"And then?"
"That's all. Although Siegfried really wanted to 'discuss' the script in depth with me, I am now a distinguished apprentice of Taixumen."
Hokuto adjusted his mask and calmly added, "Besides, I can always call reinforcements—Kiana and… well, they're my employees."
"As we all know, in the food chain: daughter >> father."
Elysia: "…"
"As expected of you, 'Otto,' your comments are always so… unique."
"It's nothing. I'm just speaking the truth," Hokuto said 'modestly.'
After some light chatter with Hokuto about little behind-the-scenes VA anecdotes, Elysia saw the livestream chat's mood improving, so she continued the main story.
In the game—
After seeing that memory of Otto and Siegfried, Homu couldn't hold back:"Ah! That blond man is so annoying! How can someone be so self-centered?"
Homla agreed: "While such people may not be that rare… I still agree with you."
Bug and Goose had reached a consensus.
Hearing Homu and Homla speak like this, the players felt much more satisfied than they had listening to 'Otto' earlier.
The chat was filled with comments like "Well said" and "Exactly right."
While the Homus criticized Otto, Durandal calmly analyzed: the Overseer tossing her into the Imaginary Space today, provoking her—he must have some hidden motive.
Of course, she still didn't know exactly what he intended, and could only take things step by step.
Elysia moved the character forward, clearing out the Honkai beasts along the path, and discovered a memory from Siegfried and Cecilia's honeymoon.
"It's actually an animation?" Elysia was surprised at how this memory differed from the others.
"It was her idea," Hokuto explained vaguely—Bianca herself had proposed it and even worked overtime to make the short animation.
"I see." Elysia nodded lightly.
Back to the game—
"Thanks for your hard work, my great photographer."
Cecilia lowered her gaze, smiling radiantly.
Siegfried quickly waved it off: "No, no, no, doing this for my dear wife can't be called 'hard work'!"
"You… just now you were complaining that you were completely out of energy."
Cecilia stepped closer, lightly on her toes, and gently wiped the sweat from Siegfried's forehead with a tissue.
Siegfried, hearing her words, looked embarrassed."Uh… so you heard that."
With a gentle smile, Cecilia said, "How about—tomorrow I'll take pictures of you instead?"
"Eh?" Siegfried shook his head furiously: "I—I'm a big, clumsy guy, not photogenic at all."
"Oh, come now."
Cecilia's fingers, still holding the tissue, slid down; her hand came to rest against his lips as she leaned in, almost close enough to kiss. Under the sunlight, her smile was even brighter.
"It seems this gentleman has no idea how charming he really is~~"
"..."
"It's a promise, alright? You'll just have to accept your fate. I'm quite serious about competing with you in photography skills."
...
[So sweet, so sweet, but… why is Cecilia already gone!!]
[Why did you have to remind me of that? Now I can't enjoy the sweetness!]
[Clearly a joyful scene, yet the more I watch, the heavier my heart feels…]
[This candy… is made of knives! Classic miHoYo!]
It was such a sweet scene, but remembering that it was something that could never be recovered…
What once could have been a perfect family was already shattered.
It hurt.
[I let my guard down. I knew Durandal wouldn't get a knife scene, but I forgot about miHoYo's specialty—"flashback kills." So this is the 'big one' you guys hinted at?]
[No, there's no way we could have predicted this.]
[Then what's the big one? Wait, wait, I almost fell for it—you guys' words can't be trusted!]
[Ah yes, yes, of course.]
In the game, Durandal soon found another memory—from her journey through the Sea of Quanta.
Shakespeare had helped her establish her current worldview.
Perhaps the world itself had no inherent meaning, but humanity should create meaning—and when meaning is created, it becomes the true definition.
This process of granting meaning to the meaningless was a symbol of humanity's triumph over nothingness.
After several memories, the Homus began to recall more information, pointing Durandal toward the path back to reality.
A [device] appeared, and the Homus' bodies gradually faded away.
Durandal took a deep breath, placed her hand on the [device], and activated it.
Under its influence, she recalled a conversation from when she had just become an S-rank Valkyrie, speaking with Otto.
From this memory, players learned that Bianca's golden curls were actually a side effect from Otto's treatment of her.
So… what was Bianca's original hair color?
The two then talked about the first Herrscher of Reason, and the topic drifted toward a certain famous scene.
Otto spoke of the first Herrscher of Reason being "petulant" and unwilling to cooperate with him, then mentioned the second Herrscher of Reason leading Anti-Entropy against Schicksal.
And then he said one of his most infamous lines—
"Let's talk about the current Second Herrscher of Reason. For certain unavoidable reasons, I had to kill his father… yet he still holds a grudge, opposing me for decades without change."
Players didn't even need to see what came next—they already lost it.
What do you mean "I killed his father and yet he still holds a grudge"?Isn't that obvious?!Otto, are you alright? Do you even hear yourself?
[Otto's got me laughing in disbelief—does he even realize what he's saying?]
["A mere trifle of patricide"?]
[Me: ??????]
They were already speechless, but then Otto followed up with something even more absurd—
"How should I put it—he may have lost his father, but he still has me, doesn't he? I could absolutely be the guiding light in his life, couldn't I? Just like I've nurtured all of you."
Durandal fell silent.Elysia, streaming the scene, fell silent.The entire chat fell silent.
For a moment, everyone's brains simply could not process those words.
After a while, Elysia turned to look at Hokuto.
The viewers' attention also slowly shifted to him.
Unlike before, now everyone wanted to hear how he would comment on Otto.
"…Elysia, why are you looking at me?"
"Don't you have anything you want to say?"
"Well… didn't the viewers just say earlier that I did a good job but shouldn't do it again?"
In Otto's infuriating voice, Hokuto replied, "So this time, I'll leave the chance to curse Otto to you."
He paused, then added, "No need to thank me—after all, I've always cared deeply about the players' gaming experience."
[???]
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