Joining MiHoYo, the Savior Me is Targeted by Elysia

"Then what if I came before the battle even started! And didn't let her get hurt even a little bit!?"

"Even so, her life would only be extended by three hours. That armor is too much of a burden for a human."

"Then what if... what if..."

Ye Ming asked, his voice choked with tears:

"What if I joined the battle before Himeko found the armor... No! What if I joined the battle when Kiana was taken away..."

"Ye Ming, in the past decade, Murata Himeko's body has suffered too much irreversible damage."

BT displayed Himeko's body data to Ye Ming while saying:

"Even without this incident, Murata Himeko wouldn't have made it to next year. Ye Ming, this is a predetermined death."

"What did you say?"

Doesn't this mean that every day he spends with Himeko is a countdown for her?

"Could it be that Himeko... understood this all along..."

Realizing this, Ye Ming immediately recalled what Himeko had said while drunk yesterday:

--"Hehe~~ The time we spend together, I'll remember it even if I turn to ashes, not to mention just getting drunk!"

Only now did Ye Ming understand how Himeko felt at that time.

"I couldn't do it?"

The more deeply he felt Himeko's love for him, the more intense the pain in Ye Ming's heart became.

"Traveler, friend, lover, her hero..."

"In the end... I didn't do anything..."

Tears fell silently, gradually gathering into a stream.

Each contraction and dilation of his pupils released more tears of pain.

"Ye Ming..."

In the studio, the girls watching this video felt their heartstrings tremble when they saw Ye Ming crying.

It was the first time they had seen Ye Ming cry, and the first time they felt heartache for Ye Ming.

That indescribable dull pain was as if every unwilling tear that fell from Ye Ming's eyes landed in their hearts.

It was also at this moment that they understood what Ye Ming's unintentional words that day...

--"I'm not strong at all, probably more fragile than any of you here."

...actually meant.

"Himeko, quickly think of a way."

Keqing, so sad that she could barely breathe, said:

"Ye Ming is crying for you."

"Is this my fault? Waa... it seems it is my fault, but I can't help it."

How could Himeko not feel sorry for Ye Ming, but the version of herself in the video had already passed away. As a viewer, could she really break the dimensional barrier and go to Ye Ming's side?

"Not just Himeko, even Ye Ming is... Waa!"

Mei couldn't bear to watch any longer and turned her head away.

And Kiana beside her broke down even more:

"It's all my fault... it's all my fault... if I hadn't become the Herrscher of the Void..."

"Everyone! Calm down a bit!"

The smallest Nahida suddenly became like a mother figure, starting to comfort everyone:

"This is just a fictional story, a fan-made video, don't get too immersed in it."

"B-but..."

Kiana said, her eyes filled with tears:

"The sense of reality is too strong! Just as strong as the immersion from The Last Lesson."

"I also... have that feeling..."

Himeko pressed her forehead; she could feel something gathering in her mind.

But until it took shape, she couldn't know what it was.

"I understand, Ye Ming."

The video continued, and BT said in a deep voice, watching Ye Ming break down in tears:

"Protocol 2, the mission must be completed."

"Therefore, I will execute Protocol 3, and take her home."

"Eh?"

By the time Ye Ming realized what was happening, BT had already yanked him out of the cockpit.

"What are you doing?"

BT didn't answer Ye Ming's question directly. Instead, it simply adopted a throwing stance and promised Ye Ming:

"Trust me."

Next update estimated around 1 AM. Feel free to sleep if you can't stay up.

26. Ye Ming, Trust Me

"Ye Ming, trust me."

With those words, the energy runes on BT's body all lit up. It swung its arm with maximum power, launching Ye Ming into the high sky.

Immediately afterward, BT's energy core erupted with a light brighter than the sun, shooting a torrent of energy directly beneath Ye Ming, piercing the entire sky.

--Warning, energy core unstable.

The torrent of light, as if trying to cleave the sky, showed no signs of stopping, and constantly adjusted its position as Ye Ming fell.

While ensuring Ye Ming wasn't hit by the energy splash, it also cleared a path for him.

--Warning, energy core overloaded.

BT's limbs drooped, and its torso ceased functioning. It gathered all its energy into its core, continuously erupting with power.

Finally, the balance of space-time was shattered. High in the sky, BT opened a door to distorted space-time for Ye Ming.

--Warning, chassis damaged.

The immense energy pouring out burned the compartment housing the core, and the violent recoil continuously tore at BT's frame.

--Warning, energy will be depleted in 10 seconds.

--Warning, chassis about to collapse.

--Warning...

"Disable warning system."

The signal light on BT's head flickered, and the piercing alarm immediately fell silent.

The near-shattered robot looked at the distant sky. The gradually dissipating core was like its eyes, immersed in past memories.

It was on the outermost layer of the Abyss. As a Ruin Grader, BT, along with countless companions, guarded this space where even death hesitated to tread.

In the dark and sunless time, unable to enter hibernation, it constantly pondered what it was and why it existed here.

Until a young man arrived...

He cleared all the Ruin Guards and Ruin Graders. The light emanating from the battle was mesmerizing.

BT simply watched from afar, as if it and the fallen machines weren't of the same kind, and Ye Ming... was the form it yearned to be.

Ye Ming also noticed this strange Ruin Grader. He sheathed his weapon, walked up to BT, and began to talk to it.

"Why didn't you attack?"

"I... want... to become..."

BT analyzed Ye Ming's language rules while scanning Ye Ming's identity.

It said haltingly:

"Become... human."

Hearing this answer, Ye Ming was first surprised, then asked with interest:

"But do you know that humans are much more foolish than machines?"

"?"

BT replaced the answer with a very stiff head tilt.

"When humans encounter something they truly care about, they disregard gains and losses, ignore risks, and don't even consider the probability of success."

Ye Ming mocked himself:

"Like an idiot, giving everything, even if the price is their own life... or even being forgotten."

As Ye Ming described humans, BT's core flickered with a light that had never shone in the Abyss.

"Even so, do you still want to become human?"

--Creak, creak.

That was the sound of BT nodding.

"Is that so? Then from today on, we are comrades."

Ye Ming smiled, then clenched his four fingers and gave BT a thumbs up.

BT looked at Ye Ming, then at its own hand with only three fingers, calculated for a long time, and then returned a thumbs up to Ye Ming with the same gesture.

"Ye Ming, you're right. You, chasing after the dead, are indeed foolish."

The scene returned to the present timeline, BT's energy core now completely dimmed.

"But it's precisely because of your example that I can finally understand this feeling."

Its frame completely shattered, it slowly disintegrated in the air. In the instant before its functions ceased entirely, BT's computer left behind this line of code:

"At this moment, can I be considered human?"

Finally, BT's figure completely disappeared into the sunlight, while Ye Ming fell into the pitch-black gate of spacetime.

A machine that wanted to become human; its journey had ended. From here on, it was Ye Ming's path.

[It ends here?! I'm dumbfounded!]

[You son of a bitch, cliffhanger!]

[How am I supposed to sleep now!]

[Update, you bastard!]

[Five minutes have passed! Even the production team's donkeys don't rest this much!]

After the video ended, viewers, unable to express their feelings in the barrage comments, rushed to the comment section to vent their anger.

Actually, the ending of the video wasn't really a cliffhanger. It was a panoramic ending like a movie, with a beautiful and sentimental composition, and emotional narration.

As a video, it was indeed a perfect ending.

The reason why everyone had the illusion of a cliffhanger was because the plot was just too heartbreaking.

[I cried, really! I thought I could find healing in fan works, but it's another knife!]

[One knife? Double knives! I've been stabbed twice, damn it!]