Just then, the Festering Desire in her hand suddenly trembled slightly. Lydia was about to focus her senses to investigate when two familiar voices from behind interrupted her thoughts.
"Lydia~"
"What are you thinking about?"
It was Venti and Aether.
Lydia spun around and saw the two already standing behind her, just a few steps away. Startled, she instinctively gripped the Festering Desire tighter.
But on second thought, she figured she might just be too exhausted lately, not even noticing someone approaching. She decided not to dwell on the strangeness.
A faint smile spread across the girl's face. "It's nothing, I was just looking at the Statue of the Seven. What brings you here?"
Venti still had that same playful grin, but his tone couldn't hide his excitement. "Of course I'm here to give you a surprise! To celebrate your birthday tomorrow, I've specially invited the other six gods besides myself to attend~"
"Six Gods?!" Lydia's pupils shrank, her face filled with disbelief. She covered her mouth, overwhelmed by the honor. "My birthday... will so many gods actually be present?"
She was just an ordinary girl from Mondstadt. Even after fighting the Abyss, she had never imagined receiving such a great honor.
The thought of sitting at the same table as the Seven Archons made her heart pound with both nervousness and excitement.
Aether stood by her side and smiled gently, his voice calm yet reassuring. "There is no need to be surprised. After hearing how much you helped repel the Abyss and protect both Mondstadt and Liyue, the gods of each nation are all eager to meet you and thank you properly."
"Really?" Lydia's cheeks instantly flushed crimson, and her breathing quickened.
She looked down at her dress, then touched her slightly messy hair, and said hurriedly, "Then I must dress up well! I can't let Mondstadt lose face!"
Her eyes sparkled, and the previous fatigue and doubt seemed to be completely dispelled by this sudden surprise, her gaze filled with anticipation for tomorrow.
Venti and Aether exchanged a glance, a flicker of unspoken understanding passing between them.
Venti raised his hand and ruffled Lydia's hair, his tone light. "Don't worry, we've already asked Acting Grand Master Jean to help prepare a gown. Tomorrow, we guarantee you'll be the most dazzling star of the show~"
"Thank you all!" Lydia said gratefully.
In her mind, she was already planning how to present herself before the gods tomorrow, and what words would be most appropriate to avoid being impolite.
Aether watched her joyful expression, the smile on his lips growing even gentler. "It's getting late. You should go back and rest early, so you'll have plenty of energy for the birthday party tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm!" Lydia nodded vigorously, turned, and walked back toward the city, her steps much lighter than before.
The runes on the Festering Desire sword faintly glowed again, as if protesting, but they were completely ignored by Lydia's current excitement, failing to catch her attention in the slightest.
When she returned to Noelle's house, Acting Grand Master Jean had already delivered the prepared gown. It was a pale green dress, its hem embroidered with delicate dandelion patterns and its neckline adorned with shimmering pearls, both elegant and carrying the free spirit of Mondstadt.
Lydia couldn't wait to try on the gown. Standing before the mirror, she gazed at her transformed reflection, the smile on her face growing even more radiant.
Yet in the mirror, she felt her own gaze seemed somewhat strange, carrying a faint, imperceptible emptiness, just like those "residents" on the streets.
But this thought was merely a fleeting one, quickly drowned by her anticipation for the birthday party.
She lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Her mind was filled with scenes of tomorrow's meeting with the God, and the smiling faces of her friends offering their blessings.
That tasteless glass of apple cider...
Those people and things that were gradually being forgotten...
She had... completely forgotten.
The night deepened, and Mondstadt fell into a profound silence. Only the windmills continued to turn slowly, emitting a monotonous creaking sound.
In her deep slumber, Lydia was still dreaming of celebrating her birthday with the God.
The Festering Desire sword lay quietly by the head of the bed, its dark purple blade completely dimmed, as if it had exhausted its last trace of power.
-
Under the cover of night on Earth, the player communities had already erupted into chaos.
Lu Nanqing stared at Lydia's sleeping profile on the screen, her fingers tapping the table unconsciously, her brow furrowed into a tight knot.
"Something's wrong, something's very wrong!" Her voice carried unconcealed anxiety. "Suddenly returning to Mondstadt from the ruins, meeting all familiar faces, and the absurd plot of six gods attending a birthday party... This isn't the right pace at all!"
On the screen, a faint smile still lingered on Lydia's lips, clearly lost in a beautiful dream.
But the live stream's bullet chat had long been submerged in a sea of unease, the densely packed text nearly covering the entire screen:
"Am I crazy? When Lydia was trying on the gown, didn't her gaze seem a bit empty? Just like those NPCs on the street!"
"The quest prompt tells us to prepare a perfect birthday party, but the map is completely grayed out except for Mondstadt! This is literally a confinement, isn't it?"
"Yunqin just sacrificed herself, and now this 'peaceful and quiet' drama is being played out. There's definitely a problem!"
It wasn't just Lu Nanqing's live stream; waves of questioning voices rose one after another in the major player communities.
"Has anyone noticed that Klee and Amber's reactions are too 'standard'? It's like they're programmed routines, only knowing how to revolve around Lydia!"
"And what about Aether! He was entangled with the Abyss before, so how did he suddenly become one of us? Isn't our goal to find Brother? How did he get found so easily now?"
"That's not all, where's our emergency food?!"
Some players tried to control their characters to leave Mondstadt, but no matter which direction they ran, they were blocked by an invisible barrier, with the prompt "The area ahead is not yet open" popping up on the screen.
Even weirder, when someone tried to speak with the NPCs on the street, they would only repeat fixed lines like "Welcome back" and "The birthday party will be wonderful."
Their voices held no emotion at all, sounding like text read by an AI, completely devoid of any sense of interaction.
"It's over. We're just watching Lydia fall into a trap with our own eyes, yet we can't do a thing!" A player posted in despair in the community, attaching screenshots of their repeated failed attempts to leave Mondstadt. "The quest is forcing us to help her prepare for the birthday party. This is basically forcing us to push her into the Abyss!"
The replies below flooded the screen instantly, filled with helplessness and rage:
"I just prepared a dandelion headpiece for Lydia, and she smiled so happily. But the more I look at it, the more it hurts. That Lydia, as hollow as a puppet... this isn't the real her at all!"
"Is it possible that Lumine has a problem too? The voice calling 'Traveler' earlier was Paimon, right? Is she also being affected by the illusion?"
"Stop with the angst! I'm really afraid that tomorrow's birthday party will be the moment Lydia disappears completely!"
"Lumine, wake up! Your Brother is wrong, everything around you is wrong!"
"Is there any way to wake Lydia up? To make her remember Yunqin, to remember the Abyss's conspiracy!"
But no matter how anxious the players were, no matter how much they discussed, the game's plot continued to advance as scheduled.
On the screen, the sky gradually brightened, and cheerful music played on the streets of Mondstadt. Amber and Noelle were already pushing a beautifully decorated cake cart toward the Angel's Share.
Lydia slowly opened her eyes, the confusion at the bottom of them fading away, leaving only the anticipation for the birthday party.
She put on that pale green gown, smoothed the hem of the dress in front of the mirror, and turned to walk toward the tavern.
The young girl's steps were light, yet she was like a marionette, taking one step at a time toward the ending that the players feared most.
The players could guess what would happen next, but they could only be forced to act as bystanders, watching this meticulously planned "birthday party" slowly draw its curtain open...