The evening wind rustled the leaves on the trees lining both sides of the road.
The red light at the intersection lit up. Su Yu squeezed the brake, and the little e-scooter came to a steady stop before the crosswalk.
He propped one foot against the ground and glanced at the rearview mirror.
Half an hour ago, the two of them had just left the Arc City Tower.
This whole day had felt exactly like walking a tightrope.
With a Herrscher of the Void at his side—one who had just finished a "Physiology and Hygiene Enlightenment Course" and whose head was crammed full of bizarre logic.
Su Yu felt his lifespan was definitely shrinking at a rate visible to the naked eye.
The PR team at miHoYo Studio had been working around the clock for three days straight. The teaser PV for Honkai Impact 3rd would go live across the entire web at ten o'clock sharp tomorrow morning.
Nuwa had dark circles ringing her eyes, and Bronie had powered through the final round of server stress testing on the strength of three cans of Red Bull.
Only he—the "slacker boss"—had headed home early, carrying the hope of the entire village, along with the biggest headache of the entire village.
Su Yu's mind was completely filled with concurrency numbers, conversion rates, and server circuit-breaker contingency plans.
Unexpectedly, Sirin had been remarkably quiet today.
She had stayed obediently by Su Yu's side, neither throwing a tantrum back at the studio nor making another attempt to yank down his pants for some bizarre submission ritual.
"I would never stoop to breaking a contract."
When Su Yu had cast a wary sidelong glance at her in the elevator, Sirin had merely lifted her chin coldly, arms folded across her chest, leaving him only a haughty profile.
"I'm not like you treacherous, faithless humans."
That had lasted right up until they passed that street corner just now.
Sirin had suddenly stretched out a finger, jabbed Su Yu twice in the small of his back, and pointed at the sign glowing with pink neon light.
"I want to drink that."
Her tone was rigid, as though issuing some kind of irrefutable royal decree.
Su Yu stopped the little e-scooter and glanced at that milk tea shop he often went to with Kiana. Yesterday, thinking "Kiana" was in a bad mood, he had specially bought full-sugar milk tea to reward "Kiana."
Who would have thought the one drinking the milk tea would turn out to be Sirin.
"That's a milk tea shop." Su Yu sighed and, as if resigning himself to fate, flicked on the turn signal. "Didn't you say human food was all garbage?"
"Even garbage comes in categories." Sirin tightened her grip around Su Yu's waist with utter conviction. This kind of physical contact, born of inertia, gave her a subtle sense of solid reassurance. "When I tell you to go, you go. Why all the nonsense? This is the duty you owe as my subordinate."
"Yes, yes, yes."
The two of them were soon standing at the very end of the line.
There were a lot of young people queuing, the boisterous noise mingling with all sorts of sweet, cloying aromas.
Sirin furrowed her brow slightly. She was very unaccustomed to this crowding and clamor, yet her gaze stayed fixed, dead-set, on those colorful plastic cups on the counter.
In her expectation, the next part of the process should be the same as yesterday.
Su Yu would walk up to the counter and order, with practiced ease, two extra-strong milk teas with double pearls and coconut jelly—that was that Paramecium's favorite flavor.
And then she herself could only use this body to taste a sweetness that belonged to someone else.
At the thought of this, a flicker of barely perceptible gloom flashed through Sirin's eyes.
She hated this feeling.
It was like wearing a garment that didn't belong to her—no matter how gorgeous it was, it made her whole body feel wretched.
At last it was their turn.
Su Yu walked up to the ordering kiosk, and just as he was about to open his mouth out of habit, he suddenly halted.
He turned his head and looked at Sirin, who stood at his side with a stiff face.
"What do you want to drink?"
The voices around them were a clamor, yet Su Yu's voice reached Sirin's ears with perfect clarity.
Sirin froze in place.
Those heterochromatic eyes of hers, so full of oppressive force, widened slightly as she stared in disbelief at the man before her.
Her fingers unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes, her nails digging deep into her palms.
He... was asking me?
Rather than simply deciding on his own?
"Why?" She bit her lower lip, a tension in her voice that even she herself hadn't noticed.
In this body, in this world, no one had ever placed the power of choice into her hands.
She had always been the one who was replaced, suppressed, ignored.
Su Yu looked at her, braced as though facing a formidable enemy, and found it rather baffling.
"It's not like I know your preferences." Su Yu sighed, his tone carrying an obvious weariness and helplessness. "If I buy a flavor you hate, and then you throw a fit and refuse to cooperate nicely with the work, then I'll really have a headache on my hands. Tomorrow's going to be a hard battle."
So that was it.
Because he was afraid of the trouble.
Because he needed something from her.
This reason, so blunt and stripped of any pretense, actually loosened Sirin's taut nerves a little.
So he wasn't dispensing charity—he was acting out of consideration for the contract.
But after the relief came an unprecedented bewilderment.
She lifted her head and looked at the densely packed menu the clerk handed over.
Black tea, green tea, oolong tea, fruit tea, cheese foam, boba, taro balls... all sorts of fancy names flickered before her eyes.
In the cold incubation chamber of the Babylon Laboratory, there had only been tasteless nutrient fluid.
In the barren wastes of the Imaginary Space, there had only been cold wind.
"I..."
Sirin's voice caught in her throat.
She stared dead-set at that menu, and her eyes, surprisingly, began to sting a little.
"I've never drunk any of them." Her voice dropped lower, as though squeezed out through clenched teeth, carrying a stubbornness she was unwilling to admit. "I don't know what I like."
The instant those words left her mouth, Sirin felt her dignity being viciously trampled underfoot.
A dignified Herrscher of the Void, and she couldn't even order a single drink.
She could practically picture the mocking sneer on this man's face.
And yet, the anticipated mockery never came.
"Is that so..."
Su Yu stroked his chin thoughtfully. He didn't rush her, nor did he show any expression of pity—he simply turned his gaze back to that large menu board.
"That's fair. If you've never drunk them, of course you wouldn't know what's good." Su Yu nodded. "In that case, there's no need to fixate on picking just one cup."
He turned to face the clerk behind the counter.
"Hello—of the top eight on this signature recommendations list of yours, give me one of each. Right, light ice, full sugar."
Sirin abruptly turned her head, eyes wide as she stared at him.
"Huh?"
"Whichever ones catch your interest, just buy them all and give them a taste." Su Yu paid and took the thick stack of receipts, spinning it in his hand. "There's bound to be one cup you like. Stick the rest in the fridge and drink them slowly."
The night wind blew across the street, sweeping up a few withered fallen leaves.
Sirin stood beneath the streetlight, watching the man carry two enormous plastic bags filled with colorful cups of milk tea, walk over to the little e-scooter, and swing himself onto it.
Her throat tightened a little.
That originally hollow, cold spot in her chest suddenly felt as though a wad of warm cotton had been stuffed into it, swelling with an ache that left her at a loss.
Yesterday she had likewise stood at the entrance of this very shop.
Yet she had felt herself to be a laughable thief, hiding in Kiana's shadow, stealing a concern that didn't belong to her.
But this time.
This time, he hadn't bought those sickeningly sweet pearl milk teas. Those eight drinks of differing flavors weren't bought for that Paramecium.
They were bought for her.
For Sirin.
"What are you standing there blanking out for? Get on."
Su Yu turned his head and patted the rear seat.
Sirin pursed her lips and walked over without a word.
The light turned green, and the little e-scooter set off again.
One of Sirin's hands gripped the clothing at Su Yu's side, while the other held the strawberry milkshake that Su Yu had handed to her—telling her to try it first.
The ice cubes clinked against the bottom of the cup, giving off a crisp sound.
The wind blew toward them from the front, ruffling her white hair into slight disarray.
From a private car driving past beside them, a girl in the passenger seat leaned her head out and gave them a glance, a hint of envy in her eyes.
In the eyes of any passerby, this was a perfectly ordinary scene.
A young man worn out from a long day's work, carrying his gluttonous little sister or girlfriend, riding home against the evening wind through this city brimming with the warmth of everyday life.
Sirin's cheeks puffed out slightly.
Those golden eyes, always brimming with savagery and malice, now reflected the streetlights flashing past, and her gaze softened of its own accord.
Even though in this world she had no Herrscher Authority and no Benares, at least she had a passably decent "servant."
Not half bad.
And up in the driver's seat ahead.
On Su Yu's retina hung a semi-transparent red frame that only he could see.
[Ding! Side quest "Tame the Queen" progress updated: 45%!]
Su Yu looked at the Herrscher of the Void in the rearview mirror, who was intently savoring the taste of her milk tea, and let out a barely audible sigh.
One sip of milk tea and the progress went up?
That whole elaborate "submission ritual" she'd staged earlier hadn't budged it at all, and now just paying the bill settled it? This Herrscher's moods really were like June weather—changing at a moment's notice.
If things kept going on like this, then when the day came for Kiana to reclaim her body, would there be no more need to endure that fight-to-the-death struggle deep in his consciousness?
If a few cups of milk tea, a few hot pot meals, or even some absurd compromises could be exchanged for her and Kiana's peaceful coexistence—
then that wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.
Back at the apartment.
After taking off his jacket, Su Yu didn't dive straight in front of the computer to keep fixing bugs as usual. Instead, he pulled over a chair and sat down beside the coffee table.
He dug a brand-new hardcover notebook out of the drawer, took out a pen as well, and set them on the tabletop.
"Come here, sit down."
Su Yu rapped on the tabletop, speaking to Sirin, who was changing her shoes at the entryway.
Chongchong had run off to who-knows-where again.
It seemed that from the moment Sirin took control of this body, Chongchong had started hiding and dodging about, and even had to hide in his own room to sleep at night.
Those heterochromatic eyes regarded Sirin full of wariness, and if Sirin came any closer, it would instantly switch into combat mode, its spine arched high like a Spinosaurus.
It was plain to see that Sirin was very much unwelcome.
The entryway.
Sirin shot him a suspicious look but didn't refuse.
She set those few unfinished cups of milk tea on the coffee table, pulled out the other chair, and sat down ramrod straight.
Both arms folded across her chest, she struck a defensive posture, ready to fight at any moment.
"What sort of scheme are you cooking up now?" she asked coldly.
Su Yu paid no heed to her guardedness.
He flipped open the first page of the notebook and pulled off the pen cap.
"I thought it over carefully on the way back today." Su Yu lowered his head, the pen tip gliding across the paper with a faint scratching sound. "Since we're going to be living under this same roof for quite a long while going forward, and you also have to cooperate with me on all the upcoming motion capture work."
He raised his head and looked into Sirin's golden eyes.
"In order to avoid any more... awkward misunderstandings like last night, I hope we can keep to our own lanes and coexist peacefully."
"So." Su Yu tapped on the blank page of the notebook. "For the sake of that premise, I need to understand your preferences. Not Kiana's—but yours, Sirin's. From your taste in clothes to your taste in food, anything works."
He pushed the notebook over in front of Sirin.
"Today, let's start with these eight cups of milk tea."
Sirin was stunned.
She looked at that snow-white page, and at the man sitting across from her with such a composed expression.
Those hands, so used to holding a keyboard and mouse, were at this moment gripping an utterly ordinary black gel pen, preparing to record information that was, in this world, utterly inconsequential—information belonging to a monster.
In that very instant, a corner of her defensive line crumbled away soundlessly.
She lowered her head, her gaze falling on those several plastic cups lined up in a row.
Those vivid, multicolored liquids, under the living room lights, gave off an enticing luster.
Her own "submission ritual" had been an utter, godawful failure.
So why was he still treating her so earnestly?
Wasn't he afraid that once she recovered her power, she really would kill him?
This was beyond Sirin's comprehension. In her view, Su Yu had no need whatsoever to understand anything having to do with her.
After all, they were nothing more than a relationship of mutual exploitation, and after some time passed, once that Paramecium returned, she would once again go back to that lonely consciousness space.
These questions tangled into a snarled mess in Sirin's mind.
But her hand had already, of its own accord, reached toward that half-drunk strawberry milkshake on the tabletop.
"This one."
Her voice was very soft, almost inaudible.
"Hm? What?" Su Yu hadn't heard clearly.
"I said, this one! The red one!" Sirin abruptly raised her volume, a suspicious blush rising on her cheeks.
She swiftly dragged the strawberry milkshake in front of herself and guarded it fiercely.
"This one's ranked first! The rest... I'll tell you the rest after I've finished drinking them, you hear me?!"
Watching her guard her food as though terrified someone might snatch it away, Su Yu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
He lowered his head and wrote out a neat, tidy line in the notebook.
[Sirin: First-ranked preference: strawberry milkshake (light ice, full sugar). Extremely food-protective, hissing level: high.]
The pen tip rubbed across the paper.
On this quiet summer night, inside this rented room piled high with all manner of odds and ends.
This line of words became the first tiny yet solid Anchor connecting two utterly different worlds.
[Side quest detected: Tame the Queen progress increased!]
[Now dispensing a special support reward from your foster father: handmade plush Benares doll]
Bella Doll (Special Edition):
[The girl still remembers her first encounter with her—it was one of the few rays of light for the girl in that lightless, sunless laboratory.]
[Yet even that light was devoured by the darkness. Later, the girl came to possess power like that of a god; she could turn the entire world into her own playground.]
[But she could never again find that warmth from back then.]
[Later, she bestowed her friend's name upon her most faithful servant. On the cold moon, upon the lonely throne, the great dragon kisses the girl's instep, offering up its own life and lofty reverence to her.]
[She swore an oath: in this life there is but one master, this body serves only the Queen in loyalty, until the very end of life.]
[Effect description: SAN value recovery speed increased by 50%, sense of security UP, and one gains the protection of the great dragon, dream stability UP, savage vengeance factor greatly decreased.]
[Note: Giving gifts is a craft that truly tests one's skill—a gift presented at the right moment can produce a superb effect. Present the doll at the right moment! After all, plush toys can always abduct the heart of a little girl~ The Host is going down the road of high-voltage electrocution, never to return~]
This note, plainly laced with schadenfreude, made the corner of Su Yu's mouth twitch for a good long while. Looking at the plush doll that had appeared in the storage slot of the system space, he then glanced at Sirin before him, who was squinting her eyes as she drank her milk tea.
"Human, what are you zoning out for? This matcha milkshake is too bitter."
"But that one's full sugar."
"Full sugar is bitter too!"
Su Yu nodded and silently recorded in the notebook—"Sirin: incurable heavy-sweets lover. Recommendation: control sweets intake, or her weight won't be safe."
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