My Chat Group Is Too Strange Chapter 7

Chapter 9: Shut-In Kiana Comes Online

Mo Wang and Kiana kept gaming until midnight.

Snack bags and drink bottles were piled all over the floor.

If someone walked in right now, they would probably cry out, "Holy shit, a garbage dump."

"Why, why did I die again?! Fuck!"

On the game screen, Kiana's character had just had her head chopped off by Mo Wang's character in a single strike.

A huge word—NOOB—was plastered across the screen, like it was mocking Kiana.

"Ah, life truly is lonely as snow."

"Like I always say, leave gaming to Duck!"

Mo Wang cheerfully set the controller aside. Sure enough, stomping noobs was an experience you had to try for yourself. No wonder so many skilled players used to make alt accounts to slaughter newbies—it was way too fun.

"Hmph! I'm done playing!"

As if throwing a tantrum, Kiana tossed away her controller and flopped down while hugging a sofa cushion. One of her long, pale legs even kicked Mo Wang.

"Oh? We're only halfway through, and you're already surrendering? That doesn't sound like you." Mo Wang looked back at Kiana on the sofa and found her pouting, clearly unwilling to look at him.

Having gotten to know the habits of this white-haired little dumpling dozens of times over, Mo Wang could tell at a glance that something was bothering her.

Whenever she was in a bad mood, she liked to lie facedown on the bed or sofa like this, acting as though she had shut herself off from the world.

"Heh, don't tell me you got so depressed from losing at games? When you played against Bronya before and got beaten even worse, I never saw you this shut-in."

But Kiana's long legs only kicked Mo Wang harder.

"Who—who's shut-in?! I'm not that kind of person!" Kiana turned to glare at Mo Wang, only to immediately flop back down again.

"I just... feel kind of upset."

"Oh, I see."

The moment Kiana said that, Mo Wang understood.

She had not gotten depressed from gaming.

It was because after getting beaten up by him during the day, she realized that not only could she not beat him at games, she could not beat him in a fight either.

She simply could not accept being useless for a while, so she had fallen into a shut-in state.

Don't be fooled by how Kiana was the liveliest and seemingly most easygoing of the three girls in Honkai Impact 3rd.

In reality, everyone knew that in a trio, the one who seemed happiest was usually the one most likely to mentally snap.

Naruto and Eren were basically that type.

And sure enough, Kiana wore a miserable little expression as she asked Mo Wang, "Mo Wang... do you think I'm useless?"

"Why would you ask that?"

Having identified Kiana's symptoms, psychological counselor, life guide, master logician Mo Wang immediately went online.

"Look, I've already been at St. Freya for a year, but in all that time, I haven't improved at all."

"I said I wanted to become an A-rank Valkyrie, but I've barely gone on any missions so far. I'm even worse at fighting. Last time I fought the class monitor, I couldn't even touch her. And Mei and Bronya are even further out of reach. They're all at the top of the grade, while I'm still stuck in the same place without any improvement at all."

As Kiana listed all the things she had done recently, she realized that she seemed to be getting farther and farther from the goal she had originally set for herself.

"Oh? So you actually have some self-awareness?" Mo Wang looked at Kiana in surprise.

Since when had this lousy salted fish reflected on herself?

"You're right, though. You sleep in class during the day, play games in your dorm at night, and whenever you have nothing to do, you run over to Theresa's place and mine to steal manga and snacks. You eat a lot every day and barely move. Calling you a salted fish really isn't unfair at all."

Kiana was immediately furious when she heard that.

Wasn't he supposed to comfort her at a time like this? Why was he just getting more and more excessive?

"Oh, and you say you want to become an A-rank Valkyrie, but you haven't even looked into the actual requirements, have you? Last time you went on a mission, you ignored Himeko's operational arrangements and provoked a pack of Honkai Beasts, which ended up destroying the trial Valkyrie armor and making the Academy Principal furious, didn't it?"

"I'll bite you to death!"

Kiana could not hold back any longer. Like a big white cat, she pounced on Mo Wang with her claws out, ready to scratch him a few times.

"Quit messing around. I'm only telling the truth." Mo Wang pushed the rowdy Kiana away, then continued.

"Still, I don't think you need to compare yourself with everyone else. There's no point."

Hearing Mo Wang's words, Kiana's hands suddenly stopped moving.

"Seriously, if you keep comparing yourself to other people, you'll always find something you can't measure up to."

"Does comparing your grades with Mei's and Bronya's mean anything to you? One of them follows the technical route, while the other specializes in overwhelming firepower. They were never on the same path as someone like you, who relies on instinct and athletic reflexes."

"Rather than studying all that theoretical knowledge at school, you'd be better off learning a few more moves from Honored Immortal Fu Hua."

"If you keep comparing yourself to others, you'll only fall into endless mental exhaustion, my friend."

"Instead of thinking so much, you might as well be a salted fish like me and play some games."

Mo Wang sincerely said this to Kiana.

"R-Really?" Kiana scratched her head, feeling that Mo Wang's words seemed to make some sense.

"Then why didn't you tell me when I'll be able to beat the Class Monitor?" Kiana asked curiously.

"Well... I think it might take you a few more years before you can beat Fu Hua. Don't rush, okay~"

Mo Wang turned his head away awkwardly.

Beating Honored Immortal Fu Hua? That was still far too early for Kiana.

After all, even with her memories gone, Fu Hua still possessed the strength of an S-rank Valkyrie.

With Kiana's current abilities, Pufferfish would probably have to take over to stand a chance.

And the "few years" he mentioned was already a conservative estimate based on her becoming Finality.

"Cough, cough! Don't be in such a hurry to get stronger. Everyone takes things one step at a time. I guarantee that when your Class Monitor was your age, she definitely wasn't as strong as you are now!"

Mo Wang patted his chest as he said this.

"I feel like you're just brushing me off," Kiana muttered unhappily. "Then how did you become so strong all at once?"

"Hey, what are you talking about? I got stronger entirely through my own efforts, okay?" Mo Wang told Kiana without the slightest hint of shame.

"Besides, you just got scolded on a mission, right? Don't be afraid. Hyperion is my turf now!"

"From now on, if there's any mission you want to go on, just tell me!"

"Even if you want to solo a Herrscher, I'll take you there, okay?"

"Just listen to my arrangements from now on."

As Mo Wang spoke, he turned back toward Kiana and discovered that she had somehow already fallen asleep.

Seeing Kiana lying on the sofa, drooling and letting out soft snores, Mo Wang silently rose from the floor.

"Don't catch a cold, you silly white-haired fluffball."

Mo Wang took out a blanket from a nearby cabinet and draped it over Kiana. Then he quietly returned to his desk and began handling the remaining official business.

Just then, a message suddenly appeared on Mo Wang's computer screen.

Alert Notification—A large Honkai Beast horde has been detected near Canghai City. The Far East Branch is requested to take immediate action.

Mo Wang's eyes narrowed slightly when he saw the message.

Chapter 10: That Black-Hearted Cuckold Bishop Deserved to Be Cuckolded

Canghai City was the closest city to St. Freya Academy.

As one of the most prosperous cities in a certain country, it was practically the favorite destination of St. Freya's students.

Whenever there was a holiday or an opportunity, the Valkyries would always choose to visit Canghai City for fun, or even work part-time to earn living expenses.

Even by the time Mo Wang transmigrated, this city was still the most frequently featured city in Honkai Impact 3rd.

At this moment, all the Valkyries of St. Freya had arrived in the skies above Canghai City.

But obviously, no one had come here for sightseeing this time.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves! Squads One and Two, stop the Honkai Beasts from entering the city. Squads Three and Four, support me. Squad Five, prepare to stop that massive battleship hovering over the city!"

Himeko issued the mission orders to the surrounding Valkyries.

A massive battleship hovered in the skies above Canghai City.

And as the battleship arrived, huge numbers of Honkai Beasts surged like a tide into the areas surrounding Canghai City.

"Moonlight Throne... has it finally arrived?"

Sitting in the cockpit, Mo Wang looked at the super battleship outside the window, which appeared several times larger than Hyperion, and could not help sighing.

After all, the battleship before him had taken Anti-Entropy—a group practically overflowing with black technology—a full sixty years to develop.

Originally, it had been the ultimate weapon researched during the Previous Civilization to deal with Finality.

It could be said to be the crystallization of wisdom forged jointly by people from two different eras.

The Slacker King of Hyperion: What a shame. Aside from being impressive when it first appeared, this thing basically had no plot afterward. Not only that, its main cannon was dismantled and mounted on Hyperion.

The Blonde from Teyvat: So why dismantle the main cannon and put it on Hyperion? Wouldn't it be better to just use the Moonlight Throne directly?

The Savior of Rationality: My guess is that its energy consumption is just too absurd, right? A cannon that needs a Herrscher Core to activate would probably bankrupt St. Freya after one shot.

The Video Store Owner: And if I remember right, this thing is practically cursed. The Previous Civilization used it to fire at Finality, and it didn't even scratch a layer of her skin. Then it performed terribly against Pufferfish too.

The Garbage King of a Certain Train: Maybe that's just a common gamer habit? I mean, don't lots of people like taking equipment off characters they dislike and putting it on characters they like? Even if the stats get worse, at least their proficiency goes up, right?

The Video Store Owner: Sixty years of Anti-Entropy's work was dismantled just like that. I bet Dr. Lobster and Blue-haired Messy Head would cough up blood.

The Slacker King of Hyperion: I just think it's such a waste. My guess is that Theresa turned the dismantled Moonlight Throne around and sold it as scrap metal, then used the money to pay St. Freya's electricity bill.

The Savior of Rationality: Makes sense. Theresa was already a money-losing burden to begin with. She barely had any income, yet she still had to imitate her grandfather with all that clone nonsense. Haven't you seen that she even became an academy idol to pay off debts?

The Video Store Owner: Magical Girl Theresa warning.jpg

The Blonde from Teyvat: I can practically see a golden Judah shining above your head.

The Savior of Rationality: Stop! I was wrong, okay?! Big bro, big bro, I was wrong! Don't kill me!

While the Valkyries were deployed, Mo Wang spent the entire time chatting in the Chat Group.

After all, just as he had said, none of this work was his responsibility in the first place.

In no time at all, Himeko had assigned every task, and the Valkyries had followed her out.

Even the other personnel aboard the battleship had begun working in an orderly fashion.

It was as if he were the only invisible person there.

But that was normal. After all, he was a leader who had only been parachuted in yesterday, and he was even a student. Those Valkyries probably would not listen to him much anyway.

If it were an ordinary person, realizing that not a single subordinate listened to them despite being the leader would probably leave them unbearably frustrated.

But Mo Wang was different. At that moment, he even pulled out snacks and a game console, intending to slack off completely.

Master Duel, he had been busy acting as Kiana's emotional mentor yesterday, then spent an entire day dealing with documents. The lazy soul within Mo Wang had long been on the verge of erupting.

With such a perfect chance to loaf around, he would hardly be human if he did not take it!

The staff busily working aboard the Hyperion merely wore strange expressions when they saw Mo Wang eating snacks while playing games.

"As expected of the school's king of slacking off."

Those who had long heard of Mo Wang simply made that remark before immediately returning to their own work.

They probably still regarded Himeko as the real boss, while Mo Wang was merely someone sent over to take the blame.

The First Squad had engaged the Honkai Beasts and successfully defeated the attacking Shikigami and Honkai Beasts.

The Second Squad had rescued the trapped civilians and was transferring to the next objective.

The Third and Fourth Squads had arrived and were preparing to carry out saturated bombardment with heavy firepower!

The Fifth Squad had successfully landed on the mysterious battleship. The operation continued.

Mo Wang ate snacks and played games while casually listening to the nearby staff report intelligence regarding the Valkyries' movements.

Mo Wang could not help but scoff at this command arrangement.