Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

Theoretically, we can now continue the simulation.

It's like a potion with a hint of poison; drinking it can make you stronger, but it also has some hidden dangers. Drinking it once or twice won't necessarily cause problems, but as long as you take the time to eliminate the hidden dangers, you can drink it again.

Let's do it the day after tomorrow or the day after that.

I'm busy right now.

Jiangcheng's steps halted here, and Xinghai Xielu appeared once again, flashing with a faint light. It did not use flight, nor did it summon stars. Instead, it was somewhat like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, using a small amount of gravity to gather fresh leaves and flowers, driving away dew and any dirt or hidden dangers, while accurately leaving behind its own smooth body, as if it had just fallen from the tree, delicate and beautiful.

Countless flowers and leaves formed a bed, and a little fur was borrowed from nearby animals. The rather difficult weaving was completed in an instant—after all, it only needed to last one night, so it didn't need to be so elaborate.

After tidying up her clothes a bit, she took off her shoes, freeing her feet from their restraints. She carefully placed her arms, which had returned to their flesh color, to the side, padding them with soft fur. An invisible gravitational field extended outwards, ensuring that she could deploy a field with moderate perception capabilities while remaining as concealed as possible.

fell asleep.

Once I'm fully recovered tomorrow and the Honkai energy dissipates, I'll spend the whole day with Yan Ya and prepare a gift without any distractions.

It belongs to Raiden Mei.

It belongs only to Raiden Mei.

In any case, it should at least be comparable to the first gift you received in this world in terms of price and sentiment.

In a sense, this is also Jiangcheng's first proof in this world, and it would be a great disservice to not cherish it if it were not treated well.

With both hands, she gently pulled up the woven quilt, squeezing her bare feet inside, listening to the endless chirping of the night. Her dark eyes closed softly, and at that moment, the world completely lost its color.

good night.

Macabaka.

……

……

cell phone……

My phone...

Raiden Mei, who had just been deliberately bumped into, was still reeling from the shock of the collision. Her purplish-red pupils looked helplessly at her empty hands.

Although this sudden impact was nothing, not even enough to knock down a seasoned martial artist, the slightest tremor only proved that the girl, whose actual combat strength had reached at least the level of a B-rank Valkyrie, was too happy to even observe her surroundings.

Ironically, the loss of her phone caused the girl to freeze for a few seconds. When she turned around again, the person had already disappeared into the crowd and could not be found. All that remained was the phone lying on the ground.

Regardless of strength, no matter how sharp one's eyesight is, it's impossible to find someone you only bumped into from among countless people who look exactly alike, whose clothes are even obscured by the darkness.

The girl was a human, not some kind of monster or anything like that, at least not yet, so she could only look at her broken phone on the ground by herself.

I had just exchanged greetings with the boy on LINE, and I was worried that starting to chat again just minutes after we parted might be seen as impulsive or cheap. I didn't even check if he responded before my phone, which was practically the cheapest thing I had on me, died.

what……

Jiangcheng...

Could Jiangcheng have already seen the greeting I sent?

Has Jiangcheng already replied?

Is Jiang Cheng wondering right now why I'm not replying to him?

If I don't reply for a long time, will he think I'm very rude, or even imagine that I'm cold to him and don't consider him a good friend?

I was the one who started the conversation, but after sending so many greetings, he didn't say a word or respond when it was his turn to reply. This kind of rudeness must have made him very unhappy with me.

what……

what……

My heart was trembling, my brain was buzzing, reason was echoing, and thoughts were constantly swirling back—a towering wave suddenly surged forth, stirring up a massive whirlpool in a lake that had just begun to circulate and was no longer completely stagnant.

Raiden Mei was almost thrown into a state of chaos by the impact. Her mind was filled with sounds that seemed to be breaking down, and the structure called thought was cracking and popping, as if it could collapse at any moment.

The point about good friends can be ignored, but other possibilities, even just thinking about them, cause a sharp pain in my heart. I can't form a picture, because once a picture is formed, the sadness from the depths of my body will completely engulf everything, and even my thoughts will briefly fall into stillness.

No... Absolutely not!

No! Absolutely! Absolutely no!

This is the one thing that is absolutely unacceptable!

As for being disliked by Jiangcheng, that will have to wait at least thirty years... no, fifty years.

I never imagined it would really come to this. I had expected that even with some repairs, it would at least stay with the boy for the rest of his life.

If what I imagined really happened, I'm afraid the next day I would really have to kneel on the ground and beg the boy to say, "I can do anything."

It needs to be fixed quickly...

Her slender fingertips instinctively reached into her handbag, and without any hesitation, she quickly took out her wallet from her pocket.

However, during this period, the aloof young lady's ability to judge wealth by its thickness without needing to look directly at it or make a long judgment failed for the first time—because her wallet was now so empty that she could hardly find a single bill.

Raiden Mei didn't seem to realize this yet, and still opened her wallet as usual, naturally reaching inside to take out banknotes.

Eh……

Eh……

"Eh?! Eh?! Eh?!!" The girl's purplish-red eyes cleared in an instant, and her struggling to shake her fingers resulted in them sliding through the air without any resistance. "Why... why is it empty inside?"

"Is there... not even the last bit left?"

……

It felt as if I had been stripped away from this world in an instant, surrounded by the cacophony of wind, thunder, and rain, neither still nor tranquil.

Raiden Mei lowered her head, releasing her fingers from her wallet, as if they had already withdrawn them long ago, her palms empty from the beginning, simply indifferently searching for a clear focus for her eyes.

They were clearly slender, long, fair, and exquisitely beautiful fingers with distinct joints, yet they always felt ethereal and illusory, like a mirage or a deception.

My body seemed to have been ripped of its bones in an instant, making it difficult to even stand. My long, full thighs could not support me and felt as if they had turned into gel.

Subconsciously, I gripped the edge of the wall. The rough wall rubbed against my fingertips, yet it felt strangely smooth. The pebbles piled up made it difficult to exert any force, so I could only repeat the motion over and over again, trying to support myself.

Only now, lost in her fantasies and sweetness, did the girl suddenly remember that she had spent all her last penny on buying ice cream for the boy—a precious item that she could only afford once a day to protect herself, since that day had become the cheapest one she could buy.

Even if I work hard, I'll still have to eat instant noodles for at least a month straight, and I can only eat two bowls a day, it's a very limited amount.

This wouldn't normally be considered a big deal; a young girl could endure this level of hardship. But now, she's also dealing with the fact that her phone was accidentally dropped and destroyed.

As if it were the malice of this world, seeing that the girl, whom he judged to be utterly miserable and struggling in endless darkness, had found happiness, he became furious and doubled his endless misfortune and disaster, determined to make the miserable girl utterly despair and sink into the deep sea without a glimmer of hope or light.

At least those eyes that had finally managed to gleam a little light were once again robbed of their color, trembling and lingering sadly.

Oops……

that's terrible.

Without the money to fix it immediately, it would be impossible to reply to the boy's messages in a timely manner. The only feasible solution was to explain the situation to him when they contacted him the next day—but that would require waiting at least one night, leaving the boy standing up for no reason.

I started a conversation, but before I could even comfort myself for a second, another terrible thing happened.

what……

what……

—Am I unworthy of happiness?

It seemed as if I heard a voice exactly like my own, a self-deprecating murmur of utter despair. It was a sadness that had never crossed my mind before, a profound and utter denial of myself that I had never imagined, even in my most desperate and darkest times.

It's not that happiness is unattainable, nor that one is destined to live in a dark world, nor is it due to any person or environment. Rather, it's that this person named Raiden Mei may never have been worthy of happiness from the very beginning.

The negativity from others can never compare to the feelings of personal experience. You have personally experienced light and happiness, but because of your own ridiculous behavior, a moment of carelessness could cause all of that to vanish.

I could have easily dodged it; it's just that someone else bumped into it. If I had been a little more careful, this wouldn't have happened.

I am a martial artist!

I am a swordsmanship practitioner praised even by teenagers.

Why……

Can't you even handle such a small thing?!

……

The oppressive environment and the despair created by humans take a long time to erode, robbing away all hope and all light. Only the calamity that comes from the heart is so terrifying and thorough.

To receive light.

Then the light is lost.

Perhaps some people are very greedy, cherishing and treasuring even what they don't have. But most people in the world only feel heartbroken when they lose something after they've gained it.

Because once you obtain something, it belongs to you; you can possess it, touch it, and experience it, unlike something completely unknown.

Once obtained, it is known.

Wonderful, happy, sweet, comfortable...

None of these feelings can be obtained through imagination.

Therefore, the pain is not only excruciating when you lose something, but also an intense, accumulating pain that can be felt infinitely. The more you cherish something, the more your heart aches.

If one has an endless yearning and desire before possessing something, and even the slightest touch after possessing it feels like falling into a sweet paradise, then the mere thought of losing it would surely bring fear and a sorrow so profound it brings tears to one's eyes.

"You coward, you don't deserve happiness!"

The voice that rang in my ears again, similar to mine but somewhat excessively sharp, was not self-doubt, but rather a direct accusation.

Don't let your mind wander...

cannot……

Do not……

The girl's attempts to comfort them grew fainter and fainter, because after losing sunlight, the plants' struggles were nothing more than wasting more nutrients, and their best efforts were just like fish splashing and jumping on the shore, unless they could once again receive that warm, all-encompassing light from the sky.

……

……

or……

Go find Jiang Cheng?