Chapter Text
—✦Honkai Star Rail World✦—
Astral Express, in the Parlor Car—
The Astral Express crew had just thwarted the conspiracy of Phantylia the Undying, Lord Ravager of Destruction, on the Luofu. After bidding farewell to Jing Yuan, the group returned to the Express.
March 7th walked over to the sofa and plopped down, sighing in a “Ge You Slouch (its a Slang term in CN for Laying down like lying flat)” posture.
“Ah, this journey to the Xianzhou was really exhausting. First the Abundant Ebon Deer, then a Lord Ravager.”
She turned to Dan Heng and smiled. “But I didn't expect you to have hidden powers, Dan Heng. How come you didn't use them back on Jarilo-VI?”
Dan Heng explained, “That power belongs to my previous life. I do not wish to use it unless it is a critical moment.”
March 7th nodded upon hearing this, then looked at Stelle and Dan Heng with a grin. “Since you both have transformations now, do you think I might be able to transform into another form too?”
Stelle looked at March 7th with a mischievous smirk. “Do you want to see how the two of us transformed?”
March 7th thought back to the image of Stelle being stabbed, and then remembered Dan Heng telling her about being run through by Blade’s sword.
She scratched her head awkwardly and laughed. “Hehehehe... Then… I think I'd rather not have another form. Pretty girls are most afraid of pain.”
Stelle laughed at March 7th’s reaction, and even the corners of Dan Heng’s mouth curled up slightly.
Watching the two tease her, March stomped her foot in annoyance. “Hey! Stop laughing! What’s so funny about that?”
While laughing at March 7th, Stelle’s gaze inadvertently drifted toward the window. Seeing something outside, Stelle pointed a finger in confusion. “What is that?”
March 7th and Dan Heng followed the gaze. Once March saw it clearly, she shouted toward Himeko and Welt, “Himeko-jie, Uncle Yang! Come quick! There’s a giant screen outside the Express window!”
At some unknown point, countless light curtains had appeared across the universe. They could not be detected, could not be destroyed, and were even visible to the blind. This phenomenon, where science no longer seemed to exist, was driving the scholars of the Intelligentsia Guild to the brink of madness.
The light curtains appeared in every corner of the universe inhabited by life: Penacony, Herta Space Station, the Xianzhou Alliance, the IPC Headquarters at Pier Point, and even a place unknown to most.
Lycurgus looked at the light curtain that suddenly appeared in Amphoreus and sensed trouble.
Meanwhile, Phainon and the other Chrysos Heirs looked at the screen before them with curiosity. After Aglaea realized with surprise that she could see the light curtain, she immediately summoned the other Chrysos Heirs.
Jing Yuan, who had just seen off the Express crew, saw the screen upon returning to the Seat of Divine Foresight. He turned to the projection of Fu Xuan and asked, “Master Diviner, have the calculations yielded any results?”
Fu Xuan looked at Jing Yuan and shook her head. “The Matrix of Prescience cannot calculate the nature of this object at all.”
“It seems this is the handiwork of an Aeon. But which one? Aha the Elation, or perhaps Terminus the Finality, who has never shown their face?” Jing Yuan murmured.
At that moment, Aha, mentioned by Jing Yuan, was also looking at the light curtain that had suddenly appeared.
Aha looked at the screen and burst into laughter. “Hahahahaha! Akivili, it seems that after your departure, Aha is about to have some new fun!”
On the Stellaron Hunters' ship, Kafka looked at Elio and asked, “Is this also in your script?”
The small black cat tilted its head in confusion at the light curtain outside. “I don't knoooow. Could it be my boss's doing?”
Silver Wolf blew a bubble while looking at the screen. “Looks a bit like those 'viewing' tropes in literary works.”
Blade looked at the screen and asked Silver Wolf, “Will my ending be shown on there?”
Silver Wolf shrugged. “Who knows? But based on the content of those works, I bet this is appearing in other worlds too.”
Just as Silver Wolf said, light curtains had appeared in two other worlds as well.
—
—✦Honkai Impact Third World✦—
Far East Branch, St. Freya Academy, Student Dorms—
“Mei, I don't want to take the exam! Why do Valkyries have to take academic classes?” Kiana complained to Mei, who was cooking nearby, while staring at the test paper.
“Idiot Kiana, this is a Valkyrie school. If it's a school, there will be exams.”
On the other side, Bronya, who was playing games while leaning against a limited-edition Homu pillow, chimed in.
“Bronya! Who are you calling an idiot?” Kiana barked.
“Whoever answers is the idiot,” Bronya replied.
After finishing the meal, Mei looked at the two who had started bickering again and shook her head helplessly.
Theresa was curled up in her room on her bed reading manga. Durandal was still undergoing high-intensity training, with Rita standing by with a towel, waiting to hand it to her once she finished.
Otto was at the Overseer’s headquarters, staring at the moon in the sky, thinking of his Kallen and his plan.
The light curtains appeared on Earth just as Silver Wolf predicted. Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, World Serpent, and the Sea of Quanta—the light curtains appeared everywhere.
Otto looked at the sudden screen in silence. He, too, thought of the literary works written by authors.
He murmured to the screen, “Will you reveal the ending of my unfinished plan for me?”
The light curtain did not respond; it had another world to visit.
—
—✦Zenless Zone Zero World✦—
New Eridu, Sixth Street—
Inside the siblings' video rental store. Belle and Wise sighed, having just dealt with the destruction of their Phaethon account data by a hacker attack in order to complete Nicole's commission.
Belle complained to her brother, “One commission destroyed the account we spent years building. Sigh.”
Wise sighed in response.
Fairy spoke up, “Master, based on the functions I just introduced to you, it won't be long before you become a legendary Proxy again.”
“I hope so,” Belle said. However, she didn't know yet that this AI would make her electricity bill skyrocket.
Miyabi, who had just finished her training of walking strictly on white lines on the road, turned to the Section 6 members following her. “The white line training is over. Let's head back.”
Soukaku looked at Yanagi and shouted, “Sister Yanagi, I want to eat!”
Yanagi patted Soukaku’s head and smiled. “Alright, let's go buy some red bean buns.”
Harumasa sighed. “Red bean buns again?”
Hearing this, Yanagi turned to Harumasa. “Is there something wrong with red bean buns?”
Harumasa waved his hands frantically. “Nothing, nothing at all! Red bean buns it is!”
“Wow, Sister Yanagi, look! What’s that in the sky?” Soukaku pointed at the light curtain that had suddenly appeared.
The group looked up.
Unsurprisingly, the light curtain had appeared in the city of New Eridu as well.
At that moment, scientists across the three worlds let out sharp, explosive screams of frustration.
“No energy, appeared out of thin air, no reaction to any matter in the world… this is unscientific!”
“Physics… no longer exists,” one physicist lamented.
The light curtain was far too abstract, as if it were something tossed down casually by someone.
After appearing in the three worlds, the light curtain brightened, and text appeared.
{Welcome to the Viewing Space.}
{I will show you one of the infinite possibilities within the Sea and the Tree. After learning about someone's past or future, will your opinion of them change?}
{After knowing your own future, will you still make the same choices?}
{Let us see for ourselves.}
{To facilitate your communication, I will create a chat group in the form of a personal small light curtain for each of you. Please accept.}
Then, under the power of the light curtain, certain individuals watching were pulled into a chat group, and a personal small light curtain appeared before their eyes.
{Kiana Kaslana joined the chat group}
{Kevin Kaslana joined the chat group}
{Phainon joined the chat group}
{Otto Apocalypse joined the chat group}
。。 。 。。
〘Aha〙: Hahahahahaha! This is exactly what I wanted! So much fun!
〘Hanabi〙: Why is no one talking except the boss?
〘Stelle〙: Word.
〘March 7th〙: Why do you have to be so abstract even here?
。。。。
—✦In Between✦—
Dan Heng looked at March 7th. “She’s right next to you. You don't need to complain in the group chat.”
March 7th scratched her head. “Ehehe~”
“Speaking of which, the way Uncle Yang is gripping his cane… it feels like he’s about to snap it. What’s wrong with him?” March 7th asked, noticing Welt Yang had been acting strange for a while.
Meanwhile, Welt was staring deathly still at a name in the chat group.
A name he could never forget in his entire life: Otto Apocalypse.
Then he looked at Luocha, who happened to be right below him. Looking at their avatars, Welt let out a cold, angry laugh.
“Luocha… and you still say you aren't Otto?”
—