Chapter 104: Otto: NTR-ing Me to My Face? Writer, Come Over Here, Let's Talk!
At this moment, Otto was not yet aware of the severity of the situation. He was merely visibly startled when he saw Yae Sakura.
Although he had played Honkai 3rd over the past two days, his recent busy work schedule, coupled with Kallen's cold shoulder, meant he hadn't finished all the new content immediately. Consequently, he didn't know what this "Gratitude Arc" was actually about.
In any case, the moment that pink-haired fox appeared, Otto felt his heart sink. He had a premonition that something bad was about to happen!
Unlike Otto, Theresa in the livestream was quite happy after seeing the cover of Yae Sakura's "Gratitude Arc."
"Auntie Sakura's shrine maiden outfit is just too beautiful! Hee-hee, next time I'll make her wear it for me; it'll definitely fit her perfectly!"
Theresa knew that if she acted a little spoiled, Yae Sakura would definitely agree to her request. After all, Theresa was well aware that she was quite pampered in their large extended family. Foremost among her dotes were Otto and Yae Sakura. While Grandma Kallen also doted on her, she couldn't quite compete with those two. After all, those two had integrated "who can spoil Theresa more" into their personal war, stopping at nothing to claim victory... Sigh.
Mentioning that bittersweet history made Theresa feel it was best left unsaid.
[Haha! Yae Sakura!]
[Yae Sakura is way too beautiful! Her visual level is insane!]
[Who doesn't love a pink-haired fox shrine maiden?]
[But I have a question: are Yae Sakura's ears fox ears or donkey ears?]
[Fox ears aren't that long, so they're donkey ears!]
[Nonsense! Don't you know about long-eared foxes?]
To be honest, Theresa was also curious if Yae Sakura's ears were donkey ears, but unfortunately, the real-world Yae Sakura couldn't provide an answer. After all, the real Sakura didn't actually grow animal ears. Though, it wasn't like she never wore them; Theresa had accidentally seen her with them a few times... It seemed they played more "creatively" than she imagined. Sigh.
The story of the Gratitude Arc takes place before the Battle of Schicksal, during the time Kiana and her group were at St. Freya Academy. it follows the plot of Chapter 2 of the main story. In the Gratitude Arc, to supplement the game's worldview and content, Su Mu merged the original Sakura Remembrance arc into it, allowing players to understand the origins of the events.
The story begins with Kiana and the others joining St. Freya Academy. To prepare for the Valkyrie exams, they are forced into crash-course training. During training, Kiana uses Bronya's power to enter the Schicksal database, which records the history of the Honkai. The goal is to better recreate history to tutor the "idiot" Kiana.
No one expected Kiana to return to 15th-century Europe, where she happens to meet her ancestor—Kallen Kaslana. During their encounter, Kiana realizes her ancestor was a powerful and cool Valkyrie, developing a sense of admiration for her. However, according to the course of history, Kallen Kaslana is sent to the execution platform. Seeing Kallen about to be executed, Kiana rushes out and takes Kallen away amidst the chaos. Suddenly, Honkai beasts appear and begin to ravage the city.
[These... these should be the events of the day Kallen was executed!]
[I didn't expect Kiana to enter this historical record by chance...]
[But in the end, it's just a virtual data space. Even if Kiana saves Kallen here, she can't change anything...]
The fans in the stream also understood that this story was a reenactment of the scene from 500 years ago, with the difference that Kiana's presence seemed to cause some changes to this "history" in the data space.
But was that really the case?
Just as Theresa thought Kiana had saved Kallen, Otto suddenly appeared before them. He revealed his plan to Kallen: he had released the Honkai beasts solely to save her. Seeing Otto abandon so many people just to save her, Kallen angrily slapped him.
[Satisfying!]
[Here it comes! My favorite 'Otto gets slapped' segment!]
[I love seeing Otto fail, haha!]
It had to be said, seeing the loathsome Otto get stunned by a slap made the viewers quite happy. After all, Otto didn't act like a decent human being. Kiana becoming the Herrscher of the Void, Fu Hua becoming a "ghost," the missing Murata Himeko... every incident, every scene, was undoubtedly blamed on Otto!
Never had there been such a complex and detestable villain who could leave such a lasting impression on the audience. Clearly, in a sense, Otto's characterization was too good; being hated to such an extreme is a skill in itself.
However, in the game, Kallen was pierced by a Honkai beast while protecting an injured civilian. Facing the aggressive Honkai beasts, Bronya wanted to help Kiana but was caught by Otto Apocalypse. Bronya realized that the man before her was not a virtual personality within the data space. He was real!
["Don't be nervous, lovely little kitten. I have no ill intent. At first, your intrusion into my back garden did make me a little angry."]
["However, your attempt to rescue Kallen deeply moved me."]
With Otto's help, Kiana obtained the power of Knight Moonbeam, using the power of the Goddess's Wings to resolve the rampaging Honkai beasts. However, saving the Kallen in the virtual world did not change true history. Although she knew this, Kiana did it with no other reason than wanting to.
Facing Kiana, Kallen finally spoke her heart—she had known all along that she was just a virtual personality in this space, constantly reenacting this scene in a never-ending cycle. she was merely a personality reconstructed from Kallen Kaslana's memories.
[So, Dog Otto created this virtual space to constantly repeat the scene of Kallen being killed? What exactly is he doing?]
[Does he want to keep reenacting this history to etch that past pain into his memory?]
[No matter how many times it's reenacted, it can't change the fact that Kallen Kaslana is dead. Why does Otto bother...]
After understanding the truth about the data space and Kallen, the viewers let out a long sigh. Although they hated Otto from the bottom of their hearts, they had to admit it: Otto was truly a devoted man, a "Pure Love Warrior" through and through.
"That's right! Exactly! Even if five hundred years pass, I will remember your face, Kallen! Until the moment I resurrect you, I will use this history to spur myself on at all times... this unforgettable pain is the power that has sustained me for five hundred years! It is called... the motive of Love!"
Otto, watching the stream, couldn't help but start delivering a passionate speech. Villain? Don't care. Evil man? Don't care! No one loved Kallen more than him; that was all he cared about!
However, Lord Otto did not expect the subsequent plot, which instantly sent his mood plummeting to the bottom. In the game, Kallen asked how much time had passed, and after receiving an answer, she looked at Kiana.
["Has it been so many years? I am a personality formed from Kallen's memories. In Kallen's memory, before she died, she sealed away a person she loved deeply."]
["Yae Sakura... as someone who became a Herrscher, she wouldn't die even after 500 years, right? If the seal is broken and she returns to this world, she won't know a single person. How lonely she must be."]
["The moment I thought of Yae Sakura, I remembered the meaning of my birth."]
["Miss Kiana, if you have the chance to meet Miss Yae Sakura out there, please deliver a message for me."]
["A sentence that has been buried in her memory for 500 years."]
["..."]
Although Kallen's words weren't spoken aloud, based on her lip movements, the viewers in the stream understood what she said.
[??]
[No, I'm actually laughing out loud, brothers. Is this really the play? A virtual personality helping the Kallen who died 500 years ago send a message to Yae Sakura?]
[It proves those words were so important to Kallen that even a virtual personality made from her memory remembered them for 500 years!]
[Isn't it that Yae Sakura is so important to Kallen? Even a personality made of memory fell helplessly in love with Yae Sakura!]
[Thinking about Otto watching this from the side, I can't hide my smirk!]
[Tragic, Lord Otto, Tragic!]
[Lord Otto's Path of Misery!]
[Otto, how do you feel right now? HOW DO YOU FEEL?!]
The fans in the stream also realized how entertaining this scene was. In the data space created by Otto's own hands, the personality made from Kallen's memories was pining for the sealed Yae Sakura. He lost everything; he simply lost it all!
[Stop persecuting Lord Otto! Let me do it instead!]
[The persecution simply cannot stop, can it!]
[Keep going, Lord Otto!!]
Looking at the comments in the stream, Otto Apocalypse, in his office at Schicksal, looked ashen-faced.
"Calm down, calm down... it's just a game, just a game." "Otto Apocalypse, you don't need to get angry over a game." "After all, it's just a game." "....."
Otto silently turned on his computer, launched Honkai Impact 3rd, and with extremely practiced hands, opened Sakura Samsara. Using Kallen's Valkyrie battlesuit... he proceeded to ruthlessly pummel the boss, Yae Sakura!
"I really don't care at all, really!"
He had a smile on his face, but he almost rubbed sparks out of his controller.
At this time, in Teriri's livestream: Theresa continued playing the game. After exiting the virtual space, the story perspective shifted to Theresa Apocalypse. Recently, the Far East Branch detected a Herrscher reaction in Nagazora. To be precise, it was a Pseudo-Herrscher. They are high-level existences second only to Herrschers, humans who have been granted powerful abilities through Honkai modification.
Pseudo-Herrschers arise for various reasons. The most common are high-level Zombies and humans with high adaptability, though it can also be the materialization of a concept by Honkai energy. There are also special cases where an original Herrscher disappears and the remaining Honkai energy aggregates to form a new sample. While not as terrifying as true Herrschers, if left unchecked, they remain a massive threat even if the energy doesn't reach Herrscher levels!
Theresa came to Nagazora alone to find the Pseudo-Herrscher—Yuno. She was a classmate of Kiana and Mei, a student of Chiba Academy who became a Pseudo-Herrscher after being infected by Honkai energy! Theresa was wounded in the battle against Yuno and defeated due to the Pseudo-Herrscher's poison.
However, she did not die. She was saved by a mysterious cherry-blossom-colored figure. That figure was Yae Sakura, who had broken her seal and appeared in Nagazora! Over the 500 years, Yae Sakura had also become something akin to a Pseudo-Herrscher. Only in the world 500 years later, she knew no one and could only keep company with the demon in the box—Higokumaru.
Yae Sakura saved Theresa. Looking at that face so similar to Kallen's and smelling that scent of Kallen on her, a look of tenderness surfaced on Sakura's face. However, the Pseudo-Herrscher's poison was incurable; even Yae Sakura could not treat Theresa.
In her daze, Theresa saw her life flash before her eyes, memories of her time with Cecilia. She failed to protect Cecilia. But at the very least... she had to protect the person important to her now. The moment Yae Sakura's cheek was touched, numerous memories of being with Kallen Kaslana flooded back. At that moment, she made a decision.
She would sacrifice herself and give her core to Theresa. It would transform into the power of Theresa's Stigmata, allowing her to protect those important to her.
[Yae Sakura... just like that... got 'boxed'?]
[Choosing to sacrifice her life just to save Theresa because she smells like Kallen...]
[Sigh, no wonder Kallen and Yae Sakura are both considered devoted types... one willing to risk everything to seal the other to give them a chance to live.]
[And the other waking up in a strange world, meeting Theresa who is inextricably linked to Kallen, and being willing to give her life to save her...]
[Yae Sakura probably had the intention of leaving with Kallen anyway, right? After all, in the world 500 years later, she didn't know anyone...]
After knowing the ending of this tragic pair in the main story, the viewers felt a wave of heartache. Theresa also sighed: "I didn't expect Auntie Sakura to sacrifice herself to save me... she saw Kallen's shadow in the in-game Theresa, didn't she? Sigh."
To be honest, at this moment, she really felt the urge to call Su Mu and interrogate him. "Final Lesson" had already made Theresa emotional enough, making her cry during the animation. Afterward, she called Himeko to check on her health, only to be scolded: "Are you crazy? One after another, calling to curse me to death? Are you guys annoying! I'm perfectly fine!"
Otto Apocalypse watched the visuals in the stream. Yes, yes, yes, you are all tragic lovers. He wasn't envious at all, not a bit jealous. Really, not at all. (Sour Grapes) (Sour Grapes).
What a truly unforgettable tragic romance! What about me? So for me, Otto Apocalypse, there is only the 'tragedy' and no 'romance' part, right?
Honkai 3rd writer, want to come over and chat? Don't worry, I, Otto, am not a devil. I just want to have a simple talk with you!
END OF CHAPTER
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium