"Ah, it's Kyubey. Let me tell you—"
Before the cruel truth was revealed, the magical girls were quite fond of cute, mascot-like creatures like Kyubey and wouldn't hesitate to share interesting things they'd encountered. Kyoko Sakura was no exception.
But—
"Never mind. I just realized it's not that interesting after all."
Having seen something in the chat, Kyoko stopped mid-sentence.
Kyubey, whose ears had perked up, tilted its head, its ruby-like eyes showing no hint of emotion.
The cause of this change was, of course, a warning from Jiang Qiao in the chat group—don't reveal any information to Kyubey.
In fact, after realizing Kyoko Sakura's true identity, the first being he became wary of was Kyubey, who always lurked around the magical girls.
But Jiang Qiao didn't reveal any more details, because right now, he was busy communicating with Elysia—
"Where are you right now?"
While he wouldn't refuse to help a fellow group member—he had a soft spot for cute girls, after all—Jiang Qiao knew his immediate priority was to figure out his own situation, especially what was happening with his original body.
"Nagazora City. I'm in a hospital."
"Nagazora, huh..."
Hearing the name, the pink-haired girl in the mirror furrowed her lovely brows.
The place where destiny began and repeated its cycle, the epicenter of the Third Great Honkai Eruption. Even among a long list of high-risk cities, its danger level was near the top.
But since I was able to swap bodies with the Pink fatty, does that mean I've been transported to the Nagazora of the Previous Era?
"Phew…"
While the Previous Era's Nagazora was still fraught with danger, based on the timeline he got from Elysia, the Second Great Honkai Eruption hadn't even happened yet. That meant there was plenty of time to prepare before the Third Eruption involving Dr. MEI and Kevin.
But Jiang Qiao quickly noticed something strange.
"A hospital?"
How did I end up in a hospital?
Jiang Qiao remembered being attacked in some alley.
Could the attacker have had a change of heart and taken him to the hospital afterward?
The pink-haired girl in the mirror scratched the back of her head, completely baffled by this line of thinking.
What kind of logic was that? Attacking someone, then taking them to the hospital...
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
"Maybe some passerby sent me there."
Jiang Qiao thought to himself.
Elysia: The doctor said it was a white-haired girl. I didn't quite catch the name; this body of yours has my head buzzing.
"Oh, a white-haired girl, huh..." Jiang Qiao nodded, then recalled that the person who had whacked him on the head was also white-haired.
So the culprit really did have a change of heart!
But even if she did, it was useless!
I'll remember this grudge!
Wait a minute—
"A white-haired girl?"
Jiang Qiao suddenly realized something.
A club, white hair, and female. That combination of keywords...
"Are you sure it wasn't a white-haired guy?"
Although he didn't think Kevin would be bored enough to go around attacking people at this point in time, Jiang Qiao subconsciously assumed Elysia must have misheard.
Elysia: No, a white-haired girl. I asked the nurse again, and she seemed to be called Kiana.
"…"
Dead silence.
Upon seeing that message, Jiang Qiao's brain temporarily short-circuited.
He typed back with great difficulty:
"Ask the nurse if she knows a Raiden Mei."
Elysia: She said she doesn't, but she recognized the Raiden surname. The president of ME Corp, Ryoma, has that name. Apparently, he was jailed for some financial crimes not long ago.
Elysia: Oh, it's my first time hearing of ME Corp. I don't remember it at all from my last visit to Nagazora, but now it's a household name and a leading enterprise. Businesses really do change quickly!
Her every word revealed a young girl's wonder and curiosity at the world's rapid changes.
But the pink-haired girl in front of the mirror was no longer expressionless.
She actually laughed out loud.
Then, he quickly shot back a reply:
"RUN!!!"
SON OF A BITCH!
This isn't the goddamn Previous Era, it's fifty thousand years in the future!
On the outside, the pink-haired girl was all smiles, but inside, he was roaring and weeping.
—Nagazora City
This location could be divided into three difficulty levels.
Easy difficulty: Previous Era, hasn't erupted yet, plenty of time to escape.
Hard difficulty: Fifty thousand years later, hasn't erupted yet, but could explode anytime. Escape must be done with every second.
Nightmare difficulty: Another world line, the alternate form of Durandal is going berserk, whether you run or not, it's just a matter of time. You might as well reincarnate directly. (GGZ? more like GG)
The information that Elysia had revealed had perfectly skipped the easy difficulty level, and all that was left was to choose between the unknown hard or nightmare difficulty.
It was likely the hard difficulty, with a very small chance of nightmare.
But no matter which it was, with Jiang Qiao's ordinary human body, it would be a no-win scenario.
Even if it was Elysia in there, Honkai eruptions don't discriminate based on gender like some Americalized self-adjusting gender, which would light up green based on the inner self.
"Eh? Why?"
Elysia was clearly confused by Jiang Qiao's sudden demand, especially with the three exclamation points.
At this point in time, she wasn't the battle-hardened Flame-Chaser she would become. Although she had already begun to distinguish herself after joining Fire MOTH, being from a time before the Second Great Honkai Eruption meant she knew nothing of the future.
"The Third Great Honkai Eruption is about to happen! If you stay there, you're dead!"
"...A Great Honkai Eruption?"
As a member of Fire MOTH, Elysia was certainly not ignorant about the Honkai. Hearing those words from her hospital room, her smiling face instantly turned grim.
Nagazora was a major international metropolis with a population of nearly ten million. If a Great Honkai Eruption were to occur here, the fate of its citizens needed no explanation.
Despite being confused as to why a Third Great Honkai Eruption would occur when the Second hadn't even happened yet, and despite being baffled as to how Jiang Qiao knew such a thing, Elysia, with her many questions, ultimately chose to trust him.
Elysia: You mentioned Raiden Mei earlier. Is it because the Great Honkai Eruption has something to do with her?
Jiang Qiao stared at the question, falling into a brief silence. But the girl, separated from him by fifty thousand years, seemed to guess the reason for his hesitation and added another message:
"Please, I'm begging you."
—In that moment, Jiang Qiao could almost see the pink-haired girl, grasping his hand, looking at him with utter sincerity, her eyes filled with a desperate plea.
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