Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

The young man is not so easily swayed by gratitude or resentment, nor would he presume to judge a person's good or evil based solely on the incomplete revelation of the truth.

Perhaps for ordinary people, there's no need to waste so much time, but what if the person who needs to make the choice is your important lover?

Physical touch, the resonance of hearts, that genuine sorrow... are not enough to be completely erased simply because of what is happening in front of us.

However, this does not mean that Jiang Cheng can so easily ignore everything he has seen, or the frustration and dissatisfaction in his heart.

Since Alicia isn't here—not at home, not in the town, and not in the mountains behind the town.

Then let me...

Go and investigate the hidden truth for yourself.

……

111. Stepping once again into the ruins of the past.

This mark is not one you haven't seen before, nor are you unaware of; it hasn't lost all its details like other memories and the past.

On the contrary, although you lost most of your memories after being resurrected, you retained this seemingly unrelated mark from your childhood, and everything that this mark represents.

That's an organization called the Fire-Chasing Moths.

[Humanity's first attempt to resolve all conflicts and injustices, to abandon all past hatreds, and for all nations to join hands and unite.]

This unity may have seemed rather ridiculous at first, as the conflicting interests and differences meant that the organization was far from peaceful.

Compared to the endless wars waged by makeshift forces in the past, where death could be instigated for the sake of a few, this is merely a struggle of subtraction.

The weight of these two words, "working together with one heart and one mind," is so profound that even the most naive person in the world wouldn't believe that humanity could one day join hands.

[You once heard from the townspeople that the current base of the Firemoth isn't the one they've always used. In fact, the Firemoth once had a much more important industrial base, a gathering place for all the world's best geniuses and scholars, but that base was abandoned in a Honkai attack.]

[It is said that the attack also led to the death of an exceptionally brilliant genius, the deaths of tens of thousands of students, and the elimination of some of the world's most outstanding politicians, almost directly paralyzing the entire human political system.]

If humanity hadn't already approached a state of unity at that time, a new world war might have broken out again.

[This kind of retro-style signage might find its way into other equally ancient ruins.]

Although strictly speaking, this mark was not completely replaced in the great collapse that nearly paralyzed human civilization, and even for many years afterward, the Moth of Fire remained the organization's name.

[It was only because that dictator took over the entire political system that he so arbitrarily transformed everything to his liking.]

The name World Serpent and the symbol of the Ouroboros have actually been in use for less than ten years, and cannot be solely associated with that disaster and ruins.

But as a reader who comes later, rather than someone who experienced it firsthand, you only know all this from other people's oral accounts.

No matter how grand an event or how horrific a catastrophe, it will only take up a page or two in a history book.

Just as in times of calamity in China, only a few words are often used to describe the terror.

During a severe famine, people resorted to cannibalism.

This doesn't mean that the catastrophe could only be described with those few words, or deserves only those few words. It simply means that even the most terrifying events become insignificant when placed on a long historical scale.

Aside from the collapse, almost nothing new has ever happened in the world. The essence of all problems is nothing more than a series of cycles. Human civilization has never escaped the limitations of human nature, the original sin and inherent evil of humanity.

Anything that happened a hundred or a thousand years ago has already occurred in the same way, and there are no more words to describe it all.

[You are merely a listener, a reader. Ancient and tumultuous are intertwined; therefore, the most prominent thing in the mouths of others is decay.]

[This event, known as the Second Great Collapse, completely lifted the curtain on humanity's fight against the Honkai, tearing away all of humanity's complacency and arrogance.]

At least the old ruins of the Fire Moth can help you piece together more of your understanding of the world, instead of just staying in your paradise and enjoying yourself.

[Although Alicia could at least give you a suitable reason, tell you about your forgotten past, or explain why you shouldn't know.]

[If you have no masochistic tendencies and don't want to travel alone in the wasteland watching Honkai Beasts bare their teeth, instead of staying in the soft, fragrant embrace of a girl, you would not hesitate to continue lying in Alicia's arms.]

But now, for the first time since your resurrection, you must step out of the Eternal Paradise and venture into the ancient ruins of the Old Flamemoth to explore.

……

really……

Jiang Cheng's fingers gently lowered, finally relieved. There was no need to struggle anymore. His eyes reflected the unexpected yet predictable development.

Judging from Alicia's current behavior, the heavy emotions she feels are exactly the same as those of Velvi. If this wasn't something that suddenly appeared, something that rewrote her self and mind, then that girl must have regretted her actions long ago.

It's not entirely incomprehensible that after receiving a gift, one wouldn't use it properly, but instead enshrine it, leaving it there like a self-deceiving act.

The gift he gave himself in his final act, this gift that was nothing but divinity, was more of a curse than a blessing.

If Alicia truly regrets her actions, she will feel a heart-wrenching pain the moment she sees this gift.

Because this means that even the final impression left on oneself is so terrible, and one has forgotten all the happy life one had in childhood.

This, in a sense, proves the guess I had from my childhood to the present.

—Alicia's love was not sudden.

However, this love seems to need the harsh reality to awaken the girl sleeping in her dream.

Otherwise, someone who lives in a fairy tale and walks in beauty and happiness will never be able to clearly perceive the beauty around them.

Although the boy felt that someone like Alicia shouldn't act this way, that she should never ignore or disregard the important people around her.

As for this action, which is clearly heading towards tragedy and a terrible development, it has already decided to go to the ruins.

—I'm used to it now.

In a world called Honkai Impact, heterosexuality is inherently sinful, and there are no couples with happy endings or beautiful heterosexual relationships in the story.

Or rather, in a world where disasters could strike at any moment, in a brutally cruel apocalypse, how could anyone possibly remain happy forever?

Moreover, the one interfering with him is none other than the hero who holds the name of the precepts.

Aponia's greatest talent lies in transforming a seemingly insignificant matter into a momentous event through her own efforts.

The commandment given to the people in the Moth of Fire base not to lose hope in fighting the Honkai led to Rin, who voluntarily entered the prison, being tortured to death.

Now, she has given herself a commandment not to see Alicia, but it has turned into her having to explore her forgotten memories of the past.

what……

Is this how tragedy is born?

Is this the meaning behind the ending scene?

All of this is worse than being given the commandment not to contact Alicia. At least in this situation, there's still hope that the girl will try to resolve things after she returns, and there's still time and room to wait for Alicia to come back.

Even if the rules drive her to insanity, even if she becomes a cripple and can only lie on the ground being cared for by Alicia every day, it doesn't matter.

Perhaps that girl even longed to become a complete useless person, so that she could do everything for her, from getting up, washing up, to changing clothes.

Even the worst outcome wouldn't be like this, with one person stepping out of paradise and another heading towards ruins etched with all the pain of the past.

……

[You decide to leave the town alone, without telling Alicia, to explore your buried memories, memories that everyone has deceived and ignored.]

Although there are no motor vehicles in the town, and pre-Honkai era transportation methods could not possibly traverse the Honkai-ravaged wasteland.

As the Seventh Herrscher, you are a terrifying individual capable of surviving peacefully in this world that is now nothing more than a wasteland.

The power known as gravity is one of the most terrifying forces in the universe, enough to be considered one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, along with electromagnetism, gravity, and the weak force.

[At least within the limits of human cognitive abilities, these four fundamental forces are the absolute factors that maintain the universe, at least in a relatively peaceful and stable state.]

[A power that can be described as essential is beyond the reach of humankind at present. Even touching just a tiny bit of it requires one to be prepared for certain certain death.]

[Hundreds or thousands of years of accumulation, countless sacrifices, and the utmost effort are needed to gain even a slight understanding or contact with the fundamental forces of the universe.]

[This applies only to ordinary humans.]

[For those who wield power, even without any knowledge, wisdom, or even their memories wiped clean, they are at most more literate than illiterate people, and understand things a little more like an ordinary person.]

[This ability, deeply ingrained in their instincts, is no different from an ordinary person swallowing food; it's as effortless as waving a finger.]

Using the power of anti-gravity for flight, at full power, the entire planet is nothing more than a small backyard for you.

[You don't want to see Alicia anymore, at least not until you've explored the ruins and found the information you need.]

The location of the old Firemoth base is no secret; once considered the most heavily fortified military base on the planet, it became nothing more than insignificant ruins after its destruction.

There's absolutely no need to worry about hostile organizations infiltrating the old base and stealing crucial information.

The Moth of Fire has unified the globe; there are no nations, no alliances. Now renamed the World Serpent, this organization is the community of humanity.

In the face of a catastrophe known as Honkai, no one can remain uninvolved. Everyone must exert every effort to fight for even the slightest possibility of humanity's survival, to steal a sliver of life amidst the calamity.

Even if there are some incredibly stupid scumbags, pure antisocial personalities could never infiltrate the former main base of the Flame Moths.

[Facing the Great Honkai created by the Second Herrscher, after years of gestation, that place has long since become a forbidden zone for life, a land overrun by Honkai Beasts.]

Even with humanity's current level of technology, exploring this area would require certification from that dictator, his former friend—Möbius.

Humanity has always been the vulnerable party in the face of Honkai, so weak that even the ruins of the Great Honkai are almost impossible to resolve.

[Although you don't need to worry about this at all.]

[Or rather, if it weren't for that Great Collapse, you probably wouldn't have been able to find out the whereabouts of the Firemoth's old base so easily.]

To some extent, to the point that just thinking about you makes me feel inexplicably nauseous, perhaps this massive collapse can be considered a good thing.

[The Honkai energy that would kill an ordinary person upon contact is actually an advantageous environment for you; when Honkai is everywhere, not a single one dares to approach you.]

So much so that when you're rushing to the base gate following someone else's directions on an incredibly rough road, you don't even realize how much time has passed.

……

The young man once again set foot in the place that recorded the most wonderful years of his life, the first time he was cared for, the first time he received mutual love, all the sweet words that did not need to be spoken and the heavy land.

Several years have passed, yet the scene of its destruction remains vividly preserved here, as if time has never flowed here.

Only the abrasive energy exerted by the Honkai energy that floats in the air like ash proves that this place is ancient.

An ancient place that only one person has ever set foot in.

Isolated from the world.