Long Live Money in Anime Crossover

Momo hoped it was the former.

Just as the story unfolds on the surface, everyone is redeemed, and everyone finds their spiritual home. Everyone fulfills their wishes and then departs from the afterlife contentedly, without regrets.

Finally, Kanade Tachibana and Yuzuru Otonashi, the male protagonist of the original story, return to the real world. Whether through rebirth or resurrection, the two meet again and find a chance to be together.

This seems like a perfect story, doesn't it?

But is that really the case?

In fact, the original work has another ending that many people don't know about, Another Epilogue, which is another ending, another epilogue.

In this ending, everyone disappears, including Kanade. In the entire afterlife, only Otonashi Yuzuru remains, taking over Kanade's position as student council president, welcoming batches of people who re-enter this afterlife, and then, over the long years, waiting for someone who can never return to appear.

Clearly, this ending is a sad tragedy hidden beneath the surface of comedy.

Which one is the true ending, and which one represents the truth of this world?

In Mo Mo's view, the answer to all of this was already given in the original work from the very beginning.

This is the afterlife, a world only the dead can enter. Once the dead have fulfilled their regrets from their previous lives, they will disappear from this world.

Regardless of the underlying settings or power, this world is set up this way, and it operates in this manner.

So the question is, where do people who disappear from the afterlife go?

Does that mean returning to the real world, being resurrected, turning ashes back into flesh and blood, and crawling out of the grave again?

That's a good possibility, but unfortunately reality isn't a horror movie.

037 Even the world cannot separate us.

As for the idea of ​​reincarnation, it's said that after everyone is reincarnated, they meet again by chance or by design, continuing their unbroken destiny. While this idea is beautiful, it's largely unbelievable.

Unless, of course, there truly are gods in the afterlife and the real world, and this god is a romantic screenwriter and director. Its pleasure lies in directing soap operas and then giving them happy endings.

Otherwise, Momo would prefer to believe that the original story is a tragedy.

After all, rules are impartial, and the rules of the world are even more so. They simply operate as usual, unaffected by human perception.

Whether it's Kanade Tachibana, Yuri Nakamura, or Yuzuru Otonashi, as well as the impressive young men and women in the SSS group who each have their own pursuits, they are all just lucky or unlucky people who have been changed by the rules of this afterlife world.

However, their fortune or misfortune is merely that after death they have the opportunity to fulfill the regrets of their lifetime. But this does not change the fact that they are already dead; after they disappear from this world, they will continue their own inevitable demise.

If the afterlife corresponds to a heaven in the real world, then that is the final destination for those who disappeared from the afterlife.

Is this the truth of this world?

That's true and that's not true, because this is only part of the truth.

As for the other part of the truth, even if Mo Mo thought about it, he would feel inexplicably cold, even chilled to the bone.

The above is Mo Mo's conjecture, which may already be the truth of everything experienced by all members of the SSS group, including Nakamura Yuri, and by all ordinary people who have experienced this world. However, for Tachibana Kanade and Otonashi Yuzuru, and for those who hold the position of student council president, the truth they face is different.

First, there's Tachibana Kanade.

According to the original story, Tachibana Kanade entered this world by mistake because she had Otonashi Yuzuru's heart in her chest and wanted to thank him for giving her a healthy youth.

Yes, I've stumbled into this world by mistake.

As a living person, I triggered a bug and was accidentally transported to the afterlife. I became the student council president of this world and was responsible for managing the order of the students in the afterlife.

This seems like a wonderful premise: Tachibana Kanade didn't die; she lived on after receiving Otonashi Yuzuru's heart, but accidentally entered this world and got trapped here.

However, this setting made it even harder for Mo Mo to accept.

The reason is simple: Tachibana Kanade, who didn't die and is still alive, went where after graduating and disappearing in the original story.

Returning to the real world as a living being?

This is a beautiful expectation, but unfortunately, this world is the afterlife. Judging from the original work, its operation is based on a core similar to a large program, a rigid system with no room for compromise.

In other words, since this system is designed to serve the dead, it is unlikely to be set up as a special path for the living, let alone a contingency plan to send the vanished Tachibana Kanade back to the real world.

After all, the afterlife only has operating programs, not gods with independent will, and there will be no innovative ways of operating, unless someone is powerful enough to change the rules and programs of this world.

Don't forget, Tachibana Kanade's entry into the afterlife as a living being is itself a bug. For a complete program, what is the most logical and simplest approach when faced with a bug?

There is only one answer.

Fix the bug.

That's right. As a bug, Tachibana Kanade, although she is a living person, will probably have the same fate as Nakamura Yuri and others who have already died. After disappearing from this afterlife, she will directly enter the ending of death.

will die.

From this perspective, Tachibana Kanade is facing a painful ending far exceeding that of anyone else.

Others are already dead, but they have been given a second chance to live, which is a blessing for them.

However, when it came to Kanade Tachibana, simply because of her own wish, a living person was forcibly taken away, and the heart donated by Yuzuru Otonashi to Kanade Tachibana also lost its meaning.

Isn't this a painful ending?

At least Momo absolutely cannot stand by and watch this ending happen. Momo will not allow the other ending in the original work, where Otonashi Yuzuru waits forever for Kanade who will never return, to happen.

All of this was tragic enough, but in Mo Mo's view, it wasn't all. The other part of the world's tragedy was embodied in Tachibana Kanade, Otonashi Yuzuru, and their predecessors.

This is reflected in the human being who is the student council president.

As student council presidents, Tachibana Kanade and Otonashi Yuzuru manage all sorts of affairs at the school, especially those of people who have died and entered this world. They help these people fulfill their wishes and then leave this world.

This may seem like nothing, and it's a task that a student council president should naturally undertake.

However, every task has its limits and a goal to be achieved. Unfortunately, it is clear that the student council president in this world has an unlimited term; once one becomes the student council president, there is no opportunity to retire freely.

What do you mean?

In other words, once you become the student council president, you'll always be the student council president. You'll always be responsible for guiding newcomers and seeing off veterans; you'll never be free from that responsibility.

Unless someone is willing to take over your position and make sure the student council president position is not vacant.

In the second ending of the original work, Yuzuru Otonashi took over the position of student council president from Kanade Tachibana and was responsible for managing the new students in this world. Then he waited in endless loneliness for someone who could never come back.

Kanade Tachibana was the same, except she was lucky. She waited for Yuzuru Otonashi, who fulfilled her wish, and Yuzuru Otonashi took over her position as student council president, freeing Kanade Tachibana from that position.

However, no one knows, including Tachibana Kanade herself, how many years she had lived before Otonashi Yuzuru arrived, and even before the arrival of the first person to rebel against Tachibana Kanade—Nakamura Yuri.

Before Kanade Tachibana, there was another mysterious figure. He was the mysterious young man who was eliminated by Yuri Nakamura in the original story, a person who could influence the workings of this world through program development.

He developed AP, the "AngelPlay" system that Tachibana Kanade used to develop self-defense skills. As the student council president, he did the same work as Tachibana Kanade and Otonashi Yuzuru, but the long years eventually made him lose the will to continue.

He committed suicide, turning his consciousness and thoughts into a program, becoming an NPC, so that he could continue his work as student council president and thus find liberation.

A significant portion of the original story's plot was driven by some settings left behind by this distant predecessor.

At this point, the implications of the student council president position are self-evident.

Becoming student council president means countless encounters and partings, an endless hell of eternal suffering. All student council presidents are chained to this world, and after countless encounters and partings and the erosion of long years, they lose all their beliefs and courage, eventually forgetting everything, even their expressions.

Just like this frightened face in Momo's hands right now. Just like the owner of this endearing face, Tachibana Kanade.

Such a story, no matter what, cannot bring joy, even if it appears to have a perfectly cheerful tale on the surface.

Neither the constraints of being the student council president nor the fate of Tachibana Kanade disappearing after fulfilling her wish were acceptable to Momo.

Unless Mo Mo truly understands everything about this world, comprehends the laws governing its operation, and confirms that Mo Mo's speculations are merely personal conjectures, and that the real truth, as depicted in the original work, is a pure happy ending youth comedy.

At that time, perhaps Momo would let Tachibana Kanade enjoy her happy ending and offer her sincere blessings.

But if things were really as Momo suspected, then Momo would never let go of the girl in his arms. He would never allow this beautiful silver-haired angel to become a tragic figure hidden beneath a comedy because of fate.

"But……"

Tachibana Kanade's lips moved slightly, murmuring softly, like a whisper in a dream. Undoubtedly, Momo's words, Momo's gaze, and Momo's sincerity had almost completely shattered Tachibana Kanade's defenses, allowing her to rediscover the taste of trust.

This is what she desires most.

Once she accepts Momo's trust and reciprocates with it, she will no longer be alone and will have a reliable partner.

However, having lived through so many years, Tachibana Kanade also deeply understands that it is impossible to resist the forces of this world. No matter how deep her feelings for her companions were, or how many memories she had created, these bonds would shatter and vanish the moment her companions disappeared.

Momo is indeed very sincere, but if Momo cannot demonstrate enough strength to resist all of this, Tachibana Kanade believes that this is just a replay of the previous tragedy.

No matter how determined you are, how can you withstand the power of an entire world?

At that moment, Mo Mo understood everything in Tachibana Kanade's eyes. He took Tachibana Kanade's hand and pressed his slightly cold palm against his own face, using his own body heat to warm Tachibana Kanade.

"Don't worry, I understand, I understand everything."

"The trust between us will not be hindered by this mere world. We have become partners, and even the world cannot separate us."

We will overcome all of this!

"Because I am the King of Heroes!"

038 What is she doing here?

Having said that, Mo Mo no longer hesitated and directly extended an invitation to the Hall of Heroes to Li Huazou.

From their first meeting to Momo extending an invitation to Tachibana Kanade, only a dozen minutes had passed. This speed even surprised Yui, who exclaimed, "Dad, is it really this simple and quick to convince Tachibana Kanade... no, to make Tachibana Kanade understand Dad's true feelings and join our family?"

After all, in Yui's view, it was almost a done deal that Tachibana Kanade would join Momo's side.

Momo knows what Tachibana Kanade needs and can fulfill her wishes. At the same time, Momo also has ample reason to try to reverse the tragic fate that Tachibana Kanade might face.

From both a logical and emotional perspective, Mo Mo has ample motivation to do this, and there is no reason for her to fail.

"No, she will refuse."

However, at this moment, Mo Mo said something that surprised Yui.

"At the very least, even if they don't refuse, they'll put my invitation aside for now and deal with what's at hand."

Yui opened her mouth in surprise, and after a few seconds of confusion, asked, "Why is that?"

"The reason is simple."

Mo Mo gently brushed her thumb across the back of Tachibana Kanade's small hand, while her other fingers lightly pressed on Tachibana Kanade's palm, massaging her to prevent her from feeling too tired from the large amount of information.

"Xiao Zou is not really a girl who knows nothing. Although her naivety, lack of interpersonal skills, and lack of emotional expression make her seem like she can be easily fooled."

"However, in fact, Kanade has her own views on everything. Although these views may be naive or innocent, they are her own way of understanding the world."