June 14th marked another annual Qixi Festival.
That morning, Ren spent some exclusive time with his wife, Jada, enjoying their couple's day out together. He even gave Jada a small gift to celebrate.
After returning home, Ren started a livestream.
This livestream was meant to give fans a sneak peek of something new. After all, the third and final part of Fate/Stay Night: Spring Song was complete and had passed all the required checks. It was time for some promotion.
"Alright, I won't waste any more time talking. Let's jump straight into it! This trailer is going to be a bit long," Ren announced, opening up the media player.
Seeing this particular player brought a sense of nostalgia to Ren's eyes.
In his previous world, there was also a media player called "Storm Player," which unfortunately got phased out with time. Back then, when services like iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video were on the rise, and when LeTV was gaining popularity, Ren relied solely on Storm Player.
It was an excellent local media player, capable of handling almost any format. And as an online player, it had everything—if you could think of it, Storm Player probably had it.
But as time went on, and copyright laws became more strictly enforced, while other companies were purchasing rights, the higher-ups at Storm Player were busy making plans to go public. In the end, well, you can guess the rest.
Luckily, this world's version of Storm didn't follow the same chaotic path.
When Ren launched the player, the familiar scene of a pink-haired lion-girl mascot appeared, letting out a cheerful roar.
Daniel was at home, holding a bag of spicy snacks while watching the Porter's livestream.
Watching the Porter's streams was a regular pastime for him.
In these streams, the Porter often shared live drawings, sometimes creating images that all the longtime fans understood and appreciated.
Watching the Porter draw was always a visual treat. The art was stunning, and the drawing speed was astonishing—no wonder people called him "the human printer."
Besides the amazing art, Daniel also liked watching the Porter's streams because of the previews.
Whether it was a sneak peek of a movie, TV series, or upcoming comic chapters, the livestream gave fans a first look at what was to come.
Today, Daniel was particularly excited because he knew Fate/Stay Night's third installment was about to be teased.
"I wonder what the plot will be!"
"Hurry up, Porter-sensei!"
The screen was flooded with similar comments from fans.
Seeing all this activity made Daniel reflect on how popular the Porter had become.
Soon, Daniel sat up straight as the trailer began. After the standard intro and a quick flash of the Picca Comics logo, the first scene showed Illya in a room with Rin.
Illya was holding a book and lying on the ground. Suddenly, as if something came to mind, she turned slightly and asked in a confused tone, "What's it like to be an older sister?"
Watching this, Daniel couldn't help but feel a bit sad.
In this version of Fate/Stay Night's Heaven's Feel route, Ren had overseen the plot and had a sufficient budget, allowing for a high-quality production that didn't cut corners.
This attention to detail revealed much more about Illya's character to the audience.
So, when Illya asked that question, it hit harder, making her seem even more pitiable.
The scene then transitioned to a battle between Saber Alter and Rider.
The fight scenes were as visually stunning as ever, with high-quality animation that showed off the budget.
The trailer ended with a close-up of Saber Alter shouting, "Ex—calibur!" in an epic pose, leaving viewers in awe of how cool she looked.
But despite knowing that trailers usually showed only brief glimpses of action, many fans still felt it was over too quickly.
However, just as the fans were beginning to feel disappointed, a shocking scene appeared that left them stunned.
"What the heck?!"
"What's going on?!"
"Porter-sensei, what are you doing?!"
The sudden flood of comments even caused Daniel's phone to freeze up momentarily.
The shocking scene showed Illya, dressed in a strange white outfit, walking towards a blindingly white place. Behind her was an injured Shirou, his mouth open as if trying to say something but unable to speak.
"Because I'm Emiya's older sister," Illya said. "So I have to protect my little brother."
Even without knowing the full context, viewers were experienced enough with similar stories to understand what was likely happening: someone had to sacrifice themselves to save someone else.
Here, it was clear that Illya was choosing to sacrifice herself to save her little brother, Shirou.
This left some fans in tears.
Even though she had barely experienced familial love in her life…
Even though she and Shirou had only met recently, she was willing to give up everything to protect him?
Couldn't Illya just have a happy ending?
"You monster!"
"How could you do this to such a sweet little girl?!"
The fans were outraged.
Little did they know that this story had three different routes. If they ever found out that in the Unlimited Blade Works route, Illya was brutally killed by having her artificial heart ripped out by a concerned citizen, the fanbase would probably explode.
But that wasn't all.
This scene quickly faded.
The next shot showed Rin and Sakura walking side by side.
Both of them looked noticeably older, indicating that this was likely a glimpse into a world many years after the main events.
Fans immediately noticed the differences in how the characters had matured. Rin's slim figure still left some viewers feeling a bit regretful, while Sakura's appearance delighted certain fans.
But…
Where was Shirou?
The fans watched the preview of the post-Holy Grail War timeline, but they soon realized something: Shirou wasn't there.
Did Illya's sacrifice still fail to save Shirou?
Or, perhaps, in the moment Illya was about to walk into the light, did Shirou pull her out, sacrificing himself instead?
Just as the fans were about to bombard Ren with questions, he abruptly ended the stream.
"Alright, it's getting late. See you next time," Ren said, shutting down the livestream and leaving countless fans wondering.
Just as Ren closed the stream, his little girl knocked on the door and walked in.
"Dad! I heard today is Qixi Festival!"
She stood with her hands on her hips, looking quite upset.
"Yeah, it is. What's up?"
Ren was a bit confused.
Had he done something to make her mad? Did she find out he secretly ate her snacks?
"Where's my present?!"
She asked angrily.
Ren couldn't help but laugh, teasingly tapping her nose. "What does Qixi Festival have to do with you? Why should you get a gift?"
"The internet says daughters are their dads' little sweethearts! And if I'm your little sweetheart, how could you forget to get me a gift?!"
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