They had been away for less than half a year.
Yet their little village town had almost completely changed.
The ordinary country road was now twice as wide as before.
The greenery along the sides had also been maintained quite well.
Fortunately, the town was not very large, so the rapid renovation of the roads was understandable.
Phainon still remembered that when they were still at the Okhema Theater, the town had gone through several petitions, hoping that the local government would allocate funds to repair this road.
However, those petitions had been rejected several times on the grounds that there was no money.
Yet for some reason, they now had the spare funds to fulfill the wishes of the townspeople.
Phainon and the others wrapped themselves up tightly and strolled along this newly renovated road.
The buildings along the roadside were still the same. The familiar buildings and streets from his memories appeared clearly in Phainon's mind.
But there were still changes.
In the past, the town was very small. There were convenience stores, hotels, and various restaurants, but there was basically no variety.
Now, however, he could see that many places had opened new service businesses.
Perhaps... It was because of the tourists.
That's right. There were actually tourists here and quite a lot of them.
After arriving, they saw tourist buses driving into the town one after another.
The tourists' destination was also very clear. After getting off the buses, they headed straight for the Okhema Theater.
They took pictures, checked in, and then excitedly chattered away there.
Teams made up of local residents were maintaining order outside the Okhema Theater.
Phainon and the others even spotted several familiar faces among the crowd.
Back when Okhema was under investigation by the Art Committee, several young people had tried to post Okhema's plight on social media, hoping to attract public attention. But at that time, Okhema was still an unknown entity.
Phainon stood by the roadside, looking at the bustling crowd at the entrance of the theater, he felt somewhat dazed. He tried hard to recall the details of what had happened back then.
For some reason, he remembered those memories extremely clearly, down to the smallest details.
Perhaps it was because that period had been too dark? But regardless, they had made it through.
Now, they, along with the Okhema Theater, had become famous throughout the world.
Although after joining MiHoYo, they had devoted themselves entirely to filming the series and barely had any time to return home, this level of influence alone had actually been enough to change the appearance of this small town, which had remained unchanged for decades.
"What a miraculous force." Phainon thought to himself.
"But Ratio's assignment... how am I supposed to answer it in the future?"
Therefore, Phainon decided to move a little closer to the crowd.
He hoped to see more. He also pretended to be a tourist and followed the flow of people toward the entrance of the theater.
As soon as he arrived, a man with a child caught his attention.
"This is the Okhema Theater."
"Even looking at it in photographs, you can't really experience the shock of seeing it in person."
The man looked at the Okhema Theater with emotion. He took out his camera and took several more pictures in succession.
Phainon found this statement inexplicable. He carefully looked over the Okhema Theater where he had spent so much time.
No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't understand what was so shocking about this place. It was merely a theater, no different from the countless theaters scattered throughout Greece.
"Dad, did all those great heroes come out of this theater?"
The child's point of attention was completely different from his father's.
He was wearing what was probably a pirated T-shirt featuring the elements of Amphoreus, and he was excitedly staring at the entrance of the theater.
Pictures of the people from Okhema were in there.
He really couldn't deny it. In such a bustling environment, with Phainon and the others' photographs displayed at the entrance of the Okhema Theater, the feeling was actually that they were some truly remarkable figures.
After all, with such a grand setup, Phainon really did feel as though he had become some kind of celebrity.
"Great heroes?" Hearing his son's words, the man chuckled.
"Why do you think they're great heroes?"
"Because... because... they drove away the evil Titans of Amphoreus?"
When his father asked him that, the young boy suddenly didn't know how to answer. He struggled to recall the plot and replied haltingly, "Amphoreus was going to be destroyed, but they saved it... Not yet, but they will definitely save Amphoreus."
"Good answer."
The man smiled and rubbed his son's head. Then, from another perspective, he said,
"Dad also thinks they're great heroes. But how about I tell you a story about them that's different from Amphoreus, but is also a story in which they were the protagonists?"
"Okay!" The child's eyes immediately lit up, and he nodded vigorously.
"A long time ago, back in your great-great-grandfather's time, or even earlier..."
"The theater already existed. Inside it was a group of people who performed stories from ancient Greece."
"These stories continuously brought us enlightenment and wisdom."
"Later, fewer and fewer people watched these stories, because everyone felt that they were too old."
The man spoke slowly.
"Was it Amphoreus?" The child asked.
"Something like that." The man smiled and replied, "Those stories that were no longer popular contained the wisdom, blood, and tears of thousands of years."
"There were some people who didn't think these stories were old at all, so they began thinking about how to bring them back before everyone's eyes."
"Your favorite "great heroes" did exactly that."
"And then there was Amphoreus."
"They believed that these stories shouldn't die. Just like that little flower you take care of, if nobody waters it, it will wither. And they were the ones who watered it."
The man had actually gotten it exactly right. That was indeed the simple wish they had held back then.
Phainon thought to himself.
He stopped beside the father and son, pretending to look around the theater.
In reality, he was secretly listening to them.
"Later, there was a group of very bad people, even worse than Caenis!"
"They wanted to seize the fruits that this group of people had carefully cultivated. When they couldn't get their hands on them, they even wanted to shut down this theater and drive these people away, so that they would never be able to care for that flower again."
"Do you know what that would mean?"
The man looked at his son.
"No, I don't know." Being stared at by his father, the child became somewhat nervous.
Although he understood the a bit, he had no idea what would happen afterward.
Worse than Caenis? Just how bad would that be?
Then, he heard his father say: "You wouldn't get to see Amphoreus."
The expression on the child's face instantly froze, and then he became confused.
How awful!
He understood immediately.
Amphoreus was his favorite series, more precious to him than even his toys. There was once a group of people who were willing to dedicate themselves to creating the most beloved stories.
"Then, what happened afterward?" the child asked nervously.
"Later, they went to a very, very distant place. On a bigger stage, they continued telling these stories."
"But this time, the whole world could hear them." the father replied.
"That's great!" The child let out a heartfelt sigh of relief.
"Not only could the whole world hear them, but this time, they also gave these stories an even stronger vitality."
"Those old stories are like your grandfather, but Amphoreus is different. It is the rising sun, a newborn baby, it is you. Its future is full of light."
"Just looking at it makes us old folks feel like we've become young again."
These words were somewhat too profound for a child.
Although the boy tried hard to understand, he still couldn't figure out why Amphoreus had suddenly become a baby again.
But this series was obviously incredibly powerful. The child's emotions came quickly and inexplicably.
Just moments ago he had been happy, but now he suddenly became somewhat dissatisfied.
His father, however, had no idea what his son was thinking and instead said:
"Son, not everyone who can fly or has superpowers is necessarily a hero."
"Some people simply walk through the darkest roads, lighting the way for others, even when they themselves can see death ahead."
"They are heroes too."
The son nodded gloomily. But his thoughts had already begun to drift.
His father had compared him to Amphoreus, making him a symbol of it. This made the boy feel somewhat misplaced, but it also inexplicably gave him a few more feelings of pride and glory.
If he represented Amphoreus, then he had to grow up quickly and become a powerful young man.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
These hands were still very immature.
But one day. One day.
One day he would...
He himself didn't yet know what he would do.
However, there was already a ball of flame inexplicably burning within his heart.
And the child did not notice that, not far away, a strange young man wearing a mask and dressed in yellow and purple was watching him.
Phainon looked at the child and was stunned for a long while.
He could not understand what was in the child's heart. But looking at the changes in the other party's eyes, Phainon inexplicably felt what the child was feeling.
Because he had experienced it himself.
When he had been silently lying in wait in Okhema, his heart had also whispered to itself more than once:
One day.
The feeling was far too strange.
Phainon quietly savored it in his heart.
He should have been the one being watched.
But at this moment, he had become the observer. This child in reality looked completely different from Phainon when he was young.
And yet, inexplicably, he seemed even more like the Phainon of the past. The boundary between illusion and reality was broken at this moment.
"So faith can actually be passed down like this." Phainon muttered inwardly.
He almost couldn't resist the impulse to take off his mask, rush over, and say something to that child.
But there is an old Chinese saying:
When you lack the education to express yourself, one "f**k" can make you famous through the whole world.
At this moment, Phainon had countless feelings surging inside him, but they were all stuffed together, leaving him unable to describe this emotion for a while.
In the end, he abandoned the idea.
Phainon quietly watched as the father continued chatting with his son.
Only now did he understand why this man had been so shaken while watching Okhema.
"Whenever I think that a story like Amphoreus was born inside this tiny theater..."
"I can't help but imagine what kind of feelings and state of mind those people had at the time, as they squeezed into this theater to create it."
The man spoke absentmindedly, unable to suppress the thoughts in his heart.
It was such a simple reason.Phainon couldn't help but laugh silently.
....
Evening.
Whether it was Phainon, Mydei, Hyacine, or Castorice, all of them had gained a great deal.
Today's journey had obviously given them the same kind of experience Phainon had received.
But regarding the answer to the assignment about the future, the four of them still had not managed to write anything.
However, when they told Ratio about everything they had seen and experienced along the way, he did not scold the four young people for failing to submit their assignments.
"You are still very young, yet you have already become famous throughout the world."
"Even in your homeland, you have become a kind of spiritual pillar and symbol. You yourselves have yet to truly taste the weight of this word."
"But it doesn't matter. You still have a long time ahead of you, enough time to see more of the world."
"It will make you fearful, and it will drive you to grow."
"I do not think you are geniuses, but neither do I think you are mediocre talents. Regardless of what kind of material you are made of, you must shoulder responsibilities far beyond what people your age should have to bear."
"That is to open up a path, allowing the common people to walk freely."
"The assignment about the future will remain permanently valid. I hope that before long, I will be able to see your answers."
These were Ratio's words to the four of them.
He actually wanted to say more. For example, about the ignorance and blind obedience of the common people.
This meant that being regarded by them as a beacon was not necessarily a good thing. After all, this light could be treated as hope by them, but they could also mistake it for hatred.
But this lesson could be left for another day.
For the next period of time, the entertainment industry was extremely peaceful.
MiHoYo continued advancing its plans step by step. One after another, they released several follow-up videos.
Among them was a short video about Hyacine.
Once it was released, it once again made the audience experience the pain of another finishing blow.
That little sun had truly become the sun this time. The only comfort the third episode had given the audience might have been Hyacine's fate.
But now, after the third episode had ended, MiHoYo was only telling them that, Hyacine had actually... already become a flat little sun!
The sentiment on the internet could no longer describe how the audience felt at this moment.
And after Hyacine's short video was released, another rather unusual achievement was unlocked.
That was, ever since Amphoreus first appeared, every major character, with the sole exception of Phainon, were now dead!