Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

"I seem to..."

"Forgot something that shouldn't have been forgotten."

……

Such arrogance and conceit.

Such arrogance.

Aponia actually believed she had solved everything in her own way.

If everything really went as she thought, then her actions couldn't actually be considered particularly wrong or incomprehensible.

[The best way to prevent an impending disaster, which is unknown to us, is indeed to muddy the waters, thus preventing the worst possible outcome.]

The only problem is that this so-called best possible outcome only applies to Aponia; in her eyes, it's the worst possible outcome.

[—Utterly ridiculous.]

Her understanding was completely mismatched with her courage; what accompanied this courage was ignorance.

[—Extremely foolish.]

[Aponia arrived too late, almost a week before your resurrection, and had no idea that for Alicia, Paradise was merely a casually planted willow branch.]

She watched Alicia stroll around town with you every day, and presumptuously assumed that Alicia would stay there forever.

[Seeing that Alicia would occasionally show concern for the townspeople under your guidance, she assumed that the amusement park was very important to the girl.]

[Arrogantly speculating and concluding that this is the paradise Alicia seeks, and presumptuously regarding the impending disaster as the worst possible outcome.]

Under these circumstances, it seems understandable that someone would act so foolishly.

This is always how Aponia is.

She always tries to save and change things in a one-sided way, and she always manages to cause other disasters without even understanding her own abilities.

[Compared to how he almost single-handedly and indirectly destroyed the three remaining human cities, caused the death of a hero, and shattered trust among people, even heroes could no longer unite.]

[Alice was forced to transform herself into a Herrscher, donning her first costume, and attend a perilous ball, all in exchange for the last vestiges of hope and unity.]

Now, everything she's doing can actually be considered a choice she preferred.

Aponia...

In a sense, you should thank her.

[Thank you to this arrogant nun...]

At least for now, her actions haven't had a profound impact on you, and she has indeed helped you in many ways.

[You recalled countless vague yet incredibly vivid fragments of the past, completely different from what Alicia described.]

[The vast majority of them featured the same figure: a dark-gold-haired girl who always kept her head down, habitually displaying inferiority and self-loathing.]

That was something Alicia never mentioned; even when she had to bring it up, it was only as a casual friend.

【why? 】

【how come? 】

If that figure was really just an ordinary friend I'd met casually, how could they appear in my memory so many times?

[Your journey with Alicia will not involve any other insignificant people; even Mebius has never truly joined in.]

[However, the time intervals between those clips are by no means short; the length of the hair alone shows how long the time span was.]

[Perhaps all of this can still be as Alicia said: the Honkai fabricated false memories to make you seek revenge against humanity, to make you unleash calamity filled with anger.]

But you no longer want to deceive yourself like this, no longer want to suppress doubts before they surface and give an unsatisfactory answer.

Your doubts have been suppressed time and time again. Each time, Alicia chooses to run away, each time she chooses to avoid the issue.

As childhood sweethearts, lovers who have never been apart, and the closest of partners in the world, what is it that you can't say to each other?

[Option 1: You need to figure out why so many fragments are flashing through your mind, and why these memories are completely different from what Alicia said. There's absolutely no similarity between them.]

[Option Two: You never doubted Alicia. Even when she denied your limited memories, your first choice was to doubt yourself, doubt everything about yourself, and doubt your ego.]

[Option 3: You cannot accept being deceived by a young girl, being treated like a plaything, and you cannot accept your trust being trampled on like cheap trash, even if there is only that one possibility.]

……

102. You decide to go find Alicia.

As expected of Aponia.

The boy thought that everything had calmed down and that there would be no more ups and downs or disasters in his life until the end, and that he would continue to live this warm and wonderful life.

They even subconsciously believed that the birth of the so-called tragedy merely represented the inevitable end that would shatter all the beauty of the present.

Because there was absolutely no possibility or opportunity for any of this to be broken, my trust in that girl was absolute.

Alicia had already mended everything, and the falsehood woven from countless lies had formed an unbreakable, dense web.

It is something more indestructible than reality, forged from the complete shattering of the self.

It was as if he had been reborn, like an infant with almost no common sense or memory. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Alicia.

The first beautiful feeling I experienced, the first tenderness I couldn't bear to see, the sadness of a girl crying, the pity for those beautiful eyes filled with tears, and the first love that touched my heart after my resurrection.

From top to bottom.

From start to finish.

Every part of his body was firmly stuck inside, and he didn't even have the strength to move a finger.

what……

It's a reality that's truly beyond our control.

The girl was truly like a spider, shrouding herself in false sweet words and gradually entangling herself with her genuine tenderness.

If this were real, if all of this were true, then the body's instincts would deny it, and the memories in the mind would repeatedly refuse to accept it, refuse to receive this illusion.

But even if it's fake, this genuine tenderness and love can still warm the heart and make one feel the exhilaration of being embraced.

This is something that cannot be denied, refused, or slandered.

We should not deny love, nor should we deny everything.

Everything in the world has edges and corners, and multiple aspects. Even a circle, even one that seems to have no edges and corners and whose edges can be seen at a glance, can only be seen by people in the world in a small part.

If we deny everything about a girl based on just one incident, or deny the true, hidden emotions within her heart because of one mistake, then...

No.

Not accepted.

deny.

Alicia inadvertently created a trap that not only ensnared the boy who was treated as a plaything and manipulated like a puppet, but also those who should have been observing everything from a higher level.

The warmth that exists at this moment, together with that falseness, creates a tug-of-war, constantly tempting the emotions, yet holding them back.

The boy clearly knew that Alicia was lying, yet he couldn't deny that she was willing to risk everything for herself, even treating her dignity and self-worth as cheap as any random stone on the roadside, just like that woman, Velvi.

On one hand, there is dissatisfaction with the falsehood and anger at being deceived; on the other hand, there is worry about not being able to break this beautiful illusion and indulging in gentle decadence.

Over and over again, again and again.

The seemingly endless long period of time has turned what should have been a beautiful and blissful life into a purgatory that wears down one's self-esteem and fighting spirit.

Whenever the boy discovers a loophole in Alicia's words, whenever he hopes to find the truth behind the scenes, he can't help but feel uneasy that this beautiful moment has been shattered.

When the girl finally found the problem and spoke up, her heart, which had been pounding in her chest, was immediately put back down by the girl's few words.

Along with it, the heart gently returns to its place, no longer needing to endure the torment of falling to the ground; the process of going up and down is itself a huge burden.

Until the surging emotions within were completely exhausted.

The constant up-and-down pulling took a toll on her delicate heart.

It became impossible to even feel any extra emotion.

In a tug-of-war where there are no opponents, no matter how tightly the rope is pulled, it can always be pulled out little by little over time. No matter how long it takes, no one on the other side will pull the rope back.

It's just a matter of time.

……

Jiang Cheng had silently accepted all of this, acknowledging that Alicia had obtained all his love and affection through despicable means.

Even in daily life, we can still find some flaws and make some choices. When we are too tired and become complacent, everything eventually becomes calm and uneventful. Even if a stone is thrown into the ocean of our hearts, it can only cause slight ripples.

At least in the options, the pursuit of the truth is rarely mentioned anymore. Instead, the focus is more on developing gameplay with Alicia.

Limited by their physical condition, some of them, even those of Vilvi at the time, dared not try easily, fearing that they would worry if they got injured.

Even if it weren't for his own concerns, the boy had no doubt that Wilvi would accept the potential damage from those gameplay elements as a reward.

Having become someone's lover, a masochist who belongs only to her, the girl would never refuse something that allows her to engage in deeper games with her lover and deepen her impression of her.

Ultimately, due to various factors, it was not completed, not truly realized, and the excessively perverse posture and technique could not be displayed.

It has been taken over by Alicia, who has surpassed her, and a way of playing has been developed that belongs only to her.

Without realizing it, my heart has been gradually taken over.

Inevitable and unstoppable.

Long enough time can change anything, even seemingly insignificant water and tough rock, which will eventually be penetrated.