“Vester, I’m sorry.”
“Never mind. Everyone has their own views, Otto. I was being unreasonable.”
Chinese people tend to take a compromise approach.
If you directly ask to open a window, they will mostly disagree; but when you try to tear off the roof, they will come to talk to you about the window.
After Otto uttered those profound yet absurd remarks, Vester suddenly felt that he was actually quite fine just the way he used to be.
After all, no matter how much of a scumbag Otto might become later, he wouldn’t go so far as to sacrifice ninety-nine percent of humanity to prolong human civilization, or prepare to stuff them all into the Stigmata Space.
“Otto, you just need to be yourself!”
Vester patted his shoulder solemnly.
“So, bringing me here today was actually for my sake as well?”
“Yeah, sort of.”
The girl scratched her chin without denying it.
“…”
Just as Vester felt something was amiss and was about to speak, Otto raised his head and asked the question he had wanted answered the most all this time, the one that made him feel the most uneasy:
“Vester, why are you treating me so well?”
“Do you even need to ask? We’re good friends, after all.”
“Vester.”
Just as the blonde girl was about to brush the matter aside as usual, Otto interrupted her.
“…”
Yeah, why indeed?
The blonde girl suddenly realized that, unconsciously, her care for Otto had reached an exaggerated degree.
Was it truly just because she wanted to use Otto?
If she merely wanted to borrow Otto’s power, there really was no need to go to such lengths.
Sensing Otto’s sincerity, Vester had a premonition that her upcoming answer would greatly affect their relationship.
“If I were to brush you off again, Otto, you’d probably be very sad.”
Otto did not provide an answer to Vester’s question, or rather, this silence was the answer.
“…”
Otto’s ideal was selfish.
If saving Kallen required the destruction of entire human civilization as a price, would Otto hesitate?
The answer was self-evident.
In fact, to save Kallen, Otto had already done many things in the plot that others could not understand, becoming an unpardonable sinner.
But, was Otto really the one who was wrong?
Unlike reality, Honkai Impact 3rd was merely a game.
Since there were good people, there had to be bad people.
To resonate with players, it needed regrets heavy enough to support the weight of the plot.
Therefore, Otto became the villain required by the plot.
At the end of the story, Otto entrusted the mission of saving humanity to the protagonist group, and then chose to sacrifice himself across all timelines in exchange for a turning point where Kallen could survive.
In such an Otto, Vester saw another possibility belonging to her.
Otto gave everything for his dream, whereas Vester, who previously lived in the 21st century, had chosen to give up.
“…”
Then, would Vester, who was no longer willing to give up, meet the same ending as Otto?
She didn’t know.
However, at this thought, the blonde girl already understood why she cared for Otto so much.
“Actually, there’s no complicated reason.”
Saying this, Vester sighed, and then the corners of her mouth curved upwards.
“From the very first moment I saw you, I felt that you, we, are different from everyone else.”
“We are probably what you call ‘kindred spirits’.”
“But, Otto, you are braver than me.”
The ending of an idealist, even if tragic and stirring, is by no means pathetic.
Yet Otto didn’t care.
Even if he had to bear countless crimes and even have his existence erased, as long as Kallen could be saved, it was already enough.
Vester truly envied and admired this courage. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Now, she had come to the world of Honkai Impact 3rd, and the game was no longer a game.
Now that she was deeply involved, could she just do nothing?
Wouldn’t that be no different from a cuckolded turtle man in NTR doujinshi who likes watching his girlfriend go to Egypt to pull weeds?
After all, Vester actually saw parts of herself in Otto, and then naturally stepped into Otto’s perspective to examine the plot of Honkai Impact 3rd.
She didn’t want to watch the Otto before her become that Overseer who lost his beloved, became psychologically distorted, was ultimately misunderstood by others, and met a tragic end.
She wouldn’t whitewash Otto, nor did she ever deny that the Otto in the plot was indeed a scumbag.
She only hoped that Otto would no longer lose his beloved, and would no longer head toward that original tragic ending.
This was her wonderful expectation for another possibility of herself, as well as the bond formed between her—a champion of pure love—and Otto, who charged at the tree for love!
“I don’t know how to explain it either, but, Otto.”
“Whenever I see you, I just don’t want to see you unhappy. I just want to make you smile more, and I just don’t want Otto your life to lack light and hope like it used to.”
“I only hope that you, Otto, can be happy.”
With that, the blonde girl let out a deep breath and smilingly poked Otto’s face.
Even though she had tried her best to structure her words, Vester’s words were still quite nonsensical.
However, Otto understood.
Don’t understand?
Well, then let us set up a scenario.
Suppose your life were no longer as smooth-sailing as it is now.
Your parents didn’t love you all that much, and even missed your entire childhood.
Your studies aren’t good, and you have no friends.
Just when you think your whole life is going to go on like this, a girl suddenly appears.
If you take up art, she will use her own money to buy you paints, pre-mix titanium white for you, and wash your paintbrushes and palettes for you in the winter.
If you are an athletic student, she will help you organize your notes in class, tutor you during holidays, massage your legs, and help you relax with a fascia gun after your training.
You like smoking, so she carries a lighter and a pack of Black Devils around with her.
You like fishing, so she immediately finds a few secret spots for you, pre-baits the area ahead of time, and sets up your chair and sunshade.