When Raiden Mei woke up, she found herself already back in the resting room of the Elysian Realm.
After sitting up from the sofa, that familiar dizziness made her instinctively raise her hand to support her forehead.
"You're awake."
That familiar voice came from the corner of the room.
Raiden turned her head and saw Van sitting on a chair not far from her.
Seeing that familiar figure, Raiden Mei's slightly tense shoulders relaxed a little, and at the same time, she realized that what had just happened was not a dream.
Raiden Mei suddenly felt many words welling up in her heart that she wanted to say to him, but she didn't know where to begin.
But when the words reached her lips, they turned into something simple, "Thank you, for saving me."
However, the other party just let out a cold snort.
"Kalpas wasn't wrong about one thing, the Herrschers of the current civilization really have started playing house."
"If your strength had been a little greater, or if you'd been just a bit quicker when trying to end your life, maybe what I'd be saving would've been just a corpse."
Those words stabbed like thorns, but Raiden Mei noticed the tension hidden in Van's tone.
After all, ever since she had stepped into the Elysian Realm, he had never shown himself.
But as she explored, Raiden Mei gradually realized that traces of him were everywhere here.
Thinking of that, Raiden Mei smiled, her face faintly flushed as she said, "I'll be more careful next time…"
Van, '???'
Looking at Raiden Mei's reaction, he was momentarily speechless.
'Careful about what?'
'Careful to move quicker next time?'
'Also, my dear Miss Mei, why are you blushing like a boiling teapot?'
'I don't recall saying anything that could be misunderstood, right?'
With Raiden Mei's words, the atmosphere that Van had just managed to build completely collapsed.
To prevent the mood from drifting somewhere strange, Van abruptly stood up from the chair, forcibly changing the subject.
"Since you've already gathered all the Imprints of the Flame-Chasers, that also means you now have the qualifications to formally step into the Deepest Depths. But… before you go there and face Aponia directly, I will answer some of your questions…"
Noticing the spark of excitement in Raiden Mei's eyes, Van added, "Only questions related to the Elysian Realm."
At that, the light in the girl's eyes visibly dimmed, and disappointment was written all over her face.
Facing that slightly resentful gaze, Van could only pretend not to see it.
Raiden Mei took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and looked straight into Van's eyes.
"You just said I've gathered all the Flame-Chasers' Imprints. But I don't remember ever getting an Imprint from you, so when exactly did you plant an Imprint on me?"
"Raiden Mei, it seems you've misunderstood something…" Van said flatly, "When did I ever say that I was one of the Flame-Chasers?"
"What?" Raiden Mei's pupils shrank. "Impossible… Elysia clearly told me…"
Halfway through her words, she suddenly froze.
Elysia had indeed said something like "there are fourteen people in the Thirteen Flame-Chasers," but she had never explicitly said that Van was the fourteenth.
And Raiden Mei had always thought it odd, this was supposed to be an official organization of the previous civilization, so why would they play word games with their titles?
"So… Elysia lied to me?" Raiden Mei's voice carried disbelief.
Van shook his head. "No… in the Elysian Realm, you can always trust Elysia."
Hearing Van's firm tone, an inexplicable sourness welled up in Raiden Mei's heart.
She bit her lip and pressed on, "Then what is the truth?"
"Is this really that important to you?" Van countered. "I thought you'd be asking first about the essence of the Elysian Realm, or about the Deepest Depths."
"It is important." Raiden Mei said, resolute.
Seeing the determination in Raiden Mei's eyes, Van sighed inwardly, silently worrying for his real self in the outside world.
After a pause, as if organizing his words, he said, "My identity in the previous civilization… you could think of me as a researcher. I was in the same lab as Mobius…"
Seeing Raiden Mei's expression that clearly read "are you kidding me," Van added quickly, "Don't look at me with that strange expression. I'm telling the truth. Later… for some reasons, I had no choice but to step onto the frontlines against Honkai."
"Of course, compared to someone like Kevin, a great hero with legendary achievements, my record isn't even worth mentioning…"
"As for the Flame-Chasers, Elysia once hoped I'd join them, but I refused. I not only refused to join but also rejected her idea of renaming the group."
Hearing that, Raiden Mei keenly picked up on the complicated emotion in Van's tone.
"I can feel how much you care for the Flame-Chasers, so why would you…"
What answered her was Van's low, steady voice.
"Because those thirteen… should be remembered as perfect heroes. I won't allow their name to be changed or tainted in any way."
"But in my eyes, you are also a hero, the one who saved me from the darkness."
Raiden Mei's heart warmed, and she wanted to say those words aloud.
But remembering that the Van before her was only a memory body, one that didn't recall anything from reality, she swallowed the words back down.
Sensing the heaviness in Van's tone, Raiden Mei quickly changed the subject.
"Then… what kind of existence are you in the Elysian Realm now?"
"A good question." Van touched the tip of his nose. "Have you met Klein? She says she's the administrator of the Realm. My role is similar to hers."
"You're an administrator too?"
In Raiden Mei's mind, an image of the overworked, exhausted Klein instantly appeared, and she couldn't help but picture Van in a lab coat, pulling all-nighters.
"You could say that." Van nodded. "But the work isn't the same. Klein handles daily maintenance, while I… mainly manage the coding and system architecture of the Realm."
———
[Got it! Klein = Programmer, Van = CTO]
[So all of Klein's overtime is arranged by Van? Brutal!]
[Mobius and Van, the research couple, exploiting their employees, confirmed.]
[Stop making random ships! Elysia is obviously the main wife!]
[Mei: Hello? Did you all forget who's actually talking to Van right now?]
[Kiana: Hey hey hey~ does anyone still remember me?]
———
[Back to the Video]
After getting some of her questions answered by Van, Raiden Mei asked her final question.
"So, what exactly is hidden in the Deepest Depths?"
The room suddenly went quiet.
After a long silence, Van's voice finally sounded, carrying a kind of desolation that Raiden Mei had never heard before.
"I promised her… this is the one question I can't answer you."
With that, he stood up, turning his back to her.
"If you really want to know the answer, then go see it for yourself…"
"And I… will be waiting for you there…"
The light of the hall cast his shadow long across the floor.
In that moment, Raiden Mei suddenly felt an illusion, that the person standing before her wasn't just a memory, but a gatekeeper burdened with countless secrets.
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