Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

"You are afraid because you have status but lack power. I am here to give you what you need most... to look down on Möbius."

"Let Mebius lie before you, and you will have complete control over her. You may lose the world, but you can gain her."

The devil's whispers can stir up the deepest desires in a person's heart, and whatever those desires may be, they can drive a person mad.

...............

"A pitiful, self-conscious man who has even forgotten vanity, which makes him appear honest and loyal."

Nino's assessment is a true reflection of this man.

A real, yet humble man.

Chapter 82 It Was Actually Predestined

Nino's youth was a youth intertwined with lies.

At some point, she realized that speaking the truth would only provoke resentment, so she stopped telling the truth.

When someone is being lazy and trying to shirk responsibility, you shouldn't urge them on, but rather encourage them, comfort them, and help them overcome their guilt.

When others are indignant about trivial matters, you should not ridicule or criticize them, but go along with them and make them feel that they are doing the right thing.

When someone is jealous, never point it out. Instead, praise them while subtly belittling the person being jealous.

Youth is a lie.

Nino is very likable, both boys and girls.

The boy thinks he is handsome and considerate, can get along with anyone, and will never argue with you or look down on you.

Girls also like Nino because they think she's very generous, never stingy, never jealous, and never complains.

Even if you push tasks that no one else wants to do onto her, she will complete them without batting an eye.

In the end, everyone in the class felt that they owed Nino a lot of favors, so whenever Nino asked for something, no matter what it was, everyone would basically agree.

This is the ideal social status that everyone desires, but ironically, it contains no sincerity.

For example, Nino might think a boy in her class is ugly and morally corrupt, but she'll say it as if he's very charming. If you have a conflict with someone, it must be because of some misunderstanding.

For example, Nino might think a girl is vain and hypocritical, but what he says is that she is very beautiful; appearance is a reflection of the soul.

She always managed to satisfy them, and she never felt pressured by it, not even once...

I showed them my true self.

But Nino was acutely aware that he was a rotten person to the core.

She never felt indignant because others were treated unfairly, never urged her "friends" who didn't work hard, and never criticized her "friends" who were jealous of others.

Instead, they use sweet words to immerse them in their own standards, making them take these for granted.

In the end, Nino spoiled a group of people he hated the most.

Yes, Nino never liked these people.

But they always thought Nino was one of their own, and that if it were Nino, he would understand them.

But Nino didn't understand at all.

Jealousy, laziness, vanity...

These things have nothing to do with Nino.

She just pretended to know a lot, imitated their behavior, and dressed herself up as someone who fit their inner feelings.

Conino got everything.

She has an education, a job, social status, and a wide network of connections.

But she didn't get any satisfaction from it; she only felt more and more empty and disgusted.

Because she is a bad person, she hates these people, she doesn't live to save anything, or rather...

She was already tired of reaching out to others.

.........

"That's amazing!"

"Um... thank you."

Nino, dressed in a high school uniform, sat in front of a game console playing a fighting game that had recently become popular among students, and she felt it was necessary to learn more about it.

It seemed someone was talking to her, and she nodded, subconsciously replying with a word.

"Ah, that should be blocked."

The voice came again, and Nino was stunned for a moment. It was indeed a good suggestion, because she had been killed in the end because of a mistake.

"Hmm...it seems I'm still not good enough."

Nino shook his head, not feeling disappointed.

"Thank you. Are you very good at this game?"

"How polite. I wouldn't say I'm good at it, but I do practice kendo, how should I put it..."

The person who struck up the conversation seemed to be a student from the high school next door. She appeared to be a few years older than me, probably a senior.

"A martial artist's intuition?"

"……puff."

Nino couldn't help but laugh out loud. It wasn't acting, because she realized that the person was serious when he said that.

"Sorry, sorry, isn't this all very strange?"

The red-haired high school student smiled sheepishly, put down the bag on his shoulder, and showed Nino the bamboo sword inside.

"Kendo is real. I quite enjoy practicing swordsmanship. It always makes me feel like all my worries have flown away."

"I see……"

Nino, unusually, wanted to continue the conversation with this person, rather than giving the usual perfunctory response.

"So, you seem to have quite a few worries?"

"Haha, indeed, after all, it's pressure that can only be released by swinging a sword."

She smiled, shrugged, and looked more spirited than elegant—a very cool girl.

“My name is Chitose. What’s yours? Ah… I’m not a bad person, even though bad people say that.”

"No one would come out in uniform to lie to someone else in uniform, right?"

Nino knew, of course, that she wasn't a fraud, because he himself was.

“I’m Nino. If it’s a scam company that can afford to hire such a beautiful woman, I’d like to apply for a job there.”

"That's quite a joke. Could he actually be a bad boy?"

"How could that be? I'm just an ordinary high school student, sixteen years old, a beautiful age."

Nino shrugged.

"What's so ordinary about you? Wearing the uniform of the most expensive private school in the area, and with such a pretty face, you look like a lost heiress."

"I can't help it," Qian Duliu said helplessly.

“I’m being fostered by relatives. Because I’ve always been first in my class, they didn’t charge me tuition.”

Nino didn't want people to think he was unapproachable, he explained,

"More importantly, why did you come here, Sister Qiandu? I remember your high school had very strict rules."

"It's a bit worse than yours, isn't it? You should confess, did you sneak out here? Top student of the grade, huh?"

Chitose said irritably.

"You're only a first-year high school student and you dare to sneak out to play? And you still say you're not a bad kid?"

"They'll turn a blind eye, right? It's normal for the top student to occasionally sneak out to play games, isn't it?"

Nino was confident that he hadn't been discovered, and even if he had...

Then let's find out.

“Completely extraordinary… If I were in the same school as you, I would have pulled you aside and disciplined you long ago.”

Chitose seems to be a very serious person when it comes to this topic, and she speaks about it in a very serious and methodical manner.

Some people might think she's meddling, but Nino thinks that kind of person is quite rare.

"I'm just... um? Who are you? Don't touch me like that."

Nino was about to reply when she suddenly felt as if someone was pressing down on her shoulder. She frowned and turned her body to the side.

Behind her stood a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion and sunken eyes, his eyes gleaming with an inexplicable light.

"It's so late, you two little girls shouldn't be running around like this. Shall I take you home?"

"Huh? You mean...it hurts!"

Nino was stunned for a moment, and then two people appeared from behind her and pinned her down.

Chapter 83 It Was Actually Predestined

"The rumors are true."

Hmm, Chizuru glanced at the group of people who had appeared behind her. They had just been playing games, but now they had all gathered around.

"rumor?"

Nino didn't struggle; she knew it was pointless. Instead, amidst the astonished expressions of the men, she actually spoke up and asked a question.

"..."

Chitose looked at the girl speechlessly. Are all girls these days so brave?

"This is a shady business that targets high school girls, takes their photos, and then threatens them to never tell anyone."

"You knew and you still dared to come? Oh, I see, you're a bitch..."