[ So I returned to the hotel in the dreamscape, wanting to tell you of its existence. ]
[ But I couldn't reveal my identity yet, so I could only try to divert the attention of your companions and take you away from the battlefield. ]
[ After that, all my various attempts ended in failure. ]
[ It wasn't until a short while ago, when a streak of blood-red blade light shattered the high walls of the dream, causing you all to fall into this deeper layer of the dreamscape, that I was finally able to wake you and your companions up one by one… ]
[ That is everything that happened previously. ]
Little by little, Hotaru explained many things to Stelle.』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "No wonder Sam looked like he was coming straight for me earlier!"
Stelle: "So it was you, Hotaru, wanting to take me away!"
Stelle: "Tsk, you should have said so earlier! Coming at me in that mecha really scared the living daylights out of me!"
Hotaru: "I'm sorry, but back then I still couldn't expose my identity, so I had to do it that way."
Hotaru: "But unfortunately, the 'me' in the video didn't succeed. The script cannot be defied."
Hotaru: "Miss Acheron intercepted me."
Hotaru: "And it seems that in the process that followed, due to various accidents, I wasn't able to get another chance to contact you."
Furina de Fontaine: "So looking at it this way, the reason Miss Acheron stopped fighting Sam halfway through…"
Furina de Fontaine: "Is because Miss Acheron discovered Sam's true identity."
Furina de Fontaine: "Otherwise, since Miss Acheron had already made her move, she wouldn't have given up so easily."
Black Swan: "Mm, judging from the previous video, that does indeed seem to be the case."
Black Swan: "It's just that Miss Acheron's perception is truly extraordinarily strong."
Paimon: "By the way, is this 'script' really that magical?"
Paimon: "You can't defy it even a little bit?"
Silver Wolf: "Yep, that's right. It's just that magical."
Silver Wolf: "It's not like we haven't tried to defy the script, just like what Hotaru did in the video."
Silver Wolf: "But the results are obvious—not a single attempt succeeded."
Silver Wolf: "Things not marked in the script, those you can do whatever you want with."
Silver Wolf: "But as long as it's a key point marked in the script, it has always been impossible to defy."
Silver Wolf: "However… this has obviously become a thing of the past."
Silver Wolf: "Because right now… the original script has been completely shattered because of the existence of this livestream room!"
Dr. Veritas Ratio: "After all, it is a power that supersedes the Aeons. Being able to break the shackles of the original future stands to reason."
Hotaru: "I just wonder… whether this is good or bad for the future?"
Silver Wolf: "Don't know, but who cares?"
Silver Wolf: "It's not like we can turn off this livestream room anyway… even the Aeons can't turn it off."
Silver Wolf: "So… we might as well relax and go with the flow."
Silver Wolf: "Besides, since this livestream room is playing content from the future,"
Silver Wolf: "Doesn't that mean it's helping us avoid the original future?"
Silver Wolf: "It's not like after this video finishes, we're going to go back and act it all out exactly like idiots, just like in the video, right?"
Hu Tao: "Ooh… Miss Silver Wolf makes a lot of sense!"
Hu Tao: "Since we already know the original future, we definitely can't do things the same way as before."
Hu Tao: "Otherwise… wouldn't watching this video be a waste?"
Lumine: "Mm-hmm, that makes sense."
Hotaru: "Alright… you're right."
Hotaru: "I won't overthink it anymore."
Hotaru: "It's just… some of the experiences in the script that I cared about… seem impossible to realize now…"
Kafka: "Hehe. People move and they live; trees move and they die."
Kafka: "Although the original script was broken by something unexpected,"
Kafka: "You can still write a new script that belongs to you."
Kafka: "Look at what your name is in the livestream room?"
Hotaru: "Huh…?"
Hotaru: "It's… it's Hotaru…?"
Kafka: "Do you still not understand?"
Kafka: "The current you is no longer living in the guise of Sam."
Kafka: "From the moment you entered this livestream room, everyone here has only treated you as Hotaru."
Kafka: "So, you are already living as Hotaru now."
Nahida: "That is correct, Miss Hotaru."
Nahida: "There is no need to be lost. You can go ahead and use your current identity to pursue the life you want."
Hotaru: "The life I want… but where should I start…"
Stelle: "THAT OBVIOUSLY STARTS WITH A DATE WITH ME!!!"
Stelle: "I don't care! I want to date Hotaru, and I want to take pictures with her!!"
Stelle: "Also, I WANT TO PLAY WITH HOTARU'S TRANSFORMATION DEVICE!!!"
March 7th: "Count me in! Me too, me too!!"
Guinaifen: "A tall, handsome mecha that breathes fire! Wuwuwu, I want to take a photo with Miss Hotaru too!!"
Guinaifen: "Can you add me as well?"
Klee: "Klee also really wants to… wuwu, but Klee can't get out!"
Klee: "Is there any way to get out…"
Klee: "How about… asking Mom to blow the sky open?"
Klee: "Would that let us out~?"
Venti: "Cough, cough, cough…!"
Venti: "Little Klee, I don't think that's a good idea."
Venti: "Let's not tell your mom!"
Albedo: "Klee, don't be anxious. When you grow up a bit more, maybe you can travel to the stars."
Lumine: "That's right, that's right!"
Lumine: "There's still plenty of time, no need to be in such a rush…"
Hu Tao: "Uh… I feel like you guys are really nervous?"
Hu Tao: "Could this little sister Klee's mom really blow the sky open?"
Mona: "If it's that woman… it's actually quite possible…"
Zhongli: "In terms of universal rationality, merely blowing open the sky would be useless."
Zhongli: "Instead, it would lead to a severe catastrophe."
Furina de Fontaine: "Sigh… let's just pray that the Astral Express discovers our location by accident someday."
Furina de Fontaine: "Hopefully… it won't take too long."
....
『 [ I completely understand! ]
Stelle nodded, feeling that they had understood.
[ I know it's hard to trust all this unconditionally. ]
[ I just want to say, you are very close to the final answer. ]
[ Just do one thing, and I can prove it to you… ]
[ Next, let us leave this place… Please close your eyes. ]
[ Then take a deep breath, trace the outline of the dreamscape in your mind, and remember… absolutely do not open your eyes. ]
[ Three… ]
[ Two… ]
[ One… ]
[ Don't be afraid. The one coming to welcome us… is here. ]
After Hotaru finished speaking, a sharp, piercing screech suddenly rang out.
Subsequently, Stelle felt a thick and ferocious Memoria surge into their chest, churning and raging.
Their consciousness was like paper in a vortex—crumpling, dissolving, and scattering into the rolling turbid current.
Countless voices echoed through the Memoria like rolling thunder, among which one resonance was particularly clear.
Stelle knew this came from Hotaru beside them.
She was currently experiencing the same process as them… 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Ah, this… What's the situation?!"
Stelle: "I got stabbed hard too?!"
March 7th: "HISS!!!"
March 7th: "Although there's no visual,"
March 7th: "Just listening to the sound makes it feel so, so painful!"
Collei: "There were two sounds in total… It seems Miss Hotaru was stabbed too."
Silver Wolf: "Hotaru got stabbed again?"
Silver Wolf: "And she was stabbed together with Stelle?"
Silver Wolf: "LMAO, what is this, 'Husband and Wife returning home together'?"
Hotaru: "Eeeek!! Silver Wolf, what weird things are you saying!!"
Himeko: "Must one die via a Memory Zone Meme to reach the dreamscape on the other side of the high wall?"
Welt Yang: "It appears so."
Welt Yang: "I must say… it's very… unique?"
Guinaifen: "This thing… why does it feel so much like a type of transportation called a 'bus'?"
Li Sushang: "Mm, Kei-chan, I think your description is very vivid."
Li Sushang: "My brain is already filling in that incredibly weird image!"
Qingque: "Eek, I've visualized that scene too!"
Qingque: "I can only say, it's weird, very weird, so weird I don't dare think about it anymore!!"
Paimon: "Bus… although it's something I haven't seen before."
Paimon: "But I feel like I can understand what it means…"
Furina de Fontaine: "It should be a tool similar to our aquabuses in Fontaine, right?"
Furina de Fontaine: "Indeed, not hard to understand."
....
『 The scene shifts, blade is driving a car, taking Hotaru on a wild ride.
[ I never knew you could do this kind of thing. ]
Sitting in the passenger seat, Hotaru finally couldn't help but speak up.
[ ... ]
Blade remained silent.
[ …Do you have a driver's license? ]
Hotaru asked curiously.
[ Yes. ]
Blade answered, sparing his words like gold.
[ This is really… surprising. ]
Hotaru muttered, somewhat astonished.
[ Why? Because this is the sinful city of Jepella? ]
Blade asked a question.
[ Mm, no… it's nothing. ]
[ I just feel that you haven't slept for twenty system hours… are you okay? ]
Hotaru looked at Blade, asking hesitantly.
[ No problem. ]
[ Can't die. Just like you. ]
Blade answered calmly.
[ ... ]
[ I might not be so sure. You'd better drive slower. ]
Hotaru said with some fear.
[ The infiltration is over. You can activate Sam at any time. ]
Blade glanced at Hotaru and spoke indifferently.
[ There's still some time before the next act of the script. Let me stay a while longer, in this body. ]
After Hotaru said this, the two stopped talking and fell into a long silence. 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "What's happening?"
Stelle: "Why did the scene suddenly jump to here?"
Stelle: "Good grief, Hotaru, are you guys roleplaying as thugs in suits?"
Stelle: "Also… Blade, this guy, actually knows how to drive?"
Blade: "I can drive. Is that so surprising?"
Hotaru: "Mm… it is indeed surprising."
Hotaru: "I didn't expect you to do this kind of thing."
March 7th: "And, he actually has a driver's license!"
March 7th: "I'm a bit skeptical, did he really pass the test for it?"
Stelle: "I bet Silver Wolf forged it for him!"
Silver Wolf: "Tch, I'm not that bored."
Silver Wolf: "We are Stellaron Hunters; why would we need a driver's license to drive a car?"
Silver Wolf: "It's just Blade being stubborn, insisting on getting a license."
Guinaifen: "By the way… you've been driving continuously for twenty system hours?!"
Guinaifen: "That's already severe fatigued driving, right?!"
Guinaifen: "Are you really not afraid of an accident?!"
Stelle: "Of course he's not afraid."
Stelle: "Because he can't die at all!"
Stelle: "But my Hotaru is afraid!!"
Hotaru: "Mm-hmm, I was a little scared."
Hotaru: "Because when I haven't equipped Sam, my body is relatively fragile."
Hu Tao: "Can't… can't die?!"
Hu Tao: "What kind of outrageous ability is that?"
Silver Wolf: "Oh, it's a long story."
Silver Wolf: "Anyway, he once accidentally obtained the power of Abundance, so he accidentally got an immortal body."
Silver Wolf: "Now, even if you chop him into meat paste, he can still recover to his original state."
Paimon: "Acci… dentally?!"
Paimon: "Wuwuwu, if there's such a good thing, please let me 'accidentally' do it too!"
Pela: "Uh… worthy of the Stellaron Hunters, they really have all sorts of strange people…"
....
『 Until a long time later. Hotaru spoke again.
[ What a long tunnel. ]
[ When we set off, I didn't think it was this long. ]
Hotaru couldn't help but sigh softly.
[ In half a system hour, it will lead us to Kafka. Then comes the annihilation of the Jepella Brotherhood. ]
Blade explained.
[ Is all of this also in the script? ]
Hotaru raised an eyebrow and asked.
[ It's in your script too. ]
Blade replied.
[ Sorry, I didn't pay attention. ]
Hotaru shook her head.
[ Even if you choose to ignore it, their fate will not change. ]
Blade guessed why Hotaru hadn't read the script.
[ ... ]
Hotaru fell somewhat silent.
[ I've said it before, that's a bad habit. ]
Blade added another sentence.
[ What about you? ]
[ This time, can you obtain the death you want? ]
Hotaru didn't say much more about that issue, but asked directly in return.
[ As always, a complete blank. ]
[ It is not on this planet. ]
[ Why ask this suddenly? ]
Blade was somewhat puzzled.
[ Because I am currently in a car being driven by someone with fatigue… I hope it can arrive safely. ]
Hotaru explained the reason with a straight face.
[ .... ]
[ This car has auto-pilot. I'm just resting my hands on the steering wheel, alright? ]
Blade was silent for a moment, then spoke somewhat speechlessly.
[ Ha, just kidding. ]
[ …Elio always says there is only one destiny, and no one can bypass it. ]
[ He can see the future, and we… likewise know our predetermined endings. ]
[ But before that moment arrives, people can still choose to do something for themselves… ]
[ We all have this right, correct? ]
Hotaru asked this question inexplicably.
[ After today, the name of Jepella will disappear from galactic history, and the Ever-Flame Mansion will replace it, receiving an invitation in the near future.... ]
[ That is your next stop. ]
Blade did not answer Hotaru's question directly, but instead spoke the content of the script.
[ The land of dreams, Penacony. ]
Hotaru murmured the name.
[ I wish for you to find the answer you seek there… or, liberation. ] 』
『 ....』