Chat Group : Another Fate From Honkai

When Nagami opened his eyes, he found himself in what was clearly a laboratory room.

A white workbench was cluttered with precision instruments and high-tech devices.

On a shelf in the corner sat an array of brightly colored ten-level syringes.

And finally, at the back of the room stood a pod-like piece of equipment—some kind of medical capsule.

Through its thick glass shell, he could see a girl floating peacefully inside. She wore a plain, white hospital gown.

Not far away, two lab coat–clad researchers sat before a computer terminal, tapping away on their keyboards and occasionally murmuring to each other.

So focused were they on their work that they didn't even notice Nagami's arrival.

A crackling arc of violet lightning danced between Nagami's fingers and zipped soundlessly through the air, striking both researchers before they had a chance to react.

They slumped over instantly.

He hadn't killed them.

After all, Yuzuriha Inori—codenamed as the Connectivity Subject—wasn't a natural-born human.

She was a clone, created by fusing her true name's "Void" with genetic data at the core of the experiment.

Unlike the mass-produced clones of Misaka's "Sisters," which were cheaply grown in under 18 days, Inori's body was the result of an elite Japanese institution's top-tier cloning tech and heavy investment.

Still, that didn't mean she was flawless.

That said, as the only one of her kind, Inori's body showed no signs of serious defects.

From what Nagami recalled in the original story, there were no genetic-level issues in her system.

Any instability could be corrected with simple medical conditioning over time.

That was why he hadn't rushed to find her when he first arrived in this world.

He'd let her remain in this facility until she was stabilized.

But now, with the powers of the Herrscher of Reason at his command, he had no reason to worry about any physical defects anymore.

And as for the researchers—whose job was just to monitor and maintain Inori's condition—there was no need to take their lives.

Nagami wasn't some bloodthirsty monster.

A quick glance at the computer screen confirmed it: detailed data on Inori's physical condition.

Just as he'd expected, she was nearly fully stabilized.

Only a few minor adjustments remained.

At this point, her body was no different from that of a healthy girl in her early teens.

Stepping up to the medical capsule, Nagami gazed at the sleeping girl's familiar face.

Floating in the special restorative fluid, her long, silky pink hair rippled gently like a stream.

Her pale neck and delicate collarbones shimmered softly under the light, almost as white as snow.

The hospital gown she wore was loose-fitting, its open collar revealing just a hint of her soft, pink-toned skin and exquisitely shaped clavicle.

With a slender, elegant figure and a face so pure it seemed sculpted from snow, she was breathtaking from every angle—perfectly flawless.

Her breathing was gentle and steady, and under the cool white lighting, her features took on a translucent, almost ethereal glow.

It was like staring at a living masterpiece.

Nagami caught himself staring for a bit too long.

He wasn't the only one, either. Who knows how many fans in his previous life kept watching the anime just because of her?

…Nagami included. [TL Note- Me too] +1.

'Knock, knock, knock!'

Nagami rapped lightly on the capsule's thick glass.

Just as he did every morning when he sent her private messages in the chat group, he called out in a clear, gentle voice.

"Time to wake up, Inori"

The sleeping girl stirred slightly, letting out a soft, unintelligible murmur.

But with his Herrscher-enhanced hearing, Nagami distinctly heard the syllable "Nagami"—and couldn't help the slight smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.

Then, he frowned.

Inori was a clone.

And while she looked every bit the part of a lovely, radiant young maiden…

Her actual age was technically…

'...Wait. Does this officially make me a pervert?'

Or… does she even count as a little girl?

A shiver ran down his spine.

Nagami shook his head hard, banishing the chaotic thoughts and focusing back on the girl before him.

Her eyelashes fluttered faintly—then slowly, Inori opened her eyes.

Her irises were the color of rubies: crystalline, pure, like polished glass. Yet within that beauty, they seemed distant—hollow.

She blinked slowly, her gaze gradually sharpening and settling on the boy standing right in front of her.

"Nagami..."

A voice as clear as an orchid in a mountain valley gently spilled from her lips.

And in that moment, the emptiness in her ruby eyes was filled with breathtaking color—like a god who had finally remembered His masterpiece wasn't complete, reaching out on this warm morning to paint the final stroke.

"It's me."

Using the Herrscher of Reason's electromagnetic powers, Nagami unsealed the capsule.

He reached out his hand toward the girl inside.

"I've come to take you home."

...

The story of Guilty Crown takes place in the future—specifically, the year 2039.

Outside the research facility, towering steel skyscrapers loomed like giants.

Sleek maglev trains zipped through the air in parallel lanes, weaving together like endless streams of flowing rivers.

Though it was the "future," the scene wasn't all that different from the Schicksal facilities or St. Freya's campus in the Honkai Impact 3rd world.

Nagami gently cradled Inori in a princess carry—one arm wrapped around her delicate shoulders, the other supporting the backs of her smooth, slender legs.

Inori, in turn, wrapped her soft, youthful arms around his neck.

A gleaming, crystalline platform materialized beneath their feet, formed from condensed Honkai energy.

"How are you feeling, Inori?" Nagami asked softly, setting her down with care.

He reached up to gently smooth her slightly messy pink hair.

"Mm… Nagami…"

Inori nodded faintly. Her voice was soft, ethereal—but her speech came out halting and awkward.

After all, in the chat group, communication came through thought-to-text or auto-generated speech.

In the real world, Inori had barely spoken a word aloud.

Most of her life had been spent inside a medical capsule, with no one to talk to.

The researchers certainly weren't in the habit of chatting with her.

When she first joined the chat group, she didn't even have a grasp on the most basic common knowledge.

Now, everything she knew about the world had come from Nagami.

Back when C.C. had stayed in Nagami's tiny apartment, she would spend hours each day teaching Inori about the world—and throwing in a few gaming sessions while she was at it.

So even though this was technically their first in-person meeting, it didn't feel like it.

It felt like they had always been together.

Inori gazed up at Nagami.

The boy stood with sunlight at his back, as if the world itself were glowing around him.

It was the first real sunlight she'd ever seen.

"Nagami… I'm… hungry."

Her empty stomach grumbled right on cue.

Inside the capsule, she hadn't needed food.

But now that she was out, her body needed fuel to move.

Nagami blinked in surprise—then let out a soft laugh and picked her up again.

Honkai energy shimmered around them, forming a barrier that blocked out the sharp wind.

"All right, let's get you something to eat."

As he began to descend, the air around them shimmered and warped.

Then, their bodies faded from sight.

———————————————————————

Herrscher of Reason's Mini Lecture Corner

With the Herrscher of Reason's powers, you can recreate metamaterials with a negative refractive index around your body—making you effectively invisible.

Design those materials to manipulate light? You've just built yourself a real-world optical cloaking system.

The basic concept is actually simple.

Normally, when light passes through something, it refracts—bending toward or away from the normal line. That's positive refraction.

But with negative refraction, both the incoming and outgoing rays bend to the same side of the normal.

This is the foundation of a honeycomb-patterned cloaking system.

In Nagami's original world, this was theoretically possible in the microwave spectrum, but visible light was still far off.

As a Herrscher, though? Child's play.

So, class, have you all learned something today?

Oh right—one more thing, Jackie Chan!

Money is just as irrelevant to a Herrscher.

If Nagami really wanted to, he could just replicate as much gold as he liked and crash an entire country's economy in a day.

It wasn't until he became a Herrscher that he truly understood what it meant to wield that kind of power.

If he chose to side with the Honkai, humanity in the Honkai Impact 3rd world wouldn't last a single day.

A "Big Ivan/TSR" world-cleansing nuke would be entry level.

In short—Herrscher powers are ridiculously overpowered!

And the worst part? The other Herrschers in Honkai were practically wasting their potential!

Take electromagnetic control, for example.

They were just tossing lightning bolts around like some second-rate anime villain.

What's the point? That's barely any better than Magneto!

Forget bending spacetime or unifying the fundamental forces of the universe—couldn't they at least manage a hand-crafted positron cannon?

The more Nagami thought about it, the more insulted he felt on behalf of Herrschers everywhere.

Which is why…

Everyone in the Herrscher squad is getting extra lessons from me. Effective immediately!

"Mei, Kiana, Bronya…"

The so-called Big Three turned around at the sound of their names, tilting their heads in perfect sync as they stared at the green-haired girl who was nervously glancing at True Kiana.

Their curious gazes practically sparkled.

As for the the heiress Kiana? …Let's skip her for now.

Too dangerous. Way too dangerous.

C.C. slammed her palm on the desk, the corner of her mouth curling into a dangerous grin.

"Nagami just sent me a message. He asked me to handle something for him. It involves you guys."

"What kind of thing?" Kiana asked instinctively, though her gut was already screaming with alarms.

"Starting today, I'll be giving you all make-up lessons… until Nagami returns."

"...Make-up lessons?"

"Make-up lessons!!"