"Heh, telling me not to watch? What, is there some tragic twist? Let me tell you, after Clannad: After Story turned my heart into confetti, I'm immune to all poisons. Let's see what this is all about!"
The young man ignored the barrage's warnings and clicked on the PV titled To: The Faint Star.
——
The scene opened with Caelus wandering around the space station.
Suddenly, he pulled out his phone and stared at a mistaken text message.
Rocky: "Ley, are you okay? Why haven't you replied?"
Su Chen, playing Caelus, made the same expression Welt Yang uses when looking at his phone and replied, "Who's Ley?"
Rocky: "Sorry but whoever you are, if you see Ley, tell her Rocky will wait for her at Herta Space Station!"
"Wait, who is Ley?"
"???"
Caelus put away his phone. Since he had nothing better to do, he followed the signal beacon to Rocky's location.
Luckily, it wasn't far just in the Master Control Zone. Soon, Caelus found Rocky.
Rocky was muttering to himself like a madman:
"Witty? No, sentimental works better... Elegant? Yeah! Slang has no place in poetry.
Should I use 'raven tresses' or 'snowy skirts' here? Ugh, this is killing me..."
Caelus tapped Rocky's shoulder. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"I'm writing poetry for Lesley! I've written so much, but why hasn't she replied lately?"
"Oh?" Caelus grew interested and started talking with Rocky.
After a few minutes of conversation, he pieced together the story.
In short, Rocky had recently been writing love poems for a girl named Lesley the "Ley" from the text.
Lesley was a star researcher in Herta Space Station's Occultation Section.
Even in a place full of geniuses like Herta Space Station, being recognized as a genius spoke volumes about Lesley's abilities!
She had gone to the Abundance star system as a visiting scholar for a research exchange.
During this time, Rocky had been communicating with her via the Galactic Radio Relay.
Caelus couldn't help but remark, "Now this is long-distance communication!"
[Hahaha, long-distance? More like cross-galaxy communication!]
[This seems pretty ordinary though? How is it different from the usual slice-of-life stuff in the main series?]
[What's the big deal? I thought something unusual was happening!]
[Wait, would miHoYo really release a standalone slice-of-life episode?]
[Maybe they had an extra episode lying around and just decided to upload it on Bilibili?]
[Makes sense. You can't guarantee every episode will pass review. If one fails, there's no time for reshoots, so having a backup is logical.]
[Then it's probably just slice-of-life. Might as well treat it as a bonus episode. Let's go!]
——
Caelus listened as Rocky recounted his experiences with Lesley.
Rocky had thought their relationship was close enough, so he went for the direct approach confessing his feelings to Lesley.
But after that, she stopped replying entirely.
Just then, Rocky's mentor, Bernard, couldn't help but interject:
"You brat, Lesley is the star researcher of Herta's Occultation Section, the only visiting scholar dispatched to the Abundance star system this Amber Era.
You really think she has time for you?"
[Why no "See you later, Eren" reference? I'm not convinced!]
[This feels a bit like Kimi ni Todoke's awkward confessions vibes...]
[Same. The mentor seems kinda one-dimensional.]
[Let's keep watching. It's only been 10 minutes. Worst case, we can just say "Su Chen's run out of ideas" afterward.]
Rocky refused to believe it. He was convinced that he and Lesley were soulmates.
They could talk about anything from Aeons to mud!
And right before Rocky confessed, Lesley had shared major news:
She had just experienced a breathtaking yet terrifying "Stellar Quake."
The subtitles highlighted "Stellar Quake," a classic miHoYo move clearly a key foreshadowing element!
"Anyway!" Rocky looked at Caelus with determination. "There was no sign she'd reject me.
So if I don't get her reply by the agreed time, it has to be a problem with the Galactic Radio Relay!
But the Antimatter Legion has taken over the signal area... Can you help me?"
"Don't you dare help him!" Mentor Bernard hunched over but still glared fiercely at Caelus.
"All he cares about is that damn relay! For weeks, he's done nothing productive! Useless fool!"
He broke into a rough coughing fit. "Cough... cough..."
"Sir!" Caelus quickly patted Bernard's back. "Resistance is futile!"
Bernard caught his breath and sighed. "Ah, you youngsters... Fine, whatever!"
"If we can fix the relay, I'll repay you!" Rocky put his hand on Caelus 's shoulder. "I'll make you my best man."
"Sure! Next time!"