The time Hikari Aoi had spent with Raiden Mei wasn't long, but it felt incredibly pleasant.
If discovering that this was the Honkai world had previously filled him—a former completely ordinary person—with pressure, then his interaction with Raiden Mei had finally brought him a sense of joy.
It was different from the joy of obtaining a Stigmata or realizing he could grow stronger step by step.
This was a simpler kind of happiness—
The joy of being in this world.
Of course, while enjoying that feeling, Hikari Aoi hadn't forgotten to observe Raiden Mei's condition.
To be honest—
He couldn't tell anything.
After all, the distance between them earlier hadn't been that close. Even though he was no longer entirely ordinary, with only a pitiful Selena (Top), Hikari Aoi still wasn't capable of analyzing Mei's internal condition like a precision instrument.
However, if any abnormalities appeared in the future, Hikari Aoi believed he would be able to notice.
In the Third Honkai Eruption, Raiden Mei would become a Herrscher.
And the birth of a Herrscher required the surrounding Honkai energy to exceed 1,000 HW.
Such a drastic surge in Honkai energy would definitely alert him.
And when that happened—
He would try to take Raiden Mei out of Nagazora City, away from densely populated areas.
Even if he couldn't directly stop the Honkai from descending, he could at least try to reduce the damage caused by the Third Honkai Eruption.
Even if, after bringing her to the outskirts, the Honkai continued to spread and eventually engulf the city again—
At least the people of Nagazora City would have gained some time to escape.
Having met those lovely classmates at Tachikawa Academy, and the friendly staff at the ME Corp branch—
Hikari Aoi didn't want to do nothing and simply watch them be consumed by the Honkai, turning into mindless zombies.
This was all he could do.
He could only hope that more people would survive compared to the original outcome.
As for himself—
He still needed to find ways to grow stronger.
With only a two-star, level-one Selena (Top), not only might he be unable to withstand the dense Honkai energy when staying near Raiden Mei—
He might not even be able to deal with the Dead and Honkai Beasts that would appear.
However—
On the virtual interface visible only to Hikari Aoi, the friendship points, which had previously been zero—
Had now increased to twenty.
Friendship points had gone up.
Perhaps it was because of his interaction with Raiden Mei.
Perhaps it was because their paths had crossed.
Perhaps it was because they had established a somewhat friendly relationship—
A hint of "friendship," so to speak.
Hikari Aoi didn't yet know whether it functioned like in the game—where deeper bonds would increase the rate of gaining friendship points and allow them to be repeatedly obtained over time—or if there were entirely different rules.
But—
The fact that Kiana and Bronya were not at Senba Academy—
Was valuable information.
Hikari Aoi knew that during the Third Honkai Eruption, Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya were already relying on each other for survival.
That meant they had already met before the eruption.
In other words—
There was still some time before the Third Honkai Eruption.
If his assumption was correct, then within this semester—within the next half a year—Kiana wouldn't suddenly transfer into Senba Academy midway through.
Which meant—
The Third Honkai Eruption would occur at least half a year later.
Half a year.
Even if he could only gain twenty friendship points per day through interacting with Raiden Mei—
Even if a single Friendship Supply required one hundred points, and a ten-pull required a full one thousand—
Over time, Hikari Aoi should be able to accumulate more than three thousand friendship points before the Honkai descended.
Not to mention—
He didn't believe that twenty points per day was the upper limit.
That said—
Every time he thought about how he had to rack his brain just to find ways to obtain friendship points, all for the sake of pulling Friendship Supply—
Hikari Aoi couldn't help but feel both amused and helpless.
Looking at the empty space next to the coin counter on the virtual interface, he let out a sigh.
"Crystals… oh crystals… when will you finally appear?"
…
Ordinary students only needed to focus on their studies, and could do whatever they wanted during the weekend.
But Hikari Aoi's weekends were spent interning at ME Corp.
In a sense—
He was quite busy.
In truth, Hikari Aoi wasn't lacking in living expenses. He had already checked his bank account— even without any future income, the balance was enough to support him comfortably for an entire year.
The reason he continued going to ME Corp, even after meeting Raiden Mei—
Was to raise his position and gain access to more confidential information.
So that he could find powerful weapons produced by ME Corp.
Even obtaining control over a Titan would be enough.
However—
When he realized that today's documents were essentially no different from yesterday's—
He finally couldn't help but casually ask his superior—a sharp and capable-looking office lady—about the company's promotion system.
The answer he received—
Was deeply disappointing.
"Promotion? You've got ambition, I'll give you that."
"But you'll need some patience. You're still just an intern. Promotions only take effect after you graduate and become a full-time employee. There are requirements for working hours and performance, so just keep working hard~"
Hearing that—
Hikari Aoi almost resigned on the spot.
He didn't have time to play the role of an ordinary employee, wasting his energy in this ME Corp branch.
He had already made up his mind—
If it became clear that ME Corp wouldn't assign him any meaningful work—
He would find an excuse to leave immediately.
Although the building—filled with mature and beautiful office women—was admittedly quite appealing in its own way…
The Honkai would descend soon.
He had no intention of wasting time here.
So far—
Aside from learning that there was a weapons research lab on the upper floors—
Hikari Aoi had gained nothing else from ME Corp.
The internship itself was dull and tedious.
But—
What came next would be far more worthwhile.
Evening was approaching.
It was time to keep his promise—
And go to Senba Academy to see Raiden Mei.