The Vixen's Gambit: Tonight We Hunt

"How could this… happen?"

In a deserted industrial park, a dazed Kiana clutched her head, muttering, "It can't be… it's all fake."

"Kiana, that's the 203rd time you've said that." Bronya leaned against a wall, fiddling with a "borrowed" phone. She hadn't had much choice at the time, but after connecting to the internet, she'd quickly used some hacking skills to access a few abandoned, loaded accounts to pay for their meal.

"It's been hours. You should calm down."

"Calm down?! How can I calm down?! Why are you so calm, Bronya?!" Kiana tugged at her hair, her anguish greater than ever before. "Our lives might be fake! Everything a scripted farce for someone else's amusement!"

"What about everything we've suffered? The people who sacrificed themselves? Lives brought into existence and destroyed for such a ridiculous reason…"

What truly devastated Kiana wasn't the possibility of being a fictional character, but that all the suffering and tragedies caused by the Honkai might just be entertainment for another world. Their struggles, their sacrifices… perhaps meaningless in those people's eyes.

Then what was the point of their lives…?

If those people were toying with their lives, then she should retaliate.

A burning rage surged within her, urging her to destroy everyone in this world—but Kiana knew it wasn't her rage.

Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void within her, whose life was a tragedy, now had a culprit even worse than Otto… she roared for revenge against the creators of this tragedy.

Fortunately, Kiana was still in control, and Sirin didn't cause any trouble.

"Kiana, wallowing is fine, but we should pull ourselves together." Bronya sighed, closing her phone and looking up at Kiana. "A large part of my life wasn't under my control. The chip Mama Cocolia implanted made me do things I didn't want to, things I didn't even remember… It terrified me, but I'm still here. The cruel truth isn't scary; it's the lack of courage to face it that is."

"And our world isn't necessarily fake. This game could just be an information exchange between two worlds—the details are too complicated for you, just think of us as parallel worlds."

"...Bronya, you're so small, yet you say such surprisingly mature things."

"You're just childish, Kiana."

Instead of retorting, Kiana glanced at the other small figure glued to her phone. "And some people have zero mature adult vibes."

Theresa, finally noticing their gazes, chuckled awkwardly. "Haha, I trusted you two to figure it out yourselves..."

She'd discovered once before, shortly after her creation, that her life was engineered for a purpose, ultimately inconsequential. So the news of a possibly fake world wasn't a huge shock. She'd had some mental preparation.

But the real reason she hadn't comforted Kiana wasn't her supposed coldness; it was the figure on the phone Bronya had given her that had captured her attention.

Valkyrie Lihua.

Theresa knew where her genes came from, knew the object of Otto's obsessive experiments—yet she realized she'd never seen this person's face, only exaggerated statues.

Otto had kept Lihua's photos from her, fearing the influence of similar genes, preventing her face from appearing in Theresa's vicinity.

Theresa had doubted it back then… but seeing Lihua, the saint, on the phone screen, she realized she was wrong.

So similar… she's practically me, all grown up… Did Grandpa keep her image from me because he was afraid I'd copy her and… bother him?

Theresa didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

"So, Bronya, what do we do now?"

"Nothing," Bronya said calmly. "Cross-dimensional travel isn't uncommon in this world. There's a department for it, and they'll investigate our trail. If we wait, they'll find us."

"Once we contact the authorities, it'll be easier to find the others." Bronya checked the time. It had been over a day. "I saw the spatial rift pull everyone in during the final clash with Kevin. We're probably not the only ones here."

"Suddenly transported to another world… I wonder if Mei is worried..."

"Calculations suggest a high probability of Mei being in this world and meeting us soon—"

"No need for probabilities. I'm right here."

"?!?"

A familiar voice filled them with joy. They looked up to see Raiden Mei herself, arriving on a streak of purple lightning.

"Long time no see, Kiana… and Bronya, Principal."

Before she could say anything else, Kiana hugged Mei tightly. "Thank goodness you're okay! I heard you were taken to a dangerous place by a weirdo…"

Is she talking about the Elysian Realm? I was tricked in there by Elysia, but it's not actually dangerous. And that weirdo Elysia is gone now. Only Lihua's left. It's a good chance for them to meet—

As Mei reached out to hug Kiana back, her communicator vibrated, making her expression harden.

It was the special ringtone she'd set for Lihua, to be used only in dire emergencies.

She's only been gone for a few days, and she needs help already? With [Lee] there to protect her… what happened?!