Thud!
In the constantly flashing red-lit corridor.
Tendo killed the last Association Star Envoy who had invaded this area, then pushed his body away, letting it fall heavily onto the cold floor with a dull thud. The once noisy corridor finally fell completely silent.
However, unlike its initial desolate and clean state, the corridor was now littered with several bodies of Association Star Envoys, lying haphazardly. The air was filled with a unique, metallic stench of blood mixed with coolant.
Thump...
Tendo staggered, his body uncontrollably leaning against the cold metal wall beside him. His right hand clutched his injured abdomen, from which a large amount of blood oozed between his fingers. Tendo, however, paid little attention to it. After resting for a while, he braced his shoulder against the metal wall, dragging his leaden legs silently past the bullet marks and corpses on the floor.
With each step, Tendo left a fresh crimson bloodstain on the floor and wall, as if silently proclaiming his terrible physical state. Reaching the end of the corridor, Tendo slumped against the wall, as if all strength had been drained from his body.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Tendo coughed violently a few times, a trace of thick, frothy blood escaping from the corner of his mouth. But as he coughed, Tendo suddenly began to chuckle softly, his words filled with pride and triumph.
"One high-level Tier 2, plus more than ten Tier 1s... If the Association finds out... they'll probably put me on a wanted poster and stick it all over every corner of the New Federation, right?"
"If that happens, I'll probably become a big star throughout the Federation, haha..."
Before Tendo could finish, his excessive 'triumph' accidentally aggravated his wound, causing him to cough violently again. This time, the blood he coughed up even contained some fine fragments of organ tissue. Coupled with his already completely blind Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye, it was clear just how severe Tendo's injuries truly were.
After recovering, Tendo raised his hand and wiped away the blood from his mouth. At the same time, the smile on his face slowly vanished, replaced by a never-before-seen look of bewilderment. He murmured to himself, "Strange, everything is going according to the script I wrote, but... why do I suddenly regret it a little..."
"Was what I did... truly right?"
Upon hearing this, the dimension-hopping audience only assumed that the 'script' Tendo referred to was his forceful choice of this 'happy ending'—where only he was injured—for everyone after peering into the terrible future with his Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye.
But only Tendo himself knew that his so-called 'script' was far more than that. Because in this seemingly happy-ending script he designed, every line was filled with 'insidious' calculations. For instance, in pursuit of 'popularity,' he forcibly tied Caroline to a tragic destiny.
If this question had been posed in the past, Tendo would have felt no regret, nor would he have thought there was anything wrong with what he did. Because back then, when he first arrived in Children of the Stars, he didn't consider it a real world at all. Instead, he saw it as a fake, ridiculous 'stage' filled with spotlights and lies.
Therefore, whether it was Caroline or anyone else, in his eyes at the time, they were merely dispensable, easily discarded minor characters. They were excellent 'tools' to help him gain valuable 'popularity.' Their thoughts, their futures, how they might change because of him—Tendo neither cared nor paid attention, nor did he feel any guilt whatsoever. He was like a cold director, silently watching the 'Children of the Stars' perform on their predetermined paths, allowing tragedy to unfold. He, himself, stood outside the spotlight, trampling everyone into the dust with the arrogance of 'equality.'
Tendo believed this 'arrogance' was something he deliberately acted out to highlight his 'strong character' persona. Little did he know, some things simply cannot be faked through acting alone. He was merely using 'acting' as an excuse to cover up his 'rejection' of this unfamiliar world, as well as the 'loneliness' deeply buried within him, which he himself could hardly perceive.
But when exactly did this situation begin to change?
Was it the first time he saw Caroline looking dejected because the Doctor destroyed her dolphin doll? Or the first time he mischievously stole the candy Liuli hid under her pillow, and she almost cried from anxiety? Or perhaps when Yun Meng secretly gave him special lessons and took him to sneak sweets in the cafeteria?
He couldn't distinguish it; Tendo himself couldn't distinguish it anymore. He only knew that at some point, he suddenly stopped treating 'Children of the Stars' as a 'fake stage.' He also stopped treating 'Caroline and the others' as dispensable 'tools.'
The clamor of fighting for the last piece of dessert in the cafeteria, the laughter and playful insults shared during training sessions—all became the most important memories in Tendo's heart, serving as 'anchors' that unknowingly allowed him to fully integrate into this world.
It was also from then on that Tendo suddenly understood something. The world might be fake, but those beautiful memories were real.
For this, Tendo slowly conceived a bold idea. He wanted to change, to change the terrible ending that awaited everyone in the original story. He would no longer coldly allow tragedy to arrive.
Because if the original plot were to proceed:
Yun Meng would exhaust her life force repeatedly rushing between battlefields, ultimately perishing with the entire base.
Caroline, emerging too early from quantum space, would develop a personality disorder, slowly losing her human emotions and completely becoming a cold tool.
Chen Xing, witnessing Yun Meng's death, would have her 'bestiality' overcome her 'humanity,' transforming into a killing machine in human form.
Liuli, having everything she cherished destroyed, would suffer nightmares day and night, only able to sleep with the help of sleeping pills, losing her former innocence and purity.
And all of this was merely to facilitate the growth of 'protagonist Chen Kong.' Only in this way would Caroline and the others' dark transformation in the second season become logical. Their appearance as villains, as Children of the Stars, would then be a natural progression.
However, Tendo did not like this outcome. He disliked such a terrible ending. So he had to change it.
But change was never easy, and being a hero wasn't something just anyone could do. For this, Tendo had to find a reasonable justification, to convince himself to be the 'hero.'
After repeatedly watching the first season of the original story, Tendo felt that he had not only found the 'perfect' ending that would make everyone happy, but he had also finally found the reason to convince himself to be the 'hero.'
No other reason than: the audience hates tragedy.
Since that was the case, in order to maximize his 'popularity,' in order to gain more 'love' from the audience, Tendo felt he could be this 'hero.' As for whether the future would truly change as he imagined, and whether he could truly 'retreat safely' afterward, Tendo, already 'immersed in the role,' had long since automatically ignored those questions. Because he subconsciously understood that the so-called 'safe retreat' was merely his own beautiful wish from the very beginning. He... didn't really have absolute certainty.
At the same time, his true reason for wanting to be a 'hero' was never for 'popularity.' He simply couldn't bear to lose the mischievous smile on Yun Meng's face when she sneaked him into the back kitchen. He couldn't bear to lose the bright and clear light in Caroline's eyes when she held that little dolphin doll. He couldn't bear to lose Liuli's silly cuteness when she hugged her pillow, thinking she had hidden her candy well.
He... didn't really have to be this 'hero.' He just... didn't want anyone to destroy this 'home' he cherished.
"Cough, cough... As expected, being a hero... isn't that easy."
"But, still..."
Tendo's voice echoed in the silent corridor, his expression revealing an unspoken stubbornness and madness. His right hand tremblingly reached into a hidden pocket in his uniform, pulling out a light blue, special candy, which he carefully placed in his mouth.
As the candy melted on his tongue, he staggered to his feet, fresh beads of blood constantly seeping from his damaged combat suit as he moved, yet Tendo seemed not to feel it. 'Gazing' at the quantum center's control room door, now within reach, Tendo slowly pushed it open with his shoulder, muttering to himself, "...The script might be fake, but that happy ending future is real."
"Because I've already seen it."
"Now, let me present the final, curtain-closing fireworks for this magnificent play..."
With that, Tendo stumbled into the quantum center control room. For him, there was only one last task remaining to achieve the beautiful, happy ending he had planned.
And what Tendo, along with everyone else, didn't know was that the person who once thought he stood on the edge of the stage, coldly treating the entire world as a play, had long since unknowingly written himself into this story.
And it seemed he was having a hard time getting out.