It was another peaceful morning. Like usual, Van came to the classroom after eating a simple breakfast.
Seeing that it was almost class time, yet the classroom was still sparsely filled, Van shook his head and sighed, "Kids these days, can't even get out of bed, unlike me, early to bed, early to rise every day…"
Yeah, and who was it again, haunting the forum like a ghost all night yesterday?
But to be fair, ever since Honkai 3 started serialization, students' tardiness rate had indeed increased a lot.
Regarding this, the school board was also having a big headache. Because they could make rules forbidding students from using phones during school time, but they couldn't control students from using phones at home.
What made the board even more helpless was that this problem wasn't only among students, even some teachers were affected too.
For example, upper-grade physics teacher Walter Yang, and also the repeatedly awarded outstanding teacher, Himeko Murata...
Of course, what left the board truly speechless was that even Principal Theresa was caught slacking off in her office watching Honkai 3 videos.
Before, sneaking in some comics in the office could still be tolerated, but now she was outright watching short videos in there.
This made the board members who wanted to use this as a chance to fix the school atmosphere feel like crying out to the sky, "The world's gone mad, the heavens dim. While we were ready to fight to the death, the emperor surrendered first."
———
Elsewhere, after a busy morning of studies, the morning classes had officially come to an end.
Students could finally relax, leaving the classroom in small groups.
Here, after enjoying a moment of the after-school afternoon vibe, Van also prepared to leave the classroom.
This had become Van's habit over the years of schooling. Not aiming to be the first to arrive, only hoping to be the last to leave.
Not for any particular reason, just to lower his sense of presence.
However, something unexpected happened today.
Because just as Van was about to leave, he noticed that Fu Hua, who sat in the central front seat, still hadn't left.
'Logically speaking, with Fu Hua's habits, she should've left by now. Did something happen?'
Thinking this, Van didn't bother worrying about presence or no presence, stopped his steps, and walked toward Fu Hua.
On the other side, although she appeared to be looking at her textbook, Fu Hua's mind was completely elsewhere. Right now, her whole mind was occupied by unfamiliar memories.
This made Fu Hua wonder if she was under too much study pressure lately and just imagining things. Clearly just a fictional video, so why was she so affected, even generating associations?
'Am I just too tired?'
While Fu Hua was feeling confused, a gentle voice came from above her.
"Class Rep Fu Hua, are you alright?"
Fu Hua looked up at the sound. Maybe because of the backlight, the figure in front of her appeared especially dazzling.
After focusing her sight, Fu Hua finally saw clearly the person in front of her.
Just as Fu Hua was about to tell him she was fine, the unfamiliar memories rampaging in her head caused her to speak out involuntarily:
"Van… long time no see."
"Class Rep Fu Hua, what are you talking about?" Van looked confused. "Didn't we just talk a couple days ago…"
As if suddenly realizing something, Van froze completely.
'Holy sh*t!'
It was already shocking that Raiden Mei had some impression of him before. But Van truly didn't expect, there was someone even stronger.
Even Kiana, whose later power level could rival Star Gods, hadn't recalled memories of him yet, and Fu Hua actually did?
Sure, as the absolute protagonist of the Honkai universe, Kiana was affected by world suppression more than anyone else.
But Fu Hua shouldn't be that far behind either. Maybe it was because she had spent the most time with him?
After all, aside from that era in the Previous Era Civilization, he had spent more than 5000 years together with Fu Hua in Shenzhou.
Thinking this, Van's expression shifted from his usual carefree look to something gentler, and his eyes gained a trace of melancholy.
"Hua…"
"Hua?"
Hearing this name, the memories in Fu Hua's mind surged once again.
If before, the images in her memory were like old 480p movies, now it was 4K high-definition cinema quality. As the memories revived, a familiar power began to slowly flow into Fu Hua's body.
"Van, you…"
Fu Hua looked up at her close friend from a past life, but suddenly, she seemed to notice something. The joy on her face from the reunion turned into shock.
"Van!" Fu Hua shot up from her seat, the sudden burst of power even snapping part of the desk corner. "Your body… why…"
Although from an ordinary person's perspective, Van right now was just a handsome but low-presence high school boy. What Fu Hua saw, however, was a fragile and wounded soul beneath that handsome face. Van's condition was very wrong.
He was clearly the one who had led humanity to victory against Honkai, the strongest among them, but now he looked no different from a normal human, with no trace of extraordinary power.
Fu Hua couldn't even imagine what kind of brutal battle could leave Van with this level of trauma.
And what bothered her the most was why had she forgotten Van before? Forgotten all the little things between them?
A hero who protected the world, who saved civilization, now could only silently hide in some forgotten corner, licking his wounds, just thinking about it made her heart ache.
Looking at Fu Hua, who stared at him full of guilt, Van was a bit baffled.
'What's with this girl?'
Why was she looking at him with such a pained expression?
'Could it be…'
Could it be she remembered how inhumane it was to chase him for class dues?
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