Honkai Impact 3rd, what should an ordinary player do at the start?

"Do you need me to feed Cheng-kun?"

"Like..."

The second half of the sentence melted away in the sudden close breath, and the static electricity jumping at the ends of his hair made the hairs on the boy's arms stand on end.

"What happened yesterday... is everything really alright?"

After some hesitation, Jiang Cheng finally decided to take the initiative to face the situation.

He looked up at the girl who was gently bending down, revealing a captivating glimpse of her snow-white cleavage.

There was no expected excitement or dissatisfaction, only a silent and unwavering gaze—the deep purple eyes were wide open as if all their intensity had been exhausted.

"I have no choice anymore, do I?"

"I……"

“If you’re slow on one step, you’ll be slow on every step.” She placed the heated food on the small table beside the bed. “As your lover, I can’t even be considered qualified. Yae Sakura had already warned me once, but I still didn’t take remedial action. In that case, it’s only natural that all the sheep were stolen.”

"I cheated on you..."

Before I could even say "I'm sorry," a piece of egg roll was suddenly pressed against my lips.

After swallowing the food, which was still so delicious that even the food from last night was so tempting that one couldn't help but bite off their tongue, those purple eyes suddenly filled the entire field of vision, almost as if they were forced to stare at the colors within, blinking with an indescribable complexity.

"I underestimated your excellence. After all, someone as outstanding as you, Cheng Jun, would attract one person after another even if you stayed still. It's normal that I'm not competitive."

"I've simply accepted the confession and am now enjoying myself. I don't seem to have changed at all from the person I was sitting by the lake back then. I haven't made any progress whatsoever."

Jiang Cheng really wanted to say—you are already excellent, I am the one who needs to strive for improvement, I am the one who needs to progress.

Can't do it.

There was no room for words, because the next piece of egg roll would be dripped onto your lips again, and even if you didn't want to eat it, you would be forcibly fed it into your mouth.

"I know you'll comfort me and want to tell me that I've actually done a great job."

Raiden Mei mimicked the comfort she had received countless times in the past, the encouragement she had been given countless times when she was feeling lost.

No matter how sad or distressed I am, even if I don't have the strength to lift my head, I will be filled with courage again as soon as I hear it.

Love can always inspire people to fight. Even when you are exhausted, you will unconsciously think that you must not let him see you in such a miserable state, so you try your best to squeeze out a little more strength.

Just like Haruki Murakami said: It's really important to have someone you like. When you're planning to live an ordinary life in a daze, you'll want to try harder because of that person. On so many exhausting and even shameful days, you'll feel that there's still hope in life because of that person.

So why?

You clearly knew that.

—I still don't have the chance to say things like that.

But this time it wasn't because his mouth was blocked—the boy had already finished eating the egg roll in his mouth and swallowed it all. What was really blocking his mouth was the girl's voice.

"But that's not enough. It's not enough at all. Being praised by you like this will only make me complacent and forget my true abilities, which will lead to me being trampled underfoot by others. Now love has been divided into four parts. If this continues, one day I will even lose you."

"I really hate Yae Sakura, I really hate Mysteria and Kiana, I hate everyone who tries to take you away from me, but what I hate most is myself, I hate myself for getting so arrogant just because I got a little bit of sunshine, for becoming complacent just because I took one step forward..."

Raiden Mei was talking to herself, but she didn't forget the egg roll in her hand. While continuing to feed herself, she was also recounting her memories of the night—

"I never contacted Mistelin again after asking her about the fusion surgery."

"Honestly... even though it's not that comfortable to do, I can't help but get lost in it just by holding you."

There was no further attempt to refute, because now all that was needed was to listen attentively.

The boy listened while eating.

Be the most suitable audience member.

Even though the parts about the fusion experiment were heartbreaking and she couldn't help but want to refute them, she was forcibly suppressed because Mei didn't need anyone to criticize her or teach her.

The fusion surgery is very risky, and it may not be possible to fully cooperate with the Herrscher, but if you want to protect your heart, you can definitely fuse with anything.

It doesn't mean Mei lacks persistence or willpower just because the matter has been put on hold. On the contrary, it makes one feel relieved because there is less risk. The only time he paused was when he heard the girl say that doing it wasn't actually that comfortable, but that she simply felt that as long as she was held by him, she couldn't help but become addicted.

I suppose I was somewhat intoxicated by it.

--I.

A perfectly fleshy and sensual bottom and thighs.

The touch and bumping sensation is incredibly comfortable.

Such a beautiful girl would even captivate so-called masters, let alone ordinary people like myself.

However, the hug did feel really good. My whole body felt warm, and even my heartbeat seemed to slow down. This must be the feeling of heart-to-heart contact.

But these are all irrelevant matters.

"I'm ready." At this moment, Mei's face was filled with only seriousness.

"I'm determined not to lose to Mistelin, even though I still have a little regret about agreeing to her proposal."

“But you don’t have to agree to her,” Jiang Cheng finally had a chance to speak.

Now she's no longer the clueless girl who was pinned down yesterday. Even though Mei still hasn't fully explained what happened yesterday, we can piece together from those fragmented pieces of information that Mistelin thinks Mei and the others didn't do a good enough job, so she proposes a new competition and demands a fair fight.

Making those who have already reached the finish line and newcomers run together from the starting line is the greatest injustice, and it is an injustice that should never be accepted.

This was the only thing she couldn't understand—why things had gone this way—but the girl was simply making excuses.

"I certainly didn't do it perfectly." She turned her face away, already showing some guilt.

"But dating is a process of mutual adjustment, and you should know that better than anyone else."

"You clearly had no reason to agree..."

Jiangcheng relentlessly pressed for answers.

Her mouth, which had just opened, was once again blocked by the egg roll. Even though she didn't want to do this again and again, and wanted to finish her sentence properly, the act of spitting it out was instantly stopped by the soft fingertips that came close.

Instead of symbolically pressing it against the lips as before, it directly covered the entire mouth.

She pinched her lips as if to aid chewing.

"--I have."

"As for refusing, of course I can. Standing on the moral high ground, I can criticize Miss Mistelin at will. As long as I don't back down, no one can make the first and most legitimate girlfriend give up her due rights."

She recounted the best possible outcome of being abandoned by her own hands, her gaze unchanging, devoid of regret or remorse, as if she were speaking of unrelated possibilities that had never intersected, a parallel line that could only be seen, not a possibility that could once be touched, once chosen, but ultimately discarded.

Incomprehensible.

I don't know why this is happening.

But the next moment, Jiang Cheng's confused eyes met those earnest, deep purple eyes—

"But in that case, you'll be the one who's really embarrassed."

"..."

The boy suddenly stopped chewing the egg roll.

He stood there, stunned, listening to the girl's voice.

“If I cannot accept Mistelin’s demands, then she may not have the confidence to see you after her defeat, but you will also not have the confidence to see us or anyone else.”

"By then, even if I find you, you'll just awkwardly reach out your hand, not knowing what to say."

So that's how it is.

So that's how it is.

The doubts were resolved—but in a way that was never expected, gradually.

The face of Raiden Mei that he was looking up at suddenly became too dazzling.

she says.

"I know how terrible it is to suddenly lose support. It's like going to a familiar shop for the first time to negotiate the price. You've already put aside your pride and are having a good chat with the shopkeeper. It seems like you're about to become friends. You finally manage to close a big deal by leveraging the shopkeeper's influence, but when you're ready to pay after wasting half a day of their time, you find that you have no money. Facing the shopkeeper's still friendly greeting and promises of discounts, you're probably feeling uneasy inside."

“I have experienced things like this, and even more cruel ones, such as being treated with no dignity in front of others, or having my dignity shattered on the ground, having my words rejected by others with a single sentence—even when I am saying them to others, right in front of them.”

"So I won't tolerate this happening to you. Even if you buy something excessively expensive, even if you make a mistake, I will at least ensure that you leave there without feeling embarrassed. Jiang Cheng's heart will never be hurt."

……

……

……

The final result is that simple. It has no profound meaning, is not a clever retreat, and is not a scheme. It is simply that we cannot tolerate you being embarrassed or leaving in an awkward situation.

Yes.

Why would Raiden Mei have such wild thoughts?

The only thing that fits this girl's character is hurting herself because she cares about others.

Although this may seem more useful than any gadget, candid sincerity is more effective than any petty scheme.

At least now the boy has been knocked down in an instant and can no longer utter a single word.

The thought of having such a loving girl while he had done those things made him want to strangle his past self—but if he had to do it all over again, could he really completely reject Kiana, who was crying?

He barged into the girl's life, took away her friends, and even stole her restless heart.

Can we really accept that the protagonist has fallen into such a miserable and tragic state because of himself?

—Now that we are no longer strangers.

"Don't worry."

The girl's voice interrupted all self-pity or meaningless thoughts—

"Don't we now have a deeper level of mutual understanding?"

what?

The still-warm egg roll, along with the silver chopsticks, drew my gaze upwards to those clear, beautiful eyes as I brought it to my lips once more.

“I’ve always had this feeling: a sense of indebtedness, unease, and a feeling of incompetence… I’ve returned to the starting point this time, but you also returned to the starting point because of me. You had the best ending back in Changkong City, and everything was ready, but you were forced into an unfamiliar territory and faced a bad outcome because of me. Every time I think about this, I feel so guilty that I want to commit suicide.”

"I not only want to be scolded, be reprimanded, and have all the mistakes I've made explained, I even want to be beaten up by you, Mr. Cheng... Actually, what Mistelin said is not wrong at all. I have done too little before, so little that even I cannot feel at ease."

Conscience and such.

Although it's just empty talk.

It seems impossible to interfere with anything, and it's useless; it can't stop bad people from doing evil, nor can it make the filthy no longer filthy.

But such things do exist. The only one that tests one's own heart is the 12th and 0th of the 8th, which will make every moment that one feels indebted to feel like falling into purgatory.

From the moment I saw Shiro decide to use a drug that would harm him in order to fight Otto, I was so angry that I wanted to strangle myself; when I saw him injured later, I was so sad that even Yae Sakura was not as upset as I was, and I immediately condemned him; and after being criticized this time, even Mistelin could not refute me... all of this is caused by this sense of indebtedness.

No, it won't happen again.

It's over.

The boy's face was gently lifted, slender fingers tracing his chin and cheeks, almost forcing him to see those eyes that were so bright they seemed to be shining—eyes that had finally been shattered by a thunderbolt, where all the gloom had been cleared away, and even the dark clouds would no longer gather, and no more gloomy drizzle would fall. At this moment, they seemed to hold the whole world within them.

"Even now, me."

"Now I can finally be your equal."

……

……

……

True love can only be born from equality between two people in a relationship, where neither feels they owe the other anything.

Even a slight tilt, accumulated over time, will eventually lead to signs of collapse. Not everything in the world is the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Moreover, that tower has been modified many times and cannot be said to be completely safe even now. It will also collapse one day.

Although due to her personality, Mei felt that if Shiro-kun ever broke up with her, she would still kneel on the ground and beg him, just like she had said before.

They'll do anything, as long as they don't leave me, as long as they stay by my side, they'll accept even the most humble things without hesitation.

Dignity is something I've long since lost, and I have no backbone left. If I can exchange such cheap things for Jiang Cheng, it would be an absolute bargain. Anyway, Herrschers are hard to kill; their vitality is incredibly strong, and the will of love to reclaim Jiang Cheng can accomplish anything.

She will only erupt into the Thunder Queen when she realizes that there is no way to salvage the situation and that she can never have it again.

What I would do back then...

Even Raiden Mei herself didn't dare to think about it seriously.

But now it's obvious there's no need to do that. It's not time to lose big yet. We can't just go back to the starting line and be completely wiped out. Cheng Jun gave up the best outcome and, with the will of an ordinary person, still managed to carve out a new future and become the new bishop standing on the floating island.