"..."
"Damn it, Elysia! Is this the new stunt you've pulled on me?"
Entering the Elysian Realm once again, Lin Wei merely glanced around before his vision swam. Pointing furiously at a device not far ahead, he demanded, "Explain this clearly! Those two pitch-black, portal-like things over there—what the hell are they?!"
Actually, there was no need for an answer. Lin Wei was all too familiar with those things.
He had seen them long ago, under Su's guidance, when he first entered the Elysian Realm. Specifically, they were the branching path selection points for entering the next 'level' within the Realm.
But these weren't originally part of the Elysian Realm, just a minor feature that had previously appeared.
Back then, when establishing a stable link between the Stigmata Space housing Sakura and the Elysian Realm itself—using Lin Wei as the beacon and briefly coupling his memories with the Realm via a method similar to the SO-129 procedure—a special, temporary area had formed based on Lin Wei's own inherent impressions of the "Elysian Realm".
Naturally, this area vanished once that process was complete.
For these settings, which should have belonged to the game, to suddenly reappear so brazenly within the Elysian Realm... No matter how you look at it, that's a huge problem, right?!
"So, the Elysian Realm gets version updates now, huh?" Lin Wei's voice sounded strangely exasperated.
Yuno, who had entered the Realm with him, didn't understand Lin Wei's strong reaction and looked around, confused. Meanwhile, the pink-haired girl standing nearby to welcome them excitedly started to take credit, saying with a grin,
"I changed this according to the version you're most familiar with in your memory, you know~ How about it? Like it?"
Then, before Lin Wei could even react, she immediately answered her own question.
"Hmm..." She continued, "Judging by your surprised expression, this must be quite the 'pleasant surprise,' right? Heehee, I'm so glad!"
Her tone was utterly self-satisfied, as if she had actually heard an answer from Lin Wei. He pressed a hand to his forehead, black lines forming as he tried to keep his rising blood pressure in check.
"Yuno, wait here a moment."
After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Lin Wei signaled to Yuno, who was following behind him. Then, with a dark expression, he strode up to the pink-haired girl, who was still grinning from ear to ear.
"Where did you pull this stuff from?"
"Hmm?" Elysia tilted her head, feigning confusion as if she didn't understand.
"I don't remember telling you any of this..." Lin Wei stated blankly.
In fact, their previous conversation had ended there. They hadn't continued, and Elysia hadn't managed to extract any more secrets from him, nor had she kept pressing.
This naturally included the details about the game.
Although Elysia's curiosity was nearly boundless, and although she truly wanted to hear more secrets from Lin Wei, the clever girl also knew when to stop.
So, she had merely teased Lin Wei a bit as usual, promised to take him to see Mobius, and then skipped away laughing, leaving Lin Wei alone where he stood.
She's as smooth as a seasoned heartbreaker...
And then, the next day, after Lin Wei explained his intentions to the now-awake Yuno and prepared to re-enter the Elysian Realm, this was the "surprise" that greeted him.
So, does this mean the Elysian Realm is going to get all grindy again?
Wait, why did I say 'again'?
Just the thought made Lin Wei's lip twitch uncontrollably.
"You didn't tell me, silly~" Elysia blinked, stating it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But later I went and asked that equally beautiful and lovely Sakura next to you! You told me to, remember?"
Damn it. I shouldn't have brought it up. In my haste, I forgot this girl has absolutely no sense of restraint or courtesy.
"What did she tell you?" Lin Wei asked, feeling drained.
Ever since entering the Elysian Realm, Sakura had immediately thrown herself into a state akin to intense, secluded training. She was practically racing against the clock, engaging in high-intensity battles with several other Flame-Chasers within the Realm.
Lin Wei had seen all this. Out of respect for her wishes, he had tacitly agreed not to disturb her training these past few days—he never expected Elysia to exploit this opening...
"Hmm... Actually, she didn't tell me anything." Elysia looked regretful, sighing dramatically.
"Honestly, that Sakura with you has the same beautiful face as our SAKURA, but I didn't expect her to have such a mischievous little mind..."
Elysia found it unbelievable—how could that girl, also with pink hair and long ears, manage to play dumb so convincingly?
Even though Lin Wei himself had spilled the beans that Yae Sakura had read his memories, when Elysia eagerly approached her to "share stories," Sakura first smiled and exchanged pleasantries for a while.
After quietly listening to Elysia's request, she then looked utterly bewildered, apologizing profusely and saying Elysia must have misunderstood.
Then, very sincerely, Sakura offered: If Elysia needed, she could accompany her to find Lin Wei and verify the information face-to-face, confronting him directly.
Before Elysia could say anything more, the SAKURA, completely unaware of the situation, gracefully walked over.
After a friendly greeting to Elysia, she solemnly informed Yae Sakura that her rest time was over and it was time to begin the next phase of training.
And then, Yae Sakura looked apologetically at Elysia, silently indicating that she couldn't really get away.
What could Elysia do but express understanding and support?
"Sigh, such a cute girl, ruined by that Lin Wei fellow..." Elysia muttered, puffing her cheeks as she watched the two similar yet different figures walk away together.
How could she not see through that act of playing dumb? It's almost exactly like Lin Wei's routine!
Nice one! Lin Wei silently gave Yae Sakura a huge thumbs-up, feeling a sense of vindication.
Thinking about it, it's not that surprising, he mused. Sakura was always quite sly, and after spending so much time being "influenced" by me, she's naturally gotten even 'darker'...
"Wait a minute. If that's the case, then where did these things come from?" Lin Wei pointed at the two 'portals' floating silently in the void behind Elysia.
They couldn't have just fallen out of the sky, right?
"Oh, you mean these?" Elysia placed her hands on her hips, lifted her chin, and declared proudly, "Su told me~"
Then, with immense satisfaction, Elysia recounted the whole process—
A short while ago, after unexpectedly being stonewalled by Yae Sakura, Elysia felt rather gloomy.
Since the Sakura avenue was temporarily blocked, going back to ask Lin Wei directly would be akin to admitting defeat—and when would Elysia ever admit defeat?
Elysia was thoroughly enjoying this game with Lin Wei, her enthusiasm growing with each interaction. This latest setback didn't discourage her in the slightest; instead, she became even more determined, actively seeking other paths.
"Since both Sakuras have their own things to do and it's inconvenient to disturb them for now, I'll just go ask the others about the situation. It's all the same, right~?"
Elysia mapped out her problem-solving approach: go around asking the other Flame-Chasers in the Realm, inquiring about every detail of their interactions with Lin Wei.
Faced with such an enthusiastic Elysia, the Flame-Chasers naturally wouldn't dampen her spirits and readily cooperated. Among them, Kalpas's reply was the most enthusiastic and direct—
"Boring. Get lost!"
Of course, Elysia hadn't really expected to get any information out of Kalpas anyway. So, after a simple greeting, she turned to find the other Flame-Chasers who were closer to Lin Wei and asked them about him.
Naturally, Elysia didn't think she could directly dig up Lin Wei's deepest secrets from these Flame-Chasers; she knew that was impossible.
The reason she went to such lengths was simply to prepare more thoroughly for the next stage of her "offensive"—Elysia had always been very patient, and she was already anticipating the next opportunity to pry open Lin Wei's defenses.
As it turned out, after collecting thick stacks of notes from Hua and Vill-V respectively, Elysia soon received an unexpected reward from Su—
"I understand your purpose in coming, Elysia."
As a MANTIS specializing in psychic abilities, Su possessed a considerable degree of 'foresight' within the Elysian Realm. Thus, he had already prepared what Elysia wanted most.
"That special visitor, when he first set foot in the Elysian Realm, once displayed a rather unique domain. Perhaps it will be helpful for what you are investigating..."
---||---
"..."
After hearing Elysia's account, Lin Wei was speechless. So, after all that fuss, the leak really came from Su?
"After hearing Su's description, I was extremely curious! I immediately went to find Klein and asked her to help retrieve the image records from that time—and sure enough, I saw something very interesting!"
Elysia's voice overflowed with the irrepressible joy of someone who had just discovered treasure.
"And then, I asked her for help developing a similar function, and then... voila! It was successfully replicated!"
"...Is Klein that free?" Lin Wei couldn't help but interject with a sarcastic remark.
Wasn't Klein already driven mad just maintaining the Elysian Realm? Where would she find the extra energy to handle these additional retrieval and development tasks?
"Well, originally, you were right about that~"
As if recalling Klein's hard work, Elysia sighed sympathetically, then added with a smile, "But thanks to you, Lin Wei, the redundant files and junk data accumulated over fifty thousand years were almost completely cleaned up by Yae Sakura. The stability and smoothness of the Elysian Realm's operation have greatly improved, significantly reducing Klein's workload—though she's still busy enough to not touch the ground, mind you."
"...So you just went ahead and had her upgrade the Elysian Realm and add new features?" Lin Wei felt increasingly speechless.
Okay, great. I get it. Another bullet I fired in the past ended up hitting me...
"How about it? Not bad, right? Of course, it wasn't just my effort; several other Flame-Chasers also provided quite constructive suggestions." Elysia counted them off on her fingers.
"A level-based structure, branching path choices, appropriate difficulty scaling, necessary challenge stages, and some essential level rewards... Just for the purpose of 'trials,' this really is quite a good design concept!"
Lin Wei listened, black lines forming on his forehead again.
What is this nonsense?
Did they add new DLC, or is this Elysian Realm 2.0?
Or did the open world turn into a sandbox?
"This was designed according to how you remember it, you know~" Elysia beamed as if presenting a treasure, blinked her eyes, and asked expectantly, "So, do you like it?"
"...I just feel my liver aching." Lin Wei stated expressionlessly. Good idea, don't do it again next time.
Future successors coming to the Elysian Realm for trials are in for a treat—the grand stage of the Realm, come if you've got the stamina for the grind!
But what does this have to do with me? I can't even be bothered to explore an open world!
As long as I slack off enough, the competitive environment can't touch me.
Oh no, Lin Wei silently lamented, does this mean the Elysian Realm that Raiden Mei grinds repeatedly later on actually originated from me? If so, I'm truly a heinous sinner!
"Let's get back on track. Didn't you say you'd take us to see Mobius? Why did this thing suddenly pop up?" After composing himself, Lin Wei gestured towards the two portals with his chin.
"Looking at this... don't tell me you plan to have her appear as a final boss?"
If that's the case, are you helping or just causing trouble?
You know, when Mei first met Mobius, the atmosphere was actually quite amicable!
"Of course not! Didn't I just say? This is just a coincidence!" Elysia explained earnestly, "This level system was just created, and the designer suggested I find a tester to help check if its functions are working properly..."
Got it. A beta test, right? Lin Wei felt a headache coming on.
"And are you going to tell me that, to ensure the smooth running of the test, you personally will be playing the role of the final boss?"
Lin Wei firmly believed this was exactly the kind of thing Elysia would do!
"Wow, you understand me so well! But... you guessed wrong~" Elysia said with mock delight, then took Lin Wei's hand and sighed.
"But didn't I promise to take you to see Mobius? As your guide, how could I leave you halfway and go off to do my own thing?"
"...Oh, is that so?" Lin Wei believed Elysia wouldn't lie. After pondering for a moment, he asked tentatively, "So, you mean you'll also be a 'tester' and come along with us the whole way?"
"Mmhmm~" Elysia put her hands on her hips slightly, giving an affirmative nod.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lin Wei grabbed Elysia's hand with one hand and Yuno's with the other, striding towards the portal corridor.
With Elysia carrying us, what's there to be afraid of?
Stepping through the portal felt like passing through a curtain, smoothly arriving in the next area. Unsurprisingly, several Honkai beasts appeared in the distance, now clawing their way towards the trio.
Lin Wei glanced at Elysia, his meaning clear—You made this mess, you clean it up.
But in the next second, Yuno had already dashed forward, effortlessly dispatching the few Honkai beasts.
Elysia met Lin Wei's gaze nonchalantly, just giggling and saying, "My, my, how could you ask a cute girl guide to do such rough work?"
Though rebuffed on the spot, Lin Wei wasn't surprised—Knew I couldn't count on you. Just thought I'd try, just in case.
The battle ended, and the portal to the next level opened smoothly, yet Lin Wei stood at the entrance, unmoving for a long moment.
Yuno found this strange and was about to ask when she saw Lin Wei turn to Elysia again, his face expressionless, looking utterly fed up as he asked:
"Where are the rewards?"
"My level rewards? Why hasn't anything popped up? Is it bugged?"
What kind of garbage game is this, doesn't even have rewards?
Crappy devs, I'm out!
But the answer didn't come from Elysia. Instead, a voice floated down from the sky, sounding incredibly listless, as if perpetually half-asleep.
"Ahem, the reward system hasn't been created yet. It's been added to the development log and is projected to be included in testing in the next version."
Accompanying the voice was the faint, crisp sound of frantic keyboard typing, as if the speaker was busy with other work simultaneously.
"..."
No need to guess. That voice definitely belonged to Klein; no one else sounded like that.
"Elysia, I'm curious, where does this Klein usually work...?" Lin Wei asked with a peculiar expression. "I've searched every corner of the Golden Courtyard and haven't found anyone else."
Back when he first entered the Elysian Realm, Lin Wei had already tried looking for Klein. But at that time, Klein had been taken out of the Realm by Mobius, and Mobius herself had been locked up for a long time, likely without the chance to recall Klein. So, Lin Wei hadn't found it strange not to find her then.
This time, however, Klein was clearly back to her regular duties, yet Lin Wei still couldn't locate her, which struck him as odd.
If I could have found Klein earlier, I could have used her to connect with Mobius. Why would I be suffering like this with Elysia now?
"Klein is the administrator of the Elysian Realm. Her location isn't exactly the same as the Golden Courtyard. After all, that place is for the Flame-Chasers and successors to rest," Elysia explained with a smile.
"Besides," she added, "with her deeply sympathetic workload, I'm afraid she wouldn't have any spare time to chat with you anyway~"
"Ha, good point." Lin Wei understood now; that wasn't surprising.
After all, considering how deeply Raven understood the Elysian Realm—entering it was like going home for her, she was even qualified alongside the Flame-Chasers as an authoritative source for Raiden Mei to learn about the Realm—even she never knew about Klein's existence from beginning to end. So, it was perfectly normal that Lin Wei couldn't find her either.
If Klein herself didn't want to show herself or reveal her location, likely no one could find her. She might not have consciously intended to hide, but given her workload, which barely left time to breathe, she probably didn't have the time or energy to "make her presence felt" anyway.
"Alright, let's keep moving."
Lin Wei subsequently pushed aside his other random curiosities. With Yuno in tow, he followed Elysia's steps, delving deeper layer by layer.
Three layers... five layers... eight layers...
The scenery of each layer constantly changed, and the number, size, and strength of the enemies visibly increased, but they posed no significant threat to Lin Wei's group.
For one thing, the 'level' of this team was truly high enough. For another, this was ultimately a real Honkai-ravaged world; the enemies here didn't have "health bars," and the Elysian Realm clearly wouldn't add such a meaningless setting unnecessarily.
Therefore, under Yuno's lethal, sharp claw strikes and Lin Wei's occasional calm finishing blows, the group advanced smoothly, without any hitches.
Klein made no further sound, but Lin Wei guessed she was currently observing intently, silently compiling all sorts of messy logs.
Well, she's a worker, after all...
"Alright, ahead is the final layer designed so far!"
In a dim expanse, Elysia pointed towards the only portal nearby.
"Looks like this is the so-called 'BOSS layer'?" Lin Wei mused aloud.
Unlike in the game, the portal here bore no identifying sigil, only an unfathomably deep blackness.
"Mmhmm!"
"Are you sure this boss isn't played by you?" Considering the 'boss battle' Raiden Mei faced before meeting Mobius for the first time, Lin Wei felt it was necessary to clarify first.
"Mmhmm~" Elysia's smile remained unchanged.
"And we won't have to fight you for various inexplicable reasons?"
"My, my, do you really distrust me that much?" Elysia puffed her cheeks, sounding deeply wronged, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
"Alright, I get it. Just asking a few more questions to be sure." Lin Wei smiled faintly. "I think I have a pretty good idea of what's really going on."
As he spoke, Lin Wei strode towards the portal, not even waiting for Yuno to catch up, and forcefully pushed the door open, shouting,
"Vill-V, I know it's you! Get out here!"
This kind of messed-up stunt... besides you, the one who loves chaos above all else, there's no one else in the world who could pull this off!