ZZZ | Sunbringer – Pixel Fairy Tale "The Adventures of Bangboo Prince"

Zenless Zone Zero Version 3.0 recently launched, and we've arrived at Roskellyfa. Yet within this glamorous city, many past stories still lie hidden. The story we're going to talk about today comes from an unremarkable pixel fairy tale — "The Adventures of Bangboo Prince." What connection does this fairy tale have with Sunbringer? Let's take a look together.

Sunbringer is now split into three, but they haven't all inherited the memories of the past. It can be said that they are now three completely different and independent individuals and consciousnesses. According to Remielle, he knew the original Lord Sunbringer, which at least confirms that Eldreda Sunbringer is not the original Sunbringer. So did he copy two copies of the logic core's code, or did he truly split himself into three? The three Sunbringers are merely parts of the original, and the "YOUKAI" that corrupts Intelligent Constructs has already appeared. How can we judge whether the current Eldreda Sunbringer has been corrupted by "YOUKAI"?

Some secrets about Sunbringer are actually hidden in the picture book of The Adventures of Bangboo Prince. First, the protagonist Bangboo has the signature heterochromia of a "prince," hinting at Sunbringer. Then let's look at an unknown page: the "silver knight" refers to Colonel Vike; the "black fox" is the third head of the Hoshimi family; the "white feather" is Remielle; the "purple feather" is the Leader of the Falkenhayn Mercenary Troupe.

So who does the broken "deer antler" at the end represent? Could it be "Joyous"? But why is he represented by "deer antler"? Joyous's greatest achievement was crossing the Divine Maze (Papago Hollow) alone. The earliest prototype of a maze was not man-made architecture but a forest — the forest itself is the original maze. Therefore, in both mythology and folklore, the "deer" symbolizes a guide in the forest. I see. Then the extinguished lighthouse should refer to Professor Arche. Don't rush. Let's first bring all the characters into the story and go through it once. The key to the truth lies within.

On Page 3, Sunbringer and his kind needed to fight each other to the death. Only the last one standing could ascend to the throne of the "evil king." Only Sunbringer's kind could open the treasure vault of the "kingdom," and only the "evil king" could claim that treasure alone. That's why the picture book calls her the greedy "evil king." Sunbringer did not accept this cruel rule that had been running all along, and the "evil king" at the time refused to listen to advice. So Sunbringer hid his true appearance and fled the "kingdom."

On Page 5, Sunbringer met Remielle and the Leader of the Falkenhayn Mercenary Troupe. Together, they raised the banner of rebellion against the kingdom. But Sunbringer worried that if they learned his true identity — that he was one of the "evil king's" kind — they would be unwilling to travel with him.

But upon closer thought, something feels off. According to Dracaena Sunbringer, Sunbringer's true form is an Intelligent Construct. That means they rebelled against a kingdom ruled by constructs — yet the first generation of Void Hunters should have been fighting against Hollows all along.

And this is the key to the truth. Take a closer look at the last sentence of the third page: "It quietly fled the kingdom and concealed its appearance." Intelligent Constructs are not a race that is treated with hostility. So what if being an Intelligent Construct was merely her disguise? That would mean Sunbringer's true identity is an "existence from within the Hollows," and the Hollow is the "kingdom" they must oppose. Then the "evil king" most likely refers to "The Creator."

Although this explanation makes sense, it is common knowledge that Ethereals die once they leave a Hollow. If Sunbringer originally belonged to a race inside the Hollow, how did she manage to leave? The beings inside the Hollow are not limited to Ethereals. The Creator, the Night Emissary, and Threshold Simulation all tell us that the Hollow possesses a will of its own.

Back then, Sunbringer was deceived by The Creator and became its emissary, becoming a member of the Hollow. But in the end, she returned to the human side. And that blank period when she disappeared in Lemnian — isn't that exactly the story described on the third page? What rules the Hollow is the Hollow's will, which can also be said to be an extension of The Creator's will — the authority it split off from itself. The rules inside the Hollow are exceptionally cruel. Everyone competes and devours each other, with the ultimate goal of turning the world into one giant Hollow and sharing a single consciousness.

Sunbringer never agreed with this philosophy. She created a construct body with dragon horns to escape the Hollow, and met six other companions, forging an oath to resist The Creator together.

They seemed to have succeeded — overthrowing the "evil king's" throne and putting The Creator into slumber. But when Sunbringer opened the monopolized treasure, she discovered that the "star" was sick. Even she, who held the authority of the Hollow, could not cure the "star." The golden "star" that cannot be healed probably refers to the "golden sun" that cannot be tamed, or perhaps the human heart obscured by greed. The cost of putting The Creator to sleep was too great — the extinguished lighthouse, the sleeping hunter, the withered feathers, the rusted armor, and the broken deer antler.

The Creator will eventually awaken. But the Sunbringer who once fought alongside her companions against the Hollow has betrayed her oath and vanished without a trace. This is the story that these four pages of the picture book are trying to tell us.

Remielle's faction is called the Covenant of Dayat. So at that time, Remielle mistakenly believed that Sunbringer had abandoned the old oath, and thus pointed his sword at Sunbringer to question her. As it turned out, Eldreda Sunbringer was not the original Sunbringer. Since Remielle's faction has already been established in the future, this at least proves that he obtained the answer he wanted, and that this answer kept the oath still valid.

And when talking about those two special Ethereals, she deliberately mentioned the term "Enchainer." Love, jealousy, greed, hatred, desire — or obsession, doubt, a single thought — anything good or bad can be called a "knot." Then one becomes trapped by it... driven by the "knot," consciously or unconsciously. "Enchainer" is the English spelling of the French word "enchaîner." And there is a famous classic play that can illustrate it: Prométhée enchaîné, translated as "Prometheus Bound." Perhaps this is the answer to everything.

That's all the content related to Sunbringer and the pixel fairy tale "The Adventures of Bangboo Prince." After interpreting it, I'm even more looking forward to future content! Remember to keep following our articles and in-game events. See you next time!