You asked for healing, and you wrote Honkai Impact 3rd?

[The anchor point left behind can't be used. The Past's Paradise is like a business that's shut its doors for good.]

[In this world, once the protagonist leaves, do the NPCs' lives and deaths no longer matter?]

[From Klein, Raven got a bit of information—roughly that the memory bodies were stirring, and that an unknown Hero had taken an interest in Raiden Mei?]

[Mei isn't here right now, but Raven wants to do her a favor, so she decides to help investigate the anomalies occurring in the Paradise.]

[As she explores, Raven spots an extremely suspicious cat. Following its steps, she eventually arrives at a pitch-black place.]

[It's so dark here it's like the power's been cut, but World Serpent doesn't owe anyone electricity bills.]

["You've come here after all... stranger on a journey."]

["Is it you... who brought change to this Paradise?"]

["Ah... you don't seem to be the one I'm waiting for."]

In the Past's Paradise, the most mysterious figure makes her entrance.

She is also the last Hero that Raiden Mei has yet to meet.

Whether it's because the Deepest Place is too dark... Aponia's eye bags are too heavy, or she simply hasn't opened her eyes...

Or perhaps the threads of fate are too tangled, and Aponia just happened to miss Raiden Mei.

And she also mistook the wrong person.

But her problems aren't as big as the latter's.

No need for many words.

Aponia, the most special of the Thirteen Heroes of Fire, can see the outcomes of the future.

But when she tries to do something about it, she discovers that the future doesn't change because of it.

No matter their personalities, the Thirteen Heroes all have their own obsessions.

Aponia's obsession might just lie in knowing the result yet being unable to change it.

Unable to change anything.

Unable to save anyone.

So-called sin... so-called fate...

The Law of Retribution, clearly issued bearing humanity's hopes, ended up causing disaster.

The concept of contradiction seems to manifest in all the Heroes.

But Aponia... the miHoYo Famous Actress she's waiting for is still on her way to aid her wife.

Her scenes here are straight-up boycotted!

There's even a "stand-in" doing reconnaissance, shooting scenes in her place, and even in that pure white space, being eroded by the Herrscher of Erosion without realizing it.

So... is an "infectious disease" spreading through the Past's Paradise?

So that's why, later on, Aponia keeps frequently pulling Raiden Mei into the Deepest Place's little dark room...

In miHoYo's events, Aponia plays a different role each time, but the night-shift nurse appears frequently...

Strange—how does every scenario in the Past's Paradise fit any situation comedy so perfectly?

Alright, today's last update.

Current bounty is 15-5-2-2=6.

Anyway, I'm going to sleep now. I'll work on the rest tomorrow.

Good night, everyone.

Chapter 51: Senior Is Being Toyed With by a Cat

The third part of the Past's Paradise is about to get to the point.

Just as Aponia said, Raven will "bring" Raiden Mei over.

Because after the Famous Actress finished her scene and came back to explore again, she found that Raven was gone.

The Past's Paradise's people-eating incident keeps shifting the atmosphere.

There are far too many suspects.

[Back in the familiar palace, but Mei's thoughts still linger in that pure white space.]

[For certain reasons, Raiden Mei temporarily paused her exploration of the Past's Paradise and provided aid to Kiana and the others far away in Kolosten.]

[After pushing the Herrscher of Thunder's authority to its limit, she delved into the source of the Gem of Conquest, thus achieving her goal of helping Kiana. Doing so also brought Mei into contact with It once more.]

[In that brief instant, Raiden Mei truly saw It... the "Will of Honkai."]

[None of the questions she asked received any response, so she seeks clues among the Heroes who once fought against It.]

[So Raiden Mei returned to the Past's Paradise once more.]

What she didn't know, however, was that a newborn Herrscher had already latched onto her, quietly learning, imitating, and gradually growing.

The world's most foolish Herrscher had been drawn into the space between her and It.

The newborn, weak thing knew nothing—it even tried to erode the Will of Honkai, but failed utterly, achieving no change.

The two figures standing before it—whether "It" or "She" who held the reins of power—were existences the newborn Herrscher could never erode.

It shouldn't even be here. The sole reason this nascent "third party" had been dragged into this place was nothing more than "collateral damage."

It split itself in two, maintaining an endless "embrace," endlessly eroding...

Even if it couldn't succeed... it would still be with them.

And it was under these circumstances that the Herrscher of Erosion successfully attached itself to Raiden Mei, planting a hidden threat in the process.

[But as she looked around, Raven wasn't lounging on the sofa. Where had she gone?]

[From Eden, she learned that Raven had gone deeper, but was Elysia with her?]

[Even though Eden said that with Ely there, there was no need to worry about Raven's safety, the fact that the two were together gave Raiden Mei a bad feeling.]

[But she had no leads. The moment Elysia looked away, Raven had vanished, and even after searching to the very end, Mei found no trace of her.]

[It was as if she had simply disappeared—the trail she left behind had been cut off.]

At this moment, Raiden Mei's mood, which had been slightly buoyant after meeting someone earlier, seemed to be dampened.

A World Serpent cadre had vanished from her own turf?

That was far too bizarre.

[Raiden Mei returned to the Past's Paradise once more, only to find Elysia fiddling with a megaphone-like object. "Testing, testing, one two three, testing, testing, one two three..."]

["Ah! Mei, you're back! The Miss Mei who beat Mobius to a pulp is back~! (Super loud)"]

[It seemed like just another ordinary farce. By now, Raiden Mei felt she wouldn't be surprised by anything Elysia did.]

[When Elysia demonstrated the recording function, however, Raiden Mei heard something... that she simply couldn't understand the logic behind.]

Raiden Mei's Herrscher of Thunder form resembled the "Ghost Armor" of the Far East.

Herrschers differed from humans—aside from flowing long hair and some exaggerated skirts.

But her most distinctive feature was the pair of horns, black at the base but gradually fading to red at the tips.

["Ah... I really want to touch her horns... I'm so curious, so curious!"]

[The atmosphere fell silent. Raiden Mei once again uttered her most common line: "..."]

No one knew whether Elysia was doing it on purpose or just being playful.

She genuinely coveted Raiden Mei's horns.

And besides, she could be a little mischievous sometimes.

Beware of the Past's Paradise yuri.

Then the megaphone accidentally recorded something Pardofelis had said offhandedly—she didn't know how to use it either...

Three Crystal Flowers for it—it felt like Pardofelis was a bit of a swindler, but the megaphone would later reveal its true value.

It was an absolute steal.

These small, unremarkable stories showcased every facet of Elysia.

If she were a character from another work, a good girl like Elysia would probably have been praised to the skies by now.

Such a beautiful girl, a little mischievous, yet so warm.

Oh traveler passing by, do you acknowledge that the flawless one, Elysia, possesses unparalleled beauty?

Great love is unparalleled! Pure beauty is everywhere!

Ely's faith? Eternal!

She would surely receive praise like this.

But now, thanks to the story's deliberate "misleading,"

Almost everyone who had read this far didn't think Elysia was a good person.

Instead, they thought she was a high-level bad woman.

Su Nian could already imagine how they'd shed little pearls of tears when they saw the Paradise Ice Cube and "The Story Because You Exist" later.

Right now, with Elysia, "what you see is what you get"—there was no deception whatsoever.

[After extensive investigation, Mei heard some unfamiliar information from Klein.]

[The Deepest Place—that was the name of a containment facility, belonging to the Moth of the Fire, and it also existed within the Past's Paradise.]

[Aponia, a mental perception-type Flame Chaser, was one of the Flame-Chasers Mei hadn't met yet. Chijie called her a friend, but that word... Raiden Mei could only be glad she wasn't Chijie's friend.]

[The only thing certain was that Raven was still in the regular areas of the Past's Paradise. While searching for Raven, Mei also took on a side task from Klein to troubleshoot some issues, picked up a quest to help Pardofelis find her cat Can in exchange for an Imprint, and then they moved forward together.]

[Empty Dream Imprint—the one true god of speedrun teams.]

But this was Raiden Mei's first time traveling with a Flame-Chaser, and she had assumed they would be fighting together.

Pardofelis just stood by, watching, tossing out a few remarks, with no intention of stepping in to help.

["Pardofelis, are you planning to just stand there and watch the whole time?"]

["Oh, come on, Mei-sis, I'm just a shopkeeper. Fighting really isn't my thing."]

Silence was the Cambridge of that evening.

A Flame-Chaser not good at combat... once again expanded Raiden Mei's understanding, and her overall impression of them.

Every time she formed a fixed idea about the Flame-Chasers as a whole, there was always one or more who shattered that view.

[Still, Pardofelis did have a knack for finding people. The moment she said she sensed "Can," Raiden Mei spotted Raven and a cat from far away.]

MiHoYo even added a small detail here.

In Raven's character art, there was even a pendant on her chest.

Then, when they returned, it was gone—swiped by Pardofelis.

[She was looking for Raven, while Raven-senpai was being toyed with by a cat.]

Sorry for the wait, sorry for the wait. Full schedule today made it hard to squeeze in time to write, but I'll still try to get a bit more done today. I finally steeled myself and turned down the task assigned by my advisor, so I have a bit more time now.

Throw in some votes, some recommendation tickets, some monthly tickets, and blade tips would be nice too...

Chapter 52, spoilers? A little spoiler isn't a spoiler.

[During the time she vanished, Raven saw a space that felt like a prison... It seemed that way, but in truth, there was nothing there—just pitch black, except for that mysterious woman.]

[Just before Raven completely lost consciousness, she seemed to say something... and also handed Raven a golden pendant, set with a sizable sapphire.]