In the dim train car, three beams of light suddenly appeared and shone down on the trio.
Argenti was just about to introduce himself, but before he could speak, he saw something that stunned him.
He saw a scene so beautiful that it shocked even him: coming not from a Knight of Beauty, but from someone outside the order. At that moment, Pei Guang radiated with the light of beauty—the light of the Player Aesthetic.
Sensing Argenti's gaze, Pei Guang played the BGM he had prepared. As the music began to play, Argenti's heart shook.
Then, Pei Guang made a very serious move: "Domain expansion, '又鸟'!" (TL Note: No idea how to translate it, especially because I think it's a nickname for Hakari Kinji)
With that bizarre motion, music blasted from the speakers on Pei Guang's body.
"Just because you're so beautiful~"
The rhythmic BGM and the lyric hit Argenti like a thunderbolt. He hadn't expected this stranger to hold such pure belief in the Aeon of Beauty.
Hearing the lyric, March 7th froze for a moment. She didn't understand why the lyrics sounded like "chicken you're so beautiful," but it didn't matter. After all, they'd already done worse like that Dawei dance. What's a chicken March 7th in comparison?
As the music played, Pei Guang started moving. At some point, he had put on a white spaghetti-strap tank top. With his back to Argenti, he made a motion as if throwing something and began to dance to the music.
He started with a half-squat, then lifted his right shoulder upward, pulled his body back, then pushed down again. As his shoulder dropped, the right strap of the white tank top slipped down.
Everyone who saw it was stunned; even Himeko, who had secretly peeked, was speechless.
For some reason, she felt that the BGM combined with Pei Guang's movements would definitely go viral. The only question was... in what direction?
Compared to Himeko, Argenti was even more shocked. As he listened to the BGM and watched Pei Guang's movements, he felt like his brain was being invaded.
While Pei Guang danced, he also made exaggerated facial expressions—like he'd stepped straight out of a reaction meme. Anyone else seeing it would feel confused and baffled.
But in that instant, Argenti saw a pure and radiant light of beauty emanating from Pei Guang: so pure it was almost blinding.
He didn't understand what kind of beauty this was. Of course he didn't—this was the unique aesthetic of a player!
What are player aesthetics?
It's dressing up beautifully at the cost of stats, or sacrificing looks entirely in favor of pure numbers, whatever gives the better build. It's performing synchronized, cool-looking moves together, or suddenly going berserk, dancing wildly around some weird object in the middle of the street, drawing a crowd.
As long as it's fun for the player, and as long as they want to do it, they will. Some players attack every NPC they see, while others aim for a flawless run with no damage taken and no one killed.
There's no right or wrong in how a player behaves, just the purest emotions that life brings. And that brilliance, that emotional intensity, was what Argenti saw—a beauty beyond ordinary understanding.
Of course, Stelle and March 7th didn't pick up on any of that. The two of them were focused intently on Pei Guang's movements. By the second round, they had joined in.
And then came a scene that left Himeko even more shocked: even Pom-Pom and Welt, who had just returned from inspecting the train, stared in disbelief.
Argenti was watching the three in the middle dancing their chaotic routine with a reverent expression. After a long moment, he actually joined them and started dancing too?
At that moment, Pom-Pom slapped its own face. It was the first time it had seen Pei Guang's dance in full. It honestly had no idea how the Path of Trailblaze ever chose someone like this.
Welt, on the other hand, watched seriously.
Well… things were already a mess, so a few minutes of joy wouldn't hurt. Besides, he pulled out his recording device and began filming the scene in earnest: to one day show his family back home and let them truly appreciate it.
As for March? She'd felt a little shy when she first followed Pei Guang, but once she got into it, she actually found it quite fun. It was the company staff Argenti brought with him who stood there, dumbfounded.
What the heck? What just happened? Why are they dancing all of a sudden?
As time passed and the music came to an end, Pei Guang turned to look at Argenti, who had joined in.
Feeling his gaze, Argenti was about to introduce himself when Pei Guang cut in immediately: "Come on, introduce yourself: I'm Pei Guang, the Galactic Swordsman!"
Stelle: "I'm the Galactic Baseballer!"
March 7th: "I'm the Galactic Archer!"
"We are the Nameless, wandering the stars of the galaxy Trailblazing! The unknown future awaits us!"
Pom-Pom: "That's right! Pom!"
Pei Guang, Stelle, and March 7th all turned to look at Pom-Pom.
Pei Guang: "Pom-Pom, why are you here?"
Pom-Pom: "Ahem! Couldn't help myself. You guys go ahead, we'll continue checking the train."
Pom-Pom left, and just as it did, Argenti was about to resume his self-introduction when Pei Guang cut him off again.
"Knight of Beauty, right? Since you're on the Astral Express now, it's time to show you what we're made of! Stelle! Let him witness our trailblazer aesthetics!"
Stelle stepped forward with her bat: "You're not coming with us on the Astral Express anymore? Then let us show you what we're capable of. Let's go—Ignore!"
?? ?? ?? ?? ??
In an instant, Stelle completed a smooth combo of moves. Not satisfied, she did the entire routine again in reverse. As for March 7th? She remained silent.
She wanted to do a little combo too for Pei Guang, but the problem was, she wasn't raised by him. She was raised by Himeko, Welt, and Dan Heng: her foundations were still relatively normal.
Even though under Pei Guang's influence she'd been walking further down a bizarre path, she still needed Pei Guang to cover for her when trying stuff like this.
Argenti watched Stelle's performance, his mind buzzing, his scalp tingling. He wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
Weird.
That was Argenti's impression: he saw a beauty in these few before him that was different from the rest of the galaxy, but it was a beauty so avant-garde that even someone as worldly as he was couldn't quite process it.
As Argenti stood there, stunned from the beginning, Pei Guang opened his mouth:
"Brother! So you're here! The Lord Ravagers and their Aeon of Destruction have a unique aesthetic of destruction, the Masked Fools have their own aesthetic of joy—as a Knight of Beauty, don't you have something too?
I've got my aesthetics of strength. And when it comes to ideology, we fight for all that is beautiful in this world. What've you got to show for yourself? Don't say appearance: everyone's the most beautiful when they're standing in front of a mirror. So besides looks, what else have you got, Knight of Beauty?"
Argenti wanted to respond, but the words caught in his throat. He'd always believed that through his actions, others would come to witness the beauty he followed—and in doing so, be inspired to believe in the Aeon of Beauty.
But now it seemed like this man before him might've gone even farther down the Path of Beauty than he had. And that depth didn't come from the earlier dancing or movement: it was in Pei Guang's words.
Argenti hadn't yet realized it: he had already fallen into Pei Guang's trap.
As a Knight of Beauty, he had always vanquished ugliness in the world with his weapon. But someone like Pei Guang… this was his first time encountering such a person.