"Holy shit, it's Qibao from Finality!!"
Bronie snapped her head back and leaped away.
"Which worldline, which point in time did you yank her from?"
[I-it's just the standard, canonical anchor point of the original worldline, okay.]
The System answered in a small, guilty, trying-to-sound-totally-normal voice.
Under normal circumstances, all of the System's character cards were supposed to lock onto a point in time running parallel to the Star Rail universe's Earth timeline, scooping up a character's consciousness for a stand-in appearance.
Back during the Silver Wing arc, it should have pulled over the post-Honkai-era Li Sushang — in simple terms, the Li Sushang who already knew Old Yang from the Express. The System pulled its signature blunder back then, hit a bug, and the probe ended up pointing at the wrong point in time.
[Strictly speaking, this current issue doesn't entirely count as a runtime error. Rather, the function accidentally worked correctly for exactly one instant during a previous error state, and then reverted back to the error.]
Anyone who grew up with one of those old black-and-white analog TVs or antenna sets as a kid knows the drill — when the screen goes to static, you give it two firm smacks on the side and a face flickers through for a second, then it's right back to a snowstorm two seconds later.
The root cause of this entire incident was that the System's functionality accidentally worked correctly for exactly one second.
"So what you're saying," Bronie's expression cycled through several spectacular and indescribable permutations, "is that this is that Herrscher of Finality Kiana — the one who knows Old Yang?"
[That's correct.]
The System's little white-glove cursor scratched at the side of its screen.
On hearing this, Bronie fell silent. She crossed her arms and thought for a moment before asking:
"And after this? Going forward, will you pull characters from that same anchor point?"
[Uh, let me check — what I can confirm right now is that all cards except the post-Honkai-era character cards will be pulled from the originally anchored time point. As for the post-Honkai card — Ardent Wish Auspicious Star — that one is currently... undetermined.....]
"Undetermined, huh. Great."
Bronie was speechless, struck dumb. She mulled it over for a few seconds, then finally confirmed: "Having two different anchor points won't cause any problems, will it?"
[Don't worry, don't worry — even though there are two anchor points, they're both on the same worldline, so there definitely won't be any—]
In the eyes of a being that exists at a higher dimension, a world is like the river of time described in fantasy novels — a great current surging forth from primordial chaos and singularity, flowing from the ancient past all the way to the future. The small child in Great Desolate Village drinking beast-milk was Shi Hao; the peerless and tyrannical Great Desolate Heavenly Emperor was also Shi Hao.
"Hey! Keep talking! Finish your sentence!"
The System's abrupt halt made Bronie's heart lurch.
[Ahem, ahem — don't panic, I'm just playing it safe. For the time being, it should be fine, but if other runtime errors occur... well, that's harder to say. We'll just have to adapt as we go!]
"'Adapt as we go' my ass!"
Bronie was absolutely losing it.
Was that really how you used that phrase?!
This was a complete disaster!
A thread of irritation shot straight up her spine, dragging along several strands of anxiety and an ineffable, absurd quality that defied description.
Anyway — first things first, vent!
Pickpocket, Tongue Lash, Quick Draw, Sadism, Lethal Tempo, Body Slam, Infected Cleaver, Masochism, Final Chapter — Caelus burned through the whole combo in rapid-fire succession!
That sufficiently cleared out the frustration, more or less.
[Hah... c-can you... stop, st-stop that... aaaah! Hah... hah....]
Unable to control her own body yet receiving one hundred percent of every sensation it experienced, Qibao teetered on the very edge of a complete psychological breakdown as her nervous system convulsed.
White Comet stopped writhing her slender, serpentine waist and flopped sideways like she'd run out of energy.
[…So. Who on earth are you? Why are you inside my body?!]
The frustration that had been vented now curdled into cold hostility. Laced with wariness and aggression, a furious demand came crashing across the connection.
Qibao — finally able to catch her breath — burst into tears.
[I am Kiana Kaslana, I'm — I'm...]
Qibao immediately launched into an explanation. But even though she was the Herrscher of Finality, this was her first time experiencing anything like this. The physiological sensation was bleeding directly into her consciousness, leaving her thoughts in utter disarray — she genuinely didn't know where to begin.
She really didn't know how to explain it properly.
She couldn't even confirm whether the current situation was a result of the Herrscher of Finality's power going out of control.
She'd been dormant for so long!
But flipping it around — if it wasn't a Finality power misfire, then what else could it possibly be?
Was there a force in this world capable of completely cutting off a Herrscher of Finality — not just blocking her powers, but leaving her unable to even sense them?
Qibao judged the probability of that to be essentially zero. Which meant...
In all likelihood, this was a Finality power malfunction!
[You say you're... Kiana Kaslana? Hmph. It's not enough to invade my physical body at a moment like this — now you want to impersonate this young lady, too?!]
White Comet fully performed the desolation and fury of a bride whose wedding night had been ruined by an intruder.
Ah, the great truth of life — the most important skill a person can learn is how to pass the blame. If you can offload responsibility onto someone else and get them to feel guilty about it, why would you ever carry it yourself?
Forgo your dignity. Enjoy the good life~!
[No, no, no — please listen to me. I really am Kiana Kaslana. Please hear me out first, it's like this....]
From the words alone, Qibao could confirm that the person in front of her was her own isotope. The thin flickers of anger in her heart dissolved — replaced by guilt and embarrassment, stronger than before.
Even if it was her own isotope, being forced through something like this was still enraging. It was just a shame she still couldn't use her power — otherwise she'd have forcibly taken back control already.
Sensing the shift in Qibao's emotional state, White Comet let out a quiet sigh of relief. Beneath the mask, her true expression softened, a flicker of genuine pleasure dancing through it.
Good. Good!
Over a decade of growth and Qibao had channeled all of it into academic credentials, domestic goddess energy, and frontal armor capacity, elevating her overall quality across the board by several levels — but her personality when she wasn't facing an enemy had grown softer and softer.
[Explain?! What's there to explain?!]
A suitably performed show of indignant fury and unreasonable outrage — expressing the shame and stubborn grievance of a girl whose first time had been interrupted — yet without actually stopping Qibao's explanation.
And as Qibao's flustered but still reasonably coherent account unfolded, White Comet gradually dialed back the anger she was transmitting through the mental link.
[A Kiana from another world... shared body ordinarily... Herrscher of Finality... accident caused by power going out of control?]
White Comet's feelings were rather complicated. After all, every single time before this, she had been the one explaining the concepts of parallel worlds and isotopes to whoever was on the receiving end. She hadn't expected it to flip around on her like this.
Qibao was just too adorable~!
[...I'm sorry. This accident is entirely my fault. But since it's already happened, let's both calm down and think about what we can do.]
Even though she had been forced through all of that, she had ultimately been the one in the wrong first — and on top of that, she had ruined this person's first intimate moment with the one she loved. Qibao pressed her lips together and gritted her teeth, but she was the first to apologize.
[...]
Conveying a tangle of conflicted, helpless, and stunned emotions through the mental link, White Comet found herself amused.
[Ah, I see. Well... maybe it's not entirely your fault either.]
Much as she was inclined to enjoy the good life, with future cohabitation and Big Daddy's stand-in arrangements to consider, White Comet clearly couldn't pin the entire blame on Qibao.
[What do you mean? Do you... know another possible cause for the current situation?]
Feeling a pair of warm palms moving across her body, Qibao opened her mouth — then ultimately said nothing.
This was the other person's body, after all. And they'd only just managed to steer the conversation back on track — better not to interrupt. Qibao endured the strange sensation.
White Comet was quiet for a moment, indicating she was thinking and organizing her words, then spoke:
[For reasons I also can't quite figure out, I may possess the ability to summon the consciousness of my parallel-world selves — but I can't control it myself. Every time I've tried in the past, nothing worked. Right now, I can sense that the ability seems to be in an active state.]
[I think it's possible that your Herrscher of Finality power triggered my ability, which is what caused the accident here.]
[An ability to summon the consciousness of your parallel-world selves?]
Qibao frowned.
She actually had an ability like that?
As the God of Earth, it wasn't a concept she found hard to understand — just a little novel, and curious. The curious part was whether this ability was powerful enough to potentially sever her connection with the Cocoon of Finality.
She didn't think the other version of herself had actively summoned her. Who in their right mind would invite another consciousness into their own body while in the middle of that kind of thing with their partner?
[Since you're another me, and I share some responsibility for this situation... I'll just... let it go.]
White Comet magnanimously declared she wouldn't hold the body-occupation against her — the tone of someone who had marked something worth ten thousand down to a hundred and was selling it at a loss, doing so with an aggrieved sense of martyrdom.
[Oh, okay... thank you for understanding.]
Qibao hesitated for a few seconds before replying, tentatively.
[Do you have any way to end the current situation?] ×2
Both of them asked the other the exact same question simultaneously — then both fell silent at the same time.
[I'm sorry, I can't.] ×2
Answers in perfect unison, followed immediately by silence.
[I can't sense my Herrscher of Finality power right now.]
[I still can't fully control that ability.]
Each offered their own reason in turn. Then another stretch of silence settled over them like fallen snow.
[WAAAAH! So what do we do?!]
Qibao was losing her mind. Those hands — where they currently were — could you please stop?!
[Um... could you maybe ask your partner to pause for a moment?]
Qibao ventured, as carefully as she possibly could.
[You... you don't want me feeling what he's...doing... either, right?]
As she said it, Qibao suddenly felt the phrasing was a bit off. Like something she'd seen in a manga from Mei's homeland.
Have I become the delinquent bully now? Ugh, my teeth hurt.
[...]
Now there's a Far-Eastern Qibao for you. Did she pick that up from Mei?
[Do you know what was happening before you entered my body?]
Qibao could sense the other's conflicted hesitation.
[What was happening?]
[You don't know — so could you please stay quiet? This young lady can treat you as if you don't exist, and we can have a proper talk tomorrow.]
On hearing this, Qibao's heart lurched sharply. Did this mean she intended to continue?!
Absolutely not, not, not!
[Ahem, ahem — let's not, actually. The current situation is extremely urgent. We need to find a way to break the connection as quickly as possible.]
Qibao forcibly instructed her own consciousness to ignore the smoldering, restless heat that had been trying to creep its way in, and stated this with complete solemnity.
White Comet let out a soft chuckle.
Sure enough — you're still you, Xun-ge.
It's not just the Chinese temperament always preferring to seek the middle path and smooth things over — it's human nature itself.
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