Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

Fortunately, you've changed the girl's personality over time. Although she's become more dependent on you, she's definitely improved a lot. Besides, this dependence isn't entirely one-sided; you've also unintentionally started relying on her as well.

In your current state, you can't use the items very effectively, but you can still make the path barely passable.

It doesn't matter if my exquisite dress gets stained, or if my skin, weakened by Honkai energy, gets chafed.

All you need to do is see Vivi.

Perhaps it is only through calamities that people begin to recall their past.

[Having only been apart for a few hours, you've begun to miss the girl more than ever before; you wish you could see Velvi the very next second.]

You're twenty-six now; eight years have passed since you met that girl on your eighteenth birthday.

Thinking back to the scene of your first encounter with Velvi, it feels like something out of a light novel. You picked up the hat the girl had dropped, stood downhill looking at the girl in her evening gown, her face blank.

【ah……】

How wonderful...

[You begin to reminisce, unconsciously drawn into memories: your online conversations with the girl, your offline chats, and finally, her invitation to you, pulling you out of that unfree and utterly ignored environment.]...

[This proves to you that there are still people in the world who care about you, hold you in their hearts, and believe that you are unique and irreplaceable.]

[Handling heavy tasks with ease.]

You never imagined you would hold such a high position in someone's life, which initially made you a little reserved when interacting with Velvi.

The girl is always worried that her actions might affect your feelings for her, making even speaking a single sentence difficult and requiring careful consideration.

[It's probably less than one ten-thousandth of the difficulty for a girl to build a robot from scratch.]

Looking back now, it was a little silly and sweet.

Even shameful things done in the past become beautiful through the filter of memory.

Of course, this is not enough.

Even counting from the very first moment you met the girl, including the time you spent chatting online with virtually no real-life contact, your relationship only lasted eight years.

[This timeframe is far too short; even just traveling hand-in-hand with a young girl will have to wait until he's twenty-one.]

We officially became a couple two years ago.

[You haven't truly confessed your love to the girl yet, nor have you created any beautiful memories together, whether it's traveling together, dining at a restaurant, swimming together, riding the Ferris wheel, watching the rose-covered hillside at sunset, or taking a walk in the forest... Compared to normal couples, you and Velvet have spent far too little time together.]

After this is over, let's not linger here any longer. Let's use the time we have left to see the world together with the girl.

You also want to have many different kinds of weddings with the girl, take all sorts of wedding photos, do silly things together, and work and study together.

[Legend has it that Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni (the "Mirror of the Sky") is a very beautiful place. Do you remember Vivi mentioning this special place to you before?]

[You two had promised to go together, but the Ferris wheel you rode on before was too cramped. Even the cabins provided for each person could barely fit two people. For more activities, we need a bigger Ferris wheel.]

[Participating in the Moth Chaser campaign and fighting alongside humanity against the Honkai is too far removed from your reality.]

Ultimately, you're just an ordinary person, someone who neither wants to be a hero nor wants to die a heroic death.

It would be better to spend a peaceful, romantic life with Vervi, just the two of them.

At worst, we can just take a spaceship and leave this planet.

We might be able to achieve this if we work together.

The core of the First Herrscher possesses wondrous abilities; perhaps you truly could travel the universe together, observe the stars, and record the Milky Way.

You keep crawling forward, even the pain of your chafed body seems to be overshadowed by memories—memories you can't control, and sweet fantasies about the future, a continuous stream of ordinary happiness.

When you were incredibly close, you desperately leaned against the ruins of a nearby building, barely managing to stand up.

For some reason, you feel that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that requires serious attention.

【ah……】

I really can't appear too pathetic in front of Velvi.

That girl must be worried.

As for the memories and the future that were completely out of your control, you didn't quite understand why you were so unable to control your thoughts for the first time.

[My mind keeps replaying sweet memories of the past, those I'm about to experience, and those I'm fantasizing about.]

【until……】

You saw that collapsed ruin, with not a trace of the original structure remaining.

……

The boy lay quietly before the ruins and wreckage, letting the swirling wind ruffle his clothes, lift the exquisite dress that Wilvi had once personally chosen, and tousle his black, tousled hair as it lashed against his face along with countless specks of dust.

It seems that this way one wouldn't have to face the tragedy.

It seems that this way one can ignore their mistakes.

It seems that this is a way to bury one's head in the sand and act like an ostrich.

But even in Jiangcheng, which had completely given up on itself, a familiar plaque was still blown down by the wind.

--spiral……

The last two words are illegible.

He didn't want to go over and take a look.

So be it.

Let us face death as it is.

There was nothing but a ruin in front of them; they simply couldn't climb over it.

That's right...

That's right.

That's right!

I've already given up on all unnecessary thoughts.

Let's just stay here and not go any further.

There's no need to search for the girl anymore.

I'll just die with the regret of not seeing Vilvie. Even carrying this regret is better than encountering something even worse.

But a cherry blossom, falling from who knows where, along with the dusty wind, gently pressed against my already exhausted calf.

When both mind and body are stretched to the limit, even the most perfect bowstring can be ruined by something trivial.

Jiang Cheng's overworked body was still trembling slightly, his bleeding fingertips were twitching unnaturally, and his legs were on the verge of breaking down. He was only barely holding on by sheer willpower and determination.

With just that little bit of force, plus a gentle breeze, his body went out of control and he involuntarily collapsed onto the ruins.

The remaining two characters on the plaque could no longer be avoided from entering their field of vision.

There are no miracles, no hope, and no magical girls.

There are only four large, stark characters.

——Spiral Workshop.

This is where Vilvi stays.

……

Now you finally understand why you started reminiscing.

Because only what is lost needs to be remembered.

Things that are still alive can always create new memories; even if you want to recall them, you can't stop walking, just like being in the middle of the road.

【pity……】

【pity. 】

You are no longer qualified.

"You know this very well."

[Spending time with Vervie has allowed you to develop some of the talents that belong to a young girl.]

[Right now, you desperately want to lose all your talent, to become an idiot, mentally ill, and devoid of all memory, self-awareness, and the ability to think.]

Even if you're roaring, silent, or collapsing like a madman onto the ruins, desperately digging through the solidified plastic, ash, and dust with your own hands—hands that have never handled heavy objects before.

Those hands, once used only for work, for studying, for preparing various travel supplies, were now forcibly searching and digging among the wreckage and rubble.

【However……】

【No. 】

【No! 】

【No!!!】

There's absolutely nothing here!!!

There's absolutely nothing here!!!

[A mere whisper would suffice, even the faintest sound, the slightest whisper, the tiniest whisper would do.]

【No! 】

【No……】

Even with the skin and flesh of her hands completely torn apart, the girl's remaining energy was insufficient to repair her fingers before they wore away.

You still can't see Velvi...

You can't find her.

Beneath the ruins, beneath the ruins you dug for who knows how long, until you exhausted all your strength, you only saw a dark gold astronomical clock.

[You ignored the astronomical clock, perhaps because you instinctively sensed something, or your understanding of the girl made you realize something.]

[Perhaps, as a girl representing the pinnacle of human intelligence, she already knew from the moment she learned of the Honkai that she might face such despair in the future.]

Those countless contingency plans have already dealt with every possible scenario.

Your instinct is to avoid this backup plan.