"What if I got there before the battle even started?! What if I didn't let her suffer even the slightest injury?!"
"Even then, her life could only be extended by three hours. That armor placed too great a burden on a human body."
"Then what if... what if..."
Ye Ming choked out another hypothetical through tears:
"What if I'd joined the battle before Himeko found the armor... No! What if I'd joined the battle when Kiana was taken away..."
"Ye Ming, over the past ten years, Murata Himeko's body has suffered too much irreversible damage."
As BT displayed Himeko's physical data for Ye Ming, he said:
"Even without this incident, Murata Himeko wouldn't have made it to next year. Ye Ming, this was a fated death."
"What did you say?"
Didn't that mean that every day he spent with Himeko had been a countdown for her?
"Could it be that Himeko... already knew..."
Realizing this, Ye Ming immediately recalled what Himeko had said while drunk yesterday:
—"Hehe~~ The time we spent together... forget getting drunk, even if I turned to ashes, I'd still remember it!"
Only now did Ye Ming understand how Himeko had felt at the time.
"I couldn't do it?"
The more deeply he understood Himeko's love for him, the more intense the pain in Ye Ming's heart became.
"A transmigrator, a friend, a lover, her hero..."
"In the end... I didn't accomplish anything..."
Tears fell soundlessly, gathering little by little into a stream.
Each contraction of his pupils spilled out even more tear-shaped anguish.
"Ye Ming..."
In the studio, the girls watching the video felt their heartstrings begin to tremble when they saw Ye Ming cry.
It was the first time they had seen Ye Ming shed tears, and also the first time they had felt heartache because of him.
That indescribable, stifling pain felt as though every drop of unwillingness that fell from Ye Ming's eyes landed in their hearts.
It was also at that moment that they understood what Ye Ming had meant by those careless words that day...
—"I'm not strong at all. I might be more fragile than any of you here."
"Really meant."
"Himeko, hurry and think of something."
Keqing, so distressed she could barely breathe, said:
"Ye Ming is crying for you."
"Is this my fault? Sob... It really does seem like it's my fault, but there's nothing I can do."
How could Himeko not ache for Ye Ming? But the version of herself in the video had already died. As a viewer, could she possibly break through the dimensional wall and go to Ye Ming's side?
"It's not just Himeko... even Ye Ming... sob!"
Mei couldn't bear to keep watching and turned her head away.
Kiana beside her broke down even harder:
"It's all my fault... It's all because I was bad... If I hadn't become the Herrscher of the Void..."
"Everyone! Calm down a little!"
The smallest Nahida suddenly took on the role of a mother and began comforting everyone:
"This is only a fictional story, a fan video. Don't immerse yourselves in it too much."
"B-but..."
Kiana said through tear-filled eyes:
"It feels too real! The immersion is just as strong as The Last Lesson."
"I... feel that way too..."
Himeko pressed at her brow. She could feel something gathering in her mind.
But before it fully took shape, she had no way of knowing what it was.
"I understand, Ye Ming."
The video continued. Watching Ye Ming cry until he lost his voice, BT said in a deep voice:
"Protocol 2. The mission must be completed."
"Therefore, I will execute Protocol 3 and bring her home."
"Huh?"
By the time Ye Ming realized something was wrong, BT had already dragged him out of the cockpit.
"What are you doing?"
Faced with Ye Ming's question, BT did not answer directly. He merely assumed a throwing stance, then made Ye Ming a promise:
"Trust me."
The next update will probably be at 1 a.m. If you can't stay up, go to sleep first.
Chapter 26: Ye Ming, Trust Me
"Ye Ming, trust me."
As soon as he finished speaking, every energy rune on BT's body lit up. Swinging his arm at maximum power, he hurled Ye Ming high into the sky.
Immediately afterward, BT's energy core erupted with a brilliance more dazzling than the sun. Directly beneath Ye Ming, it fired a torrent of energy that pierced the entire sky.
—Warning: Energy core unstable.
The torrent of light that seemed ready to split the sky showed no sign of stopping. It continuously adjusted its position according to Ye Ming's descent.
It ensured that Ye Ming would not be struck by the splashing energy while also carving out a path for him.
—Warning: Energy core overloaded.
BT's limbs drooped, and his torso ceased functioning. He gathered all his energy into his core and continued to unleash it.
At last, the balance of time and space was shattered. High above the heavens, BT opened a door that twisted space and time for Ye Ming.
—Warning: Unit damaged.
As the excessive energy poured forth, it incinerated the chamber carrying the core, while the violent recoil continuously tore apart BT's body.
—Warning: Energy will be depleted in 10 seconds. —Warning: Chassis about to collapse. —Warning...
"Disable the warning system."
The signal light atop BT's head flashed once, and the piercing alarms immediately fell silent.
The robot on the verge of breaking looked toward the distant sky. Its core, whose light was gradually fading, resembled eyes immersed in memories of the past.
That had been at the outermost layer of the Abyss. As a Ruin Grader, BT had stood guard alongside countless companions in that space where even death balked.
Through those lightless days, unable to enter hibernation, he had constantly pondered what he was and why he existed there.
Until a young man arrived...
He cleared away every Ruin Guard and Ruin Grader. The light he gave off in battle was mesmerizing.
BT had watched from afar the entire time, as though he was not the same kind as those fallen machines, and Ye Ming... was what he longed to become.
Ye Ming also noticed the strange Ruin Grader. He put away his weapon, walked over to BT, and began speaking with him.
"Why didn't you attack?"
"I... want... to become..."
As BT analyzed Ye Ming's linguistic patterns, he also scanned Ye Ming's identity.
Then he said haltingly:
"Become... human."
Hearing that answer, Ye Ming was initially somewhat startled. Then, with great interest, he asked:
"Then do you know that humans are far more foolish than machines?"
"?"
BT replaced an answer with an extremely stiff tilt of his head.
"When humans encounter something they truly care about, they disregard gains and losses, disregard risks, and don't even consider the odds of success."
Ye Ming mocked himself:
"Like an idiot, they give everything, even if the price is their own life... or even being forgotten."
As Ye Ming described humans, BT's core continuously 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 onward, we're companions."
Ye Ming smiled, then curled four fingers into a fist and held out his thumb toward BT.
BT looked at Ye Ming, then at his own hand with only three fingers. After calculating for a long time, he returned Ye Ming's gesture with a thumbs-up.
"Ye Ming, you were right. Chasing after the dead really is foolish."
The scene returned to the present time and space. BT's energy core had already gone completely dark.
"But because of your example, I can finally understand this feeling."
His body, completely shattered, slowly came apart in midair. In the instant before his functions ceased entirely, BT's computer left behind this line of code:
"Can I be considered human now?"
In the end, BT's figure completely vanished beneath the sunlight, while Ye Ming fell into the pitch-black gateway of time and space.
The machine that wanted to become human had reached the end of his journey. From here on, it was Ye Ming's path.
It ended here?! I'm stunned!
You bastard, you're cutting it off here?!
How am I supposed to sleep now?!
Update! Now!
Five minutes have passed! Even a workhorse wouldn't dare rest like this!
After the video ended, the viewers who had no time to vent their feelings in the bullet comments all rushed to the comment section to unleash their fury.
Actually, the ending of the video did not really count as a cliffhanger. Like a movie, it ended with a panoramic shot, a beautiful yet sorrowful composition, and a sentimental narration.
As a video, it truly was a perfect ending.
The reason everyone felt as though it had been cut off was because this kind of plot was simply too hard to accept.
I cried, seriously! I thought I could find some healing in a fan work, but instead I got stabbed again!
One stab? Two stabs! I got stabbed twice!
Before you continue