"Alright everyone, please don't get too excited, let's calm down for a moment. I know you probably have a lot of questions you want to ask me, but please believe me, I'm even more confused than you are right now. So, could you answer some of my questions first? I promise I will answer all of your questions after that."
Lihua had, after all, been the president of the Schicksal Charity Association for many years in the Honkai world. She was very skilled at handling large crowds and calming down agitated people. After all, she had rescued quite a few villages that had been hit by Honkai, and as the well-known president of the Schicksal Charity Association, she was basically treated like this every time she went to those places.
Thanks to her adept crowd control skills, the excited onlookers finally calmed down and chose a representative to answer Lihua's questions first.
And that person was Liu Yue, who had risked her life to tell Lihua the Tomato Devil's weakness earlier.
"Ah, it's you." Although the main body was already super familiar with Liu Yue, Lihua, in her character, didn't know her. So Lihua gave a soft smile and quickly went forward to hold Liu Yue's hands. "Thank you for helping me earlier. Otherwise, it would probably have been a tough fight to take that thing down."
"N-No, no, I, I didn't do anything…"
Looking at the beautiful girl in front of her, Liu Yue's face instantly flushed red.
For a hardcore otaku, having a paper waifu suddenly appear in front of you, hold your hands, and thank you so sincerely—that was a bit too much. Even if she was a girl!
No wonder she's the saintess that Kallen, Otto, and Eleanor are all obsessed with. She's really pretty. If it was me, I would have fallen in love at first sight! I thought Li Bei's cosplay of Lihua was beautiful enough, but it's still not as good as the real deal!
And Li Bei himself was also looking at Lihua from the side. Although he had lived in that body for decades, it was the first time he was seeing his own body from another person's perspective.
But it doesn't feel as good as me, in terms of looks... This is like the bootleg being better than the original - wait, does my main body and Lihua's character card make me the original Lihua, or the bootleg Lihua?
Li Bei fell into a philosophical conundrum.
Unlike the absentminded main body, Lihua, who was holding Liu Yue's hand, silently released her hand and pulled it back after seeing the other's face turning as red as a lovestruck idiot.
Having seen what happened with Kallen, she felt that she couldn't let her guard down around women either. Who knew when the other person would fall for her.
If it was anyone else, that would be okay, but Liu Yue was his buddy's girlfriend. If she were to turn her gay, that would be a huge problem…
Li Bei grabbed his own hand and pulled it back, which made Liu Yue a little disappointed. But after all, she wasn't actually a lesbian. It was just that she was overexcited after seeing her 2D paper waifu, so she quickly cheered up. "Lihua, what do you want to ask? Just ask me, and I will tell you everything!"
"Well, thank you. I would like to ask, first, exactly where is this…"
Lihua acted as if she was surprised to have appeared in this world and began to ask about all sorts of things about Earth, and her actions matched the thoughts of the onlookers.
And in the face of the various questions she raised, not only Liu Yue, but also the onlookers, answered her questions very enthusiastically, explaining the economics, politics, history, and culture of Earth in detail. The meticulousness of the answers was even comparable to various encyclopedias.
What a bunch of talented people.
After roughly acting out the reaction that a newly arrived 2D character should have, Lihua nodded. "I roughly understand the situation now... Hmm, now I just have one last question."
Lihua slowly pointed at Li Bei, who was once again lost in his own thoughts. With a blush on her face, she asked, "Why is he dressed exactly like me? And you called out my name before, and you said that I was your... um, do you… know me? Even though we're from different worlds."
"This, it's a bit difficult to explain… Don't get too excited after you hear it."
Liu Yue looked at Gao Ming, a little embarrassed. After mentally preparing herself, she finally said, "Actually, you are a character from a game called Honkai Impact 3rd…"
Liu Yue explained the game, the manga, and the plots of these works to Lihua one by one. She spoke slowly, constantly paying attention to Lihua's expression, ready to stop immediately if Lihua showed even a hint of displeasure.
Knowing that she was a character in a game that had been created by someone else, no one would be able to accept it, right? Their own cruel life was actually deliberately woven by others. Even the strongest people would probably find it difficult to remain calm.
But Lihua didn't seem particularly excited. She just listened carefully, and nodded occasionally.
"I see, a game developed by a company called miHoYo… I'm, just like a princess from a knightly novel."
Lihua sighed softly.
Honestly – she didn't feel anything.
After all, she wasn't originally from the Honkai world.
If anything, what Liu Yue was telling her was actually a modified script that had been changed because of her appearance.
Unfortunately, the others didn't know that.
"Lihua, please don't be too sad, everyone here likes you very much!"
Looking at Lihua's melancholy expression, Liu Yue became nervous and even started to stutter, but still tried her best to comfort her. "And now you're standing in front of us, which means that you're really real! Oh, I also know another theory, that the works in this world are just information leaked from another world! So maybe, this is just the story of your world, which was projected into our world through the game!"
Not only Liu Yue, the surrounding crowd was also excited. They seemed like they wanted to confess their feelings on the spot and prove to Lihua that their love for her was real.
"Thank you, everyone, but you don't need to comfort me, I understand. Besides..." Lihua's eyes dimmed for a moment, "Finding that your closest friend has become your enemy and seeing your shared dream abandoned like trash, aren't those things more heartbreaking than the fact that you are a fictional existence?"
"But those things didn't break me, so this can't either."
Lihua smiled, her gentle smile hiding her original melancholy. "What did you want to ask me earlier? I can answer them now."
But looking at Lihua, who was trying her best to smile, the people around her fell into silence for a moment, finding it difficult to continue asking her anything.
She must be putting on a brave face, so that we won't worry… She truly is the greatest saint in Honkai, always thinking of others no matter what…
But to be honest, these people really misunderstood Lihua. Her smile was very sincere.
Discovering that the group of people around her were feeling heartache because she had mentioned her tragic past, and thus she was gaining a bunch of energy. She was absolutely ecstatic!