Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

A falling meteor is a supernatural phenomenon that almost anyone in the world can see if they just look up; it can only be described as a miracle.

Even the paradise woven from data can capture this brilliance, displaying it in the sky above what should be an empty space with authority that even surpasses that of individual heroes, so it is naturally not limited by distance.

Even Velvie, whose defenses had been breached by Alicia's feigned indifference and who had decided to try to find a way to deal with her counterpart from another world, was no exception.

Although the girl had no intention of looking up at this moment, all her attention and focus were on the person she hated the most.

Seemingly slender, but having honed her grasping skills to perfection over many years, her delicate fingertips gripped the collar of "Memory" Airi, forcing the girl's eyes to meet her own pupils.

Blue and silver, leisure and anger, the only thing they have in common is that they all seem to have a touch of pink, like the most proud cherry blossoms of spring falling into them.

The fairy girl, being interrogated by her collar, was being dragged and shaken by Wilvi. Her head was swaying back and forth as if being whipped by the end of a long whip. It was all just torture and persecution. But just at one moment when she looked up, she caught a glimpse of the light that descended from the sky and pierced through the heavens.

……

"It looks just like my shooting star!"

The girl, who had been feigning ignorance and pretending to be deaf and dumb, stopped at this moment, and her head, which had been shaking casually, remained still.

The liveliness and vivacity seemed to vanish in an instant, leaving only a blank stare at the dazzling pink shooting star that should never have appeared in the sky—still retaining its blue color, the pupils that once held the appearance of a human were now filled with stagnation, even the pain of the soft fabric being tightly bound to the skin seemed to disappear.

The girl, who was also quite narcissistic in a sense, was already captivated by the dazzling beauty of the light the moment she caught a glimpse of it, and her attention could not be taken away from the shooting star that streaked across the sky.

—If some exasperated genius didn't grab the ripe fruit by the collar while loudly denouncing the riddler's wickedness.

"wrong!"

"Can't you just tell me?"

"Alicia, please, even just a little bit of emotion, a blurry image, or a bystander's description would be fine!"

"Why……"

Why are you always like this!

Is it really that difficult to say a single sentence properly?

……

Since becoming utterly disappointed with the silent Sleeping Beauty, and deciding to try a different approach by questioning the "memory core" Ellie, Vivi spent several hours without getting a single word out. This level of stupidity was comparable to saying "Look, there's an airplane behind you" when you've offended someone.

The girl, who was already furious at her fairy mistress's lazy attitude, finally couldn't hold back anymore. Her pent-up emotions even turned into some unreasonable remarks, which she used as a weapon to attack the innocent.

As expected, no matter which world Alicia is in, she is a complete villain. She hurts others with a seemingly innocent and naive demeanor, and her innocent appearance always brings disaster to others.

And yet, after messing everything up, they still have to put on a disgusting act like, "I'm innocent," "That's not what I meant," or "I'm really sorry."

If I had known better, I wouldn't have cared about the reputation of Ellie, the "memory entity" of this world, and would have just created the most ruthless torture machine to forcibly interrogate her.

Anyway, they're all the same kind of thing. I've already figured out what Paradise is all about during the time I've been here. It would be easy for those data entities to fight against them.

Having almost given up hope, the person named Velvet no longer held any hope for Alicia in any world.

……

"Eh?! You actually think I'm lying?!"

"There really was a shooting star! Look up and see for yourself, I'm not lying!"

For the first time, "Memory" Ellie's face puffed up, clearly showing a hint of dissatisfaction, and even her rosy lips pouted as if she had been upset.

What might appear somewhat affected and pretentious on others, with a swollen, pufferfish-like posture, was brought to life by the young girl, evoking a genuine sense of pity and tenderness.

I doubt anyone who saw this scene could choose not to comfort or forgive the lovely girl. Her undisguised, natural purity is a true symbol of innocence, and the way she touched her lips also made her seem innocent and lively. Even the most cruel person couldn't bring themselves to hurt her... right?

Because the only response to the girl's puffed-out cheeks and cute act was a merciless chop, and there was no trace of kindness in Wilvi's eyes.

Precise strikes, precise defense penetration, machine-like precision—even if Miss Pink Fairy crouched down with her head in her hands, her gaze wouldn't waver in the slightest.

……

198. Vilvi: Jiangcheng... is that you?

It's not that I lack the ability to appreciate beauty, it's just that I've experienced far too much, to the point that I'm almost immune to it—if the story with Alicia hadn't been so full of ups and downs, at least the fairy's impression would have been a little better, instead of being just awful from beginning to end, then perhaps this appearance might still have some use.

People can easily become intoxicated by beauty, yet they are often terrified by the truth behind it. No matter how beautiful something is, it can no longer captivate people once its ugly side is revealed.

Just like siblings who have been together for a long time and have never been separated, even if one's own relatives are very cute, those who are close to them will only feel bored. The more they know, the less romance and beauty there will be.

There is no room for regret in this world. What has happened has happened, and what is lost can never be regained.

Every minute and every second that passes is a huge loss, especially when the situation in Jiangcheng is still uncertain and the events that have occurred are unknown.

Wilvi had no more time to waste; her patience was slowly slipping away until it was almost completely exhausted—her silver-gray eyes, devoid of all light, grew increasingly dim.

Having been teased like a toy time and time again, with an aloof attitude as if the truth could be obtained with just a little more questioning, yet every time I tried to approach her, it was like trying to catch a fancy eel, only to have the girl escape. To this day, I still haven't managed to ask her a single question.

Her slender fingers had already grabbed the fairy's collar and pulled it up high, making no attempt to hide the roughness of her strength. The fabric clung tightly to her fair skin, and she didn't care that her delicate collarbone was flushed red from the blood.

"This is clearly a world fabricated by data. Even if you don't want to talk to me or tell me the truth, at least come up with a good reason."

……

"But……"

"I'm telling the truth."

"I don't lie!"

They denied it, refused to even look up, seemingly preferring to believe a dog on the street rather than a cute fairy.

"Memory" Ellie even wanted to forcefully pull Velvi's neck upwards little by little until she saw the shooting star—unconsciously gaining a slight change in initiative, she was so eager that she wanted to imprint her eyes into Velvi's pupils.

“There really was a shooting star in the sky. It was that person’s shooting star, and only that person could create such a shooting star. I do know some things, and I do sense some information that escaped from another version of myself.”

"So now I can tell you seriously, everything you want to know can be found by simply looking up, it's that simple." She was so anxious that she wanted to forcefully pull Wilvi's neck up.

"So you finally couldn't help but talk nonsense? You even brought up Jiang Cheng to distract me. Should I praise you for actually talking about him as I said? Even though what you said is meaningless."

Wilvi simply shook her head gently, her dim eyes looking at the world with disappointment, her eyes slightly narrowed, her eyebrows drooping, her flowing khaki hair casting different shadows that obscured her face, hiding everything in darkness and behind the scenes, even dimming the brightness a bit.

Even the girl, who was usually cheerful and playful like a comedic character, was now more like a goddess than the fairy before her, delivering her judgment of disappointment—a verdict that even went so far as to denigrate her as a wild boar.

"Don't make me sound stupid, how can there be any flow in a virtual place..."

"flow……"

"star?"

……

The sound abruptly stopped, as if a third-rate villain had been instantly choked and his vocal cords were gripped tightly, leaving only the last, indistinct characters that were driven by instinct to escape from his lips.

With a trailing tone that is almost indistinguishable.

Using the last bit of residual air squeezed out of the bellows.

Because that force had come too close, it seemed to have crossed the very foundation of the space where the Paradise of the Past was located.

Even those who are not very knowledgeable or sensitive to this can clearly feel the miracle.

Everything that can only be described as a miracle.

The girl, who was tightly gripping the collar of "Memory" Ellie to prevent her target from escaping, subconsciously raised her head. What was originally just a perfunctory attempt to break the childish lie, suddenly froze in her silver-gray eyes, and a pink light that seemed to pierce the sky was reflected in the dark gray.

"--meteor?!"

……

His throat was hoarse as if he had been punched, and the individual looking up at the sky had become two. Dissatisfaction, anger... all emotions vanished in an instant, turning into fleeting bubbles. Only the instinctive, joyful 'lament' in that instant proved that everything was real.

Despite being humiliated the moment she opened her mouth, and being treated like a third-rate villain and trampled underfoot, the girl simply stared blankly at the sky.

Although the pink color left no impression on the girl's eyes, the only thing that could be remembered, the only thing that could be gazed upon, was still everything represented by that meteor-like brilliance.

He died long ago.

The girl named Vilvie was unable to participate in the final story.

Or rather, Velvet was unable to participate in all the stories except for the prologue, and died during her time as the Second Herrscher. In order to save someone who should not exist, she essentially traded her own life for him.

As a top genius, one of humanity's brightest stars, and a hero of the Spiral, he created the Divine Key, created the Deepest Abyss, and fought against the Honkai to the very last moment. Even after death, he was able to leave hope for his friends and fulfill their wishes even after 50,000 years.

That should be the case.

This is exactly how it should be.

Heroes who should go all the way to the end, no matter what, must deliver a full-force blow when facing the most difficult enemy.

However, the reality was quite different; everything unfolded like a comedy, a third-rate, garbage script written by a god with a twisted sense of humor.

Such a figure, almost unparalleled in history, died hastily in a collapse that should not have caused any widespread destruction. For that slow journey toward its end, he was at most killed by a stone as soon as he left the starting village.

It's like a hero who's about to defeat the demon king and save the world with the best sword from the village, only to suddenly fall into a trap and get stabbed to death.

In that chapter of stars and moon, the girl who died young might not even be as important as a passerby; at best, she would be an NPC in a beginner's dungeon.

It's ridiculous, absurd... and utterly hilarious.

It seems that the only purpose of its existence is to make that flawless fairy regret her actions, to make the girl who can truly stay by the boy's side realize what is important, and even after completing the mission, she cannot stay for a moment longer, and it is necessary to prepare a means to make them fall in love again.

The love Jiangcheng gave her was at best a trial card; those few years, as beautiful as a dream, were also as fleeting and ephemeral as a dream.

Even though bubbles under the sunlight can shimmer with iridescent colors under the reflection of the light—colors only found in rainbows—this brilliance and splendor is ultimately just a reflection in a well. A gust of wind could make the bubbles disappear at any moment, without any intervention whatsoever.

Because its essence is nothing more than an ethereal and extremely fragile bubble, it cannot last long on its own and will naturally disappear if left unattended.

The girl had woken up countless times in her dreams, embracing the boy tightly, almost as if she wanted to squeeze herself into his embrace.

But all of this is meaningless. Bubbles are just bubbles after all. We just misjudged them before. The boy's love is not some ethereal existence. The girl herself is ethereal, a bubble that even love cannot bear.

She can't even accept a little bit of love, and she'll explode at the slightest touch. It's a waste for someone like her to accept Jiang Cheng's love.

No matter how much love you give, how much gentleness and diligence you nurture, how patiently you water and fertilize, you will only end up with nothing.

Because weeds will die from excessive nutrition after absorbing a lot of nutrients, since no matter how much NPCs are cultivated, there is only so much of a limit.

Even someone like Alicia, if she could receive more resources and love, would likely have a brighter future than the weeds. At least all the love wouldn't be so short-lived and so easily lost.