In the golden courtyard, everyone unsurprisingly turned their gaze toward Mobius.
To her, the heated stares from this group weren't worth much concern—
What did make her a little awkward was the one sticking closely beside her.
Staring—
Klein was quietly and intently watching Mobius, a confused look in her eyes.
So... is this why I love working so much?
Because my core settings made me a workaholic...
She had never suspected that it was tampered with at the moment of her birth.
She always thought it was because she was modeled after that original Klein—
the one who was created because of Mobius.
But now it seemed... it was all the Doctor's doing.
"Doctor, you're not going to say anything?"
she asked, slightly parting her lips, her eyes still fixed on Mobius's expression.
"Say... say what exactly?" Mobius deflected awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.
"I just feel like—Klein without an overtime work ethic isn't the real Klein!"
It was a weak excuse.
But Mobius firmly believed that the original Klein had that kind of personality anyway.
All she did was bring it out to the fullest.
"...Doctor, next time, please don't do something like that."
"Didn't you say you wanted to let me truly be free?"
She saw Mobius's stubborn mouth and sighed, letting it go for now.
She understood her own nature well, and wouldn't forcefully refute her when Mobius was being firm...
Even though, honestly, she didn't really mind that much.
"Mm. Of course. After all, I entrusted this to you—"
"You're allowed to freely alter your own base settings. I won't let anything become your shackles. So really, you work because you love working!"
Mobius explained.
"Is that so?"
Klein stared at her, the gaze of one who had already died once.
"It is," Mobius nodded.
"Really..."
"Ahem, sorry to interrupt your moment," Elysia suddenly cut in,
"I just have one question—why is it that when Doctor To and Doctor Mei both invited you, you agreed to both of them,
but when I invited you, you flatly refused?"
"Forgive me for being direct, but Doctor, that's just not fair—!"
Elysia said with exaggerated sorrow, brows furrowed in mock pain.
If Mobius had just refused her alone, she wouldn't have taken it so personally.
But she agreed to the others and only refused her—
Wasn't that a bit much?
"And you're not even ashamed to say that?" Mobius scoffed coldly.
"The others invited me for serious business. You invited me to some party."
Her words landed squarely on Elysia's pride.
"Well, how was I supposed to know if it was serious or not..."
Elysia muttered, voice small.
The truth was, she just didn't want Mobius wasting time she could use for research.
"Tsk. I even thought about comforting you a little that day..."
"But I got mercilessly rejected. The more I think about it, the more heartbroken I get."
She pretended to sob, even dabbing her eye dramatically—wiping away nonexistent tears.
Smack—
Mobius shoved her hand aside and glared coldly.
Her sharp expression completely ignored Elysia's theatrics.
Compared to Elysia, what she really needed to focus on right now—
was calming Klein down.
That was the true priority.
And so, the Mobius Laboratory's mini-theater came to an end.
It completed Mobius's image—not just a mad scientist, but someone humanized by grief.
Not evil, but someone who had lost herself in sorrow due to the death of the one who understood her.
Klein's death had truly changed her.
From that moment, she became—
The Mobius we now know.
Not even the heartwarming little theater ending could bring her happiness.
Because what followed next was—
A patch preview.
------
This patch preview was unusually long.
As the peaceful story came to a close,
and the new year's bell chimed softly in the background, the curtain slowly fell.
Along with it came news that yet another Herrscher had appeared at the academy.
A moment of celebration—
St. Freya's combat strength had once again risen to a new level.
As Headmistress, Theresa was naturally responsible.
"Uh... this..." Theresa mumbled, looking toward Luo Mo with a pout.
"Why do I always end up responsible for things like this...?"
After all, not everyone wanted to become a Herrscher.
That said... being a Herrscher was actually kind of awesome.
She now felt like she could defeat ten of her former selves.
So as far as increased combat power went—
she fully approved.
"If it happens in your academy, then of course it's your responsibility,"
Luo Mo said gently, sipping his tea.
The reason he was being so formal today was obvious—
Kallen was sitting beside him.
With someone like his superior present, how could he act the same as usual and bully Theresa?
Not that he was scared exactly...
It just wasn't worth it.
Kallen had helped him tremendously early on.
Once they had shown mutual goodwill, both sides quickly reached a win-win situation.
Now that he had moved his headquarters to far east, Kallen didn't say much about it.
And Luo Mo was also actively trying to build connections with the next Overseer of the Schicksal
—And thus, he became a fan of Mahou leader Teriri!
From that perspective, the other party (Kallen) didn't leave much resistance like Otto once did.
Luo Mo wasn't blind to people's feelings either, and was quite willing to remain under the banner of Schicksal.
"Theresa's academy is indeed producing talents non-stop... Even the training room is now attracting powerful enemies to spar with the Valkyries,
which in turn raised their average combat strength. Especially Kiana—
she's been training hard almost every day and making remarkable progress."
Kallen nodded in agreement.
The fact that she singled out Kiana by name said enough—
Kiana's recent progress had clearly been immense.
That day, after accidentally tapping into the power of the End under pressure, Kiana seemed to unlock a new ability.
She started trying all kinds of techniques.
Within her body, she already had the Kaslana Stigmata, the Herrscher Core,
and now a brand-new power to wield.
She repeatedly tested herself in the training room, constantly breaking her limits.
After multiple tests arranged by the red-blue scientist duo from Anti-Entropy, the strength of her new power was scientifically confirmed.
So they entrusted Kiana to fully harness it—
and her combat strength soared once again.
"Once we defeat the Honkai, and assume control over Schicksal, we won't have to fear powerful enemies anymore.
All the current Herrschers have basically become Valkyries...
That's something I never even dared to dream of."
Kallen also spoke with a sense of amazement.
"If the 'Flame-Chasers' plan was Elysia's doing,
then what followed was a pleasant surprise.
Now we're only missing one Herrscher to complete the full set."
"Theresa, push a little harder."
Luo Mo encouraged her.
"Now that you mention it, I've always heard you talking about collecting all the Herrschers.
I don't think we're missing any... Wait, maybe we're still one short—
So where's the Herrscher of Rock?"
Brownie, who hadn't been seen for a while, spoke up from the sofa.
She was being uncharacteristically quiet and gentle, or maybe just tired—
looking like she could fall asleep at any moment.
It gave the impression that she'd stayed up all night again.
If anyone had a say on this, it would be Bella, the Honkai dragon next to her.
"He's with World Serpent," Kallen said after a moment of hesitation.
"Not long ago, Kevin mentioned him briefly. Just said it was resolved—
but didn't go into detail."
As expected, they were referring to Owl.
But after seeing how the story of the two (Owl and Anna) in the game ended,
could he really still believe in the Will of Honkai?
Maybe not. Or maybe Kevin stopped him.
But he hadn't shown up again, and hadn't gone looking for Anna either.
Still, every time a game short film ended with that final frame from the developers—
Anna's name was always at the top.
She even appeared in a few early patch previews.
He must know she works at the company now.
"Maybe, just like Anna, he became a 'patch orphan'—
given up on awakening altogether.
I think this new binding is going to hit hard,"
Luo Mo said teasingly, poking the rose hairpin on Luna's head.
The girl had quietly returned to her usual state.
Clearly, she realized he wasn't as shallow as he acted.
("So... Human prefer the 'small and cute' types now?
Just earlier he looked at me differently.
But now with this outfit...")
("Weird. Well, might as well save the novelty.
I'll use my proper skin when the final battle comes.")
Luna thought to herself in silence.
"Hey! That 'hit hard' comment—
are you mocking me or something?"
Theresa, ever sharp, immediately picked up on the hidden jab.
Kiana, who was fanning herself nearby, shook her head.
At this rate, if she couldn't find a good moment to flip the tables, sooner or later, she'd be the one pinned down by her.
"Whether our Headmistress is fierce or not doesn't matter for now. Let's look at my story script."
Brownie said nonchalantly.
"Actually... why don't we look at Sakura's first?"
"Technically, her story comes earlier."
She suggested gently.
But no one seemed to be paying attention.
Both scripts had been released simultaneously,
and then came the "Luna" section.
She and Sakura had played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go first.
Unluckily, she lost.
So her script was exposed first.
That said, Brownie didn't think she had any dark history to worry about—
so she wasn't nervous at all.
---
And then, the story begins:
In the sky above Skyhold City, a barrier of light cut across the heavens.
Neon lights flashed in a dazzling spectrum of colors.
Within the streets, surrounded by a sea of billboards,
the city glowed with a high-tech vibe—
completely indistinguishable from the real world.
The story began with Brownie, sitting lazily atop a crate, waiting for a deal to go down.
This time, she was dealing with one of the three major forces in the city—Serpent Eye—purchasing intel from them.
But clearly, Serpent Eye split the transaction into two parts:
One part was the intelligence for her, and the other was her location, which they sold to the people chasing her.
No matter which side profited, Serpent Eye could swallow a share of the gains.
And the representative of Serpent Eye—unsurprisingly—was the recurring villain Grey Serpent.
The cold, red-eyed cyborg, always present and always playing the unchanging antagonist role in every operation.
His very appearance seemed to scream which side was evil.
"What? Haven't you ever seen a tiger eat a rabbit?"
She sneered coldly.
Using her ability to create drones out of nothing, she effortlessly fended off the attackers,
making it clear to everyone that this famous Hacker was skilled at far more than just hacking.
The transaction was a success, and she obtained intel about a secret location hidden within Skyhold City—
something linked to the Divine Science and Technology organization.
Next, she awaited the person sent to rendezvous with her—
—Theresa.
Once again, the famous idol herself.
This time, she appeared in an outfit adorned with fresh, cool-toned green accents,
giving her the pure and youthful feel of a classic idol.
She smiled while waiting for Brownie to arrive, and then began explaining the cover story she had cooked up.
"After a concert, your stamina drops a lot, right? That makes sense, doesn't it?"
"So with a little push and some creative exaggeration, the excuse basically worked."
"Creative exaggeration?"
Brownie raised an eyebrow with interest, mimicking someone's speech teasingly.
"『Hu hu~ TeRiRi's magical energy is drained~ She needs to rest really well now~』
—Was it something like that?"
"Wrong! Don't imitate me like that when you can't even do it properly!"
Theresa, currently dressed as a magical girl, pouted angrily, raising her tiny fist and glaring at Brownie's smug act.
But she wasn't truly mad—
The two of them actually got along quite well.
They walked together, discussing the next step in their plan to steal the secret key.
This part also revealed Theresa's current identity—
the most popular idol in the region, and also the biggest money magnet of the Taixu Sect.
The strange combination of Idol meets Hacker was born from a completely unexpected incident.
Let's set that topic aside for now.
Just then, a broadcast echoed through the night sky
.....
"Mahou Shoujo TeRiRi collaboration model:
New generation optical cloaking Fiery Wings now on sale!
Mahou Shoujo TeRiRi—Stealth, Soar, and I've Caught You Now~!"
These lines weren't exactly unfamiliar—
especially not to the person who originally voiced them.
"So that's... part of an idol's duty?"
Brownie raised her eyebrows with amusement, looking straight at Theresa, whose face turned beet red.
"No... that's part of an idol package deal..."
Theresa covered her face, full of helplessness.
These were just the kind of catchphrases an idol had to say—it wasn't like she actually believed it!
Oh no.
What kind of look is that she's giving me?
Theresa felt her heart sinking.
---
Back at Theresa's villa.
"Ugh, why—WHY does it have to be my dark history?!"
Theresa cried out in disbelief, unable to resist trying to block the screen with her hands,
as if her petite body could shield everyone else's eyes from seeing it.
But of course, that was wishful thinking.
The broadcast came through loud and clear to everyone present—there was no escaping it.
"Why? Why?!"
She was dizzy.
She definitely didn't record those lines for that script!
"Ahem... For the sake of personal privacy, I sometimes adjust the voice lines during segments that aren't important to the plot—
or if there's an alternative scene option available.
I try my best to reassign roles appropriately."
"For example, in this script, the characters were Sakura, Bronya, and a few of you here.
I matched the voices accordingly—
seamless and perfect, right?
That way, we can avoid awkward overlaps in voice casting."
"How about it? Pretty clever, isn't it?"
Luo Mo chuckled as he explained.
His real motive, of course, was to avoid having too many overlapping recordings with certain individuals.
Besides, just because two people looked alike didn't mean they got along.
Sometimes, it even created more distance between them.
On the other hand, Seele and Bronya were working in sync with him—
they even helped him sneak in more "dark history" clips under the radar.
"..."
Theresa fell silent, glancing around at everyone.
So this was the truth...
She was the only one caught off guard?
Unbelievable.
If Brownie's dark history came from a moment where her recorded lines didn't match the current scene, then Theresa's two characters were just... completely disconnected.
It wasn't even a continuity error—it was just unrelated.
No wonder.
Still—how frustrating!
"Hiding ~ Takeoff ~ Got You Now ~"
Kallen repeated the catchphrase with a wide grin.
"A—Aaaah!!"
Theresa's face turned bright red.
She collapsed halfway into Kallen's arms, blushing all the way to her ears.
She just wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
No warning.
No preparation.
Her most embarrassing moment had been thrust into the spotlight.
"Ahhh, it really brings back memories, doesn't it?"
"If the Headmistress could go back to those days,
I'd still miss that world's Theresa~"
Brownie added in a gentle but very deliberate tone.
She wasn't technically lying—
but her gleaming, mischievous eyes made her intent obvious.
"Hmm... So you don't miss Natasha, huh?"
"She gave up her island mansion for your sake and chose to stay at the bar."
Luo Mo, ever the loyal Theresa fan, felt obligated to speak up in her defense.
"..."
"Still, she's not Natasha,"
"And in that world, there was no 'Kongming ' either."
"Besides, I remember—
Before I left, Natasha hadn't even lost her wine yet."
Bronie shot him a quick glance and replied flatly.