"Hey! Look what I've found? A time pseudo-crystal with self-awareness!"
A brisk, cheerful voice rang out in the chaotic void. Along with it, a humanoid silhouette stepped before your screen, pinching a cyan crystal between its fingers.
"Looks like some existence from another dimension is influencing the Imaginary Tree."
The silhouette chuckled softly, then the finger-like organ gave a slight squeeze.
"Hehe, the power of millions of Captains, a transcendent authority beyond the Imaginary Tree… which observer's game is this?"
A god's gaze fell upon the leaf tugged by transparent threads.
"How interesting."
It extended a black tendril.
Pitiful world… how could a projection surpassing the Imaginary Tree not tempt those seekers beneath it?
…
December 23, 2013, Schicksal Headquarters.
"Bishop, what are your orders?"
"It's nothing, Amber. Let me have a moment alone with my old friend."
Amber looked at the smiling Schicksal Overseer, Otto Apocalypse, confusion flickering across her face.
"Understood, Bishop."
She set down the prepared red wine, quietly closed the door, and took away the game console that had Kallen Fantasy on its screen.
"You should have spoken just now. That would've been more like you, Otto."
After Amber left, a phantom appeared in the room. On closer inspection, its appearance was identical to Otto's.
"That would fit your 'great romantic fool' persona better."
"I think," said Otto at the desk, his smile dimming slightly, "a man whose secretary cuts his gaming budget wouldn't care about something as trivial as 'having his console confiscated.'"
Yeah, right.
If he hadn't just transmigrated and been too cautious to act rashly, Otto snorted inwardly—he would definitely show Void Archives what it means when the secretary actually has something to do!
Yes, he wasn't the original Otto from Honkai Impact 3rd or Houkai Gakuen 2. He was a Honkai fanfic writer who had just transmigrated.
Who would've thought that touching an ancient book would let it invade his brain and drag him into another world?!
And of all people to become… why Otto Apocalypse—the ultimate hopeless romantic, the intellectual pinnacle of the Current Era?!
The Schicksal Overseer he used to spam "Go die, you damn Otto!" at while watching The Final Lesson?
The Otto he'd curse whenever he felt sorry for little Kiana's journey from "tuna" to "firefly"?
The old romantic scoundrel who left him silent for a long time after Thus Spoke Apocalypse?
He'd even once written in a comment section that if he ever transmigrated into the Honkai world, he'd pour a drink at Otto's grave—then smash the glass on the tombstone.
So why did he become him?!
This…
I've finally become the person I hated most?
Transmigrator Otto shook his head. The turbulence in his heart quickly settled as he suppressed all other emotions.
Now wasn't the time to dwell on it. Even without Otto's genius, he had to grit his teeth and ensure his survival first—for example…
"Void Archives," he said calmly, "I'm glad you're being so composed."
First, he had to bluff his way past Void Archives.
He put on an act—imitating Otto while deliberately letting small inconsistencies slip through his expressions and movements.
Otto knew that transmigration was almost certainly—no, definitely—impossible to hide from Void Archives.
They had truly fought and entangled with each other for five hundred years, from the death of Kallen's father all the way to Otto becoming a pseudo-god and heading to the Imaginary Tree to rewrite reality.
In APHO, it even wore Otto's face and spoke with Otto's voice.
Maybe the Otto–Kallen pairing was canon, but the Otto–Void Archives shippers were clearly the real winners!
So the other party had definitely realized that this body had changed owners.
But that wasn't necessarily a big problem. After all, Void Archives had never been loyal to that man—if anything, she had always wanted to seize Otto's body.
Which made him realize something immediately—why hadn't Void Archives taken control after his "possession"?
Was his soul unusually strong? Some kind of cheat ability? Or… was she afraid that if his consciousness disappeared, the original Otto would return?
The man tugged the corner of his mouth. He wouldn't count on the first possibility.
But the latter… that fear definitely existed.
So he had to make use of it—
Mutual destruction as a threat? The thought came instantly, but he set it aside. Not because he feared death, but because that method could only be used once.
If he were to play that trump card, he'd need to prepare first to maximize the benefits—and he couldn't delay too long either, or the reward would lose its value.
For now, he just wanted peaceful coexistence with Void Archives. That level of gain wasn't worth staking his life.
But if he didn't use that route, a freshly transmigrated Otto alone with Void Archives had no bargaining chips…
So he would do everything he could—subtly use words to deepen her cognitive dissonance and fear, and guide her toward conclusions that benefited him.
That way, she would subconsciously help him. And if life-and-death leverage became necessary later, he could extract even greater gains.
He clenched his fist and spoke calmly:
"I am, of course, Otto Apocalypse, the current Overseer of Schicksal."
"Oh, my old friend," Void Archives said smugly, "let me guess—you're about to say you merely lost part of your memory data, which is why you seem a little different?"
Good idea.
Otto's pupils shrank, and he "blurted,"
"You—"
His tone rose slightly, then he quickly "regained composure."
"My old friend, you really do understand me."
Heh, Void Archives sneered inwardly. Otto would never lose his composure like that. This little usurper might have inherited some of Otto's memories and knew quite a bit about him, but in truth…
Tsk tsk—unworthy of the position, blessed with luck but not fate.
"So what did you lose?"
Since he wanted to play Otto, Void Archives didn't mind playing along.
At least… this Otto looked far less troublesome than the previous one.
"I lost… the memories of spending day and night with Kallen Kaslana. Instead, I watched the entire story from a third-person perspective."
Otto covered his chest, showing a trace of confusion.
"I don't accept why I used to be so obsessive, and I don't want to return to that kind of madness."
Oh ho?
She knew this scene well.
After five hundred years with Otto, Void Archives had seen countless people like this throughout history.
She revealed a sly smile. With a spin, her body transformed into Kallen Kaslana—sky-blue eyes sparkling, long pale legs exposed to the air.
"So you're saying you're no longer interested in this body?"
In Kallen's form, Void Archives stepped closer, bending down to meet his gaze. The lowered collar revealed a soft curve, pale fingers hooking lightly under his chin.
"Say that again, Ot-to A-po-ca-lypse?"
She used Kallen's synthesized voice.
Otto's breathing hitched. Even if he wasn't the original Otto, even if this was just a virtual avatar…
She was really good at this.
Of course, he quickly recovered, deliberately letting a trace of greed flicker through his eyes.
Not pure affection like a clear mirror. Not obsession with bringing her back.
But the most primitive, savage human desire—
Reproduction.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Void Archives sounded delighted. "My, the Otto Apocalypse who's been lonely for five hundred years is actually feeling lust toward me, an AI?"
"I'm not," Otto replied calmly, though his chest rose slightly.
"Ah, yes, of course—no mundane desires toward me," Void Archives said with a knowing smile. "Not me, the AI, but… her."
"But… what about this?"
She snapped her fingers and turned into the pink-haired, fox-eared Yae Sakura, eyes half-lidded in allure.
If it were the former Overseer, he wouldn't have spared even a thought for the pink fox who had once "cuckolded" him. But now the man's gaze wavered for a moment before he seemed to remember himself and prepared to get angry.
"You—?!"
Before his "rage" could ignite, Void Archives spun again.
"And how about this, my dear Bishop?"
Rita Rossweisse…
Aside from slightly shorter hair, she checked every box of his preferences.
But the real one is my black-stocking maid at home—why would I want your illusion?
Otto chuckled inwardly, while outwardly he paused as if stunned, about to speak—only to be interrupted again, just as expected.
"And this?"
Black-stockinged long legs, absolute territory, silver hair, black armor, gentle and wife-like…
Cecilia Schariac—the one he'd most regretted not boarding the Hyperion for in his previous life.
But Otto's expression suddenly turned strange.
Why is the last one a married woman?
Sure, he liked Cecilia… but she's already dead… killed by the original owner of this body…
Oh right, there are clones…
Nope! If I keep thinking like this, the book's getting banned in a single chapter!
"Because if you're an Otto who's grown tired of the original Kallen," Void Archives said in Cecilia's synthesized voice, as if reading his thoughts, "then maybe you'd be interested in a Kallen with a different personality~"