Xin Yu sat on the rooftop, looking down at the bustling crowd below. Students in school uniforms were running in neat formations on the sports field. Some were panting heavily, some had calm expressions, and some looked like they were ready to flee.
"Is that what my life as a student used to be like?" Xin Yu suddenly asked.
[Yes. The school days of the past were nothing like the relaxed ones in the Far East. School didn't end until dusk, and we still had to participate in club activities. There was little homework and lots of holidays, but I remember if they wanted good grades there, it was also very demanding. They had to attend a lot of cram schools, and their study time was no less than ours.]
An extremely blurry figure wearing a black cloak appeared beside Xin Yu. It watched the bustling students below and spoke in a voice that was impossible to identify as male or female.
"That sounds truly arduous. In my fragmented memories, I've also seen many scenes of doing homework. I made a special comparison and found that the amount of homework assigned by St. Freya Academy really is on the low side."
[You can only say that because you've already surpassed the logical thinking of a mortal. Your abilities and comprehension have far exceeded that of a normal person, and you learn things very quickly. Otherwise, if you had to study in your past state, you probably would have experienced what a painful feeling is long ago.]
"Painful… The day Sakura died, that bitter feeling should also count as a kind of pain."
[To be honest, I never expected that the first and deepest emotion you would have in this world would come from Yae Sakura. After all, that character is just so marginal. The only thing she's known for is cuckolding Otto, so she often appears in meme works. I really don't have many memories of this character. As for her in-game strength… I didn't pay attention to that. I wasn't a meta-chaser back then; I just looked at the characters.]
"The course of events is always unpredictable. No one can guarantee they can account for all future variables. Isn't the original future of this world also a variable now that I'm here?"
[You're right. Perhaps this is the wonder of fate. After all, in the original plan, you should have already disappeared by now. But as a result, by a twist of fate, Kiana Kaslana, who had already become the Herrscher of the End, discovered me in her consciousness space.]
[To avoid fundamentally subverting the plan, I used my own death, combined with some abilities, to create a form of interference. Even if that fellow were to reveal information about me, you would automatically ignore it to a certain extent.]
The black-robed figure took out a green can from somewhere, with the image of a snowflake printed on it.
[Want one?]
"Alcohol? You like to drink? I don't seem to have any memory fragments of this."
Xin Yu took the can of alcohol handed over by the black-robed figure, popped it open, and took a small sip.
"...Doesn't taste as good as cola."
[Of course. Even if this stuff is chilled, it's not as good as an iced cola. If it weren't for my old man nagging me whenever I drank soda, I'd definitely prefer a bottle of iced cola during summer meals. But when that wasn't an option, I had to settle for the next best thing and drink iced beer.]
The black-robed figure opened the pull-tab, then tilted its head back and poured the liquid from the can into its mouth. Even while performing such an action, the black robe it wore didn't fall off. The sunlight from the sky still couldn't penetrate the concealing darkness, making it impossible to see the face beneath the robe.
"In my memories of the past, I don't seem to have a single shred of memory about family."
[That's because those are mine. Not yours, a persona born from the void that I was supposed to discard.]
The black-robed figure stated this without any reservation.
[When that system first brought me to this world, I was on the verge of collapse. But in truth, I didn't fall into despair and thoughts of suicide that quickly. After all, that system, no matter how you look at it, possessed high-level power. As long as I could make good use of it, I could eventually rely on its power to grow strong enough to go home.]
[But then, that system turned out to be a so-called conquest system, requiring me to capture those main characters. I thought, this is simply a joke. The main characters in Nagazora were just a few. Let's not even talk about Yae Sakura, that fox spirit who's been buried in the ground for 500 years. Just Raiden Mei and Kiana, you want me, a normal person with zero Honkai energy resistance, to get close to two Herrschers?]
[And that system was so rigid. It wouldn't let me first gain Honkai resistance and adaptability before making a move. The problem is, even if I had it, it would be useless. Those two main characters were being watched like hawks. One by that old fox Otto, and the other by the god of civil war, Cocolia. If a character like me so much as made a move, I'd be taken out with a single bullet in the middle of the night!]
[I even forgot that the very air of this world contains extremely faint traces of Honkai energy. For the people who live in this world, as long as it doesn't reach a certain level, it's not a problem. But for someone who isn't from this world, these faint traces of Honkai are enough to be fatal.]
[In the span of a day or two of feeling down, I discovered I was infected with Honkai. I found out I was dying.]
[It was truly despairing. At that time, it was utter despair. There was simply no way to continue living. After being infected by Honkai, it wasn't just physical deterioration, but also mental collapse. The pain brought by these two afflictions drove me nearly insane. It tormented me to the point where I couldn't even sleep well at night. In the end, I even went from hysterical to numb.]
[When I became numb to everything, perhaps due to a transmigrator's talent or some other reason, I became infected by the Void.]
[And your birth began from that moment.]
[It's truly strange. That two people like us, who should be mortal enemies, can actually sit here and chat peacefully. In my original scenario, the moment we met, we would definitely fight a desperate duel to the death.]
Xin Yu sensed that the tone of the black-robed person beside him had calmed down, and only then did he reply, "After all, we are the same person. The so-called mortal enemies are merely a difference in ideals."
[Who's the same person as you? You're just a false persona born from the void, a tool I created.]
"Then what about those fragmented memories of my past? Those that symbolize heroes, symbolize beauty, symbolize salvation. Where did those purest memories come from?"
"It is precisely those memories, which seem incredibly naive to others, that have allowed me to walk this far. It is precisely that purest yearning for heroism that has allowed me, who should have returned to the void, to continue existing."
"You can deny that you are not me, but I cannot deny that I am you."
"I come from your past."
The black-robed figure fell silent.