"Really? Given Otto's villainous character development, theoretically, it should take dozens of chapters to kill him off, right?"
Even Miss Elf wouldn't feel sorry for Mr. Otto.
At least, not now.
Elysia was purely analyzing from a logical standpoint. "You're killing Otto off this early. Are you perhaps afraid the players will get too angry, so you want to use this to pacify their rage?"
To this, Su Luo merely offered a mysterious smile.
Elysia could only continue flipping through the script.
She quickly reached the end of the first world's storyline and learned about a new character, Seele.
She also noticed some anomalies, such as Seele not seeming to be like Himeko and the others, but rather more like an outsider, similar to Bronya.
And Bronya's subsequent confession to Seele further proved Elysia's guess correct.
"Bronya and Seele hugged tightly, their minds filled with warm memories of their time together in the past. The warmth from each other seeped into the depths of their hearts..."
"Su Luo, so you can write with warmth," Elysia remarked, slightly sweetened by the plot.
It was so sweet, she felt it wasn't real.
This was a script written by Su Luo?
She admitted she had some PTSD.
"The core of Honkai Impact 3rd's story has always been very positive and uplifting."
Rustle, rustle~~
Elysia continued to flip further.
She discovered that Bronya had entered a second World Bubble and, together with Seele, had become orphans at the Cocolia Orphanage.
The most, most, most crucial part was that this world actually had Otto.
She tensed up immediately.
Based on the previous plot, with Otto around, nothing good was bound to happen.
But as the story progressed, she found that things seemed a bit different from what she had imagined.
The Father Otto of this world was actually a very good person.
Even...
Otto even used the Might of An-Utu to save people, which consequently led to his own death from Honkai energy corrosion.
"This is actually... Otto?"
If it were before today, Elysia definitely wouldn't believe she would actually feel reluctant to see Otto die.
Her fingertips traced across the script.
Otto left his final words for Bronya and the others.
"A person experiences three stages of growth in their life."
"The first is when they understand the difference between right and wrong."
"The second is when they understand that some things are not just about right and wrong."
"The third is when, after understanding that some things have no right or wrong, they still firmly do what they believe in and take responsibility for it."
"..."
"If only the main world's Otto could be like Father Otto, the world would be at peace, right?" Elysia sighed with emotion.
Su Luo, however, replied very calmly, "No, it wouldn't. As long as the Honkai exists, world peace is impossible."
"You really don't know how to carry a conversation at all~~"
"But thankfully, our world doesn't have Honkai. Everyone can live ordinary yet warm daily lives~~"
"Indeed." He nodded.
This was a world where Kiana, Mei... Elysia, Kevin... everyone was happy, without sorrow.
Elysia quickly recovered and continued flipping through the script.
The knives were a bit sharp, but this script was genuinely interesting.
Even knowing miHoYo would surely stick to its old ways, she just couldn't resist wanting to see the subsequent plot of Honkai Impact 3rd.
In the third world, Bronya encountered Kiana and Mei.
They were on the battlefield of the Second Eruption.
But after Welt Yang killed the Second Herrscher, he suddenly betrayed humanity, devoured the Core of the Void, and directly killed Mei.
After all her companions died, Bronya was eroded by Honkai but still retained her sanity.
On the other side, Welt, having eliminated Schicksal, failed to win Bronya over. Bronya used the Star of Eden to unleash a pseudo black hole, taking him down with her and resolving the third world.
Having broken through the labyrinth, Bronya was only a step away from the Herrscher of Reason Core. But the Seele who came to her side at this moment was actually the dark personality that had seized control of her body.
The constant twists and turns in the plot completely hooked Elysia.
She flipped through page after page, all her attention focused on the script.
Until she saw Bronya finally defeat Seele's dark personality and smiled with understanding at that dark personality's tsundere-like words.
"I don't want to go back there for even a second... but Seele said, she's willing to wait for you."
"Really, I can't win against her..."
"The dark personality really pampers Seele~~" Elysia had a fond, indulgent smile on her face.
Just then, a clamor came from nearby.
"What kind of weird lines are these? I'm not saying this!!"
"Seele, don't shout like that..." a slightly timid girlish voice reminded.
"I'm going back! Hmph, you guys figure out how to find someone else to say these lines!"
"But..."
"But what?"
The timid Seele's voice said softly, "I quite like these lines. They're not that weird, are they?"
"...Ah, really now."
'Seele', who had already stood up, sat back down, looking unhappy. "Forget it, forget it. It's just a game plot anyway."
The interaction between Seele and 'Seele' made Elysia glance their way a couple more times, the fond, indulgent smile on her face deepening.
After a while, she refocused her attention on the script.
Next should be the happy ending where Bronya leaves with Seele, right?
Hmm... would Su Luo write such a simple plot?
Just as Elysia mentally guessed the upcoming development, a sense of unease suddenly arose.
Sure enough, after a couple of sweet moments, the plot took a sharp downturn.
"An alien, giant hand rose from the abyss, and a black tide surged forth, engulfing Seele. Bronya wanted to rush over to save her, but could only watch as the black tide mercilessly drowned her..."
"Her eyes, a serene blue like the ocean, just as Bronya remembered..."
"Seele... believes in Sister Bronya..."
Most importantly, the script ended there.
Meaning, it was a cliffhanger.
Elysia felt as if ants were crawling all over her body; she desperately wanted to know what would happen next.
Would Seele be alright? Would Bronya be alright?
"Su Luo~~"
"I haven't written the next part of the script yet, and we need to insert an animated short here."
"Animated short?" Elysia's expression changed slightly, bad memories resurfacing. "It's not going to be Bronya sacrificing herself to save Seele like Himeko, is it?"
"No, it's more like 'Queen's Descent'," Su Luo explained.
"That's a relief..."
Elysia first sighed in relief, but then the thought that she wouldn't be able to see the short film for a while...
...made her feel bad again.
If she had known, she wouldn't have read the script in advance.
"Su Luo~~"
"I really can't do anything about it."
"Please~~ This is really important to me~~"
"But something that doesn't exist simply doesn't exist."
"Muu..." Miss Elf let out a wail.
Afterward, with the mindset of "since I'm here, and I've already read the script," Elysia quickly adjusted her mood and began to observe everyone's voice acting.
Time flowed, and dusk approached.
Content and satisfied, Elysia left the recording studio and ran into Fu Hua, who was preparing to leave work.
"Hi~ Hua, have you seen Mei? I want to ask her to hang out tonight. Hua, you should come too."
"Them?" Fu Hua replied, "Mei went to the night market with Kiana."
"..."
"Oh~ Mei and Kiana are together~"
Elysia twirled a strand of her pink hair.
"Then we'll make plans for next time."
Fu Hua naturally didn't realize that her one sentence had nearly broken Elysia's composure.
Elysia wouldn't show it either.
She just smiled and grabbed Fu Hua, who was about to leave. "Hua, you surely wouldn't want me to be all alone, right?"
"Eden will probably come looking for you," Fu Hua replied, still her honest self.
"Oh my, do I really have to spell it out? I actually want to hang out with Hua~~"
"Er, I understand."
"Heehee~~ Hua, you're the best~~ To thank you, how about I teach you another cool pose?"
The two left together.
Such an ordinary yet fulfilling day thus drew to a close.
It was ordinary because things like this happened often at miHoYo, like daily routine.
It was fulfilling because although these things happened often, like daily routine, to everyone at miHoYo, these matters were always so interesting.
Therefore, they would feel that many interesting things had happened today, and they would feel very fulfilled.
If it was just clocking in, clocking out, and burying their heads in painstakingly making games...
That would be too normal.
It wouldn't fit the atmosphere of Honkai Impact 3rd's characters.