Players Who Are Emotionally Overwhelmed

Just as Sirin was staring blankly at the Christmas tree, Eriri appeared beside her at some unknown point.

"Sister Sirin, it seems we've been played by Ai."

Hayasaka Ai, who had just walked over with Shinomiya Kaguya: "???"

"Not you, Ai! I mean that self-proclaimed God of Games, Ai!" Eriri noticed Hayasaka Ai's look and quickly explained.

"Did something happen?"

Kaguya was a bit confused as to why Eriri would say that, but Eriri didn't answer her question. Instead, she pointed helplessly at the giant Christmas tree next to them.

"You'll know once you take a look, Kaguya."

Hearing this, Kaguya nodded and interacted with the Christmas tree.

The next moment, her expression also turned ugly.

Thinking back to the blessing note on the Christmas gift that appeared by her bed after returning to her room last night, as well as the serial number on it, she realized that they had indeed been played by that God of Games with a wicked sense of humor.

This thought became even clearer when she saw the only Christmas gift box on the exchange list, which could only be redeemed once and cost zero Christmas points.

"Damn it! If that's the case, doesn't that mean the boss I killed was actually just Santa Claus delivering gifts to us?!"

Eriri said resentfully, then looked at Sirin, who was staring expressionlessly at the Christmas tree, and then at Kaguya, whose face was equally grim.

The number of Santa Clauses the three of them had killed reached a terrifying five thousand!

"What gifts?"

Hayasaka Ai looked at the three girls with their varying expressions and asked, somewhat confused.

"Eh? Did you not receive it, Ai? It's the gift from Santa Claus! I asked around earlier. As long as a player had a bed, a white sock would spawn by the bed during yesterday's event. The Santa Clauses we killed last night were actually delivering Christmas gifts to the players. Everyone received a gift yesterday."

Hayasaka Ai: "???"

"Why didn't I know about this? There was absolutely no gift by my bed yesterday!"

Hayasaka Ai said, looking at her young miss for confirmation.

Kaguya, being stared at by her, seemed to realize something and stammered.

"Maybe... maybe your exclusive Santa Clauses, Ai... were all killed by us..."

Hayasaka Ai: "..."

Sirin on the side: "..."

Sirin remained silent, then quietly shifted her feet. She was indeed the one who had the most fun killing last night.

...

The Christmas event concluded successfully, but with its end, many players who participated in the killing event had mental breakdowns.

Of course, most of the players who broke down didn't do so out of guilt, but because they had killed Santa Clauses so ruthlessly that many players didn't receive their due Christmas gifts.

Later, many players discovered that it wasn't just them who didn't get any item drops other than some experience and Christmas points from killing Santa Claus; other players experienced the exact same thing.

Finally, they concluded that Santa Claus didn't drop anything at all.

On the contrary, because of their killings, nearly two-thirds of the players in the entire game did not receive their Christmas gifts.

How could the players not break down after learning the truth?

...

In the GM room, after Chen Changsheng finished enjoying the breakfast carefully prepared for him by Toka, he came here as if clocking in for work.

Then, he reviewed the entire Christmas event planned by Ai.

After watching, he looked at Ai strangely.

"What's the point of doing this, Ai? Other than causing dissatisfaction among the players, there's absolutely no benefit, right?"

Hearing this, Ai smiled proudly.

"Hehe, Master, you still don't understand. Only in this way can the players have a profound memory. This way, even if the game is cleared in the future, players will still think of this game from time to time because of this event, and then grind their teeth in hatred."

"According to the sayings in the human world, missing out on something free feels like losing a hundred million."

"It's probably that kind of emotion."

After Ai finished speaking, she noticed her master's weird look and quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, Master, Miss Sirin, whom you asked me to take special care of, has been acting more and more like an ordinary girl lately!"

"Look!"

Saying so, Ai displayed various daily scenes of Sirin in the game before Chen Changsheng's eyes.

From the initial comical defeat by a wild boar in one hit, to later actively cooperating with Eriri and the other girls, bonds slowly formed between them. Sirin went from her initial icy demeanor to now frequently having a smile on her face.

Perhaps even she herself hadn't noticed that she was becoming more and more like a normal girl now.

Emmm, although if calculated by age, the current Sirin was already in her thirties.

But after all, since she was 14, she had been caught up in various accidents, either sleeping or dying and resurrecting. In reality, she was pretty much still like a little girl.

It was just that the power she wielded in the past made everyone ignore this fact.

Chen Changsheng looked at the many photos and videos from Sirin's perspective in front of him.

Dining with companions.

Fighting alongside companions.

The slightly proud yet intentionally suppressed smile on her face when being looked at with admiring eyes by her companions.

Finally, Chen Changsheng's gaze fell on an inconspicuous photo.

Sirin was wearing brilliant golden knight armor, stepping on the top of a deep red dragon's head, thrusting a golden lance into the dragon's head with both hands.

The place she was in seemed to be deep within a somewhat gloomy cave. Only wisps of light shining through the crevices fell from above Sirin's head, exposing her entirely in the radiance.

"Sirin has indeed changed a lot, making herself look so cool."

After Chen Changsheng sighed, he sent this photo to the chat group.

[Innate Wife-Taking Physique: Image.JPG]

[Innate Wife-Taking Physique: @Great Sage Kiana, look.]

[Great Sage Kiana: Wow! So cool!]

[Great Sage Kiana: But when did I take this kind of photo? Why don't I remember?]

[Innate Wife-Taking Physique: This isn't you, this is Sirin.]

[Great Sage Kiana: Who?]

[Innate Wife-Taking Physique: It's the Herrscher of the Void, she goes by Sirin now.]

[Innate Wife-Taking Physique: I have a lot more photos of her here, Image.JPG, Image.JPG...]

[Great Sage Kiana: ...]

Honkai Impact 3rd World.

Kiana looked at Chen Changsheng's words and the photos he sent in the chat group, feeling inexplicably a bit melancholy in her heart.

The Herrscher of the Void in the photos seemed to be living a very happy life.

No, it seemed she should call her Sirin now.

Sirin already had a life of her own, but as for herself...

Kiana thought of her own name.

She thought of the old man who had always treated her as his biological daughter.

Finally...

She thought of the one whose name she had stolen, whose father's affection she had taken, the one she had robbed of everything that rightfully belonged to her.

Even though she had already seen the main storyline of Honkai Impact 3rd long ago, she was, after all, not the mature Kiana from the main story.

Even now, she still did not dare to face the person who, despite having everything taken from her, had relied on her own relentless effort to become one of the strongest humans in the world today.

Durandal.

Theresa had mentioned that Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie would soon be coming to the Far East Branch for a mission, and that she might be staying at St. Freya for a short while.

Should she tell her the whole truth?