On the screen of Elysia's livestream.
Under the guidance of Cecilia, a true master of the game, Kiana had finally cleared the Kallen Fantasy stage.
The elevator unlock chime rang out, but Kiana stood frozen where she was.
It hit her a beat too late. The time she'd just spent with Cecilia, playing together, laughing together, clearing the stage together.
Wasn't that exactly the wish she'd made with that magic spell?
"A magic spell that grants any wish, as long as you recite it silently in your heart."
"The spell that would let me see Mom, if only I said it quietly enough."
Kiana's heartbeat began to quicken.
The bullet comments started streaming past: "That spell... did it actually work?"
But happy moments are always fleeting.
As the elevator rose, Kiana and Cecilia gradually uncovered the truth hidden within this laboratory.
Cell after cell. Experiment log after experiment log.
Subject after subject, broken and killed by the torment of Honkai energy.
Among them, one laboratory numbered "51" was mentioned again and again by the staff records.
The notes read: falsified death reports, all contact with family severed.
Confined in a sealed, lightless room for years of continuous observation and experimentation.
The bullet comments grew heavy: "Human experimentation..."
"So this is the truth behind the Second Herrscher's birth?"
"This is horrifying."
Cecilia read through those records, her expression darkening with every line.
Then, as if something suddenly clicked into place, her eyes went wide.
"The Second Herrscher's awakening wasn't actually caused by the Honkai reactor's influence at all, was it? It was... these Honkai energy experiments performed on human subjects right here?"
The truth surfaced in that moment.
Not a natural disaster. A human one.
At that very instant, the communicator crackled to life.
"You still haven't dealt with the Second Herrscher, Cecilia?"
Otto's voice cut in, sharp and out of place.
Cecilia's brow furrowed. She had a head full of questions she needed answered.
Why were these experiments carried out in the first place? Why were those children made to suffer like this? Was the Second Herrscher's awakening something Schicksal engineered deliberately?
But Otto gave her no room to ask any of them.
"Don't forget you are in the middle of a battle with the Second Herrscher."
His voice was cold, stripped of any emotion.
"The longer this drags on, the stronger the Second Herrscher becomes. I expect you to stop wasting time, Cecilia."
Cecilia opened her mouth, but his next words shut her down before she could speak.
"Otherwise, I will consider launching a Honkai fission bomb on this location. Everything here, Herrscher included, will be destroyed."
The bullet comments erupted: "A fission bomb?!"
"Otto's going to launch a nuke?!"
The communication cut off. Cecilia was silent for a few seconds, then turned to face Kiana.
"We split up."
Her voice had returned to calm.
"Kiana, you go to the power room and cut the electricity. I'll use the blackout to break through and reach the top floor of the lab."
Kiana nodded.
"Got it."
They parted ways. Kiana walked through the dim corridor, but one word kept echoing relentlessly in her mind.
Honkai fission bomb.
Why did that weapon sound so familiar?
She furrowed her brow and tried to remember.
Then it came back to her.
It was from a dream. A voice, speaking softly beside her ear.
In that history, Schicksal had feared that her mother would fail against the Second Herrscher, and so they fired the Honkai fission bomb. In the end, both the Second Herrscher and her mother died beneath it.
Kiana's feet stopped dead.
In that instant, the color drained from her face.
"No."
Her lips trembled, her voice barely a whisper.
"I have to stop this. I can't let this happen again."
The bullet comments flooded the screen: "Kiana!"
"She's trying to stop history from repeating itself!"
"But this is a virtual world. She can't change it."
Inside the Under the Stellar Sky studio, Stelle and March 7th were crammed in front of one computer, four eyes locked onto the screen.
The story had reached its most critical moment.
"Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!"
Stelle was so worked up she nearly launched herself out of her chair, waving her arms around.
"The next part is definitely where Kiana absolutely dominates! Punches out the Herrscher of the Void, kicks Otto the Bishop across the room, smashes Schicksal's whole conspiracy. Saves Cecilia, and then it's one big happy family reunion!"
She spun around, eyes lit up like a pair of lightbulbs. "Right, March? Tell me I'm right!"
But March 7th didn't answer.
She just stared at the screen, expression complicated, a faint crease between her brows.
"March?" Stelle blinked.
March 7th finally spoke, and there was a quiet heaviness in her voice that wasn't usually there.
"There's Wendy to think about."
Stelle went still.
"Wendy?"
"Yeah." March 7th nodded, eyes still fixed on the screen. "The Herrscher of Wind. Do you remember? When she first showed up, so many people thought she'd join the main crew, that she'd become a new companion."
The excitement on Stelle's face slowly solidified into something else.
"And then?"
March 7th continued, her voice soft. "She got swept up by fate. In the end, she died at the hands of her own people."
She turned her head and looked at Stelle.
Those eyes that were always laughing were completely serious now, even carrying a faint shadow of something heavier.
"Stelle, do you remember what the Captain once said?"
Stelle opened her mouth, but no words came out.
March 7th said it for her.
"'Fight for all that is beautiful in this world.'"
She paused.
"But what about Wendy? Why wasn't she saved?"
A few seconds of quiet passed. Stelle looked at March 7th, and her expression gradually shifted into something strange.
"March."
There was a note of disbelief in her voice.
"Hm?"
"Are you... actually March?"
March 7th blinked. "What?"
Stelle leaned in close and looked her up and down, as if checking for something.
"Where did my ditzy March go?"
There was genuine bewilderment in Stelle's voice.
"The March 7th who's always laughing and never thinks about complicated things. Where did she go?"
A flush crept onto March 7th's face.
"I am not ditzy! I've always been perfectly sharp, thank you!"
"No no no." Stelle shook her head. "You're not normally like this. Normally when you see a plot like this, you'd be just as hyped as me, cheering Kiana on, saying she's definitely going to save her mom."
She paused, narrowing her eyes.
"Come on, fess up. Did something possess you? Did you secretly read a philosophy book?"
March 7th was so annoyed she wanted to smack her.
"I did not!"
Just then, the bullet comments on screen went into a frenzy.
Stelle and March 7th's eyes were pulled back to the screen.
Stelle stared at the flood of comments, and her expression slowly went still.
She looked up at March 7th.
March 7th looked back at her.
The two of them stared at each other.
"So..." Stelle swallowed.
"You and the bullet comments... had the same thought?"
March 7th nodded, her expression complicated.
"And they're just like me. None of them can bring themselves to be sure about the ending."
Stelle was quiet for a few seconds. Then she let out a long groan and collapsed face-first onto the desk.
"We're doomed, we're doomed, we're doomed! If even the comments are saying that, then doesn't that mean Kiana is..."
She couldn't finish the sentence.
"Try to think positively," March 7th said, a gentle note of reassurance in her voice. "The Captain did say the story has a beautiful ending waiting ahead."
Stelle lifted her head, eyes flickering with a spark of hope.
"Right! The Captain said so!"
Then she wilted again.
"But the Captain also said to fight for all that is beautiful in this world. What about Wendy? Doesn't Wendy count as something beautiful?"
Both of them fell silent at the same time.
On Elysia's livestream, Kiana was still running.
The bullet comments were still rolling.
All those strangers, in that moment, were worrying about that small, determined figure just the same as they were.
"Stelle." March 7th spoke up suddenly.
"Hm?"
"Why do you think the Captain writes stories like this?"
Stelle thought about it, and said with rare sincerity, "Maybe because he wants us to see that some beautiful things are worth fighting for with everything you have."
March 7th nodded.
"Then what about Wendy?"
Stelle was quiet for a moment.
"Wendy... maybe she's there to show us that some beautiful things, we couldn't protect."
"And Kiana?"
"Kiana... maybe she's there to show us that even when you know you might fail, you still have to try."
They fell silent again.
"March." Stelle broke it first.
"Hm?"
"You were right."
March 7th blinked.
"About what?"
"Everything you just said." Stelle turned to look at her, and for once she was completely serious. "I don't want to admit it, but you were right. What happened with Wendy made me realize I can't just assume the ending will be good."
Stelle paused.
"But I still believe what the Captain said."
March 7th looked at her, silent for a few seconds.
Then she smiled.
"Me too."