Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

Alicia clenched her fists involuntarily, her long pink nails digging into her soft skin.

—She did not participate.

She dared not participate.

It's like she clearly wants to deceive herself, but she doesn't even dare to leave the boy's body behind. She watches them argue and engage in a bunch of formalism because of the boy's status, so she wants to use even his last existence as a means of consumption.

Buried in the tombstones they prepared, one honor after another evoked empathy for the youth, thus giving rise to anger towards the collapse.

In this way, they can ignore the decline in people's livelihoods caused by their own governance problems.

They might even argue about where to be buried.

Some say Arlington Cemetery because the boy's greatness transcended nationality; others say Novodevichy Cemetery because he was as noble as a saint.

He asked for almost nothing in his life, only accepting a villa.

Some wanted to be buried in the Pantheon, others suggested Westminster Abbey. A group of people almost came to blows over the honor bestowed upon the boy after his death, gradually eroding his achievements and research notes.

Finally, at Mebius's request, the boy was buried in the ruins of the engineering department.

Because of this behavior, he was even seen as jealous and disrespectful, and his reputation had so low that even young girls felt it was strange.

"Then I'll assume you came, rather than being transferred to someone else through other means. At least I believe you actively wanted to find me."

"Don't worry, this death is not painful. I have done everything I can. Technology will be fully deployed soon."

"Humanity will definitely overcome the Honkai. Even if tragic figures like me and Velvi appear, tragedy is there, and it must always be overcome."

"If I had to give any message, I would hope that this world would never again be a place where the dead are reduced to a filthy place, giving birth to countless Velvies."

"After coming into contact with Herrschers, I always felt that some people might become Herrschers because they are persecuted by humans and the world and feel hopeless."

"If that's the case, it would be a ridiculously cruel joke for my weapon to be used by one victim to attack another."

"Actually, I can't be considered a gentle person. It just happens that I have some morals, some empathy, and you were there for me when I was a child."

"After all, there are very few people in this world who can abandon their own stance, their own dignity and their own interests to speak for the oppressors."

"No one is so stupid as to use their imagination to oppress others' pleasure. If such a person exists, remember to stay away from them."

"To harbor despicable thoughts about gentle people, and to teach people something so fundamentally different from the norm, is certainly not possible for the majority of humanity."

"Hmm... I said a lot of useless things, but the thought of you hearing these words made me want to share some of my thoughts on the world."

"I'm sure you gained a lot from your trip. Although I haven't been to many places, even in small places, as long as there is emotional connection, that is true happiness, which comes from spiritual freedom."

—My travels have long since stopped.

Because I want to find paradise, to find that true paradise, that place of eternal happiness, I travel. I travel like in a fairy tale, searching, making friends, and searching together.

But paradise has actually been around us all along; only paradise that brings happiness and beauty is true paradise.

I was just too foolish to remember.

Regret only comes after loss.

"This world may face many disasters in the future, but I believe you can face them. You are absolutely romantic, a fairy living in paradise."

"No matter what difficulties you face, they will not defeat you; they will only become stepping stones for you to reach paradise, as perfect and self-consistent as a god."

"so……"

Even if the world is incredibly cruel, I still hope you can find your own paradise.

……

……

……

What were my thoughts after listening to the whole thing?

At this moment, Alicia instinctively wanted to forget, to lose, and didn't want to remember anymore.

because……

No matter how many times she recalls it, her body aches terribly, and her heart feels a faint sense of closure, making the girl genuinely want to stop breathing.

Even your hands and feet will stiffen, and you'll feel as if you've returned to that forest again.

They are as small and helpless as infants, and even being hit by a tree branch can be very painful. They can only open their eyes and look at this unknown world.

This time, the young man brought himself to this beautiful world.

—It no longer exists.

Those innocent eyes that once gazed at the world no longer held the boy who would brave thorns and brambles, stand in the sunlight, stand in the shadows, turn his back to the darkness, and face the leaves, the flowers, the breeze, and the birds in flight.

A distant starry sky, a slanting spring breeze, a verdant forest, and flowers swirling in the wind.

But unfortunately, the most important thing was lost.

—Jiangcheng.

The flowers and the maiden remain, but the starlight has faded.

……

The girl stretched out her hand. The power of the origin was not enough to be used continuously. After excessive consumption, even the boy would be difficult to save. But at least she could create that shadow after everything was over, a shadow that could be pursued.

But when the stars gather once more, that pink, that flawless power, capable of rewriting everything, with the realm of the true self as its ultimate center.

The figure of the dead boy was recreated, those eyes that were like the starry sky, the meaning of which the girl only remembered when she looked at the night sky years later.

Just as it was about to arrive, it suddenly collapsed, and with a 'crack', even the bowstring broke.

what……

Still can't do it?

Can't even create a shadow?

Can't you even get a kick out by deceiving yourself, by covering your eyes and ears?

Crystalline tears fell from the corners of her eyes, her pinkish-blue eyes were misty with moisture, and her pupils moved gently in their sockets, trembling slightly, as if a gentle rain was falling in that flawless paradise.

That was a fragile state that shouldn't have appeared in a perfect young girl.

This shouldn't be the case for a girl who can face anything.

--cry.

That should only belong to a delicate young girl.

--sad.

That should only belong to those who are powerless.

But the girl was indeed powerless, even though she was not human at all, but a monster, a Herrscher who brought natural disasters, an enemy of the entire world, someone who had been hurt countless times and hated her own powerlessness countless times.

But monsters shouldn't cry, and I shouldn't be sad.

I've already suffered so much.

By now, we should be numb to it all.

right?

……

……

……

……

Your heart has completely broken down.

You have literally lost everything.

Because you think you can deceive yourself and pretend that the boy still exists, but in reality, you can't deceive your own heart, even if you already know this, even if you also know that if you don't pretend not to know, you'll seek death.

Ultimately, the concept of the world isn't actually that grand for an individual.

For someone whose entire life has been confined to a small mountain village, the world is limited to the village they see and the neighbors they know. Even if they try their best to leave, they will inevitably not go very far in their lifetime.

[And when no one speaks of the vast sky, the dense forests, the boundless earth, and the surging sea.]

Does he think of the town as the entire land, the nearby hills as insurmountable mountains, the low bushes as boundless forests, and the stream he could perhaps tiptoe across at the doorway as the source of all water?

The word "world" for an individual refers to what they see and possess.

It is pathetic to impose broad concepts on individuals, because the individual is incredibly insignificant. They may know there are mountains and seas, but what then?

Even knowing there are over six billion people in the world—an unimaginable number—it's still said casually when it's actually spoken.

[So what if there are over six billion people?]

Even if it were hundreds of billions, hundreds of billions, or even trillions, even if it were as numerous as the stars or as many as hairs on a cow, piled up, it would be larger than a planet and wider than the ocean.

【so what? 】

[The number of people a person can see in their lifetime, even if they spend their entire life traveling, is probably only a few million.]

Of these millions, how many can truly be remembered, and how many can be recalled by name?

Looking further back, how many things can truly leave a lasting impression? How many can evoke intense emotions?

An individual's world is composed of the mountains, the seas, and the people they see.

We've lost the mountains, we've lost the sea, we've lost the people.

So, the world...

[And then it collapsed.]

There's nothing more to say, nothing more to grieve over; you feel your heart has, in a sense, stopped beating.

What flows in my veins now is nothing more than a trivial life conveyed for the sake of a promise.

"You want to leave."

You cannot leave.

Because the boy didn't want you to die, he gave you the cruelest curse and punishment, making you the only one left alive, watching this cold world, living in a cruel world without him.