Origin of The End

Author's Note: Got a bit of a free time. Anyway, here's an early reveal to help address several issues in the story. Also, I added a bit more detail to compensate for the inconsistencies with the cannon. Some details were supposed to be given only after the Epilogue of the first volume, but... well, I guess I can only blame myself for that~

Disclaimer: Honkai Impact 3rd belongs to miHoYo; Honkai: Star Rail belongs to miHoYo; Worm belongs to Wildbow.

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Proofreading and Editing by QAI521.

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Fun? What is fun?

Some said it was a mirage, a trick of the light. You thought you had it figured out, and then—

*Snap*

—it was gone, like a wisp of smoke curling through the air.

Everyone had talked about it, wanted it, but who could say what it really was? A rollercoaster ride, a quiet night with a book, a chaotic party? Or was it the rush of adrenaline, the soft comfort of camaraderie, the sharp thrill of danger? Maybe all of these, perhaps none. Nothing more than a fleeting fancy, because fun — true fun — was a feeling, a sensation, a burst of pure, unadulterated joy that cannot be pinned down. It was the giggle that escaped at the most inappropriate moment, the belly laugh that left you gasping for breath, the grin that stretched wide for no reason. All of it... chaos in its purest form.

It danced in the face of definition, mocked the confines of language. It was a paradox, a conundrum wrapped in a riddle. To define it was to cage it, yet at the same time, the concept itself cannot be caged. It existed everywhere and nowhere at once. No rules, no guidelines — the wild card in the deck. Some would argue that it was akin to the trickster of emotions. The jester in the court of the mind. And who was to say they were wrong? One moment, it was the exhilarating leap off a cliff; the next it was the peace of a sunset.

Could you ever truly capture it?

What made you laugh until your sides ached might have been the very same thing that left someone else groaning. It was subjective and inconsistent. Maddening. How could something so fundamental be so poorly defined? What you felt, what you experienced; by and large, no two people had the same definition.

Of course, the elusive delight only became much more brilliant when contrasted against its cold, dreary counterpart — that gray void that sucked the color out of life, the endless, yawning vacuum that was boredom; it stifled the soul, drained the spirit, a monotonous march towards oblivion — every step a mere repetition of the last.

... how dreadful; how utterly mundane.

To one particular being, however, nothing was more boring than a story whose past and future followed a predetermined script, confined by dull imaginations. It was like a worn-out record — skipping on the same tired tune, devoid of surprises or deviations. All in all, something akin to a monotonous existence lacking any real sense of excitement... which was exactly the reason why THEY kept doing what THEY did. A little nudge here, a seemingly innocuous change there; nothing truly invasive on its own. But when the pieces fell together? Chaos ensued. Lives were set ablaze with unpredictable twists, fates altered in unexpected ways. It was changes most rewarding, the kind that brought a twinkle to the eye and a smirk to the lips.

"Ahahaha~! Did you see that~!? DID YOU SEE THAT~~!!??" Echoes of laughter reverberated off the unseen walls, a maniacal chorus that seemed to stretch and warp the very fabric of the space. "She just goes boom! Bam! Crack! And whoosh! Aha, ahahahahahaha~!"