into a horror game.
Siberian Duck felt her hands and feet growing cold.
Fortunately, this oppressive stretch of exploration didn't last long. After she turned into a dead end, the game entered a cutscene.
Onscreen, a cold wind blew past, making both characters shudder.
Looking tense, Stelle turned and swung her Bat, hitting nothing.
Sitting at her computer, Siberian Duck rubbed her arms, feeling goosebumps rise all over her body.
"This is kind of scary. Good thing Little Fish is here too," she said.
The chat flooded with agreement.
[A Fleeting Dream: Agreed, streamer.]
[Tights and Cotton Shoes Played Ball All Day: Spirits above, spirits below, Little Fish, protect us!]
Onscreen, Jiang Yu turned around and said, "You can't hit a ghost like that. You'll never hit one doing that. Let me teach you!"
The next moment, Jiang Yu's expression suddenly changed!
His facial muscles sagged as though they no longer belonged to him. With a vicious look in his eyes and an eerie smile on his face, he lunged right up to the camera.
"Let me tell you, you can only hit me if you kill him. Can you do that?"
Jiang Yu reached out and grabbed Stelle by the throat.
The scene changed to Jiang Yu pinning Stelle to the ground by her throat. She struggled desperately but couldn't break free.
"Holy shit! Little Fish is possessed!" Siberian Duck cried out on the spot!
[Glazed Night: We're screwed, we're screwed! It's all over!]
[asugh: What now? I can't beat Little Fish either!]
[HDOSIH: My guess is we go berserk next, and once Little Fish comes to his senses, he sacrifices himself to seal the Stellaron again.]
[A Toast Is in Order: Bro? Who did this to you?]
Just as events took a sharp turn for the worse, a miserable burst of sobbing tore through every illusion.
The scene of Jiang Yu being possessed suddenly disappeared. Instead, Stelle slowly woke up, with something's crying ringing incessantly in her ears. The surrounding maze slowly faded back into the Space Station's normal structure, while Jiang Yu stood with his arms folded, looking utterly invincible.
Stelle asked Jiang Yu what had happened, and he answered.
The scene shifted to Jiang Yu's perspective.
Then they watched Jiang Yu "roast" the Horrific Maze to tears in three sentences.
"Oh my god! Is he really that savage? There's nothing scary on Little Fish's end!"
Siberian Duck was a little dazed. She hadn't expected the story to develop like this.
She had thought Jiang Yu would make the Horrific Maze cry with a barrage of leaping slashes, not by roasting it.
[My Pee Is Yellow: Of course it's not scary! He roasted it to tears! Watching Little Fish's side, I just feel so bad for the Horrific Maze, hahahaha!]
[Always Messing Up and Getting Scolded by Little Fish: I'm a Xianzhou native. Your setup was pretty good, but the transition was too abrupt. I think you should add some buildup and guidance in between. With scares like these, even a Xianzhou kid would kick away their bottle to teach you how it's really done!]
[Always Messing Up and Getting Scolded by Little Fish: Little Fish didn't swear once, but he tore the Horrific Maze apart from what sounded like a thoroughly professional perspective. Just a few sentences shattered its entire conviction!]
[Secretly Squeezing Hu Tao's Thighs: The funniest part was how he even gave it a score at the end. "With all due respect, your performance scores a zero!" I'm so proud of my sunshine boy.]
[Little Fish's Mouth: I was there, I can testify. That's exactly what I said. What can you do? That's just how the Xianzhou Little Sword Immortal rolls!]
[Aha's Emanator: Ordinary people meeting ghosts: cry in fear and run away. Capable people meeting ghosts: pull out every trick they have and beat the ghosts senseless. The Xianzhou Little Sword Immortal meeting ghosts: lectures them like a teacher until they break down!]
With the Horrific Maze's breakdown, the story became cheerful once again.
The viewers' spirits soared again too. It had been quite the roller-coaster ride.
When they reached the part where the female staff member was stunned by Jiang Yu's methods, everyone laughed even harder.
[Ms. Herta's Fan Club: As expected of a Space Station employee, even her compliments are a whole heap weirder than anyone else's!]
[The Creator I Follow Still Hasn't Updated Their Novel Today: I feel heaply ashamed!]
[An Everlasting Loyal Heart: Didn't see that coming, did you? Good! This is how we Xianzhou natives handle problems.]
Of course, the subsequent beating of the Horrific Maze also received unanimous praise.
Finally, after packing the Horrific Maze away, Siberian Duck went back to report to Asta.
That concluded the mission, adding two hundred Stellar Jade to her account.
As for the designated Imaginary Overflow Storage Container that Stelle had taken but never used during the story, it became an item in her inventory.
Its description roughly explained how Herta had developed it, what it did, and how to use it.
But the last line of the description stood out: "A tool for retrieving Curios... it wasn't used this time, but what about next time?"
Inside the game.
After reporting to Asta, Jiang Yu was finally free!
He deliberately held up the designated Imaginary Overflow Storage Container containing the Horrific Maze for Asta to see, offering concrete proof that he had kept his promise.
As for his next plan, he would naturally keep increasing his popularity to grow stronger.
First, he needed enough power to ensure he survived the Ambrosial Arbor crisis. The stronger he became before Phantylia began her battle on the Luofu, the better. If he was strong enough by then to show off a few more times and farm some popularity, that would be even better.
He set himself a modest first goal: reach 150,000 popularity and get the Flying Sword the system had promised him.
He should be able to reach that goal soon. Honkai: Star Rail had only just launched on Blue Star.
After briefly planning his next moves, Jiang Yu went with Stelle to the Platform to find Himeko.
It was time for Stelle to tell Himeko what she had chosen.
As for Jiang Yu, he still needed the Astral Express Crew to give him more opportunities for exposure. Of course, he also needed the Express to take him back to the Xianzhou.
The universe was so vast, with so many worlds, that getting lost would be all too easy.
System: Look at me! Look at me! (Wriggled its nonexistent body.)
Before you continue