I transmigrated into Honkai Impact 3rd's Previous Era, except the system showed up fifty thousand years too early.
Mission: Witness Kiana's enrollment at Chiba Academy.
"System, let me ask you something. What year does Kiana enroll?"
[Post-Honkai Era, 2013.]
"Then what time am I in right now?"
[Previous Era, 2012.]
"Then tell me this. With a fifty-thousand-year time gap, where am I supposed to find the Three Great Families to finish the mission?!"
[Detection complete. Raiden Mei identified.]
Staring at the MEI who had just been confirmed by the system as Raiden Mei, Li Mu finally achieved enlightenment.
"A true powerhouse never complains about their environment. If the conditions to clear the mission do not exist, then you create them."
"Kevin, put on this Chiba Academy girls' uniform. From today on, your name is Kiana."
"What Previous Era? This is obviously the Post-Honkai Era!"
…
Until one day, a certain god of Earth, skipping school under the excuse of 'studying history,' came to this era for a little sightseeing.
What they saw was Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent standing in a three-way standoff, while MOTH had been kicked aside like a stray dog by the roadside.
The Thirteen Flame-Chasers fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Thirteen Herrschers, beating the Cocoon of Finality into the ground with unrestrained enthusiasm.
And on the Moon, there was even another 'me,' inviting them over to slurp noodles together.
"Where the hell did I end up? Is this really the Previous Era?"
Chapter 1: That Friend You're Talking About… That's You, Isn't It?
Far East Region, Nagazora City.
On the weekend, inside a cold drink shop near Chiba Academy, two teenage boys sat facing each other.
"Mu, how do you even have time to come see me today?" Kevin asked, one hand holding his drink as he looked at the boy across from him. "Didn't you say a few days ago that you were heading back to your hometown?"
The boy opposite him had black hair and gray eyes, with a streak of white dyed into the tips. Even by Kevin's admittedly high standards, he was easily an eight, maybe even a nine out of ten.
Mu, or rather Li Mu, an exchange student from Shenzhou. One of the very few people in Nagazora City Kevin could genuinely call a close friend.
The kind of close friend who could jokingly call each other "dad" without missing a beat.
After the entrance exams, Kevin's parents had arranged for him to attend Chiba Academy, a school packed with students from Nagazora's upper-class families. As an exchange student from Shenzhou, Mu would normally return home once his studies were complete.
Kevin had assumed they would rarely, if ever, meet again.
And yet, not long ago, Mu had suddenly called, asking to meet. And so here they were.
Li Mu did not answer Kevin's question right away. Instead, he looked him up and down with a strange expression on his face.
The look made Kevin's skin crawl.
"Mu… what are you staring at?"
Li Mu looked at the friend he had known for several years, let out a quiet sigh, and ignored the question.
"After the graduation exams, I really was planning to go back to Shenzhou."
"But I have a friend who's run into something seriously troublesome. I want to help him, but I can't make up my mind. So I thought I'd ask someone else for advice."
Kevin took a sip of his drink and stared straight at him.
"Uh… Mu. This 'friend' you're talking about. That's you, isn't it?"
"No," Li Mu replied instantly.
Kevin got it. That friend was definitely Li Mu himself.
"So you asked me out today to get my opinion?"
Li Mu nodded.
"Alright then," Kevin said, shaking his drink. "Since you're paying today, I'll tell you everything I know. What's going on?"
Li Mu didn't bother with suspense. He leaned forward, elbows on the table, fingers interlaced beneath his chin, and began to speak slowly.
"I recently learned something by chance. Information about a very close friend of mine."
"He's about to walk down an extremely tragic path. If nothing is done, there's a high chance his family will be destroyed. In the end, everything he loves, and everything that loves him, will die."
"When that happens, he'll be left alone, wandering the world in solitude. Even if he no longer has any reason to keep living, he won't even be able to die, all because of a promise."
"He'll exist like an empty shell, drifting through the world, waiting every day for the end of his life."
As Li Mu spoke, Kevin felt something strange stir in his chest. An inexplicable sense of familiarity.
He pushed the feeling down and asked, "So, in simple terms, your friend is about to end up in serious danger?"
"That's one way to put it," Li Mu said calmly. "Right now, I have a chance to save him. But I can't bring myself to decide."
Seeing the conflict written all over Mu's face, Kevin more or less guessed what the issue might be.
Most likely, a friend had gotten involved in a pyramid scheme, a scam, or some kind of cult.
Things like that were not uncommon in the Far East. Not long ago, someone had lost their entire family to a cult and had gunned down a related politician right on the street. (T/N: Japanese Prime Minister Abe)
Now it seemed Mu's friend had fallen into something similar, and Mu happened to have a chance to pull him out. But doing so might put Mu himself in danger, which explained the hesitation.
Sure enough, Li Mu continued, "I have a way to pull him back and stop him from falling into that tragic ending. But my method probably won't be accepted by him. It might even cause him to completely cut ties with me."
Kevin nodded to himself. Everything lined up.
People trapped by scams or cults often changed drastically. Once brainwashed, they rarely believed that the person trying to save them had good intentions.
They might even come to hate them for it.
Mu was clearly struggling with that possibility. But the values Kevin had grown up with told him one thing very clearly.
You don't abandon a friend just because they might hate you for helping.
After a moment of thought, Kevin spoke. "Why not try talking to him first? If you're really friends, he should be willing to listen."
Li Mu looked straight at him, then shook his head.
"I know him too well. Even if this could help him avoid that future, he probably still wouldn't agree."
"Then let me ask you, Kevin. If you were in my position, what would you do?"
Kevin answered without hesitation.
"If I were certain that tragedy was going to happen, I'd save him. Even if it meant he'd hate me for it."
Kevin's expression suddenly turned serious.
"Just like if I knew you and Su were about to walk into danger. Even if you misunderstood me, even if you hated me, I'd still try to save you."
"So that's your answer?" Li Mu asked.
"Yes," Kevin said firmly. "And if you decide to save that friend, I'll help however I can. You're my friend too."
"Go for it. Even if it makes you hated. As long as you believe what you're doing is right."
Hearing that, Li Mu let out a quiet sigh.
"In that case, I can finally commit to my decision."
"Thank you, Kevin. I'm not confused anymore. Just like you said, even if that friend comes to hate me, it's better than watching him fall into endless suffering."
Kevin scratched his head, a little embarrassed, just about to say something modest when he saw Li Mu lift something from the floor and place it on the table.
It was a metallic briefcase, its silver surface engraved with a moth-like emblem.
Li Mu placed his hand on the case. The moment his palm touched it, glowing electronic patterns spread across the surface.
Click.
With a crisp mechanical sound, the case opened.
Kevin leaned forward to look inside.
At the center of the case lay a syringe filled with a glowing green liquid.
"What is that?" Kevin asked.
"The thing that will save my friend," Li Mu replied calmly. "And save this world that's destined to be destroyed."
"Mu, since when did you get this edgy?" Kevin laughed, assuming it was just another dramatic declaration. "Seriously though, what is it? Looks pretty high-tech."
Li Mu picked up the syringe and smiled at him. "Kevin, come a little closer."
"Huh? Why?"
Kevin didn't know what Mu was planning, but leaned in anyway.
Li Mu's smile widened slightly. His fingers tightened around the syringe.
Before Kevin could react, Li Mu drove it straight into his neck.
Thunk.
The syringe's built-in pneumatic pump kicked in, injecting the green liquid into Kevin's body in an instant.
"Mu, you—"
A sharp sting flared at his neck. Kevin barely managed to speak before a wave of overwhelming drowsiness swallowed his consciousness whole.
Thud.
Kevin was down. Completely out cold.
Watching Kevin slump over the table, Li Mu returned the syringe to the briefcase and sighed.
"Since you put it that way, Kevin… then to change that tragic future waiting for you, I'll have to make things a little hard on the you of today."
…
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