NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 3: Little Firely
From the moment of her birth, the Firefly had always been a weapon—a tool crafted for battle.
Before joining the Stellaron Hunters, her life had been nothing but tragedy. While such a description is well-documented in the game, it pales in comparison to the raw memories she now possesses, her personal experiences etched deeply into her mind.
A sky darkened by swarms of insects, countless comrades falling before her eyes—Firefly had endured more than anyone should.
This girl, forged for combat since the moment she came into existence, knew her fate was to burn out in the battlefield, her life extinguished like a fleeting flame.
Her purpose was to fight endlessly, and only at the final moment did she begin to grasp the meaning of life.
Now, her silver-haired figure stirred, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal a pair of extraordinary eyes—blue above, pink below. Firefly's gaze met the young man standing before her, her mind overwhelmed with a flood of foreign memories.
These memories filled her innocent soul with knowledge she should never have known.
Liuxing froze, guilt washing over him. He had entered someone else's mental space without permission and inadvertently uncovered their most intimate thoughts.
Such an act was rude beyond measure. And now, with Firefly awake, he couldn't avoid the awkward situation he found himself in.
To make matters worse, this wasn't just anyone—it was Firefly, his beloved two-dimensional "waifu." He forced a strained smile and offered an apology, stammering, "I'm sorry! It wasn't intentional, I swear. It was… force majeure!"
Firefly, a seasoned warrior who had defeated countless foes, could have easily crushed him. Here, in the depths of her mental space—her domain—he was completely at her mercy. If she wanted to, she could erase him without a trace.
For a moment, Firefly remained silent, processing the influx of memories. Then, she rose gracefully, instinctively shielding her chest with her hand as she regarded Liuxing with a calm smile. Her voice was soft yet firm.
"Hello. I am Iron Cavalry knight, Firefly IV, AR-26710," she introduced herself formally. A pause followed before she tilted her head with a playful smile. "And I'm also your two-dimensional wife, Firefly."
"Boom!"
Her words hit Liuxing like a thunderclap, leaving him frozen in place. He struggled to form words, eventually stammering awkwardly, "You… too?"
Firefly nodded with a knowing smile. "That's right. I know everything."
Liuxing clutched his chest, his expression a mix of embarrassment and disbelief. She had clearly gained access to his memories—and now she knew about everything, including how he had changed her original destiny.
"Don't you blame me… for altering your fate?" he asked hesitantly, guilt evident in his tone.
Firefly shook her head. "No, I don't. This isn't your fault, and honestly, it might not even be a bad thing. In my original fate, I might not have survived at all."
Liuxing was silent, acknowledging the cruel truth. With the way stories tended to go in MiHoYo's universe, her tragic demise had been all but inevitable.
"This situation is irreversible, and I've already accepted it," Firefly continued gently. "Besides, your memories have taught me so much… things I would never have understood otherwise."
Her soft smile had an undeniable warmth, one that seemed to ease Liuxing's guilt and touch his heart. For a moment, he felt like he was dreaming—the waifu he had admired for so long was now standing before him, looking at him with understanding eyes.
"How about it?" Firefly teased, waving a hand in front of his face. "Do I look better as a real person or as a picture in screen?"
Liuxing blinked, dumbfounded by her playful tone, before muttering, "As long as it's you, you'll always look good."
His words hung in the air, drawing a brief silence before he awkwardly excused himself. "I, uh… I should check things outside." With that, he hastily left Firefly's mental space, his face flushed with embarrassment.
"Pfft…" Firefly couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. But if one looked closely, they would notice her ears tinged with a faint red hue.
When Liuxing returned to reality, he was greeted by the sight of a silver-haired, three-year-old girl standing before him wearing a small skirt. He stared, dumbfounded, and muttered to himself, "Where's my graceful, elegant, perfect wife?!"
Firefly glared at him, puffing up her cheeks in annoyance. While his words were flattering, she wasn't particularly thrilled. Looking down at her small hands and short stature, she sighed in frustration.
She had been created with the body of a young woman and had never experienced infancy. This childlike form left her feeling utterly out of place.
"It's likely due to this space," Liuxing theorized, glancing around the dark void dotted with faint starlight. "Something about it must have caused your body to revert."
Despite her irritation, Liuxing smiled warmly. "Still, this might be a blessing in disguise. With your body like this, the effects of your entropy loss might have slowed down."
The Glamoth people had embedded an "insurance" mechanism in the genetic design of their soldiers: entropy loss.
Those afflicted would suffer a gradual and irreversible dissociation of their physical structure. Their bodies would deteriorate so subtly that the process was nearly imperceptible to others until the afflicted vanished entirely—lost in the void between reality and dreams.
This cruel fate marked all Iron Riders as expendable, destined for a limited lifespan. Even Firefly, who had broken through her original limits, was not exempt from entropy loss.
But now, her rejuvenation offered a glimmer of hope.
Liuxing knelt down to meet her gaze, his voice filled with sincerity. "Firefly, if I'm still alive when this journey ends, let's search the universe together for a cure. The world is vast—there has to be a way."
Firefly, who had once seen her life as an endless cycle of battle, now had a desire to live. Her eyes shone with newfound determination as she nodded.
"I won't give up," she said firmly. "And neither will you. We'll find a way to restore your body too."
Her earnestness brought a smile to Liuxing's face. Even in her childlike form, Firefly's spirit burned brightly.
"Cute as ever," Liuxing chuckled, his heart warmed by her resolve.