Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

"Haha, the store manager told me a few days ago that today is your birthday."

"Alright, let's not worry about that for now. Put this on!" Su Qing'an took a crown from the box on the table and put it on the girl's head.

It was an exquisite crown, with obsidian and diamonds set into a ring of interwoven silver.

"It's Kiana's birthday today, so she has to wear this. But you're back so late, you must be hungry. Sato and I made a lot of dishes, please sit down."

The coffee shop was brightly decorated, with twinkling copper lights casting corresponding colors, and a silly-looking banner with German writing:

Happy birthday, Kiana Kaslana.

You two idiots. I haven't celebrated birthdays in ages.

Kiana stubbornly continued her thoughts, but in a daze, she recalled that winter day surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

"Is today your birthday? I've never properly celebrated it for you before. I'm such a bad father. Let's go buy a big cake and celebrate properly! Come on..." the man said. "Kiana... my proudest daughter, Kiana Kaslana."

For some reason, this scene overlapped with the serious expression on the boy's face as he placed the crown on her head.

At this moment, Kiana simply couldn't choose to be a tsundere who wasn't being honest.

She nodded emphatically, a bright smile spreading across her face, and said, "Yes, thank you."

Kiana grabbed Su Qing'an's hand and quickly walked to the table laden with dishes. "Wow, Su Qing'an, you've made so many dishes! But I'm sure I can finish them all."

"The store manager made you a cake himself!"

During this warm and casual conversation, Kiana Kaslana and Su Qing'an both made the same decision.

We must protect this everyday life in this crumbling world.

At the same time, you must protect your important friends.

28. The Mysterious Email

2013年12月14号早9点45分。

As Su Qing'an closed the shop, her phone rang with a pleasant ringtone.

Who is it? The phone that originally came from his world is no longer usable in this world. The phone that Su Qing'an is using now is the one left behind by him in this world. But according to his memory, he came to Japan without even attending university, and his social circle was even more limited than before.

At least I've joined my junior and senior high school classmates' group chat, but my QQ and WeChat accounts in this world are completely empty except for my parents and a few close friends of my parents. It's practically like I'm autistic.

Even though they were somewhat friends, Sato Yuno and Kiana only added each other using their own Japanese contact information.

But what's playing now is a special concern notification from Shenzhou Software.

Is that the older sister? It seems that she is the only one who would come looking for him in his memory. Although she has merged with all of "Su Qing'an's" memories, she is someone he doesn't even know the appearance or name of, so he can only describe her as an older sister.

In her memory, the older sister's father had a good relationship with her parents, but Su Qing'an never saw that man again when she was 13 years old. According to her recollection, the two should be colleagues, and both of them were engaged in academic work, because apart from everyday conversations, Su Qing'an could not understand any of their conversations.

Could she also be an archaeologist? Su Qing'an had only seen that older sister before he was 13 years old, so apart from the memory of her naturally beautiful red hair and the gentle stroking of his head, he had no other impression of her.

Even her name, as noted in her social media profile, is simply "older sister".

The situation where he has to ask for names even though they are already very familiar is a result of his lifelong dislike of talking.

To put it bluntly, although normal social communication is possible, "Su Qing'an" will not engage in any unnecessary communication beyond that.

Clearly, he considered the sister's name unnecessary; it seemed that a name was merely a label to him.

In his world, there is only one older sister, so any additional code names are meaningless.

Such thoughts and actions have led to the current awkward situation.

That woman seems very busy; she has no posts on her WeChat Moments.

The reason why "Su Qing'an" was able to open a shop while underage was because of her. It should be noted that "Su Qing'an", who was somewhat depressed because of the passing of her parents, did not intend to open a coffee shop.

However, the former used the excuse that this was the ideal you mentioned before, and with a plane ticket to Japan and a few photos of a coffee shop that had already been renovated, he arrived in Changkong City in a daze.

According to that woman, she is currently working in Japan, so she probably dragged him over here so that she could be closer to him and take care of him.

But he had been in Japan for several months and had not seen her once, nor had he received any more emails.

This really makes one wonder what her job actually is.

If they were also archaeologists, Su Qing'an could understand, since his parents were archaeologists and he met and spoke with them about the same frequency.

Hmm. If his parents really are archaeologists.

Ignoring all that, Su Qing'an unlocked her phone and began checking the newly received messages.

Unsurprisingly, it was a message from my sister.

I read through it briefly. It tells the story of how she has been quite busy lately due to some unexpected work-related issues. She had originally planned to meet him when he came to Japan, but due to this unexpected event, she was unable to do so. Now that her work has come to a close and she has some free time, she might come to see him soon.

That's roughly the gist of it. It also included complaints about her job and concern and curiosity about his recent situation. I wonder if she was curious because she had also seen the post about Su Qing'an's coffee shop online.

It even contains meaningless comments like whether you've been eating well lately and that you need to exercise regularly to stay healthy.

Judging from the tone and content of this email, this older sister does seem to care about him quite a bit.

What kind of person would she be? After not seeing her for many years, Su Qing'an was looking forward to seeing what her sister would look like. Hopefully, she wouldn't be clashing with the collapse outbreak in Changkong City recently, as there are still three months until that collapse.

She must be a gentle person.

Su Qing'an was so certain, relying on her childhood memories.

He started typing a reply to the email.

——Divider Line————

The woman took a can of beer from the refrigerator. The cool metallic touch made her, who had just woken up, a little more clear-headed. She pulled the tab and, on an empty stomach, tilted her head back and drank the whole can.

Perhaps because she drank too quickly, the wine slid down her neck, into her beautiful collarbone, and continued to meander downwards, soaking the loose white shirt she wore as pajamas. The fact that she was without a bra made her well-developed, large curves appear somewhat erotic.

"Ha~." The woman, now fully awake, let out a pleasant sigh, just as she should have.

But her sigh was not pleasant; it even sounded somewhat low and dejected, the last syllable of her voice echoing in the empty room with a sense of loneliness.

Her mind was filled with the poignant image of blood that had stained the ruins that day.

Theoretically, it shouldn't be considered her fault.

No one said she had neglected her duties.

Her usually somewhat silly boss also earnestly comforted her, saying that it wasn't her fault and that no one could have imagined such an accident happening in the ruins.

Yes, it was an accident.

So-called accidents are force majeure events, like an earthquake, a tsunami, or a volcanic eruption. When you actually face them, you will understand what it means to be powerless.

This woman has experienced too much helplessness in her life, but this time, her helplessness almost broke her.

No one blamed her for the mistake.

But the woman alone continues to shoulder this heavy burden; that is her decision, and it has nothing to do with whether it should or shouldn't be done, or whether it was unexpected.

Now, the burdens on her shoulders are getting heavier and heavier. No one can truly empathize with her plight, and she doesn't need anyone's pity.

But sooner or later, this broken body and its weight will surely cause her to collapse on her journey forward.

But at least until then, she would never choose to give up anything she wanted to carry.

"I should send an email to the little guy," the woman thought as she flipped the slightly cooked egg, wearing a kitchen apron.

Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach is bad for your stomach. If this little guy knew that he had drunk an ice-cold beer in one go as soon as he woke up, he would probably frown and say this.

Whether in childhood or nearing adulthood, the awkwardness of solemnly declaring that one doesn't need friends remains morbidly unsettling.

Even if you're very good-looking, finding a girlfriend must be difficult.

Put the fried eggs on a plate and take out another bottle of beer from the refrigerator.

Himeko Murata thought to herself.

29. Raiden Mei's Personal Opinion

Su Qing'an had considered killing Raiden Mei.

The collapse of Changkong City was actually an "artificial" collapse orchestrated by Cocolia at Chiba Academy in order to activate the power within Raiden Mei.

Therefore, theoretically, if Raiden Mei is killed, Cocolia's entire plan will fail, and the so-called "artificial" Honkai will collapse on its own.

Changkong City can be saved.

How should we weigh the lives of more than 2.3 million people against the life of a young girl?

With only him knowing the future, the scales and weights of life and death appeared before Su Qing'an.

No one told him, "Su Qing'an, hurry up and choose! Do you even have any humanity if you don't choose?"

But when you have the right to choose and then give it up, that in itself is not an easy thing.

This city is so peaceful and serene. There are energetic high school girls who occasionally come to coffee shops, orange cats lazily sunbathing on the street, people going to get off work and coming home every day just to make a living, children playing and frolicking in the park, the delivery guy next door who works three jobs to surprise his girlfriend, and the lonely old woman who is looking forward to her son coming back to see her tomorrow.

All of this was telling Su Qing'an.

What is the cost of his self-avoidance when he chooses nothing?

This is none of your business.

You're not from this world, so what do you care about the lives and deaths of the people in this world?

You've already tried your best. You've already died twice, haven't you?

Now, finally, you can have the confidence to live in an environment where Honkai has broken out.

These are none of your business.

Why don't we just kill Raiden Mei? She's just a 15-year-old girl.

【Shut up】

Your Tai Xuan Liu is strong enough. You don't even need a direct confrontation. Just use the reason your teacher gave you to become friends with her and bypass Cocolia's surveillance. With just one sword strike, she will die when she's not paying attention.

I can't do that. I'm just an ordinary person; I have no right to decide her fate.

If the Honkai energy concentration is insufficient to activate the Third Herrscher core [Conquer Gem], Raiden Mei is just a girl who knows a little bit of ancient martial arts.

Su Qing'an, kill one person to save millions.

Even though I don't fit into this world, I still hate social death, so shut up.