Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

"I originally wanted to secretly end this life, which should never have existed and would only bring you pain, without your knowledge."

"I never imagined that sadness and joy were actually mixed together, and involving any one of them would hurt everyone."

"In the end, I, a negative number that is not even as good as zero for an ordinary person, did not accomplish anything."

"Please stop being sad until it's all over."

He bit his lip, his sharp teeth gently pulling at his lower lip, causing it to twitch backward, thus creating a smile on his frail body.

The deep blue pupils gazed at the girl so close to him, as if trying to etch her image, reflecting that dreamlike pink against the flawless starry sky.

"—You've already tried your best."

"—You've done more than enough."

You have fought against many renowned Herrschers, built your own paradise in the town, and even resurrected the person you love most.

No matter how imperfect or fake this resurrection may be, it is something that countless people dare not even take the first step into.

You have done enough.

"Now……"

Please don't stay in the same place.

"Go and embrace your life."

Go find your own paradise.

……

141. Alicia: Paradise... Where is paradise now?!

He wasn't really good at comforting others, nor was he good at chatting. Perhaps it was because the only companion he could communicate with when he was young was Alicia, but unfortunately, Alicia stopped communicating with him after the age of five.

No matter how I try to ask, I'll be turned down, as if the memory of walking hand in hand with you on the streets of the small town is just a dream.

Lying in the pool with eyes open, watching the warm yellow light diffused into the water, is nothing more than a daydream after falling asleep by the pool.

While I was reading, Alicia was lying quietly beside me, but perhaps she wasn't actually looking at me at all; she was just doing something else.

He could only peek out from behind the wall, peeking out half his face, watching the girl interact and play with the other children in the town and passersby.

Unable to approach, unable to invite them, because they would be rejected anyway by acting cute... The only thing I could do was watch all of this, taking in their happiness with my eyes, holding on tightly, not letting up for even a moment.

It was as if by simply watching, he could become one of them, share their joy, and play and frolic together.

All the words, all the feelings, can only be swallowed down by one person, bite by bite, again and again, until the day they grow up.

Even while traveling, the girl is always surrounded by fans and support groups, chatting with them on her phone or cheering at her birthday party.

Aside from what was recorded in Wilvi's diary, when he seemed to have had conversations with her, he had never found anyone he could confide in.

In a situation where there was no opportunity to say anything.

I don't like to talk.

Not good at chatting.

It's probably an inevitable thing.

Although I have no idea how to comfort someone when they are sad, I think that if I speak my mind, it won't hurt my feelings, right?

“You have tried your best. I can feel your love. Even knowing my shortcomings, you are doing your best to love me.”

“But that shouldn’t be. I shouldn’t keep restraining you. There’s no need to hold on to things that are destined to pass. It’s like desperately pulling on the kite string in a gale, but the kite has already been blown apart.”

"By the time this was finally discovered, my fingers had already been marked with countless bloody welts from the thread, and I may have even been forced to let go before it stopped."

Jiang Chengjin used his last remaining strength, clumsily devoid of any words, to express his inner thoughts in the most simple way possible, trying to dissuade Alicia from the meaningless yet all-out energy.

He bit his lip and forced himself to stay awake, resisting the urge to close his eyes—this was the last thing this body could do.

……

Life is already slipping away rapidly.

I could sense that death was imminent.

Blood, which had once been meaningless and merely meant to make one more human, now seemed to have truly become the source of life, flowing continuously from the body and sprinkling the last bit of warmth onto the cold floor.

Jiang Cheng didn't feel cold at all. Instead, he felt as comfortable as if he were lying in a down comforter. He was so comfortable that he even felt drowsy. But there were still people in the world who were unwilling to let him fall into a deep sleep like this.

Every time I close my eyes completely, another force is transmitted in, like a math problem, where water is released and water is added at the same time.

Alicia...

They still refuse to accept all of this.

She haphazardly tore off her pink dress to use as a bandage, wrapping the wound again and again, recklessly transferring her strength and life force.

—It's meaningless.

Jiang Cheng gently pressed down on the girl's fingers. Her dark pupils reflected her tearful, broken pink eyes, as if she were about to die at any moment.

"Please stop wasting your power. Even you can't repair a Herrscher core."

……

In the attack just now, the Herrscher Core was also damaged. Now this power is of no use. It cannot be used to fight, cannot change anything, and cannot even prolong this life.

If you want a girl who's stuck in the past to move forward, then the source of her past must be destroyed, leaving not a trace, in order to bring about new freedom.

But at least in the last moment, this already damaged body could still send Alicia away from here, to the place she was meant to go.

“I really don’t know what happened to you during this time? I don’t know why a single last word from Wilvi could make you so reckless… You know so much about me, yet I’m still as terrible as ever.”

"Even if I don't know anything, all of this must be exhausting. Please stop doing this. Please stop imitating Velvi. You are Alicia. Please embrace this beautiful world with a smile, just like before."

"even if……"

The person you're looking at isn't me.

Jiang Cheng's fingertips unleashed the light of the Herrscher of the Stars for the last time, no longer bound by any rationality or irrationality, disregarding the limits of life and energy, and exerting the maximum power of his already damaged core.

Despite being a Herrscher, she has never fought a proper battle or fully displayed her authority even once since birth.

I never expected this to be my first time showcasing it...

Instead, it should be focused on Alicia.

The repulsive force, expanding at an exponential speed, was in stark contrast to the heavy, dark celestial body that relentlessly pulled everything, even the light—the girl's body was thrown back at high speed, using all of its Honkai energy to envelop her entire body, providing protection while suppressing all resistance.

The endless night seemed to be divided by the power of the stars, with the two halves of the cloud layer tacitly using the pink shooting star, which was still moving upwards against the current, as the dividing line.

In the endless, deep night, only the burning meteoroid, trailing a pink flame, radiates light across the unobstructed sliver of the sky.

The dim, lifeless eyes reflected the shooting star flying backwards, tearing through the clouds to clear a path. Jiang Cheng offered his final blessing to Alicia.

"Hello……"

"Goodbye."

"Alicia."

……

……

Alicia strolls among the stars.

Sent into the sky by the force of gravity, sealing off all movement and resistance, the Herrscher on the verge of extinction unleashed a final, life-giving blow that even the Primordial Herrscher could not immediately dispel.

This was the biggest, strongest, and final blow to date, even surpassing the limits of the Herrscher, and the most complete manifestation of the sea's desire.

It cannot be stopped, it cannot be resisted, at least not this time. There is no one in the world who can be completely immune and unaffected.

—She can't do anything.

Like a kite released into the sky, Alicia could only watch helplessly as she drifted further and further away from the birthday party. The beautiful, sweet, candy-like dream vanished completely before her eyes, leaving only the whooshing sound of the wind in her ears.

The Herrscher's body is clearly very sensitive, and should be able to easily detect even the slightest rustling of wind, yet the boy's gentle voice can no longer be heard.

After the dream's filter has been completely removed, and after experiencing dramatic ups and downs, all emotions are exhausted and forced into a state of sage-like tranquility.

Alicia then discovered that the place she had once visited with the boy had been submerged by a strange, viscous, blue-green substance, with eerie, phantom-like monsters swimming and flowing within it.

The strong wind tousled the girl's hair, making it look like a cherry blossom petal being tossed about by the gale. Her tears, once dried, began to flow again.

Playing with it, destroying it... protecting the body's strength, yet unable to protect the soul, like a kite without a string being propelled through the air by external forces.

Only when that power was exhausted, and even the power of the last star was drained, did she fall from the sky, just as she had come into this world.

— Plunging into the ruins of what was once called a city.

Alicia knelt on the ground, letting the wind ripple her body and the mud soak her clothes. She just stared blankly at the ruins around her, ruins where even the broken walls were about to be swallowed up by disaster.

Now, at the very moment of the birth of the new Herrscher, the aftershocks of the Great Collapse swept across the entire continent, leaving even the last remnants in ruins.

The Herrscher, who possesses the power to steal and usurp, squanders the weapon known as the Divine Key, turning humanity's weapon against calamity into a self-contradictory purgatory.

It seems that everything meaningful in this world is destined to be destroyed by Him, until every place within sight gradually becomes empty.

Paradise...

Paradise.

Paradise!

Where is paradise now?

She can't see...

She really can't see!

……

……

……

It has ended.