Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

'I……'

……

—Because the last vestiges of hope were completely shattered.

The individual named Raiden Mei can no longer deceive herself with superficial warmth.

I realized that the so-called light was just a blueprint, and that my efforts had never been taken seriously or valued by anyone.

All their actions were nothing more than a clown's self-amusement, and the peace of mind and sense of security they craved were lies that never existed from the very beginning.

The girl fell onto the cold operating table once again. Under the emotionless incandescent light, before the anesthesia took effect, she struggled to stay awake and looked towards the door. From the beginning, no savior would come; only a piece of paper floated by.

They can't find the reason for their existence, nor the meaning of enduring all this, because of past experiences and feelings of inferiority about their status, to the point that they feel anxious and insecure even when they receive a little warmth, believing that they are not worthy of it.

Just like a kite with a broken string, unable to find its place in the chaos, it can only drift aimlessly in the wind, letting itself be caught in the waves.

What could be more terrifying than being on a small boat with only a lone sail, no oars, and the constant threat of capsizing?

They must not even know where the boat is headed, their own life, the direction of the future, or what they will face next. They can only sit blankly in the boat, sometimes facing the cold wind, sometimes the warm sun. No one knows how long the cold wind will last, or how long the luxurious warmth of the sun can be enjoyed in their hearts.

However, if one becomes truly intoxicated by the sun's gentleness and cannot withstand the cold wind, the final outcome will surely be swift: death.

Peace of mind is always what human beings pursue most. The earliest fear comes from the unknown, and darkness is just the most common manifestation of the unknown.

If everyone knew what the unknown was, and there was nothing unknowable in this world, then even if they were still disheartened by the despair that was directly in front of them, they would not be like those who, when faced with the unknown shrouded in darkness, could only let fear fester in their hearts and scare themselves.

Helpless... The reason why there are so many people who pursue freedom, and who are even willing to give up their lives for so-called freedom, is essentially just to be able to decide their own destiny and not have to worry about falling into a desperate situation because of someone else's opinion.

There's a saying: "If you're a thief for a thousand days, how can you guard against thieves for a thousand days?"

Even if the worries of a man of Qi are true, so what?

So what if a meteorite really did fall?

There are countless examples in the world of people living in constant fear and anxiety, whose minds alter their bodies, and who die in terror.

……

……

……

what……

So that’s it…

"Actually, Raiden Mei's problem is not that simple. She needs a real savior, otherwise things will get worse. I am not suitable for that position, so I accidentally messed everything up."

Jiang Cheng nodded gently, his fingers lightly stroking the external organ of this body—the Star Sea Harmony—his eyebrows drooping slightly as he pondered.

All the arrogance and hubris about knowing the plot that he shouldn't have, until he was awakened by the Queen of Thunder, until that Herrscher personality, which should have been proud, was willing to give him everything, telling his unworthy friend everything he had seen about Raiden Mei since her birth.

Those things that should never have been possessed in the first place, and that should have been exhausted in that simulation, have finally been completely shattered and are no longer a constraint.

We already know this is a real world.

Why would someone so presumptuously assume that everything would unfold according to the plot?

Since everyone knows that the butterfly effect exists, why do you think that your participation will not cause things to deviate in an extreme way?

Haven't we already encountered girls like this?

Why do mistakes still occur?

Why did things still go wrong?

Am I really not feeling well...?

Do not……

It's miHoYo's fault.

Raiden Mei is clearly an important character, yet her past was written so vaguely, with information hidden so deeply, that it was impossible to recall all of her past the moment I saw her. I missed crucial information and forgot the severity of her illness. It's all miHoYo's fault, really.

乆乆乆乆!

However, she didn't expect that her acting skills were indeed cultivated by Velvet... Raiden Mei actually knew from the beginning that her encounter with her was not pure, and that her so-called classmate who came for the first time was full of lies.

The reason she pretended not to know and continued to act like a normal high school girl was simply because she didn't care about these trivial matters.

The cats on the street never care whether the people feeding them treats have blood on their hands.

People hanging on the edge of a cliff will hold on tightly even if the straw they are trying to grasp is a thorn.

In-depth exploration is a luxury that only those living a comfortable life can afford; people on the verge of death and stray cats have no time to care.

If you don't even know what you'll eat for your next meal, who would instinctively give their last bit of nutrition to their brain to contemplate the ends of the universe?

……

229. So you wanted to kill them all too!

If she weren't truly facing an undeniable, stark truth, even if she knew some of it, this young woman would probably choose to deceive herself, engage in self-deception and manipulation, and cover up all her mistakes.

This time, we really miscalculated. We mistakenly thought that the only difficulty was psychological issues. There was clearly an even more important, truly explosive bomb next to Raiden Mei.

Jiang Cheng sighed silently, grieving for the mistake he had made and for the life he was about to embark on as a super-adult daughter.

Given this kind of development, it's impossible for things to go the same way as in the original story. Raiden Mei no longer has the option to pretend to be normal.

Life after being rescued... will probably be very difficult.

As for giving up or failing...

The boy never imagined it.

On the way, he had already made up his mind to save Raiden Mei no matter what, and he was determined to solve the problem even if it meant forcibly starting another simulation. Why would he be afraid of the predicament he had created, or even a mess that Kiana had made?

……

"You can choose to leave now, because even if you pretend to be happy to accept the gift, raising the giver's expectations, it's at most a matter of hypocrisy or pretentiousness."

He knew Mei's problem but remained indifferent.

You can choose to leave, or you can choose to help.

No one can blame the former, and the Thunder Queen should thank the latter, for the young man was willing to dedicate his power to someone he had just met.

Ironically, even knowing the truth, the boy's answer was inaction—he simply occupied his position, neither leaving nor helping Mei out of her predicament, just like the tea-selling girls or fish-farming scumbags Mei had seen in novels or comics in her memory.

Sometimes, staying still and doing nothing, while occupying a spot, is also a mistake. Hanging a carrot in front of a mule may seem like giving hope, but it's actually just a false act of exhausting its energy.

Perhaps this can also be interpreted as the mule being stupid.

It just followed someone blindly after they hung a carrot on it.

This outcome is never solely due to one person's fault; simply pointing fingers at one side is a double standard that cannot be easily achieved.

Therefore, she could not and should not drag the boy in front of her into this mess, nor was she willing or able to allow innocent people... especially Jiang Cheng, to be injured.

The Thunder Queen simply gave them the opportunity to leave, and their almost completely controlled bodies did their best to raise their hands and point in the direction of departure.

'I really can't bring myself to criticize you excessively, so I suggest you leave now. Regardless of what you just used, or what special weapon you employed, this power called a Herrscher is not as simple as it seems.'

'With just one-tenth of that power gathered in my will, I could destroy those guys, destroy this filthy city.'

……

When the Queen of Thunder said those words, she had no hope whatsoever and did not believe that a lazy, good-for-nothing man could help her in any way.

Mei spoke up simply because of her affection for the boy and her respect for the power that could temporarily suppress her.

Forcible coercion, threats, or even moral blackmail might increase the probability, but Raiden Mei, that hopeless idiot, would never accept Jiang Cheng being treated this way.

The girl, silently lamenting her own deep-seated foolishness, subconsciously prepared to leave, until the boy, who had given up hope, raised his head.

"This Miss Thunder..."

"—So you were originally planning to just kill them all?"

'...'

'Eh……'

'Huh?!'

……

"Do you remember that store manager?"

The boy's face remained calm, showing no sign of anger at being accused. The sadness in his slightly lowered eyes was merely empathy. But long before the tide of doubts surged in, he had already reached out and gently pointed to the familiar street.

"Before Mei came back, I sensed him saying Mei's name in a very arrogant manner, so I just crushed him into mincemeat."

"You said that gift cost Mei all her money, and you sounded angry. I guess that guy must have extorted money from Mei once."

“You don’t need to worry or be angry. He died a terrible death, crushed into a pulp bit by bit, unable to even scream in his despair.”

"Your criticism of my behavior is not wrong. From your perspective, these actions are indeed those of a scumbag. However, you don't understand it very well either. We may share the same thoughts, but we lack some communication."

"But to me, your mistakes are no less than mine. In fact, you are the one who made things worse, while I was just doing some preparatory work to solve Raiden Mei's problems."

……

It seemed they had never expected to be refuted so sharply.

The Queen of Thunder fell silent.

Unable to respond and unable to respond, because in the very first moment after accepting the Honkai and becoming a Herrscher, when I could use electromagnetic force to peer into the entire city, I truly did not sense the existence of this damned shopkeeper who looked like a fat pig.

Even if the opponent has almost no resistance and turns to ashes in just one second, that one second is enough for the girl full of hatred to take revenge.

The only possibility that they can't be found is that the other party is already dead, or even completely dead, with no trace of their body remaining, not even ashes.

Before realizing the seriousness of the problem, the Thunder Queen had wondered what had caused that damned shopkeeper to disappear.

It now seems that the only way to destroy someone so thoroughly, even more thoroughly than burning them to charcoal at high temperatures, is through gravitational twisting and crushing.

So……