Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

"You promise?" Kiana looked confused.

"I guarantee it," Keng Huo wrote confidently.

When the two returned to the curry stall, they saw Mei exchanging cooking tips with the older men, Bronya sitting to the side fiddling with her handheld game console, and a large barrel of mysterious substance that had been sealed.

Keng Huo leaned over and looked at the sealed bucket of curry with satisfaction; even a fool could see the excitement on his face.

"Once I get back and turn these things into bio-grenades, won't I be able to kill gods and Buddhas if they can't stop me?" Keng Huo thought to himself.

Keng Huo picked up the small blackboard and quickly wrote a few lines: "Could you please deliver these to my dorm after the school festival? I really like this curry, please!"

Then I drew a starry-eyed emoji.

Wow! Teacher Keng likes our curry that much?!

"I never expected Teacher Keng to be such a good person!"

"Teacher Keng has always been a good person!"

"Has Keng Huo lost his mind?" Kiana asked Mei with concern, her eyes filled with worry.

"Don't worry, it should be fine if it's Teacher Keng." Mei shook her finger. "Because it's Teacher Keng, there won't be any problems."

This is a widely circulated saying at St. Freya Academy. Because Keng Huo often does strange and amazing things at the academy, everyone is used to his seemingly eccentric behavior. So no matter how strange or unusual something is, as long as it is related to Keng Huo, it can be explained with the phrase "Because it's Teacher Keng, it's okay."

Because although Keng Huo is noisy, the negative impact he produces is often surprisingly small; usually, it's just Keng Huo entertaining himself.

Kiana was still a little worried, but she opened her mouth, glanced at Keng Huo, and couldn't say anything.

"Take care, Teacher Keng!"

"Teacher Keng comes often!"

"Teacher Keng is so handsome!"

A group of old men lined up to see Keng Huo and his group off.

"Speaking of which, did we forget something?" Watching the departing figures of Keng Huo and his group, and as the red mist dissipated along with the Hell Volcano Curry sealed in a large barrel with plastic wrap, the old men took off their helmets, revealing their beautiful faces covered in sweat. Strands of hair were stuck to their faces with sweat, adding to the delicate air of these slightly tired reserve Valkyries.

"Did we forget to give Teacher Keng a prize?"

What prize?

"Isn't it said that anyone who can finish a plate of Hellfire Curry will get an unlimited supply of extra spicy curry rice for the day?"

"But didn't we pack up all the Hellfire Volcano Curry to send to Teacher Keng tonight?"

"Oh...it seems there's no problem...but what will the other guests eat?"

"That's a problem... In that case, although it's a bit of a shame, let's just give them regular curry."

"Okay, okay, although I feel really bad for the other classmates, this is the only way for now."

"Who made sure that the much-anticipated Hellfire Volcano Curry was all taken care of by Teacher Keng?"

"Yes, yes."

"Let's go! Takoyaki! Goldfish scooping! Whack-a-mole! Passionate youth!" Keng Huo held up the small blackboard, wrote these shameful words heavily on it, and held it high above his head, as if to display it to everyone.

"I mean... are you sure you don't need to go to the infirmary?" Kiana asked hesitantly. "You ate so much spicy food... won't your stomach burn out?"

"Dumb tape! Cute big breasts!" Keng Huo quickly wrote on the small blackboard in his hand again, "Because it's all vomited out, it's fine!"

"Teacher Keng is really..." Mei rubbed her forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. "If you feel anything is wrong, be sure to tell us!"

"Don't worry! I'm a veteran!" Keng Huo held up the small blackboard with a big smile, as if he hadn't been the one vomiting so much just now.

Keng Huo dashed into the school festival booths like a gust of wind.

"You audacious mole! Take this!"

"What kind of hoop throwing is this?! Why is the pillar thicker than the hoop?! Huh? Am I standing upside down? Am I supposed to catch the hoop with the pillar? Oh... wait a minute! Even if we switched roles, it's still impossible to ring it! Are you a fraudster?!"

"I'll stake the honor of the Kaslana family on this dart that will hit its mark every time!"

"Isn't this supposed to be a goldfish scooping game? Where are the goldfish? What did you put in there?? Oh, it is indeed a goldfish... wait a minute! Just because a fish is made of gold doesn't mean it's a goldfish! And where did you get a goldfish from?! How could you possibly scoop up a fish that heavy?!"

"You idiot! Put the gun down! Let's talk this out... Huh? Out of bullets? Heh heh heh..."

"Aaaaaah! Let go! The water balloon's going to explode! Explode! Explode! You idiot! My clothes are all wet!"

"You idiot, keep up with the pace! Mei and the others are almost at the finish line!" Like a noodle dancing in the wind, Keng Huo was dragged along the ground by Kiana as she rushed towards the finish line, kicking up a cloud of dust. At this moment, his face had an expression of utter despair. His right foot was tied to Kiana's, and they were clearly doing a three-legged race.

But not being in sync with Kiana wasn't the reason he gave up on treatment; it was because Bronya, who was paired with Mei, had Heavy Bunny grab Mei, and the two of them floated to the finish line with their feet off the ground... There was no way they could win in that situation...

Unfortunately, there weren't many activities during the school festival because there were too few students. To accommodate all the students, Keng Huo initially stipulated that half of the students would set up stalls on the second day of the school festival, while the other half would play; the third day of the school festival was the other way around.

Even so, there are still too few things to do.

"Hmph, it's all your fault for dragging me down, otherwise I definitely would have won!" Kiana angrily twisted Keng Huo's ear. "And you even prevented me from being in a team with Mei!"

"It was Mei herself who said she wanted to be in a group with Bronya..." Keng Huo weakly raised his small blackboard.

"You dare talk back! Eat my Malgos Grand Cross Lock!"

Even so, with each game's chaotic and mischievous interference, the four of them didn't finish playing all the games until evening.

Suddenly, it was as if St. Freya Academy had lost power. All the electricity and lighting facilities went out at the same time, causing the students to look at each other in bewilderment, wondering what had happened.

"Wow, wow, wow, look!" Kiana, her face covered in melted syrup from biting into a candied apple, pointed in amazement at the fireworks that suddenly exploded in the sky, her eyes filled with delight.

The four looked up and saw fireworks suddenly exploding in the sky, as if they were witnessing the most beautiful scene in the world.

“Bronya doesn’t quite understand,” Bronya’s somewhat puzzled voice came from beside Keng Huo, her voice sounding a little muffled, “because of the different spectral appearances under the same observation conditions caused by the violent oxidation reaction of heavy metals, the explosive sound exceeding the healthy volume that the human body can tolerate, and the implied possibility of causing a fire…”

Before Bronya could finish speaking, she felt a hand press down on her head and stroke it back and forth forcefully.

She looked up alertly and saw Keng Huo smilingly reaching out his lewd hand to touch her head. Suddenly, the heavily armed rabbit behind her emerged from the shadows, its left arm's cannon, with a caliber larger than Keng Huo's head, pressed against Keng Huo's forehead.

Keng Huo didn't pay attention to Bronya's reaction. He simply raised the small blackboard in his hand. The words written on it were not visible in the darkness, but the colorful light from the fireworks illuminated the blackboard, allowing Bronya to see the words for a moment.

"What we watch isn't important, what's most important is watching it with everyone, isn't it?"

Bronya didn't say much, but silently put away the Heavy Bunny and moved closer to Mei.

"Let's go to the other side of the moat! There are fewer people there! And the view is better!" Kiana shouted as she ran out, pulling Bronya along with her.

The Valkyries in the central square watched silently as the magnificent fireworks rose and exploded, like petals falling in late spring or withered leaves drifting on a river. Those lights and shadows, which were originally meaningless, intertwined in everyone's heart to form the most cherished scenes.

Rinko remembered the ramen her father made. Her father was a bald, middle-aged chef whose proudest skill was his family's secret ramen recipe.

Hagi thought of her mother, who was always very strict with herself but worked four or five jobs at the same time to support herself and her younger brother.

Some people recalled their fleeting first love, a warmth that lingered on their lips, now cooled but unforgettable.

Some people recalled the sunset on their way home from junior high school, the shadows of their friends stretching endlessly in the setting sun, and they once thought that such days would last forever.

Some people recalled the warmth of the hands that rescued them from darkness when they were trapped in despair.

Everyone recalled many things, but they all unanimously thought of those bygone days and the lingering memories of what was forever missed.

Under the same starry sky and colorful light and shadow.

"Do you know why Kiana insisted that you come to the school festival?" Mei asked softly, the light from the fireworks illuminating her profile, making her look as beautiful as a lily in the cold wind.

"Haven't she always been like this, doing things on and off?" Keng Huo thought for a moment and wrote this sentence on the small blackboard.

Mei playfully kicked Keng Huo: "You really don't understand girls' hearts... This is the annual school festival, you know?"

Keng Huo picked up the small blackboard and drew a confused expression.

“So… this might be the last time we can all celebrate together happily.” Mei raised her hand and gently tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear. “Kiana wants to leave something behind… even if it’s just a memory, she wants to leave something behind with everyone.”

"After today, everyone will become official Valkyries, and there will be many arduous and dangerous missions. It will be rare to see so many people together again." Mei turned around and smiled at Keng Huo.

"I know you've been very tired these past few days, but I still acted a little willful. I'm really grateful that you've been so tolerant of our willfulness."

"I'm leaving now, Kiana is waiting for me." Mei stepped aside gently and disappeared into the crowd like a butterfly.

Keng Huo remained silent for a long time.

In this noisy crowd.

He had read Kiana's information. When she was young, her father took her out of Schicksal headquarters and she went into exile around the world. During that period, all she had was her father, whose fate is now unknown.

When she was nine years old, her father mysteriously disappeared.

From that moment on, Kiana's world consisted of only her.

Kiana wandered this land alone, searching for food, fighting against the Honkai alone, walking and stopping alone, and choosing a place to sleep alone.

She has always been alone since she was nine years old.

She had never been to school, so she found the courses at St. Freya Academy incredibly difficult and even lost patience with them.

She had never had any friends before, so she cherishes her current friends all the more.

She has never had a stable life, so she is extremely satisfied with her current life of joking and playing around with people she knows every day.

She never had anything that normal people have.

But now she has it.

That's why she doesn't want to lose it even more.

She chased after things she found beautiful, like Mei or Karen, like a moth drawn to a flame.

The moth, born in darkness, never encountered light throughout its entire life, merely fluttering in the shadows. Until one day, a flame appeared before it, so warm and so bright, as if it contained all the hopes and dreams the moth had held since its birth.

Even if it's fire, this moth will fearlessly rush towards it.

Because that was the only beautiful thing it had ever seen in its life.

Those born in the light often chase after the shadows.

Only those born in darkness will spend their entire lives yearning for light.