"The race has entered its final sprint. Only three contestants remain, vying for the championship!"
Otto and Rita successively reported the progress of the race and the contestants' recent status.
"Closest to the finish line are Rozaliya and Liliya. They're only a fraction away from taking the championship."
Bronya watched this video. She looked at the two familiar faces expressionlessly, her lips curled.
On this nonsensical set, these two mischievous people are having a blast.
But...
As if to speed things up, Rozaliya fed Assaka a magical potion.
And then, like a shot of chicken blood, Assaka began to run furiously.
And then...
"As expected... these two idiots..."
Bronya looked at the two who had been dangled from the top railing because their horns had caught on the railings. The two of them couldn't help but get stuck on it.
However, Bronya froze for a moment, noticing something.
She quickly stared at the two people in the video, examining them closely.
Horns, tails.
These... look like Honkai Beast organs.
Why do these two troublemakers have Honkai Beast organs...
Bronya frowned at the thought of her friends at the orphanage, but she temporarily let go of her worries when she recalled Einstein's words that everything in the video was just another world apart from her own.
After the hot contenders, the pink and blue twins ended their match in a ridiculously comical fashion.
Only Kiana and Raven, who had been fighting at first, remained.
Equally matched in speed, the two chased each other, with Raven occasionally taking the lead, followed by Kiana the next. This whimsical world naturally didn't disappoint the audience.
"For Mei, for everyone, I must win!"
Kiana, already lagging behind, recalled fond memories of her time with Mei and everyone at St. Freya Academy. The memories then transformed into a burst of power.
"Light Wings—Spread! Yay! Yay! Yay!"
Kiana demonstrated for the audience how to transform from A-rank White Comet to the S-rank Moonbeam.
"..."
Mei's expression became a little conflicted as she watched Kiana's memories unfold. She couldn't stop complaining.
Those memories were quite touching. Even though Mei was calm now, she felt happy when she saw Kiana hugging her.
But recalling those memories, just to use them for more speed...
Kiana's power up seemed to have affected Raven as well. Photos of the past and Sora's smile surfaced in her mind.
"Children, the promised moment has finally arrived. I'm the champion! Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Amidst a crowd of identical fans holding up signs like "Raven's Most Beautiful Little Fairy" and "Raven My Marriage," the announcer Otto spoke in a high-pitched, excited voice.
"Both contestants simultaneously unleashed their nostalgic spells, making it difficult to tell who will prevail. Who will emerge victorious?!"
"And the final champion is—"
Amidst screams of "Ahhhhhhh," and as Tesla, who had fallen from Ganesha's clutches and lay half-lying on the ground, more than two people emerged, Otto announced the final winner.
"Tesla!"
"Wow, this contestant from Anti-Entropy did it in the most unexpected way! She won the 20th Great Honkai Games!"
While Tesla was bewildered, Otto and the audience cheered relentlessly.
"She will receive a colorful crystal that can grant any wish!"
In contrast to the jubilant crowd, Kiana threw herself into Mei's arms, a look of resignation on her face.
"Um... Mei, I almost won!"
"You lost like this, you fool Kiana!" Bronya, watching Mei patting her head, offered a deadpan critique.
Mei didn't take it too seriously, simply comforting Kiana with a gentle gesture.
"It's okay, Kiana. The game's over. Let's go back."
Although she didn't like the nonsensical image of herself in the video, the warmth she saw in it made Kiana who watched the video envious.
She twisted her body. She looked toward Mei, opening her mouth to speak, but then a flash of darkness crossed her bright blue eyes, and she abandoned the thought.
Mei noticed this, though, and instantly understood what was going on. She took off her glasses and, while Kiana was stunned, touched her head like her own reflection, a smile on her face.
Bronya watched from the side. Though her expression was calm, a hint of jealousy flickered in her gray eyes. She moved closer to Mei.
"Hmm..." Mei was stunned at first, then smiled as she realized what was happening. She treated both equally, figuring it was just one touch, and two touches.
Kiana wasn't as furious about Bronya's approach as she had been before.
Elsewhere, Raven, another contestant who had just missed the championship, was weeping. "Master, I'm sorry, we lost the competition."
"There's no prize money or anything, so just get back to work."
She muttered helplessly, but seeing the Master's indifference, a question mark crossed her mind.
Kevin, slurping his noodles with a bowl of noodles, looked puzzled as his egg fell into the broth. "What? You participated?"
"Hey!!! You didn't even watch it!!!"
The only response was Raven's furious roar.
Seeing the person talking and slurping noodles, Tesla looked utterly horrified. "Is this Kevin?"
Einstein's mouth was also stiff.
The others were much better.
Because Einstein had Bronya show him the future to prove that she was the Herrscher of Reason in the future, Welt had also seen the previous video. The replayed video had revealed this pioneer from the previous era—Kevin Kaslana.
Everyone's impression of this person was...
A cold, icy popsicle, the ultimate boss.
And yet, this ruthless boss was... slurping noodles.
This was truly shocking.
Himeko was amused. "It's as if this is another world. Even such a cold, icy pioneer could become so ridiculous."
Listening to this, Fu Hua remained expressionless, offering no comment, nor sharing the shock of the others.
She stared at Kevin slurping noodles in the video. Although it seemed strange at first, a closer look revealed an indescribable sense of familiarity.
...as if this wasn't the first time Kevin had done this.