"Byakuya, are you really okay?"
"Alright, what could be wrong with me? Don't worry, Kiana , Mei, I'm doing great now."
"Uh, well, alright then. If you need anything, just tell us. Don't try to be strong by yourself."
At Raiden Mei's house.
Not long after Kiana carried Byakuya back, he woke up on his own and stopped the two girls who were planning to send him to the hospital, stating that he had fully recovered.
After this incident, the relationship between the three of them grew closer again. Kiana no longer concealed the matters of Honkai and told them everything about herself.
Mei, on the other hand, received the video left for her by Raiden Ryoma and understood her own situation, though the overwhelming information shock took her a long time to process.
"Did I… kill someone?"
After learning what she had done after becoming a Herrscher, the Cook's face turned pale. For a 17-year-old high school girl, the word 'murder' was too heavy.
Fortunately, Byakuya and Kiana were both there.
"That wasn't Mei's fault at all. It was all the wicked woman named Cocolia's conspiracy."
"Yeah, yeah, besides, Mei, this counts as self-defense. Don't take it too hard."
"...Mm."
Perhaps the recent events had tempered Mei's mindset, as she quickly calmed down under their comfort.
Moreover, what Mei was most afraid of just now was not the fact that she had killed someone, but rather that Byakuya and Kiana would dislike her for becoming a murderer.
Seeing that the two of them were as usual, she felt relieved.
Afterward, to lighten the mood, celebrate the successful prevention of the Great Eruption, and thank Byakuya and Kiana for rushing to help her, Mei cooked a grand meal.
......
The Raiden family's living room had never been so lively.
The three of them sat around a small round table, and the camaraderie forged through shared danger brought them closer, creating a warm and beautiful atmosphere.
"Hmm? Are all these Shenzhou dishes? Mei, you really learned them." Byakuya looked at the table full of Shenzhou dishes with an eager appetite.
"Because you said you wanted to eat them before, Byakuya, I've been practicing recently. Would you like to taste them?" Mei said shyly, her face flushed.
"Of course, I would. Mm! As expected, Mei's cooking is excellent! It's delicious, and the flavor is quite authentic. It would be great if I could marry a wife like Mei in the future~" Byakuya exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.
Anyone who could marry a wife like the Mei would truly have accumulated blessings for eight lifetimes. He wondered which big bad wolf's clutches such an incredibly good girl would fall into in the future.
Hmm? The most likely one is me? That's no problem!
"W-Wife or something, ahem, Byakuya, if you like it, eat more. There's still plenty in the pot."
"Ah, Mei, Mei, I've been eyeing that chicken leg for a long time."
"Be good~ Kiana, Byakuya is very tired today. Let him get some good nourishment."
"Uh, actually, I'm really fine."
Byakuya said with a wry smile, but since it was Mei's kind intention, he certainly wouldn't ignore it, so he could only gnaw on that chicken leg in front of an envious Kiana.
But this Paramecium ate really fast. In a blink of an eye, all the dishes were almost gone, so the two started another round of chopstick warfare.
"Hehe."
Mei watched this scene gently, saying nothing. If she could, she truly wished time would stand still at this moment.
Half an hour later, the three of them… more accurately, Kiana finally licked an entire pot clean, not wasting any of the Mei's culinary skill.
Byakuya glanced at her slender waist and slightly bulging lower abdomen, thinking that the Kaslana family's body structure was truly a mystery. How did this Paramecium fit so much food into her stomach?
A normal person's stomach would probably burst.
"Alright, don't lie down after eating. Come with me to wash the dishes."
"Eh~~ No, no, I don't want to wash dishes."
"Kiana, do you believe I won't share Mei's bento with you next time?"
"Ah? Byakuya, you're mean!"
In the end, Kiana reluctantly got up and washed all the dishes and chopsticks. Afterward, the three of them sat on the sofa, not knowing what to do.
Finally, Mei turned on the cooking channel on TV, tuning in on time for today's Shenzhou Cuisine special.
Byakuya and Kiana, of course, weren't interested in this, so they picked up their phones and played games.
It was as peaceful as if nothing had ever happened.
"Hey, hey, Byakuya, what are you doing? Go easy on me!"
"In e-sports, weakness is the original sin."
"Damn it, watch my power, huh?!"
"Indeed powerful. It's the first time I've seen someone take themselves out with a smooth combo."
It seemed his mother-in-law's excellent gaming talent wasn't inherited by this girl. Byakuya remembered that in the plot, Cecilia, upon her first contact with video games, completely crushed Siegfried.
Bullying a noob wasn't very satisfying, so Byakuya switched to a game called "kallen fantasy iv."
He scrolled through the game's player rankings and, sure enough, the top ID was Green Water Pipe Uncle Mario.
It was Otto's account ID!
He suppressed the urge to send a private message to this account saying, "I am Kallen, now V me 50 to help me resurrect, and I'll make you the Archbishop of Schicksal someday."
It was better not to do that.
As Kallen's ultimate fan, Otto dominated the player rankings of all "kallen fantasy" series.
Byakuya's initial goal in playing this game was, like Cecilia back then, to surpass this dog Otto in the game rankings.
Although he couldn't make this guy's Soulium face crackle in his hands yet, it would be good to get a small victory in gaming first.
Finally, the two played until it was dark, so they simply stayed at Mei's house. The Cook, of course, didn't mind; in fact, she welcomed them warmly.
"Haaah~ I'm sleepy. The guest room can be for Kiana, a sofa is fine for me."
"How can that be!" x2
The two girls said in unison. Byakuya blinked, wondering if he had said something strange.
Then followed endless mutual concessions. The two insisted that he sleep in a bed, even saying they didn't mind sleeping on the sofa or floor for a night.
But Byakuya said he minded very much.
As a man, letting two girls sleep on the sofa or floor while he slept in a bed would be too shameful.
In the end, Byakuya had the guest room to himself, and Kiana slept with Mei… Damn it, this Kiana ended up getting the biggest advantage.
"Mei, this is for you."
Byakuya thought for a moment, then handed the Pulse Katana 19th Type to the girl, and gave Kiana a bright smile.
"If Kiana does anything weird to you tonight, don't hold back and castrate, uh, stab her!"
"Byakuya, that's too much! What do you mean I do weird things? Am I that kind of person?"
"Uh, I'm sorry, Kiana, I'm not interested in that, so I can't bring you happiness."
"Wuwuwu Mei, it's not like that~"
Mei gave a wry smile. She wasn't like her original self in the plot, whose sexual orientation was twisted by Paramecium, so she simply accepted the Pulse Katana 19th Type.
At the same time, there was a hint of regret in her gaze towards Byakuya.
Mei: 'If only I could swap Kiana for Byakuya. Ah, what am I thinking?'
Kiana: "Hmm? Mei, why is your face red? Let me see!"
Byakuya: "Sigh.. Is there still hope for this girl?"
Byakuya left the room after both girls had fallen asleep.
Even though Mei and Kiana were excited for the first time to have a friend stay over at their house/stay over at a friend's house, the day's events had left them mentally exhausted, and they slept soundly.
Byakuya walked into the bathroom alone.
He looked at himself in the mirror,
unbuttoning his pajamas one by one.
Incidentally, the pajamas belonged to Mei's father, so they didn't fit very well, but the Mei secretly thought that if someone was willing to stay permanently, she wouldn't mind preparing a special set for him.
But that wasn't the point now.
"Host, you're done for."
"Yes, I'm almost done for."
Listening to the System's statement of fact, Byakuya sighed with a bitter smile, pulling open his pajamas to reveal his upper body.
His reflection in the mirror looked quite terrifying.
His skin had a pale, silicone-like texture, with purple Honkai Energy residue on it, clearly indicating that Byakuya's body was transforming into a Deadwalker.
Perhaps many had overlooked it, but he wasn't a protagonist with a heaven-defying cheat.
The young man named Byakuya had always been just an ordinary person who had transmigrated into the honkai impact 3rd world.
He didn't even have an ounce of Honkai Energy resistance.
And without resistance, even if the exposure time to Honkai wasn't long, facing the Honkai Energy released by the half-awakened Herrscher of Thunder...
Byakuya not directly turning into a Deadwalker and not losing his sanity until now was already considered a Miracle.
But if this speed continued, he would probably fully turn into a Deadwalker before dawn.
"But Host, you don't seem flustered at all. Do you have a solution?"
"Of course not..."
"Uh..."
"Please, Honkai Energy Erosion is almost irreversible at this stage. Otto hasn't even researched the Godslayer Spear yet, and even the Previous Era's Honkai Energy serum required extraction from thousands of honkai disease patients to create a single dose."
Byakuya shook his head, while curiously touching his semi-Deadwalker body everywhere. The Deadwalkers in the game were all pretty girls and couldn't be touched.
"But you're really calm."
"There's nothing I can do. Panicking now is useless, isn't it? Being positive and optimistic is always right, and... I actually expected this outcome."
"Oh? Did Host anticipate ending up in this situation?"
"It's not quite like that, it's just... I know better than anyone that I'm an ordinary person. Since I, like this, greedily want to trigger a Miracle that saves everything, then I'm probably going to have to pay the price for that Miracle."
Byakuya was just an ordinary mortal.
But he was unwilling to accept an ordinary fate.
He, who originally didn't even have the qualifications to come into contact with Honkai, managed to stop a God's apostle with his mortal body, saving the lives of an entire city's population.
But the result of this great feat was that his body was about to become a self-less killing monster. Presumably... this was the price a mortal had to pay to achieve a Miracle.
"To be honest, it's cheaper than I imagined. I thought it would definitely be an instant death. Hehe~ I made a profit."
Byakuya felt no sadness, no despair, and no regret. On the contrary, he was still in the mood to joke around, skillfully picking up his phone to take a photo of his semi-Deadwalker self.
He almost habitually posted it on his Moments.
"........."
Encountering such a positive, optimistic Host, the System expressed that it was also speechless. He was basically one step away from being completely done for, yet this person could still smile.
"I think you should know this isn't the end. You've only thwarted Cocolia's plot once, but that woman won't give up and will come back at any time."
The System couldn't help but remind him.
Although Herrscher Mei's self-abandonment prevented the Great Eruption from happening, Cocolia's plot hadn't completely failed; she could still make a comeback.
After all, Anti-Entropy had as much Honkai Energy crystal as they wanted. As long as the Honkai Energy concentration reached the critical point of 1000HW, Mei, even if she didn't want to, would be forcefully turned into a Herrscher by the will of honkai.
Who made her the most suitable vessel for the Herrscher of Thunder in this generation? So suitable that even without the conquest gem, the third herrscher would inevitably be her.
"Mm, I know, so... now isn't the time to fall."
Byakuya put down his phone and said with firm eyes.
In ancient times, Walter Yang repeatedly 'died' and came back to life. How could he, Byakuya, just fall now?
He still had a bunch of things he wanted to do, like playing games with Bronya, attending Himeko's classes, cuddling with Seele, falling in love with Elysia, slurping noodles with Kevin, uncovering Aponia's big secret, petting cats, and feasting on Griseo's jailers!
A new storm is about to appear.
How can I stop moving forward?
So...
"System, stop hiding things! Save your dad! Look, you've been AFK for so long, you should at least do something, right? As a lazy System, you need to step up! Give me something powerful!"
Byakuya said with resentment and urgency.
Other people's Systems could turn their Hosts into overpowered protagonists, fighting against heaven, earth, and air, slaying gods and Buddhas, kicking Otto and punching Kevin.
But for him, it was so useless.
Besides giving him a legal ID, it only had a chat function, but if it were a chat group, that would be one thing. Who wants to chat with you, System?
"If you don't give me something powerful today, I'll uninstall you. Anyway, if I'm done for, you won't have it easy either. Even if I can't destroy you, I'll give you a one-star rating."
"Alright, Host, please calm down. This System's content has finished loading. You can now officially use this System's functions."
Hearing it say that, Byakuya let out a huge sigh of relief, thinking, 'Good heavens, it finally finished loading.' He remembered his Genshin Impact 4.0 update, which was over 30GB, was faster than this.
"Can it save my life?"
"Yes."
"Alright! I knew I wouldn't be done for!"
Byakuya then began to carefully read the System's instruction manual. A few minutes later, he finally understood what his cheat was for.
In short, it was a past simulator.
It could allow him to travel to the past of honkai impact 3rd, and he would receive rewards if he successfully completed his objectives.
Byakuya expressed that this was good.
You know, honkai impact 3rd has so many erosions that people would want to stab them all into the planners. Although the time point he transmigrated to was already very early,
He still missed a lot.
For example, the Previous Era!
Although he didn't know the System, or rather, what he himself could achieve, he finally had a chance to rewrite those tragic endings!
Byakuya decided to work hard. If he played well, he might be able to make all thirteen Flame-Chasers survive until the Current Civilization!
You know, these simulators claim to be simulations, but in reality, all the simulated content will become real. Just thinking about it already filled him with motivation.
He wanted to meet Elysia!
He wanted to cuddle Griseo!
He also wanted to see the squad leader from 50,000 years ago and see if her figure really hadn't changed at all in 50,000 years!
"Unfortunately, this System's Crossing nodes are completely random, but it will provide you with keyword buffs to ensure Host has at least a minimum level of power."
"Alright, alright~ I'm not picky anymore. A cheat is fine. As the saying goes, a big cheat is easy to get banned, a small cheat isn't a cheat. Let's go!"
Byakuya's demands weren't high; he just wanted an opportunity to change those tragedies.
There was nothing rarer in this world than 'opportunity.' Just think about a certain Green Otto Bishop, and you'll understand.
An opportunity to change the past was something this Pure Love warrior sought for over five hundred years, and in the end, it was only through his complete self-annihilation that he obtained such a brief moment of opportunity.
As Byakuya was sighing with emotion, the System's light screen began to show something like a spinning wheel.
"Ding!"
"First Transmigration Time Confirmed!"
"This time period is the Second Honkai Eruption! Note: Due to the extremely high difficulty of this event, Host will be provided with double keyword assistance. Enjoy your use."
The moment the wheel stopped, the large characters 'Second Honkai Eruption' appeared before Byakuya's eyes, and then a storybook with a purple cover fell into his hand.
Byakuya instinctively understood.
As long as he opened this book, he would time travel to the period of the Second Honkai Eruption.