After clicking "Challenge," a loading bar filled, and a vibrant, multicolored flower sea world materialized before them.
This flower sea was breathtakingly beautiful, utterly immaculate, and utterly beyond reproach. Beyond its immaculate beauty, no other words could adequately describe this place.
"Wow, can we stay here permanently? It's a photographer's paradise!" Even the worldly Little Bear was captivated by the scene, his heart stirred with awe and admiration. He couldn't help but voice his thoughts to Mihoyo.
Since they were inside a secret realm, the in-game photography feature was disabled, much to the dismay of Little Bear and many viewers. They earnestly pleaded with Mihoyo to implement a feature allowing photo capture even within secret realms.
However, given Genshin's track record, the chances of this feature being added seemed slim...
I just don't get it. Why go to all the effort of creating these stunning environments, only to stubbornly refuse to let players take photos?
Shaking his head, Little Bear refocused on the game screen, controlling Lumina as she moved toward the mission objective. He murmured, "Don't worry, guys—no Lumina Blade here!"
"The Main Cast isn't even here! What's the point of Mihoyo pulling a 'blade' move? Who are they trying to hurt?"
Little Bear was adamant about this. No Main Cast, no blade!
[Who says they can't pull a 'blade' move just because the Main Cast isn't here?]
[True, but they'll tone it down once the Main Cast arrives.]
[Hey, the Main Cast might be absent, but the Players are here! Mihoyo could totally pull a 'blade' move just for us.]
[The Main Cast isn't here, but the Players are! Mihoyo could totally use us as the 'blade' target, right? My friend (smirking).]
[Hey, you, the one before! That line sounds oddly familiar...]
Despite the heated debate in the live stream's Comment Section, the atmosphere had improved significantly compared to earlier. Most viewers now seemed convinced there wouldn't be any tragic twists.
After all, as Little Bear had pointed out, the Main Cast was gone. With no Main Cast present, what's the point of pulling a 'blade' move?
"It seems the situation is far more serious than I imagined..."
In the game, Little Bear was guiding Lumina toward the quest marker when her murmurs echoed through the virtual world.
"But... I suppose that was to be expected."
As Lumina reached the quest location, a cutscene began.
In the cutscene, Lumina's waist-length hair swayed rhythmically with the air currents, her gaze fixed straight ahead. A patch of darkness, no larger than a thumbnail and darker than any shadow, materialized before her, expanding at an astonishing rate, consuming everything around it and transforming them into part of its abyssal void.
Lumina's face remained expressionless as she watched the encroaching darkness. A surge of green light erupted from her hand, summoning her familiar Staff.
Thrusting the Staff into the ground, Lumina conjured a barrier to contain the darkness, preventing it from corrupting everything it touched.
"Hmm... I wonder how long this will hold," she murmured.
The barrier, anchored by the Staff, didn't completely isolate the darkness; instead, it merely impeded its progress. Yet the darkness continued to creep forward at a pace imperceptible to the naked eye.
Still... this should buy enough time.
Nothing unexpected should happen, Lumina thought inwardly, shaking her head to dismiss the thought. Leaving the Staff in place, she turned and strode toward another location.
Not long after Lumina turned to leave, a crimson, mist-like creature suddenly materialized within the barrier created by her Staff.
It gazed at the barrier, then at the Staff rooted in the ground, and finally at the direction Lumina had last taken. A malevolent glint flickered in its scarlet eyes, radiating the aura of a quintessential supervillain.
"Holy crap, Phandrea? Don't you dare!"
The cutscene froze on this scene, and Little Bear and the viewers in the live stream instantly recognized the newly appeared entity.
Isn't that Phandrea, the one Nahida and Lumina effortlessly defeated? Why is she here?
Oh, right! Nahida sent her into Irminsul earlier...
"We're doomed! Phandrea looks like she's about to stir up trouble..."
Even though they didn't know why Phandrea was still around, it was clear she was up to no good. Worse still, Lumina seemed completely unaware of this.
Having watched the cutscene, Little Bear's previously calmed heart now hung in suspense, his mind racing with desperate reassurances.
The Main Cast isn't here. The Main Cast isn't here. The Main Cast isn't here. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay...
Without the Main Cast, there won't be any bloodshed. Without the Main Cast, there won't be any bloodshed. Without the Main Cast, there won't be any bloodshed...
Repeating this mantra endlessly, after countless repetitions, my suspended heart finally regained its composure.
[Well, since Lumina is destined to be bladed anyway, why not just go all out and blade her completely? Like, blade her into hundreds or even thousands of pieces, so we can each take a piece for ourselves.]
[?]
[?]
[Mods, where are you? Drag this lunatic out and execute him already! What are you waiting for?!]
[Holy living King of Hell! (covers face)]
[I honestly can't tell if this guy is serious or what... If he's serious, please share your address. I'd like to personally deliver some warmth to you as a fellow humanitarian (smiles).]
"Hey, buddy, can you tell me what this means?" This King of Hell-level comment instantly caught Little Bear's attention. He immediately screenshotted it and pinned it to the center of the live stream for all viewers to see clearly.
"I'd like to ask, what exactly does it mean to 'blade Lumina into hundreds or thousands of pieces'?"
"I don't quite understand. Could you please explain?"
Little Bear's voice was utterly flat, devoid of any discernible emotion.
But anyone with eyes could tell: Little Bear was absolutely furious, incandescent with rage.
Most of the viewers in the live stream were equally enraged.
Chop Lumina Blade into hundreds or thousands of pieces and divide them equally? Yandere, huh?
Being handsome or beautiful might qualify as yandere. But publicly spouting this kind of nonsense online? That's just begging to be roasted.
Since he was begging for it, the netizens, the keyboard warriors of the new era, were more than happy to oblige. They unleashed a barrage of private messages, no doubt filled with warm wishes for his family's well-being.
"Dude, your shamelessness is off the charts."
Seeing this clown still lurking in the live stream, Little Bear couldn't help but suspect he was deliberately trolling for reactions.
Shaking his head, Little Bear dismissed the troll, kicked him from the live stream, and removed the screenshot, turning his attention back to the game.
As the cutscene ended, the perspective shifted back to the Trailblazer's point of view, causing Little Bear's recently eased anxiety to nearly resurface.
The timeline should have been just after leaving Irminsul, as they prepared to head to Sumeru City. However, the quest marker pointed not to Sumeru City itself, but to a location along the way.
"I hope we're not going to get called back halfway through," Little Bear chuckled dryly, opened the World Map, and teleported directly to the marked location.
The quest objective was right next to the teleport point. I wish all objectives were this convenient.
"Ugh... Why do I suddenly feel a chill in my heart?"
"Are you really planning to leave?"
As Little Bear teleported over and took a few steps to the quest marker's location, a dialogue scene immediately triggered.
March 7th pressed a hand to her chest, murmuring in confusion.
Just as March 7th finished her musing, a calm voice reached everyone's ears. The group turned to see Nahida standing behind them, arms crossed, watching them intently.
Though Nahida's expression remained calm, a hint of worry and urgency flickered in her eyes.
"Nahida? You're out so soon? Where's Sister Lumina?" March 7th's heart skipped a beat at Nahida's sudden appearance. She glanced around anxiously before turning back to Nahida to ask.
Nahida pretended to lower her head in thought for a moment, then uttered a sentence that left March 7th and the others completely baffled:
"Hmm... At this time, she should be close to death, right?"
"?"
Upon hearing this, March 7th, Stelle, and even Little Swarm froze, their expressions blank. They seemed unable to grasp the meaning of Nahida's words.
"N-Nahida, stop joking around! This isn't funny at all," March 7th stammered, clearly refusing to believe what she'd heard. They dismissed it as a prank, refusing to take it seriously.
Forcing down the suffocating feeling in her chest, March 7th stepped up to Nahida, gently patted her head, planted her hands on her hips, and feigned anger.
Nahida paid no attention to their reaction, gently shaking her head and saying earnestly, "I'm not lying, nor am I joking."
"The reason I came to find you is to ask for your help."
"If you don't believe me, then I'll just leave."
With that, Nahida turned and hurried away without giving March 7th and the others time to think or react, her manner suggesting urgent haste.
"Hey, wait, wait, Nahida! Could something really have happened to Sister Lumina?"
Although Nahida hadn't said anything specific, her demeanor didn't seem like she was lying...
Then Sister Lumina...
At that thought, a sudden premonition of disaster flooded March 7th's mind, her heart pounding faster and faster.
"I have no reason to deceive you. If you want to help, hurry and follow me now."
"If we waste too much time and miss something crucial, there won't even be a place left to cry."
Nahida didn't stop or offer any specific explanation, merely urging the group to hurry and follow.
Hearing this, March 7th, Stelle, and the others exchanged glances. Without overthinking it, they immediately rushed after her.
Nahida didn't seem like someone who would lie, so her words must be true.
That meant... Sister Lumina was really... about to die?
"Mihoyo! You'd better give us a happy ending!"
In the live stream, watching the Main Cast being summoned back by Nahida in the game, Little Bear could no longer console himself with his usual excuse.
The Main Cast had indeed arrived... and the heartbreak might be coming for real.
[Happy ending? A big reunion in the underworld counts, right? (Smirking)]
[Streamer, Streamer! You can't use the "no Main Cast, no heartbreak" excuse anymore! Got any other coping mechanisms?]
[Streamer, Streamer, why aren't you talking? Do you not like talking?]
[Lumina has dialogue in Version 2.0, so she's definitely not dead. What are you panicking about? (Facepalm)]
[Are you sure these lines aren't from a flashback?]
"It's fine, it's fine. She's a super popular character, Mihoyo will definitely keep bringing her back to suffer again and again. There's no way they'd just kill her off in one go."
Little Bear steered his character toward the quest objective while desperately searching for a way to reassure his anxious heart.
Soon, he found a new reason to comfort himself.
Except... this new reason seemed, well... even more depressing?
The reaction in the comment section after Little Bear voiced this thought perfectly validated his apprehension:
[? Streamer, streamer, I'm giving you a chance to rephrase that (smirking)]
[? When I type a question mark, it's not because I have a question—it's because you have a problem]
[Sigh... So Little Bear has finally been twisted into Mihoyo's twisted shape, huh? (Sigh)]
[Whip the corpse! Whip the corpse! The more the better!]
[Lumina Doujinshi...]
"Get lost!" Though immersed in a world of sorrow, Little Bear seemed to possess a natural, almost magical ability to instantly obliterate any Doujinshi Seller who dared show their face in his live stream.
"Ahem... Big Bear said that, not Little Bear. Let's not dwell on this anymore and continue with the storyline."
After kicking the Doujinshi Seller out of the live stream, Little Bear knew his earlier remark was enough to turn his fans into detractors. He quickly coughed a few times to divert their attention.
Once the Comment Section had calmed down, Little Bear resumed playing through the storyline.
"What's this portal? Is Sister Lumina inside? Is she okay?"
Returning to Irminsul's location, March 7th's ominous premonition intensified as she stared at the newly appeared portal. She urgently fired off three questions.
"This is a portal linking to Irminsul's dimensional space. Lumina is inside."
"As for her condition... I don't know."
"She might already be dead..."
Though Nahida's words sounded casual, anyone could see the deep concern for Lumina's safety in her eyes.
"Anyway, let's hurry inside." Shaking her head, Nahida took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.
"Now it's truly clear: wasting time is wasting life..."