Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

"Eh……"

"Eh."

"Eh?!"

Seeing the boy's pure, untainted eyes, her pretty face, which had been filled with sorrow, suddenly froze. Her mournful tone, as if she were about to lose all meaning in life, finally crumbled.

"Jiang Cheng, you..."

"You agreed?!"

"You just agreed to my unreasonable request like that!"

"--real?"

It seemed that the weight of these words was too astonishing, even beyond the girl's imagination.

For a moment, he even lost his voice.

She opened her cherry-colored lips, wanting to say something matching her words, but could only utter sounds from her throat that were barely able to form characters.

"Of course, please enjoy it all."

“My promise is not some bubble, nor is it something to be made under the sun. It’s like the Arctic glaciers wanting to melt; the temperature would have to be much higher.”

There was not a trace of emotion or compromise in the boy's eyes; it was a sincere promise from the very depths of his heart, completely unaffected by anyone else.

"My dear great inventor, please stop feeling inferior. This is everything you deserve, and it is the reward for all your hard work."

"Back then..."

"—Didn't you save me in the same way?"

……

It was as if the scene of that day had been recreated.

The boy who once again agreed to the rude behavior, the girl who felt defeated by the other party's silence, and the girl who fell into the abyss on her own, all perfectly replicated the behavior of a certain bystander.

——Aliceia.

The fairy-like girl observed everything, everything.

The boy's relationship with Virvi.

There were almost no conflicts; they cherished each other's quiet daily lives, with occasional miscellaneous work and Mebius's urging visits.

Life in Jiangcheng was no different from what I had experienced on my previous journey.

He even had some extra tedious official duties due to his work and position.

The plans that need to be handled, the orders that need to be issued, and even the distribution of funds, which should be handed over to other departments, also need to be reviewed by the Youth General Manager. Some people's excessive harassment even makes Alicia want to take action to resolve the situation.

If we consider free time, this cannot be called happiness or freedom.

But the boy was undoubtedly free.

Because those tasks don't necessarily have to be completed.

Jiang Cheng simply felt it was necessary to help Vilvie and the girl with some of the difficult things she was going through.

This stems entirely from subjective motivation; no one can urge a teenager to do anything.

The girl had only seen this posture when she was in the small town.

During the trip, the boy's initiative was almost completely exhausted, and there was basically nothing for him to do on his own initiative.

This was unimaginable in the past. In the spring, when the snow first melted and flowers were in full bloom, the boy would stand with himself at the church entrance, offering fresh flowers to every passerby.

In the warm, sunny season, they are willing to accompany me to the welfare home to weed the orchard with the children there, looking forward to this year's harvest.

In the season of falling leaves, I help myself to paste leaves of various colors into pictures and weave them into stories to share with everyone.

In the season of silver and white, I draw the shapes of musical notes on the snow and sing lullabies softly in the winter forest.

No one forced them to do any of these things; just like how today's teenagers take responsibility for themselves voluntarily, entirely out of their own volition.

perhaps……

Freedom is never such a simple word.

The boy doesn't crave physical freedom, and he may not even need mental freedom; he only needs emotional satisfaction.

Something he had never had before...

—A yearning for love.

Alicia's observation has been going on for a long time.

They were even willing to abandon a journey that was only halfway through, to give up communication with everyone, and even to voluntarily give up the humanity within them.

This behavior was given the ridiculous lie of helping to observe Vilvi and prevent Jiangcheng from being deceived.

But after so much time has passed, there is no trace of falsehood in Vilvi's feelings for the boy, no deception or abduction whatsoever.

That shy, self-conscious girl, yet as obedient as a loyal dog, was beyond reproach by anyone; even the most demanding person couldn't make any requests of her.

A girl as free as the wind should continue her unfinished journey with flowers and birds.

But Alicia is still here watching.

They were still here, taking pictures and recording everything.

Why should we stay here?

Why should someone who doesn't belong here forcefully intervene to observe and stop the lives of boys and girls, acting as a bystander?

--Worry?

No.

This feeling is beyond comprehension.

The boy is undoubtedly doing very well.

A little busyness is actually a spice to life; Vilvi perfectly satisfies a boy's desire to be needed and loved.

He became the owner of the Spiral Workshop, achieving a level of success that even those at the top of the pyramid could hardly imagine at just over twenty years old.

With Vilvi around, she was the only one who could keep this unparalleled genius in check.

Jiangcheng's status will only rise higher and higher, and life will no longer be as lonely as it used to be. It will go further and further in happiness and beauty until it finds paradise.

The catastrophe known as Honkai will force humanity to run a marathon with all its might, making geniuses more precious than ever before.

Modern civilization, unless truly on the verge of extinction, will never truly ignore the thoughts of individuals, especially geniuses.

A young person's life will only get better and better, more and more fulfilling, and even being busy is a kind of happiness.

So……

Why should I stay here?

Why should I, as a mere spectator, observe all of this?

There should be no regrets left.

They should just let go and do what they want to do.

Even though I hadn't paid much attention to Jiangcheng before, no matter what ideas I came up with, they would inexplicably end up being shared, even if it was just a gathering for one person, or a celebration prepared solely for Jiangcheng.

In the end, it will also degenerate into a gathering for everyone to exchange ideas.

Even though I've done all this, been so heartless, why am I still staying here? Why can't I bear to take my eyes off the boy?

Why……

The damaged camera still needs to be repaired.

Why……

She couldn't accept Jiang Cheng's departure.

Through the camera lens, Alicia saw a slight reflection coming from her face. The girl reached out a finger and gently touched that spot.

—It is tears.

Silently, tears, like pearls that should never have appeared on the face of such a lovely girl, fell from the corners of her eyes, tracing graceful curves, and even slightly dampening the ground beneath her.

Birds chirped as they flew by, hovering on the girl's fingertips, which were frozen in mid-air, as if comforting the sorrowful girl.

Her eyes, as flawless and clear as a shallow sea, seemed to have just experienced a light rain, and the misty pupils reflected the girl's clarity.

She had already figured out the answer.

They just don't want to face it.

what……

what……

what……

what……

So this is ah.

So this is ah……

Oh, I see!

—I am the one who finds it hardest to accept the boy's departure.

Even if you understand all of this, what's the point?

You understood long ago, but you were afraid to face your own heart. Because the moment you realized it, the truth was already beyond your control. If you burst the bubble, even the slightest bit of beauty on the surface would be gone, and everything would explode and vanish into thin air.

But even if you face it, what then?

Even if we face it, what can we change?

Regardless of whether the young man still has feelings for you, whether he would be willing to travel with you again, or whether he could ignore your past indifference towards him.