Should it be considered unexpected, or not unexpected at all? When Shun realized he had arrived in an environment similar to the Sea of Quanta, he could more or less guess what was going to happen next.
Even though he knew how difficult it was to encounter another person in the vast and boundless Sea of Quanta, Shun had a strange premonition. He was definitely going to meet a certain deep sea girl.
He… was definitely going to meet Seele. Sure enough, right after Shun confirmed that the place he had arrived in was indeed the Sea of Quanta, a familiar voice called out to him.
The person who stopped Shun was, without any surprise, Seele Vollerei who had already fallen into the Sea of Quanta a long time ago. Shun put his hands on his hips, turned around helplessly, and looked at the short-haired girl not far from him. The girl's large sapphire-like eyes were filled with timidity.
Shun wasn't surprised. This was exactly what Seele was like at this point in time she hadn't yet reconciled with the dark Seele inside her. At this stage, Seele had none of the maturity or understanding she would develop later; she was still a complete child. But that wasn't her fault after all, Seele was only 13 years old right now.
At the same time, the Seele of the Sea of Quanta was one of the three great "free gift" kings of Honkai Impact 3rd, alongside Mei in Nagazora City and Kiana in Arc City. This was arguably the most perfect moment to take advantage of her vulnerability. However, as a righteous gentleman, Shun naturally had no intention of doing anything underhanded by exploiting a girl whose mental defenses were lowered.
Under Shun's scrutinizing gaze, Seele felt a little scared. Her slightly trembling body resembled a startled fawn. But when she remembered that Shun was the only living person she had encountered in the Sea of Quanta besides the other her, the urge to flee disappeared.
No matter whether he had ill intentions or could actually help her at the very least, she couldn't afford to stagnate here. Seele mustered her courage. Her jade feet, wrapped in loafers and purple knee-high socks, paused for a moment before she stepped forward.
"Excuse me… are you the little girl Seele Vollerei who lives at Cocolia's orphanage?" Shun looked at the approaching Seele and showed a delighted expression.
Holy crap, what the fuck! Shun's silence had been deafening, but when he spoke, it was earth-shattering. Perhaps Seele hadn't surfed the internet before falling into the Sea of Quanta and didn't know what "doxxing" meant, but the chilling sensation still triggered bad memories for her.
It was probably when she was seven years old. All the other kids at the orphanage had stopped wetting the bed, but for some reason, Seele woke up one day to find her sheets wet. Terrified, she tried to hide the wet sheets, but Cocolia Mama still found them.
In the end, Cocolia held up Seele's wet sheets in front of all the children in the orphanage for public execution, made Seele come forward and admit her mistake, and punished her by taking away desserts for a whole week.
Thinking of this, Seele couldn't help but shiver. Her jade feet, as finely carved as mutton-fat jade, seemed ready to dig a hole straight into the Sea of Quanta.
But the current situation didn't give Seele time to feel embarrassed. Opportunities had to be seized by oneself. Shun was the only living person she had met here he was her lifeline. Even if grabbing this straw would leave her hands bloody, Seele wouldn't let go.
"H-hello… I am Seele Vollerei. This year… this year I am 13 years old… I live at Cocolia Mama's orphanage. My favorite things are Bronya-neesan and Homu. U-um, this mister… may I ask what your name is?"
Seele had used every ounce of effort in her life to stammer out these words, giving the impression that she might faint at any second. It made Shun involuntarily recall Seele's attack animations in the game always swaying unsteadily, as if she would collapse the next moment.
Seeing Shun remain silent for so long, Seele began to panic. Just as she was hesitating whether to run away first, a voice from deep within gave her a shot of courage.
"Seele, you can trust him for now." The voice came from Seele's Stigmata the other [Seele] speaking from the bottom of her heart.
On the other side, Shun seemed to realize that his prolonged silence was unintentionally putting pressure on Seele, so he spoke up as well: "Don't worry, Seele. I'm here to save you."
Hearing Shun's words, tears welled up in the corners of Seele's eyes. In the more than one month since entering the Sea of Quanta, Seele had struggled to survive every day under the iron hooves of the Quantum Shadows. This high-pressure life had gone on for so long that Seele had once believed she would never escape the Sea of Quanta.
She had gradually forgotten the way back to the entrance while fleeing from Quantum Shadows. Just when Seele had fallen into despair, Shun a seemingly mature and reliable adult suddenly appeared in the Sea of Quanta and said such words. Tears poured from Seele's eyes like floodgates had opened.
Shun simply stood there watching Seele cry. This child had truly suffered in the Sea of Quanta. Letting her vent her emotions was fine. Shun remembered that later in the story, when Seele reunited with Bronya, they had hugged each other and cried for a long time.
"How about it? Had enough crying? We still need to figure out how to get out of here. Speaking of which, this is my first time in this place too I'll need to hear your opinion as the senior who's been here longer. Oh, right my name is Shun."
Seele wiped her tears, rubbed her reddened eyes, trotted forward to Shun, and said, "Yes, Shun-oniichan."
"But Seele doesn't know the way around here either, so I might not be able to help oniichan… Please don't abandon Seele, okay?" Seele said timidly, afraid that if she proved useless, Shun would leave her behind.
Shun ruffled Seele's soft, pleasant-feeling hair and said, "Silly girl, how could I possibly abandon you? Don't worry." Honestly, what kind of gods would dislike Seele in this world? It wasn't that art-student version of Seele the one in front of Shun right now was a genuine little angel.
"Come with me. We'll talk while we walk. Right now, I should still have a certain level of self-preservation ability here." Shun was currently at the level of an A-rank Valkyrie from the Second Honkai era he should be able to fight Emperor-class Honkai beasts. Combined with the boosts from his half-activated Stigmata, he felt he could at least match Tsubaki-neesan.
There was also one small ability that came with the half-awakening of his Stigmata: Imaginary-Real conversion. It might sound hard to understand, but mentioning a certain story about "Shenwei concealing tears" would probably make it clear enough.
As for whether Imaginary-side abilities could be used in the Sea of Quanta well, just look at what's above Shun's head. The Current Era's real world already exists in the crevice between Imaginary and Quantum; many bubble worlds are even controlled by the Cocoon, and Honkai beasts exist here too.
In short, as long as Shun didn't recklessly charge ahead, walking through the Sea of Quanta with Seele was completely feasible.
"Seele, follow him. This guy has some skill." The [Seele] inside her body urged her again. She was clearly the one who trusted people the least so why was she acting so unusually today?
Seele put away her doubts and clung tightly behind Shun, terrified of being left behind.