Everyone stared at Fu Shibao for a moment, then silently looked away at the same time.
They all tacitly agreed—there was no need to say anything. It was best to wait until Fu Shibao figured it out on her own.
Everyone refocused on the game.
The main story progressed.
Kiana realized that she had "lost herself" due to absorbing too many of Fu Hua's memories and decided to take a break.
Before resting, she happened to hear an old story from Lin Zhaoyu—
A story of "seven disciples slaying their master" from five hundred years ago.
Players were stunned.
Fu Hua had actually experienced something like that?!
But just when they were waiting for Lin Zhaoyu to reveal how the story ended, she spoke in riddles instead.
All she said was that the Immortal Chiyuan was undying, and twenty years later, she revived and found each of her disciples one by one…
That was the story of The Chronicles of Shenzhou: Broken Sword.
Unaware that Hokuto would later release The Chronicles of Shenzhou: Broken Sword as a supplemental story, players were frustrated with the sudden cliffhanger from Lin Zhaoyu.
"What? That's it? Why did they kill their master?"
"What happened twenty years later? Did Fu Hua kill them all?"
"I was prepared for miHoYo's scriptwriters to leave a cliffhanger, but I didn't expect the in-game characters to start doing it too. Truly carrying on the tradition."
...
Though frustrated, players could only continue watching the development of the main story.
Later, Kiana collected more Feathers.
In those memories, Hua was always alone—going to school alone, going home alone.
She had no one to talk to, so she often talked to herself.
Just to go into the city and have a bowl of noodles, she was willing to wait five hours.
That was her happiest moment.
She was truly lonely…
Until one day, by chance, she saved a spirited girl from Deadwalkers.
From then on, Hua's school life changed.
She made her first friend.
The girl picked out pretty clothes for her, dressed her up beautifully.
She took Hua out to play, praised her earnestly and cheerfully, helped her gain confidence.
With the girl's help, Hua made new friends. Her campus life became joyful, and simple happiness blossomed in her heart.
Seeing Hua's school life slowly brighten, players smiled.
They were happy that Hua could finally experience happiness.
But the good times didn't last.
The Third Eruption struck.
She had only just made friends…
She had only just begun to feel a sense of belonging and happiness at school…
She had been planning to go home and tell her father that she was doing great at school, had made lots of new friends…
All of it came to an abrupt halt in the face of this new Honkai.
But wait!
The Previous Era persisted until the End itself—this was just the Third Eruption.
If Hua, who was still an ordinary human back then, made it through…
Then maybe… just maybe… it would still be alright?
With a glimmer of hope in their hearts, players continued into the next memory.
It was a cramped chamber—thankfully clean.
Hua sat at the bedside, dazing out the window.
It had been days since the unknown creatures attacked Soukai City.
She'd been placed here and hadn't seen another person since. Meals were delivered by machines.
Sometimes she wondered—had humanity already gone extinct?
Just then, a woman's voice called out.
Her door suddenly opened.
It was the same woman who saved her in Soukai City.
And that woman looked exactly like Himeko!
So when Fu Hua said earlier that a character voiced by Himeko would appear, was she referring to this lookalike from the Previous Era?!
Wait—was miHoYo not pulling the knife on Himeko this time?!
...
As players hesitated in disbelief, the red-haired woman in the game spoke frankly.
She delivered devastating news to Hua—and to everyone watching the stream.
"What I'm about to tell you is all bad news. So bad, you won't believe it. So bad, you'll think this must be a dream… But it's all real. This isn't a dream."
Hua nodded.
"Soukai City is gone… There are very few survivors left… All of East Asia has been affected by the disaster… Almost no one made it…"
Struck by this abrupt tragedy, Hua was stunned.
Her classmates, her friends, her family, her neighbors…
Just not long ago, they had shared such happy times together.
And now, she was completely, utterly alone.
She fell into a daze, as if she had become a rootless duckweed drifting in emptiness, her very existence seemingly about to be erased.
Hua stayed silent for a long time. No one knew how she processed it.
She asked the woman about the truth of the Honkai—and then chose to join her unit, becoming a warrior who fought against the Honkai.
At this point, viewers suddenly recalled—
Wasn't Hua's squad captain this woman who looked like Himeko?
Could it be… that she later became the Herrscher of Flamescion…
And… was annihilated?
After this story, not only did that sliver of hope vanish without a trace, but players came to realize an even more devastating future.
They had just thought miHoYo wouldn't pull a knife on Himeko.
Turns out… this was where the double blades were waiting!
A double stab does hurt more, doesn't it?!
miHoYo!! Be human for once!!
The following storyline depicted how Hua, once a quiet and introverted girl, grew into the reliable and composed class monitor.
Though her growth came with immense pain.
"Shattered Samsara" began to play.
Herrschers kept appearing, prolonging the end of war indefinitely.
Humanity always won bitterly—at great cost, with only marginal gains.
And the Honkai's attacks grew fiercer each time.
Even though they held out through twelve eruptions… and successfully sealed the 12th Herrscher…
The cost of that "victory" was the destruction of humanity's last three megacities.
Maybe everyone already knew long ago—
Every victory was just failure in disguise, sugarcoated to make it seem less tragic.
Humanity had already lost.
Amid suffocating despair, the story of the Previous Era came to an end.
Humanity paid a staggering price… and still couldn't win.
Hua entered a stasis pod, preparing to carry out Dr. MEI's Fire Moth plan in the next era.
This short arc, though told briefly, allowed everyone to witness Hua's entire life.
"I didn't cry during Final Lesson, but for some reason this really made me cry."
"I feel so bad for Hua… and even more for Fu Hua, who endured all this and still warms others after 50,000 years. I've become a fan!"
"+1. I'm really falling for Immortal Fu now!"
"+2!"
...
The viewers in the livestream kept discussing Immortal Fu Hua.
Fu Shibao saw this, and a sense of rivalry stirred in her heart.
But a moment later, she lifted her chin and smiled brightly.
She was confident—
Even if everyone liked that version of Fu Hua now…
Once her Fu Hua appeared—
They would definitely love her Fu Hua more.
The Fu Hua who could overturn all realities.
The Fu Hua who could do anything!
Meanwhile, viewers speculated on the upcoming story.
"A story arc that steadily raises your affection for a character… Don't you think this feels familiar?"
Everyone instantly knew who the comment referred to.
And because they knew…
"...I think the Class Monitor's death flag is already shining in the sky."
"Honestly, she's guarded Shenzhou for 5,000 years. She must be so tired. If she exited the stage now, I could accept it… Just kidding! I won't!!"
"Scriptwriters, don't mess with the story! It's the anniversary celebration!"
The knife hadn't even dropped, but seasoned Honkai Impact 3rd players had already learned to look for it themselves.
One by one, they imagined scenes of Fu Hua sacrificing herself for the greater good.
Their hearts ached in advance.
Class Monitor!!
The story continued.
Next, Fu Hua's memories no longer covered the Previous Era.
Time jumped to 500 years ago—when Fu Hua lived as a sage in Mount Taixu.
These scattered memories gave only a brief glimpse of her life back then.
But players noticed something—
Lin Zhaoyu turned out to be one of the disciples Fu Hua took in 500 years ago!
To investigate Lin Zhaoyu, Kiana and Bronya accidentally entered a Feather and arrived at Mount Taixu 500 years ago.
They even met the other six disciples Fu Hua had taken in.
All of them seemed to want to guide Kiana and Bronya somewhere.
Eventually—
The two, following their guidance, arrived at Fuyun Temple atop the mountain.
They pushed open the temple door and entered a pitch-black room.
At that moment, the camera slowly zoomed out.
A voice rang out: "Sigh~~ Took you two long enough."
As the voice fell, the camera stopped.
In the frame, Fu Hua looked at her right hand.
On the back of her hand, a door had opened.
And in front of the door stood the two girls who had just entered.
"I've been waiting forever!"
That slightly mischievous tone delivered a line full of intrigue.
And with that, the scene ended.
"?????"
"That's Fu Hua, right? Why is she here?"
"This is some Journey to the West setup, huh?"
"So is Fu Hua gonna press Kiana and Bronya under a Five-Finger Mountain now? And wait for someone to go west and retrieve the Honkai…"
"LMAO, y'all got wild imaginations."
...
The stream chat was buzzing.
Fu Hua tapped into the next main story chapter.
At the same time, she recalled again the line Hokuto asked her to remember.
She was getting ready to reveal it to the audience, following Hokuto's plan.
Inwardly, she marveled at how Hokuto had perfectly predicted the players' reactions.
If Hokuto knew what Fu Hua was thinking, he'd probably just wave it off and say—
He'd lived through it once already in a previous life, of course he'd know how the players would react.
Hokuto says #3: "She is the Herrscher of Sentience."
Players were surprised by Fu Hua's revelation.
Even Fu Shibao froze.
Fu Shibao: ???
Wait, wait, what?
She's the Herrscher of Sentience now?