Chapter 117 Otto is Completely Broken! Players Roar with Laughter!
Inside the Game Director's office at miHoYo Studio.
Looking at the livestream, where Otto's face was cycling through shades of blue, red, green, and purple like he had eaten poisonous mushrooms... Su Mu hadn't even started laughing yet when Rita, standing beside him, directly lost her composure.
"Pfft.... This is the first time I've ever seen Lord Otto make such an expression." Although she tried her best to suppress her laughter, the wildly upturned corners of her mouth betrayed her.
Even though Su Mu knew the plot beforehand, seeing Otto play through this part personally—the confusion, chagrin, regret, and the subsequent terror, fear, and trembling on his face... the cold sweat pouring down—made him unable to hold back a chuckle.
At that moment, the "Magical Girl Teriri" livestream room was in a total frenzy.
[Holy crap! A death trap choice?]
[No way? How can he choose? It's impossible to choose!]
[Did Old Thief Su Mu know beforehand that Lord Otto would play this part, so he designed it like this on purpose?]
[Look at Lord Otto's will to survive overflowing the screen!]
[Su Mu is a top-tier monster! No, even 'monster' isn't enough to describe this dog!]
[Lord Otto's mental state is collapsing! One granddaughter, one wife—how do you choose?]
Clearly, the viewers never expected such a dramatic scene. Otto appearing in the stream to play Honkai Impact 3rd was interesting enough, but no one anticipated the "content" would be this explosive!
That damn Su Mu! If he had just let the script pick one of them to be shot and let the plot continue, he would have been cursed at all the same... but it wouldn't have been this personal. He purposefully threw the choice to the player behind the screen, letting them decide the life or death of Theresa and Kallen.
How do you choose? There was no goddamn way to choose! Placing a "Sophie's Choice" level of dilemma in front of them—Su Mu was clearly trying to drive the players insane!
For ordinary players, this plot choice was heavy and suffocating. For Otto Apocalypse, who was sitting in a special livestream with Theresa and Kallen literally standing right next to him... this wasn't just a simple choice. It was a trial. A trial with no survival path!
No matter which side he chose, Otto felt he could hear the echoes of his own "death." A giant, blood-red character for "DANGER" seemed to hover over his forehead. He had no choice; he couldn't parry, he couldn't Mikiri Counter!
Otto tried with great difficulty to move his arm, but the mouse felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. His clothes were soaked through with cold sweat. He had an impulse—an impulse to just faint right here and now. Escaping is shameful but useful. But his health was too good; even faced with such a heart-stopping situation, he couldn't just pass out.
Otto's time for thought was short, yet felt like an eternity. In those few dozen seconds, Otto pondered from the very origin of life: The Big Bang, the collapse of planets, single-celled organisms born in the ocean... right up to the world's highest processing pond.
[Lord Otto's eyes are dead!]
[His soul has left his body; he's not even there anymore, is he?]
[Lord Otto has burned out into white ash (Grief).]
[Keep going, Lord Otto! You can't fall until the choice is made!!]
[This is too much fun! I, Sampo of the Masked Fools, am watching this in HD!]
The chat was getting impatient with Otto's hesitation. They didn't get many chances to curse the evil Su Mu, but the chance to see Lord Otto face a literal death trap? They had to consider if this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Choose. How the hell do I choose?!
Otto stared at the two yellow boxes: "Shoot Kallen" "Shoot Theresa"
He couldn't do it. He didn't even have the strength to speak. Just staring at the choices felt like all the energy was being drained from his body.
Su Mu. You did well. You did so damn well!!
A sense of tragic indignation rose in Otto's heart. He had dominated the business world for years, surviving countless desperate situations. No matter the obstacle, he always turned danger into safety. Yet, at this moment, he was defeated so utterly. Before these two malicious choices from Su Mu, Otto realized he had become a total loser.
No, it started earlier. From the moment he boarded that ship called the Hyperion, was everything already predestined?
Su Mu!! It was so hard for me to finally value your talent!! And you make me lose this badly!!
Wavering between life and death, only one thought remained in Otto's mind: No matter what, he had to bind Su Mu to Schicksal forever. If he didn't, how could he ever get his revenge? ...If I walk out of here alive today, my dear young friend Su Mu, I'm going to have a very long "heart-to-heart" talk with you...
If that day ever came—
Theresa didn't know that Otto was currently considering where he should be buried. Looking at the hesitating Otto, she understood that this choice was too cruel for him. Because she knew exactly how much Otto loved her and Grandma Kallen, she understood what kind of "Hell" this was for him.
Thinking of this, she felt a wave of regret. She had wanted to follow Pardo's example and invite her grandfather to liven up the stream, but she hadn't expected to plunge him into such a crisis.
"Su Mu... you brat..." Thinking of the culprit behind all this, Theresa felt both angry and helpless. It was all Su Mu's fault! Everything!!
Theresa knew that in this situation, Otto was dead no matter what he picked. Therefore, she was the only one who could save him. With lightning speed, she snatched the mouse from Otto's hand and clicked the "Shoot Theresa" option.
Otto snapped back and wailed, "No! Theresa! Why did you choose!!"
Amidst Otto's wailing, the in-game plot continued. When the bullet pierced Theresa's body, her petite frame collapsed. She looked at the screen with eyes of disbelief.
["Human.... You betrayed me!"]
[Her words are a mix of sorrow and hatred.]
[Theresa leaves Kallen and struggles to lung toward you.]
[You don't know if that's the beast inside her, or just Theresa.]
["St... stop..."]
[A faint voice.]
[In an instant, Theresa's movements cease.]
[The hand reaching for you looks as if it wants to touch something one last time.]
[Then, in the next second, her body disintegrates, turning into ash and scattering in the wind.]
Otto clutched his head. The image of Theresa's death, filled with sorrow and hate, was driving him mad! "No! It's not real! It can't be real!!"
The livestream was a sea of uproar.
[Monster! Total monster! Su Mu, you and I are enemies for life!!]
[Waaaaah! Theresa, my Theresa!!]
[She was trying so hard to restrain herself until the last moment so she wouldn't hurt the Captain!]
[Broken. I'm truly broken, brothers!]
[Why? Why did you put this choice in our hands!]
[Pain. It's too much! Heart-wrenching!]
Witnessing Theresa's final moments in the CG, the viewers were devastated. Theresa was just a girl who longed for the outside world and a normal life... but fate was so unfair to her. She was born as an experiment to resurrect Kallen. After escaping her cage, her uncontrollable instincts caused her to harm innocents. She lived in a cycle of self-blame and pain, finally finding a gentle soul willing to fulfill her wish, only to have a bullet end her tragic life and turn their promise into eternal regret.
"Theresa..." Kallen covered her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. Thinking of the tragic life of the Theresa in that world, the kind-hearted Kallen couldn't help but weep for the poor child.
But the game wasn't over. As Theresa died, Kallen also closed her eyes and collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. There was no life left in her. For some reason, her face looked somewhat peaceful, as if she had finally found relief. This was the ending Kallen wanted—for things that should never have been born into this world to vanish together.
[Theresa is dead, and Kallen is gone too.]
[Bastard! So we couldn't protect anyone?!]
[From the start, Kallen knew that if Theresa died, she would too...]
[But this was the ending she hoped for...]
The viewers felt incredibly heavy as they watched Kallen die as well. They understood that in that world, Kallen and Theresa were anomalies. They couldn't live normal lives; they were just struggling to survive. Perhaps, for them, this really was a form of liberation. But the feeling of watching two girls die while being completely powerless left them with a deep sense of futility. This futility caused the mood in the stream to plummet.
"Sigh..." Theresa looked at the screen. After the plot ended, the game returned to the stage selection. However, a small prompt appeared, allowing the player to return to the choice and pick the other option.
"Like Grandma Kallen said, it really was the 'best' ending for them... but if only there were a way to save them both..." She felt immense regret for her inability to save them in the game.
"What about the other option? Otto, maybe the other one has a turning point!" Kallen began shaking Otto urgently, making him choose again. "If you shoot me, there's a chance Theresa survives, right? Otto, choose again!"
[Right, if we choose again, maybe it'll be different!]
[Kallen will be sacrificed, but at least Theresa might live?]
[But what would happen to a Theresa without her sister?]
[Lord Otto, try again! Maybe things really will change!]
The audience pinned their hopes on the second choice. Otto moved his hand with great effort. The sight of Theresa's death earlier had left him in a daze. Under Kallen's urging, he mustered a bit of spirit and returned to the choice. But this time, Otto didn't move the mouse. Kallen reached out, gripped his hand, and finished the choice.
Otto felt a sense of relief. At least for this one, he hadn't clicked it himself. It lessened the guilt in his heart.
After making the choice, the Captain pulled the trigger on Kallen.
[She stumbles back into the shadows of the alley.]
[Kallen's smile looks somewhat ethereal for some reason.]
["Have you finally made up your mind? This choice should have been mine, but I forced it on you... I was weak... You, who made the choice for me, are truly a kind person."]
["Thank you for remaining kind until the end."]
In seconds, Kallen's body disintegrated into ash. But then:
["Blood.... I need more blood!!!"]
[In the dark alley, Theresa's eyes flash with a terrifying red light.]
[In an instant, you are tackled to the ground by the white-haired vampire.]
[You are the first, Himeko is the second.]
[You desperately try to wake her consciousness.]
[You look up; Theresa has raised her axe high.]
[Her scarlet eyes radiate madness, yet for some reason, transparent tears won't stop falling.]
["St... stop..."]
[The last thing you hear.]
[Captain: "Come back... stay alive... please..."]
In the CG, Theresa held the blood-stained giant axe high, her eyes consumed by a manic scarlet. She couldn't fight her instincts, yet she was crying. Although the scene cut off there, everyone knew the ending. The maddened Theresa would kill the Captain, and the wounded Himeko would not escape either.
[Even though Theresa lived, her life is going to be more painful than death!!]
[When she regains her sanity and sees the bodies of the Captain and Himeko... she'll go insane...]
[Wait, why am I thinking about 'Final Lesson' again? When Kiana wakes up and realizes she killed someone important, she'll break too!]
[Goddammit! Stabbing me twice with the same trick!]
[Old Thief, give me back my Kallen! Give me back my Theresa! You even stabbed the Captain himself, are you even human!!]
For a time, the stream was filled with wailing from the viewers whose hopes for a better outcome were crushed. They thought this would at least let Theresa live and fulfill the promise. Instead, Kallen died, the Captain died, and Himeko would die too, leaving only a blood-stained Theresa alone in the world. It was a fate worse than death!
Otto watched the scene calmly—not because he didn't care, but because he was numb. He leaned back in his chair. In just a few dozen minutes of gameplay, he felt like he had taken a tour through Hell. For some reason, two lines of tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Who am I, where am I, where am I going..."
After asking the three fundamental questions of existence, Lord Otto was completely broken.
END OF CHAPTER
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