Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

"it is good!"

Their date will begin at this moment.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sunset, Moonrise

After finishing breakfast, Cheng Xing and Qiyana officially began their day's activities.

Cheng Xing drove his secondhand car, which he had bought, and took Kiana to their first destination.

The two got out of the car near the hospital. Kiana looked at Cheng Xing with some curiosity and asked, "Cheng Xing, are you not feeling well? Why did you come here?"

"I had thought a lot about today's arrangements. At first, I wanted to take you to an amusement park or arcade to relax, but I felt that would be too mundane and wouldn't leave a deep impression on you, so I changed my plans."

Cheng Xing smiled and gestured for him to go ahead. Kiana, intrigued, followed him to see what his plans were.

Cheng Xing led Kiana into the hospital. After speaking with the staff at the counter for a while, he took Kiana to the inpatient area.

After a short journey, the two arrived at a hospital room. Cheng Xing opened the door and led Kiana inside.

After the two entered, the patient lying in the bed in the private room noticed them. His eyes lit up, and he pointed at Kiana and shouted, "It's you! Catman!"

Although the little boy on the hospital bed was injured, his face did not show much pain or sadness. On the contrary, he was very happy to see his benefactor.

Kiana stared blankly at the little boy on the hospital bed. She vaguely remembered that this was the boy she had rescued from a suicide squad a few days ago.

"Oh, big brother! You really brought Catman to see me! Thank you!"

The little boy first thanked Cheng Xing, then called out to Kiana, who was still in a daze, "Thank you, Catman! Mom always tells you that you should thank someone if they help you, but I couldn't say anything then. But this big brother found me earlier and said he could bring Catman to see me. I can't believe it actually worked! That's wonderful, thank you! Oh, by the way, this is a gift I prepared. It's not very well made, but please accept it!"

The little boy took out what looked like a paper cat from his bedside table. Although it was a bit rough and deformed, it did prove that the child had tried his best to make it.

"Well, although I've been trying my best these past few days, I still can't fold it very well. I'm sorry."

The boy looked somewhat embarrassed at the slightly deformed paper cat in his hand.

Kiana was still in a daze, not having realized what had happened, when Cheng Xing nudged her and whispered in her ear, "Go and accept the next child's thanks."

Kiana took a deep breath and took the paper cat from the child's hand. She was extremely careful, afraid that she might break it.

The little boy laughed happily.

The two left the hospital, and Kiana stared blankly at the crudely made, deformed paper cat in her hand the whole way.

"No need to look anymore, we'll be visiting all the people you've helped today."

Kiana looked up at Cheng Xing beside her upon hearing this, and asked in a choked voice, "Why did you do this?"

"Haven't you been saying that you've made a lot of mistakes, even to the point of being irreparable? Haven't you been blaming yourself and regretting your teacher's death? I know you've always felt that you deserve to die and shouldn't be alive because of this, but now, Kiana, look at those smiling faces, look at those people you've helped."

"Haven't you already found the meaning of your life? To protect the smiles of others, to protect the beauty of the world—isn't that what your teacher wanted to teach you?"

"We can't change what happened in the past, but we can pay the price for what happened in the future. If the number of people you help in the future far exceeds the number of people you hurt, then can that be considered a form of atonement?"

Kiana could no longer hide the tears welling up in her eyes.

Cheng Xing took out a pack of tissues from his backpack, pulled out a tissue, and handed it to Kiana.

"Cry, often you'll feel much better after the tears come out. We still have a lot of time today, you can go and see more people and families that you've saved."

"...Thank you, thank you."

The two of them spent the entire day running around the city, constantly receiving thanks from others.

The child who was almost kidnapped last night, the young man who almost died from a Honkai Beast, and the woman who was robbed in an alley.

Cheng Xing certainly didn't possess any extraordinary abilities to find everything, but he gleaned fragments of information from Kiana and meticulously traced her movement range using a map.

Finally, after a series of rumors about Catman, and most importantly, the gossip among neighbors.

It's impossible to find everyone, of course, but finding enough people is sufficient.

Kiana was thanked all day long. Cheng Xing sometimes didn't bring her along, but just let her quietly watch the happy family from afar, the family she had saved.

A family that should have died under the hooves of the Honkai Beasts.

At dusk, Cheng Xing took Kiana to the amusement park where she worked, and the two rode the Ferris wheel during their last moments together.

Kiana looked at the city, at the countless people living in this city under the twilight.

Kiana, are you satisfied today?

Cheng Xing asked.

"…………I am very satisfied, thank you, Cheng Xing. I understand now, Teacher Himeko, and I don't want me to sink into despair like before. I should stride confidently into the future and accept this world."

"Even if this world is not perfect, we can still try to change it little by little with our own hands, and change it into the beautiful world we want."

As dusk settled over Kiana, she exuded a different aura than before, her entire being radiating light.

Cheng Xing didn't reply, but looked at the setting sun outside and said, "The moon's light comes from the sun. When a person dies, if another person carries on her will and lives on, then she has not died; she lives on in you."

"Kiana, you are the inheritor of that will."

"Ah."

"Then let's fight for a better world."

"Fight for a better world!"

Smiles bloomed on both of their faces.

The sun sets, but people are never afraid of the coming of night, because they know that the sun will rise again.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Warm Dinner

On her way home, Kiana kept smiling, and anyone could tell that she was much more relaxed than before.

Kiana herself found it somewhat unbelievable. Ever since she figured things out at the Ferris wheel, even the bastard's voice that had been whispering in her ear had almost disappeared.

The mental erosion I had been trying so hard to resist had weakened considerably, and everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

And all of this was brought to me by the person beside me.

Kiana took a serious look at the young man who had been helping her all along. He wasn't good-looking, or rather, he didn't have anything special about him. He had the kind of ordinary, unremarkable face that would go unnoticed on the street if you didn't know him well.

But for some reason, Kiana felt that the more she looked at that face, the more attractive it became. She was even certain that even if Cheng Xing were thrown into a crowd, she could spot him at a glance.

Cheng Xing didn't notice the burning gaze beside him. After all, he was driving and dared not be distracted. He felt that even driving at 60 miles per hour was too fast.

So when he's driving, people around him always subconsciously ask him if he's ever received a ticket before.

It wasn't until he arrived at his building and parked his car that Cheng Xing noticed the intense gaze of the girl beside him. He raised an eyebrow and said in a flippant tone, "Oh, could it be that today's events have successfully left a deep impression on you, so you've developed feelings for me?"

"...Although I don't want to admit it yet, you're right. Cheng Xing, I remember everything you've done for me these past few days. If I didn't even feel any gratitude towards you, wouldn't I be too heartless?"

Kiana readily admitted her true feelings.

"So, in your heart, who do you prefer to see as your lover, me or Mei?"

"Hmm... Although I have developed feelings for you, Mei still holds a stronger place in my heart."

Kiana answered seriously as always.

"Then I need to work harder!"

Cheng Xing showed no discouragement, and the smile on his face remained genuine and sincere, without any stiffness or pretense.

Life is short anyway, and I've already experienced time travel, so why not muster the courage to try again? Why not forget everything and do something wholeheartedly?

How many times in a person's life can they have the chance to fight for something no matter what?

How many things can we do without regret?

However, at least for now, Cheng Xing has no regrets. These are the most authentic days he has lived since he transmigrated.

Well, of course he was actually slacking off at work. After all, he was just a designer, not a programmer. There were no problems at work; he spent most of his time slacking off and playing games.

Back home, Cheng Xing rolled up his sleeves to prepare dinner, but Kiana stepped forward and offered to lend a hand.

Cheng Xing didn't refuse directly. He simply placed the spice box on the table and said to the girl, "I understand your desire to help, but can you distinguish between sugar, salt, and MSG?"

Kiana stared at the white crystalline powder that appeared indistinguishable to her and fell into deep thought.

Then, Cheng Xing took out some oil.

Do you know the differences in taste between peanut oil, sunflower seed oil, and other brands of oil?

Kiana's eyes gradually became blurry.

"Then we need to understand that the amount of sugar or salt in a recipe is often determined based on many factors. Moreover, most recipes differ greatly from the food we make at home in the quantity of ingredients. Sometimes we do follow the recipe strictly and make a dish, but it doesn't taste very good to us because it's a common dish with a large quantity of ingredients, seasonings, etc. Plus, various personal factors and differences in taste mean that the dish we make isn't actually that good."

Kiana reached out and pressed her hand against the mouth that seemed about to continue speaking, then shook her head in pain.

"Stop reading, stop reading! I know my cooking skills are terrible, and I don't know anything about cooking. I'll just stay quietly to the side, please don't say anything more!"

Cheng Xing pulled his face away from the other person's hand, took a deep breath, and continued, "If you really want to help, that's fine too. Simple tasks like chopping vegetables are yours to do."

"Okay, okay!"

Kiana's smile returned, and she ran into the kitchen, gesturing at the vegetables on the cutting board, trying to find a suitable place to cut.

Cheng Xing smiled and shook his head before going inside to prepare the ingredients that had already been processed.

"Cheng Xing! Cheng Xing! How do you think I cut these potato shreds?"

Kiana pointed proudly at the neatly cut potato shreds on the cutting board.

Cheng Xing glanced at them and could tell that the pieces were cut too big; they were more like strips than shreds. But considering Xia Nao's cooking skills, it didn't seem too bad.

"You cut them a little too big, but it's okay. I've gotten a bit tired of eating shredded potatoes these past few days, so it's good to change things up. How about I make you some French fries?"

"Okay, okay!"

Kiana ignored the other ingredients on the cutting board and gathered around Cheng Xing, watching him make homemade French fries.

Making French fries is actually very easy, but since it's late at night, I won't go into details.

In short, after the crispy, golden-brown fries were scooped out, Kiana's eyes lit up as she reached out to grab them, only to have her hand tapped by a chopstick.

Kiana winced in pain and withdrew her hand, then looked at Cheng Xing with resentment.

"Are you still a child? Go wash your hands first. Besides, the fries are still hot from being caught. Let them cool down for a while. I'll go get you some ketchup."

Cheng Xing placed the fries on a plate and put it on the dining table. Then he took out a bag of ketchup from the cupboard, tore open the package, put it in a small dish, and placed it next to the fries before continuing to work in the kitchen.