The living room of an ordinary family in the Dragon Kingdom.

Wang Lei, a senior high school student, was sprawled on the sofa, scrolling through his phone while glancing at the Angel Beats program playing on TV.

"Sis, you're getting way too into it. It's just a countdown, why are you making it sound like the end of the world?"

His sister, Wang Yue, sat upright, staring intently at the screen, clutching a pillow tightly in her hand, her palms sweating with nervousness.

"You know nothing! That old scoundrel Su's countdown isn't just any ordinary countdown! There's definitely a mountain of knives buried underneath!"

Just then, the father, who had just finished showering, walked through the living room drying his hair and glanced at the television.

"How old are you? Still watching cartoons."

He muttered something, his tone full of the elders' disapproval of such childish entertainment.

On the television, Yuzuru Otonashi's screams were like a key, forcibly opening Pandora's box in Yuri Nakamura's heart.

Blood-red memories surge forth.

Ten minutes later, one of his younger siblings collapsed.

In the second ten minutes, another younger sibling collapsed.

In the third ten minutes, the last relative also disappeared in a pool of blood.

A deathly silence fell over the living room.

The mockery on Wang Lei's face had frozen completely at some point.

He stood there with his mouth agape, unaware that his phone had slipped from his hand and fallen to the ground.

He just stared blankly at the young girl on the screen, who was stripped of everything in thirty minutes in a hellish world.

He recalled all the jokes he had made about the character before.

"The leader of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)".

"Violent maniac."

"A madman who rebels against God."

Every label felt like a resounding slap across his face.

"Clatter".

A drop of warm liquid landed on the back of his hand.

Wang Lei suddenly wiped his face and realized that he had been crying all over his face without even realizing it.

His sister, who was beside him, had already buried her head in a pillow, and her heart-wrenching sobs came from inside the pillow.

And the father, who was originally just passing by, stopped at some point.

He stood there, towel in hand, his expression shifting from indifference to shock, and then to disbelief.

Finally, it all turned into a complex sigh.

"Is this a story that animated films can tell?"

......

Meanwhile, in a male dormitory at a university.

The boys who were originally laughing and joking, enjoying the silly antics of the SSS group, were now collectively speechless.

He burned his finger with a cigarette butt without even realizing it.

The instant noodles had completely soggy and no one wanted them.

Everyone seemed frozen in place, staring intently at the screen.

When the sad yet tender melody of the ending theme played, the dormitory remained deathly silent.

a long time.

The physical education student, known as the tough guy of the dorm, suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.

"I'm a fucking idiot!"

His eyes were bloodshot and his voice was hoarse.

"I even made fun of her before!"

No one laughed at him.

Another boy picked up a beer that had already gone cold on the table, took a big gulp, and tears mixed with the beer streamed down his face.

"You old scoundrel Su, I'll fucking swear to you!"

This insult, at this moment, sounds more like a praise tinged with tears.

......

In the world of animation.

When Yuri poured out all her regret and self-loathing in that heart-wrenching cry.

The enormous shadow that had been hovering above her head shattered into pieces, vanishing completely like dust.

She made peace with herself.

After the storm, everything returned to calm.

Yuri personally presided over the disbandment ceremony of the Afterlife Battlefront, her face bearing the serene smile of a young girl.

She watched her companions, who had already found their place, graduate peacefully as specks of light after receiving warm hugs.

At the final graduation ceremony, Yuri took off the beret that symbolized her leadership and placed it on Otonashi's head.

Her voice was gentler than ever before.

"Otonashi, I'm counting on you from now on."

She solemnly entrusted the responsibility and hope of leading the remaining people to find happiness to this young man.

Under Otonashi's gaze, Yuri's figure began to become transparent, her eyes filled with no regret, only the hope of reuniting with her family in the next life.

"I'm going to find them."

She spoke softly, then transformed into countless points of light, disappearing completely from the world she had once hated so much, yet ultimately found redemption in.

......

Healing Animation Company.

Shen Qingyue stared blankly at the screen, feeling as if a huge rock was pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Su Bai looked at the depressive index data in the background, which had surged again due to Yuri's reconciliation, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He looked at Shen Qingyue and asked a question.

"Shen Qingyue, do you think Yuri was ultimately happy?"

Shen Qingyue was taken aback, then nodded subconsciously.

"That settles it."

Su Bai shrugged and uttered a twisted statement that once again shocked Shen Qingyue's worldview.

"When she could face that hell with a smile, when she could let go of all hatred and reconcile with herself, she conquered that unreasonable fate."

"Look, you've been healed."

After saying that, Su Bai ignored Shen Qingyue, who was still processing his theory.

His gaze fell upon the last and most crucial part of the storyboard.

I've already tasted enough of my personal regrets and obsessions.

Iwasawa's dream, Yui's happiness, and Yuri's reconciliation.

So...

Su Bai's gaze finally fell on the key character who seemed like an observer from beginning to end, yet connected everyone.

Otonashi Yuzuru.

Su Bai's eyes became more profound than ever before.

"A person who had already achieved self-realization in his lifetime and had no regrets."

"What is the meaning of his coming into this world?"

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