Awakening (Continued)

"Honey, today Rita and I are outside helping her younger brother celebrate his birthday, so we won't be coming home for dinner tonight."

"Oh, have a good time then, Ki..."

At that moment, Siegfried froze once again.

Then, he blurted out.

"Bianca."

"Got it."

Watching the young woman named Bianca walk away into the distance, Siegfried realized he might be a little too tired.

Ever since just now, I've felt a bit dazed and hazy...

Ha, it must be from working overtime yesterday to make games.

Seeing the trace of fatigue currently on Siegfried's face, Cecilia said very gently.

"Today's meeting is indeed for the second test of the new project, but there's no need for you to push yourself this hard."

"No choice."

Picking up the piece of bread from the table, Siegfried gazed at Cecilia, speaking with a helpless expression at that moment.

"If possible, I still hope we can move into a slightly bigger house."

"So—I still have to work overtime."

"Really... clearly your health is what matters most."

Watching Cecilia sit there with puffed-out cheeks, acting sulky, Siegfried suddenly wore a smile at that moment.

My wife is so cute.

So, I...

I...

I?

Strange, what on earth was I trying to say?

Glancing at the calendar and confirming today's date was September 23rd, Siegfried still chose to bury his head in his meal.

Don't think about it so much. For the sake of my wife and daughter, I must work hard.

That morning, arriving at the Schicksal headquarters right on time, Siegfried endured the dissatisfied gazes of his colleague Shigure Kira from the same department for a long time before finally waiting for CEO Otto to arrive in the conference room.

After Siegfried's cousin Amber Kaslana presented the data from the second test, Siegfried saw a satisfied smile on Otto's face.

Yet looking at that smiling visage, for some reason Siegfried...

He felt like giving this elder of his wife's a couple of punches.

Then he felt strange about it again.

Strange, Uncle Otto is usually quite good to us and even promoted me to be the producer of this new game...

I should be grateful to him...

I should be grateful to him, right?

In the time that followed, Siegfried spent a happy period.

Although work was busy, his wife supported him, his subordinates trusted him, and although his daughter was going through her rebellious phase, she didn't cause any major trouble.

With a harmonious family and a smooth career, Siegfried finally finished making that game.

"Honkai Impact 3rd Restart Beginning, abbreviated as Honkai Impact 3rd RB."

On the PowerPoint presentation for the game, Siegfried spoke to his colleagues and leaders present.

"Restart Beginning, the restart of the beginning. Restart means this new work has a connection with the previous work, Guns Girl Z, and beginning means that while it is connected to the previous work, fundamentally it is still a new beginning."

"I have already introduced the gameplay, and the game has now entered the testing phase. I believe that this work, which has absorbed the experiences of Guns Girl Z and Guns Girl 2Impact, should be able to bring players joy and help us acquire sufficient... profits."

"Mm, well said."

At this time, Otto tapped the terminal in his hand and displayed some data on the light screen in front of everyone.

"This is the game-related data after the third test. So far, the response is favorable."

"Right now, we just need to launch on October 14th on schedule."

"Siegfried, you've worked hard during this period."

"Ah, not at all."

Strange, why do I feel like the urge for my left hand to beat up Uncle Otto... is even higher?

Have I been too tired lately?

After enduring a whole day of discussions, a physically and mentally exhausted Siegfried walked out of the gates of the Schicksal headquarters at that moment.

Only at that moment did he see a young man.

A young man he knew, yet for some reason was filled with guilt.

"You are... Ah, you're Lin Yu, right?"

Recognizing the young man's identity, Siegfried suddenly spoke with a hint of worry.

"Did Bianca send you to find me? Wait, nothing happened to her, did it!"

"Please rest assured, Bianca is fine."

After speaking those words, Siegfried suddenly felt the space around him fluctuate.

Accompanied by a series of shattering mirror-like sounds, Siegfried suddenly saw everything before his eyes change.

At the same time, a massive amount of memories reconnected to Siegfried's brain.

"Ha... Ha ha... Ha ha ha..."

Cecilia, Kiana, and also Kira, Patrick, Salome, Lixue, Shub...

So that was how it was...

So that was how it was.

Otto... Apocalypse!

Gazing at Siegfried, whose expression had turned terrifyingly grim at that moment, Lin Yu's internal guilt grew even worse.

Originally, he had just wanted to test out this ability.

And the reason he chose Siegfried was simply because he wanted to familiarize himself with the ability as soon as possible, in order to prepare for contingencies.

Given Siegfried's strength, having already experienced the illusion created by Sirin back in the year 14, he should naturally have possessed some resistance to this kind of illusion.

But very quickly, Lin Yu realized he had made a mistake.

Siegfried indeed had defensive measures in place against this kind of attack, but...

He had voluntarily chosen not to resist this power.

Siegfried, who had all along realized something was amiss, still chose to give up fighting against this power.

To be sure, part of this was because he subconsciously hadn't sensed any hostility from this attack, but the deeper reason was actually very simple.

This hero, who had failed to protect his wife and child, did not want to leave this illusion.

Even if it was a fake illusion, being inside it, Siegfried still hoped to see his dead wife once more.

Those who truly loved their deceased wives did not necessarily always hang that love on their lips, nor did they necessarily post blog posts online every year at a set time to mourn.

For many people who loved their departed wives, many things did not need to be spoken aloud.

At this moment, Lin Yu, who had caused all of this, felt the boundless love for family from the man before him, along with a despairing sorrow.

Having once become the strongest person in history and even defeated formidable enemies, he ultimately exhausted his strength to protect others, only to have his wife killed and his daughter doomed after being betrayed by the Bishop he served.

And now, he couldn't even take revenge, and could only watch his other daughter step into a trap already laid by the enemy.

Precisely because he remained mired in the self-blame brought by this sorrow, Siegfried, who had the capability to break free from the illusion, chose to continue slumbering.

He simply needed a place for his mind to rest too badly.

Yet, false things were false after all.

In the end, looking at the man before him, Lin Yu still chose to lift the cognition-rewriting ability of the Phantasm Lantern Barrier.

"...Ha, it really was fake after all."

Upon waking up completely, only a bitter smile remained on Siegfried's face.

Then, he gazed at the guilt-ridden boy before him and spoke.

"Little Lin Yu, you were definitely holding back earlier, weren't you?"

"If you had used this ability earlier, I would have already been captured by Schicksal enemies or even killed on the spot."

Looking at the middle-aged man before him, Lin Yu remained silent for a long time before finally responding.

"...Why don't you scold me a bit?"

"No, how about you beat me up instead?"

"...Are you a masochist?"

Gazing at the boy before him, Siegfried couldn't hold it back anymore and burst out laughing on the spot.

"No need, no need. I could feel that you didn't harbor any hostility toward me when you used this ability."

"Besides, I want to thank you, little Lin Yu."

"If not for you, I wouldn't have been able to see Cecilia again."

"...But this wasn't real."

"Yeah, but... she was still Cecilia anyway."

Recalling everything he had seen in the illusion, a trace of nostalgia appeared on Siegfried's face.

"I will never forget a single glance and smile of hers to this day. Everything about her is forever engraved upon my soul."

"But when all is said and done, I'm just an ordinary person. Even if I won't forget my wife, I'd still want to see her one more time..."

Saying this, Siegfried scratched the back of his head with a bit of embarrassment.

"Haha, sorry for making a fool of myself in front of you, but this is the real Siegfried Kaslana."

"A middle-aged old man who couldn't protect his wife and daughter... Heh, this is the real me."

And after finishing those words, Siegfried's expression became exceptionally solemn.

"No matter what, thank you, Lin Yu."

Looking at the man before him, Lin Yu felt that he had finally discovered the flaw of the Phantasm Lantern Barrier.

Modifying others' cognitions seemed like an extremely powerful ability... No, in reality, this ability was indeed extremely powerful.

After modifying an opponent's cognition in battle, as long as one made the other party treat them as a good friend, the probability of the opponent guarding against them when they struck would drop significantly.

However, this ability had a flaw.

Or rather, for Lin Yu, using this ability required paying a certain price.

This price had nothing to do with magic power.

Modifying another person's cognition, making the other party indulge in happiness, and then using actions to tell the other party that this happiness was false...

This was enough to deal a massive blow to an ordinary person with average mental fortitude.

Just like Kiana in the game's main storyline, who indulged in the maternal love of Cecilia—even though she knew Cecilia was already dead, she would still gradually sink because she over-indulged in false happiness.

Not only that.

Even Sirin back then had turned herself into Cecilia's daughter due to an operational mistake.

During that incident in the year 2000, Sirin ultimately discovered that Cecilia had not been hypnotized at all.