The Doll was still speaking:
"I often think… if you hadn't saved me, I wouldn't have had to suffer, and my parents would've lived better lives."
"After that, I heard more about you. You intercepted that bomb, saving an entire city… but my calamity began anew because of it."
"Your so-called heroic act brought me even more pain. The ugliness of humanity is far more terrifying than any disaster. In such a world—true salvation never existed to begin with!"
"And finally, here at the Theater of Domination, I found the answer… this is what the people of this world are truly like!"
"Blind, impulsive, selfish, greedy…"
"No!"
Kiana cut the Doll off.
"I won't be deceived by you. You're the Herrscher of Domination, not a human. You amplify the darkness in people's hearts and lead them down extreme paths."
"You can't deceive me. I won't give in, and I will never fall into despair."
"There's both good and evil in everyone's heart. That's not a reason to stop fighting for salvation."
The Doll's worldview was too extreme.
Yes, humans had their flaws—but they had goodness too.
To the Doll, however, the world was painted only in black.
Even an act of kindness was doomed to become a mistake.
Absolute?
There's no such thing as absolute in this world.
Hearing Kiana's unwavering response,
the players who had frozen moments ago slowly exhaled, hearts rising with both admiration and relief.
Before they knew it, Kiana's inner strength had grown so much.
Back in Arc City, she had once contemplated ending it all.
But now… Kiana's heart had nearly no weakness left...
A few sharp-eyed players suddenly furrowed their brows.
If there was still a crack in Kiana's heart,
it could only be that one unhealed scar buried in her deepest memories:
Himeko-sensei.
But what gave these Dolls the right to exploit that?
They shook off the thought—
Kiana wasn't who she used to be.
There's no way she'd fall apart just because Himeko was mentioned.
And besides!
They'd been through enough battles—
even if there was another flashback like the one in Meteoric Salvation,
they wouldn't break.
In-game, the Doll still hadn't given up its psychological assault.
"Right, right... After all, you yourself are the greatest evil of all. Enough about me—let's talk about you. What should I call you? Kiana? Test subject K-423? Or… the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin?"
Kiana's pupils shrank. She reacted sharply: "Your goal is…!"
Whether from arrogance or confidence,
the Doll answered everything, almost without reservation—
a carefully laid plan finally surfaced.
It turned out everything the Herrscher of Domination had done against Anti-Entropy
was meant to provoke Sirin's consciousness within Kiana.
Now, Anti-Entropy, under pressure, had just announced to the public that the Herrscher of Domination threat was over.
People, eager to return to normalcy, believed the crisis had passed.
But if the Herrscher of Domination appeared again—this time with a "Kiana out of control"—and triggered a cataclysm,
then all the blame would fall on Anti-Entropy, who declared the threat gone.
A scheme as venomous as it was brilliant.
"Mobius was right after all… The Doll never relied solely on its silver tongue,"
Elysia was shocked. "They had this hidden all along. Of course, a Herrscher is never simple."
She paused, remembering that Mobius was watching the stream right now, and deliberately added:
"Mobius is amazing, really. She saw through this from the start."
[Catgirl Can't Be Evil: Snake-sis is too powerful!]
[Passerby miHoYo artist: Didn't she just warn everyone to brace themselves?]
[Greatest Magician of the Century: Well, it is Mobius.]
[...]
Elysia saw the bullet comments from familiar names and found them all reasonable.
That's just how Mobius was.
Honestly, she had always looked forward to how Mobius would appear in the game.
Yes… soon. Hokuto should be ready.
Her story—their story—
would surely leave a brilliant, flawless mark in everyone's memory.
"Whew~~"
Elysia cast aside her stray thoughts and prepared to continue the main story.
Truthfully, the reason she paused to talk
was because she'd noticed the Doll's words had impacted the players emotionally.
She wanted to subtly ease that tension—
after all, she was a kindhearted Miss Pink Elf~♪
The Doll revealed its plan,
and Kiana immediately declared she wouldn't let it succeed.
Seeing its persuasion fail, the Doll decided to use the Theater to judge Kiana instead.
The game screen returned to the bizarre "Doll meeting" sequence.
The meeting was, once again, loud and chaotic.
The Dolls furiously tore into Kiana's scars and mocked her.
"Kiana Kaslana? Heeheehee! What a pitiful little thing! Even your name was stolen!"
"We're Dolls—what are you? A clone with a core stuffed inside?"
"Good grief, you're not even human! Not really!"
The moment the meeting began,
players who had just recovered thanks to Miss Pink Elf's efforts tried to stay calm and watch the scene unfold—
but…
The Dolls only had to say a few lines
to send the entire livestream chat into a white-hot rage.
Not satisfied with mocking Kiana's identity as an experiment—
"You made a man named Siegfried lose everything! He saved you, lost his daughter, and still raised you without blame—and what did you do? You chopped off his arm and shamelessly call him 'Dad'!"
"You can't control yourself, yet refuse to be locked away—and because of you, your friends have no home!"
"You claim to fight for all that's beautiful in this world, yet you killed your teacher with your own hands!"
"You are a villain, a sinner! Your good deeds can never atone for your sins!"
Each line from the Dolls was another stab.
A tide of malice surged toward Kiana from all directions, threatening to drown her.
Even Elysia, watching, couldn't help but grip her device.
She'd always had faith in Kiana—but in this moment, she genuinely worried she couldn't endure it.
[These damn Dolls are disgusting! I want Shibao to beat them down!]
[And to think I pitied them earlier—they're just venting their negativity!]
[Hang in there, Kiana!]
[I'm logging in right now. I'm going to wreck these Dolls a thousand times over!]
...
The players were furious.
Just this "judgment" scene alone
was enough to drive countless players to boot up the game and push through the main story with gritted teeth.
By the end of the day, at least a hundred million Dolls would be buried in the Theater of Domination.
The Herrscher of Domination was without doubt the most satisfying boss players had ever farmed.
Of course.
As angry as they were, they still needed to see Elysia progress the story.
Bang!
Kiana raised her hand and fired a shot, cutting off the Doll's courtroom.
Her firm stance gave the players not just relief, but catharsis.
If the Doll's judgment failed—
then now it was time for Kiana to judge the Doll.
Grins spread across countless faces.
They rolled up their sleeves, ready to fight.
But then…
Things took a turn.
Even after being interrupted, the Doll wasn't fazed at all—
it continued its biting mockery, sharper than ever.
Thankfully, while Kiana was clearly furious,
her will remained unshaken.
Then the Doll played its trump card.
"We know... you've been through a lot to get here. No matter what we say, it's hard to shake your resolve."
"But we also know—even someone like you has regrets, and wounds that will never heal."
"You know ordinary people can't survive the Imaginary Space, yet you lie to yourself again and again. You know that beyond Anti-Entropy, both Schicksal and World Serpent are hunting for the Gem of Haste, and still—nothing."
"You already know the truth, but you won't admit it. You keep deluding yourself."
Kiana's eyes widened.
Something long-buried stirred in her heart.
And not just her—
the players, too, all felt an overwhelming dread.
Especially those quick-thinking veterans.
One hand already over their chests, gasping for breath.
No way.
No way!
That's impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
They refused to believe it.
They could only keep denying this possibility.
The Doll sneered:
"Look, look—we didn't even say who it is, and you already know. That proves you understand it too."
"She is the softest part of your heart. The scar that will never heal!"
"Enough self-deception—it's time for a heart-rending twist! When hope crumbles into despair… what expression will you make?"
"Heeheehee! Come on, come on—let us see!"
And then, the game played a cutscene.
On Kiana's disbelieving face,
the Doll pulled out a crimson gem,
and with a devil's whisper,
spoke the one truth Kiana couldn't bear to hear:
"Murata Himeko... is already dead!"
The final image—
a dimmed Gem of Haste.
Thus ended Chapter 24.
...
The livestream fell into dead silence.
Everyone was struck dumb by the revelation.
They had survived the Final Lesson.
They had witnessed Meteoric Salvation.
They were battle-hardened—
But this line…
this truth...
They broke.
Whether Kiana broke or not—
they didn't know.
But they knew they did.
Bang!
"I'm going to kill these Dolls a hundred—no, a thousand times!!"
[What the hell, writer?! What the actual hell?!]
[No way! The gem must be fake—it's just an illusion using Herrscher of Sentience powers!]
[I'm going to rip their mouths apart!]
[I don't believe it! The more you say Himeko is dead, the more it screams PLOT TWIST!]
[That sweet moment from the last chapter was just a death row meal, huh...]
Some players believed it.
Some refused.
They had once debated online about every possible clue that Himeko might still be alive—
gathering evidence, theorizing resurrection routes,
from story logic to gacha marketing to game mechanics…
There's no way…
No way Himeko-sis is just gone like this.
It was pure disillusionment.
The more they tried to let it go,
the angrier they became.
[No joke—I already sent a whole box of razor blades to the miHoYo writers!]
[Count me in! I'm sending a box too!]
[Make it ten! Writer, how do you sleep at night?! I sure can't!]
[How did your 37°C hands write something this cold?!]
...
"Should I start drafting a contingency plan?"
Outside the stream room, Rita turned to Hokuto after seeing the incoming bullet comments.
Hokuto responded calmly,
"It's all part of the fans' love. If the boxes really arrive… just accept them."
He paused. "Rent a warehouse. Label the packages and store them."
"You're serious?" Rita asked, stunned.
"Of course."
Hokuto replied,
"If miHoYo ever goes bankrupt,
we can always switch to selling razor blades."