It must be miHoYo's doing.

"Please wait a moment!"

"We just wanted to do an interview!"

"The lady with white hair!"

But those voices were soon forgotten. After turning a few corners, Otto finally slowed down. She panted, looking back, and after confirming that no one was chasing her, she relaxed.

"Ha...ha...finally got rid of them..." Otto leaned on his knees and gasped for breath. Suddenly he realized that he was still holding Kallen's hand tightly. She quickly let go as if she had been burned, and her little face unconsciously flushed.

Karen burst out laughing: "Omar, we look like fugitives like this!" Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, as if they were filled with stars.

Seeing Kallen's bright smile, Otto smiled too. This time, her smile was no longer bitter and pretentious, but a smile that came from the heart and was pure. The night breeze ruffled their hair, carrying their laughter far and wide.

In the distance, Gu Jingyan put down his camera and scratched his head in confusion: "Strange... How could those two girls run so fast..." He lowered his head to check the photos he had just taken, but only captured two blurry silhouettes.

　"But... I feel like I've seen this somewhere..."

…………

As the night deepened, Otto, holding Kallen's hand, ran through the unfamiliar streets. After turning a few corners, the surrounding buildings suddenly became familiar—before they knew it, they were back in front of the church they had been at that early morning.

The cross on the church spire shone silver in the moonlight, and the tall ginkgo tree in front of the door rustled as if welcoming them back. Golden fallen leaves covered the ground, making a crisp sound when stepped on.

"Omar, let's go sit over there for a while," Karen said, pointing to the bench under the ginkgo tree. Her voice was filled with joy. Her long white hair fluttered gently in the night breeze, a few strands playfully touching Otto's cheek, carrying a faint fragrance.

Otto nodded, his heartbeat suddenly quickening. Her small hands unconsciously grasped the hem of her skirt, her white leather shoes making a crunching sound on the fallen leaves. The bench was a little cold, but Kallen quickly sat down, her warmth radiating through the fabric.

Volume 2 must be done by miHoYo! 乆! : 028 Goodbye, my great inventor~

Looking up, tiny stars shone through the branches of the ginkgo tree. Otto stole a glance at Kallen beside him and saw her gazing up at the night sky, a gentle smile playing on her lips. The moonlight gilded her delicate profile, her eyelashes casting a subtle shadow on her cheek.

"Are you tired?" Karin suddenly turned her head and met Otto's furtive gaze.

Otto shook his head hurriedly, his blond twintails swirling back and forth. "No, no! I'm a magician! I don't get tired!"

Kallen chuckled, then suddenly reached out and picked up little Otto, gently placing him on her lap: "Little Omar, come here, let Sister Kallen hold you~"

Otto froze instantly. Her back pressed against Kallen's warm chest, and she could clearly feel her heartbeat—boom, boom, boom, steady and strong.

The sound made her breathing unconsciously synchronize with it, as if she had returned to a long, long time ago, when they were still children.

"Put...put me down..." Otto protested, his voice as soft as a mosquito's hum. Her ears were burning red, and her small hands nervously grasped Kallen's sleeves, but she made no attempt to break free.

"Are you shy?" Kallen rested her chin lightly on Otto's head, and the vibrations from her words were clearly audible. "You're such a powerful little magician, yet you're so easily shy~"

The night breeze gently caressed the ginkgo leaves, rustling them. Otto gradually relaxed, his small body no longer tense. Kallen's embrace was incredibly warm, carrying a reassuring warmth like sunshine. She felt like she was floating on clouds, light and unreal, blissful.

"Karen..." Otto called softly, his voice filled with attachment that he himself didn't even realize.

"Um?"

"Nothing... I just wanted to call you..."

Kallen chuckled and tightened her arms around Otto, "I'm here."

Otto's eyelids began to grow heavy. For the first time in five hundred years, she felt so safe. No longer needing to guard against assassinations, no longer needing to calculate people's hearts, no longer needing to bear those heavy obsessions... At this moment, she was just a little girl being treated tenderly by someone important.

Otto's eyelids slowly drooped amidst the steady sound of her heartbeat. In a hazy state, she felt Kallen gently stroking her hair, her movements as gentle as if she were protecting a treasure.

"Sleep well, Omar..."

Those were the last words Otto heard before she fell asleep. In five hundred years, she had never experienced such a peaceful sleep. No nightmares, no waking, only endless warmth and peace of mind.

Ginkgo leaves slowly fell, covering the sleeping Otto like a golden quilt. Kallen still maintained the hugging posture, looking up at the starry night sky, her eyes gentle and sad.

"That's enough..." She whispered softly, and her voice dissipated in the night wind.

…………

As the first rays of morning light filtered through the gaps between the ginkgo leaves, Otto slowly woke up in a warm embrace. She subconsciously rubbed her face against the soft fabric, her nostrils filled with the warm scent of the sun.

"Oh, Omar, you're awake~"

Kallen's voice came from above, as refreshing as the morning light. Otto drowsily raised his head, and what came into view was Kallen's brilliant smile—her blue eyes, clearer than the sky, curved slightly, and the corners of her lips curled up like a newborn crescent moon.

The next second, Otto's pupils suddenly constricted. A few golden specks of light drifted from the tips of Kallen's hair, reflecting a tiny halo of light in the morning sun.

"Karen...you..." Her voice suddenly choked.

Kallen followed her gaze to her gradually transparent arm, and smiled with relief: "Looks like... the time has come~"

These words hit Otto's heart like a heavy hammer.

Otto then remembered that he had resurrected Kallen in the early morning yesterday, and now the day was probably up!

No! I don't want to part like this! There must be a way!

Trembling all over, she called up the terminal screen. The glaring "5" in the atonement value column made her stomach tighten - she had saved so many people yesterday, but only received 4 atonement points, which was far from enough to buy another day for the dead to return to life.

"No! Don't disappear!" Otto suddenly pounced and grabbed Kallen's collar, his small knuckles turning white from the force. "I, I'll go save someone else! Right now..."

"Oma." Kallen called softly, holding her tearful face in her hands. "I was already very satisfied to be with you yesterday."

The morning breeze scattered more points of light, making Kallen's figure increasingly transparent. Otto stared intently at the drifting golden light, and five hundred years of memories flooded back like a tide—the lights in the laboratory that burned all night, the countless failed resurrection experiments, and...that smile that would forever linger in his memory.

"Actually...actually, I..." Otto's lips trembled, the name that had been hidden all day spinning on the tip of her tongue. But in the end, she just took a deep breath: "The person I summoned last night...he asked me to tell you..."

Tears blurred her vision, and she saw that Kallen's body had begun to dissipate from the edge.

"He said... he'd waited five hundred years..." Otto's voice broke, "he'd worked hard for five hundred years... just for..."

A translucent hand gently wiped away the tears on her face. Kallen suddenly hugged her in her arms. The hug was so light that it seemed weightless, but it made Otto smell the familiar scent of irises.

"I know~" Kallen's cold voice was filled with a smile, and she breathed softly into her ear, "I've always known~"

"mine--"

"Great Inventor~"

Otto's breath hitched. This long-lost name, traversing five hundred years, struck home with pinpoint accuracy in the softest part of her heart. She lifted her tear-stained face and saw the tenderness and understanding in Kallen's eyes. Suddenly, she understood everything.

"Yes!" She nodded vigorously, but her tears fell even harder. "We will definitely meet again! I promise!"

The final goodbye needed no words. Kallen smiled, pressing her forehead against hers, and before she turned into a sky full of dots of light, she softly hummed that old lullaby.

In the golden morning glow, those spots of light were like meteors flying backwards, circling and rising into the azure sky.

There was only a small figure left under the tree and traces of tears still lingering on the ground.

After an unknown amount of time, Otto raised his hand tremblingly, and the flickering numbers on the screen suddenly jumped. The original "5" became "6", followed by a line of small words at the end:

[Help Kallen have a wonderful day and be rewarded with 1 point of redemption]

…………

In the Chen Ge pot, Tianming looked at the blonde loli curled up in a ball on the surveillance screen and sighed softly.

The terminal chat function's display suddenly popped up, displaying a new message:

Thank you, President.

The sender's ID was that difficult-to-pronounce name - Otto Apokalis.

Volume 2 must be done by miHoYo! 乆! : 029 Genshin Impact animation planning, recorded by nightglow

The mornings at Chen Ge Hu always came more gently than those outside. Tianming leaned back on a bamboo and rattan recliner, fingertips toying with the black and red crystal he had taken from the white-haired Upholder of Heaven's Law.

Sunlight streamed through the translucent walls of the pot, casting mottled shadows at his feet.

"Oh my! The president is looking for me?" Wendy staggered out of the portal, clutching a bottle of dandelion wine. A smile like morning dew shone in her emerald eyes. "Let me make this clear: if you want to fight me..."

"I'm not looking for a fight today." Tianming straightened up, and the Eye of God in his hand suddenly transformed into stars. "I want to borrow something... more precious."

Before he finished speaking, the entire Dust Song Pot suddenly darkened. Countless stars emerged from the void, forming a brilliant galaxy above their heads. Wendy's pupils narrowed slightly, sensing the awakening of a power beyond the laws of Teyvat.

"Remember the power of the Star God..." Tianming's voice suddenly became ethereal and distant, his pupils reflecting the flowing galaxy. "Let me see Mond's initial resistance—"

Wendy clutched the bottle of wine tightly in his arms. A lyre had appeared in his lap. The strings moved without a breeze, playing a desolate, ancient tune. As the melody played, countless fragments of memories emerged from the bard's body: burning cities, shattered banners, and the stern profile of the lone king in the tower.

"This is...!" Wendy tried to stand up, but found herself enveloped in gentle starlight. Memories, drawn by the starlight, converged into a flowing river of light before Tianming.

"Don't be nervous." Tianming's fingertips lightly touched the light river, and ripples spread out. "I'm just borrowing it. I won't hurt you."

The river of light suddenly began to boil, unfolding a magnificent picture in the void—

A thousand years ago, in the wilds of Mondstadt, a turquoise wind clashed with the tyrant's hurricane. A young wind elf darted through a hail of arrows, using its frail frame to shield the rebels from falling rocks. The scene shifted to a towering ape, beside a blood-stained harp, the newly born demon Barbatos tremblingly lifted his friend's hat...

"Oh, these old memories..." Wendy tried to hide his trembling fingertips with a smile, but the glint in the corner of his eyes betrayed him.

Tianming didn't say anything, simply waved his hand. The memory scroll began to evolve on its own: on the night of the successful uprising, people sang around the fire; in the rebuilt Mondstadt, a green-clad poet wrote poems on a kite and flew it; in the Temple of the Thousand Winds, the shadow of the sleeping dragon trembled gently...

"It's perfect." Tianming's eyes flashed with a blue light like a data stream. "This real history is more moving than any screenwriter's imagination."

Wendy's fingers tightened slightly around the qin: "The president wants to..."

"Make it the first season of the Genshin Impact anime." Tianming snapped his fingers, and the memory scroll began to automatically storyboard. "Of course, I'll pay the copyright fees—how about using your favorite apple wine?"

The bard suddenly laughed, and the strings of his harp played a cheerful melody. "Then I want a thousand-year-old wine~ But..." He blinked, "Can you delete the part where Tevarin and I got drunk?"

"I'll consider it." Tianming gave a sly smile, "But for the next Genshin Impact preview, you'll have to work for me for free."

As the starlight faded, Wendy cradled her newly acquired bottle of wine, humming a tune as she departed. Before Tianming floated three glittering crystals of memory: the tragic grandeur of the Demon War, the warmth of rebuilding their home, and... the nameless boy who remained forever mired in the snow of Old Mondstadt.

………………

The star sand within the Dust Song Pot continued to float gently even after Wendy's departure, as if protected by the remaining wind element and unwilling to fall. Tianming gazed at the memory crystal suspended in mid-air, the thousand-year story of Mondstadt flowing across its crystalline surface.

"Meta." He called softly, and the sound produced a wonderful echo in the special space inside the pot.

With the blue glow of data streams, Meita's figure materialized from the void. She was wearing a black lace maid outfit, her long brown hair loosely tied with a red ribbon.

"Master, are you going to start the animation project for 'Genshin Impact'?" Her fingertips slid across the void, and the holographic projection unfolded in the air into a complex production flowchart.

"Hmm." Tianming gently pushed the memory crystal in his hand, and it immediately unfolded into a three-dimensional projection of Mondstadt, even the pedestrians walking on the street were clearly visible. "Using these real historical facts..."

"We're already forming a production team." A flash of data flow flashed in Meita's eyes, but he hesitated, "But..."

Tianming raised an eyebrow: "Speak."

"The Honkai Impact 3rd production team..." Meita called up another holographic image, "We're having some trouble with the CG for the final lesson in Chapter 9."

Tianming's brow furrowed, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the armrest. "That shouldn't be the case. I took that scene very seriously. I didn't use any footage extracted by Bronya. I personally extracted and simulated it from Kiana's memories using the power of the Memory Star God. Every frame went through..."

"It's the background music." Meita sighed softly, and the screen switched to a sound wave analysis chart. "The recording of 'Nightglow' failed three times."

The video began to play. The first singer used gorgeous coloratura to sing the tragic sacrifice into an opera aria; the second singer mechanically stepped on the beat, and there was no emotion in his singing; the third singer's sweet voice even made the teacup in Tianming's hand crack with a fine line.

"Stop." He rubbed his temple. "Put the last one on the association's blacklist."

Meta added: "They can't express the sense of fate that Jizi-sensei sacrificed for Kiana..."

The breeze carried the fragrance of dandelions, and Tianming's eyes suddenly lit up. "Perhaps... we've been looking in the wrong place."

"What does the master mean?"

"Why not look for a singer in Teyvat?" Tianming looked out the window. "Barbara is a professional idol singer, and Wendy's singing voice can even awaken a sleeping dragon..."

Beneath the Seven Heavens Statue in Fengqidi, Wendy was leaning against the stone statue, sipping cider. After hearing his purpose, a hint of amusement flashed in his emerald eyes. "Singing for an epic poem from another world? Interesting~~"

As he plucked the strings of Fehling's harp, cyan wind elements swirled around him. As the first note sounded, dandelions bloomed within a hundred miles, and the crystal butterflies perched on the statue began to dance.

"(Singing)~"

The ethereal singing voice echoed between heaven and earth, and the sound waves on the data screen displayed a perfect rhythm. But Tianming's brows were furrowed more and more.

"No." He shook his head as the last note faded. "It's too... sacred."

Wendy blinked, and the strings trembled in grievance. "Eh? I even deliberately added a touch of divinity."

"Jizi isn't a god," Tianming said softly. "She's just a teacher...who gives everything for her students."

Inside the West Wind Cathedral, Barbara stood with her hands clasped beneath the stained glass windows. Sunlight filtered through the stained glass, casting dappled shadows on her aqua-blue Gothic dress.

"I...can I really do this?" She nervously twirled her fingers through her hair. "Even though I often lead the nuns in singing, this is such an important..."

"Just think of it as singing for everyone in Mondstadt," Tianming encouraged.

The girl took a deep breath, and her clear voice flowed like a spring:

"(Singing)~~"

The children in the choir unconsciously followed the beat, but Tianming raised his hand to signal to stop at the third measure.

"It's so healing," he explained with a wry smile. "The audience will think it's a holiday song..."