Su Yu sighed. He knew exactly what Murata Himeko meant to the Kiana of this era.
Therefore, he had to play the villain.
Although Himeko looked like Murata Himeko, they were, in the final analysis, not the same person. Even if a person named "Murata Himeko" truly existed in this world, she would absolutely not be the "Himeko" from Kiana's memories.
This was the shitty parallel world, the godforsaken counterpart design.
"Actually, she..."
"I know."
Kiana beat him to the answer.
"...I know."
She actually knew. How could she not know?
That woman was not Teacher Himeko.
But that warmth, that peace of mind when being held, and that... helplessness, yet still squeezing out a trace of gentleness... it was exactly the same.
She carried the same warmth as Teacher Himeko.
"Can you tell me her name?" Kiana asked.
"Himeko." Su Yu sat down on the chair beside her. "She's my landlord, and also the neighbor living across the hall."
Kiana froze for a moment. "Is she... also a teacher?"
"Yeah, a university teacher." Su Yu smiled, beginning to recount that rather improper first encounter. "When I first met her, she almost treated me as her blind date and tried to handle me right then and there."
"Huh?"
"I had just moved in back then. I ran into her while she was drunk in the hallway. Without a word, she slammed me against the wall—a full-on Kabedon—muttering something like 'the goods this time aren't bad'... Later, I found out she had been single for too long and her family was pressuring her to marry. She finally saw a man she found pleasing to the eye and wanted to strike first."
Su Yu shrugged. Recalling that somewhat absurd first meeting, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
"Later, once we got familiar, she often used her authority as a landlord to coerce and bribe me into drinking with her. Every time she drank too much, she would start complaining, saying how hard it is to manage students nowadays, how the school leaders have brains filled with paste, and how that Dean of Students is just a Mediterranean-style balding old man..."
Kiana listened intently.
That complaining tone, that aversion to troublesome things, and that boldness after drinking...
It was simply like looking in a mirror.
"They're really alike..." she murmured softly. "Exactly the same as Teacher Himeko."
"Perhaps because she is Teacher Himeko's counterpart," Su Yu said. "Although the worlds are different and the experiences are different, the base color of some souls will not change—just like two flowers blooming in different gardens. Although their names are different, they are both red roses."
"Counterpart..." Kiana repeated this unfamiliar term.
"You have one too." Su Yu looked at her. "The 'Kiana' of this world also lives here. If there's a chance, I can take you to see her."
Kiana's body trembled violently.
There was a Kiana in this world too?
A clean Kiana... who had not experienced the Honkai, had not lost loved ones, and had not burdened herself with sin?
A massive sense of inferiority surged up instantly, drowning that tiny bit of warmth from just a moment ago like a tidal wave.
She lowered her head, burying her face in her knees.
"I don't deserve it..."
That voice rang out in her mind again.
Look, you are just a counterfeit.
You are a monster filled with stains.
In this beautiful world, even your breathing is a form of pollution.
"You saw it too..." Kiana's voice was trembling. "Just now... I will only bring disaster. Being with me, you will only suffer misfortune. As expected, it's better if I disappear..."
The Teacher Himeko of this world.
Her name is Himeko, right?
Kiana knew very well.
As long as she was still alive, as long as she was still here.
Then she would also be hurt because of her.
As long as the demon in her body remained, she would still be that walking bomb.
As she spoke, she moved to stand up and walk outside.
Just go beyond one meter.
Just leave this sole Reality Anchor.
Then she could be cleared away like trash, returning a pure cleanliness to this world.
Watching Kiana before him, who wanted to escape into her own world again, who wanted to self-destruct...
Smack!
A hand firmly grabbed her wrist.
The strength of that hand was surprisingly great, pinching her bones to the point of pain.
"Let go..." Kiana tried to struggle.
"Look at me!"
Su Yu's voice was no longer that lazy, teasing tone; instead, it carried an unprecedented severity.
Kiana subconsciously raised her head.
She crashed into a pair of deep eyes.
In those black pupils, some emotion she couldn't understand was churning—it seemed like anger, yet also like some kind of heaviness from having experienced life and death.
As someone who had died once, Su Yu understood the weight of life better than anyone.
"Murata Himeko used her only life to exchange for your new one." Su Yu spoke word by word, every syllable like a nail driven into the air. "Do you think she did that so you could find a deserted corner to commit suicide? Do you think this is the ending she wanted to see?!"
Kiana was frightened by his gaze.
"You think that by dying, you can make this world better? That you can atone for the crimes you committed? Don't joke around!"
This man, who looked frail and couldn't even split a solid wood table, erupted with an aura at this moment that even she dared not look at directly.
"I, I—"
Kiana wanted to refute, but she couldn't.
Clearly, if she just wanted to, this arm with barely any muscle could be easily snapped by her.
But...
But, she surprisingly found that she couldn't break free from this hand.
"Listen, Kiana."
Su Yu took a deep breath, his voice softening slightly.
"I haven't personally experienced the pain you have. I know, I don't have the qualification to dictate the choices you make."
"What I said just now is simply what I, as a normal person, want to say to a young girl who wants to end her life."
"I know that no matter what I say or how I persuade, you probably won't dispel the thought of self-loathing."
"So—"
"If you temporarily cannot find a reason to live on..."
Su Yu took a deep breath and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
That was the "Project Proposal" the System had forcibly stuffed onto him last night.
"Then let me give you a reason."
Bam!
The paper was slapped onto the dilapidated coffee table.
"Become my muse of inspiration, be the protagonist of my game, be my partner!"
Su Yu stared into Kiana's eyes.
"You can't go back, that's true! But in this world, there are still things you can do, things that can be done because you are Kiana Kaslana!"
"As long as you haven't forgotten Himeko, haven't forgotten the people of that world, haven't forgotten every name on the Hyperion—then their story has not ended!"
"This is your way of fighting in this world."
"Together with me, turn the story of that world into a game."
"Tell everyone here that there was once such a group of people. They fought in despair, they burned in the darkness! They lived so vividly, so passionately!!"
"Kiana Kaslana, I need you. This story needs you. So—"
Su Yu extended his hand.
"Entrust your life to me."
Kiana stared at him blankly, then looked at the paper filled with unfamiliar text.
In that instant, Teacher Himeko's voice seemed to cross the barriers of time and space, echoing in her ears once again.
[Kiana, lift your head.]
[Go and turn this imperfect story into the way you want it to be!]
Her heart began to beat violently.
To pass the story on... to let them be remembered...
Is this really something she could do?
Someone like me, who only brings disaster—do I really have the qualification to sing their praises, to tell the stories of the heroes of that world?
But...
"Entrust your life to me."
The man's eyes made Kiana feel like she had traveled through time back to the Valkyrie training grounds years ago.
"Private Kiana! What is your goal?"
"Yes! Teacher Himeko! My goal is to become the strongest Valkyrie!"
The her of that time was so persistent, so tenacious. She sincerely believed that as long as she tried hard enough and worked hard enough, she could change everything.
What naive eyes.
This world is so peaceful; he must have never seen a self that is like a demon, which is why he could say such matter-of-fact things.
But...
Kiana looked at Su Yu. She looked at this ordinary person who clearly had no power, yet was desperately trying to keep a calamity like her.
Is he not afraid? Not afraid of me, not afraid of—
Kiana's pupils contracted.
She looked at Su Yu's outstretched hand.
That hand—although the tremor was slight, it could not escape Kiana's eyes.
He was trembling.
Ah...
So that's how it is?
Yes.
After experiencing the series of events just now, how could Su Yu not realize the heaven-and-earth difference between his power and Kiana's?
Even so, even like this.
He still chose to reach out his hand to Kiana.
Just like...
The Teacher Himeko of the past.
Knowing clearly she would die.
Knowing clearly what awaited her ahead, she still...
Chose to raise the sword in her hand.
["This is the final lesson..."]
The self from back then failed to grasp Teacher Himeko's hand.
She could only watch helplessly as the other slid from the crumbling platform, falling into the boundless abyss.
Even for such an unbearable self.
Is there still someone willing to reach out a hand to me?
In this world that doesn't need Valkyries and has no Honkai, do I really... have the qualification to live on?
"I am a monster." Kiana's throat felt dry.
"I know," he said.
"I will hurt you." Her fingernails dug deeply into her flesh.
"I don't care," he said.
"I, I..." She continued to look for excuses. "I-I eat a huge amount! I can eat three bowls of rice in one meal! I need to eat meat at every meal! And I want snacks too!"
"Room and board included." Su Yu was expressionless. "All you can eat."
"I..."
Kiana was completely out of words.
She looked at Su Yu's face, which had "Rely on me" written all over it, and the urge to run away in her heart miraculously dissipated by more than half.
Ah.
Clearly, it hasn't even been a day since we met...
Why can this person so matter-of-factly... accept me.
What a... what a truly big idiot...
But something in her heart seemed to loosen.
Although very light, very subtle, she could feel it.
Seeing she was still hesitating, Su Yu took a deep breath.
"Last point."
Su Yu threw out his final trump card.
"As long as you sign this contract, I can unlock a new System item."
He pointed to the light screen above his head that others couldn't see.
"'Absolute Freedom Time Experience Card'. Thirty minutes every day."
Kiana froze for a moment. "What is... that?"
"It means that for thirty minutes every day, you can ignore that one-meter distance restriction. You wouldn't disappear even if you ran to the other side of the Earth."
Su Yu pitched it with a serious face.
"Think about it. What does this mean?"
Kiana was stunned.
It means, what...
It means she can go to the toilet by herself?
She can take a shower by herself?
She doesn't have to endure this man reciting the Chu Shi Biao at the door when she's solving physiological problems?!
It means...
"Since this System can anchor your existence," Su Yu said, "perhaps it's not entirely impossible."
"Impossible?"
"The possibility of finding your way home."
"!!!"
Kiana didn't know what the System the man spoke of was. Maybe it was some higher-dimensional existence, or perhaps some other organization?
But as long as there was hope, as long as there was a possibility of finding the way home.
Then she...
Kiana's eyes, which had dimmed, now ignited with a flame. Although that flame was just a spark.
But for the first time, Su Yu saw the hope of "life" in her.
"Okay, I'll sign."
Kiana snatched the paper abruptly. Without even seeing the terms clearly, she nodded heavily.
"Give me a pen."
She hesitated no more and wrote down her name on it.
[Congratulations on successfully binding with the High-Quality Valkyrie "Kiana Kaslana"!!]
[Absolute Freedom Time Experience Card (30 Minutes) has arrived! Billing starts automatically upon leaving the distance range and stops upon return. Refreshes daily at 24:00.]
[Main Mission Released: Please Host, join hands with the High-Quality Valkyrie to carry forward the Honkai IP in this world!]
[System Notification: Binding Gift Pack has arrived! Contains Honkai Impact 3rd Source Code, Advanced Programming Knowledge...]
The notification sounds rang non-stop, as if venting dissatisfaction with Su Yu's slacking behavior over all these years.
[Main Mission Part One: Please begin preliminary preparation work for "Honkai Impact 3rd" as soon as possible, including but not limited to: Script Outline, Character Settings, Art Style...]
[Warm Reminder: Current Host Account Balance is 0. It is recommended to produce content ASAP to earn [Emotion Points] currency~]
[Remark: 5 years! 5 years! Do you know how I've spent these past 5 years?! Do you know?! If you, the dog Host, don't start handing out knives, I'm going to stab you to death, meow!]
Damn.
Good lord, there's even Calabi-Yau?
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