Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

It might sound strange for a memory body to be jealous of its original, but after the "mental exchange" with Jiang Qiao, SIM Elysia did feel a pang of jealousy towards the relationship between him and her original – such an interesting thing she couldn't participate in.

How compliant and indulgent Jiang Qiao was to her original, even if it might not be purely out of love, SIM Elysia was still very envious.

Of course, she knew that if she made the same request to Jiang Qiao as her original, he would probably treat her equally.

But SIM Elysia didn't plan to do so.

After all, he had already done too much – as a remnant of Elysia, she didn't want to make Jiang Qiao busier because of her, even if it was just a negligible moment for him.

Besides, if something could be easily obtained, wouldn't it seem very "cheap?"

She wanted to view this man named Jiang Qiao as her own "precious treasure."

Then, she told him about her original's recent situation.

"...Uh."

Hearing that Original Elysia was currently active in the Elysian Realm in [Jiang Qiao]'s form, Jiang Qiao couldn't help but be puzzled.

He adjusted his consciousness form into [Elysia's] form on a whim, wanting to see SIM Elysia's reaction, and also because he was too lazy to adjust back.

Like a "setting" – previously, to use the power of Origin more efficiently, and also influenced by this Elysia body's strong "physical memory shaping," Jiang Qiao's consciousness had taken on the current [Elysia] form.

To adjust back, he needed to peel off the [Elysia] "skin" wrapped around his consciousness, and resetting to factory settings was too troublesome. Besides, once he left the Elysian Realm and used the [Elysia] body again, it would surely try to "devour him alive."

Of course, the more technical term should be "compatibility."

Because the clothes (body) and the person wearing the clothes (inner self) were too compatible, taking off the clothes wasn't so easy.

—But his own body shouldn't have this problem.

After all, it was essentially just a "human" shell, incompatible with Elysia's inner self, the adaptation was very average.

This was also why the Pink Fat Woman looked like her usual self in the Stigmata Space – probably because she was overweight, so the dumpling skin couldn't wrap around her completely (confirmed).

Unable to understand the Pink Fat Woman's thinking process even with [Elysia]'s thinking mode – or even if he used it, it was still very difficult to understand – Jiang Qiao thought about it for a moment and gave up.

Just use it, since he was also running around with [Elysia]'s skin, right? As long as she was happy.

"You're not allowed to tell her about the Elysian Realm or me after you see her."

"...?"

Jiang Qiao raised an eyebrow, he didn't quite understand the meaning of SIM Elysia's request.

SIM Elysia rolled her eyes and said discontentedly, her cheeks puffed up,

"Weren't you planning to let her choose the future she wanted anyway!"

—Jiang Qiao didn't deny it.

Just like he had casually asked Original Elysia before – he didn't intend to force her to accept her fate.

Whether she wanted to be a Herrscher or a human, no matter what choice she made, Jiang Qiao would unconditionally support Elysia.

He didn't mind Elysia's avoidance – wouldn't it be fine as long as he carried Elysia's share as well?

The same was true for the trip to the Elysian Realm.

Actually, he didn't have any specific expectations for Kiana, Bronya, or even Raiden Mei.

It's just that Kiana and the others had firmly chosen to face the future, and he agreed with their decision. Out of reasonable consideration, he provided them with help to make the path they chose as "easy" as possible.

As for Elysia – it was of course the same. For the Pink Fat Woman who wanted to avoid the truth, the decision to let her enter the Elysian Realm was simply out of the thought that he didn't want her to feel lonely.

Before the Herrscher of Erosion appeared, the Elysian Realm was undoubtedly the safest place in the real world. With the remnants of the past Flame-Chasers, she wouldn't lack companionship.

After all – Elysia was most afraid of loneliness, wasn't she?

"You bad egg!"

SIM Elysia grumbled, rather dissatisfied.

This was the reason why she felt sour towards her original!

Although she also had Eden's companionship – Eden always supported her unconditionally.

But Eden still had her limits. There were many things that she really wanted to help Elysia with, but she could only feel helpless.

And the bad guy in front of her, he could do it, and he excessively indulged his original.

Seriously, if it weren't for not wanting to add to Jiang Qiao's troubles, SIM Elysia, who understood what was going on, really wanted to go and mua her foolish original awake.

But it didn't matter – SIM Elysia knew very well.

Once her original discovered the truth, she would definitely make the right decision.

SIM Elysia was certain of this.

After all – that was her past self.

But the time to make a decision shouldn't be now. SIM Elysia knew that with her personality, this kind of thing couldn't be rushed, otherwise, the choice Elysia made might not bring help, but trouble.

Bad Jiang Qiao had already worked so hard; she couldn't let her foolish original add obstacles to his already difficult path of "saving the world" – even if Jiang Qiao didn't care.

Moreover, SIM Elysia still had some fun in "teasing" her foolish original. She didn't want this rare "toy" to disappear just like that.

For this purpose, revealing everything in the Elysian Realm to Original Elysia would be an extremely unwise move.

It couldn't be said to be absolutely forbidden, but at least they should make the foolish original realize it slowly. Only then could Original Elysia better accept everything.

Become a help, not a burden.

Jiang Qiao didn't comment on SIM Elysia's thoughts, just maintaining a smile.

But he generally complied with her wishes.

Whether Elysia would change her mind due to her experiences in the Elysian Realm, he didn't really have an opinion – although Jiang Qiao actually knew that if Elysia knew all this, she would definitely not be able to avoid the truth with peace of mind.

In this sense, bringing Elysia into the Elysian Realm seemed to have been a move that left her with only one path to choose.

But Jiang Qiao didn't want to consider these – in his opinion, as long as Elysia made a decision she wouldn't regret, it would be fine.

SIM Elysia left with puffed cheeks; she had to go find Aponia to arrange the next steps.

Jiang Qiao, who remained in the Flame-Chaser meeting hall, originally planned to walk around the Elysian Realm – honestly, he was quite curious about this place, after all, the game's modeling of this place wasn't exactly complete.

But before he could get up, another visitor approached after SIM Elysia left.

He glanced up – and met wine-red hair.

—It was the Big Rich Woman, Eden!

...It wasn't strange, after all, the Big Rich Woman was the Elysian Realm's number one Elysia fan. The fact that Original Elysia ended up in Eden's domain as soon as she entered the Elysian Realm – it was hard to say it was just a coincidence of the matching mechanism.

As for the Jiang Qiao version of [Elysia] currently sitting on the sofa, although there were some differences, Eden, as an Elysia enthusiast, was still deeply interested.

No sooner had he finished talking with SIM Elysia than the Big Rich Woman came sniffing around.

Able to feel the gaze, the blue eyes of the [Elysia] form met Eden's lazy, golden eyes.

The latter sat not far from Jiang Qiao, studying him for a long time, and finally sighed.

"You're the Jiang Qiao that Elysia mentioned, right?... Hmm, you really do look alike."

Just like SIM Elysia, when she first saw "Jiang Elysia," she almost didn't recognize him.

Fortunately, Eden's status as the Previous Era's number one Elysia fan wasn't just for show – maybe even if SIM Elysia couldn't recognize her, Eden could still recognize Elysia.

Of course, Eden didn't dislike this similarity.

After all, unlike the later Herrscher of Erosion – Jiang Qiao wasn't trampling on or desecrating everything about the past Flame-Chaser, her dear friend. It was just a "performance," a disguise.

Eden even found this rather amusing.

After all, it was really too similar, wasn't it?

Could anyone resist a 120% realistic cosplay?

Anyway, the Big Rich Woman couldn't. Facing this, she just wanted to say – more please! (loudly)

"Hmm—this can only be called a clumsy imitation."

"It would be too modest to say such a thing, Mr. Jiang Qiao. At least from my perspective – if you were in our era, even Vill-V would have to bow down to you in terms of 'imitation' talent."

"Elysia" touched his smooth chin, suddenly wondering if he should try a "passerby extra" job, just to experience the life of an actor and unlock a new achievement in his "Passerby Actress Elysia" collection, a new experience.

Unaware of Jiang's thoughts, Eden continued, "Elysia has told me quite a bit about you, although not in detail due to time constraints. It's unbelievable… but I'm willing to believe it's true."

With Elysia's personality, it wasn't surprising that she would tell her companions in the Elysian Realm about this matter, and Jiang Qiao had already expected it.

"The girl" propped up his cheek and looked at Eden, curious about the Big Rich Woman's thoughts.

Although he was sure that Eden had come to see him with the thought of a "super high-quality Elysia replica," if she knew about the Previous Era, Eden must have something she wanted to entrust him with, right?

"Excuse me for asking, Mr. Jiang Qiao, have you met the past me?"

Eden didn't seem to have the memory of meeting the Jiang version of Elysia like Aponia or Kevin, but that wasn't strange either.

After all – the current Eden, strictly speaking, was only the echo, the memory left by the past Flame-Chaser. The past Eden had long since passed away with the old era in the cycle of Finality.

The world allowed consciousness to match new vessels, but it didn't allow vessels to collect dissipating consciousness.

That's how it was.

But even without the memory of meeting Jiang Qiao, upon learning what Jiang Qiao was doing, Eden inevitably had some things she wanted to do.

Just like Sakura said later – among those in the Elysian Realm, each of them had left some regrets.

"I'll save that era."

Jiang Qiao replied to Eden's question in such a way.

—For this "golden" Flame-Chaser before him, the greatest regret was probably the change in her life trajectory due to the arrival of the Honkai, right?

After all, as the "jewel" of the Previous Era, that era was everything to her.

Hearing Jiang Qiao's words, Eden smiled, having already gotten the answer.

"It seems you did encounter the past me."

"Indeed. I bought concert tickets but only watched half. When I came back after finishing my work, the concert was already over... um, Miss Eden, would you mind reimbursing the ticket price?" The girl leaned against the sofa, expressing a little resentment and helplessness, and then joked.

"..."

Eden fell into a brief silence, but quickly recovered her smile.

She didn't expect the encounter between the past her and the person in front of her to be like this.

She chuckled lightly.

"If you want, I can hold a solo concert for you to make up for the part you missed."

A one-person concert, in the Previous Era, this was a treatment only Elysia could enjoy.

It was enough to see the Big Rich Woman's favor towards the Jiang Qiao version of [Elysia.]

"But you probably misunderstood. Although the Previous Era is indeed very important to me, that's not what I want to say."

With a hint of seriousness in her lazy tone, her wine-red hair swaying gently with her body's movements, Eden, the epitome of art in the Previous Era, said seriously,

"Mr. Jiang Qiao... well, please allow me to use a more intimate address, Qiao... I actually hope you can find my past self. If possible, please let the past me join Fire Moth earlier."

Hearing this request, Jiang Qiao was a little surprised.

If other Flame-Chasers had this idea, he could understand, but… Eden?

Compared to the other twelve Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm, Eden could be considered the most successful.

At a young age, she became a world-renowned singer and artist, admired by all.

Eden actually wanted her past, glorious self to join Fire Moth earlier?

—Eden showed a little helplessness and a wry smile at this question.

Perhaps in most people's eyes, her past self was indeed very glorious – and that was true. After going through the series of thrilling events that everyone experienced at the beginning, her career took off.

Until – that sudden fire burned everything down.

Yes, maybe even after that, she could still be active as a world-renowned artist and singer.

But the urgency of the Honkai, the gradual disintegration of people's hearts.

In such an environment, how could people continue to enjoy the so-called "art" with peace of mind?

That period was also the low point in Eden's life.

Even worse than when she just debuted.

Compared to the difficulties of reality, the blow to her beliefs was the most severe.

The gradually declining civilization made Eden unable to find the meaning of her existence.

Thanks to Elysia's comfort, she finally emerged from the haze.

But Eden at that time also chose to give up the many honors she was once proud of, no longer walking as a "singer," but as a "warrior," joining the battlefield against the Honkai.

"..."

Jiang Qiao understood Eden's meaning.

—She didn't want her past self to continue to immerse herself in the illusion of prosperity.

Art would still exist, of course, but that should be after everything had settled.

Perhaps most of the Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm had similar thoughts.

After all, they had personally experienced that era of despair.

Jiang Qiao nodded slightly at this.

"I'll convey your meaning."

He understood Eden's thoughts, but – Jiang Qiao didn't plan to force anyone to do anything.

Even if it was the request of the later Eden.

Eden nodded happily.

"That's good."

She knew her personality very well.

After learning everything, her past self would definitely make the right choice.

Of course – her entrusting Jiang Qiao with this task wasn't just because she wanted her past self to not be so ignorant and naive until disaster struck, but also because she wanted… her past self to not be so lonely.

Because it was herself, Eden knew very well that her past self wasn't really that happy.

A rapidly rising career? The admiration of the world? If she could, she would rather trade these things – to meet Elysia ten years earlier.

The days she spent with Elysia were the happiest times of her life.

But the real Elysia seemed to be staying in the Elysian Realm for the time being. In that case... a high-quality replica sent to her past self should be a good substitute, right?

Thinking of this, Eden glanced at Jiang Qiao with a slightly apologetic look – Sorry, Qiao, for my past self, I can only wrong you!!!

...

Unaware that her "good sister" was conducting a "Bad Jiang Qiao" trade, SIM Elysia was communicating with Aponia. And even more clueless, the real Miss Elysia was currently in front of Pardofelis's small stall.

"Hey, Boss Qiao, let me introduce you to this! This megaphone is a Vill-V Workshop product! Not only can it amplify sound, but it can also record! The price is affordable, no cheating, just ██ silver coins!"

"And this, this, I got it from Sister Hua's garden... anyway, they're all very affordable! The more you buy, the bigger the discount, up to 20% off!"

On the dazzling small stall were "treasures" from various Flame-Chasers of the Elysian Realm. Pardofelis enthusiastically promoted her "goods" to the "Jiang Qiao" form of Elysia, her demeanor so professional that anyone who saw it would have to praise her!

Unfortunately, although she was interested in many of the products, Elysia could only reluctantly say she'd think about it later – after entering the Elysian Realm, Elysia successfully experienced once again the awkwardness of her childhood world travels.

Pardofelis's small stall, as she said, really did offer good quality at low prices – except for a stone priced at 9999 silver coins. Sadly, Elysia, who had just entered the Elysian Realm, couldn't even take out a single coin, so she could only look at the pink megaphone she liked and pout.

Pardofelis, who was playing with Can together with Wendy, suddenly lit up.

"Hey, Sister Elysia!"

Hearing this title, Elysia's face darkened, and she looked in the direction of the catgirl. As expected – what came into view was the "Sister Elysia" Pardofelis mentioned.

—The so-called Sister… was clearly the bad Jiang Qiao!

Looking at the pink-haired girl, Elysia puffed up her cheeks angrily. She was clearly furious, but she could only force a smile on her face. After all, the catgirl was beside her, she couldn't be exposed!

Her blue eyes met her "Jiang Qiao" form's black, purplish eyes – SIM Elysia, coming from Aponia's place, saw the foolish original together with Felis and a green-haired girl, a playful smile appeared on her lips.

"Hmm~ It's been a while. Business is good, Felis?"

"Hehe, not really... it mainly depends on you, Sister Elysia." The catgirl scratched her cheek.

Her biggest customer in the Elysian Realm was Elysia. After all, Elysia liked new and interesting things, and Pardofelis's small stall was full of such things – supplied by Vill-V's Mechanical Workshop, come to her if you're out of stock.

Then, Pardofelis introduced Wendy to SIM Elysia – due to the Elysian Realm's matching mechanism, the two of them met first. As for Wendy's existence, Miss SIM Elysia smiled.

"Oh my, what a cute beauty?"

Wendy was the introverted type, even after becoming a Herrscher, her nature hadn't changed.

The two started chatting.

Of course, this inevitably led to…

Mr. "Jiang Qiao," left aside, maintaining a smile as his cheeks gradually puffed up.

On purpose! Definitely on purpose!

Bad Jiang Qiao! Deliberately ignoring me, Elysia, right!

Even chatting so enthusiastically with another girl in front of me – watching SIM Elysia getting along with Wendy, the flames of anger in Pink Fat Woman's heart grew stronger, entering her Angry Elysia state.

—She also had some interest in Wendy, okay!

After coming to Felis's stall, she had also interacted a lot with Wendy, a companion she hadn't communicated much with before.

Unexpectedly...

After just a short while, this bad Jiang Qiao made his move!

This was a provocation, right! This was definitely a provocation!

—Watching her original fuming but with a smile on her face, SIM Elysia showed a subtle smile.

This scene fell into Pink Fat Woman's eyes.

Snap—!

It seemed like a certain string had snapped.

t he must get excited!