The player muttered internally.

In the story, Hua was quietly reflecting.

She had once been like the girl before her—falling into unconsciousness, battling hardships, undergoing experiments—for all sorts of reasons.

In other words, she had once been "completely powerless."

And just as Hua pondered this—

Mei finally awoke from her coma.

"Hua?"

Mei opened her eyes to see Hua in front of her.

Hua came to her senses as well: "You're awake?"

"Hua, how much time has passed?"

"Since I found you, only about an hour. But... it seems you'd already collapsed there long before I arrived. I only went there because I had something important to tell you."

So what was it that Hua needed to tell Mei?

"Mei, you must leave the Elysian Realm—there's no time left."

Mei could only explain honestly: the path back to reality had already been severed.

Hua was immediately shocked. Her character portrait even had wide-eyed surprise—honestly, it looked kind of funny.

Hua_Shocked(mid).jpg

With no other options, Hua brought Mei back to the Elysian Realm.

But as soon as they entered—

The player saw countless fireballs raining down from the sky, causing the game screen to tremble violently.

This familiar style of attack made them pause for a moment, then realize:

…Kalpas?

But why were the other Flame-Chasers letting Kalpas go berserk in the Elysian Realm?

Wasn't there anyone—say, the invincible Grandpa Kevin—who'd step in and stop him?

Surely Kevin wouldn't want this beautiful, romantic inner world that belonged to Elysia to be ruined?

About that…

Actually, Kevin had already…

It's something the players didn't know yet—but they'd know very soon.

With that question lingering, players controlled Mei to dodge the falling fireballs and push forward.

Crossing the residential area, Mei and Hua searched until they finally found Kalpas in an open area—along with the other Flame-Chasers confronting him.

Before Mei could say anything—

Kalpas's furious voice erupted. He made a rather "impressive" decision.

"Once I wipe all of you out, I'll hunt the others down one by one. Only this way—that bastard, that traitor—won't think he can do something like that… and still get away with it!"

Kalpas clearly had a talent for Russian-style rescue logic.

If you kill them all, you don't need to figure out who the real culprit is.

And honestly…

Players couldn't even find fault with that logic. After all, it was Kalpas. That's just how he rolls.

You can't expect Kalpas to play Sherlock Holmes—gathering clues and carefully analyzing the situation, right?

…Let's be real, that would be way more terrifying than Kalpas jumping out and saying "I'll kill everyone."

Mei looked at the furious Kalpas and realized he wasn't bluffing.

Judging by the scorched surroundings, it wasn't hard to imagine what he had just done.

And what's worse, none of those present had the ability to persuade him.

Hua's gaze silently swept over everyone present.

With Su acting out of character and remaining silent the whole time… she made a decision.

"Calm down for now, Kalpas. You're not a beast."

"Maybe so… but not right now."

This dialogue had appeared in Hua's reminiscence, Everlasting With Self.

But no one knew what happened after they had that conversation.

Regardless, Kalpas clearly had no intention of backing down now.

Realizing this, Hua stepped forward to try and stop him.

A battle was about to begin.

"Wait a moment!"

Suddenly, Su spoke up: "Kalpas, your earlier disappearance shares nearly identical characteristics with Sakura's. Did you… see her?"

Kalpas roared back in fury: "You're not worthy to speak her name—don't you dare… turn my wrath into a tool for your manipulation!"

"…Kalpas, I'm not here to argue. I just want to know—did you see Sakura?"

Su's voice deepened. He was clearly losing patience as well.

"You… think you're worthy… of asking me that? Hm?"

Their words clashed. The atmosphere grew heavier and heavier.

Seeing that words were useless, Su resorted to necessary measures.

In the next moment, he used Singularity Domain to banish Kalpas.

Or, in simpler terms—

[Member Kalpas has been kicked from the group chat by Admin Su.]

[Su locked Kalpas in the time-out corner...?]

[Stalling tactic. When Kalpas gets out, he's gonna go berserk.]

[I can already imagine him flipping out like a power-stripped paramecium.]

[???]×2

Yet even after Kalpas vanished, the tension among the Flame-Chasers didn't ease.

At this moment, Su revealed shocking news to Mei.

"Though we have no leads… we believe there is—at least—one traitor among the Flame-Chasers."

Mei was stunned: "You mean… Elysia…"

Could it be that one of the Flame-Chasers killed Elysia?

She could hardly believe it.

After all, Elysia trusted and loved all the Flame-Chasers… and in the end, she was betrayed by someone she believed in…

She wanted to question Su further.

But Eden suddenly cut her off: "Let's… not go any further."

"Su, things have come to this. We can no longer afford to remain passive."

Her tone had shifted from its usual gentleness to something more resolute.

"If you're willing—though the rankings carry no weight—may I, the Fourth, take command here?"

[Eden! Finally getting her spotlight? Eden fans rejoice!]

[Don't celebrate too soon. With how MiHoYo writes, characters who get the spotlight usually get axed. Eden might be next.]

[No way, right? If they dare touch Eden, I'll hunt the writer down.]

…

"The next victim is going to be Eden?"

Elysia was a bit rattled by the barrage of comments.

Kevin: "..."

But she quickly calmed down.

"I think Eden plays too important a role in the story to be taken out like that."

"Why do you think so, Elysia-onee-sama?" Pardofelis asked curiously.

"Because Eden is Elysia's bestie~~"

"Huh?"

Pardofelis clearly didn't get it.

Elysia patiently explained: "Eden understands Elysia better than anyone. She's the one most likely to bring her back. Or rather, she's the key to bringing Elysia back."

"But so far, whether Elysia is real or not, the 'search' for Elysia hasn't even started. So Eden definitely won't die yet."

"Elysia."

Mobius suddenly interrupted again, raining on the parade: "I suggest you don't get your hopes up—just to avoid heartbreak later."

"I'm not being hopeful. I'm just basing it on facts," Elysia replied with rare firmness.

"…Whatever. Either way, I won't be the one disappointed."

Mobius left it at that and fell silent.

Pardofelis chimed in to support Elysia: "I think Elysia-onee-sama makes sense."

"Right~~"

Elysia's tone perked right back up.

After a bit more theorizing with the viewers, she refocused on the game.

Once Eden stepped up—

Mei naturally asked a question:

[What happens if a memory body kills another memory body?]

The answer was that the system would quickly fill in the missing data via backup. It wouldn't result in a disappearance like Elysia's.

After Mei and Su's conversation ended, Hua also asked something:

"So, what should we do next? Kevin… you've known him a long time. Did he ever tell you anything directly?"

The viewers were already preparing to complain.

Kevin did tell Su something.

But if Su were to explain it now, they'd have to write "The Thirteen Flame-Chasers' Signets" a hundred times from memory.

Sure enough—

After so much Elysian Realm experience, they'd finally learned how to spot a riddle-speaker.

Su gave a perfectly cryptic answer: "That's why… things turned out this way. He entrusted me with something."

And while the players weren't surprised by Su's words, Hua's reaction stunned them.

She—

"Entrusted?!"

"Su, we once witnessed it together—at that time, he—"

Hua was visibly shaken, but then suddenly fell silent.

A beam of white light flashed—and she vanished along with Su.

Mei: "…Su?"

Mei: "…Hua?"

Players: ???

Players immediately related to Mei's confusion.

Hua, seriously? You've resisted riddling for so long—why now?

…You've been corrupted like all the others.

[No way? Even Hua has become a riddle-speaker?]

[Everyone inside the Elysian Realm is destined to be assimilated into a riddle cult. They have no choice.]

[Maybe Mei just didn't get a chance to ask—Su kidnapped her too fast. Hua-mama is still using 2G, slower reaction time.]

[Hey now, what's wrong with 2G? Even 2G doesn't stop telecom fraud. (passes popcorn)]

[You guys are the real 2G network here. Still using the same joke a year later!!]

Even though Paramecium hadn't appeared in a while, her "legend" continued to circulate in the fandom.

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