Two minutes later, the group had finished voting.
Kiana received three votes.
Theresa received two votes.
Tesla received two votes.
Raven received zero votes.
"Hehe, I choose A! I'm definitely the winner!"
Kiana announced her answer, puffed up with pride.
[Answer... incorrect. The correct answer is C: Tesla.]
"What?!"
Kiana shrieked, and immediately deflated as one year was deducted from her lifespan.
"Haha! As expected, a genius like me took first place!"
Tesla laughed heartily, planting her hands on her hips in triumph.
"Dr. Tesla was the winner? How unexpected."
"Alright, Dr. Tesla. The Dr. Tesla from a parallel world won. What does that have to do with you?" Einstein mercilessly poured cold water on her celebration.
"Hey! Nest-head, I see you're just jealous that I'm more of a genius than you, aren't you? Even if it's a parallel-world me, it's still me, isn't it?" Tesla huffed.
"Damn it, why didn't I win?" Kiana pouted, her cheeks puffed out in frustration.
"Kiana, don't worry about it too much. We'll find out when we watch the video, right?" Raiden Mei consoled her.
As soon as her voice fell, the Q&A Space considerately began to play the footage.
Everyone quickly turned their attention to the screen, eager to see if the events would unfold as they now expected.
A narrator's voice began to play.
"Honkai, a supernatural disaster born alongside human civilization, which seeks to destroy it. It has given rise to countless zombies and Honkai Beasts, enemies to all life."
"And Valkyries are a high-risk profession dedicated to protecting humanity and eliminating the Honkai. Their power is immense, capable of even slowing time and creating black holes."
As the background narration continued, the screen zoomed in, focusing on a massive stadium.
"But today, all will set aside their past grievances and compete on this field—"
The roar of the crowd in the stands, filled with cheers and shouts of encouragement, flooded the entire stadium. And among these spectators were humans, Valkyries, and even Honkai Beasts and zombies!
The view then shifted to the racetrack, where familiar figures stood on the starting line, warming up.
They were Kiana and Theresa from Schicksal; Tesla and the Alin sisters from Anti-Entropy; Raven from World Serpent; and finally, Ji Lin and a human-formed Bella.
Then, with the sound of the referee's starting pistol, everyone shot forward.
At that moment, a passionate and rousing voice echoed in their ears.
"The race has begun! Kiana is off to a very fast start and is temporarily in the lead! Following right behind her is contestant Ji Lin, and then Theresa... Whoa! Bella just took off into the air! She's effortlessly bypassing the other contestants!"
"Wait a minute, is flying in a running race not considered cheating?"
The screen flashed to the commentary booth, where Otto and Rita were enthusiastically and professionally commentating on the race.
"Welcome to the live broadcast of the Second Great Honkai Sports Festival! I am your host, Rita, and here with me is Overseer Otto."
Rita calmly introduced the broadcast to everyone watching.
"The winner of the competition will receive the Seven-Colored Crystal, which can grant any wish. Please do your best, everyone~"
Seeing this, the audience outside the screen was completely dumbfounded.
Although they had already guessed this was a parallel world, they had never imagined that a parallel world could be this ridiculously absurd!
Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, World Serpent, and Honkai Beasts... all gathered together for a footrace?
And Otto was a commentator?
You'd probably need a decade of brain damage to come up with a plot like this.
---o---
Back on the screen, the camera focused on Kiana. Dressed in her Valkyrie Ranger outfit, she ran as if the wind were at her feet, moving as fast as lightning.
Otto's passionate commentary rang out right on cue.
"Alright, the Valkyrie on screen is our very own contestant from Schicksal, Kiana! As you can all see, she is running incredibly fast. According to our data analysis, she is equipped with the people's champion, the invincible Hannah Mark 12!"
"This stigmata set is truly incredible! It gives the contestant a seventy-five percent performance boost! Her top speed can reach five hundred kilometers per hour!"
"So, where can one buy it?"
"It's very simple! Just scan the QR code at the link below, and you can immediately use your crystals to pull from the Precision Supply Crate! There's a high probability you'll get the Hannah set!"
Just then, the situation on the track changed.
Dr. Tesla, wearing a device that looked like a jetpack, flew up into the air and easily surpassed Kiana, taking second place.
"Hahaha! Your Schicksal stigmatas are way too weak! Bleh!~~"
Tesla pulled a face, sticking her tongue out at Kiana in a taunting gesture.
"And this is supposed to be the strongest stigmata set? I want a refund!" Kiana fumed. Who was it that told her before the race that Hannah was the strongest? It had tricked her into spending all her crystals just to pull the set.
But at that moment, a Ganesha appeared from nowhere, rolling forward at high speed. It slammed directly into the unprepared Dr. Tesla, carrying her along as it continued to roll.
"Whoa! Look at that! It's Ganesha in its rolling form! Yes, yes, yes, it's completely flattened Dr. Tesla! Are they going to roll all the way to the finish line like this?" Otto exclaimed.
Rita followed up, "There's a cliffside curve up ahead. I wonder if it will allow the contestants to widen the gap?"
The rolling Ganesha, with a dazed Tesla in tow, showed no signs of slowing down or turning. It shot straight off the track, and in the process, it even knocked the flying Bella out of the sky.
"Oh dear, how careless of the contestants. But not to worry! I must inform everyone that this competition is serviced by the most professional medical team. Any injury is not a problem."
The screen flashed to six zombies in black suits and sunglasses, each carrying a coffin on their back.
They certainly looked the part.
---o---
With the first-place Bella and second-place Tesla now out of the race, the person in the lead was once again Kiana.
"Alright, contestant Kiana is the first to reach the second zone, the Red Lotus Abyss! Here, the Valkyries must face a relentless assault of high temperatures!"
"Oh? Ji Lin has suddenly mounted her horse! Could it be that she couldn't stand the heat and has snapped?"
The view of the race shifted again, this time to Theresa.
She was frantically fumbling with her beloved Judah, desperately seeking its help.
"Judah, why are you still asleep! If you keep sleeping, we won't be able to catch up!"
With Theresa's vigorous shaking, Judah finally woke up. Theresa's tears turned into a smile of relief.
"Great! We can finally catch up! Flight mode, deploy!"
"Whoa! Theresa has very cleverly utilized Judah's flight capabilities! She's standing on top of it and has swiftly flown over the entire area, moving into first place!"
"My goodness, we truly can never know how many uses Judah (Theresa) has!"