It's All miHoYo's Conspiracy! .JPG

Flames, ruins, the Honkai rampaging.

Murata Himeko never expected she'd dream about anything related to this.

Was it because she'd been too hooked on that video lately?

She didn't really know why, either.

Normally, she wasn't one for browsing videos, but this one called Honkai Impact 3rd had caught her interest surprisingly.

She wasn't like Theresa, sneaking in time at work to scroll through the video and its fan works.

But she hadn't missed a single update.

So, was that why she had this dream?

Then again, there was another problem.

If the dream came from the video, why was the content different?

Ye Li hadn't appeared in her dream, and instead, there were more tragedies.

Reaching the classroom door, she heard the students' clear, loud reading voices.

Himeko's furrowed brow slowly relaxed, and she laughed at herself inside.

"It's just a dream. Murata Himeko, you're making a mountain out of a molehill."

But when her gaze swept to the second-to-last row, her brow tightened again.

Because she saw...

That white-haired ball of fluff she'd saved with her life in the dream was sprawled over her desk, fast asleep!

Walking to Kiana's desk.

Himeko didn't rudely shake her awake like other teachers would. Instead, she gently nudged her.

In her view, a student sleeping in class was wrong, but maybe there was a reason?

Like feeling unwell, or staying up too late studying.

Though a student like Kiana wouldn't have either of those problems, what if?

That's what Himeko thought.

But Kiana, already lost in dreamland, didn't wake up. Instead, she waved her hand impatiently and mumbled:

"Ugh~ Don't bother me. I stayed up all night gaming, I'm exhausted. Can't you let me sleep a little longer?"

Oh, really!

Fine, Kiana, so you're blaming the teacher now, huh?

Looking at Kiana's unrepentant face, Himeko got hard.

Hard in the fist, that is.

Himeko grabbed a textbook from Kiana's desk, wound up, and prepared to smack it down on her head.

With that stance, you'd think there was some personal grudge involved.

But just as it was about to hit Kiana's head, Himeko stopped.

Thinking back to Kiana's lively, smiling face, she softened.

Still...

'Capital punishment' could be spared, but not 'hard labor'!

Staying up all night gaming and sleeping in class—she wouldn't accept that!

"Kiana Kaslana! Get up!" Himeko shouted, rubbing the white fluff on Kiana's head.

"Hi... Himeko?" Kiana rubbed her eyes, clearly not fully awake.

"Was the game fun?" Himeko crossed her arms, her tone harsh.

"Of course it was... Huh? No! Himeko, hear me out—I mean, let me explain!"

Seeing Himeko's dark face, Kiana's survival instincts kicked in:

"I mean, the game's fun, but I swear I didn't stay up all night playing!"

Kiana's oath was about as convincing as the late Uncle Lu—zero credibility.

The result? She was mercilessly dragged away by Himeko.

When the classroom door closed, everyone heard the fading wails from the hallway.

"Don't take my phone! There are tons of private photos I took of Mei in there... Mmmph!"

Night.

Fu Hua, wearing an apron with a Red Kite pattern tied around her waist, was busy in the kitchen, while Ye Li idly scrolled through his phone in the living room.

Staring at the endless Honkai 3 fan works all over P-site, Ye Li looked utterly lifeless.

If this trend continued, who knew how much longer the Curse of Forgetting on him could hold out.

Of course, what made him truly despair wasn't even that, but rather...

"Stare—" Jilin's unblinking gaze.

Thinking back to the scene at dusk, Ye Li felt a million regrets in his heart.

If he had known things would turn out like this, he would have left the classroom right after school and gone straight home, instead of staying behind to wait for Fu Hua to find him.

If Fu Hua hadn't found him, they wouldn't have chatted idly and ended up with her coming to his place to cook him noodles.

If Fu Hua hadn't come, he naturally wouldn't have been targeted by a yandere like Jilin.

Watching Jilin on the other side of the sofa, her eyes practically wishing to tear him limb from limb, Ye Li felt that before anyone else regained their memories, he might just get chopped up by Jilin first.

So, when it came down to it...

Everything was Ai-chan's fault!

If it weren't for that damned cabbage-head's exposé video, he'd still be enjoying his ordinary life!

"Come~ Eat the noodles~"

Accompanied by Fu Hua's gentle voice, three bowls of fragrant Longevity Noodles were set down.

Staring at the steaming noodles before him, Ye Li's thoughts drifted back to Shenzhou thousands of years ago.

Looking up at the flour dusted on Fu Hua's nose from kneading the dough, Ye Li instinctively reached out to wipe it off for her.

But just as he moved, he felt a murderous aura from behind.

"Stare—"

A gaze that wanted to kill someone couldn't be hidden.

If looks could kill, Ye Li figured he'd already be riddled with holes by now.

So, to see the sun tomorrow, Ye Li chose to play it safe.

"Fu Hua, class monitor... your nose. Here's a tissue."

Handing Fu Hua a tissue, Ye Li turned into a mindless noodle-slurping machine.

Fu Hua smiled, took the tissue, and sat down, urging the pouting Jilin to eat.

"Xiao Lin, eat up. The noodles won't taste good cold."

Seeing the radiant smile on Fu Hua's face, Jilin's heart was a mix of emotions.

Not for any other reason, but because this was the first time she'd ever seen that smile on Fu Hua's face.

Usually, Fu Hua was always serious and proper with people, rarely showing such a girlish side.

Thinking this, Jilin immediately fixed her gaze on the boy across from her, who was busy slurping noodles.

"Hmph~ Aside from being a little good-looking, I really can't see what other merits this guy has. I don't get why Sister Fu Hua cares so much about him."

Jilin angrily stabbed the Soft-boiled Egg in her bowl with her chopsticks, puncturing it full of holes, as if the egg were someone's body.

The bamboo chopsticks clinked crisply against the porcelain bowl. Jilin finally couldn't hold back and spoke up: "Sister Fu Hua, what's your relationship with him? Why did you come to his house to cook for him?"

"Because of a promise." Fu Hua took a slow, deliberate slurp of noodles. "And also because of gratitude..."

"Gratitude means going to a strange guy's house to be his housewife?!"

Jilin cut in abruptly, her chopsticks "crack" as she completely shattered the egg in her bowl.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on the back of Ye Li's neck, and the noodles stuffed in his mouth suddenly stuck in his throat.

My Hua, please be more careful, I'm begging you, stop talking!

Ye Li was about to bury his face in the noodle bowl and play dead, but Fu Hua's next move nearly made him choke on the broth!

Because Fu Hua actually picked up the Soft-boiled Egg from her own bowl and placed it into his!

The chopsticks in Jilin's hand let out a "creak" of anguish, and Ye Li felt as if a giant "danger" sign had lit up above his head.

Seriously, bro?!

"Sure, five thousand years ago, I liked to mess around and snatch food from you to liven things up, but you've got to read the room!"

Watching Jilin across from him, who was so dark and twisted she was practically smoking, Ye Li felt his life was about to end.

Staring at the trembling yolk in his bowl, Ye Li suddenly felt that seeing tomorrow's sun was out of the question—just seeing tonight's moon would be a miracle.

Outside the window, the cicadas screamed their hearts out, perfectly echoing Ye Li's inner wail.

Just then...

Ding-dong~

Three phone notification sounds broke the awkward standoff.

For the first time in his life, Ye Li felt that this damn Ai-chan had perfect timing!

Ps: Hehehe, we're finally getting close to The Last Lesson. I can't wait to treat Ye Li to some candy.

Routine request: add to bookshelf, request follow-up reading, request small gifts, thank you~