Mei pushed up her glasses and slid the stack of documents recording Kiana's astonishing data into her briefcase.
"The data collection is perfect, even exceeding my expectations."
She glanced at Kiana, who was chatting so fervently with Lewis that they looked like they were about to become sworn siblings, and then at Su Yu, who was still wiping cold sweat from his forehead nearby.
"Leave the remaining formalities to me. As for this distinguished disciple of the Tai Xu Sect's ID card..."
"Go take the photo first."
"After all, to live legally in this world, one needs a smiling face to stick on their documents."
She extended a slender finger, pointing towards the photo studio draped with blue curtains on the other side of the lobby.
Lewis also leaned in, her large hand, calloused from years of pumping iron, unceremoniously patting Su Yu on the shoulder—
Su Yu felt half his body instantly sink five centimeters, his bones protesting in agony.
It was basically a repeat offense.
"Leave the Vigilante ID to me! In a few days, I'll have someone send the ID and the uniform over to you together."
"Don't forget, come spar often!"
Bidding farewell to these two busy individuals with powerful auras, Su Yu led Kiana to the photo area of the registration hall.
Although this wasn't her first time facing a camera—after all, she had just experienced that 'Social Death Live Stream' watched by the whole internet last night.
But that was for entertainment. This time, it was for an ID card, a serious legal document.
For Kiana, this was like a maiden getting on the bridal sedan chair—a completely first-time experience.
More importantly, this meant she would thoroughly bid farewell to the heavy hat of being 'undocumented' and truly become a legal resident of this world.
This sense of ritual made her involuntarily tense up, to the point where she started walking with her arm and leg on the same side moving together.
"Come, little girl, sit here."
The photographer was a kindly middle-aged uncle. He pointed to a small stool covered with a red cloth.
"Look at the lens and smile."
Kiana sat down stiffly, hands on her knees, back straight as a ramrod, looking as if she were undergoing a tax audit.
She stared into the pitch-black lens, and what subconsciously surfaced in her mind were the cold, grim expressions she wore during countless nights facing surveillance cameras and drones while fleeing and wandering.
That was the ferocity she had to disguise herself with for survival.
Thus, the second before the flash went off, her eyes instantly became sharp, her lips pressed into a straight line, and her entire being radiated a murderous aura that screamed 'strangers keep away'.
"Click."
The uncle looked at the face on the display screen, which looked like it was about to jump out of the photo and kill someone the next second, and fell silent.
If this photo were stuck on an ID card, she would probably be interrogated eight hundred times by SWAT just taking a high-speed train, and she'd have to go through special channels just to pass security checks.
"Um... little girl."
The uncle wiped his sweat.
"We are taking an ID photo, a Good Citizen ID, not a Class A Wanted Warrant... Can you be a little softer? Even just a little bit?"
Kiana blinked in bewilderment, the murderous aura on her body instantly dispersing, replaced by confusion.
Softer?
She tried to twitch the corners of her mouth, struggling to imitate the smiles of ordinary girls in her memories, or even her own once carefree and innocent smile.
But she couldn't do it. Facing the black hole of the camera lens, she always felt like she was facing a gun muzzle judging her.
The result was a fake smile that was uglier than crying and full of threatening implications.
It was like a tiger trying to please a human but forgetting to retract its fangs.
The uncle's hands were shaking.
Is this girl... really here to get an ID? She isn't here to smash up the place, is she? Or is she a mob boss's daughter here to experience common life?
Su Yu, standing behind the photographer, couldn't watch anymore.
He knew that Kiana didn't want to smile; she had simply forgotten how to show her true self in a 'safe' environment.
Those days of wandering were like a thick layer of concrete, wrapping her gentleness and innocence layer by layer under a hard shell, making her forget how to be soft.
In that case... he would help her smash that shell.
He glanced at the countdown on his phone.
The 'Absolute Freedom Time' gifted by the System had a few minutes left.
That was enough.
Su Yu quietly circled behind the photographer, positioning himself directly in Kiana's line of sight.
He cleared his throat, and facing the girl who was staring solemnly at the lens, he struck an extremely distorted pose.
Left hand on his hip, right hand raised high above his head, bending his waist like a gorilla.
Then, he started to wiggle.
That was the legendary 'Eighth Section of National Radio Calisthenics for Primary and Secondary Students—The Cool-down Exercise,' performed by him looking like a cramping octopus.
Kiana's pupils dilated slightly.
What is he doing?!
That Senior Brother who usually planned everything, loved to roast people, and acted cool; the Su Yu who could talk eloquently in front of Dr. Mei to help her get household registration...
At this moment, he was puffing out his cheeks, crossing his eyes, and waving his hands wildly above his head like seaweed.
This is... too stupid!
This is already a fighter jet among idiots, isn't it?!
The layer of hard ice named 'guard' shattered instantly in this moment due to the absurdity.
"Pfft."
Kiana couldn't hold it back; her tightly pressed lips instantly surrendered.
That kind of amused laughter coming from the heart spilled out from the bottom of her eyes like spring water.
Her originally sharp heterochromatic pupils curved into two beautiful crescents, and her tense shoulders relaxed.
Her whole person radiated a softness and liveliness belonging to a girl of her age.
It was a smile revealed only after letting down all defenses, directed solely at the idiot who disregarded his image just to make her happy.
"Click—!"
The shutter sound rang out, capturing the moment perfectly.
This instant of tenderness and shyness was perfectly frozen on the film.
"Good! That's great!"
The photographer shouted excitedly, nodding repeatedly as he looked at the photo on the display.
"That's the feeling! Although still a bit shy, this is right! How pretty! Now this looks like a teenage girl!"
Kiana lowered her head in embarrassment, her cheeks slightly red, like a ripe apple.
She watched Su Yu stop that silly movement and flash her a 'Done' hand sign, and a warm sourness welled up in her heart.
He really is... an idiot.
But, he's an idiot that one can't help but like.
Next was the form-filling session.
The two came to the counter, and Su Yu took the 'Special Population Information Registration Form'.
"Name: Kiana Kaslana."
"Age..."
Su Yu was actually a bit stumped by the age column. He looked Kiana up and down.
He thought about it and finally had Kiana fill in an age that was neither too high nor too low.
16 years old.
Su Yu actually had some selfish motives; he hoped that after Kiana settled down in this world, she could continue her unfinished studies.
Although what she had to learn in this world wasn't combat techniques or fighting the Honkai, but ABCs and arithmetic problems.
A person living in this world always needs to find some goals to realize their life's value.
Unlike a guy like him who just muddled along, happy to play games and get by day to day.
Kiana should have a more beautiful life. Or rather—
Su Yu hoped she could have a more beautiful life.
At least make some friends her own age—instead of being tied to an 'uncle' like him every day.
Although Su Yu felt he wasn't that old, there was indeed a solid age gap with Kiana.
"Why isn't it eighteen?"
But Kiana seemed a bit dissatisfied.
"I'm not a child anymore!"
Su Yu glanced at the Kiana before him. How should he put it? If Durandal stood here and said she was eighteen, he might actually believe it.
Because the Goose is real, um... let's just say she developed too well.
But Kiana at this age... let's just say she still lacked persuasiveness.
Su Yu fudged an excuse to get past it and looked at the next column.
"Home Address..."
Kiana's pen tip stopped at the 'Home Address' column.
Her hand holding the pen trembled slightly.
Home.
This word was too luxurious for her—luxurious like an unreachable dream.
In those wandering years, the ruins of Arc City were home, the dark bridge tunnels were home, the temporary camps that could be attacked by Honkai Beasts at any moment were also home.
As long as she could lie down, as long as she could hide from the rain, anywhere was home, and nowhere was home.
She had no fixed abode, nor a place she could return to.
In this strange world, she was even more of a complete 'outsider'.
What to fill in? Mount Taixu?
She subconsciously raised her head and looked at Su Yu beside her.
That look was like a kitten lost in heavy rain, wet, carrying helplessness and longing.
Su Yu seemed to have anticipated this moment long ago.
He didn't look at Kiana; instead, he naturally extended a finger and tapped on that blank line.
"Write it."
His voice was light, but very steady.
"Arc City, Happiness Community, Building 3, Room 302."
That was Su Yu's home.
It was also the place where they lived together now.
Kiana was stunned.
Although she had been staying at his place these past few days, that was a different matter from writing it down in black and white on an official document.
Writing it down meant... that place was truly her 'home'.
No longer a temporary shelter, no longer a lodging where she could be kicked out at any moment.
But a place she could belong to in the legal sense.
A place she could righteously return to when she felt wronged or tired.
"...Is it really okay?"
She asked softly, her voice carrying uncertainty.
"I... I'm very troublesome. I'll break your coffee table, I eat a lot, and I'll cause you trouble..."
"What silly things are you saying."
Su Yu smiled and tapped the table lightly with his finger.
"You are my Little Junior Sister; if you don't live at my house, where would you live? Do you want to sleep under a flyover?"
"Besides, rent is so expensive these days. You're not happy about getting free rent? Is there such a fool?"
"Hurry up and write, there are people waiting in line behind us. Don't make them wait."
Kiana bit her lip, her eyes feeling a bit hot.
She lowered her head, looking at that finger guiding the way. That was the signpost guiding her home.
The big rock in her heart seemed to land gently at this moment.
Anchor.
Is this the so-called anchor?
Not just a physical distance limit, but a bond of the soul.
As long as this address existed, as long as this person existed, no matter how big or strange this world was, she had a place to return to.
As long as he was there, she was no longer a ghost.
She took a deep breath and gripped the pen tightly.
Then, stroke by stroke, with incomparable seriousness, she wrote down that string of address on the line.
Arc City, Happiness Community, Building 3, Room 302.
When she finished the last stroke, she felt that words truly had a special kind of magic. Clearly just black characters on white paper, yet they made her feel a warmth like the winter sun.
"Done."
She put down the pen and handed the form to Su Yu.
Although she still maintained that tsundere expression on her face, she quietly shuffled half a step closer to Su Yu, her shoulder lightly touching his arm.
This time, it wasn't because of the System's safety distance restriction.
It was because she wanted to lean on him.
Just like a boat wants to lean on the harbor.
Not long after.
After the process was completed.
When the ID card, still retaining the warmth of the lamination, was handed to Kiana, she lowered her head, her fingers rubbing that small address line over and over again.
[Address: Arc City, Happiness Community, Unit 3, Room 302]
This was just a combination of boring Chinese characters and numbers. Placed in any map app, it was a residential point that couldn't be found unless zoomed in to the maximum level.
But in Kiana's eyes, this string of characters seemed to have some kind of physical weight, pressing heavily in her palm, yet lightly lifting up her heart.
It was also the instant this line of text was settled that the air before Su Yu distorted slightly.
The System, which usually only broadcasted distance warnings, righteously instructed Su Yu to do inhuman things, or spoke in classic riddles, popped up—even accompanied by a cheap confetti effect.
[Congratulations Host! Triggered Hidden Side Achievement — "Homecoming"]
[Achievement Description: The wandering soul is no longer helpless. Sometimes, a legal identity document soothes the human heart more than any divine weapon. You gave her a name, and you also gave her a place to belong.]
[System Comment: Many years later, Su Yu, already a King of Entertainment, will still involuntarily recall that afternoon, and that System which urged him like an old father to bind the High-Quality Valkyrie. If he could do it all over again, he would definitely shout that phrase "Adoptive Father is above me" to the System without looking back.]
Looking at this consistently improper comment, Su Yu secretly rolled his eyes at the sky.
Get lost, are you playing Fiction Historian here?
[Reward Distributed: Home System Unlocked (Lv.1)]
Su Yu raised an eyebrow, his gaze quickly scanning the small print description below.
[Effect Description: Within the range of the registered address (i.e., Happiness Community, Unit 3, Room 302), all distance restrictions are lifted. Kiana Kaslana will obtain "Absolute Freedom"; even if the Host goes out, this individual will not disappear due to the loss of the anchor.]
[Remark: Finally, you don't have to count seconds for the beautiful girl by the toilet anymore. Are you very excited?]
Looking at the bold red font on the light screen that jumped with a villain's smugness, Su Yu only felt his temples throbbing.
If the System had a physical body, he would absolutely deliver a standard Shoryuken to it without hesitation right now.
But the next second, this urge to roast it was drowned out by a tsunami-like ecstasy.
Lift distance restrictions? Absolute freedom at home?
What did this mean?
It meant he could finally throw that white-haired dumpling, who always kicked the quilt in the middle of the night and had terrible sleeping posture, out of his bed!
It meant no longer living in fear because of that little distance limit, and not having to be conjoined twins blushing together when getting up at night!
Most, most, most importantly.
It meant the Prime Minister could finally rest, and he didn't have to recite the 'Chu Shi Biao' at the bathroom door every time!
Human rights! These were belated basic human rights!
This unscrupulous System, which usually did inhuman things, didn't speak human language, and seemed to exist solely to watch the fun, suddenly looked handsome in Su Yu's eyes at this moment—although it was likely an illusion, it didn't stop him from wanting to kowtow to the mastermind behind the scenes.
Su Yu took a deep breath and pinched his thigh hard.
Can't laugh.
Absolutely can't laugh.
This is a police station, surrounded by uniformed officers and citizens here for serious business.
If he jumped up now like a lunatic who won five million in the lottery and shouted "I am finally free," even Captain Lewis, no matter how protective she was, would probably detain him for twenty-four hours as a dangerous element with unstable mental status.
More importantly, Kiana was right next to him.
That girl was carefully tucking the ID card into her inner pocket, her movements so gentle it was like she was hiding a fragile gem.
If he told Kiana about this now, she might jump three feet high and smash the ceiling first.
Then, not only would he have to add an extra column for compensation expenses in the monthly ledger, but his painstakingly built persona of a worldly hermit would also collapse.
Well, although that persona was already a bit broken, it still needed to be maintained slightly.
Su Yu feigned calmness and coughed, his gaze falling back to the light screen.
Below the reward column, there was another line of slightly lighter text, designed as if to deliberately pique curiosity.
[Hidden Mission Chain (II): Unlocked]
[Trigger Condition: Please explore on your own. Hint: Since you've given a nest, shouldn't you consider the soft furnishings in the nest? Or... some deeper bonds?]
Riddler, get out of Gotham!
Su Yu flipped a fierce middle finger in his heart.
This dog System was consistently unreliable. Aside from dropping the ball at critical moments, its greatest skill was this trick of speaking only half a sentence to make people scratch their hearts and livers.
However, even just that first reward was enough.
At least, the System's existence proved one thing—everything he had done, whether it was rushing proposals day and night, brazenly bamboozling Griseo and Lewis, or doing PR crisis management like a clown in the live stream, none of it was useless work.
That girl had truly taken root in this strange world because of his efforts.
That was enough.
After greeting Lewis, the two walked out of the police station.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the glass doors of the registration hall, spilling onto that freshly printed ID card that still carried a hint of warmth.
Kiana lowered her head, her fingers rubbing that small card over and over again.
Her fingertips slid over the hard laminate, feeling the raised texture on it.
"Name: Kiana Kaslana".
Not Subject K-423, not a wanted criminal, and not some descendant of ancient martial arts.
Just Kiana Kaslana.
The girl smiling somewhat shyly with gentle eyes in the photo was her.
The 'Happiness Community, Unit 3, Room 302' written in the address column was her home.
At this moment, that sense of nothingness that had long occupied her heart, that fear of being rejected by this world or erased as an anomaly at any time...
Seemed to finally crack open, allowing the golden sunlight to shine in.
She raised her head. In those heterochromatic eyes, the warm gold of the setting sun was reflected, as was the man in front of her who had been running around for her.
"Su Yu."
She called out softly, her voice a bit hoarse.
"Does this card... really mean that I belong... here?"
Su Yu stood beside her, still maintaining that subtle 1.5-meter distance.
He didn't approach to break this fragile moment belonging to her; he just looked at her quietly, his eyes gentle and firm.
"En."
He nodded, his voice not loud, but sounding like some kind of solemn oath.
"It's officially certified, stamped with a seal."
He watched the sunset shine on her silver-white hair, plating her with a layer of golden halo.
"Welcome to this world, Kiana Kaslana."
"From today on, you are no longer a ghost, no longer a rootless duckweed."
"You are a living person, a person who can walk openly on the streets, buy snacks, make friends, and pursue happiness."
Every word of this speech struck Kiana's heart.
That was the future she had longed for countless times but dared not hope for.
Her eyes felt a bit sour, and her vision became blurred.
But this time, she didn't cry.
Because this was a good day, the day of her rebirth. Tears were something best left to the past.
"Mhm!"
She nodded vigorously, forcing back the tear that was about to spill over.
Then, she raised her head, and facing Su Yu, facing this sky full of evening glow, she revealed a huge smile.
It was a smile even more brilliant and real than the one in the photo.
Her mouth corners rose high, revealing white teeth, her eyes curving into two new moons.
It was as if all the haze, all the heaviness, vanished into smoke at this moment, leaving only the purest joy and hope for the future.
That was a smile that only the carefree 'Paramecium' from back in St. Freya Academy would have.
The afterglow of the sunset reflected on her face.
That was the relief of finally seeing the dawn break after a long, long night.
"Click!"
A slight shutter sound rang out.
Kiana froze for a moment, blinked, and saw Su Yu holding his phone. The screen displayed that frozen moment of her smile just now.
"Hey! Why did you sneak a photo! It's ugly!"
"Where is it ugly?"
Su Yu looked at the phone screen, the corners of his mouth unable to stop rising.
The girl in the photo had light in her eyes and a smile on her lips, with the warm fireworks of the human world behind her.
This was probably the best-looking photo he had ever taken in his life.
"It's beautiful."
He said softly, his tone holding no teasing, only seriousness.
"Really beautiful."
He put the phone into his pocket and casually pressed the save button.
And silently swore in his heart—
This smile, no matter the price, he would use all his strength to protect.
He would never let it be obscured by haze again.
Although Kiana scolded him verbally and even made a move to grab it, there was no real anger in her eyes.
On the contrary, that feeling of being cherished and recorded added a trace of warmth to her heart.
"Alright, stop standing there foolishly."
Su Yu stretched, breaking this somewhat overly sentimental atmosphere.
"To celebrate that our family has gained a mouth... cough, gained a legal citizen, we're going to the supermarket for a big shopping spree tonight!"
"What do you want to eat? Potato chips? Happy Water? Or that... limited edition cup noodle you've been thinking about?"
Hearing the words 'Big Shopping Spree,' Kiana's attention was instantly diverted.
That little bit of shyness was immediately thrown to the nine heavens.
"I want to eat that!"
She pointed at the mall billboard in the distance, her eyes shining.
"Chocolate! And that very, very big bucket of ice cream!"
"Also... I want to buy that kind of pajamas with the Homu pattern! The one that fan mentioned during your live stream last time!"
"Okay, okay, okay, buy, buy, buy."
Su Yu shook his head helplessly, but his eyes were full of doting.
"As long as your wallet... oh no, as long as my wallet can hold up."
"Hmph, I'm a vigilante now!"
Kiana proudly waved the Vigilante ID in her hand.
"Wait until I get my bonus, I'll treat you to... to the most expensive cup noodles!"
"Then I really thank you..."
The two walked one after the other, their shadows overlapping under the setting sun.
No longer a lonely wanderer and a helpless feeder.
But as if they had become a true family.
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