Li Mu fought to suppress the grin threatening to break out.
He ignored her glare and continued speaking.
“This is Mei.
You need to become her partner.
She will be one of your most solid anchor points for when you eventually accept the Herrscher’s power.” “A mysterious organization has recently set its sights on her.
I need you to protect her.” Kevin was already inclined to agree, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t we supposed to be saving the world?
Why am I playing bodyguard?” “Because this student, Mei, possesses an incredible talent for scientific research, and a world-shaking intellect that even the Honkai would have to respect.” “She will play a crucial role in whether or not we can ultimately defeat the Honkai.” “I have no more questions,” Kevin said, accepting the request.
Then, she stood up, her gaze falling on Li Mu with a haunting quality.
“But for now, I need to go home and…
process.” Just as Kevin turned to leave, Li Mu called out to her again.
“Wait, you can’t go yet.” Li Mu then stuffed a set of clothes into her arms.
Kevin looked down and saw that it was, indeed, an outfit for women.
Though it looked quite conservative, it was unmistakably female clothing.
Kevin looked up, and she and Li Mu stared at each other, eye to eye.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Li Mu pointed at her chest.
“You’re not planning on going out dressed like that, are you?” Following Li Mu’s finger, Kevin looked down and saw that her original clothes were hanging loosely on her frame, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of fair skin at her neckline.
Her face instantly flushed red.
She was about to fly into a rage, but she found Li Mu had already circled behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and pushing her into an empty room.
“Hurry up and change.” …
When Kevin emerged from the room again, her appearance was completely different.
Tight-fitting jeans paired with women’s sneakers, a black form-fitting top that outlined the toned lines of her abdomen, and a blue jacket worn over it all.
The perfect image of a vibrant, sporty high school girl.
Li Mu looked Kevin up and down.
He felt something was still missing from the ensemble.
It wasn’t until he saw her long, waist-length white hair hanging freely behind her that he realized what it was.
Under Kevin’s confused gaze, Li Mu produced two hair clips from somewhere and held them out to her.
“Which of these two do you think looks better?” Kevin was about to refuse, but considering that letting her hair hang loose like this was indeed a problem, she looked at the two clips in Li Mu’s hand.
One was decorated with a star, the other with a chameleon.
“Don’t you have any others?
Both of these are too…
girly.” “You’re an honest kid.” And with that, Li Mu pressed both hair clips into Kevin’s hand.
Kevin didn’t refuse this time, putting them away before preparing to leave.
But she had barely taken a step when Li Mu’s voice called out again.
“Wait, there’s one more thing.” Ignoring the exasperated look in Kevin’s eyes, Li Mu turned and casually pulled open a bookshelf in the living room, revealing a hidden compartment.
When she saw what was inside, Kevin’s eyes widened in shock.
Handguns, rifles, sniper rifles, grenades, longswords, daggers…
and was that thing that looked taller than her a man-portable rocket launcher?
“You’re hiding an entire armory in your house!” But then she reconsidered.
“Although, compared to your identity as a Reborn, I guess it’s not that surprising.” Li Mu took out two handguns with a silver metallic sheen and pressed them into Kevin’s hands.
“MK215 pistols, manufactured by Far East Heavy Industries.” “Unlike the standard models circulating on the market, this is a special internal version for the Fire Moth.
It’s powered by Honkai energy and possesses far greater power than normal firearms.” “It’s at least sufficient for dealing with early-stage Deadbeats and weaker Honkai Beasts.” Feeling the cold touch of the firearms in her hands, Kevin’s eyes lit up.
What boy doesn’t love little toys like these?
The only problem was, she had never learned how to shoot a gun before.
But fortunately, Li Mu had already anticipated this.
“Don’t worry about how to use them.
I’ll find an instructor for you in a while.
They’ll give you systematic training in combat skills.” “An instructor…
What kind of person would be chosen as an instructor by a guy like you, who already seems to defy all logic?” Kevin quipped, trying to use banter to forget the overwhelming sense of loss that kept bubbling up.
“In that case, I’m heading back.
My parents are out on their honeymoon, so I’m home alone right now.” “But I still have to figure out how to explain to them that the son they raised has become a daughter.” “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that for now.” Li Mu produced a few cards and a stack of documents from nowhere.
“Because for a long time to come, you won’t be Kevin anymore.” “What do you mean?” Kevin took the documents Li Mu handed her and saw the profile of a girl who looked remarkably, almost identically, like her current self.
The information on it read: [Kiana, a mysterious young woman from Siberia, suspected to be the young lady of a prominent European family.] [Sexual orientation: Female.
Possesses extraordinary martial arts skills, superhuman intuition, and physical abilities exceeding those of a normal human, along with a strong, simple sense of justice.] [Came to the Far East in search of her father, Siegfried.
Enrolled in Senba Academy by chance to hide her identity.] […] [Her identity may hold an even greater secret.
Further details to be supplemented later (I haven’t thought of it yet).] “What is this?” “A completely verifiable identity file, and a new character profile I’ve prepared for you.” “From now on, you are Kiana.” “After all, you can’t very well continue living as Kevin looking like you do now, can you?” Kevin was conflicted.
Even though her gender had changed, the thought of abandoning her current identity was still deeply unsettling to her.
But this was extremely important to Li Mu.
One could even say he had gone to all this trouble just for this one step.
So, he played his next card.
“Saving the world isn’t a clean business.
It’s likely—no, it’s certain—that you’ll become a target.” “To avoid bringing harm to your family, I suggest you use a different identity.
It’s for the best.” Li Mu’s words held a devilish, tempting power.
“Kevin, you wouldn’t want your friends and family to be put in danger because of this, would you?” Kevin fell silent and sighed internally.
She definitely couldn’t let her family be put in danger.
“I…
agree.” She felt like Mu had her completely cornered.
‘Kiana’ nodded and walked towards the door.
Her departing figure looked desolate…
and completely devoid of the will to live.
Fortunately, this time, Li Mu did not call out to her again.
Once ‘Kiana’ was completely out of sight, Li Mu casually closed the door.
At the same time, a voice sounded in his mind.
[Mission: Witness Kiana’s enrollment at Senba Academy.
Reward: 1x A-Rank Stigmata Option Box, 300x Crystals] [Mission Status: Check-in complete.] [Reward available for collection.] [Mission: Witness MEI Corp’s young lady Raiden Mei’s enrollment at Senba Academy.
Reward: 1x A-Rank Stigmata Option Box, 300x Crystals] [Mission Status: Key individual Raiden Mei not detected] “Hee…” Li Mu covered his mouth, forcefully suppressing the laughter that threatened to burst out.
“Don’t laugh, don’t laugh.” “But when something this delightful happens, how can you possibly hold it in?” “Hee hee hee…” That’s right.
The whole “Reborn” thing was just a lie to fool Kevin.
He wasn’t a Reborn at all.
He was just an ordinary transmigrator.
And the reason he had gone to such lengths was all because of this unreliable system that had gotten the time wrong and arrived fifty thousand years too early!
The system’s function was simple and crude: a check-in system that was basically a guaranteed path to power.
One could say his future was bright…
if this damn system hadn’t messed up the timeline.
Just glancing at the system’s mission list made Li Mu’s vision go dark.
What the hell was “Check-in: Escape from Nagazora.” What the hell was “Check-in: Queen’s Descent.” What the hell was “Check-in: Final Lesson.” System, do you have any idea where I am right now?
I’m in the Previous Era!
The Previous Era that’s just a background setting in the main story!
Li Mu felt like he was about to laugh from sheer anger.
The current time was at least fifty thousand years before the start of the main story.
Was he supposed to just survive the entire Previous Era and wait fifty thousand years to activate the system?
But the problem was, if he had the confidence to survive the Previous Era from start to finish, what did he need this useless system for?
In this era destined to be erased by the Finality, a population of seven billion would be whittled down to less than a hundred thousand.
Even fewer would survive to see the next era fifty thousand years later.
The survival rate was less than one in a million!
How confident would he have to be to bet on those odds?
Thus, to avoid dying in the final cataclysm, driven by a powerful will to survive, he had to activate his world-shaking intellect to find a path to survival for himself.
And as they say, when a person is pushed to the brink, they can achieve anything.
After some thought, Li Mu actually came up with a potentially viable idea.
Since he couldn’t travel fifty thousand years into the future to the start of the main story to activate the system…
…why couldn’t he just make the main story happen in this era and then check in?
It was a well-known fact that this world, controlled by the Cocoon of Finality, had a kind of “cycle.” The two eras, before and after, were practically mirror images of each other.
One could even find many people in the Previous Era who were similar to those from fifty thousand years later—counterparts, so to speak.
And Li Mu discovered that when a counterpart fit the relevant character’s background settings, they could actually be recognized by the system as the character themselves!
So, as long as I have Mei play the role of Mei, and Kevin play the role of Kiana, and then find this era’s counterpart for Bronya, won’t the main trio be assembled?
He already had clues about Otto’s and Theresa’s counterparts, and Hua was already living in this era.
Then he could just poach Himeko’s counterpart from the Fire Moth, and the scripts for Queen’s Descent and Final Lesson would also be ready.
Once all the actors were gathered and the stage was set, he could gain power fifty thousand years ahead of schedule just by checking in.
And when that time comes…
the Herrscher of Finality?
Hmph!
I’ll make sure she never returns from whence she came!
The only problem was, after finalizing the plan, the very first step ran into a snag.
The system would not recognize ‘Kevin’ as a counterpart for ‘Kiana’.
Although the system was a complete moron, it wasn’t blind.
It could still tell the difference between a boy and a girl.
And so, to complete the check-in, he could only wrong his good brother, Kevin.
Thinking of this, Li Mu couldn’t help but feel indignant on behalf of his friend.
“You naturally unreliable, useless system!
It’s all your fault that my good brother lost his brother!” “I despise you!” —o—