Kiana knows I have the special ability [Return by Death]?
Impossible...
No one knows. Other than Otto and Kallen, there shouldn't be a fourth person in this world who knows about it.
Even if he took the initiative to tell someone the truth, they wouldn't necessarily believe him. The idea of someone guessing it purely through logical deduction was utter nonsense.
Every time he died, Kiana wasn't even present at the scene. There was no reason for her to know.
And Otto had absolutely no reason to tell her.
So...
The 'millions of times' in Kiana's promise was just a hyperbolic figure of speech to emphasize her resolve, huh...
Li Wu gazed into Kiana's blue eyes. Reflected within them was his own face—confused, hesitant, and carrying an almost imperceptible trace of disappointment.
For a split second, his mind went entirely blank. He couldn't remember anything, nor could he think about anything.
It was as if someone had crossed the wires and turned on the power, causing his entire mental circuitry to short out.
A few seconds later, Li Wu snapped out of it. Facing her sudden, overwhelming concern, he coldly rejected her.
"I can solve it myself. Just take care of yourself."
The streetlights in the distance flickered. It was getting late.
Kiana didn't answer immediately. Instead, she stared quietly at Li Wu. Her gaze wasn't sharp, but it felt as if it could pierce straight through his heart.
"That's weird. You actually rejected me," Kiana muttered. "According to the tutorials online, after I dump my family trauma on you, you're supposed to gladly accept my emotional support... Did I skip a step? I can't figure it out."
"But whatever. I've already made my stance clear, Li Wu. I just wanted to let you know that when you really don't know what to do, you can try coming to me. We can solve whatever unknown problems you have together."
Internally, Kiana was actually incredibly confused.
What comes after the trauma dumping? Li Wu's reaction is completely wrong! The online tutorials didn't mention this at all!
"I'll remember that. Thank you."
"Save your thanks for when I actually help you. Your place is just up ahead. Go back and get some good rest. I won't bother you this weekend."
Li Wu nodded and hopped off the back of the bicycle.
"See you next week."
"Yeah, see you."
Following the familiar streets, Li Wu walked toward his apartment. He stopped by a 24-hour convenience store along the way and bought a bag of snacks and drinks.
In his memories, he loved doing this. Preparing a huge pile of completely meaningless junk food before the weekend, then slowly whittling away his free time.
He honestly couldn't understand it right now. Why not use that free time to improve myself, instead of indulging in such low-level entertainment?
The 'me' from the past must have had his reasons. I can't understand it right now, so I need to slowly experience it. I need to feel it so I can gradually recover, which will allow me to make the relatively correct choices in the upcoming storyline.
Along the way, Li Wu spotted a food cart parked by the side of the road in the distance. The sign read "Takoyaki" in Far East characters, accompanied by a cute drawing of an octopus.
The evening breeze was bleak. Li Wu stepped up the stairs to his floor, one step at a time.
But when he arrived at his door, the sight before him made his pupils contract involuntarily.
Under the pale moonlight, Raiden Mei was sitting in front of his door. She was hugging her knees. She was drenched. Her beautiful princess dress was covered in mud, the fabric turned translucent, clearly revealing the flushed skin of her arms beneath it.
"Little Li! You're finally back!"
The moment she saw him, the despondent, lifeless expression on her face instantly shifted into unbridled joy. She looked like an abandoned puppy that had finally seen its owner return, practically vibrating with the urge to pounce on him.
She desperately wanted to, but she didn't dare move.
Because she knew it would only make Li Wu push her further away.
"What are you doing sitting at my door?"
Li Wu walked over and asked calmly, his face entirely expressionless.
"I... I wanted to apologize to you. I got too emotional during Kendo class. I almost caused a huge disaster..."
"As long as you know. Try your best to avoid letting that happen again in the future, even if I'm not by your side," Li Wu replied, his tone as dry and lifeless as a textbook.
"Mhm! I'll figure out a way to control myself!"
Raiden Mei didn't care about his tone. She felt that as long as Li Wu was willing to talk to her, there was a chance for them to reconcile.
"So you stood in the rain all the way here just for this? Then you can go back now."
Li Wu directly issued an order for her eviction.
"Little Li... I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have indulged the people around me in bullying ordinary students. I don't know why, but before I realized it, I just... I'm not making excuses!"
"Can you just give me a chance to make up for it? I'll do anything! Please, just forgive me, okay?"
Raiden Mei clutched her chest, looking up at him anxiously. Water dripped from the ends of her hair onto the floor.
The evening breeze blew past, unable to lift her soaked, heavy hair.
"Then prove it to me. Prove that you are worthy of being forgiven. Now, move aside. I need to rest."
Li Wu walked straight past her, forcing her into the corner of the hallway. He unlocked the door, opened it just wide enough for one person to slip through, and quickly stepped inside.
The door was slammed shut.
Just to be safe, he deadbolted the lock, purely for psychological comfort.
After doing all this, Li Wu didn't feel relieved at all. Instead, he felt absolutely terrible. Even worse than when he had first entered his dissociative state.
Why did I say that?
Tell Raiden Mei to prove it to me? Prove what? How is she supposed to prove it?
Is that single sentence really enough to make her turn over a new leaf? That's far too naive.
Since one sentence isn't enough, why didn't I stay outside and talk to her longer? Why didn't I probe her current mental state? Wasn't that exactly what I wanted to confirm the most?!
Li Wu frowned deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Ever since encountering all that messed-up stuff at school today, he felt like he had become abnormal. Even though he could maintain a calm facade, he constantly found himself inexplicably doubting whether his judgments were correct.
This was not a good sign. It couldn't be resolved with logic alone. He had to regain his original state of mind as quickly as possible.
"Pre-borrow..."
[You have pre-borrowed a highly cost-effective smartphone. The corresponding price has been deducted from your bank card: 70,000 Far East Yen. Current Balance: 999,929,700.00]
Bind account. Log in.
Li Wu completed the setup process. Following his memories, he began browsing the content he used to love watching the most.
While scrolling through videos, a notification suddenly popped up on the screen. It was a new email.
At the very top of the email, it read:
Sender: Ana Schariac.
Li Wu froze for several seconds. After a long silence, he finally clicked to open it. Even if it was filled with hurtful words, it didn't matter. At the very least, it would let him know what she was thinking when she left.
The very first sentence hit his heart like a sledgehammer.
[I'm sorry, Li Wu. Due to personal reasons, I have decided to leave you and accelerate down the path I have chosen.]
[I'm doing well. Don't worry about me.]
[Remember to look at the notebook inside my backpack.]
[Also... never mind. I don't have anything else I want to say.]
[When I reach the end of my path, perhaps, everything will be different.]
Li Wu stared blankly at the email. Every sentence, every single word dripped with the finality of parting ways. The very first sentence bluntly laid it all out.
She must be incredibly disappointed in me... Otherwise, how could she write something like this?
Li Wu switched the phone back to the home screen. He tilted his head back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Time seemed to lose its meaning.
The howling, freezing wind of Siberia still echoed in his ears.
"This is fine too. This way, no one else will get hurt. If she leaves me, Otto will no longer pay attention to her. She can follow her original life trajectory and become the hero she always wanted to be... This is good."
Li Wu muttered, his voice hollow.
---||---
Meanwhile—
Schicksal's Asian Branch.
Inside the virtual combat simulator, an Emperor-class Honkai Beast—the Star Devourer—was projected onto the battlefield. Unlike the frozen tundra of Siberia, the surroundings were simulated as a desolate desert, the true home turf of the Sandworm.
This was Ana's 237th challenge. All previous attempts had ended in failure, but they weren't without progress.
From initially only being able to flee in panic, she progressed to being able to pierce the Star Devourer's armor. In her last challenge, she had managed to whittle its health down to a sliver. Unfortunately, she grew too anxious at the very end and was killed by its counterattack...
"Achoo! Who's talking about me? Hmm... Li Wu should have received the email I sent him by now."
Ana looked down, watching the desert floor in the distance continuously cave in. The tremors vibrated through the ground, rapidly approaching her.
The virtual space perfectly simulated all the physical data of the battlesuit and the Valkyrie. Naturally, the recorded Honkai Beasts were completely identical to their real-life counterparts.
For young, inexperienced Valkyries, being able to defeat a simulation didn't guarantee victory in reality. In actual combat, they would feel terror, panic, and encounter various unpredictable disadvantages.
But for Ana, it was the exact opposite. As long as she could defeat it in the simulation, she could absolutely kill it in reality.
Her Holy Blood would explosively unleash immense power when she was on the brink of death, allowing her to surpass her own limits. The prerequisite was that she had to maintain a state of near-death and struggle desperately for survival.
The Schicksal database contained extensive records on this.
As her foundational strength increased, the efficacy of the Holy Blood would also grow exponentially.
"As long as my foundational strength is high enough, I can withstand the Divine Blood. Even if I can only endure a tiny drop of it, I will continuously push myself to approach that absolute limit."
"Wait for me, Li Wu. I will use the fastest speed possible... to reach the end of my path, and return to your side!"
Hundreds, thousands of crimson-red ice lances infused with Holy Blood materialized in the air. Ana commanded them, engaging in a brutal, suicidal exchange of blows with the Star Devourer.
She aggressively traded injuries for damage, constantly stimulating the latent potential of her Holy Blood to hasten the arrival of that day...
She hoped that when that day came, Li Wu wouldn't have to force himself to do things he hated.
She hoped that when that day came, both of them could welcome a better ending together.
She hoped that day wasn't too far away.
---||---
Nagazora City. Inside the apartment.
Li Wu sat by the window, staring blankly at the newly repaired glass.
The evening breeze knocked gently against the pane, over and over, yet the person inside offered no response.
Li Wu picked up his phone and checked the time. 2:00 AM.
"Maybe I should go out for a breath of fresh air. It's so late, there won't be anyone outside. In my memories, I loved doing this. And right now... I really want to do it."
Whenever he felt irritable or overwhelmed, Li Wu always liked to lock himself in a closed room, or sneak out to the park downstairs in the dead of night.
Walking through an empty park made him feel as if he were the only person left on the planet, monopolizing all of its quiet beauty.
Click.
Li Wu unlocked the deadbolt and pushed the door open.
The harsh squeal of the metal door grinding against its hinges was grating, but the sound quickly vanished into the silent night.
An unexpected, refreshing fragrance wafted over, enveloping him.
It wasn't the heavy scent of expensive perfume. It was a crisp, clean scent, like morning dew after a rainstorm. It was incredibly soothing, involuntarily relaxing his tense nerves.
Li Wu turned his head to locate the source of the scent. His gaze ultimately locked onto the desolate, pitiful girl at the end of the corridor.
A cluster of sky-blue Morning Glories, glowing faintly white under the moonlight, grew quietly in a dirty, chipped flower pot.
Raiden Mei was hugging the pot. She leaned quietly against the freezing wall, facing the pitch-black stairwell as she slept.
The red marks on her face had faded significantly. The places where her piercings had been were now covered in band-aids. She was trying to use them to hide the unsightly state she had reduced herself to.
"Raiden... Mei?" Li Wu murmured softly, not waking her.
Has she been sleeping out here in the hallway ever since I got home?
Li Wu carefully examined her current state. She was still wearing the same beautiful princess dress.
However, because the water had evaporated from her clothes in the cold air, the mud had dried and caked into hard, crusty clumps distributed all over her body.
And then there was the flower pot.
In the language of flowers, it meant 'visit' and 'apology'.
In the stories he had read online, whenever family members got into a fight, they would often gift these flowers to reconcile, sending a gentle signal of: 'I came to see you.'
The drooping flowers looked like children who had done something wrong, not daring to raise their heads. When the wind blew gently, they trembled entirely, looking incredibly aggrieved.
Li Wu stood in silence for a long moment. He went back inside and grabbed a blanket, but quickly felt it wasn't right. He tossed the blanket back and walked over to Raiden Mei again.
"I really owe you. I'll just consider this doing a favor for Nagazora."
With that, Li Wu crouched down and picked her up. His movements were incredibly gentle.
The moment he lifted her, gravity caused the loose, translucent sleeves of her dress to slide down to her elbows.
A shocking, gruesome sight was laid bare before his eyes.
From the back of her hand all the way up her arm, the hyper-stylized purple snake tattoo had completely vanished.
In its place were countless, hideous scars. Like agonizing, twisted burn marks, they were branded deeply into her skin.
Li Wu stared blankly at the horrific scarring. These were the marks left behind by laser tattoo removal. It would take an incredibly long time to heal, and it was highly unlikely her skin would ever return to its original, flawless state.
A voluptuous figure, beautiful long hair, deep eyes, a face akin to a goddess...
A body that was utterly flawless in every aspect suddenly bore a permanent, glaring defect. Anyone who saw it would feel a profound sense of regret.
Raiden Mei was a Herrscher, but she couldn't be compared to him. Herrschers were intrinsically closer to mages, whereas his body had been remolded like a supreme warrior's. Injuries on her body wouldn't heal instantly.
"L-Little Li!!!"
Perhaps sensing the movement, Raiden Mei awoke from her slumber. The very first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Li Wu.
Her heart swelled with a mixture of shock and overwhelming joy. Her eyes lit up, and she completely failed to control her expression.
I'm actually being carried back inside by Little Li?!
Little Li definitely knew I was still outside, but he was just too stubborn to admit it, so he waited until I fell asleep to move me!
Little Li really hasn't given up on me!
Raiden Mei's heart pounded wildly against her ribs.
With his superhuman senses, Li Wu clearly perceived her violently accelerating heartbeat. He didn't say a single word. He simply placed her smoothly onto the living room floor.
"Little Li! You're so kind!"
I will never forgive you.
Secret Technique: Consecutive Eight-Hit Devastation!