Chapter 107: Amber: Lord Otto Seems to Be Having an Episode, What Should I Do? Waiting Online!
"Pfft!"
Yae Sakura nearly spat out the tea she had just sipped, her expression becoming indescribably strange. No way... this situation is really bad, isn't it?
Yae Sakura and Kallen, having received a notification for Theresa's livestream, had naturally opened their phones to watch. In the earlier parts of the plot, Sakura had been ready to praise a certain writer; after all, the "Fox" was winning big. But this sudden turn of events left her feeling an inescapable sense of awkwardness.
She naturally adored Theresa, who bore a striking resemblance to Kallen. Truthfully, when Kallen and Theresa stood together, they really did look like sisters. However, the affection here was that of an elder for a child—much like how Otto felt for Theresa.
That was why Yae Sakura felt so awkward.
"Sakura is as kind-hearted as ever. I remember in a previous chapter, when I was unconscious from heavy injuries, you fed me medicine the same way, didn't you?" Kallen, however, showed no signs of abnormality. In her eyes, Sakura's actions seemed perfectly fine.
Yae Sakura was momentarily speechless. She understood Kallen's personality, and these words were indeed typical of her. In Kallen's eyes, the fact that Sakura saved Theresa was what mattered; as for the method used, it didn't seem to be a concern...
Although Otto's side was tending toward a state of petrification, fortunately, that part of the plot passed quickly, and he recovered after a short while. Theresa continued pushing the game's story. Saved by Yae Sakura, she began wandering through Yae Village.
She finally remembered meeting Yae Sakura back in Nagazora. Since then, a Stigma had appeared on her body... but when Theresa checked, she found the Stigma was gone. Just as she was wondering about this, a girl suddenly appeared and begged Theresa to save Yae Sakura. She identified herself as Sakura's younger sister—Yae Rin.
The viewers were no strangers to this name, as it had been mentioned before that a terrible tragedy had befallen Sakura and her sister. Now, experiencing it again through Theresa's perspective, the ignorance of Yae Village felt chilling. With Rin's help, Theresa witnessed Sakura's past in a dream—that sorrowful history.
In a village, the head priest of the shrine had twin daughters. The older sister, Sakura, always cared for her frail younger sister, Rin. One year, because it wouldn't rain, the head priest made a decision—to sacrifice his daughter Rin to the heavens. Sakura tried to flee with her sister, only to discover that Rin's hamstrings had been severed. Ultimately, under the pressure of the ignorant villagers, Sakura was forced to kill her sister herself, completing the living sacrifice to the gods.
[Utterly foolish!]
[Sigh, people are like this, blindly worshipping so-called gods to the point of human sacrifice...]
[The limitations of the era, I suppose...]
[This kind of feudal superstition is just pure trash!]
[I just think it's barbaric. Making a sister kill her own younger sister—these people are worse than beasts!]
Revisiting this story, the viewers remained filled with righteous indignation. They felt grief for Rin's death and rage toward the ignorant villagers!
"How loathsome... those guys, to dare do such a thing to Rin! I'm so angry, I want to crush them all with Judah!" Theresa was also fuming. In reality, she knew Yae Sakura's sister, Rin, and knew she was Sakura's irreplaceable, most important kin. Seeing Rin suffer in the game made her feel terrible.
"That kid Su Mu is really bold... not only did he write Grandma Kallen's death and Auntie Sakura's death, but he even wrote a story of sisters killing each other... if Grandma Kallen hadn't held her back, Auntie Sakura probably would have taken her blade to him long ago."
Theresa couldn't help but admire Su Mu's daring. But on second thought, she understood. Was there anything he didn't dare write? He had directly "killed" Himeko, a major member of the main cast. Who he would target next was anyone's guess.
"Honkai 3rd is a 'heartwarming and healing' game? Only a fool would believe that guy's lies!" Theresa clutched her head, feeling a headache coming on. "To think I once thought this was a love letter he wrote for Kiana, but considering Kiana's experiences in the game... I'm starting to suspect that brat has a grudge against her."
She couldn't figure out how Kiana had approved this project in the first place. Did she not stop him after seeing herself written so miserably?
Theresa, of course, didn't know that Kiana hadn't stopped it—in fact, she had supported it with both hands and feet. From the start, she knew Honkai Impact 3rd wasn't a "heartwarming and healing" story. Su Mu had explicitly told her it would contain many tragedies and heavy plot segments. But back then, Kiana thought, Wow, you're amazing, you actually dare to write this.
You like writing tragedies? You like stabbing the players? Hehe! Bring on more of those scenes! Kiana simply didn't believe anyone would be so bored and have such a perfect life that they would flock to a game just to get "stabbed" by the plot.
Increase the budget! Double down! Kiana had ordered him then to write whatever he wanted, the more tragic the better—if it wasn't miserable enough, he wouldn't get paid!
But she truly hadn't expected that people would actually rush to experience the heartbreak. Later, many industry analysts looking at Honkai 3rd found that its success was largely tied to these "tragedies." Tragedies tend to leave a deep impression, and when paired with miHoYo's high technical skills, voice acting, and visuals, it really hit home.
Kiana's logic wasn't inherently wrong; those risks were the potential points of failure for the project. She just couldn't believe that under Su Mu's talent, those very risks would become the game's selling points!! Now, President Kiana had to admit that sabotaging Honkai 3rd was an impossible task. As long as it developed steadily, it would never fail.
Looking at the rising revenue of Honkai 3rd, Kiana felt herself becoming numb. Well then... since destroying Honkai 3rd was impossible, she only had one path left.
Currently, in her room, Kiana looked at the new project proposal Su Mu had submitted: Titanfall. She decided that this time, she was going to win back everything she had lost!
"No, miHoYo isn't just my property anymore." Kiana scratched her head. There were many shareholders now, including the superstar Eden—exactly the kind of "rich lady" Kiana aspired to be. "While I want to become the richest person, bankrupting Eden and the others' money would be too much."
"After all, from the start, I only wanted to lose the money my bastard dad allocated to me, then move it all into my own private vault." Thinking of this, Kiana felt a surge of annoyance. A large reason she was so obsessed with losing the company's money was that she couldn't actually access the funds. Her "stinky dad" Siegfried took the dividends as his own investment returns—which was technically fair, but seeing his smug face made her blood boil!
Being exploited by her dad like this, when would she ever fulfill her dream of becoming a multi-billionaire? Clearly, she had to rely on the "System" to become the richest by losing money!
"I'll invest in this game by myself." Since she wouldn't be hurting Bronya and the others, Kiana felt much better. "But in that case, maybe opening a subsidiary would be easier for the operations..." President Kiana's brain was whirring, plotting a brand-new plan.
The scene returned to Theresa. In the game, after learning about Sakura's past, Theresa understood from Rin how dangerous Sakura currently was. The power of the demon in the box was eroding Sakura's heart, ready to take over her consciousness completely. To push Sakura over the edge, the demon possessing Sakura's father, the head priest, incited the villagers to use Theresa as a sacrifice to the gods.
In the Stigma space, Theresa was no different from an ordinary girl. Thus, she had no way to escape. Just like Rin, her hamstrings were severed, and she was tied to the sacrificial altar. This sight made the spectating Otto jump up.
"How dare they do such a thing to my lovely Theresa! UNFORGIVABLE!!" Rage flashed on Otto's face. Even earlier, seeing Sakura "nuzzling his cabbage" (Theresa) hadn't made him this angry. In his eyes, this loathsome demon in the box already had a one-way ticket to death!!
In the game, the demon told Theresa something terrifying: if her consciousness died here, she would die in reality too. On the night of the sacrifice, the controlled Sakura, despite her struggle, finally pierced Theresa's body with her blade. As Theresa's consciousness began to fade in the Stigma space, her physical body in the real world was also overtaken by the demon!
And so... Kiana and Bronya watched as Theresa's hair gradually turned cherry-blossom pink and she grew ears, crawling on the bed like an animal! She radiated a terrifying power comparable to a Herrscher. However, due to its lack of control over the body, when it tried to attack Kiana, it slammed headfirst into the wall and collapsed.
Kiana looked at those strange ears and couldn't resist reaching out to touch them.
["Stop! I have... no strength at all!!"]
Surprisingly, that trick worked. Kiana and Bronya began kneading its ears from both sides. The expression on the possessed Theresa's face made it look like it was about to break.
[...]
[I know what you're thinking. You're definitely wondering how those ears feel, right?]
[To be honest, I want to touch them too. I have zero resistance to fluffy things!]
[So the question is, are Yae Sakura's ears and Theresa's ears the same pair? Does the texture feel the same?]
A large number of viewers showed intense interest in Theresa's fox ears. Beast-ears were just too cute! The demon in the box, "broken" by Kiana and Bronya, sensed that someone in the Stigma space was still resisting fiercely. It decided to fully consume Sakura and Theresa's consciousness first before dealing with Kiana and Bronya. For safety, seeing "Theresa" close her eyes again, Kiana and Bronya prepared to tie her up.
Inside the Stigma space, the situation was desperate. Although Theresa had been "killed" in the sacrifice, she had turned into a small white cat. Due to Sakura's resistance, she gained power and transformed back into human form. But the demon lost patience, revealing its true form as the evil deity Higokumaru, attempting to devour both Sakura and Theresa.
At the critical moment, Mei finally reached this space. But her attacks were useless against Higokumaru. In the moment of peril, the cross Kallen had previously entrusted to Mei burst with light, transforming into the Oath of Judah and appearing in this Stigma space! Even after five hundred years, Kallen's will remained to fight Higokumaru.
With the help of Kallen's power, Theresa gained a brand-new strength—Celestial Hymn. Thus, the origin of the S-rank Biological battlesuit Celestial Hymn was finally revealed!
Afterward, with Theresa's help, Higokumaru was sealed once more. In the Stigma space, Yae Sakura, Kallen, and Rin began a life of happiness and peace. Though it might have been a false memory, at least here, they found a happy ending.
If five hundred years ago, Kallen hadn't helped Sakura escape the darkness of the past... five hundred years later, Sakura wouldn't have sacrificed herself for Theresa. And today, Theresa wouldn't have been able to liberate Sakura from the curse of the Honkai Will. It began with Kallen Kaslana and ended with Theresa Apocalypse. This 500-year legacy of the will to protect loved ones transformed into Theresa's power. From then on, Yae Sakura's story reached its (imperfect) conclusion.
After the Gratitude Arc ended, Otto Apocalypse leaned back in his chair, feeling utterly numb. "So Kallen's will to protect transformed into Theresa's power..." Otto looked at the screen with complex emotions. He hadn't expected Kallen's will to persist so stubbornly for all those years, even within a Stigma space created by the demon. For all those years, she had been searching for a way to save Yae Sakura...
If that isn't love, what is?
[Sigh, this ending for Sakura and Kallen might really be the last bit of mercy from that dog thief Su Mu!]
[Although both are undoubtedly dead in the main Honkai 3rd timeline... at least they can live happily in the Stigma space.]
[But are these false memories... really a 'happy ending'?]
[Sigh, Yae Sakura clearly had the chance to resurrect using the power of Jizo Mitama in Sakura Samsara... but she chose to give it up to stay in the Stigma space with Kallen.]
[True, but if I were Sakura, I wouldn't want to return to the cold reality either.]
Regarding the story of Sakura and Kallen, many viewers let out a sigh. Without a doubt, their story was also a tragedy through and through. It appeared to be a happy ending, but that ending still carried a "blade." No matter how happy Kallen was in the Stigma space, it didn't change the fact that the real Kallen Kaslana died five hundred years ago.
[In that regard, while I hate Otto, I have to admire him.]
[From the previous data space, it's clear that if Otto wanted to, he could have created a virtual world to live with Kallen forever.]
[But Otto didn't do that... he refused to sink into false memories and insisted on using his own methods to resurrect Kallen in reality.]
[No wonder Otto could plot for five hundred years; that sheer perseverance... is indeed admirable.]
[Actually, neither Sakura nor Otto were 'wrong' in their thinking, but... from the perspective of the people in the Honkai world, Otto would have been better off just living with Kallen in a virtual world.]
[Exactly, for the sake of resurrecting Kallen, Otto will stop at nothing!]
[To bring back the person most important to him, he's willing to make the world his enemy. In that sense, Otto is a true Pure Love Warrior!]
Otto, of course, saw the comments in the stream. His mood, previously a bit gloomy, was now swept clean. They were right. As long as he could resurrect Kallen, what did it matter if he made the world his enemy? He held no interest in false memories or drowning in fake happiness! Only bringing the real Kallen back was the true vision of the game!
"The fox spirit is just making noise." Otto pointed at the Yae Sakura on his game account. "Your love is insignificant compared to mine! I am the person in this world who loves Kallen the most! For her, I will pay any price, even if I must defy the world!"
"Drown in your false illusions!"
Amber stood to the side, her speechless expression perfectly illustrating her inner thoughts.
Emergency, waiting online. The boss seems to have regressed to his teenage years and might have developed Eighth-Grader Syndrome. What should I do?
END OF CHAPTER
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