Seeing the man's eyelids slowly close, Ganyu's eyes instantly widened. Her purple pupils shrank to needle points. Time around her seemed to stop along with her heartbeat.
The torn chest no longer rose and fell.
"N-No…" her pale lips trembled violently, letting out a whisper almost inaudible.
Then, her tears flowed heavily, soaking her cheeks dirty with ice dust and blood. A heart-wrenching sob tore from her throat. She cried.
Ganyu lowered her head, her trembling hands frantically pressing the gaping wound in his stomach. Bright blue Cryo light radiated strongly from her palms, creating an ice layer trying to seal the wound, trying to stem the blood that had already spilled.
"Please… please, hold on!" she sobbed, her voice breaking with despair.
She still tried to heal the wound, channeling the last remnants of her elemental energy. The ice covered the torn skin, freezing the damaged tissue.
But despite Ganyu's desperate efforts, draining her own life force, the man in her lap gave no response. His face remained deathly pale, with not a trace of life returning. Her ice only made his body colder.
This made Ganyu increasingly aware of the futility of her attempts. Her tears fell onto the ice layer she had created over the stomach, melting it slightly.
She released her hands from the stomach and pressed her own chest hard, as if trying to keep her heart from exploding. She bent over the man's body, sobbing uncontrollably. Her teeth bit her lower lip until it bled, trying to hold back her hysterical screams.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Ganyu rambled repeatedly, her words spoken like the mantra of someone losing their mind. "I was too weak… If only I could have protected you better… If only I…"
Ganyu closed her eyes tightly, tears continuing to flow from the corners of her shut eyes. Her hand clutched the torn collar of the man's shirt.
In the darkness of her mind, all memories with the man flashed quickly like a shadow lantern show.
She remembered their unexpected first meeting. She recalled inviting him to dinner. She remembered when he first came to her desk, looking confused with stacks of documents but radiating a sincere smile. She remembered finding him asleep in the garden. She remembered how he tried to cheer her up when Keqing came with extra work. And she remembered, very clearly, the warm embrace in the dark room just moments ago.
I can't let it end like this! Ganyu's mind screamed. She realized she didn't want to lose this man. She didn't want to return to her lonely routine, where hundreds of years felt the same without any surprises. This man had become an inexplicable spark of color in her monochrome life.
Driven by stubborn refusal, Ganyu opened her eyes. Her vision, blurred by tears, suddenly caught a movement.
She turned slightly. Her eyes captured the existence of the gigantic black sword.
The Blade of Insatiable Ego was no longer floating with a threatening aura like during battle. The object now hovered in the air, about a meter from the man's body. The red eye on its hilt was no longer wild but stared straight at an object lying on the melting water floor.
The sword moved. The souled inanimate metal object floated up and down in a clear rhythm, as if pointing at something. Up. Down. Up. Down. It directed Ganyu's attention to what had fallen from the man's pocket when he was thrown earlier.
Ganyu wiped her tears roughly with her sleeve, trying to clear her vision. She squinted, sharpening her sight toward what the sword pointed at.
There, lying on the puddle mixed with purple and red blood, was a small object.
Ganyu slowly released her grip on the man's shirt. She stood on trembling knees and crawled toward what the sword indicated.
Her cold fingers touched the object. It was a small velvet black needle cushion, worn and dusty. It looked very unremarkable, like something buyable for five Mora at a Liyue market.
But the demonic sword's aura toward the object made Ganyu feel this was no ordinary needle cushion.
Ganyu approached, sat back, and took the object carefully.
She stared at the worn velvet for a moment. It felt warm in her hand, contrasting the cold air in the monster's belly. With trembling fingers, she opened the black velvet cover.
Her eyes widened at the contents.
Inside, stuck into the faded red cushion, was an old sewing needle. The needle looked dull, its surface rusted and rough, not sharp at all. The thread fused with the needle was a very faded red thread, resembling fragile cotton thread, as if it would snap from a mere breath.
It was The Thread of Oblivion!
Ganyu stared at the worn needle, then looked up at the black sword hovering nearby.
"You…" Ganyu's voice trembled, breaking the silence. "You want me to use this on him?"
Ganyu's tears seemed to flow again, slightly dripping and wetting her long lashes, but she quickly wiped them with the back of her other hand.
Responding to Ganyu's question, the sword seemed to tilt its blade slightly forward, mimicking a nod.
Ganyu looked at the rigidly lying man, took a deep breath, and crawled back to his side. For Ganyu, that was enough. She didn't care if this was another curse. She didn't care if it was an Abyss trap. If there was even the slightest chance this object could save the man, she would do it.
She knelt beside the man's body. With her right hand still holding the needle, she used her left to slowly melt the ice she had created covering the wound. The torn flesh and frozen blood became visible again.
"Hold on a little longer… please, hold on a bit more," she whispered softly, as if the man could still hear her.
Ganyu directed the rusted needle tip right at the edge of the gaping wound in his stomach. Her hand trembled violently. She had never sewn a wound this severe, especially with a dirty ordinary sewing needle.
At that moment, the needle—once dull and rusted—suddenly radiated a very soft yet intense red light. The rust on its surface flaked off, revealing perfectly shining silver metal. The fragile cotton thread accompanying it also glowed, transforming into a pure red light thread pulsing with life energy.
Ganyu's eyes widened in awe. A warm sensation spread from the needle to her palm, calming her tense nerves. Her hand stopped trembling. Somehow, she suddenly knew what to do, as if the knowledge was injected directly into her brain.
Without hesitation, Ganyu pierced the needle tip through the skin at the wound's edge. Jleb. No new blood came out. Instead of tearing flesh, the needle pierced the skin like through water, very smoothly.
Ganyu pulled the needle, carrying the red light thread across the wide wound, and pierced it into the opposite edge of flesh.
…
Absolute darkness.
You slowly opened your eyes, but nothing changed. Still absolute pitch-black darkness. A completely pure black, without gradients, without texture.
You looked down—at whatever "down" meant in this place—before then looking at your own hands. They looked very pale, almost transparent, as if made of condensed mist.
You opened your mouth and tried to say a word.
"Where… is… this?"
Though your mouth moved and your throat tensed, no sound came out. No echo. No vocal cord vibration.
So silent. A deafening silence, where you could hear the absence itself.
No wind brushed your skin. You felt no heat, no cold. You felt like… nothing.
What crossed your mind right now was one logical, pitiful question: Am I already dead?
You stayed silent for a long time. Floating in nothingness, letting the question sink in.
Then, with a slow movement, you turned around.
And your eyes instantly widened.
Before you, floating in the black void, was a screen.
Not the usual blue holographic system interface. But a very old convex screen, exactly like an old tube TV from your previous world. A dull gray box with a V antenna on top, radiating static light.
You stared at it in silence, your brain trying to process.
Then, a static crackle sounded. The screen's previously blurry, ant-filled view slowly cleared.
You could see the screen's contents.
Inside the screen, a scene of a small messy room played. A black-haired man woke from sleep. His eyes were drowsy, circled by dark bags, as if he had no zest for life at all. He seemed to wake because of the ear-piercing phone alarm.
With lazy movements, he looked at the digital clock on the nightstand filled with empty drink cans, then roughly pressed the snooze button to stop the alarm.
He rose heavily. The scene continued like a sped-up montage. He showered with cold water. Dressed in employee uniform in front of a moldy bathroom mirror, without bothering to comb his hair. Ate stale bread with jam while standing. And prepared to leave his cramped boarding house.
He looked at his watch with its nearly broken strap. Ran to catch the crowded bus. Got off in front of a monotonous gray office building. Worked staring at a computer screen for hours, typing reports he didn't care about. He interacted minimally with coworkers, only lowering his head when passing. Returned when the sky was already dark.
And when he reached his bed, he immediately fell asleep without changing clothes.
He did that repeatedly. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
A very mechanical and soulless life cycle.
You, watching from outside the screen, couldn't help feeling bored and nauseous seeing it.
At that moment on the screen, the man woke again. He looked at the calendar on the wall. A red circle marked that day's number. Realizing it was Sunday so he didn't need to work, his shoulders immediately relaxed. He pulled his blanket and went back to sleep, refusing to face the world.
His eyes closed peacefully.
Ting!
A sharp phone notification sounded.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, his hand fumbling the bed, and grabbed the phone beside him. The screen light blinded his newly opened eyes.
He opened his eyes fully.
It was a message from a chat app. From a contact named "Anonymous." His online friend. He seemed to have deliberately named the contact that way because they never exchanged real names.
He opened the message notification.
Text appeared on the old TV screen, large enough for you to read.
"I just played Genshin Impact. It's a new game with super cute anime-themed characters, and the gameplay is really fun. Try it… I think you'll like it, you old bachelor."
Soon after, Anonymous sent a screenshot image.
It was an image of the character Jean, the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, in her gacha pose.
"I just got this Jean character. But it's so annoying because I failed to get the DPS character I wanted. Damn it."
After that, he sent a sticker of Paimon looking angry.
The man inside the screen stayed silent reading the string of messages. He stared at the image of the blonde character. Slowly, a faint smile—the first smile you saw from him since the video started—appeared on his dry lips.
"I'll play it," the man muttered softly.
He typed that sentence. Paused for a moment, his thumb hesitant over the send button. Then he pressed send.
The message was immediately read. Blue checkmark.
Anonymous replied quickly with a sticker of a silly dog giving a thumbs up.
The man stared at his phone screen for a bit, the faint smile lingering, then closed the app.
He put his phone back down and tried to sleep again.
But he only rolled left and right, unable to close his eyes.
Finally, he got up roughly. He threw off his blanket, walked to the computer desk in the corner, and sat on the creaking plastic chair. He stared at his dusty monitor screen, turned on the CPU, opened the browser, and his fingers quickly typed on the keyboard.
G-E-N-S-H-I-N I-M-P-A-C-T.
He pressed enter, entered the official site, and started downloading the game.
The installation finished. He opened the game. His monitor screen filled with Mondstadt's green grasslands.
Inside the game, he felt very unfamiliar with that bright, colorful world. Such a contrast to his gloomy room.
After playing for quite a while, his fingers became nimble on the keyboard and mouse. He started getting addicted to its world, exploration, and story.
But like his bad habit in the real world, his impatience often surfaced. He couldn't hold back annoyance because there was no Skip button for dialogue.
So, when the yapping scenes of NPCs he deemed unimportant became too many and long-winded, he started propping his chin with his hand, eyes narrowing, and began feeling sleepy.
Finally, the long tutorial finished. The Wish feature unlocked.
He clicked the falling star icon, opening the gacha menu.
And on his monitor screen, an exclusive banner appeared.
The banner of a girl with a medium body type, skin as bright as the first snow. And cerulean blue hair curling softly down her back, fading to a darker shade at the ends. A pair of black horns with a red tint curving backward, resembling mystical goat horns, adorned her head. They blended perfectly with her eyes showing sectoral heterochromia, grading from night purple at the top to reddish light gold at the bottom.
She wore an elegant outfit dominated by white, dark brown, and blue. Consisting of a sleeveless black bodysuit highlighting her curves, paired with separate ice-patterned outer sleeves, dark ornamented golden stockings, and accents of bright red ribbons and small bells at her waist that added a graceful and sacred impression to her appearance.
The man inside the screen leaned his face toward the monitor, tilting his head. His once drowsy eyes now widened. He spelled out the character's name written on the screen softly.
"G…A…N…Y…U? Ganyu?"
For some reason, something about that character design, about her gentle yet melancholic purple gaze, made the man's chest flutter strangely. An illogical pull.
He looked at his remaining free Primogems from initial exploration. He clicked the 10x Wish button.
The falling star animation appeared. Its color changed from blue… to purple… and then exploded into blinding golden light.
The silhouette animation appeared, and Ganyu had "come home" to his account on the first pull.
The man froze in his chair. Slowly, a very wide smile, a pure childish happiness smile, appeared on his face. He pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!"
He immediately pressed the Print Screen button on his keyboard, saved the screenshot, and quickly sent it to his friend, Anonymous, via the chat app on PC.
"Bro! I just got Ganyu! This is the best-designed character, right?!"
The message was read immediately. The reply came very quickly, as if typed in full anger.
"You… that makes me so damn jealous! That's a limited banner! I've spent all my savings and lost the rate-off! Damn you!"
Before the man could reply with his smug typing, Anonymous sent the next message far more aggressively.
"Just die! Don't message me again!"
The man was shocked reading that. His brows rose. But then he smiled faintly again, considering it gamer rage from jealousy.
He ignored his friend. His attention returned to the game.
He opened Ganyu's banner again. He looked at his real-world bank account savings. Money from his boring job that he had never used for anything except survival.
His eyes darkened with impulsive determination. He intended to spend all his savings.
He wasn't satisfied with just C0. He intended to get Constellation 6 for the girl named Ganyu!
And so began the credit card swiping. For the first time in his stingy and measured life, he spent a large amount of his savings in an instant. Top-up. Gacha. Top-up. Gacha.
Until finally, after hours, the C6 notification lit up. He achieved his goal. His account now had Ganyu at maximum power.
Satisfaction enveloped him. He sent a screenshot of his C6 account to Anonymous again, wanting to show off his dedication.
Seconds later, Anonymous replied shortly.
"I hate you, bastard! You're insane!"
Then, Anonymous's profile icon turned gray.
He had blocked the man. Permanently cutting off their digital friendship just from envy and thinking him crazy.
The man stared at the block notification. He was slightly shocked, his smile fading for a moment. But then he leaned back in his chair, sighed, and his face returned to normal. Blank.
After all, he wasn't really close to that person; they were just chat friends. So he convinced himself he felt nothing about the block.
But as he stared at his bright monitor screen, looking at the character Ganyu standing still waiting for his command… for some reason, deep in his heart, he felt a little lonely. A cold loneliness.
You, staring at the scene from outside the convex TV screen, felt mixed emotions. Your ghostly chest felt tight.
The emotion couldn't be explained. There was longing for your old safe though boring life, pity for your own pathetic self seeking validation from pixels, and a kind of… enlightenment.
At that moment as you were immersed in reflection, the old TV screen in front of you suddenly shrank. It receded at incredible speed, as if pulled by a vacuum force behind it.
You were shocked. Reflexively, you tried to reach out your transparent hand and grab it.
"Wait! I want to see more!" you shouted in silence.
But the screen shrank further, becoming a star-sized point of light, then vanished completely from your sight, leaving you back in absolute darkness.
Silence took over again. But this time, not for long.
Your ears—which you thought couldn't hear anything in this realm of death—suddenly caught something.
A sound. Very soft, melancholic, and full of despair.
It was a woman's sobbing cry.
You clutched your head with both hands. Your eyes widened.
An excruciating pain, real physical pain, suddenly slammed into your skull. Your head throbbed as if about to detach from your neck. The surrounding darkness began shattering into blinding colors.
You looked up, eyes bulging against the transition. Your breath—which had been absent—now forced back into your lungs.
You felt yourself being pulled upward at light speed.
You closed your eyes tightly against the blinding white flash.
…
Slowly… very slowly, you opened your eyelids.
The first sensation greeting you wasn't emptiness. But warm light from dim paper lanterns, and… a scent.
You smelled strong herbal medicine. Crushed Qingxin, dried Violetgrass, and a slight mix of Silk Flower.
You moved your head slightly, groaning softly because your neck muscles felt stiff. You tried to sit up.
You used your elbows to push your body, then sat leaning back. Your back felt something soft. You were on a wooden bed layered with thick cotton mattress. A green silk blanket covered your legs.
You looked around with still half-sleepy eyes.
You found yourself in a foreign yet familiar place. The room had sturdy wooden structure, with carved plum flower paper windows. The furniture inside was very classic, with small wooden shelves filled with ceramic jars and bamboo scrolls.
This place looked like a VIP patient treatment room, very typical of Liyue architecture. Soft morning sunlight slipped through the window gaps, indicating the storm had long passed.
You touched your stomach. The skin was smooth. No hole. No tearing pain. Your clothes had been changed to clean linen patient attire.
Your brain tried to piece together your last memory puzzle. Monster's stomach. Muscular man. Death. Ganyu crying.
You stared at your own palms.
"Am I…" you muttered, your voice hoarse from long disuse, yet sounding very real in the room. "…just risen from… death?"
…
A/N: I think some of you realize this is the protagonist's past. I intend to make everything make sense in the next chapter so it will be full of explanations. That means tomorrow will be the last chapter to end this story… By the way, if you can't wait for the next chapter, feel free to check my Patreon—I write much faster there than on this platform!