Not long after Kiana carried Bai Ge back, he woke up on his own and stopped the two girls from taking him to the hospital, saying he was already back at full health.
After going through this incident, the three of them grew even closer. Kiana no longer hid anything about the Honkai and told them everything about herself.
Mei received the recording Raiden Ryoma had left for her and learned about her own condition, though the overwhelming amount of information still took her a long time to process.
"I... I killed someone...?"
After learning what she had done while transformed into a Herrscher, the cook's face went pale. For a seventeen-year-old high school girl, the words "killed someone" were far too heavy.
Fortunately, Bai Ge and Kiana were there.
"That wasn't Mei's fault. It was all a conspiracy by that bad woman named Cocolia."
"Yeah, yeah. Besides, Mei, that counted as self-defense. Don't take it too hard."
"...Mm."
Perhaps the recent events had tempered Mei's mindset as well. With the two of them comforting her, she calmed down fairly quickly.
And actually, what Mei had feared most just now was not the fact that she had killed someone, but that Bai Ge and Kiana would hate her for becoming a killer.
Seeing that they treated her as they always had, she finally felt at ease.
Afterward, to lighten the mood, celebrate successfully preventing the Great Honkai, and thank Bai Ge and Kiana for coming to help her, Mei cooked a lavish feast.
The Raiden family's living room had never been so lively.
The three sat around a small round table. Having endured danger and hardship together brought them closer, and the atmosphere was warm and wonderful.
"Hm? These are all Shenzhou dishes? Mei, you really learned how to make them?" Bai Ge looked at the table full of Shenzhou cuisine in surprise, his appetite instantly stirred.
"Because you said before that you wanted to eat them, Bai Ge, I've been practicing lately. Could I ask you to try them?" Mei said with a blush, a little embarrassed.
"Of course. Mm! As expected, Mei's cooking is amazing. Delicious, and the flavors are really authentic too. It'd be wonderful to marry a wife like Mei someday~" Bai Ge sighed sincerely.
Whoever got to marry a wife like the cook would have accumulated eight lifetimes' worth of blessings. He wondered what big bad wolf would someday get his claws on such a super invincible ultimate good girl.
Hm? The most likely candidate was him? Then never mind!
"W-wife... Ahem, if you like it, Bai Ge, eat more. There's still plenty in the pot."
"Ah, Mei, Mei, I've had my eye on that drumstick for ages."
"Be good, Kiana~ Bai Ge is already very tired today. Let him have it and properly replenish his strength."
"Uh, I'm really fine."
Bai Ge said with a wry smile, but naturally he would not ignore Mei's kindness. So, under Kiana's envious gaze, he could only gnaw down that drumstick.
But this paramecium ate ridiculously fast. In the blink of an eye, the dishes were nearly gone, so the two started another round of chopstick warfare.
"Hehe."
Mei watched the scene gently and said nothing more. If she could, she truly wanted time to remain here forever.
Half an hour later, the three of them... more accurately, Kiana, finally licked an entire pot clean without wasting even a bit of the cook's craftsmanship.
Bai Ge glanced at her slender waist and slightly bulging belly, wondering just how the Kaslana family's body structure worked. How did this paramecium fit so much food into her stomach?
An ordinary person's stomach would probably have burst.
"Alright, don't lie down after eating. Come wash the dishes with me."
"Ehh~~ No, no, I don't want to wash dishes."
"Kiana, believe it or not, I won't share Mei's lunchboxes with you next time."
"Huh? Bai Ge, you're mean!"
In the end, Kiana reluctantly got up and washed the bowls and chopsticks. Then the three sat on the sofa, unsure of what to do next.
Eventually, Mei turned on a cooking show and watched today's Shenzhou cuisine special right on schedule.
Naturally, Bai Ge and Kiana had no interest in it, so they picked up their phones and started gaming.
It was peaceful, as though nothing had happened at all.
"Hey, hey, Bai Ge, what are you doing? Go easy on me!"
"In esports, being bad is a sin."
"Damn it, watch how amazing I am, Miss Kiana! Huh?!"
"Pretty amazing indeed. It's my first time seeing someone use a smooth little combo to take herself out."
It seemed Mother-in-law's exceptional gaming talent had not been passed down to this girl. Bai Ge remembered that in the story, Cecilia had utterly crushed Siegfried the first time she ever touched video games.
Bullying a noob was really not much of an accomplishment, so Bai Ge switched to another game, "Kallen Fantasy IV."
He checked the player rankings and, sure enough, the first-place ID was Green Pipe Horse Uncle.
It was that bastard Otto's account ID!
He restrained the urge to message the account, "I'm Kallen. Send me fifty now to celebrate my resurrection, and I'll make you the Schicksal Overseer someday."
That kind of suicidal move was best avoided.
As Kallen's ultimate devoted fan, Otto dominated every player ranking in the Kallen Fantasy series.
The reason Bai Ge had started playing this game was to surpass that dog Otto's ranking, just as Cecilia had once done.
Though he still could not make that guy's Soul Steel face clatter around in his hands, getting a small win over him in gaming would be pretty nice too.
In the end, the two kept playing until it got dark, so they simply decided to stay at Mei's house. The cook naturally did not mind; if anything, she welcomed them enthusiastically.
"Yawn~ I'm getting sleepy anyway. Kiana can take the guest room, and I'll just sleep on the couch."
"How can that be?!" the two girls said in unison.
The two girls said it at the same time. Bai Ge blinked, wondering if he had said something strange.
After that came endless back-and-forth politeness. The two insisted that he sleep in a bed and even said they did not mind spending the night on the sofa or the floor.
But Bai Ge minded very much.
As a man, letting two girls sleep on the sofa or the floor while he slept in a bed would be far too embarrassing.
In the end, Bai Ge had the guest room to himself, while Kiana slept with Mei... Damn it, Kiana Cat still ended up getting the best deal.
"Mei, this is for you."
After thinking about it, Bai Ge handed Pulse Katana Type 19 to the girl, then flashed Kiana a brilliant smile.
"If Kiana does anything strange to you tonight, don't hold back. Castrate—uh, stab her!"
"Bai Ge, that's too much! What do you mean, I'd do something strange? Am I that kind of person?"
"Uh, sorry, Kiana. I'm not interested in that sort of thing, so there's no way I can bring you happiness."
"Waaah, Mei, it's not like that~"
Mei smiled wryly. She was not like the original version of herself, whose sexual orientation had been bent by this paramecium, so she simply accepted Pulse Katana Type 19.
At the same time, there was... a faint trace of regret in the way she looked at Bai Ge.
Mei: 'It would be nice if Bai Ge could replace Kiana... Ah, what am I thinking?'
"Kiana: Hm? Mei, why are you blushing? Let me see!"
"Bai Ge: Heh~ Is this girl still salvageable?"
Fourth update. Please send flowers, votes, and tips.
I Was Born Ordinary, Yet Refuse to Remain Ordinary
Late at night.
After both girls had fallen asleep, Bai Ge left his room.
Though Mei and Kiana were both excited to have a friend stay over at their house, or to stay at a friend's house, for the first time, what had happened today had still exhausted them mentally, and they slept deeply.
Bai Ge entered the bathroom alone.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
One by one, he undid the buttons of his pajamas.
By the way, the pajamas had belonged to Mei's father, so they did not fit him very well. Still, the cook had secretly thought that if someone were willing to stay permanently, she would not mind preparing a set just for him.
But that was not the important part right now.
Host, you're about to die.
"Yeah, I'm about to die."
Hearing the system state that fact, Bai Ge let out a bitter sigh and pulled open his pajamas, exposing his upper body.
The reflection in the mirror looked horrifying.
His skin was pale and had the texture of silicone, with traces of purple Honkai Energy lingering over it. It was obvious that Bai Ge's body was transforming toward that of a zombie.
Perhaps many people had overlooked it, but he was not the protagonist of some wish-fulfillment story with an absurdly overpowered cheat.
From beginning to end, the boy named Bai Ge had merely been an ordinary person who had transmigrated into the world of Honkai Impact.
Before you continue