"Is this yours?"
"…I made it."
"Wow… you're so amazing! You're going to be a great inventor someday!"
"It's a shame it's broken…"
"If you want…"
"I can… help you make another one!"
"Really? Thank you!"
He, who felt abandoned by everyone, was hearing such positive encouragement for the first time.
It wasn't that he didn't understand his family's concern for him... but it was also true that they completely disregarded his true needs and desires.
This was the first time he had ever known—
That someone could have such expectations of him.
That someone could genuinely need him for who he was.
"My name is Kallen! Kallen Kaslana!"
"What's your name?"
"…Otto."
"My name… My name is Otto Apocalypse."
"Well then, Otto—can we be friends?"
"…O-Of course, we can."
Friend. It was a concept the boy had only ever read about in books.
"Um… Great Inventor, I have a request. Will you grant it for me?"
"Huh? A request?"
"Yup! When we grow up… you'll come and 'save' the world with me!"
"But before that, you have to get strong and healthy, okay?"
"O-Okay!"
He agreed to her request with the utmost sincerity.
Both of them were, in essence, Impostors. Both were mimicking their true selves, and both of their uncanny Rules lay dormant…
Everything was a lie.
Were these feelings real? Or were they just a convincing fabrication?
Only in the future, when they both remembered everything, could that question be answered.
Kallen was the first person in Otto's lonely childhood to recognize his talent and sincerely share her dreams with him. From that day on, Otto's heart held only Kallen. Unfortunately, Kallen's heart held the entire world.
Later, Kallen chose to die for her principles, willingly walking to the execution platform.
Unwilling to let Kallen die like that, Otto went along with his sister's conspiracy, unleashing Honkai Beasts upon the public.
Kallen died under the claws of the Honkai Beasts while protecting the civilians who couldn't escape.
From that moment, Otto's time stood still. He began a frantic sprint toward the end of his life, consumed by nothing but his work and his plan to save Kallen.
He had always paid close attention to the relationship between Li Mo and Kiana, though he could never quite explain why.
The two had relied on each other since childhood. Their bond was as pure as a flawless, colorless gem, with not a single shadow to be found even under the brightest sun.
For some reason, he always felt a strange impulse.
Until—
The Herrscher of Dominance appeared. To steal its authority, he sacrificed his body to enter the Theater of Dominance, and there, he died.
However, death was not outside his plans. The body that entered the Theater was merely a Soulium construct; his consciousness could be transferred at any time.
If the body died, it died. He had others.
That's what Otto had thought. But this death was different. His consciousness couldn't transfer…
His gaze… couldn't move away from Kiana, who had become the Herrscher of Flamescion.
Reason told him he had to transfer his consciousness immediately, but his body's instincts resisted.
His consciousness couldn't linger for long in a broken Soulium body. If he stayed, his mind would collapse.
Her eyes retained their original, clear blue, but they had become incredibly resolute.
The tattered, burning cape was striking, a symbol of the unfillable void her mentor's sacrifice had left in her heart, as well as her unending stride and the strength to bravely march forward.
He had orchestrated Murata Himeko's death, but why did he feel this pain?
Was it for Murata Himeko? Or was it because he saw Kiana grow stronger, more willing to face hardship alone, and felt pained by it?
It was understandable to not want to involve your closest loved ones in dangerous affairs.
Kiana was concerned for the safety of the boy named Li Mo, but it was obvious he didn't care about his own life or death; he only wanted to be by her side.
Charging ahead alone would only lead them to drift apart, just like he and Kallen had.
Moreover… when that boy saw Kiana surrounded by more and more friends, their bonds growing deeper as they supported each other, while he could only watch from the shadows…
What would he be thinking?
Would he offer his blessings?
Would he feel resentment?
Would he feel lonely?
"Ahh… It seems I've fallen here. Why am I thinking about so many irrelevant things…?"
The dying Otto lay in a corner of the collapsing Theater of Dominance, quietly awaiting death.
His hollow eyes stared at the dissipating flames. He listlessly raised his hands, trying to touch that scorching light.
Kiana vanished into the portal back to reality, leaving behind only embers and a faint glow as proof of her existence.
"Don't… leave me behind…" Otto's voice was hoarse.
In that moment, it was as if he wasn't in control of his body, yet the words were undeniably his own.
His voice faded along with the crumbling Theater, his consciousness following close behind.
But the instant his consciousness dissipated, Otto returned to his original flesh-and-blood body—the one stored in the stasis pod.
For five hundred years, in order to appear before Kallen in the form she knew best, Otto had sealed his physical body in a stasis pod, using Soulium bodies with his transferred consciousness instead.
Only, it wasn't Otto who awoke, but Li Mo.
The dormant soul finally blossomed in death.
Otto was him, and Li Mo was him.
He had never been playing the part of Otto; he had been playing himself all along.
"My name is Li Mo. I am… Li Mo," Li Mo said naturally, confirming his identity. Surveying his surroundings, he pressed a switch inside the stasis pod and stepped out.
He now possessed all of Otto's memories, from both the first and second timelines.
"Usurp."
Li Mo extended his left hand, effortlessly changing his appearance and dressing himself in the clothes Otto wore in Kolosten.
"I am still an Impostor, but I possess self-awareness, just like the Impostor Kallen Kaslana did."
"The difference is, I no longer need to play Otto. I define who I play. I can just play myself."
Li Mo clenched his fist and walked to a mirror, looking at his altered appearance, now identical to Otto's.
The change in appearance was for what he needed to do next.
"Old friends, it's time you served your remaining purpose," Li Mo murmured, a hint of subtle mockery and satisfaction in his voice.
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze piercing through the corridor, through the present, and seeing the Yae Village of the past.
A lighthearted smile touched the corners of his lips, his turquoise eyes glinting with a mix of playfulness and depth.
In the next moment, Li Mo traveled through time to the Yae Village he had visited five hundred years ago.
It was the exact point in time right after his own execution.
Ignoring the stares of the people around him, Li Mo walked straight up to his past self and took the notebook, the uncanny pistol, the thermometer, and the white charm from his embrace.
The same person cannot exist in the same time and space, so he had to come here in the guise of Otto.
"Well—long time no see. Did you miss me, old friend…?" Li Mo said, gently wiping the bloodstains and ash from the notebook, his movements elegant and unhurried.
With just a thought, he returned to the present.
He now had the Impostor's ability to travel freely through time, and his tolerance for the contamination had greatly increased.
However, he had lost the chance to restart upon death. The Impostor's Rule meant that upon dying, he would immediately be reborn as himself at a random point in time.
Compared to others, he had made more promises to himself, and was more "himself" than anyone else.
"I'm currently in a one-death state, yet I can use 'Usurp.' Do you have any ideas about that?" Li Mo asked, opening the notebook and waiting for a response.
The notebook flipped to the second page.
Based on his memory, the Rule of the second page was "Love's Desire for Life"—to survive by any means necessary, even if what survived was just a soulless body.
Li Mo was curious why the notebook would turn to the second page on its own. Logically, he wasn't facing any threats right now.
After a moment's wait, the notebook gave its answer: [My name is Li Mo. As you read this, I'm not sure if I am the real me.]
[I have used many methods to verify my identity, but I still cannot say with certainty that I am Li Mo.]
[I have temporarily set that question aside and turned my attention to the fact that I can use the Bizarre Mei's left-hand ability, 'Usurp,' while in a one-death state.]
[The Bizarre Rule are absolute. An Impostor, by nature, does not possess enough contamination to support my use of 'Usurp' in a one-death state.]
[This reminds me of something I overlooked back when I 'killed' the Bizarre Mei.]
[She took my left hand, and it seems she did something.]
[As my consciousness was fading, she seemed to say something beyond my request.]
[After countless attempts, I have finally uncovered the truth.]
[She wished that my wish would be her wish. The price required for my 'Wish' would be borne entirely by her. Only if she is unable to pay the price will it be transferred back to me to bear in full.]
[I have obtained 'Wish.']
"…"
Li Mo was stunned. He looked down at his left hand. "Usurp" had evolved into "Wish." What was the price for such a process?
"Usurp" required three deaths to use. "Wish" had no such restrictions. As long as the price could be paid, it could do anything.
For Li Mo, this was a total steal. But for Mei, it was probably putting her in a tough spot.
Any wish that exceeded the Aberrant Bud's contamination limit likely couldn't be granted.
Li Mo shook his head. This wasn't the time to think about that.
Now that he understood why he could use "Usurp" in a one-death state, it was time to pursue his true goal.
"This is no time for nostalgia. Time to get down to business."
"Tell me, what really happened in the Eigenworld? Why did the Bizarre spread? Why did MEI and everyone else die? What are Mei and MEI hiding from me?"
[…]
The notebook gave no reply.
"Not talking? Fine, I'll send you on a 50,000-year trip to the bottom of the sea. With my Impostor ability, I can send you back 50,000 years and return to the present instantly. You'll spend five millennia at the bottom of the ocean, but for me, it'll be over in a flash."
[…]
The notebook's pages flipped rapidly, but still, there was no answer.
This unusual behavior made Li Mo wonder. Why would the notebook rather endure 50,000 years of torture than tell him the truth?
"Fine. I'll grant your wish."
Li Mo immediately returned to the past as himself. It was a time in the Previous Era when he had just gotten out of school. His past self turned around abruptly and muttered, "Just my imagination."
He shook his head and went home. He asked Hokusai for a small, extremely dense black box that could withstand deep-sea pressure, decisively placed the notebook inside, and dropped it into the ocean from the sky.
He then returned to 50,000 years later as Otto and summoned the notebook back with a Wish.
"Well? Have you thought it over? If you don't talk, we'll do it again. I've got all the time in the world to wear you down."
Li Mo said nonchalantly. This was no longer a threat; he would actually do it.
The notebook still didn't answer, its pages continuing to flip frantically.
"Seriously, what are you so afraid of? This is the first time I've seen you this panicked, like you've seen something terrifying. Could it be more terrifying than 50,000 years of solitude in the deep sea?"
Li Mo was baffled. He chose not to repeat the process.
If he continued, the notebook probably still wouldn't answer.
"Forget it. Asking you is pointless. I'm preparing to use my Impostor ability to travel to the time before I left the Eigenworld. This time, I've decided not to deal with the Impostor, but to stay in the Eigenworld and face the spreading Bizarre Thing."
Unexpectedly, the notebook suddenly stopped on the third-to-last page. This was the first time it had ever stopped there.
Li Mo looked closer, and crooked characters began to appear on the page.
[My name is Li Mo. As you read this, I am dying, and I am about to be reborn.]
That sentence again…
Li Mo paid it no mind and continued reading.
[After becoming an Impostor, I used its ability to travel freely through specific time-space to return to the Eigenworld before the Bizarre spread, and I informed MEI of what would happen…]
"Wait. If MEI is hiding the truth, then I shouldn't have told her what happened."
[My name is Li Mo. I returned to the Eigenworld before the Bizarre spread and chose to hide everything that would happen. MEI assigned me my next mission. I refused, telling her explicitly that I was staying in the Eigenworld.]
[She seemed to sense something but didn't show it, instead returning to her room.]
[Using Ghost's Vision, I saw her writing in a diary, or perhaps a notebook. Strangely, I couldn't see the content she wrote, but I am certain she was using an ordinary pen on ordinary paper to write ordinary content.]
[I suspect the content she wrote contains some kind of Bizarre Rule, a taboo that I cannot observe.]
[The next day, everything was normal. No Bizarre incident occurred. I wished for one minute of Ghost's Vision again and found no irregularities in this solar system. Raiden Mei went blind for a day as a result.]
[On the third day, an unknown black fog suddenly appeared. Fortunately, there were no ghosts walking within it. I couldn't help but feel this fog was very familiar.]