Chapter 41: The Beautiful Illusion
[The camera cut to the top of Babylon Tower. Sirin, realizing she had been disconnected from her 'god', began to panic.
"God? Can you hear my voice? God? Where are you? Why aren't you answering me?"
The scene shifted to a different dimension. Siegfried knew that without unleashing {An-Utu}, he had no chance of winning. He rolled up his sleeves, and his dual guns transformed into a greatsword of flames. He suddenly saw his own left arm, which had transformed into that of a Honkai Beast, and he woke up with a start.
It turned out to be just a dream.
But this world had become a little strange. After the Second Herrscher was defeated, the world had returned to peace. The Honkai gradually disappeared from the world, and the warriors of Schicksal lost their jobs.
To make a living, Schicksal's Overseer, Otto, led a group of Valkyries into a new venture, establishing the Schicksal Technology and Entertainment Company. And as Schicksal's sworn enemy, Anti-Entropy also transitioned into Anti-Entropy Entertainment. Their newly released game was a huge success, causing Overseer Otto to lose several hairs from stress.
Despite the strange developments, Siegfried didn't notice anything wrong. He even found himself thinking about what a bald Otto would look like and chuckled at the thought.]
"This is an illusion, right?" Pardofelis said uncertainly.
"It's exactly like reality. As expected of a story that bases its characters on real people," Mobius said. She didn't know what Yàqīng was thinking, to actually use real people as character models. If a character named Mobius appeared later, she wouldn't be too surprised. Unless...
"I'm not that worried about those old friends of mine," Otto said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Hahahaha." Kallen laughed like a goose. The bald Otto model Patrick had made was too comical. She laughed for a long time, so long that Otto was worried she would run out of breath.
After catching her breath a little, Kallen asked curiously, "Otto, do you lose hair? Hahahaha..."
As soon as she asked the question, Kallen couldn't help but laugh again.
Otto grabbed a strand of his hair, puzzled. He looked at the single golden hair in his palm in shock, a storm raging in his heart. Although he wasn't that concerned about his appearance, he couldn't go bald!
"Hahahaha." A certain lobster-headed doctor also laughed like a goose, perhaps happy about the prank on Otto, or perhaps joyful to have another companion in the comic relief role.
"I never thought our existence would cause that Overseer so much trouble," Einstein's lips curved slightly.
"Serves him right," Welt Yang laughed heartily. He even said it was his idea. Originally, there was only supposed to be a small Q-version image in a corner of the screen, but he had strongly insisted on a full 3D model that took up the entire screen.
"By the way, how did that young director agree to it?"
"Huh?!" Welt Yang thought about it carefully. It seemed that when he was making his strong demands, he hadn't seen Yàqīng at all. "He seemed to... not have agreed, but also seemed to have... tacitly approved."
"What an inscrutable man," Einstein sighed.
[With his hands in his pockets, a roguish Siegfried arrived at the headquarters building. On his way to the President's office, he saw the receptionist Patrick, the programmers Salome and Shab, and the secretary Cheng Lixue—the dead and the living, all existing in this beautiful illusion.
In the meeting room, Siegfried presented his new game proposal to President Otto. Siegfried's creative idea won Otto's approval and the project was successfully greenlit. This made Siegfried very happy and reminded him that today was Kiana's birthday.]
"Are you planning to develop another game?" Mobius glanced at Yàqīng. Why did she say "another"? Because Otto had once produced an anime called "Saintess Fantasy," but due to poor ratings, it was publicly claimed to be Yàqīng's creation.
So that "Saintess Fantasy," an IP that Schicksal had invested a lot of money into, wouldn't completely disappear, Yàqīng had drastically changed the storyline and adapted it into a game. But even as a game, it was difficult to recoup the initial investment.
Currently, the two games with the highest global publicity were Schicksal's "Saintess Fantasy" and Anti-Entropy's "Homu's Great Adventure."
So, in Mobius's eyes, Yàqīng had once produced a failed anime, then adapted it into a game that was still lukewarm.
"We'll see. It's just a concept for now," Yàqīng said. He knew that if this movie didn't make money, he would probably have to go back to the Schariac family and inherit the family business.
"Heh heh, what I hate most are people like you who start projects and don't finish them," Mobius snorted.
"Senior Mobius, being a tsundere doesn't suit you."
"You!!!"
[The scene cut to another side. Cecilia, in casual clothes, kept glancing at the fitting room. When the curtain was pulled back, Kiana, in a Winter Princess gown, shyly walked out. The dress was very short, her long legs wrapped in white stockings.
"Mama, you're too impatient. This dress is hard to put on."
Cecilia smiled and said that this gown had been made when she was born. Cecilia would often secretly imagine what Kiana would look like when she grew up, and now she could finally see her wearing it.
"Ich liebe dich (I love you), Kiana."]
"This dress is too short," Kiana blushed. From the back, the dress in the model was so short you could almost see...
"Uh, I don't think Cecilia would prepare such clothes in real life... right?" Theresa suddenly remembered that Cecilia did seem to have once prepared a gown for Bianka.
"Mei, why are you facing away from us?" Bronya smiled mischievously.
Senti ran over and exclaimed, "Mei, why is your nose bleeding?!"
"Eh?!" Kiana also hurried over.
Bronya pulled out a few tissues and handed them over.
After taking the tissues, Raiden Mei silently turned to face another direction.
"Mama, do you really have that gown?" Sirin asked curiously.
"No." Cecilia thought for a moment. "I once prepared a gown for your eldest sister, but it was a black, long fishtail dress. Your sister didn't seem to want to wear it."
["Hmph, so infuriating."
"Originally, I wanted to create a terrifying nightmare for them."
The backs of Kiana and Cecilia began to distort, and the surrounding scenery turned dark. Sirin ground her teeth as she watched the screen monitoring Siegfried and Cecilia.
Because the feather was not cooperating, Sirin didn't get her wish.
Looking at the beautiful scene before her, Sirin couldn't help but fall into thought.
"An ordinary and happy family..."
"If I hadn't encountered the Honkai, if Mama hadn't died..."
"...then, could I have had this kind of happiness too?"]
"Sirin looks so pitiful. Miss Pink Elf♪ really wants to give her a hug." Elysia's heart ached for her.
The Sirin that Elysia was thinking about was currently in Cecilia's arms.
amat 200 Chapter (Final)
Honkai 140 Chapter
Lobotomy 110 Chapter
MushokuTensei 40 Chapter
'Pure Evil' Simulator 78 Chapter
Crossover Fic Blue-Eyes 99 Chapter