The Real Cheat Code in Honkai Is Alicia!

"I don't really have any objections. When there aren't any experiments to conduct, I can only do observations anyway, so I still have time to guide students."

Choukai readily agreed to Gwen's request. "Besides, I'm also curious what kind of results there would be if a Herrscher could apply her abilities to scientific research..."

"What an interesting lady. I really wish Dr. Mobius would learn from her..."

Alicia said with a smile in Gwen's mind.

"If you mean her personality, Choukai is quite likable."

Thinking of Mobius's mouth, which was tougher than even the Immortal's breastplate, Gwen readily agreed.

After chatting for a while and seeing Choukai off, Gwen discussed matters with Mei again and prepared the training plan she would need before enrolling. Then, after bidding each other good night, they returned to their rooms to rest—

After all, it was not currently the time for new recruits to enroll. If Mei wanted to study alongside the other reserves, she first needed to catch up on some lessons...

Kiana, Haggard and Worn

Three days later, at ten in the morning, Gwen, who was tutoring Mei while reviewing for himself, received a message from Amber—

Kiana had awakened.

Exchanging a look with Mei, Gwen understood the meaning in her eyes and nodded. The two set down their books, informed Choukai, then left Institute St. 1504 and headed for the medical department.

They casually bought a fruit basket beside the medical department, then followed the directions to a ward.

Through the window, Gwen and Raiden Mei saw Kiana in a hospital gown, leaning against her pillow and sitting listlessly on the bed.

Compared to the lively and open Kiana they remembered, the girl sitting on the bed now looked far more haggard. Her body was even slightly hunched, as if all spirit had been drained from her.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

After lightly knocking on the door, Gwen and Raiden Mei, who had already received permission to enter, stepped inside.

Yet Kiana on the bed showed no reaction whatsoever to their arrival. She did not even turn her head to look at them. She merely sat there in silence, staring blankly with a wooden expression, like an inanimate object merged into the stark white room.

"Kiana?"

Though they had not even begun speaking, simply standing in the ward allowed Raiden Mei to feel the grief and despair radiating from Kiana, making her call out instinctively.

"..."

However, Kiana showed no response to the call of Mei, the upperclassman she liked most...

That was not quite right. It was not that Kiana had no reaction at all—

Upon hearing Raiden Mei's voice, Kiana's body trembled slightly, and she shrank farther back as if frightened of something. Her little face lowered even more, not daring to look at the owner of that familiar voice.

"..."

Seeing this, Gwen did not speak right away. Instead, he silently took Mei's hand and stopped her from stepping forward.

Meeting the girl's puzzled gaze, Gwen gave a slight shake of his head, then looked outside.

Following Gwen's gaze toward the door, Raiden Mei found the corridor empty. After thinking for a moment, she understood what he meant. She nodded softly, then quietly left the ward and closed the door behind her, leaving Gwen alone in the room.

Watching the ward door quietly close, Gwen finally turned his gaze back to the white-haired girl on the bed.

He walked forward a few steps, casually pulled over the chair at the foot of the bed, and sat beside her.

Kiana still gave no clear reaction to Gwen's approach, only shrinking back again almost imperceptibly.

Seeing this, Gwen understood that the psychological blow she had suffered was immense, so he did not rush to speak. He took a bright red apple from the fruit basket he had placed on the bedside table, and a light blade of suitable length appeared in his hand.

Though he was no famous educator, peeling an apple was a simple task for Gwen.

Perhaps sensing the light blade in Gwen's hand, Kiana's hair trembled slightly before quickly stiffening again, as if nothing had changed.

As the apple turned, a faint scraping sound accompanied the emergence of a long strip of peel, which eventually fell into the nearby trash can. All that remained in Gwen's hand was an apple with its tender white flesh exposed.

Glancing at Kiana, who seemed to show no reaction at all, Gwen flicked the light blade in his hand and split the apple in two.

Without asking for her opinion, Gwen took one of her small hands hidden beneath the blanket and placed half the apple in it. Then, in a calm voice, he spoke a single word:

"Eat."

Compared to usual, Gwen's voice carried a little more depth and weight.

At his words, Kiana's body shuddered involuntarily, and her gaze finally shifted toward the somewhat familiar boy beside her.

Gwen merely raised the half apple in his hand. Without saying anything else, he began eating it himself.

"..."

Kiana turned her face back, blinked, and looked at the apple in her hand. Slowly raising it, she took a small bite. The sweet juice flowed into her mouth, making her seem as though she had come back to life, and her movements quietly sped up just a little.

Yet two trails of tears also silently appeared on Kiana's little face...

Gwen could easily guess why Otto had summoned him the moment Kiana woke up. It was nothing more than to improve Kiana's impression of him, allowing him to help her master the Herrscher of the Void's powers more smoothly.

Therefore, although he was not actually good at comforting people, Gwen still had to force himself to do it—

If he did not want Otto to pull any more tricks, he had to move forward according to his plan.

Gwen quickly finished his half of the apple without speaking. He simply watched quietly as Kiana silently shed tears while taking small bites from her own half.

Still, she was clearly not herself. Normally, Kiana could devour an entire apple in just a few bites, leaving nothing but the core in less than a minute. Yet now, after several minutes, she had only eaten the outer layer, and her hand hung down with half a pitted apple still in it.

"..."

With a silent sigh, Gwen reached out and took the half-eaten apple from Kiana's hand, setting it on the bedside table before finally speaking softly:

"What did you remember?

If you don't mind, tell me about it."

Ignoring Alicia, who was sharing tips on comforting people in his mind, Gwen's words were simple and direct—

He was not Alicia. He lacked that kind of warmth and natural friendliness, and he could not pretend to have it.

Besides, Kiana did not have the luxury of being gently comforted while slowly working through the knot in her heart—

Otto would not give her that much time, nor would Honkai.

If she did not want to keep losing things, Kiana could only face the agony before her.

"...Everything..."

Whether it was because she wanted to repay Gwen a little for eating half his apple, or because the food had restored some of her strength, Kiana finally spoke and gave him an answer.

Yet compared to the voice Gwen remembered, Kiana's voice was now hoarse and frail, as though all her vitality had been drained away, leaving behind nothing but a shell that could still breathe.

"If you don't mind, tell me about it."

Gently holding Kiana's trembling hand, Gwen's eyes glimmered faintly as he spoke softly:

"Some things might feel a little easier once you share them..."

Once again, he sincerely thanked Taro for teaching him so many ways to use Ultra Telekinesis.

"...

I..."

Under Gwen's continued guidance, Kiana's mind had eased somewhat. After a long silence, she finally began to speak slowly beneath his gaze, recounting everything she had remembered...

From opening her eyes in the nutrient tank that had just been shattered, to being dragged away by another white-haired girl, to her life in the Russian countryside, and then to that great fire...

Whether Taro had simply taught too well, or Kiana was currently too fragile to bear all of this alone, she recounted everything she had remembered to Gwen.

Throughout it all, Gwen played the role of listener well, quietly listening to the girl's past.

Although he already knew most of it, Gwen still listened with great attention, hoping that along with the warmth of his hand, he could convey his concern to the girl as well.

And as the girl spoke, Gwen swiftly noticed an anomaly obvious even without listening closely—

A few years ago, after suffering a shock, Kiana had lost control of her body to the sleeping Sirin.

When she awoke, Kiana had not found her father, Siegfried Kaslana. She had only found the letter he left behind, and from then on, she embarked on a journey to find him.

In Gwen's memories, Sirin had severed one of Siegfried's arms, only to be defeated by him with An-Utu.

To prevent himself from provoking Sirin's awakening again, Siegfried had chosen to stay away.

Yet according to Kiana, in her recovered memories, the other consciousness within her had controlled her body, severed both arms of the man who made up ninety-nine percent of the girl's world, then split him in two and killed him completely...

Siegfried was dead?

This change was undoubtedly enormous.

If Gwen had appeared in Changkong City and needed the possibly still-living Siegfried to save him, this change alone would have nearly cost him his life.

Fortunately, that was not the case, and he had already gradually passed through the weak period following his transmigration...

The thought flashed through Gwen's mind before he buried it deep inside, revealing nothing unusual as he continued listening to Kiana.

Before he died, Siegfried had still managed to reach the fallen pistols and barely launch an attack. Unfortunately, he had failed to directly defeat the revived Herrscher consciousness, ultimately dying with regret. The Valkyries who had followed the Honkai Energy there afterward had paid an immense price to wear down the weakened Herrscher consciousness and force it into unconsciousness.

Having heard Kiana's account, Gwen understood why she was still so devastated despite merely having her body taken over, rather than killing someone like Murata Himeko, who had been as close to her as family in the original story—

For the current Kiana, personally killing the man who had made up most of her world was no less devastating than Kiana killing Murata Himeko years later in the original timeline—perhaps even worse.

Though she had not done it herself, it had still been her body that committed the act. For a girl whose true age was only seven, it was simply too cruel.

"...

Gwen..."

After finishing the story of the past she had remembered, Kiana fell silent for a while. She glanced at Gwen from the corner of her eye, and only after seeing that his expression had not changed much—that he was merely holding her hand and looking at her calmly—did she call her friend's name again.

"Mm, I'm here. Is there anything else you want to say?"

Taking two tissues from the box on the bedside table, Gwen gently wiped away the tear tracks on the girl's cheeks, which had flushed slightly red from her turbulent emotions, and asked softly.

"I..."

The girl, who seemed much calmer after crying, parted her lips. Something flickered in her eyes, and hesitation appeared on her small face, preventing her from saying it immediately.

Gwen did not press her. He merely looked at her calmly and waited for her to continue.

"I want..."

Perhaps Gwen's gentle gaze gave her a little more trust. The girl hesitated, then slowly continued:

"Please... kill me..."

At last, having gathered all her courage, the girl spoke the final words. Her eyes remained fixed on Gwen as the hand he had finally warmed clasped his in return, as though she were entrusting him with the most important request of her life.

"Why?"

Gwen frowned. Though he understood the reason, he still asked.

"I... I... There's a demon living inside my body.

"If you don't kill me, she'll take over my body, kill everyone, and destroy the entire world."

The girl's grip suddenly tightened, shaking Gwen's hand hard as though she wanted to use her own strength to show him what kind of monster was hidden within her body.

If it had been an ordinary person, someone with weaker bones might have had them crushed outright. But to Gwen, it was still far too weak.

"She can't beat me."

Gwen gently placed his other hand over Kiana's, stopping her movements as he answered her with the simplest and most forceful words.

"..."

Upon hearing Gwen's words, Kiana fell silent for several seconds. Then, as if to emphasize the point, she warned him loudly:

"But she was very weak that day. Once she recovers a little more, you might not be able to beat her."

"Impossible."

Gwen calmly shook his head.

"Even if she recovers, I can make countless mistakes. But if I hit her even once, she'll die without question."

"..."

Thinking back to the battle that night, Kiana realized that Gwen seemed to be right. She had felt the Herrscher consciousness's panic clearly when it fled.

But having finally worked up the courage to ask Gwen to kill her, Kiana was unwilling to give up just like that. She continued:

"But if you aren't there..."

"Kiana,"