'Jingliu' made a grim discovery—Aha had done something to her video that she couldn't undo.
No matter how many times she tried to edit it, the narration would revert right back. It seemed Aha was dead set on being the narrator.
What about the rest of it?
In despair, she scrubbed the timeline back and forth, only to find Aha's own likeness had vanished entirely.
Meanwhile, the depictions of the other Aeons had undergone a dramatic transformation—their presence elevated to a level far beyond what Jingliu had originally crafted.
Before, the Aeons in the video had merely echoed 'Jingliu''s own impressions, limited by the software's rendering power—only faintly brushing the edges of their divine essence.
But now, after whatever Aha had done, the visuals transcended the constraints of hardware and code.
Had 'Jingliu' not seen an Aeon in person before, she might have believed the Aeons in the video were real.
And it wasn't just the ones shown on screen—even the names of those only mentioned seemed to carry a whisper of divine weight.
Aha!!! Look what you've done!!
'Jingliu''s heart began to race. At this point… could she even release this video?
She stared at the drastically altered footage. Was something like this really meant to be seen by everyone? Would the Interastral Peace Corporation even allow it to spread across the cosmos?
And that sequence about the Aeon of Nihility… Would it infect viewers with void-like despair?
Even though 'Jingliu' had watched it several times without triggering any system safeguards, who knew how ordinary people would react?
No. She couldn't use Aha's version for the Nihility segment. The others were fine—awe-inspiring was one thing. But being "awed" by Nihility could genuinely kill someone.
Luckily, Aha seemed to care only about being the narrator and didn't stop 'Jingliu' from altering other parts.
After replacing the Nihility section, that portion stood out a bit awkwardly—but there was no helping it.
Better for the video to feel uneven than for the audience to abruptly… expire.
With Aha's intervention, there wasn't much room left to tweak the visuals anyway.
As for the soundtrack, there were similar free, open-source tools available. Recreating the melody in her head wasn't hard at all.
But the real question remained: Should she upload it?
Yes!
Things had already gone this far—how could she hold back now? Every character featured was an Aeon. Aha had even invited itself as the narrator. Honestly, it lifted a weight off her conscience.
It's all Aha's fault!
Even if the IPC tried to block it, Aha could probably handle it. And if Aha couldn't, she could always ask Herta for help. One way or another, this video was going out.
The whole production process took about ten days. With the video and music complete, only the voiceover remained before she could publish it.
Aha didn't show up again after that.
As for 'Jingliu', seeing that there was still about half of the role duration left, she decided to end the performance early.
She'd had a good rest these past couple of weeks—enough to feel refreshed.
Besides, any leftover time wouldn't go to waste.
With a faint stir of intention, Jingliu's form dissolved, and in her place stood a drastically shorter girl with twin tails, dressed in a red Japanese style dress.
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming]
[Lifespan: 450 years (paused) + 30 (role-play)]
[Available Forms: Big Herta (available), Acheron (charged: 100%), Celenova (charged: 64.4%), Jingliu (charged: 50.4%), Ruan Mei (charged: 28.4%), Sparkle (active)]
[Available Draws: 0 (48.6%)]
[Reward Summary: By playing the role of Jingliu, locating the original and curing her Mara-struck state, minor abilities of Jingliu can be obtained.]
--+--
The rewards this time weren't abundant, but that made sense—she really hadn't done all that much.
But her next role would be different.
'Sparkle' glanced down at her flat chest and her newly lowered line of sight, feeling a little disbelief.
"…Sparkle, you're this short? Are you even 140cm tall?"
She stood beside the table and measured herself again. 'Sparkle' could hardly believe it.
Though in the game, all young female characters shared a similar model, making height differences unnoticeable—and this was her first time playing a youthful character—but still… wasn't Sparkle only a bit taller than Bailu and Hook in the game?
Pressing her lips together, 'Sparkle' couldn't hold back a laugh. So the famous "Director Sparkle" really was a little gremlin of a girl.
But despite her lack of height, Sparkle's abilities were nothing to scoff at. She could feel the power coiled within that small frame.
Not that it mattered much—this time, playing Sparkle wasn't about fighting.
For the first time, 'Sparkle' climbed onto a chair and sat down, only to find her feet didn't reach the floor. They dangled in midair, lightly swinging and making a soft tap-tap against her shoes.
What a novel experience.
Amused, she opened the cosmos's largest video-sharing platform, registered a new account, set a kaleidoscope as her profile picture, and chose "Director Sparkle" as her display name.
While waiting for verification, Sparkle started recording the voiceover for the video.
Say what you will about Sparkle's height, her acting skills were truly impressive.
Honestly, Bai Ming herself wasn't entirely sure what the tone of that silver-haired woman—the one Aha had frozen in the video—should sound like.
But the moment Director Sparkle delivered the lines, it was as if the character herself were speaking.
Mature, elegant, enthralling—yet underpinned by a warmth that kept it from sounding haughty.
Even though her face was hidden behind a mask, Sparkle felt: This is exactly how she should sound!
"Let's make an exchange… a trade of 'memories'…"
Starting from a black screen, the narration was clearly captured by the recording equipment.
Though her appearance had changed, 'Sparkle' didn't alter the script. It still began with "memory"—after all, only Memory was suited for such a task.
"Pray, lend your ears… to the whispers of the stars."
As the video progressed, the first card was drawn, and the background music shifted dramatically—becoming solemn and grand.
The name and symbol of Destruction appeared on screen.
So far, there was no unified set of icons for Paths and Aeons. Not that 'Sparkle' minded—she just used the ones from the game, not bothering to design new ones.
The visuals continued—from Destruction, to The Hunt, to Erudition… Each Aeon appeared with a unique, overwhelming presence, so vivid it felt as though the viewer was being gazed upon by the Aeons themselves.
Aha really went all out.
So, when the voiceover was complete and the video fully finished, in the description box upon upload, she boldly wrote:
Directed & Special Appearance By: Aha
--+--