Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

"see you tomorrow."

……

Regardless, the girl had no choice but to accept the notification. It was a possibility she dared not even imagine that she had caused the boy to be dissatisfied with her, and that even the only friend who could accept her might leave.

They dared not make the slightest unnecessary move, and could not even utter a word of entreaty to keep the child from leaving; all they could do was offer their blessings for the child's return home.

If, because of my own problems, I lose even the person who was willing to stay by my side in the end...

I'm afraid...

It'll fall, won't it?

……

Raiden Mei sets off alone on her way home, walking under the streetlights, her shadow trailing behind her, accompanied by two versions of herself, one in front and one behind.

The wait felt incredibly long at this moment. The girl, who had once thought she was used to and could accept the numbing whipping, only realized now that she had been far too naive all along.

What you perceive as endurance is merely a choice to escape; when the moment of truth arrives, the pain will be excruciating, reaching even the very depths of your soul.

At least hope is no longer so distant.

Because I'll be able to see Jiangcheng again tomorrow.

Waiting, hoping.

So that's what it really meant.

If that's the case, maybe it won't be so hard to get through...

……

"—Isn't this the daughter of that economic fraudster?"

Mocking words came from beside her ear. Before the girl, who had regained her happiness, realized it, she subconsciously turned her head and saw a red object rapidly approaching her face.

The body instinctively stiffens at this moment, perhaps because countless past choices to escape have made passive acceptance a common occurrence.

Faced with everyone's malice, it's pointless to resist. Those who are hurt again and again lose the courage to fight back from the very beginning.

Every personality, emotion, and preference needs to be cultivated. No matter how brave a person is, they will eventually bow their head after being repeatedly instigated by cowardice.

Raiden Mei has never been a courageous person, at least not yet, and nothing has made her determined to move forward at all costs.

As a successor of the Lightning One-Sword Style, a swordsman capable of sparring with the Houmu Sword Saint, he simply allowed that unknown object to smash down upon him.

With a 'smack', a blush rose on her fair skin. She was forced to shift her gaze, thus taking in all the people in front of her.

Ichiro Nakagami, Sakura Fujimoto, Kaito Kishimoto, and Masashi Kusaka... as former friends, and also as those who were the first to kick someone when they were down.

And beneath my feet...

—It's chalk.

……

The memories that had been almost forgotten and cast aside during her time with Jiang Cheng have resurfaced once again. Countless scenes of being bullied and harassed have taken over once more, and without a sound, the girl's eyebrows have drooped.

Her slender fingers intertwined, her pearly white teeth biting her lip, as if she had already foreseen the cold words that were about to be encountered.

The girl had always tried to avoid her old friends by going home earlier or later, but today she forgot because of Jiang Cheng.

Even if you ignore the problem, it won't disappear just because you ostrich-like avoidance.

It will only appear the moment you raise your head, shattering everything.

what……

They are here.

I……

They've been caught.

We're going to have to go through those things again.

At least Jiang Cheng didn't see it this way.

If he sees this, he'll definitely... he'll definitely be very disappointed in me.

……

……

—I hope I'll feel better tomorrow.

Jiang Cheng lay on the bed, tidying up the soft and comfortable blankets in advance, lighting the expensive incense provided by the dormitory, and adjusting the air humidifier to its best state until drowsiness overwhelmed him, and he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep alone in the empty room.

Melatonin, sleeping pills... and even some medications that can only be obtained in very small quantities at the school's infirmary with a student ID.

That way, I shouldn't hear any random shouts at night, and I can finally get a good, undistracted sleep.

—It's meaningless.

His tightly closed brows remained furrowed, trembling occasionally, as if his pupils, hidden beneath his eyes, had seen something unsettling.

Until the sunlight shone through the half-drawn curtains, casting its dazzling light yellow hue into the room, silently climbing up the edge of the bed, the morning light penetrated the thin layers of bedding, bestowing the youthful warmth of spring upon the boy.

When she opened her eyes again, her dark eyes were still hazy, and even after washing her face with ice water, she could still see a sense of disorientation in her sleepy eyes.

I didn't sleep well again last night. I had this inexplicable feeling that someone was thinking of me and was constantly searching for my direction.

I couldn't find any malice, nor did it give me any goosebumps; it was just this repetitive, this persistent, and I couldn't find any peace.

If this was just a simulation, the aftereffects are far too severe.

Although I have had experiences where I was so engrossed in a storyline that I couldn't eat day and night, it never got to the point where I couldn't sleep well and dreamed about it.

Perhaps the realism was too high, so much so that the dream, formed by the body's instincts, mistakenly took those things as regrets that I had experienced.

That must be the reason.

Jiang Cheng took a deep breath, took out an electric toothbrush from the shop window, and began his daily routine of washing up with some of the fancy-packaged, campus-gifted Spring Festival essentials.

The alarm clock on the wall showed that it was 7:30 a.m., and even though I had slept for nearly nine hours, I still felt a little sleepy.

The problem isn't that big; at this school, there's no need to worry about the teacher calling his parents if he does poorly on a test—he doesn't even have any parents to call.

There's no need for simulated training; simply getting used to and being exposed to Honkai energy in small ways is enough to strengthen the body and avoid problems arising from the conflict between the two.

As I drew back the curtains, the hazy world had already awakened. The warm morning light filtered through the glass, and the sunlight streamed in. The dark clouds on the horizon had just dispersed, leaving behind a few strange colors, giving it a strangely translucent and crystalline texture, like glass. The sunlight spread evenly across the campus, making it impossible to see the edge of the school at a glance.

They took off their close-fitting pajamas and changed into the school uniform: a black dress, a white shirt, a black suit with silver trim, a deep rose-red scarf, and the school emblem of Chiyu Academy embroidered on the chest pocket... As a uniform of a prestigious academy, every detail exuded exquisite care, and the tailor-made styles for each person were even more form-fitting.

A well-tailored suit can highlight a cool and stern aura, and those who come to the academy don't need a common style to harmonize their individual differences.

Jiang Cheng embarked on his journey to school, a journey he still had to take after his time travel, and took the schoolbag provided by the school as a gift for new students from the coat rack at the entrance.

Ugh……

I'm off to class.

Looking at his class, the boy, who still felt awkward about having to go through high school again after several weeks, could only follow the crowd and sit in the second-to-last row by the window.

The teacher on the podium had nothing to say, and the students had no need to remember anything; they just needed to turn their heads to the window and look at the scenery.

The dark clouds had completely dissipated, and the light of dawn was becoming somewhat dazzling. Usually, by this time, Alicia would have already finished preparing the food...

If it weren't for the fact that this campus is quite lenient and high school isn't so hellish, the first thing I would have faced after transmigrating would probably be figuring out how to escape.

As for being called upon to answer questions...

He might have worried about not being able to answer questions because he was forgetting his knowledge too quickly, which was actually nothing to worry about.

For Jiang Cheng, who had already recorded and retained some of the knowledge about Velvi after the first simulation and even before the revival match, this was now the first time.

—Even without considering contingencies, simply memorizing some simple questions is actually easier than asking for the normal result of one plus one.

Anyway, as is customary, teachers at this school are usually quite soft-hearted and can bully others with the students, so they naturally wouldn't be so tactless as to call on someone who doesn't seem interested in answering questions.

When the school bell rang, Jiang Cheng continued to decline invitations from other clubs and once again headed towards that quiet woodland.

Going against the flow of people, ignoring the questions from other classmates, he simply headed towards a place that everyone thought only loners would go—because the boy himself wanted to find a loner.

The trees, in perfect season, use countless overlapping branches to block out some of the sunlight, leaving the remaining light to shine on the ground like thousands of lights on a stage. The thick layer of fallen leaves has covered the soil, and stepping on it feels like walking on a velvet carpet.

Just like yesterday, the girl with long purple hair sat there quietly, like a statue, her whole body covered with leaves and petals blown down by the wind. Only when she saw the boy who had come from afar did her drooping eyebrows finally lift.

What came out of my lips unconsciously was something I had already experienced once before; it was an instinct that had been almost etched into my heart after just one experience.

And that initial affirmation that comes entirely from the heart, from the very beginning, from all the suppressed emotions that have been longed for until now.

"I wasn't late today, was I?"

"--certainly!"

……

In this brand new day, Raiden Mei behaved so naturally that it was almost impossible to tell that the girl had been bullied and hurt to the point that she was afraid of other people's kindness and tried to escape everything.

Everything unfolded as it did yesterday: chatting and complaining together, or Jiang Cheng simply acting as a dumping ground, using instinctive rhetoric meant to dissuade and entice the girl to open up and pour out all her grievances and dissatisfaction.

The second day, the third day, the fourth day... In the jungle, on the grassland, in the magnificent campus, time passed by second by second. Every day was the same life, but every day also brought different experiences.

Without a sound, Raiden Mei had already gotten used to life in Jiangcheng. She knew that someone would be waiting for her on the lawn after class. Even if she was seen scribbling on her desk, having her books thrown downstairs, or being blatantly bullied and insulted, it didn't seem so unbearable anymore.

As long as you persevere, persevere until the end of get out of class, persevere until you can be with Jiang Cheng, that's enough. Perseverance can make you numb and patient, and when there is hope, suffering can be accepted.

Perhaps it's because at the end you can see the light. No matter how dark it is around you, no matter how unpopular you are, even if you get scolded just for being seen, you can always believe that someone will join you in the jungle to find you.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the girl, having projected all her expectations, longings, and hopes onto one person, became increasingly reserved during conversations, hesitant to share her experiences.

All of the past must be hidden, and the harm suffered now must be kept silent.

—Because I didn't want Jiangcheng to see me in such a disheveled state.

—Because I didn't want Jiangcheng to see me as incompetent.

She can tolerate being rotten in the mud, she can tolerate being bullied and hurt by others. Even when faced with their ridicule, she can clean the table herself, throw away the shoes in the shoe cabinet, change her clothes alone after being splashed with water in the toilet, and continue going to school as if nothing had happened.

These are all acceptable.