Honkai Impact 3rd: I picked up a Seele at the start of the game.

……

As night fell, the sky above Changkong City was illuminated by dazzling fireworks. The streets were teeming with people, and Yun Fuyu and Xier strolled hand in hand through the crowd.

Seele changed into a loose and soft bathrobe. The pattern and color were very similar to her previous cheongsam, but the different style still brought a different visual experience.

She took Yun Fuyu's hand, her face beaming with a joyful smile. Looking at her, Yun Fuyu felt a surge of warmth in her heart, as if the whole world had become a better place.

"There were a lot of people today, and the fireworks were beautiful."

Seele whispered her thoughts, then looked at Yun Fuyu expectantly, as if wanting to hear him say, "Seele is beautiful too."

Yun Fuyu nodded, about to respond, when he suddenly felt a chill. His gaze was drawn to the fireworks in the sky; they were supposed to be colorful, but something seemed off.

He stopped in his tracks and stared at the sky. Only when the cold liquid dripped onto his cheek and the stench filled his nostrils did he understand what those "fireworks" were.

is blood.

Just then, it seemed that the fireworks display had officially begun. Countless fireworks soared into the sky all over the city, blooming in uniform bright red, and then turning into blood and filth that poured down.

Yun Fuyu suddenly looked down at Xi'er beside him, only to find that she had already disappeared, leaving only the bathrobe hanging empty on his arm, as if... there was no such person at all, and it was all just his imagination.

The surrounding noise abruptly ceased, replaced by an eerie silence. He looked around; the crowd from moments before seemed like an illusion, as if it had never existed at all.

Or perhaps they have all turned into fireworks in the sky, blooming all at once.

"What...what happened?"

Even he was filled with fear at this moment, his face pale as he murmured to himself.

The blood rain continued to fall, quickly covering the world with a sticky, bloody makeup. Everywhere you looked was a pale, identical blood-soaked landscape, almost disorienting.

Yun Fuyu hugged his bathrobe tightly and walked forward step by step. The blood on the ground seemed to have a mind of its own, clinging tightly to his shoes and feet, slowing his steps and even trying to pull him back.

The blood accumulating on the ground grew thicker, forming a shallow pool, increasing the resistance to his progress. Just then, as if breaking through some critical point, a blood-red arm suddenly emerged from the pool and gripped his ankle tightly!

Then, a second arm, a third, a fourth, a fifth...

When all that remained at the end of his sight was the pool of blood and the bloody hands, crimson eyes sprouted from the palms of all the bloody hands, which aimed in his direction and pounced on him one after another!

------

Yun Fuyu suddenly opened her eyes, her vision blurred by mist, unable to see anything clearly, only knowing that her body was immersed in a warm pool. Meanwhile, Xi'er's voice came from another pool behind a screen not far away—

"Ah Yun, are you asleep?"

"...Seele?"

Then Seele's voice came through, filled with malicious speculation: "Were you spying on us? Why did you suddenly stop talking?"

"...No, I think I fell asleep."

Seele: "Okay. Seele and I have finished washing and are ready to leave. Do you want to rest a little longer?"

Yun: "No need. Let's go."

Memories began to return to my chaotic mind, moments before—

[The day after picking cherry blossoms and making cherry blossom cakes, in the evening.]

On the hotel bed, Xi'er held up her phone and waved it at Yun Fuyu: "There's a fireworks show tonight, shall we prepare in advance?"

This was a travel guide she had researched before coming to Changkong City.

Yun Fuyu asked, somewhat puzzled, "Prepare what?"

Seele smiled meaningfully and softly uttered two words.

Bathrobe.

Yun Fuyu: ...Very good! As expected of Far Eastern culture! I have to say, I really like this!

Afterwards, they went to the hotel's hot spring area and booked two adjacent baths, separated by a screen. Since Seele was bathing with the withered Seele, she wasn't worried about Yun Fuyu peeking—someone would help punish him!

Therefore, when Yun Fuyu was asleep, Xi'er called him the first time but did not respond, and only responded the second time. This led Xi'er to maliciously speculate that he was peeping at her.

After a while.

Night falls.

The sky over Changkong City darkened. There was still some time before the fireworks display officially began, but sporadic fireworks had already briefly lit up the night sky.

When Seele stood in front of Yun Fuyu again, she had changed into a loose and soft bathrobe. The pattern and color were very similar to her previous cheongsam, but the different style still brought a different visual experience.

She single-handedly filled Yun Fuyu's field of vision, enjoying his gaze to the fullest, before finally pulling out the withered Xier to double his attention...

The clothes worn by Seele in her death are never physical; rather, they are inverted versions of Seele's clothes, materialized and condensed through Honkai energy to form garments that she wears. It wouldn't be wrong to say that they wear the same clothes.

"Shall we go?"

They took Yun Fuyu's hand. Xi'er's face was full of joy, while the withered Xi'er puffed out her cheeks and turned her head to the side, as if to say, "I won't let you see!" or "I only took your hand because Xi'er forced me!"

Being surrounded by two adorable little ones while walking down the street should have been an exceptionally fulfilling scene. However, Yun Fuyu remained unresponsive, showing none of the amazement or joy that Xier had imagined.

Xier couldn't help but ask, "Ah Yun, is something on your mind?"

He hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding: "I think I had a terrible nightmare."

Seele understood and said to him earnestly, "Can you tell me about what happened in your dream? Even though it was a nightmare, Seele still hopes to share it with you."

Yun Fuyu hesitated for a moment, unsure of what she was worried about. Then she sighed and said, "Okay."

He recounted what happened yesterday when he and Seele went cherry blossom picking—the gloomy sky, the twisted trees, the pink hair hanging from the trees, the sudden appearance of Alicia, Seele disappearing without leaving behind only her dress, the dress transforming into a gaping maw of abyss, and the final nightmarish, hazy murmur…

And today.

Seele, dressed in a bathrobe, transforms into fireworks of blood rain, her blood-soaked makeup covering the heavens and earth, her blood-stained hands in a pool of blood...

After finishing his monologue, his breathing became rapid with anxiety: "I don't know what happened, I don't know the source or purpose of this nightmare. I guess it might be a hallucination or a dream, but... it's too strange, what does this have to do with me? Given my special nature, how could I possibly fall into a dream?"

Seele patted his chest, seemingly able to sense his confusion and vague fear through his heartbeat. She said gently, "Since you have this feeling, there must be a reason. Don't be afraid, Seele will stay with you until we resolve this."

The girl's soft, warm hands, when placed on my chest, gave me an extremely reassuring feeling.

"If all else fails, we'll stay by your side day and night and see what kind of monsters are causing trouble!" said Seele, who was also standing nearby.

Upon hearing this, Seele couldn't help but pout: "You're trying to embezzle from your own position, aren't you?"

I'll say it again, sese da me!

Seele seemed to have been hit where it hurt, and started arguing (or rather, sophistry) with a super fake, straight face. Yun Fuyu watched them bickering and joking, and her tense mood relaxed a lot.

Just then, it seemed that the fireworks display had officially begun. Countless corpses rose into the air from all over the city, blooming in a uniform crimson color, before turning into a torrent of blood and filth that poured down.

The figures that had been playing around had completely disappeared, as if it had all been an illusion.

……