"Big Brother Otto, it's time to get up."
Early in the morning, the gray-haired girl pushed the door open and came in.
Otto opened his eyes and looked up at the more-or-less familiar ceiling.
Fu Hua walked straight into the room, expertly sidestepping Otto who was sleeping on a floor mat, then skillfully made her way to the window and pulled back the curtains.
She picked up the clothes Otto had carelessly tossed on the floor, smoothed out the wrinkles with her hands, and folded them neatly on the table.
Otto, meanwhile, squinted his eyes and burrowed deeper into his blanket. Even though Fu Hua had come to wake him, he had absolutely no intention of getting up.
His gaze, however, rested on Fu Hua's attire.
Instead of her usual martial arts uniform, she was now wearing a light blue dress—the school uniform for the high school in Sapphire.
Her long gray hair wasn't tied into its usual ponytail but was left to hang down her back, with a few strands clinging to her forehead.
She must have just finished her morning training.
"Your school starts tomorrow?" Otto asked.
JC Fu Hua was about to become JK Fu Hua.
"Yeah, I'm taking a flight to Sapphire this afternoon," Fu Hua said with a smile, though her face betrayed her reluctance to leave.
"Big Brother Otto, you have to take care of yourself while I'm gone. My dad isn't the type to wake people up, so don't oversleep."
Without Fu Hua, there would be no one to get Otto out of bed.
"Don't worry. Besides, I've already imposed on you both for over a month. I'm just grateful you haven't kicked me out," Otto said with a chuckle.
It was true. He had been living in Fu Hua's home for more than a month now.
And every single day, after finishing her morning training, Fu Hua would come and wake him up.
"I'm just worried about how you'll manage without me here," Fu Hua said. Over the past month, she had witnessed just how lazy this man could be. She even did his laundry, and after it was dry, she would personally deliver the folded clothes back to his room.
She had truly worried herself sick over him.
And yet, she never complained.
Besides, to this family, Otto was something of a benefactor.
About half a month ago, her father had been attacked by an unknown creature, and it was Otto who had saved him.
Otherwise, her father would have been hospitalized, at the very least.
Otto turned on his side to look at her, a smile playing on his lips.
"Well then, Little Hua, how about you wake me up every day from now on?"
"Although, if I had you by my side, I might never be able to get out of bed at all."
"Don't call me Little Hua. Just call me HUA," Fu Hua said, a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice. Every time she corrected him, he would just ignore her and do it again.
For some reason, she felt a strange resistance to him calling her that.
When her father called her by that name, she never felt this odd sensation.
Perhaps it was because Otto didn't look that much older than her.
"I'm leaving for Sapphire today. I won't be back until the holidays in half a year," Fu Hua said, clearly missing the flirtatious undertone in Otto's words.
Otto didn't mind. If the Celestial were that easy to read, she wouldn't have remained emotionally closed off for so many years.
"I'm going to make breakfast. Don't you dare sleep in again."
After nagging him like a worried mother, Fu Hua prepared to leave the room to cook for the two men of the house. Otto, still lying on the floor, watched her fluttering skirt, and his eyebrow gave a slight twitch.
A flash of pure, paper-white crossed his vision.
A world without safety shorts truly is the best world!
Pointedly criticizing the continent of Teyvat.
Otto opened his mouth, but ultimately decided against teasing her.
He'd rather not get beaten to death by a mortified Fu Hua after she regained her memories and died of social embarrassment.
Still, thinking about how she had taken care of him like a doting parent these past few days, Otto figured that when her memories did return, there would be a period where she'd want to forget this embarrassing chapter of her life entirely.
But after a moment's thought, he still called out.
"Little Hua, wait a second."
With that, Otto slipped out from his blankets, clad only in a thin inner shirt.
Fu Hua stopped and looked at him, puzzled.
Otto usually lazed in bed for at least half an hour, which was why she always woke him before going to make breakfast.
"Call me HUA…" she protested softly.
Otto walked over to the table, rummaged through the clothes laid there, and took something out.
"Turn around," he said with a grin.
Confused, Fu Hua turned her back to him. She then felt a pair of hands gathering her hair.
She didn't resist, simply letting Otto do as he pleased.
When he finished, she felt his hands let go. She reached back to touch her hair, and her azure eyes widened.
A hair ornament, shaped like a vermilion bird, had gathered her long gray hair into a beautiful, low ponytail.
"It's a back-to-school present for you," Otto said with a smile.
Fu Hua gently touched the ornament. Faced with his kindness, she opened her mouth, her tone sincere and gentle.
"I'll treasure it."
"Alright, alright, go make breakfast. Don't you have to get to Sapphire this afternoon?"
"Okay."
Fu Hua left the room with a light spring in her step. Watching her go, a smile formed on Otto's face.
She's just like a normal girl.
If it weren't for the Honkai, she would have remained one, a cherished daughter doted on by her parents.
Otto let out a soft sigh.
He couldn't change what had already happened.
But he could give her a guarantee.
His and Fu Hua's daughter would be a normal girl.
The feud with the Honkai would end with his generation.
Otto put on his platinum-gold Bishop's robes and stretched leisurely.
Despite having spent over a month in the illusion, he wasn't the least bit anxious. He had noticed that the daily missions on his system panel hadn't refreshed, which meant the flow of time between the illusion and the real world was asynchronous.
However, he couldn't help but think about the incident a few days ago when he had rescued Fu Hua's father from the Deadwalkers.
While Fu Hua and her father didn't recognize them, Otto certainly did.
The appearance of Deadwalkers was not a good sign.
It meant the Honkai Eruption was imminent.
Whether it was the original history or the Herrscher of Corruption's machinations, Fu Hua's future was not going to be pleasant.
But all he needed to do was protect her family.
If her family didn't die, Fu Hua wouldn't shut herself away from the world.
And so, he didn't go with Fu Hua to Sapphire. After a final meal with her family, Otto and her father saw her off at the airport.
"Make lots of friends at school."
At the ticket gate, Fu Hua's father patted his daughter's head dotingly, listing off all the things he was worried about.
"Father, please take care of yourself."
Fu Hua nodded and gave her father a tight hug. She didn't know when it had happened, but the father who had always stood so tall in her memory now seemed a little stooped, with streaks of white in his hair.
Father is getting old.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
Once I graduate, I'll come back and revive the dojo.
"Alright, alright, you'll miss your flight."
Father Hua patted his daughter's back. Though he was sad to see her go, he was more worried about her being late.
"Okay."
Fu Hua replied obediently and pulled away from her father's embrace.
She then looked at Otto, who was standing beside him.
"Dad and I will be here, so don't you worry," Otto said with a smile. This earned him a sideways glance from Father Hua. Dad… is he referring to me?
Father Hua's gaze sharpened.
"Okay."
Fu Hua nodded.
"I believe you."
A brilliant smile bloomed on the young girl's face as her eyes met Otto's.
"Go on, Little Hua. Don't miss your flight."
"Call me HUA."
"Alright, Little Hua."
After that exchange, they both shared a laugh.
Otto waved to her. Their relationship wasn't at the stage for farewell hugs. In her eyes, he was probably just a handsome and interesting big brother.
Fu Hua waved back, took a few steps, then turned for one last, longing look.
The crowd blocked her view, but she knew those two men were still standing there.
A newfound strength seemed to well up from the bottom of her heart. Fu Hua didn't look back again and walked forward.
---o---
After seeing Fu Hua off, Otto and her father didn't leave immediately.
Once his daughter was out of sight, Father Hua turned to Otto and clapped a broad hand on his shoulder a few times.
Otto looked at him, sensing the different meanings behind those pats.
There was a warning, but also a sense of helplessness.
Father Hua said nothing, however, and simply walked towards the airport lounge.
Inside, he sat on a chair, staring at the clock on the wall. He would wait until his daughter's plane had taken off before he left.
Otto didn't leave either, staying by the side of the man whose hair was already threaded with silver.
He thought to himself that if he ever had a daughter, he might be the same way.
For her own good, he would send her far away, no matter how much it hurt.
No!
He shook his head.
There would be no need for his daughter to ever leave him.
By his side, she would have the entire world.
The clock ticked by. Otto stood with his arms crossed, watching through the transparent ceiling as a plane took off, its engine roar audible even from here.
"That must be HUA's plane."
Otto turned to look at Fu Hua's father, only to see him still staring blankly at the clock.
This was Fu Hua's first time traveling so far from home. Though her father appeared strong on the outside, he was surely worried sick.
"Should we wait a little longer?" Otto asked. He didn't mind; it's not like he had anything else to do. His only job was to protect the man beside him.
Slacking off was truly the height of bliss!
But gradually, Otto sensed that something was wrong.
It was too quiet.
Why had he only heard that one plane this entire time?
How could an airport be this silent?
He looked up. The blue sky was visible through the glass ceiling, but a dark crack had appeared, stretching across it.
A crack?
Otto stood up, instinctively reaching for the man's arm, ready to protect him if danger arose.
But his hand grasped nothing.
He whipped his head around. His hand was filled with scattering motes of fluorescent light. The Father Hua who had been sitting beside him was dissolving into a shower of light.
What is happening?!
Otto's eyes flew open.
Then, he realized it wasn't just Fu Hua's father.
He looked around the entire airport lounge. Everyone had frozen in place, their bodies disintegrating into light.
No, not just the people—everything around him began to dissolve.
Otto stood up and looked at the sky, which was now being devoured by the growing cracks.
"This…"
He watched the apocalyptic scene unfold. He tried to grab Fu Hua's father, but the man had already vanished completely into a cascade of light, his sturdy, reliable figure gone forever.
Everything around him was annihilated, leaving Otto standing in a pitch-black space, like a world before creation.
Is this the end of the world?
Don't tell me the Herrscher of Corruption just fast-forwarded the illusion to the Final Herrscher's arrival?
But if you just jump straight to the ending without any emotional buildup, how is anyone supposed to feel despair!
This is a third-rate script written by a fourth-rate screenwriter!
If I were the writer, I guarantee I could've turned this era's Fu Hua into a Herrscher.
However, Otto's brow furrowed.
He looked around. The fluorescent light from the people and objects hadn't truly disappeared. Instead, it was re-coalescing, forming into something new.
The sun was reconstructed, the moon was reconstructed, the ground was reconstructed, and people were reconstructed.
Within the darkness, the light formed a new world, leaving Otto stunned.
The scene reforming around him was no longer the airport, but somewhere else entirely…
He found himself standing on a street, Fu Hua's father gone, replaced by unfamiliar faces walking by.
He stared blankly at his surroundings, his gaze finally landing on a sign.
"Welcome to Sapph…ire?" Otto read aloud softly.
Could it be?
A hypothesis suddenly flashed through his mind.
In many RPGs, once the protagonist leaves the starter village, the village itself ceases to be necessary.
Fu Hua was the protagonist of this illusion. Everything revolved around her, with the sole purpose of driving her to despair.
So, once she left this city, the city—which was fake to begin with—no longer needed to exist. Erasing it would conserve the Honkai energy required to maintain such a large-scale illusion.
And there was no need to worry about Fu Hua coming back.
Because the disaster would strike long before she could return.
When it was all over, all it would take is for someone to tell her, "Your entire family was wiped out in the Honkai Eruption," and the girl's mind would shatter.
Fu Hua would retreat into herself.
And this illusion would repeat, over and over.
The despair would deepen with each loop, until she finally broke completely.
At that moment, the Herrscher of Corruption would possess her body and achieve a true revival!
Otto raised his hands, staring at the lines on his palms.
He understood.
From the very beginning, there was never an option to save Fu Hua's family. There was never an option to save anyone else.
He couldn't save these fake people.
They were doomed to die.
It was like being able to defeat Genichiro in the first encounter, but still being unable to escape the scripted cutscene where he cuts off your arm.
His plan to save Fu Hua's father and friends to raise her affection level was now a complete and utter failure.