The Feather of the Fire Moth.
Mission Objective 1: Progress remaining—50%.
The Third Eruption...
There was a lot to think about regarding what came next. Perhaps he shouldn't go to school for the time being. After all...
No, he had to make time to go.
Anna and Kiana were still there.
Putting Kiana aside for the moment, Anna had helped him so much. If he didn't show up, it would essentially cause her mission to fail, and he'd feel terrible about that.
As for World Serpent, he didn't need to worry about them for now. Gray Serpent mistaking him for someone else was likely due to the manga. The manga did indeed feature a plotline in its final stages where the protagonist traveled back to the Previous Era.
However, in the context of this current reality, traversing fifty thousand years of spacetime was too fantastical—especially since the author never specifically drew how that time travel process worked.
System, long time no see. Come out and say something. Was there a hero in the Previous Era who looked exactly like me?
[You have already guessed the answer, have you not? Whether there was or wasn't is not important to you.]
Of course it's important. That way, I can roleplay as "Him" to fool World Serpent.
[You may look back, but you must never walk back.]
[Trapped in the past, imitating the past—you will never arrive at a brand-new tomorrow. You must walk your own path. The past, the present, and the future... they all expect this of you.]
Fine, fine...
At least he knew for sure that there was a heroic figure in the past who existed outside the game's plot and resembled the manga protagonist. He would have to be careful in the future.
Li Wu's thoughts returned to the immediate situation.
The crisis of the first act was resolved. Raiden Ryoma should soon realize that Schicksal and World Serpent had reached a tacit understanding not to touch Raiden Mei, which would prompt him to find a way out of prison himself.
Once Raiden Ryoma was out, the teachers and classmates would revert to fawning over Mei, and everything would return to how it was before.
Life really was... full of drama.
Returning to the battered apartment, the corners of Li Wu's mouth twitched several times. His gaze lingered on the window, which had been blown through by machine-gun fire, and the surrounding walls.
It was a pure hornet's nest. Chunks of plaster had fallen off, exposing the reinforced concrete structure to the air.
Thank god physics was still functioning. If the rebar had been shot through that easily, Li Wu would have really started to question science. The window glass, however, was completely gone—not a shard left in the frame. No point repairing it; the whole set needed replacing.
"Phew... let's focus on what's right in front of me first."
"Mei is cooking, so I have enough time to figure out what this Feather of the Fire Moth is. Raven said I'd understand once I used it. She has no reason to lie to me."
Li Wu took out the Feather. After confirming once more that the bedroom door was shut and no one else was around, he pressed the Feather directly against his forehead.
The moment flesh met Feather...
The aggregate of neurons and nerve fibers on the Feather began to move. A nanoscopic nerve, invisible to the naked eye, burrowed into the center of his brow. As if gaining life, it purposefully sought out the nerves in his brain connected to his consciousness.
Then, it embedded itself deeply. The Feather emitted an eerie red glow.
"..."
When Li Wu opened his eyes again, he found he was still lying on the bedroom bed. Nothing had changed.
It was just a little quieter than before he used the Feather.
"What happened? Did it fail? Because the previous host isn't dead, I can't enter that 'consciousness space'?"
"Forget it. Since I can't get in, I might as well go help clean up the living room."
Li Wu stood up and pushed open the bedroom door.
The living room was still a mess, but there was no sound coming from the kitchen. Li Wu sniffed hard, but he couldn't smell any cooking fumes or oil.
Subconsciously, Li Wu slid open the glass door to the kitchen. Whatever greeted his eyes was perfectly organized cookware, but nothing else seemed amiss.
But no anomalies was the biggest anomaly of all.
Where was Mei? Wasn't the stove running earlier? Where was the flame? Where was the sound of the gas?
Li Wu rushed back to the living room and looked out through the shattered window. Nagazora City, which should have been bustling with people and cars shuttling back and forth, was completely empty. There wasn't a single person or moving vehicle on the streets.
In a trance, Li Wu looked down at a shard of glass on the floor and saw his current appearance—
A blurred, black shadow.
Aside from the outline, no details could be seen. He was wrapped in an infinite fog. If one didn't look closely, even his gender would be indistinguishable.
Just as Li Wu was immersing himself in this eerie scene, a bizarre voice sounded from behind him—a sound unlike any human, indescribable by any creature found on Earth.
"To possess a Feather... it seems World Serpent has sent a heavyweight from the Previous Era this time. I'm truly curious who it is. Did they cross hands with [Deliverance] and the others during the Second Eruption? Now that would be interesting. Former enemies becoming colleagues—is there anything more amusing than that?"
Li Wu turned around to find three silhouettes appearing out of nowhere in his home.
In this space, all voices and appearances seem to undergo special processing, Li Wu quickly deduced.
There was no sound of the door opening, so does using the Feather directly simulate the physical space I'm currently in?
[Daybreak] Kosma: "By the way, Newbie, what's your name in reality?"
[Mist] Li Wu: "You can call me '[Mist]'."
As he spoke the title, a hazy mist drifted before him, eventually forming a line of simple text that Li Wu couldn't read but could instantly understand—[Mist].
He looked up. The other three had similar displays in front of them, like labels that required no learning to read; the meaning of the text was received by the brain in the most direct way possible, aided by some underlying law.
[Infinity] Mobius: "...Haha! [Daybreak], do you think everyone is stupid? Since he has a Feather, do you really think he's a rookie who knows nothing? Who knows, maybe his research in this field runs deeper than ours, heehee..."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "[Infinity], you loudmouth troll! You'd better hope I don't find out your identity in reality, or I won't hesitate to send [Ego] to pay you a visit."
[Infinity] Mobius: "Ooh, I'm so scared~ If you have the guts, go ask [Deliverance] or [Timeless] for everyone's alt-account logs yourself. Who knows? Maybe I am [Deliverance] or [Timeless], hmm~?"
[Infinity] Mobius: "Wait, no. [Timeless] borrowed the admin privileges five hundred years ago to develop a complete version of this 'Remembrance Society' and hasn't been heard from since. If you want the logs, you can only go to [Deliverance] for admin access. You wouldn't happen to be... too scared, would you?"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "[Ego], do you accept beatdown commissions?"
[Ego] Elysia: "...I do not raise my hand against companions."
From left to right, they were [Daybreak], [Infinity], and [Ego].
Li Wu, familiar with the game's plot, knew exactly who they were: Kosma, Mobius, and Elysia.
Only...
Is it really them?
Their personalities have changed way too much.
The taciturn Kosma had turned into a chatterbox. The self-isolated Mobius had turned into a bratty mesugaki. And Elysia, who loved gossip and chatting the most, was speaking the least?
The plot has deviated. Originally, these three should have been long dead.
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Newbie, tell us how you got the Feather. No malice, just pure curiosity. Also... is this your house? Why is it so shabby?"
[Mist] Li Wu: "I am executing a mission. This is the target's home. As for how I obtained the Feather, if necessary, I could tell the real you in person."
As his voice fell, the silhouette of [Daybreak] visibly froze.
[Daybreak] Kosma: "For real? You... know who I am? No, absolutely impossible. Neither [Deliverance] nor [Timeless] are blabbermouths; you couldn't possibly know our true identities. Because our neurons are being tampered with, as long as true names aren't directly mentioned, the speech everyone receives is altered to a certain degree. Aside from the content remaining the same, the style of speech is completely different from reality. It can't be used as a reference. You can't possibly guess who I am!"
[Mist] Li Wu: "Oh? Then shall we make a bet?"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Bet accepted! If I lose, I owe you one request. As long as it doesn't cross my bottom line, I'll fulfill it for you even if I have to crawl out of my cryo-pod right now. Including kill—"
[Ego] Elysia: "..."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Cough, cough. Definitely not killing people, haha. I don't kill. Our organization is just, kind, moral, and fair. We never harm the innocent..."
[Infinity] Mobius: "Heehee, you're obviously scared~ Small fry **[Daybreak]**~ Zako"
"..."
Li Wu really wanted to retort. Is this Mobius? Is this Kosma? Is this the Honkai world?
Where the hell did I end up?
How did my rationality-driven Mobius turn into a bratty little imp?
Li Wu shook his head, discarding the irrelevant thoughts, and quickly analyzed the three abnormal figures.
From the conversation between Kosma and Mobius, Li Wu gathered that Elysia's basic setting hadn't changed—she loved humanity.
It was just that her usual charming, elusive playfulness had transformed into a "terrifying presence sufficient to threaten heroes."
[Mist] Li Wu: "Deal. If I lose, I'll agree to one request from you, too. Since we both possess a Feather, our capabilities shouldn't be too far apart, right?"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "No problem! I've been bored to death sleeping in this pod for so long; this is the perfect chance to see what civilization looks like now. Speak, what exactly is the bet?"
[Mist] Li Wu: "If I can reveal the true identities of all three of you, I win. Conversely, you win."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "9! Because a 6 flipped over is still a number! I'm giving you a 99 out of 100—deducting one point so you don't get arrogant. If you can name the three of us, I'll change my name on the spot and take your surname! I knew the newbie was a reckless greenhorn, haha! All three of us? Although I don't know who you are, we're all veterans. We aren't people a Current Era native like you could guess. And you want to guess three? Is it daytime over there?"
[Mist] Li Wu: "It is daytime. Why?"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "No wonder you're so arrogant. You're daydreaming! Hahahaha!"