Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

Even in worlds that are theoretically impossible to travel to, even if the point of travel is the present civilization, one can still meet those heroes who were theoretically dead.

At this point in time, apart from a few survivors, the rest, even if they still exist, are merely data points of death.

A strong sense of empathy is closer to firsthand experience and participation than to controlling other people's lives from a position of superiority, separated by a screen.

That's why Jiang Cheng could clearly feel his heart beating, and he had absolutely no such thought in his heart as he was still missing everything he had just seen and the swimming pool he had seen again.

This choice triangle is utterly absurd, and even the so-called wish is quite abrupt.

—Could something have gone wrong when I resurrected?

Probably not?

How could someone as cute and flawless as Alicia, whose heart remains pink even after being cut open, a goddess-like figure, a fairy from paradise who loves the world, possibly see her own problems and not speak up?

There might really be a problem, but perhaps the girl hasn't realized it yet.

Ultimately, we didn't spend enough time together.

Although he seemed to have spent his entire childhood and adolescence from age five to twenty-one, in reality, except for the first five years, he was always chasing after the girl, while she ignored him. This one-sided love could not provide any room for communication between the two.

Just like I said before, there's no emotion left to express, and Alicia has never actually given me a chance to understand her.

Conversely, the girl also had neither the opportunity nor the time to understand herself.

—Hopefully, this will become apparent as we spend more time together.

As for the options and such.

There's no need to be so radical.

Alicia was always traveling and would never have had the chance to meet the people from the Velvey group, who, despite participating in every exchange meeting, never had any presence and were never cared about by anyone.

If we try to find him now, there's probably little chance of success, and even if we do, it seems Dr. Mebius won't change anything.

Let's wait until we have a chance to search together with Alicia in the future, and try to find a way to revive her in the same incomplete way.

Jiang Cheng's fingertips lightly touched the second option, and after thinking it over, he chose the most ordinary one, just like he had done countless times before.

For most ordinary people, a simple and moderate life seems to be the best choice.

[Option 2.]

[Based on my memories, you and Velvi ultimately chose to leave Alicia and embark on a new adventure together.]

No matter how close a place called Spiral Workshop is, it will eventually leave the girl, who is constantly traveling and exploring paradise and beauty, far behind, until she can hardly even see a shadow of herself.

That girl couldn't have been specifically watching you; otherwise, you wouldn't have ended up all alone after struggling for so long before you died.

[Given the tragedy you experienced back then, at least in your memory, you were almost dying. Even if the girl had the slightest feeling for you, she couldn't possibly ignore you, and she wouldn't even stand idly by with an ordinary person.]

Your past is probably buried under rubble, and you can't find any friends or people who might still exist in your memories.

[Let's just rest and recover slowly for now, and get back to normal life. Anyway, Alicia will definitely help you find your lost memories and the past.]

Even when we were most ignored.

Even when inner turmoil is at its worst.

You never believed that a young girl would do anything shameless, dirty, or wrong; she probably wouldn't even act selfishly.

Choosing to ignore yourself, choosing to extend your gentleness to the public, and choosing to help more people—isn't that itself an expression of universal love?

It's simply because you're the only one who feels uncomfortable with this kindness.

Because it stems from human selfishness and greed.

Because of this ugliness and error.

You simply crave a glance from the girl who watches everyone else, and you're dissatisfied with being alone, following in her footsteps in solitude, never receiving even a little more attention.

This selfishness you display is absolutely not Alicia's fault.

How can you blame others for your own mistakes?

In your memory, she remains as radiant as ever, including the times you used to give flowers to passersby outside the church together as children, and to help children in orphanages with simple crafts—this is why you believe the girl will surely find her own paradise.

Because if even such a perfect person cannot find their own paradise, then who in this world can find their own heaven?

Surely he can't be a selfish and insecure person?

Anyway, you don't need to worry about the girl's character at all.

Even if you're worried about yourself, don't doubt Alicia. The probability of you becoming a demon king in your memories is higher than the probability of a girl doing bad things.

Since you are the resurrected girl, all you need to do is talk to her, and you'll naturally be able to overcome the memories you've lost together.

With this in mind, you stepped into the pool, relying on the fact that your outfit was a formal dress constructed from Herrscher power, so you didn't have to worry about getting wet and sank directly to the deepest part.

85. People once again surrounded Alicia.

You use gravity to adjust your body underwater, just like in my memory, looking at the yellow light hanging beside you, like a streetlamp.

The warm yellow light flowed along the pale blue ripples of the water, and even the slightest change could be caught by the deep blue pupils. She opened her mouth softly, deliberately exhaling a little air, the exhaled bubbles rising like jellyfish.

[Exactly the same as before, without any changes, like a scene from a dream, the whole world filtered through a warm-toned water filter.]

There's no longer any need to worry about getting infected by opening your eyes at the bottom of a pool.

The Herrscher's body is now immune to all viruses.

There is no need to be afraid.

No need to worry.

No need to worry.

[Let us revel in this moment, revel in the beauty of the past, in the only beautiful moments of our lives that, theoretically, have passed in the last thirty years.]

[Only when the girl, as graceful as a fish, gently sank to the bottom, her delicate little feet splashing lightly in the pool, her lovely face almost bumping into you, did this intoxication begin to subside.]

Gazing into those flawless pink eyes, at that gently upturned smile that even the flow of water couldn't sway, you understood and extended your right hand.

【ah……】

A beautiful paradise, a flawless haven.

……

This is absolutely wonderful.

Looking at the boy so close to me, lying quietly at the bottom of the pool, his deep blue eyes still twinkling like stars in the shimmering water, reflecting the warm yellow light refracted by the water's surface.

[The eyelashes trembled in the water, perhaps because becoming a Herrscher meant adopting the Herrscher attire of other Herrschers, with a touch of crimson at the corner of the eye.]

[Whether it's the pupils, the high-arched eyebrows, the body exactly as you remember, or even the gently pursed lips, everything about them is intoxicating.]

Even if you were to return to the only past that holds a beautiful place in your memory, it would be the past before you were five years old.

You could no longer suppress your emotions and swam quickly towards Jiangcheng, your bare feet splashing in the water. The boy seemed to understand your feelings better than you did, and gently reached out his hand.

[After becoming a Herrscher, his right hand, now showing no trace of the excessive play he had done with Velvet, touched the girl's delicate fingertips.]

A sensation akin to an electric shock traveled from my fingertips to the nerve endings, a tingling, numbing current coursing through the entire pool, attacking me from the inside out, from every part of my body.

—You were completely overwhelmed in an instant.

There's no need to think about anything else, no matter how trivial.

The so-called guilt, the so-called atonement, the so-called despicable acts... all of these became meaningless at this moment.

[Originally, you might have felt distressed because your base emotions led to the trampling of the boy, the inability to even fulfill his dying wish, and his resurrection through a level of humiliation that deprived him of emotion.]

[I feel guilty for taking advantage of the boy's vulnerability while he was comforting me, using that concern to gain control of Jiangcheng and completely erase the part of Wilvie's memory.]

This time, you're blatantly and openly doing something bad.

Even if the person involved, Velvi, consented, it would still be a wrong thing to do.

Ultimately, it will still deal a blow to your heart, which has grown up full of beauty from the very beginning, and hurt your numb self once again.

It doesn't matter anymore.

You no longer care at all.

[Anyway, you're a Herrscher. Isn't it normal for Herrschers to do bad things?]

Even if you act with the intention of helping others, your actions will only lead to a tragic outcome. You'll be like a jinx; Jiang Cheng only saved you once, yet you squandered a lifetime of your life.

Acknowledging your true self and embracing your authenticity is not difficult.

Perhaps most people still refuse to accept the real her.

At least not for you now.

At least you've become more accepting of things.

They may not be able to accept everything about you, nor all your flaws, even if you've improved a lot compared to the past.

At this moment, the only thing that remains in your heart is a phrase that you would undoubtedly have considered a lie, a deception, in the past.

【really……】

It's still most comfortable to be a bad guy.

……

what……

Should I be a bad person?

seem……

That's certainly true.

In the past, I was obsessed with saving, helping, and so-called atonement, but in the end, I missed opportunities again and again and ignored the boy until I lost the only one I loved.

The first time, she only lost her son emotionally; the second time, she even lost Jiangcheng physically, forever.

It seems that the desire to save more people ultimately fails to even protect what little they have at hand.