The World of Honkai Impact 3rd: Becoming a Cosplay Master Chapter 17

"Mr. Li Pu!" Mei couldn't help but ask, "What exactly do you want to do?"

"Just once!" Li Pu said, holding up one finger. "Just once. I know this is rude, but I've been struggling with this decision for a long time."

"And honestly, there's no real benefit for me in doing this, but I have my reasons."

"Please, Kiana! It's only once."

"I just want to touch your face!"

"Hehehehehe!" Kiana laughed in disbelief, hands on her hips, leaning forward. "Fine! Come on and touch it!"

If he touched her, she could find fault with him and beat him up soundly.

He'd get beaten, his reputation would plummet, he'd lose his job, he'd end up in the hospital!

Li Pu instantly understood the situation. Mei was frantically signaling for Li Pu to stop while he still had a chance, or it would be too late.

Would he stop?

No!

Li Pu had indeed been conflicted for a while. He knew his relationship with Kiana wasn't good; in fact, after the last incident, they were outright adversaries.

But he still had to do it, to verify his guess!

If he won, everything would be solved.

But if he lost!

Then everything he had now – his job, his reputation, and his bonus – would be gone!

This was an all-or-nothing gamble!

He had already bet everything; how could he back down now? Besides, even if he retreated, nothing could go back to how it was before he spoke.

Ignoring Mei's frantic signals, Li Pu closed his eyes.

He was gathering himself, doing his best to appear calm.

Without any desire...

No!

Not without desire, but with desire! An extremely intense desire, not lust, not possessiveness, nor ordinary affection.

It was a different kind of desire!

Li Pu kept picturing it in his mind, recalling it, simulating it.

But he soon gave up.

The feeling was too difficult to simulate, and he had no way to simulate it.

At least, that's how it seemed for now.

Let nature take its course...

Li Pu slowly raised his hand, slowly bringing his right hand towards Kiana's cheek. He noticed Kiana's entire body tense up, like a small leopard ready to hunt, poised to attack at any moment.

There was no turning back; he would let nature take its course.

It didn't matter if he lost or won.

At least he had touched Kiana's face!

He, Li Pu, was sure to profit, wasn't he?!

As Li Pu slowly moved closer, his hand began to tremble. The warmth emanating from Kiana's cheek grew stronger, and a very special feeling began to emerge in his heart.

In that instant, time seemed to slow down. The distance of less than a few centimeters felt incredibly long.

Slowly, slowly, his hand finally touched Kiana's cheek.

At that moment, a jolt, like an electric shock, surged through him.

For some reason, Kiana's entire body suddenly relaxed. She looked at the young man before her, this frail yet handsome, always flippant young man.

This was a unique feeling, a feeling she had seen and imagined countless times.

At this moment, Kiana's eyes inexplicably began to water.

Suddenly, she felt as if she were seeing someone else.

Another face.

A face she had thought about day and night, a face she had longed for countless times!

Mom!

Chapter Twenty-Seven: I Represent the Moon!

Swish~

With just a light touch, Li Pu instantly withdrew his hand.

He turned and ran, disappearing from the sports field in less than a minute, leaving behind a confused Mei and a Kiana unable to shake off the feeling she had just experienced.

"Kiana! Kiana!"

Mei gently shook Kiana's arm, pulling her back to reality.

"What happened?" Mei asked, looking anxiously and worriedly at Kiana, who was crying and trembling, barely able to control herself. "What's wrong, Kiana?"

"No... I don't know... I..."

Kiana spoke incoherently, even seeming somewhat dazed. "I don't know... I really want to... really want to..."

"I want to see..."

"See what?" Mei quickly asked. "Kiana?! Kiana!"

"Calm down, be calm, don't be nervous!"

"Don't get so worked up."

Mei didn't understand the situation either. She hadn't expected Li Pu to actually touch her, nor had she expected Kiana not to hit this scoundrel! She had just been considering whether to intervene and stop everything from escalating if the situation turned for the worse. Now, she realized that even if things didn't turn out as she imagined, she wouldn't be able to intervene and mediate!

She didn't even know what had happened, and Kiana was crying for no reason.

Judging by her expression, this wasn't the kind of crying from being teased and being too embarrassed and angry. This was a different emotion, a concentrated outburst of suppressed feelings that she had longed for for many years.

"He... I... he..."

Kiana was still incoherent, and even Mei's comfort couldn't calm her down. She was still looking in the direction Li Pu had run off.

"Damn it!"

Suddenly, Kiana gritted her teeth, ignored Mei, and chased after him, shouting, "You scoundrel! How dare you deceive me! How dare you toy with me!"

"I must! I must..."

"Find you..."

Kiana's voice suddenly weakened. She said rapidly in a voice only she could hear, "Mom!"

Li Pu hadn't run too far.

While he wasn't completely unfamiliar with the school, he couldn't say he knew it like the back of his hand. That was because the school was too big!

This wasn't just a few teaching buildings and a large sports field; it was a complete facility.

This was a large, comprehensive academy that included teaching facilities, sports venues, cultural and entertainment facilities, as well as accommodation and shopping.

This place didn't just occupy a small area; it was truly vast.

If you didn't know this academy well, you would really get lost!

Li Pu didn't dare to run too far and stopped. He simply melted into the greenery of the academy and halted. After catching his breath for a moment, he quickly recalled the feeling he had just experienced.

His guess was correct; some things might indeed be very different from what the System had said.

This series of actions had validated what he, Li Pu, wanted to verify.

It was indeed as he had imagined.

In theory, drawing it meant equipping it, but equipping it didn't mean it could be used officially. It should be in some kind of incomplete state of equipment.

It could only be triggered through special scenarios, characters, or time points.

Just like in the first duel, Mei's aggressive attack pushed him, Li Pu, into a corner. At the critical moment, the skill of King Arthur was triggered, and he counterattacked instantly.

However, he thought he could trigger it again in the second match. Relying on King Arthur's skill, he didn't take Mei seriously at all and felt no sense of danger.

Therefore, he didn't trigger it at all and was cut at the waist by Mei's sword.

The second test used Kiana.

This was one of the System's character missions for 'Cecilia,' specifically the 'Mother's Love' mission. Li Pu remembered that Cecilia's character had a rather prominent trait.

That trait was 'Mother's Love.'

Mother's love, in itself, was an innate characteristic of a mother. However, when it was singled out as a character trait, it meant there must be something unusual about it.

Li Pu didn't know much about Cecilia's character.

But at least he knew that Cecilia tried to use her mother's love to influence the Herrscher, although she ultimately failed...

However, this also indicated that compared to ordinary mothers, Cecilia would actively seek out this trait and use it as some kind of tool.

If she were facing her own child, the equipped character would definitely be triggered upon truly touching Kiana.

Even if this Kiana wasn't the real Kiana but K423, she would still be triggered.

After all, she was her child!

So Li Pu decided to take a gamble and try. Even if it wasn't triggered and he got beaten up by Kiana, it would still be worth it. After all, touching her was a gain.

He thought about all the Captains in the past who could only stare at their screens or admire their figurines, no matter how much they liked them.

He, Li Pu, had actually touched Kiana!

Even getting beaten up was a gain!

Li Pu's gamble paid off. The moment he touched her, he felt a strong emotional fluctuation from Cecilia. It was an emotion that could not be suppressed, a desire to express itself further.

It was also a bond from the depths of the soul, once connected by blood, that could not be severed.

Then Li Pu forcibly broke contact and ran.

It wasn't out of disgust or fear or anything like that.

He had simply decided to proceed to the next step quickly.

That step was the real equipment!

In Li Pu's opinion, the System might not have been telling the truth, but!

The System likely hadn't told the whole story, or perhaps it was a mix of truth and lies.

This was a very common occurrence. Having read quite a few System novels, Systems nowadays were no longer as straightforward as they used to be. Many Systems took pleasure in tricking Transmigrators!

It wasn't uncommon to encounter Systems that only revealed half the story, deliberately omitting certain crucial information or mixing truth with falsehoods.

He was sure he had landed with one of those Systems.

Therefore, the System's statement about equipment was probably correct, but not entirely complete. Once he acquired the character, the character was already equipped, but this equipment was unreliable, sometimes working and sometimes not, and could only be triggered under certain special circumstances. So, to make it work one hundred percent, certain special steps were inevitably required.

'Understanding' was one such step, and another step was very likely hidden within 'transformation exercises.'

This was because the System probably wouldn't have him perform such strange transformation exercises for no reason.

And these transformation exercises merely contained certain core elements hidden within them.

That's why these transformation exercises could take many forms.

He didn't have to be limited to the 'in the name of the moon' method.

Based on the analysis above.

"As expected, I still have to do the transformation exercises," Li Pu said, shaking his head helplessly. "But oh well."