What happened to the promised Third Honkai?!!

"Then that junior of yours is in for a world of trouble!"

Like flies and mosquitoes drawn to the scent of blood from a hero's wounds, the landlady's nagging grew more spirited:

"Don't get me wrong, Kiana, but if you know you've got a big appetite, don't go ruining other people! That kid's family isn't having it easy either—money's hard to come by, and you just go and eat them out of house and home in one meal!"

The girl's smile remained pristine: "So I'm just going to turn her down."

"Gah!"

The chattering insect choked mid-sentence.

Chapter 8: "Fu Li Through Kiana's Eyes"

"If there's nothing else, I'm heading upstairs."

Kiana stepped past the woman with her toned, beautiful legs clad in 50-denier spring-autumn over-the-knee black stockings, pattering up to the second floor.

She deftly pulled out her key, unlocked room 201, and slipped inside.

Closing the door behind her, she threw herself onto the soft bed with a thud.

"Phew! This young lady is exhausted!"

Flexing her slightly swollen wrists from the recoil of her shots, the girl half-lidded her sapphire-blue eyes and let out limp words from her cherry lips.

Early that morning, Kiana had sensed abnormal Honkai Energy in the spreading mist. Realizing something was wrong, she immediately grabbed her twin guns and rushed to the spot with the highest concentration.

As expected, she found the culprit—a twenty-six-meter-long exotic lower-tier Honkai Beast.

—Honkai Beasts: silicon-based lifeforms condensed from Honkai Energy drifting in the planet's atmosphere by chance; or mutated creatures born when plants and animals are infected by Honkai. They can be understood as humanity's primary enemy at present.

Though divided into many types—Chariot-class, Tank-class, Knight-class, Ballista-class, Templar-class, Warlord-class, and so on—a Honkai Beast's strength is mostly determined by its size. It's not that a Templar-class is necessarily stronger than a Chariot-class.

The bigger the Honkai Beast, the stronger it is. Of course, small ones aren't necessarily weak, but big ones are definitely strong.

According to official manuals published by major organizations like Schicksal, a lower-tier Honkai Beast between 10m and 30m long falls within the scope of what a B-rank Valkyrie equipped with third-generation armor can subdue.

For reference, under 10m corresponds to C-rank, while 30m to 100m corresponds to A-rank.

Hundred-meter-class is already the limit for lower-tier Honkai Beasts. Anything above that consists of upper-tier Honkai Beasts, called "incarnations of calamity" and "mobile Honkai phenomena."

For Kiana, who was also a B-rank combatant—even if she could be considered a Breaker among B-ranks—taking down that exotic Honkai Beast still exhausted all the ammunition she had brought.

So on her way back, she took the train to the naval base stationed in Yokosuka, helped herself to a good haul of ordnance from their warehouse, and returned covered in dust.

And the moment she got back, she ran into that annoying landlady.

"Pfft!"

Remembering the landlady's face, twisted as if she'd swallowed a fly, when Kiana went upstairs, the girl couldn't help but laugh.

Ever since her father, Sigfried Kaslana, disappeared in 2010, Kiana had been traveling alone on a "Where is Dad?" journey.

Four years of scrambling through life, crossing from Northern Europe across the Eurasian continent to the Far East, with the possibility of continuing this ultra-long journey ahead.

All these experiences, which sounded heartbreaking just to hear, had put Kiana through hell, but they'd also honed her skill at reading people.

No matter how others treated her, the girl knew it in her heart like a mirror, even if she didn't say it out loud.

She'd be warm to those who deserved warmth, and perfunctorily fake warmth to those who deserved perfunctory treatment. When it came to dealing with people, Kiana never slacked off.

Oh, except for one person.

Thinking of that, the girl, who had just been delighted at tricking the nasty landlady, glared angrily at the wall she shared with room 202 next door.

The person living on the other side of that wall was named Fu Li, a Chinese person who had come to the Far East on the same ship as her.

He was the same age as Kiana—sixteen—a high school student, and single.

Kiana could feel the warmth in Fu Li's attitude toward her; the genuine goodwill was impossible to fake.

Things like this, the girl was long used to.

Not to brag, but even among the 2D character categories that otaku obsessed over, she was definitely a super beautiful girl above the average line.

A Kiana like this, traveling alone, had no shortage of people falling for her at first sight.

In the girl's view, Fu Li was just another one who'd been swayed by her looks, and the most hopelessly clingy type at that.

Not only did he hang around her all day, but he could even easily change his original plans.

That's right—according to what Kiana found out later, Fu Li hadn't planned to come to the Far East for high school at all.

As a Chinese person, if he was going to study abroad, it would definitely be for university here. Why come for high school? To compete for spots with the locals who were already bursting at the seams?

Of course not.

Fu Li had changed his mind on the spot after seeing Kiana, insisting on coming to the Far East to study with her.

If it had been one of those clever types jokingly called "fairies," they'd have been smug about Fu Li changing his plans for them.

In their eyes, it was just proof of their charm.

Kiana was different. She felt guilty.

Guilt made it hard to face him.

Hard to face him meant she couldn't control her emotions when they met.

Once a person loses control of their emotions, the most obvious signs are usually irritability and a short temper.

Not to mention that Fu Li now not only lived next door to her but was also in the same class—the type she couldn't avoid even if she lowered her head.

If Kiana were just some harmless ordinary person, it might be fine, but the problem was that she bore the name Kaslana and often had to hunt down Honkai Beasts that threatened humanity, punishing evil and filling her wallet at the same time.

Even the most basic 10-meter-class lower-tier Honkai Beast matched a C-rank in combat power, far surpassing ordinary humans!

How did the latest formula book published by major organizations like Schicksal summarize the combat capabilities of a C-rank Valkyrie?

A casually thrown stone could shatter a granite pillar a meter thick!

Her physique was tough enough to withstand high-voltage current and only be knocked out for a moment!

Her speed was fast enough to leave afterimages!

Her defense rivaled hundred-forged refined steel; even a submachine gun firing at close range only broke the skin!

A punch at thirty percent power could blast through a civil defense project, and at full output, she could hurl half a ton of reinforced concrete with a sonic boom!

And that was just C-rank—Kiana, a B-rank outlier, could easily crush a C-rank in a fight!

The girl was terrified that one day, while she was fighting, Fu Li would suddenly pop out from who knows where. With his ordinary body, not even rated D-rank, just the shockwaves from the battle could tear him apart like slices of raw fish!

Just thinking about that scene made Kiana's brain tremble!!!

"...Forget it, I'll read a novel for a bit."

Deciding to put those annoying thoughts aside, the white-haired ball of fluff propped herself up crookedly, grabbed her phone from the nightstand, and yanked the charging cable to plug it in.

She kicked off her pure black thigh-high socks and sailor uniform in a few swift motions, didn't bother changing into pajamas, and slipped naked into the covers.

The blanket was warm, heated up from when she'd been lying in bed earlier.

Kiana planned to read today's update and then crash. She'd gotten up early to slay demons, then made a trip to the US military base—even a Kaslana's body couldn't handle that kind of abuse.

After waking up, she'd have to go back to where she'd buried the Exotic Honkai Beast, dig it up, and sell it on the black market.

Honkai Energy was a domineering and corrosive force. The diluted amounts in the planet's atmosphere, mixed with oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and other elements, were manageable. But once contaminated with a denser type, ordinary people would instantly turn into mindless Dead Walkers, and those with low resistance would even disintegrate into ash.

If she actually brought it back to the apartment, the Far East's official anti-Honkai organization would come with their swords, spears, axes, and halberds to sweep the place clean.

Along with the entire building's residents, who'd become Dead Walkers, and the culprit behind it all—her, Kiana Kaslana.

Chapter 9: "What Do the Priests of Christianity Envy Most About the Far East?"

"Even if I'm surrounded, I can still escape!"

The white-haired ball of fluff in the covers mumbled, curling up comfortably into a lump.

Her thumb slid quickly across the phone screen, soon finding the web novel she'd been following in her library.

The timestamp showed it had been updated twenty minutes ago.

"That A Li guy's pretty diligent, huh!"

Kiana Cat squinted, expressing satisfaction with the hard work of the person next door.

All kinds of organs from Exotic Honkai Beasts could sell for a good price. Since she, the big spender, had some spare cash now, she'd have to find a roundabout way to tip Fu Li, so the guy wouldn't starve to death in a foreign land.

What? Why not just give it directly?

What if he got the wrong idea and thought she was into him?

That said, every time she thought about how the website took half of the tip, the already not-so-wealthy girl felt even more resentful toward capitalism.

"I want to join a socialist society where I can just laze around and wait for death."

Kiana grumbled as she tapped into the chapter, then immediately noticed something was off.

The screen didn't show the usual "This chapter is a VIP chapter, purchase required to read" message.

The girl paused, and driven by curiosity, she started reading the update:

Once upon a time, there was a blacksmith who always worried about his forging efficiency.

He saw that the blacksmith in the next village, named Ying Xing, could make a hoe in three days and a shovel in five, and grew anxious, afraid that his slow output would drive customers away.

His customers were very enthusiastic, always encouraging him, even forgiving him when he failed to deliver on time.

The blacksmith felt guilty about this encouragement, always wanting to speed up but never managing to.

Finally, one day, the blacksmith asked the patiently waiting customers, "I forge so slowly, why are you still willing to wait?"

"Are you kidding?! Your sign says 'Sword Forging Workshop.' I only care if the sword works well. What do I care if you make it in three days or five?!"

—What the hell does this mean?

Kiana, who had always been at odds with knowledge, was dumbfounded. She thought for a moment, then opened the app's comment feature.

After reading the most-liked post, the girl finally got it.

"If you're gonna skip a day, just skip a day! Why say it all cryptic like that?!"

"You stinky A Li! You just lost your golden treasure chest!"

Then, it turned into rage.

"The chapter content was already typed out before the rebirth, so why hasn't the host released it?"

On the crowded train heading to Tokyo, Prometheus's emotionless electronic voice mixed into the noisy environment.

The already bustling chatter suddenly gained a hint of milky softness.

"Because finishing the draft is just the start—I still have to revise it."

A Li, the shameless author fobbing off readers with a leave notice, wore a perfectly natural expression.

"If I could give the readers the manuscript, I would. The problem is, after I finish writing, I have to edit. If I don't, even I can't stand to look at it. Revising takes even more time than writing, and right now I don't have the leisure to deal with these trivial matters."

He said firmly, "Rather than uploading an unfinished product to cheat and swindle, it's better to just post a notice asking for leave!"

Little AI felt this deadbeat was blatantly making excuses for his procrastination, but she had no proof.

She changed the subject: "The host still hasn't told me what we're going to do next."

"Find someone to shore up our current combat strength."

Ssssh—

The sound of the train doors opening coincided with the arrival announcement. Fu Li squeezed through the tide of people and only relaxed after standing safely outside.

Then he turned back and boarded a train heading to Chiyoda Ward. He rode seemingly aimlessly for several stops. The train's route shifted from above ground to underground, and the passengers gradually thinned out.

After the last person got off, the lights inside the carriage suddenly flickered. A crackling static sound echoed through the empty space, and a chilling aura quickly enveloped Fu Li.

"Detecting a faint Honkai Energy reaction. Host, please stay alert and prepare to enter combat at any time!"

To avoid interfering with Fu Li's vision, Little AI, who had been projected onto his retina, faded away as she spoke.

Fu Li sat steadily in his seat: "It's fine. This is a necessary step to get here."

"It should be some kind of screening device," he speculated. "Revealing the existence of the Honkai to ordinary people has always been strictly forbidden by Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. Although that rule has loosened a bit now, plenty of people still hold to the old mindset."