Diary

I just started 애니, it’s speculative fiction! I was not expecting SF in this collection, I wonder how it will connect to judicial topics (if it does).

老後 was another story showing how little control women have over their own lives during the Showa period.

I finished the third story 완전범죄, it was a really engrossing legal thriller, and it ends with a chilling revelation. Thinking about it is really scary, especially since I could definitely see this happen in real life.

It’s surreal to think that random elements (like an overly zealous prosecutor, and a biased, prejudiced judge) can dramatically shift the course of a trial and lead to drastically different repercussions on the accused.

I did Eagle’s anecdote, I really don’t like the new format. If it’s only text to read, I would prefer to have the whole dialogue as static text rather than having it displayed line by line. The story was also not particularly engaging?

I remembered that I had a single unilog for the Promise of the Water banner, so I selected Hissabeth and used that single pull and got her!!
That’s insanely lucky!

I’ll need her for Noire I think, when she gets her euphoria

I remembered I wanted to try a new IT run with Odette (I was missing the last flower), but I was busy with other things, so my husband did it for me, and that’s a full flower clear!

He also showed me the Akasha alternative, Hexenzirkel, so I registered and realised I was top 2 on the 110ER Xiao leaderboard (I’m 14 right now on Akasha). So I decided to waste some more resources on Xiao to celebrate. I crafted and reshaped, but no surprise, didn’t get any upgrade. I’m tempting to just use everything on LNO, but I’m also coping on an Adepti set, so I should keep some elixirs and dusts just in case.

All of this to say, I’m motivated to get these resources in IT and SO. I absolutely must find time to try another fearless clear…

Xiao魈 xiāoC2 · Lv90

Talents

10/10/10

Weapon

支离轮光 zhī lí lún guāng (Fractured Halo)

Artifacts

长夜之誓 cháng yè zhī shì (Long Night's Oath) 4pc▸

ATK · Anemo DMG · CRIT DMG

FlowerHP 4,780+20

ATK 5.8% · HP 5.3% · CRIT DMG 18.7% · CRIT Rate 12.4%

PlumeATK 311+20

CRIT Rate 13.6% · ATK 4.7% · CRIT DMG 21.8% · HP 299

SandsATK 46.6%+20

CRIT Rate 9.7% · CRIT DMG 19.4% · ER 5.2% · ATK 19

GobletAnemo DMG 46.6%+20

CRIT Rate 15.9% · CRIT DMG 12.4% · DEF 6.6% · ATK 5.8%

CircletCRIT DMG 62.2%+20

ATK 13.4% · CRIT Rate 13.2% · DEF 5.1% · ER 5.2%

Stats

ATK 2,018 · CRIT Rate 89.1% · CRIT DMG 250.6% · ER 110.4%

I’m halfway through the third short story, 완전 범죄. It’s a really engrossing legal thriller, so tense! It shows the difference between accidental negligence and murder by omission, the latter being rare and difficult to prove.

So far the short stories have all been engrossing and educational in a good way. I’m learning a lot about Korean law and judiciary through them. At the same time, the story feel so realistic, I have to remind myself that it’s fiction and not true crime, but it sadly feels like things that could happen irl.

The third short story, 孤独なカラス, was again not easy to digest, it also contains animal abuse. It shows the tragedy that can result when children who clearly exhibit signs of psychological problems and unusual behaviour are left alone and neglected.

The last short story 奇巧玩具店 by 夜間飛行 was so sweet, I loved it a lot! It pulls you in immediately, and I soon became as obsessed by the monthly toy prize as our young protagonists.
It was fun to go over all this games and other references from the 90s, I looked everything up and learnt a ton of Chinese names through it. The story does feel quite nostalgic, the old shopkeeper remembers how, when he was a child, they would create a whole world out of paper and stones, whereas in 1995, when the story takes place, children have a myriad of games to choose from. Now I guess, children are mostly using their phone?
In any case, the setting was extremely interesting, the characters were very likeable, and the mysteries were also very good!

I never knew the whole name of Ninja Turtles was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It’s crazy, I learnt 高蹺 when Sayu said Prune taught her how to use a hammer as stilts. I really thought this word would never be useful, who knew I’ll read a story filled with all sorts of games!

Walkers is a British snack brand and Monster Munch is a British corn snack.

The original Toy Story film released in 1995, but the footnote says it only released in 1996 in the UK.

I was confused by 爹地媽咪 (diē dì mā mī), it’s just Daddy and Mommy. It sounds obvious now!

The second short story was so intense! It felt more like reality than fiction, it’s scary to think someone who never harmed anyone can have their life legally destroyed by an unfortunate meeting of bad luck and bad timing. The character got investigated when she had done nothing wrong, but how the law is interpreted, the current public opinion, the police officer she faced, many factors changed a perfectly innocent citizen into a criminal.
It’s also easy to see how the right to file criminal complaints can be abused, it’s really scary.

I had to read a bit about 음란물 제조죄 in South Korea, the case described in the short story definitely sounds wild for a Western reader. The problem also comes from the formal complaint (고발) system here. What is described is really shocking and scary.
Also read a bit about Ma Kwang-soo, a poet and professor at university who got arrested and convincted under obscenity laws for publishing an erotic novel, 즐거운 사라. It was in the 90s, so not long ago.

Lan Yan, Iansan and Aino on the next banners! I have none of them C6, but I do have both five stars, so no risking anything.

I finished 沉默的曼德拉 by 赤蝟, and I found the mystery overall very good.

The magical powers of the mandrake are cleverly used in the plot, and overall, I found that the tricks, motivations and setting were all good. But personally, I don’t really like fantasy, so even though I enjoyed reading the short story, it also failed to completely get me involved. I would also say that the solution was very foreseeable right from the beginning. but even then, the investigation was pleasant to follow, and the characters’ motives felt solid and relatable.

I cleared with Mizuki and Xiao as usual!

The obvious distribution was to play Mizuki stellar swirl first half and Xiao second half, but I couldn’t pass the Baptist, at least not with Durin-Nicole. Breaking the pyro shield with anemo only took too long. I didn’t try FFXX but it would have been the same for the cryo shield. So I decided to play Xiao first half, with Odette for the stellar mechanics, and Mizuki lunar-charged second half with Durin for pyro support. It worked perfectly. Not only that, but I realised afterward that I had kept Mizuki on a 2p-2p crit. instead of moving her back to VV full EM.

First half:

Xiao

Odette

Faruzan

Xianyun

Second half:

Yumemizuki Mizuki

Durin

Columbina

Ineffa

The first short story was not an easy read, it’s about rape and how isolated the victim could be at a time where women were easily blamed for what happened. From the ruthless police officer who interrogates her to her own father blaming her, Natsue is surrounded by people pointing at her, and the aftermath of the rape are as damaging than the act itself.

The short story not only exposes how society completely dismisses Natsue as a person to ensure a bright future to the two perpetrators, but it also mainly centred on Natsue herself, how she’s forced to go on with her life without any help or support. The story is not about vengeance, but really about trauma.

Ah yes… I remember most of the books I read via the MWJ Award didn’t give pronunciation for names… and it’s also the case for あるフィルムの背景 even though it’s a new edition. So annoying…

I can’t be bothered, I’ll do a character list but pronunciation might be wrong, or I’ll just drop the lists all together, they’re short stories anyway, so probably won’t be needed.

I’m halfway through the fourth short story, 沉默的曼德拉 by 赤蝟, a murder mystery in a Hogwarts-like setting. Not really my cup of tea, but the story is enjoyable, albeit quite predictable (I’d be happy to be proven wrong though!). I like the world and the different characters positions and backgrounds, but it’s just that the genre and tone are not really for me.

Finished it!
3.x main story is my favourite so far, the three chapters were all incredibly good, and this final instalment was fantastic. Fast paced, a lot of suspense, a lot of meaningful confrontations, some characters having real development and going through important changes through the story… But I feel so utterly sad that we completely lost Merel…

3.x has given us the best main story, but the worst event stories in my opinion. I skipped several partially and one entirely. I’m also not hyped at all for the next two coming, 4.x can’t come soon enough.

Now I’m free to start Rhiannon story, but given that Eagles anecdote ends earlier, I’ll do that first.

I hadn’t planned on finishing the third short story today, but 白骨無聲 by 羅永昌 was impossible to put down. It was a really engrossing investigation led by a disillusioned reporter who is tasked with reviving an old case to serve political manoeuvres. But he decides to look for the truth behind the case, and it’s crazy how suspenseful the plot was, with a good mystery to start with and good twists until the end too.

But the short story also shines with its background, how it subtly integrates Hong Kong recent history into the plot, and shows how journalists have to deal both with their journal’s direction and their political ties, as well as dealing with their own moral choices when deciding to reveal the truth.

I really love the protagonist, 陳焱火. He is a really good detective, and his internal conflicts, his personality and experience make him a very complex and interesting character, especially for a short story.

The first short story was fantastic, it gives its name to the collection and displays a harsh critic of the judicial system in general, showing that sadly, uncovering the truth is not what the court and the judge are aiming at.
The plot was really good too, I found the short story very suspenseful, and the explanations about some aspects of the judiciary really well balanced and integrated into the plot.

I didn’t take much time to read today, so I only just started the first short story. Love the beginning!

I’m not sure I understood Alyosha’s kit completely, because from what I read, he doesn’t do much? Heals and taunt on burst and increase stellar superconduct damage by 20%? That’s about it? His healing scales with his Atk, but his own damage is buffed depending on his ER? And I have no idea how decent it is anyway… Oh well, I’m going to build him for IT first and then see if I want to max him later.

I finished the AQ, it was so so great. I thought Act II was really good already, but the end was even better? So many revelations too! I wasn’t expecting to learn so much so early!! Cutscenes were so great too.

Yeah this is the best opening we had, I’m sure. There was not a single scene that felt filler, the plot was so suspenseful, it’s the first time I finish an AQ so quickly and I can’t wait for the next Acts to release.

The only thing I did apart from playing Genshin’s AQ today is read the second story of the collection: 直到真相盛開 by 陌途. It was excellent, such a good mix of human drama and murder mystery. I initially thought the story will be mostly focused on family drama and be more of a journey towards acceptance and how to cope with suicide. But the short story surprised me with a really good murder mystery and a suspenseful investigation. Even if it was relatively short, I almost feel like I just finished a novel, like I spent more time with the characters than just 40 pages of e-reader. The author really managed to make me care for the characters right away while also offering an engrossing murder mystery.

I think I literally spent the whole Saturday playing Act II of the AQ… But it was so so great! I can’t believe we were in the middle of a closed circle murder mystery!! This was right up my alley, and the plot was so good too! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, I rarely get so engrossed in an AQ. The atmosphere was also great, I really liked how they used the picture and the effects added.

I haven’t finished yet, but at least I finished the big part. I don’t know how long it still is…

Oh and I just saw the thumbnail for the cutscene on the official channel… I can’t believe they managed to make a really good plot with a really good twist then decided to completely spoil it to all players (even the ones who stay away from social media as long as they’re doing the AQ) via their official channel. Why?!?? The patch’s been out for 10 days, it’s reasonable to think players still haven’t finished the story.

I finished an IT run I had started at the beginning of the month. Didn’t manage to get that last flower… but it was so close!!
Now I didn’t have Odette nor Alyosha, so I could give it another try during the week or next weekend. Odette is IT ready, even though she’s not fully built yet, but Alyosha is not… Just bringing Odette might be enough, especially since it’s SO artifact farming time right now, so I don’t know if I want to build Alyosha just yet. Oh and I can bring Lumine cryo too… If I find the time to do a new run, I’m sure getting full flowers won’t be a problem.

I did 克鲁日科娃‘s challenge, it was such a fun one! The mini game and the story were both really funny.

I’m so tempted to explore more and start the world quests… especially the one associated with Huimou, but I think it’s best to finish the AQ first… It probably doesn’t matter, but I just want to avoid having several things opened at the same time.

The end was so great! I didn’t expect this book to have such a good double mystery.

I finished the first short story, 無尾巷底左邊那個房子 by 四弄一號, it was really great! There’s a double mystery: a good murder case and the identity of our mysterious narrator. I love the humour, and the end was very good too.

I’m halfway through the first short story, and it’s a very intriguing start!

Finished! The end was good, but I also didn’t find the book particularly shocking or scary…

Keeping the end for tomorrow!

I originally planned to go through 2 chapters and then play Genshin, but I ended up playing until chapter 22. It was so engrossing! I don’t know how many chapters there are in total, but I think I did the final boss? I’m glad we don’t need to farm it, because the animations are so long on this one.

I’m playing a bit everyday, just progressing one or two scenes at a time, but I have to say it again: the plot is really really good so far (I just finished the council part). For once, they managed to make the story really suspenseful, with a lot of mystery.

I enjoy Genshin story in general, but I also don’t find it the most suspenseful most of the time (like there will be a bad guy, and we’re going to defeat them), but here I can’t wait to know how it will unfold.

It’s crazy that Reverse 1999 current story is as suspenseful and engrossing and both happen at the same time, whereas recent patches were extremely boring in both games to me (AQ Act X and the Enigma story for example).

Finished it! It took me almost a month. In the end, I never really cared for the characters, apart from Wong Yuen-man, so the last story that was more on a personal level left me rather indifferent. I think that overall, I was just tired of reading this book.

The book is really good, but every time I pick it up I get mad at the digital version.

I love the story so so much, there are so many fronts and confrontations, and it’s really cool when everyone fights together.

I don’t know if this patch’s story is easier to follow or if my Chinese has improved, but I find it very easy to read. I’ve always struggled with Reverse 1999 stories, they’re so abstract sometimes or super specialised in one field. It sometimes feels like reading an academic paper… So some stories have been a real struggle to play in Chinese. I especially find everything related to Laplace a pain to understand. Even in English I’m not sure I follow everything, and I’m not interested in the researchers’ discussions anyway, so the stories focused entirely on Laplace have been my least favourites.

But On Another’s Sorrow is Genshin level so far (in terms of language difficulty).

I tried a 2p/2p on Mizuki, I’ve been playing around with the pieces I have, I’m not sure which ones are the best. Is it better to have more EM or more crit? What about ER? Her burst will trigger more swirls so it can’t be bad? But I probably can’t burst every rotation with 120 ER anyway, so it might be better to build no ER at all and focus on crit… ?

Yumemizuki Mizuki梦见月瑞希 mèng jiàn yuè ruì xīC3 · Lv90

Talents

10/10/10

Weapon

寝正月初晴 qǐn zhēng yuè chū qíng (Sunny Morning Sleep-In)

Artifacts

晨星与月的晓歌 chén xīng yǔ yuè de xiǎo gē (Aubade of Morningstar and Moon) 2pc + 流浪大地的乐团 liú làng dà dì de yuè tuán (Wanderer's Troupe) 2pc▸

EM · EM · CRIT Rate

FlowerHP 4,780+20

ATK 18 · CRIT Rate 9.7% · CRIT DMG 20.2% · EM 16

PlumeATK 311+20

EM 63 · ER 12.3% · CRIT DMG 13.2% · CRIT Rate 7.0%

SandsEM 187+20

CRIT Rate 7.0% · CRIT DMG 14.0% · ATK 29 · HP 717

GobletEM 187+20

ATK 16 · CRIT DMG 20.2% · HP 9.9% · CRIT Rate 6.2%

CircletCRIT Rate 31.1%+20

HP 4.1% · EM 40 · ER 14.9% · CRIT DMG 13.2%

Stats

EM 1,032 · CRIT Rate 66.0% · CRIT DMG 130.8% · ER 127.2%

Getting there!

I really need to do something with 千禧黑夜… The stories are all fine, some are suspenseful, and once I start one it’s usually okay. But each part of the novel was a different story, and chapter 1 of the last part was also a somewhat independent story, and it looks like chapter 2 will start yet a different one, so it’s harder to find motivation to pick up the book than if it were a continuous plot. Though I’m sure things will echo each other in the end, and everything might end up being linked.

I really want to finish the book this week. I could try one chapter per day, but the lengths vary. In any case, I just need to focus and just read this book, and be done with it.

Let’s do this!

Finished part 2!

I tried playing Mizuki stellar-swirl with Odette, and it was insane!! Odette is not even built yet…
So reading her kit, you can either go skill > skill or burst > skill to get the special skill. First choice is probably faster, but the second shows the burst animation, so it has to win (if burst is available of course). But there’s no need to go skill > skill > burst.

The book is really difficult to put down…

More than halfway through now!

I usually only study event stories because they are shorter, but this time, I really want to study the AQ. It’s going to be very long, but it’s also a really cool project. I browsed the discussions with Huimou (Ash Eye? I don’t know his name in English) and added some words already, but I’m starting seriously with our meeting with Alyosha.

Finished part 1 and read the first chapter of part 2.
Part 1 was a lot of setting, and it looks like part 2 will focus more on the mystery. In any case, the book is really good.

Ah, in Korean 假政府 sounds like 家政婦. Thankfully there was a note with the hanja in the book. In our context, 假政府 was used by Japan as a deragotary term for the Korean Provisional Government based in Shanghai (대한민국 임시정부 - 大韓民國臨時政府)

Finally found the motivation to pick it up again and read the first chapter of the last part.
The story has so much potential, but again, why is it so short? It could be a novel in itself. A pro-establishment young woman struggling with her life, political figures and social unrest, a dark web platform where people can crowdfund bounties on people’s lives, the reappearance of character we saw in chapter 1 and haven’t seen since, how current social and political climate have affected them… everything is packed into a very small chapter. It really feels rushed and too condensed, I feel like it would have made a really good novel in itself, like many parts of the novel.

I never saw those hanzi before!!!!

This book reads so easily and it’s very engrossing. If I had the paper version, and if it weren’t a buddy read, I could see myself finishing it in one sitting.

I’m not making a character list for this book, because there book started with like two or three names really relevant. There have been a couple more since then, but nothing that requires a character list. The main content of the book is a series of interviews, so it’s very static and the cast is very small.

Only have the free copy! Not complaining though, Alyosha was one of my favourite designs when they revealed the trailer, so I’m super happy he’s free. I’m not sure I’m going to add him to my teams all that often, but I will build him for IT.

I continued the AQ, the story is so cool this time. Good pacing and a lot happening, the plot looks so promising too!

I usually always love Act I of any nation’s AQ, so it doesn’t necessarily means that Snezhnaya’s AQ is the best so far, but if it continues like that, it will be!

Oh, and I met Vodyanitsa, I love her!!

I went to the Shadow Realm, and I liked it a lot. I’m not very good at this, so I couldn’t complete whatever I was supposed to do(?), but it was fun. I was not hyped at all for this feature, but it turns out being much more fun than I thought. Exactly like the rhythm game.

I just finished chapter 11, the story is so so good. We’re finally seeing confrontations we’ve been waiting for a long time, and overall, it’s great to see so many characters at once. The pace is really good too, it’s very suspenseful and a lot of scenes make us take side, which I like.
I haven’t liked the last event stories we had this version, but the main story of 3.x is my favourite.

I’m only a few pages short of finishing the first part, but we suddenly decided to go for a run as the rain had stopped, and I don’t think I’ll have the time to continue tonight.
This novel is so so great, if it continues like that it will be my favourite book of the month for sure,

Finished the second chapter, really good!!
I really hate reading this on ebook though, I don’t know if it’s the same on paper, but some fonts are in bold, and I had 書 appear as a solid black block, though it was strangely easy to read at the same time? There’s also a font I hate that’s used for transcripts of audio, I’m still not used to it…

I couldn’t resist, she’s now P5. I decided to buy Charon with the package where you can get a standard 6 star. So they’re both P5 now, I’m really happy. I’ve been skipping all the recent meta, I don’t have lingering glow, conduit or bloodtithe, but I’m much prefer maxing the characters I love.

The story is so so good, I really love Merel a lot. She’s my favourite character just after Charon. I can’t wait to do her story, but it’s always best to do the main story first I think.

I cleared two stages of Focused Flashback with full stars! My Corvus dynamo team cleared the Lingering Glow stage in 4 rounds - that’s thanks to P5 Charon and P5 Rhiannon - but was really surprised me is that Liang Yue cleared in 6 rounds!

Did people complain and the made the stages easier? Because my FUA team hasn’t changed, and they were not clearing this fast before…

I realised that trains in Snezhnaya only run in one direction on each track, so if you want to go to the station that’s just before yours, you need to take the train in the opposite direction and make the whole loop that will bring you to where you wanted to go. A bit like that weird loop there’s on Line 2 of Seoul metro.

I took the train, did some exploration but not much, unlocked the talent domain… I really love Snezhnaya map, the region is beautiful, and it feels like there’s a lot of mysteries to uncover, not just puzzles planted here and there. Just looking at the map it makes you want to go out there and explore.

Couldn’t finish part 1 today, but I’m really loving this book!

All the warnings at the beginning are pretty bold, haha, I hope the book will not disappoint.
I finished the first chapter and it’s very good so far.

The reading experience on e-reader is miserable though… It’s really annoying. The layout hasn’t been reworked for ebook at all, it’s just the paper version pasted as is like all the pages were pictures. I can’t change the size or the font, but everything is really too small. I basically need to zoom in on every single page, it’s super frustrating. It’s a recent book from a successful author, why didn’t the publisher put more effort into the ebook version? I could see the bunko version being unreadable too if they just make everything smaller without rework.

Oh well, at least the book is not too long and reads quickly.

I continued the story and finally met Odette in game. She is so so pretty, she looks so different from other characters. I’m glad the MC got the new skin, because Lumine would have looked so fade in comparison with the old design.

One thing annoying is that there was a situation described as urgent, but to go there you have to take path that starts a side activity automatically. It’s annoying because you’re told you must go somewhere to help an emergency and all of the sudden you’re chatting with an NPC about something else. Not only that, but Paimon was there too! So the whole thing completely breaks the immersion. It happened twice to me on the way to where the AQ continues.

Otherwise the story is still as good, I’m really enjoying it.

I learnt 岩浆 during Natlan, there was a WQ where we had to rise the level of some sort of magma I believe, though I don’t remember very well. Never seen this word since then until this sentence where it’s used to describe the game “the floor is lava”.

Continued a bit, there was a chapter with abstract concepts, I’m not sure I understood everything, but otherwise, most of the story is rather easy. I kind of stopped on a cliffhanger, but I also want to play Genshin today.

I started it, and it’s so so good!! I love the beginning, it’s perfect: set up the time and place, give insights into some characteristics of the period while building interesting characters we care about and slowly hinting at what could happen in a delightful way. I also love the structure, I only read the first two chapters of the first part, but it looks like each chapter will introduce new characters while also giving a good portraying of the period (daily life of people under Japanese Occupation). It’s really well done so far.

It’s also a relief to see that it’s not difficult to read at all. Not the easiest novel, but much easier than I was expecting.

Characters keep complaining about the heat, so I checked it out, and indeed, 1939 was an unusual hot early Summer in Seoul. It kept the record of hottest early July day for 86 years.

I need to keep a guarantee for Charon P5 (his banner is coming soon), but otherwise, I’m throwing all my wishes to Rhiannon. I was very lucky and got her P4 already. I really really want her P5 though… I even have a guarantee now, so if things go extremely well on Charon’s banner, maybe there’s a chance…

I started the main story, only did the first three episodes but 1- I love the beginning and 2- it’s quite easy to follow so far, which is really not always the case with R1999 stories (I mean, follow with Chinese text).

I don’t like all Reverse stories, but this one will most certainly be one of my favourites, because I love Merel. I can’t wait to know what happened and understand who Rhiannon is exactly.

I wonder if they made the Arcade mini game easier this time? Last time I didn’t clear difficulty 3, and I remember needing a lot of runs to complete it. This time, I cleared each difficulty once and maxed the rewards pretty easily.

I continued the AQ a bit, still very good!
It actually allows us to unlock the main region quite soon, so I was able to start farming for Odette much sooner than expected.

I’ve decided that I won’t use co-op to build Odette, so I won’t even be able to start building her now, because I haven’t unlocked the domains, I don’t know where her boos is and I haven’t seen trace of her flowers. I kind of find it more fun this way, even though it means I need to wait to play Mizuki stellar swirl.

I finished chapter 4, I really didn’t like this one. It has the same flaws as the other (tackling big topics without really committing to them), but the plot of this one was really twisted to the point it really didn’t make any sense. To achieve a goal, a character would choose a solution that doesn’t feel like the better one anyway, and to make this solution happen, would plot something of an insanely large scale that had like one in a million chance to unfold as planned.
And characters are like super heroes, extremely skilled, and they easily gain access to things they should not, things and characters happen when convenient to make the plot progress.
Both these aspects are things I really dislike in fiction, I like realistic plots and characters. As for the setting, again it would be interesting if was more developed, if we spent more time in each country instead of going from to another with each different chapter.

There’s only one chapter left, but it’s still one third of the book… I feel utterly unmotivated, but I don’t want to DNF…

Odette came home in the first ten-pull! Lucky!!
No Alyosha, but the free copy is enough for me. It’s probably going to take me the whole version to properly build her, given how slow I’ll probably be in progressing the AQ and exploration, but it’s fine.

Her animations are really sublime, she has to be one the prettiest characters in the game.

The beginning of the AQ is so so good! The story is great (though starting slow), and there were so many things to do! Sharp contrast with the end of Nod-Krai. I loved it! So many new mechanics too in the new region,

The story was very easy so far, it’s probably going to be more difficult as we progress (and even more if the last chapters are only people discussing lore), but for now it really feels good to be able to play in Chinese without problem. Even tutorials were okay.

How do you know whether she took the boat that very night, traveled all night long on the boat to Inazuma, or travelled for several nights in a row? Do we even know how long it takes from Mondstadt to Inazuma by boat?

I did Xiao’s trial and got his echo!!!

The trial was so so fun, especially the first part. I think it was very well done, the flavour, the fact that we had to use his skill and jump ability, the constant drain and the healing mechanic when killing opponents was really cool. Combat part was so easy though, it’s by far the easiest I’ve done. They also made it easy with the ER thankfully.

I’m really happy I have his echo… but I’m also not super mega fan of how it looks when seeing him from the back, which is like always. Seen from the side it looks great, and I like the effects and the colours, but I really don’t understand how they designed the echos in the first place, it would be better if they were more subtle…

Oh well, still super happy!

I’m about halfway through the chapter, the plot is engaging and the structure interesting, but it looks like the story will again be too ambitious for the length of the chapter. I always feel like the topics of each chapter should require more time and development. It feels like the book is making short exposés on various socio-political aspects of the country without really managing to make me care for what’s happening.

Odette’s demo was sublime… I can’t forgive them for her heels though… especially since she had ballet shoes in her demo, and it looked so perfect.
I love her design but the heels just look so out of place…

I thought I’d just start chapter 5, but I ended up finishing the whole book. The end was quite engrossing, though I did find the concluding chapter a bit long.

The song 桜 by コブクロ is mentioned in the novel, so I listened to it. I never heard of this band before, it’s a duo formed in 1998 and still active today.
I read the first comment on the YouTube video, someone said the song reminded them of their deceased daughter, and now I really feel like crying. The passage I just read in the book was quite depressing too.

Maybe I’ll take a break in this book now, and do something more positive for a while.

I’m not sure I understand 线下 here, because it obviously can’t mean offline. It’s like a “physical exhibition” as opposed to an online event. But what would be non physical exhibition in Inazuma? Maybe it means something else, or it’s just a way of speaking.

I’m realising I also only have two days left to finish studying the 幻友绮旅 event story. I just started chapter 3… Good thing I’ll have a lot of time this week I think, I’ll try to do this today and tomorrow.
I probably won’t start the AQ right away, but I still want to be done with studying past events when the patch releases.

Finished! Really good, and the very end was so good too!

Wow the story is really engrossing. I didn’t feel that involved in it during the first half, but things are becoming more and more interesting now.

I only have the last chapter left!
I planned on finishing the book today, but I don’t know if I’ll have time. Maybe later this afternoon.

Finished chapter 3, the book really has a good pace, and the story becomes more and more interesting now. But somehow, I’m not 100% into it…

The book is becoming a real honkaku mystery!

I had no idea what JR芦屋駅のバックル外しに注意！ハルちゃんが危なかったの was referring to, so I had to look it up. It really happens, some people do unfasten the harness of baby carriers (the kind where you have the baby on the front and the buckle is on your back), causing the baby to fall. What on earth?

I finished chapter 3, this one took place in London in 2007.
Unfortunately, now I’m pretty sure this book is just not for me, and I doubt I will really enjoy reading what’s left (I’m not even halfway through!). This chapter was very engrossing, with twists and action, but the genre and tone are just not for me. Too many coincidences, characters are also just too strong, Yuen-man was just a good police officer in chapter 1 but now she’s become some kind of elite agent with connections and access to information that doesn’t feel credible. Police procedures are also not realistic.
What bothers me the most though, is that each chapter is tackling a huge case with close relations to real major events of the city in which the story takes place, but a chapter feels much too short for the scale of its plot. The case is hardly set that it directly comes to its resolution.
It’s also hard to feel connected to the characters. Their actions are closely influenced by the political landscape or conflicts that currently shake their country, but again, this would need a novel of its own to explore, but the chapters make it feel like explanations are thrown onto the reader a bit artificially instead of letting us understand the characters’ motives bit by bit through the story.

I really prefer realistic procedures, not super hero who gain access to information because they’re elite computer experts and had foreseen everything before anyone else.
I think that if the book was not part of the Readmoo challenge, I would have considered DNFing it.

Started chapter 2, I like the story!
I’m so tired and unmotivated today though, probably lack of sleep and heat…

Track 5 ends on a cliffhanger, I’m tempted to continue, but I’m starting having a headache, so I’ll probably keep the end for tomorrow or this weekend.

Started it!
It’s been a while since I read medical fiction! Medical terms aren’t really a problem so far, and the book reads easily. Very intriguing beginning too…

三次救急: tertiary emergency medical care refers to the highest level of emergencies (life-threatening, critical trauma, etc.).

Read the first two chapters of part 2, and it’s as good as part 1!