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Even though he already knew from the game that Firefly had been created as a weapon from the very start, and that her entire past before joining the Stellaron Hunters was nothing but tragedy—
Those were just words on a screen. Nothing could've prepared him for this. Now that he'd actually experienced Firefly's memories himself, felt what she felt, it hit completely differently. Swarms of bugs blotting out the sky, comrades falling one after another before her eyes… she'd gone through way, way too much.
This girl had been fighting those bugs from the moment she was born. That's because she was a weapon from birth—no, a consumable. Her fate had already been sealed: she'd die in battle, burning her life away like a spark on the battlefield, vanishing into smoke. Her whole life was just war and slaughter. It was only at the very end that she finally realized what life truly meant.
Just then, the silver-haired girl's eyelids trembled slightly, and she opened her eyes—those strange and beautiful eyes, blue on top, pink on the bottom.
Firefly stared at the boy in front of her, her mind suddenly overwhelmed by unfamiliar memories. Memories that weren't hers. Her once-innocent self now knew way more than she ever should have.
Meteor froze. He hadn't meant to enter someone else's mind and accidentally absorb their memories—it was incredibly rude. And now she was awake, and he was feeling seriously awkward.
And it wasn't just anyone—it was Firefly, his 2D waifu! All he could do was force a sheepish smile and stammer out, "S-sorry! You know how it is, I didn't mean to—kinda got dragged in. Totally out of my control."
Firefly was a Molten Knight who'd slayed more bugs than he could count—ruthless and decisive. She could crush his poor little soul body with a flick of her finger.
He was just a regular guy. Firefly, on the other hand, was a Pathstrider. And this was her mental space—her turf. If she wanted to kill him, he'd be toast.
Firefly stood in silence for a moment, quietly taking in the foreign memories now flooding her mind. Then she slowly stood up. Almost on reflex, she raised a hand to shield her chest, glanced at Meteor, and gave him a gentle smile. In a soft voice, she said, "Hi. I'm a Glamor Iron Cavalry Unit, Firefly IV model, AR-26710."
Then she tilted her head slightly, half-smiling. "Also known as your 2D waifu—Firefly."
BOOM.
That line hit Meteor like a bolt from the blue. He stood there like he'd been electrocuted, his face twitching as he awkwardly mumbled, "So you… already…"
Firefly nodded. "Yup. I know everything now, babe."
Meteor clutched his chest and twitched again. Dang, she was good. There was no way pre-Stellaron Hunter Firefly should know all this. He was sure of it now—she'd gotten his memories too.
"You're not mad? That I changed your fate?"
His voice was bitter.
Firefly shook her head and smiled. "It's not your fault. And who says it's a bad thing? Honestly, with the way things were going, I probably wouldn't have made it out alive anyway."
Meteor fell silent. Knowing how Mihoyo liked to write tragedies, yeah… Firefly definitely could've been killed off.
"It's already done. No turning back now. But I don't blame you. In fact, your memories helped me a lot. I figured out a lot of things."
Firefly smiled softly. It was the kind of smile that warmed your heart.
Meteor stood frozen for several seconds. His 2D waifu was standing right there, smiling at him like it was a dream.
"So?" she asked playfully, shielding her chest with one hand and waving the other in front of his face, her eyes curving into crescents. "Do you prefer the real me or the 2D version?"
Meteor dazedly replied, "You're beautiful either way."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the room went completely silent. After a long pause, he finally snapped out of it and chuckled awkwardly, "Uh… I'll just go check something real quick."
And with that, he bolted from Firefly's mind space like he was running for his life.
"Pfft."
Firefly giggled softly behind her hand, watching him flee. But if you looked closely, you could still see her ears turning slightly red.
Back in the real world, Meteor stared, dumbfounded, at the silver-haired loli—who looked about three or four years old—in front of him. He muttered in disbelief, "Can someone tell me where my tall, gorgeous, emotionally deep, perfectly built Firefly went?!"
Firefly shot him a glare. Sure, it was technically a compliment, but she couldn't bring herself to feel happy about it.
She looked at her tiny arms and legs, completely devastated. She'd been in a teenager's body her whole life—never once experienced childhood. This sudden change left her totally lost.
"It's probably this space," Meteor muttered, gazing thoughtfully into the dark void beyond the starlight. That strange pulling sensation from before was gone now. Looked like they'd escaped that whirlpool-like environment.
And Firefly's sudden regression was definitely linked to that space.
Seeing her sulking little face, Meteor tried to comfort her with a smile. "Don't worry, Firefly. Actually, this might be a good thing—it could help with your Entropy Loss Syndrome."
Firefly was part of the Glamor Iron Cavalry. Every soldier in that unit was a genetically modified baby. To prevent their strongest weapons from being stolen by other nations, the Glamor people implanted a kind of "failsafe" into their genes—a condition called Entropy Loss Syndrome.
People with this condition gradually fall apart on a molecular level. They don't show obvious symptoms. They can still walk, talk, and fight. But everything slows down. Just a tiny bit at first. Then more, and more… until the world becomes blurry and indistinguishable from dreams. Reality and illusions both crumble.
So yeah, every Iron Cavalry soldier was a disposable weapon. Their lives were limited—and Firefly was no exception. Even though she'd been reborn, broken past her original limits, Entropy Loss still haunted her.
Now, though, with her body turned back into a child's, her life had likely been extended. At least for now, she didn't have to worry about fading away in front of Meteor.
Firefly nodded. She wanted to live. She wanted to live freely. Having a child's body might actually be a good thing—her old body probably wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway.
Meteor squatted down to look her in the eyes, smiling. "Firefly, if we make it to the end of this journey and I'm still around, let's find a way to cure your Entropy Loss together. The world's huge, the universe is even bigger—there has to be a way."
The old Firefly, before gaining self-awareness, only knew how to fight. But now, after awakening and getting Meteor's memories, her will to survive was stronger than ever.
"Yeah. I'm not giving up. And you shouldn't either. I'll help you find a way to rebuild your body."
Meteor couldn't help but chuckle at the serious expression on her tiny face.
Little Firefly… was pretty darn cute too.
"....."