Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

Upon entering the swimming pool, the two quickly located their target.

There weren't many students inside, and there were still 6 minutes until we entered the timeframe for Darlena's death.

Black Tower received both good and bad news from Brooks and Green.

One is dead, the other is alive.

Brooks failed, Green succeeded.

Qi Zhimu was not entirely surprised.

"I didn't realize they were so capable; at least they can complete a task."

The Black Tower was also somewhat surprised, but that was all.

After finishing her call with Brooks, both she and Qi Zhimu realized the problem.

Brooks' mission location is in the suburbs.

The target is a woman in her thirties who works in customer service.

Because of the immense pressure, I like to rest by the willow trees in the lakeside park after get off work to relieve the unpleasantness brought on by work.

Whenever the gentle willow branches brush against my face, and I watch the clear, full moon bathe in its light, my mind and body feel much calmer.

There weren't many pedestrians nearby, but there were at least some.

Brooks and his two companions pretended to be strollers, observing their target from nearby public benches, looking for a suitable opportunity to strike up a conversation.

They did manage to exchange words, but unfortunately, no one noticed the extremely obvious warning.

The lake was calm at the time, and the full moon was clearly reflected in the water.

The target was leaning against a willow tree talking to Brooks; her death lasted only two minutes.

Time was short, so Brooks was in a hurry.

The more anxious you are, the easier it is to overlook the answer right in front of you.

Two minutes passed in the blink of an eye. The target was strangled by several willow branches and dragged into the tree trunk, disappearing without a trace.

The hint is simple: the environment and climate by the lake at night.

The calm lake reflected the full, round moon, and there wasn't a breath of wind in the suburbs, not even a ripple.

If there's no wind, then how do the willow branches move?

The moment of death only lasts two minutes because environmental cues are already present before entering this interval.

Death deliberately gives only a very short timeframe to incite Brooks' anxiety and make him focus on people rather than the environment.

"Detective Black Tower, I'm sorry... but we've only completed two missions so far. For the last one, please do your best—"

Before he could finish speaking, the phone Black Tower was holding vanished.

Turning her head to look at Qi Zhimu, she noticed that the veins on the back of his hand were bulging as he clenched something tightly in his hand.

It was the cell phone that the mission assigned to her, used to contact her temporary teammates.

"What a piece of junk! It's so hard!"

Qi Zhimu's eyes twitched with anger, lightning arcs flickering between his fingers as he quickly destroyed the phone. He then threw it forcefully out the window, where it disappeared into the night as an arc of light.

Seeing the puzzled look from the Black Tower, he couldn't help but snort coldly.

"What are you looking at? You didn't need to take this piece of junk in the first place. Teammates? Does it really make a big difference whether they're here or not?"

"Since that idiot's mission failed, why bother listening to his endless nonsense?"

"Instead of wasting your time, you'd be better off thinking about how to complete the last task. Although it's okay if you don't complete it, I won't allow you to be... no—"

Realizing that what he said might not be appropriate, Qi Zhimu quickly changed his words.

"What kind of damn Grim Reaper is this? What right does he have to compete with me for food? If he piss me off, I'll destroy this world and see how he can still be a god then."

Black Tower tilted his head: "But wouldn't I die too? Unless you can find me a protective suit to wear."

As for Qi Zhimu destroying and throwing away her phone, she didn't think anything of it.

After all, what he said is true.

She only needs Qi Zhimu; she doesn't need teammates who are of little help and are more like a burden.

"You don't need to worry about that. My magic is very powerful and can do anything."

Qi Zhimu proudly raised his chin, his tone resolute.

"To survive in a vacuum? A piece of cake, just a small price to pay."

a little?

It should probably be a hundred million.

Black Tower didn't intend to expose Qi Zhimu's arrogant statement, and started thinking about something else.

After all eight moments of death had passed, the intensity of Death's pursuit of her was not explicitly detailed in the text.

The only guess is that only a few missions were completed, resulting in a corresponding decrease in the number of Death Incarnations.

Is that really the case?

She didn't think there was any need to hide these rules, and there was nothing wrong with openly informing the task executors.

It's unclear who the protagonist of this work is, or whether he's already dead.

Or perhaps... this is the foggy city where the protagonist once carried out a mission, but only once?

Human beings have created so many works: literature, film and television...

Given enough serendipity, even a person's obsession can be used to create a completely new world through memory.

Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to fully understand all these world settings.

Only the initial settings remain unchanged and cannot be changed.

Are we going to wait until all the missions with death moments are over before revealing the Grim Reaper's pursuit mechanics...?

"I have an idea, Mr. Creditor."

"explain."

"Can you drain all the water from the swimming pool?"

"Tsk, I get it."

Qi Zhimu raised an eyebrow.

If it really is a water ghost, how would it drag someone into the water and drown them after losing its aquatic environment?

He was quite curious too.

Darlena died between 21:02 and 21:08, which wasn't a long time.

The staff silently swept out and plunged into the pool, beginning to devour everything in its path.

Within just two breaths, not a single drop of water could be found in any of the swimming pools in the swimming center.

The girls who were swimming were stunned.

What's going on?

Even if the waterproof layer under the pool cracks, the rate of water loss shouldn't be that fast, right?

There was a slight disturbance inside the venue, and Darlene went down into the dried-up pool to check if anyone was injured.

The clock struck 21:02.

Qi Zhimu kept his gaze fixed on Dalena, keeping track of the time and preparing to act at any moment.

21:04…

21:05…

21: 08!

As the seconds steadily ticked by, less than 20 seconds remained until 21:09.

During this time, Darlena did not leave the swimming pool and communicated with relevant staff about the strange situation that had occurred not long ago.

"Planning to refill the tank? Hmph, what do you take me for?"

One drop is injected, and one drop is drawn.

If it weren't for the possibility that taking action against the target might trigger an unexpected chain reaction, the high altitude would have given Darlena a taste of what it's like to be a trapeze artist.

「5、4、3、2、1……」

As the Black Tower murmured, the time finally turned 21:09.

Darlena did not die, nor did she even see a shadow of the Grim Reaper. Black Tower confirmed the conclusion he had long held in his heart: Qi Zhimu was her legitimate cheat code, allowing him to destroy the conditions set by the Grim Reaper from the root, in the simplest and most direct way.

The next second, a emotionless notification sound appeared in Black Tower's mind.

"Mission complete 3/8. In 1 minute, the one who dies on time will become the Grim Reaper, locking onto the mission executor's coordinates and beginning the hunt."

"When facing the Executor, the Grim Reaper's incarnation possesses the same abilities as the deceased, but cannot kill them."

"Good luck to all the executors."

The Black Tower then repeated the final hint in its entirety.

Qi Zhimu's head was filled with question marks, and his expression was all wrong.

"If we don't give you time to pursue us, are we really going to keep looking for you forever?"

"It's clear that Death can't kill me, isn't this forcing me to destroy the world? Interesting."

……

Has Hagiwara taken too big a step and chosen the wrong direction for its story?

I originally thought that the Honkai Impact 3rd universe was compatible with almost any original story theme, with ready-made examples such as Two-Phase Paradise and Onpharos.

It's probably because there are too few characters appearing; there's really nothing we can do about it.

After all, the only person registered on Azure Star is Black Tower, and that's before she became a genius. There's almost no related storyline in the game, so there's no way to add more people if you want to.

The original plan was: missing each other in the first life, summarizing in the second, the regretful fate of love and hatred, destined to love each other but not be able to be together, and the Black Tower in this life is mutual redemption.

Almost everyone guessed the foreshadowing about the protagonist, but it seems no one guessed about the Black Tower.

Initially, I was thinking of linking Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact, with related artifact easter eggs in the space station, but I realized that would make the story too long, so I had to give up on that idea.

The story of the Memory World is nearing its end, with only a few days left, and then the plot will begin to unravel the foreshadowing.