Li Mu forcefully suppressed the grin tugging at his lips, pretended not to notice her resentful stare, and continued.
"This is Mei. You need to become her partner. She will be one of the most stable anchors for you when you start inheriting Herrscher power in the future."
"A mysterious organization has recently set its sights on her. I need you to protect her."
Kevin already wanted to agree, but she could not help asking, "Aren't we supposed to be saving the world? Why am I suddenly working as a bodyguard?"
"Because this Mei possesses an unbelievable talent for scientific research," Li Mu replied calmly, "and an intellect so extraordinary that even Honkai has to take notice."
"She plays a crucial role in whether we can ultimately defeat Honkai."
"I have no objections," Kevin said, accepting the request.
Then she stood up and gave Li Mu a long, gloomy look. "But right now, I need to go home and process all this."
Just as she turned to leave, Li Mu stopped her again.
"Wait. You can't go yet."
He stuffed a piece of clothing into her arms.
Kevin looked down and froze. It was a full outfit. Conservative, sure, but unmistakably women's clothing.
She looked up. They locked eyes.
"Don't look at me like that," Li Mu said, pointing at her chest. "You're not seriously planning to go out dressed like that, are you?"
Kevin followed his finger and glanced down.
Her old clothes hung loosely on her body, exposing a glimpse of pale skin at the neckline.
Her face instantly flushed bright red.
She was just about to explode when Li Mu had already stepped behind her, hands on her shoulders, steering her into an empty room.
"Go change."
…
When Kevin stepped out again, she looked like a completely different person.
Tight jeans paired with women's sneakers. A black fitted top outlining toned lines at her waist, topped with a blue jacket.
She looked like a lively, athletic high school girl.
Li Mu looked her over carefully. Something still felt missing. Then his gaze landed on her waist-length white hair, hanging freely down her back, and realization dawned.
Under Kevin's confused stare, Li Mu somehow produced two hair clips from nowhere and held them out.
"Which one do you think looks better?"
Kevin wanted to refuse, but leaving her hair loose like this was indeed impractical. She glanced at the clips.
One had a star decoration. The other featured a green chameleon motif.
"Do you have anything else? These are both way too… girly."
"You're an honest kid," Li Mu said, promptly stuffing both clips into her hands.
Kevin did not refuse. She pocketed them and turned to leave.
She had barely taken one step when Li Mu spoke again.
"Wait. One more thing."
Ignoring the sheer exasperation in her eyes, Li Mu turned and casually pulled open the living room bookshelf.
It slid aside, revealing a hidden compartment.
Kevin's eyes widened.
Handguns. Rifles. Sniper rifles. Grenades. Long blades. Daggers. And that absurdly oversized thing that looked taller than she was now… was that a single-man rocket launcher?
"You're hiding an entire armory in your house!" she blurted out. Then she paused. "Actually, considering you claim to be a time traveler, maybe that's not so surprising."
Li Mu pulled out two silver-metallic pistols and placed them in Kevin's hands.
"MK215 pistols, manufactured by East Asia Heavy Industries."
"These aren't the civilian versions. They're MOTH internal supply models, powered by Honkai energy."
"Much stronger than standard firearms. Enough to deal with early-stage zombies and weaker Honkai beasts."
Feeling the cold weight of the guns in her hands, Kevin's eyes lit up.
After all, what guy does not love toys like this?
Well, former guy.
She had never trained with firearms before, but Li Mu had anticipated that.
"Don't worry about usage. I'll find you an instructor soon. They'll teach you combat skills properly."
"An instructor?" Kevin scoffed. "Anyone chosen by you, a guy who already treats the laws of reality like a suggestion, sounds terrifying."
She was clearly trying to distract herself from the grief welling up after losing her little brother.
"Anyway, I'm heading home," she said. "My parents are on their honeymoon, so the house is empty."
"But I still need to figure out how to explain to them that their son turned into a daughter."
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that for now." Li Mu pulled out several cards and a stack of documents. "Because for the foreseeable future, you're not Kevin anymore."
"What do you mean?"
Kevin took the file and looked at it.
Inside was the profile of a girl who looked eight, maybe nine tenths identical to her current appearance.
The information read:
Kiana. A mysterious girl who emerged from Siberia, suspected to be the daughter of a prominent European family.
Sexual orientation: female. Possesses exceptional combat skills, extraordinary intuition, and physical abilities beyond normal humans, along with a strong, straightforward sense of justice.
Traveled to the Far East in search of her father, Siegfried. By chance, enrolled in Chiba Academy to conceal her identity.
Additional information pending. Further details to be filled in later. I have not thought this part through yet.
"What is this?" Kevin asked.
"A fully verifiable identity file," Li Mu replied. "Your new persona."
"From now on, you are Kiana."
"After all, you can't keep living under the name Kevin anymore."
Kevin hesitated. Even though her gender had changed, giving up her identity so completely still felt wrong.
But for Li Mu, this step was essential. In fact, it was the entire point of the operation.
So he pressed harder.
"Saving the world isn't a clean job," he said softly. "People will notice. No, they will definitely notice."
"If you don't want your family dragged into danger, it's best to wear a mask."
His voice carried a devilish kind of persuasion.
"Kevin, you wouldn't want your loved ones to be put at risk because of you, right?"
Kevin fell silent. She sighed inwardly. He was right. She could not let her family be endangered.
"…I agree," she said at last, feeling completely boxed in by Mu.
"Kiana" nodded and walked toward the door, her back radiating bleakness and complete emotional exhaustion.
This time, at least, Li Mu did not stop her again.
Once "Kiana" disappeared from view, Li Mu casually shut the door.
At the same time, a voice echoed in his mind.
Mission: Witness Kiana enrolling at Chiba Academy.
Reward: A-rank Stigmata Selection Box x1, Crystals x300.
Mission status: Check-in complete.
Rewards available.
Mission: Witness the ME Corporation heiress Raiden Mei enrolling at Chiba Academy.
Reward: A-rank Stigmata Selection Box x1, Crystals x300.
Mission status: Key target Raiden Mei not detected.
"Heh…"
Li Mu covered his mouth, desperately holding back his laughter.
"No laughing. No laughing."
"But how can I not laugh at something this delightful?"
"Hehehe…"
Yes. The whole rebirth story had been complete nonsense.
He was not some reincarnated savior at all.
He was just your average transmigrator.
And all of this was because of a completely unreliable system that had messed up the timeline and arrived fifty thousand years too early.
The system itself was simple and crude. A check-in system so broken it could carry you to greatness while lying flat.
A future full of promise… if not for the fact that it had gotten the era wrong.
Just glancing at the mission list made Li Mu's vision darken.
What was "Check in: Escape Nagazora"?
What was "Check in: Queen Descends"?
What was "Check in: The Final Lesson"?
System, do you have any idea where I am right now?
I am in the Previous Era. The Previous Era that exists purely as background lore in the main story.
There were at least fifty thousand years before the main plot even began.
Was he supposed to lie low through the entire Previous Era and only activate the system afterward?
But if he were confident he could survive the Previous Era from start to finish, what would he even need this ridiculous system for?
In this era destined to be erased by Finality, seventy billion people would die until fewer than one hundred thousand remained.
Those who survived all the way to fifty thousand years later were even fewer.
The survival rate was less than one in a million.
How confident would he have to be to gamble on those odds?
So, driven by an overwhelming desire to survive, Li Mu was forced to use every ounce of his so-called genius to carve out a path forward.
And as the saying went, when people are pushed to the brink, they can come up with anything.
After a long bout of thinking, Li Mu actually found a possible solution.
If he could not go to the main storyline fifty thousand years later to activate the system…
Why not make the main storyline happen in this era instead?
Everyone knew that this world, ruled by the Cocoon of Finality, operated on cycles.
The Previous Era and the next civilization mirrored each other in countless ways. You could even find many people in the Previous Era who resembled individuals from fifty thousand years later.
Counterparts.
And Li Mu discovered something important.
If a counterpart matched a character's background closely enough, the system would recognize them as that character.
So as long as Mei played the role of Mei, Kevin played Kiana, and he found this era's counterpart of Bronya…
The Big Three would be complete.
He already had leads on the counterparts of Otto and Theresa. Fu Hua already existed in this era.
All that was left was to drag Himeko out of MOTH.
Then the Queen Descends and Final Lesson scripts would be complete as well.
Once the cast was assembled and the stage prepared, he could check in and gain power fifty thousand years early.
As for the Herrscher of Finality?
Hah. She would not be leaving this time.
The only problem was that the very first step hit a snag.
The system refused to recognize Kevin as Kiana's counterpart.
The system might be dumb, but it was not blind. It could tell the difference between male and female.
So, to make the check-in work…
Kevin had to suffer a little.
Thinking of this, Li Mu could not help but feel indignant on behalf of his best friend.
"Damn unreliable system," he muttered. "You made my bro lose his bro."
"I despise you."
…
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