The matter concluded with Ryn giving Kiana a sharp rap on her forehead, prompting Kiana to squat down, clutching her head in protest.
"Hey, Kiana," Ryn said after a simple meal, leading her to the living room to listen to Kallen's story.
There, they found an enraged Kallen charging at Ryn with a pillow.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?!" Ryn shouted, frantically dodging the pillow.
"You bastard! What's this crap about 'Kallen:Sakura Dies Twice'?! I'm going to take you down with me today!" Kallen roared in fury.
Kallen had been sitting peacefully on the sofa, preparing how to tell the story of the three of them. Then Bronya entered the living room, and Sparkle immediately latched onto her, discussing strategies for "Kallen:Sakura Dies Twice".
Hearing familiar names, Kallen asked curiously, only to discover that the story's protagonist was none other than herself... and even more outrageous, the game's melodramatic romance plot fried her CPU.
Realizing Ryn was the one who made the game, Kallen grabbed a pillow and began beating him mercilessly.
In retaliation, Ryn turned Kallen into a balloon and sent her floating around the room...
Watching Kallen drift aimlessly around the room, inexplicably starting to play, Ryn shrugged and said, "I swear, this is Otto's twisted sense of humor, would you believe me?"
"Do you believe this is Otto's idea of a sick joke?"
"Hmph." Kallen didn't want to talk to Ryn right now.
Watching Kallen drift around the room, Kiana suddenly perked up. "This looks like fun... Ryn, I want to fly too!"
"Don't be silly, this isn't a game."
"Hmph." Kiana crossed her arms, pouting and turning her head away. "Ryn is so biased."
"Alright, alright, I'll take you flying outside another day."
"Yay! Ryn is the best!" Kiana clapped her hands excitedly, jumping up and down.
Not long after, Ryn brought Kallen down. Still resentful, Kallen immediately threw a pillow at him upon landing.
Seeing Kallen's aggrieved expression, Ryn helplessly pinched Sparkle's chubby cheeks. Sparkle, embarrassed, then went to pinch Mei's chest. The two girls started fighting, and the kind-hearted Kallen rushed over to mediate.
Hmm... successfully diverted the conflict. As expected of me. Ryn silently patted himself on the back.
Hmph, he won't let me kiss Mei, but he goes and kisses Sparkle himself. I knew he was planning a harem, that jerk Ryn!
As Kiana thought this, she viciously pinched Ryn's waist, making him yelp in pain.
Bronya, holding Homu with her dead-fish eyes, watched the scene unfold quietly, sighing, What a lively bunch...
"Let me be clear," I began, "this story is told from Kallen's perspective, so it might reflect some personal biases..."
"Mm-hmm, hurry up and tell it!" Kiana Ryn and the others were impatient.
(Though written from Kallen's perspective, most of it is actually in the author's first-person voice, so please don't dwell on minor details.)
My first meeting with Otto as a child was...
My father took me to Otto's house for a visit. Back then, Otto was just a tiny little thing—and so was I, of course.
Otto tinkered all evening, finally producing a miniature paper airplane that could actually fly. He released it with great excitement, only for his older brother to knock it down with a stone.
The paper airplane landed on the other side of the wall, where I picked it up...or rather, where Kallen picked it up.
Otto kept climbing the wall, trying to retrieve his creation, but his frail frame couldn't manage it. His brother just kept jeering at him.
But Kallen could climb the wall...
She scrambled to the top and shouted down to Otto below, her voice filled with excitement, "It flew so high just now!"
Sitting on the wall, Kallen pulled the crumpled paper airplane from her pocket and held it out to Otto.
"Is this yours?"
"I made it..." Otto admitted shyly, nodding cautiously.
"Wow, you're so amazing! You'll definitely become a Great Inventor someday!" Kallen said, her innocent words sealing Otto's fate for life.
It was the first time Otto, abandoned by everyone else, had ever heard such encouragement. For the first time, he felt that he was someone who could be looked up to, someone who was needed.
"It's a shame it broke," Kallen said regretfully, looking at the small airplane in her hand.
"If you want... I can make another one!" Otto replied earnestly, his voice filled with eagerness.
Seeing Otto like this, Kallen felt a surge of warmth. She hopped down from the wall and walked over to him, saying, "By the way, Great Inventor, I have another request... Come help me save the world!"
As Kallen's radiant smile filled the air, Otto felt as if he had encountered a true deity...
From that day on, Kallen and Otto became inseparable.
Because Kallen constantly praised her father's extraordinary abilities, Otto believed that a man like him was destined to save the world. Filled with admiration, Otto asked Kallen to take him to see her father in action. Together, they snuck into a Honkai Beast-infested area to witness humanity's struggle against the Honkai.
But the Honkai Beasts were everywhere. Otto and Kallen were ambushed. If Kallen's father, Francis, hadn't arrived in time to save them, they might have already perished.
Francis stood before them, dual-wielding the Judgment of Shamash in its dual-pistol form. Without turning around, he said, "Stay there. I'll protect you."
Watching Francis's retreating figure, he seemed almost omnipotent in their eyes at that moment...
Otto believed Francis truly could protect them forever, but soon came the devastating news: Francis had sacrificed himself using Judgment Of Shamash Unleashed (0th)...
(miHoYo retconned this. They said Francis was still alive earlier in the manga, but later he died ten years ago. Perhaps the Francis who was said to be alive earlier was the one in the Data Space, while the real Francis had already sacrificed himself long ago.)
Otto couldn't believe the godlike man had perished alongside a Honkai Beast... That was the first time Otto began to question the very concept of "gods"...
Seeing Kallen sobbing uncontrollably over Francis's coffin, Otto knew what he had to do...
He went to the sacred temple guarded by generations of Apocalypses, where the Relic—an object of infinite wisdom obtained from Asia by the first ancestor—was enshrined.
It had remained untouched for centuries, no one able to wield its power. Otto didn't know if he was worthy, but he believed the Relic could surely resurrect Francis.
After exhausting all his efforts, Otto finally broke the Relic's seal. But the Relic revealed that to revive Francis, he would have to sacrifice his own body.