[High-Quality Valkyrie Found: Kiana Kaslana]
[Core Database: Loading (1%...50%...100%)]
[Please bind with the Valkyrie to carry forward the will of "Honkai Impact 3rd" and start your pinnacle life!]
Su Yu slowly turned his head, looking at the white-haired girl leaning against the wall.
Kiana Kaslana's face was pale and cold under the dim stairwell light. Rain dripped from the hem of her white jacket, and a faint light flickered from the seams of her tight armor.
Those were definitely not details a cosplay could replicate; they looked like... genuine Valkyrie armor.
"You said... that I can see you?"
Su Yu deliberately slowed his tone, though his brain was spinning wildly.
He recalled the confusion from scrolling through his phone earlier.
Searching for "Honkai" only brought up strange, obscure websites; there was no information about any games or anime. The world of Honkai Impact 3rd simply didn't exist here.
And the light screens constantly popping up like a virus before his eyes were just like the aunts and uncles from his past life urging him to get married when he went home for New Year's... constantly urging him to interact with the girl before him.
Then the answer was obvious.
The "Kiana" before him was not a cosplayer.
She was the real.... Kiana Kaslana.
And judging by her jacket, this was clearly Kiana from the Arc City arc!
The white-haired girl suddenly stood up straight, rain dripping from the tips of her hair onto the floor.
She reached out, seemingly wanting to touch Su Yu, but stopped in mid-air. A faint light ignited in her dim eyes.
The phone in his pocket buzzed, breaking the eerie silence of the stairwell.
The white-haired girl's eyes trembled violently, and she instantly retracted her hand in mid-air.
She bit her pale lips tightly, as if enduring some immense pain.
"No... it's fine, don't come near me..."
Su Yu noticed a gash on her arm, still seeping blood...
He was just about to speak when the girl covered her wound, turned, and ran away, quickly disappearing into the wind and rain.
"Meow~"
A cat's meow came from the doorway. Chongchong was rolling around, exposing her belly, her heterochromatic eyes round and bright.
This white cat, named Chongchong, had been forced on him by a friend who said he saw her being attacked by a group of strays on the street and felt too sorry for her.
So, kidnapping replaced purchasing.
Who would have thought she'd turn out to be a superb cat, just a bit too clingy.
The phone buzzed again, as if urging him on.
Su Yu took out his phone. New messages kept popping up on WeChat.
[Kevin: "Yu, I've bought the tickets. Don't be late on the 12th?"]
Kevin Kaslana.
To Su Yu, whether in his past life or this one, this name was not unfamiliar.
In the game, he was the strongest MANTIS of the Previous Era, the Savior bearing the title of [Deliverance]...
But the current him was just a hard-working worker; just a few days ago, he was complaining to Su Yu about working too much overtime, leaving him no time to meet with Mei.
Su Yu didn't know if he had triggered some sort of compensation bureau in this life, but ever since entering Senba High School, he, Kevin, and Su had become the three musketeers.
Su aspired to study medicine and went to the Mu Continent for research, while Kevin and Su Yu attended St. Freya University together.
After graduation, they stayed in the same city. Kevin clocked in for work every day, while Su Yu made a living as a streamer.
He didn't have much traffic, but feeding himself wasn't a problem.
["OK."]
After replying with a "Pink Fairy Miss" liked sticker, Su Yu was originally fantasizing about how to give Kevin, whom he hadn't seen in a while, a surprise performance—
Like telling him a cold joke, such as why the Shenzhou Tablet (Hua) has such a good temper—because she has no "ferocity" (chest).
But he looked towards the side of his door, where the white-haired girl had stood. It was soaking wet, indicating she had stayed there for a long time.
After a slight hesitation, Su Yu typed a message and hit send.
[Su Yu: If there were a soaking wet, injured girl at your doorstep, looking exactly like your ideal type, what would you do?]
[Kevin: ? What is this? Did you change careers to write novels?]
[Su Yu: No, I just want to hear your opinion.]
[Kevin: If it were Su, he'd definitely say 'Go check your brain, you're probably love-crazy'...]
[Kevin: What's actually wrong?]
[Su Yu: Let me rephrase that.]
[Su Yu: If you found a girl at your doorstep with wounds, possibly being hunted down, would you lend a helping hand?]
[Su Yu: The trope of the hero saving the beauty only exists in novels. As an ordinary person with no special abilities...]
[Su Yu: Do you choose to play the hero for a moment and get stabbed to death by the pursuers, ending two lives?]
[Su Yu: Or do you pretend you didn't see anything, turn around, and leave to protect your daily life?]
Unnecessary curiosity is the culprit that kills the cat; rash and arbitrary decisions can often be the murderers of one's daily life...
As someone who had died once, Su Yu naturally knew how precious life was.
But he already had the answer in his heart.
[Kevin: ?]
[Kevin: You know my answer.]
Yeah.
Su Yu naturally knew. Even if this was just a mundane world, the integrity and courage imprinted on the name "Kevin Kaslana" dictated what choice he would make.
A person's character is their destiny—he couldn't help but recall this saying.
[Su Yu: Seems we think alike.]
After sending the message, Su Yu put his phone back in his pocket, grabbed another umbrella from the house, and rubbed Chongchong's head.
"I'll be back soon. Be good."
Closing the door, the chill of the rain rushed towards him.
[Please bind with the Valkyrie to carry forward the will of "Honkai Impact 3rd" and start your pinnacle life!]
The light screen was still flickering, but Su Yu chose to close it.
Not to unlock the so-called system after binding.
Achieving the pinnacle of life or whatever wasn't an achievement Su Yu felt compelled to complete in his second life.
It was just following his human instincts and baseline; he couldn't sit idly by and ignore a girl who looked like an injured stray cat.
Some might see this as meddling, others might think it's a rash choice that could drag him into danger.
But Su Yu didn't care.
Right now, the heart beating in his chest went thump-thump, as if reminding him that this was the proof of being human, of being "Su Yu".
He took a deep breath and rushed into the rain in the direction the girl had run.