Dear Audience, Do You Have Lots of Little Question Marks? / Moving on to the Next Chapter? Sounds Great, but I Refuse~

Beichen did not waste any words. He tapped the weapon skill button, then activated his ultimate.

By the time that sequence was complete, Wendy had only just turned around and fired two wind blades.

Then she was smashed by a motorcycle falling from the sky, her health bar instantly bottoming out...

The poor newborn Herrscher had not even had time to resist before Ri Duck's special charged attack during her ultimate swept her away.

The battle ended, and the game began playing the story...

On the screen appeared the animated holographic avatars of Himeko and Kiana, who were currently communicating during combat.

Kiana anxiously reported to Himeko:

"Miss Wendy... she flew away..."

"We need to report this information to headquarters immediately and request that they send an S-rank Valkyrie to capture her."

Himeko had considerable combat experience and practically came up with a response plan at once.

But Bronya had a different opinion about that plan.

Bronya believed that Wendy would not hurt anyone.

"We cannot take that risk. Her energy level is enough to rival a Herrscher. Moreover, her personality may already have been eroded and twisted by Honkai."

While Himeko was refuting her, Kiana, who often did not get along with Bronya, suddenly joined the conversation.

"I'm willing to believe Wendy too. Back in Chang Kong City, Mei was also controlled by Honkai, but in the end, she defeated Honkai through her own will!"

"Kiana is right. As long as we help her, Miss Wendy will definitely be able to return to her true self."

With things having reached this point, Himeko said nothing more, and the story finished playing.

"Big Brother Streamer..." After carefully watching the story, Seele asked a question she had wanted to ask earlier. "Auntie Himeko just said that Wendy became a Herrscher because the gem affected her after she developed hatred for everything, right?"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Then why did Bronya become a Herrscher? Was that process... also this... painful?"

Dear viewers, do you have many little questions?

"The reason Bronya became a Herrscher? Well, it's a little complicated. As for the process..."

"You got miHoYo's script and still expect it to feel good? Dream on!"

Still, DuckDuck's story was rather positive and uplifting. It was nowhere near as despairing or crazed as Wendy's.

The reason was simple.

She had people she wanted to protect, as well as a mentor who guided her...

Beichen probed wildly along the edge of spoilers. "Why even ask? It must have been someone very important, of course~"

"Eh? Someone very important..."

After sending a string of ellipses, Seele fell silent.

Beichen did not know what she was thinking, but he could tell that it was probably related to Bronya.

He would let her overthink things by herself for now. At the moment...

Beichen pressed confirm, then opened the next stage.

As the stage loaded, the game began playing the story.

"Finally found you, Wendy!"

The screen showed the communication between Kiana and Wendy.

"Why are you chasing after me? Are you looking to die? I already let you go just now. Don't tell me you're arrogant enough to think you can defeat me!"

As she said this, DuckDuck in her Herrscher of Reason form stood before the on-site combat communications screen...

It was obvious who was truly arrogant.

Beichen clicked the screen again with an amused, helpless smile.

"Miss Wendy, please come back with us! It's very dangerous here. Schicksal Headquarters has dispatched an S-rank Valkyrie to capture you, and Anti-Entropy's forces will arrive soon as well."

Mei tried to persuade and retain her, but unfortunately, it had little effect.

Having already become a Herrscher, Wendy had clearly started getting carried away.

"S-rank Valkyrie? The Valkyries said to possess power equal to a Herrscher's? Fine, then I'll see whether my power has already surpassed that of an S-rank Valkyrie!"

That kind of remark naturally displeased certain people.

The most obvious among them was, of course, Kiana, a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.

"You're even more arrogant than I am! If you've got the guts, fight me first! I was just careless earlier. If I got serious, defeating a Herrscher would be easy~"

"I don't want to make Sister Bronya sad. I won't fight you. Stop following me!"

She flew away again...

After Mei's sigh, the stage story was basically over.

Though it had merely been an ordinary surrender-persuasion scene, it gave certain people in the Live Stream a tremendous shock.

"Why do I feel like this Herrscher named Wendy... was about to be persuaded?"

A simple, plain, straightforward comment floated past.

Beichen was busy clearing monsters when he saw someone ask the question, so he glanced at the speaker. Sure enough, it was Hua.

"It does look that way."

"That's incredible. If I'm not mistaken, Herrschers... cough, cough, the Herrschers established in this game are characters with a concept similar to incarnations of catastrophe."

Hua's comment floated across the screen. Though she tried hard to conceal it, before someone who had read the script, it was merely a clumsy performance.

"Hehe~ It seems that for beautiful girls, that setting might not necessarily be true~"

A pink comment floated past in spectacular fashion...

Elysia's words were as teasing as ever. Though she appeared to be talking about the matter at hand, she had actually revealed a somewhat... tragic truth.

Though she had hidden it deeply, Beichen could hear the underlying implication in her words.

If that was true even for beautiful girls, then it was even more so for girls as dazzling as falling blossoms...

"How is that possible? Can the settings in a game really be overturned?"

Unfortunately, Hua failed to grasp the heavy meaning hidden in those words...

"Hahaha, settings aren't necessarily fixed. Based on my past habits of playing certain games, retcons and altered settings are actually pretty common."

Beichen did not want to continue discussing the topic, so he casually said something to change the subject.

Only then did Hua realize how abrupt her sudden comment had been, so she went back to lurking and watching the Live Stream.

As for Elysia, what bad intentions could she possibly have? She merely sat beside her friend, smiling as she watched her.

In the Live Stream, once Beichen saw that the two Heroes from the Previous Era had stopped talking, he opened the final stage of this chapter.

The stage's setting was still a wilderness covered in green grass and flowers, like a flourishing garden.

Yet on this poetic and picturesque battlefield, a life-or-death battle was about to begin.

"You really won't let this go! Then I'll teach you a proper lesson!"

The screen displayed the story dialogue between Wendy and the trio.

"Hmph, that's supposed to be my line."

"Miss Wendy, please believe us. You only lost your true nature because Honkai energy eroded you."

"Wait, Kiana. Bronya wants to say a few words to Wendy."

"Don't come any closer! I don't want to, I don't want to talk to you! Bronya, don't come any closer!"

"Eh??? What is she going to say? Why is Wendy reacting so strongly!"

Seele's dissatisfied comment floated across the screen.

But just as her comment reached the middle of the screen, Bronya spoke.

"Wendy, you always remind Bronya of... back when Bronya was in the orphanage, there was a little sister named Seele."

"!!!"

Perhaps because she had been shocked to the point where words could no longer describe it, Seele expressed her feelings with three plain exclamation marks.

Beichen looked at Seele's comment on the screen and could not help laughing.

Originally, this scene was meant to highlight sorrow and remembrance. It was supposed to feel somewhat sad and painful.

But because Seele herself was present in the Live Stream, when Bronya continued:

"Seele, like Wendy, was a strong and gentle child. Seele was once controlled by Honkai too, but in the end, she defeated it. Bronya was also in great pain when undergoing modification, even... even now..."

"But—as long as there is even a sliver of hope ahead, one should move forward resolutely. Bronya understands the pain in Wendy's heart."

"...So Bronya also understands Wendy's strength in enduring that pain. So please, don't give up. No matter what, Bronya will always believe in you."

Those words somehow gave off the feeling of handing out candy instead...

"I suddenly feel so happy!" Seele's comment fully demonstrated just how satisfied she was at that moment.

When Beichen saw the girl's honest words, a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

You little brat, you think everything is perfect already?

You think miHoYo is that kind-hearted?

He tapped the screen a few times and played the scene where Cocolia controlled Bronya into attacking Wendy.

"Sister Bronya! Why are you attacking me! Were the things you just said all lies?! I... I can no longer... trust anyone!"

"???"

A long string of question marks from the viewers drifted across the Live Stream screen...

Moving on to the next chapter? Sounds nice, but I refuse~

"What kind of plot is this?! Why was Sister Bronya suddenly controlled? Why did an accident have to happen when things were clearly about to work out?!"

Seele, who had been enjoying the immersive story experience, was deeply shocked by the ending.

She had thought everything would develop in a good direction, but she had never expected that someone she respected would interfere and turn it into an irreparable misunderstanding...

"What an unexpected development... Ah~ poor little Wendy." A pink comment tinged with faint sorrow floated past.

But the next comment she sent was remarkably rational for a moment like this.

"Rather, this was inevitable from the perspective of game plot design. If Wendy had successfully been persuaded to return, there would not have been any later battle scenes. And this Cocolia appeared in the first chapter, with foreshadowing in the third chapter as well..."

Hua sent a long string of comments, explaining and judging the logic of the plot.

It had to be said that she observed very carefully and analyzed things thoroughly.

She was just short of reading the script directly...

Beichen looked at those calm, analytical comments and felt that Hua was not as bad as she imagined. At the very least, she could be considered both brave and resourceful.

Unfortunately, she was not from this era, so reading the script was basically impossible for her. All she could do was analyze things afterward.

"This viewer is right. So then... everyone, watch me perform."

Though this was the final stage of Chapter Three, as he had said before, the game's first few chapters were basically a beginner village.

How strong could the monsters in a beginner village be? Before the newly released Ri Duck, even boss Wendy was completely outmatched.

Beichen casually threw out a weapon skill, then activated his ultimate.

As the cool motorcycle and floating cannons appeared, poor Wendy was beaten so badly that her health bar plummeted before she could even use a few moves. After taking two special Herrscher-form branch attacks, her health bar was empty...

"So fast... Big Brother, I didn't even see what moves Miss Wendy had before it was over!"

Seele had still been immersed in the shock of the story, but after only getting distracted for a moment, Wendy had already been defeated, leaving her startled once again...

Seeing her say that, Beichen thought for a moment before replying, "It's fine. You'll be able to see her in the Abyss later. You'll have plenty of chances to watch then."