Far East, Nagazora City, Chiba Academy.
The sacred Friday, approaching the weekend.
Today should have been the third favorite day for students in their restless and dreary academic lives.
However, the weather today was extremely overcast, as if it were about to pour down at any moment.
Outside the window, raindrops had even begun to fall occasionally, one by one, making a muted sound.
“Wow, it’s raining today.
That means Senior Wu is about to start again, right?”
“Sigh, I heard that whenever it rains, Wu thinks of his deceased ex-girlfriend.
Is he really that devoted?”
“Yeah, I also heard that every time Wu watches the rain, it feels like his girlfriend in heaven is embracing him.”
“…”
Amid the whispered chatter, Liang Wu was once again in the hallway, performing his familiar routine.
He stood by the corridor window, one hand propped on the cold sill, the other in his pocket.
Then, with a deeply melancholic expression, he gazed out at the rain, as if looking at something that had been lost.
[Ding!]
[Detected rise in host’s melancholy value.
Honkai resistance increased.
Honkai energy capacity increased!]
At the cold mechanical voice, Liang Wu’s brow relaxed a little.
Liang Wu, eighteen years old, an adult, was a transmigrator—or rather, a transmigrator who retained memories of his previous life.
Eighteen years had passed since Liang Wu was reborn into this world, and as far back as he could remember, he had been in an orphanage.
Yes, in this life, Liang Wu was an orphan.
Originally, he thought it was just an ordinary reincarnation with past-life memories.
Until one day, he saw a news report on the orphanage’s television about the continent of Mu.
That was when he realized: he had transmigrated into the world of Honkai Impact 3rd—and not just any era, but the Previous Era, the one that would be wiped out.
Wasn’t that awkward?
Liang Wu was well aware of the world of Honkai—it was extremely unfriendly to men.
If he had transmigrated into the Current Era, he could have found a relatively safe place and just waited out the main storyline.
But the Previous Era?
That was basically a death sentence.
Fortunately, fate had mercy.
When Liang Wu turned twelve, he awakened a system.
A system called [The Most Melancholy Person].
Thinking this, Liang Wu looked again at the panel only he could see.
[Host: Liang Wu]
[Current Melancholy Rating: C (On campus, you might be a king of melancholy, but in the wider world, you still need practice!)]
[Bound Melancholic Character: Kevin]
[Current Template Rating: You are frighteningly strong now—even taking on a Chariot-class Honkai Beast single-handedly is no problem!]
[Special Skill: Melancholic Six Eyes]
[Six Eyes: As a melancholic person, how can you lack a pair of melancholic eyes?]
[Skill Description: These eyes are beyond doubt.
They not only allow the user to control Honkai energy effectively, but also greatly reduce Honkai energy consumption.]
That was Liang Wu’s [Most Melancholy Person] system.
In short, as long as Liang Wu maintained his melancholic persona, and whenever others perceived him as even more melancholic, he would grow stronger and acquire new skills.
For example, the [Six Eyes] skill was the best reward he had ever received from the system.
Clearly, from the description, these Six Eyes were the same kind as a certain modern-day strongest.
However, this system had a fatal flaw.
He had to form a bond with a melancholic character closely related to the main plot and bind with them.
Moreover, his melancholy gain depended on that character’s level of melancholy.
Hmm…
a melancholic character closely tied to the plot?
How was he, still just an ordinary student, supposed to form a bond with someone like that?
After much thought and careful study of the timeline, Liang Wu immediately had a target.
That’s right, you, Ancestor Kevin!
Although Kevin was still a cheerful, sunny boy at this point, it shouldn’t be a problem to borrow some of his gloom in advance, right?
In the end, after arriving at Chiba Academy, Liang Wu’s binding went without a hitch.
And those Six Eyes were the reward he obtained after binding Kevin.
“…Wu, are you okay?” A male voice sounded not far away.
Liang Wu turned to look, and sure enough, it was his good friend Kevin, his partner in crime in maintaining the melancholic persona.
The surrounding students made way for Kevin as soon as they saw him.
It seemed this had happened many times before.
Liang Wu glanced at Kevin and said calmly, “Kevin, what brings you here at this time?”
“Mm…
Su asked me to come.
He said you’d probably be feeling down again, and he wanted me to cheer you up.”
“Of course, even if Su hadn’t said anything, I’d still come.
We’re brothers, after all.”
Liang Wu let out a soft sigh.
He had to admit, the campus life in the Previous Era was genuinely innocent, almost like something out of an old-school TV drama.
Liang Wu had some self-awareness about his current behavior.
If this had been his previous life, he probably would have been labeled an emo kid.
But here at Chiba Academy, everyone was so pure-hearted that they actually believed it!
Thus, everyone here had contributed to the success of Liang Wu’s melancholic persona.
Liang Wu patted Kevin on the shoulder: “You’ll understand when you’re my age.”
His voice was deep and world-weary, as if his soul had withered inside this eighteen-year-old body for countless centuries.
Kevin blinked, clearly taken aback by the answer.
He scratched his white hair: “But…
we’re the same age, aren’t we?
And you’re actually two months younger than me.”
Liang Wu turned his head: “Age isn’t the point, Kevin.”
“Some people live a lifetime without ever truly living, while others have only lived eighteen years but have already experienced a lifetime.”
Kevin was silent for a long moment, then stepped forward and gently patted Liang Wu’s shoulder: “…I don’t fully understand what you’re saying, but if you ever need company, I’m always here.”
“Su too,” Kevin added.
“He said that if you’re feeling down, you can drop by the infirmary after school to chat.
He’s on duty today.”
Liang Wu nodded slightly: “Thank you both for your concern.”
“But tomorrow’s the weekend, so I need to head home early today.”
Yes, Liang Wu was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he’d burst out laughing.
Then, the school bell rang.
Friday at Chiba Academy came to an end.
Liang Wu slung his shoulder bag back on and took the path home.
…
Because it had just rained, the streets were still damp.
Just walking home, Liang Wu could feel the muggy heat.
With nothing better to do, he pulled out his phone.
The era was technologically advanced, and the internet had everything.
Of course, information about Honkai was still inaccessible to him.
After all, although humanity had already survived two Herrschers, perhaps because the early Herrschers had been relatively weak, the government’s secrecy measures were extremely strict.
As a model student on the surface, Liang Wu had no real channels to learn more.
To be honest, he didn’t know much about the Previous Era’s storyline either.
After all, the Previous Era plot in the game from his previous life only appeared in the Elysian Realm texts and the words of the Flame-Chasers.
If you asked Liang Wu to recite the plot, he could only recall a few major events at best.
However, there was one person who, without direct contact, could help him roughly track the timeline.
Liang Wu opened his browser and typed in a name.
The world-famous diva, Eden.
For this future Flame-Chaser, Liang Wu remembered quite a bit of her related story.
In the upcoming timeline, Eden would hold a concert in Nagazora City.
Before that, Mei would travel to the continent of Mu to attend an academic seminar, where she would meet Mobius.
And that also meant the Third Herrscher was not far off.
“Hmm…
the concert is next week, then.” After double-checking the concert date, Liang Wu sighed softly.
It seemed he needed to work harder during this time.
Yes, just like Kevin in the original story, Liang Wu also wanted to join Fire Moth during the Third Herrscher incident.
After all, only by joining Fire Moth could he come into contact with more plot-relevant characters and unlock more melancholy points!
With those hopes for the future, Liang Wu finally arrived at the door of his rented apartment.
However, he didn’t rush inside today.
Instead, he stopped right in front of his own doorstep.
At that moment, curled up by his door, was a figure that looked utterly pitiful.
A girl, about the same age as Liang Wu, with long white hair messily draped over her shoulders.
Her clothes were stained with mud, and she was curled into a ball like a stray kitten drenched by the rain, with nowhere else to go.
Her face was buried in her knees, making her features hard to see, but the exposed section of her wrist was strikingly thin.
Liang Wu stood two steps away and was silent for about three seconds.
Could this be some runaway kid?
He looked down at the white-haired ball curled up at his door, rapidly analyzing the situation.
Her clothes looked familiar.
Liang Wu was certain he had seen them somewhere before.
Perhaps she was a student from a nearby school, and she was wearing her uniform.
Secondly, this street was in Nagazora’s old district; aside from residents, almost no one passed by deliberately.
And a girl appearing here alone, soaked through and huddled at someone’s doorstep…
Most likely a runaway who got caught in the rain, had nowhere to go, and just found any awning to take shelter under.
After his analysis, Liang Wu was silent for another two seconds.
Normally, he should just step around her, open the door, and pretend he hadn’t seen anything.
But for some reason, Liang Wu had a feeling.
As if the decision he made today would change his life forever.
Was that really so ominous?
Thinking this, Liang Wu walked over to the girl and said calmly, “…Are you okay?”
The girl did not respond.
The white lump curled at the door rose and fell gently, breathing evenly and deeply—she had clearly fallen asleep.
Liang Wu crouched down and looked at her exposed ankles.
There were a few shallow scrapes, and her shoes were covered in mud, as if she had walked a long way through the rain.
“…Alright, I guess I’m a good citizen of the new era.” With that, Liang Wu reached out toward her forehead, hidden between her knees.
Sure enough, her breath was a little warm, and her temperature felt off.
Obviously, the girl had a fever.
Wait a minute, wasn’t this plot development getting stranger and stranger?
A young girl, soaking wet, showing up at his doorstep in the evening with a fever.
In the stories from his previous life, this kind of opening either meant a sudden-appearing female lead or a trouble magnet.
“…This is going to be troublesome.”
Even so, he might as well see it through to the end.
Liang Wu bent down and scooped the girl up in his arms.
She was much lighter than he had expected.
His movement seemed to stir her slightly; she let out a soft murmur in her sleep, but she didn’t wake up.
Instead, she instinctively nuzzled closer to him.
Liang Wu opened his door and carried her inside.
The rented apartment was small, with two bedrooms and a living room, but it was kept clean.
Liang Wu placed the girl on the sofa, fetched a clean blanket from his bedroom, and covered her with it.
Then he went to the kitchen to boil some water.
After doing all that, he took another look at the girl.
And that look nearly gave him a shock.
Why did her face look more and more familiar?
“…”
In that instant, Liang Wu finally remembered the name attached to that face.
Kiana Kaslana.
Liang Wu: ??????
What the hell?
This was the Previous Era—how could Kiana be here?
Now he realized why that outfit had seemed familiar.
Because it wasn’t a school uniform at all.
Yes, the girl sleeping in front of him right now was the most melancholic person of the Current Era.
Void Drifter, Kiana.
[Ding!
New melancholic character detected: Kiana Kaslana.
After achieving a basic bond, the host may attempt to switch binding.]
[Currently bound melancholic character: Kevin]
Oh no.
My life is about to take a huge turn…