Long Time No See

It was another peaceful morning. As usual, after a simple breakfast, Ye Li headed to the classroom.

Class was almost about to begin, yet the classroom was still sparsely populated.

Ye Li shook his head and sighed. "Young people these days... Why can't they even get out of bed? Unlike me, who goes to bed early and gets up early every day..."

Indeed. Who knew who had spent the entire night yesterday acting like a mindless follower on the forums?

That said, ever since Honkai Impact 3rd began serialization, the students' tardiness rate had indeed risen considerably.

The school board was deeply troubled by this.

They could forbid students from using their phones while at school, but they had no way to stop them from using their phones at home.

What made the board even more helpless was that this was not limited to students. Even some teachers had fallen into the same habit.

For example, Welt Yang, who taught physics to the senior grades, and Murata Himeko, who had repeatedly been named an outstanding teacher...

Of course, what left the board most speechless was discovering that even the headmistress, Theresa, often slacked off in her office to secretly watch Honkai Impact 3rd videos.

It had been one thing when she secretly read HOMU comics in the office. Now she had moved on to watching short videos there!

This left every board member hoping to use the opportunity to improve the school atmosphere wanting to look up at the sky and sigh:

"The world has gone to ruin, beneath this bright and shining heaven! Your servants are prepared to fight to the death, so why has Your Majesty surrendered first?!"

Meanwhile, after a busy morning of studying, the morning classes finally came to an end.

The students could finally relax, leaving the classroom in small groups.

After watching the afternoon dismissal for a while, Ye Li also prepared to get up and leave the classroom.

This was a habit Ye Li had developed over the years.

He did not need to be the first to arrive, but he always wanted to be the last to leave.

For no other reason than to reduce his presence.

However, something unexpected happened today.

Just as Ye Li was about to leave, he noticed that Fu Hua, who sat in the prime center seat at the front of the classroom, had not left yet.

"By Fu Hua's usual habits, she should have left by now. Did something happen?"

Thinking this, Ye Li no longer cared about keeping a low profile. He stopped and headed toward Fu Hua instead.

Meanwhile, although Fu Hua was looking at the textbook before her, her mind was completely elsewhere.

Her thoughts were entirely occupied by unfamiliar memories.

It even made Fu Hua wonder whether she had been under too much academic pressure lately.

It was clearly just a fictional video, so why did she care about it so much? Why was she even making associations because of it?

"Was I really too tired?"

Just as Fu Hua was confused, a gentle voice came from above her.

"Class Monitor Fu Hua, what's wrong?"

Fu Hua looked up at the sound. Perhaps because of the backlight, the figure before her appeared especially radiant.

Only after focusing her eyes did Fu Hua clearly see who stood before her.

Just as Fu Hua was about to tell him that she was fine, the unfamiliar memories still raging through her mind made her speak without thinking.

"Ye Li... Long time no see."

"Class Monitor Fu Hua, what are you talking about?" Ye Li asked with a puzzled expression. "Didn't we just see each other two days ago..."

!!!

As if he had suddenly realized something, Ye Li froze completely.

Holy shit!

It had already been shocking enough that Raiden Mei remembered him.

But Ye Li truly had not expected there to be another one!

Even Kiana, whose late-game combat strength rivaled that of an Emanator, had yet to recall her memories of him. Yet Fu Hua could do it?

Of course, as the absolute protagonist of the Honkai universe, Kiana faced far greater suppression from the world than anyone else.

But Fu Hua should not have been much better off.

Could it be because Fu Hua had once undergone the Divine Key Project?

Or was it because she had spent the longest time with him?

After all, aside from their time in the Previous Civilization, he and Fu Hua had spent more than five thousand years together in Shenzhou.

At that thought, Ye Li's expression softened from its earlier frivolity, and his eyes took on a hint of weariness.

"Hua..."

"Hua?"

After hearing that name, the memories in Fu Hua's mind surged once more.

If the scenes in her memories had previously resembled an old 480p film, they had now become a 4K high-definition theatrical release.

As her memories revived, a familiar power slowly began to flow into Fu Hua's body.

"Ye Li, you..."

Fu Hua looked up at her dear friend from her previous life, but then she seemed to notice something. The joy on her face at reuniting with an old friend turned into stunned disbelief.

"Ye Li!"

Fu Hua shot to her feet, and the powerful force even snapped off a corner of the desk.

"Your body... Why..."

To ordinary people, Ye Li was merely a handsome high school boy with little presence.

But what Fu Hua saw was the fragile, battered soul beneath that handsome face.

Something was very wrong with Ye Li's condition.

He was clearly the Flame-Chaser who had led humanity to victory over the Honkai, the universally acknowledged strongest of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers...

Yet now, he seemed like an ordinary human, without the slightest trace of anything extraordinary.

Fu Hua could not imagine what kind of brutal battle could have left Ye Li with injuries of this magnitude.

And what concerned Fu Hua most was why her former self had forgotten Ye Li, forgotten every moment she had spent with him.

A hero who had protected the world and saved civilization could now only hide silently in a forgotten corner, licking his wounds. The thought alone was heartbreaking.

Seeing Fu Hua looking at him with such guilt, Ye Li was a little baffled.

What was wrong with this girl?

Why was she looking at me like she felt sorry for me?

Could it be...

Could it be that she remembered how inhumane it had been to pressure me into paying the class fee?