Chat Group : Another Fate From Honkai

It was 3 a.m.

The world was silent.

Silvery moonlight bathed the ground, and the scent of the night lingered softly in the air.

Above, the stars wove a gentle net across the sky, draping over the landscape below.

Everything—every blade of grass and leaf—was tinged with a faint, dreamlike haze.

Nothing looked as real as it did in the daytime.

The world seemed distant, quiet, and surreal.

Beneath that peaceful sky, no one would have guessed the chaos that had just unfolded at a research facility far from human habitation.

Nagami sat cross-legged on the rooftop of a hotel, the Origin Stone hovering before him.

Around it, several hexagrams of varying sizes spun slowly, analyzing its structure with methodical precision.

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[Nagami]: Kal'tsit?

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He sent a message through the chat as a test. After all, at this hour, most people would already be asleep.

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[Kal'tsit]: Hmm? Nagami, is something the matter?

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Kal'tsit—white-haired, with what looked like cat ears—yawned as she set down the documents in her hands.

She sipped her coffee, her petite lips parting slightly in fatigue.

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[Nagami]: Is Rhodes Island really this brutal? It's almost dawn and you're still working...

Wait a sec—shouldn't that little donkey be overworking the Doctor, not you? She wouldn't dare boss you around, right?

Amiya the "donkey" is a complete fraud of an assistant!

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"Doctor, you still have plenty of work to do. No resting yet."

Like—excuse me? Is that something a proper assistant would say!?

A real assistant should be saying:

"Doctor? Did you fall asleep? Geez... guess I'll just finish the rest for you~"

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[Kal'tsit]: ...

[Kal'tsit]: Nagami, how many times do I have to tell you? Amiya is not a donkey. She's a Cautus hybrid... or if you prefer, a Chimera.

[Kal'tsit]: She only recently came back and hasn't recovered her memories yet, so we're not giving her too much work. I'm still handling most of it.

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These friends from other worlds were some of the few Nagami could truly open up to.

After spending so much time together, Kal'tsit didn't treat him like the in-game "Doctor" at all—something Nagami found oddly touching.

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[Nagami]: A Cautus hybrid… and a Chimera…? Don't try to trick me—I didn't study much, but I know Cautus is clearly a rabbit!

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He was obviously referring to the boss lady, whose species was officially listed as "Cautus" and who very clearly had adorable rabbit ears.

In Arknights, Amiya was the only known Chimera. There weren't other characters for comparison.

The term "chimera" originally described a Greek mythological creature with a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail—but nowadays it was often used to describe hybrid beings.

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[Nagami]: A Chimera is a hybrid creature... and the hybrid offspring of a donkey... ISN'T THAT A MULE?!

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Suddenly, as if he had discovered some grand truth, Nagami's revelation prompted Kal'tsit to rub her temples and sigh.

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[Nagami]: Also...why is the Doctor gets special treatment? Meanwhile, all I got back then was being turned into a grip-strength tester!

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Kal'tsit glanced at his latest message with a hint of confusion before turning her attention back to the documents in her hands.

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[Nagami]: Remember that plan I mentioned to solve the Originium problem? The Origin Stone is in my hands now.

Send me a chunk of Originium—I want to study it up close.

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Kal'tsit's eyes narrowed sharply.

Though she was still thrown off by his constant mental leaps, the lynx-like woman didn't waste time. She stood up and walked toward the storeroom.

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[Kal'tsit]: Understood.

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This was serious business and Kal'tsit didn't want to keep him waiting for to long.

Moments later, Nagami received a notification.

A soft chime sounded as a shimmering golden-orange stone materialized in his hand, summoned through the chat's red-packet system.

Pure Originium.

A vital yet dangerous substance in Terra, it was essential for arts and abilities—but incredibly difficult to refine.

"So this is Originium..."

Once again, hexagram arrays engraved with mystical runes formed around the new material, analyzing its existence, molecular structure, and elemental composition.

On the back of Nagami's right hand, the King's Mark shimmered—like a tree and sword intertwined.

He channeled Void energy into the Originium, seeking to pierce its mysteries.

Ghostly blue particles of light began to swirl around him, flickering like embers of ancient mana from a mythical age.

These particles intertwined, weaving glowing trails in the air that seemed to dance in harmony with the moonlight.

His excitement surged.

As a Herrscher, losing sleep for several days was nothing—and he still had C.C.'s body "sleep bonus" buff from the Honkai world anyway.

The pale-blue particles flowed into the Originium, merging with the slowly spinning purple hexagrams.

Under his Alpha Stigma Eyes's watchful gaze, Nagami continued to probe and analyze the stone's every detail.

If someone could see into Nagami's thoughts right now, they'd be utterly stunned.

A barrage of complex formulas and arcane symbols were flooding through his mind like an endless stream—scrolling as if someone was spamming equations in a chat window.

Welt, take notes.

This is how the Herrscher of Reason should wield their power.

"…As I thought—there's a consciousness inside this thing."

Over an hour had passed.

It was the height of summer, so by around 4 a.m., the sky had already begun to lighten.

As the first rays of morning sunlight spilled into the rooftop, Nagami finally deactivated his Alpha Stigma Eyes and gently massaged his temples, which throbbed from intense concentration.

He couldn't help but think of Earthspirit—a character who'd left a deep impression on him.

She was famous for working strictly 8 hours a day, no more, no less.

And if you asked her to do overtime?

Well, she demanded overtime pay.

'But when did —the Doctor—ever get paid for overtime, huh?!'

Her personnel file (Archive 4) mentioned that the Originium embedded in her staff often produced strange whispering noises near her ears.

At first, it was incomprehensible—just annoying static—but after joining Rhodes Island, the whispers started forming into vaguely understandable murmurs.

Though Earthspirit found the phenomenon deeply unpleasant, her staff was a custom-made tool.

It didn't just channel Arts—it also performed geologic surveys using acoustic feedback.

As a geologist, she simply couldn't part with it, so she tried her best to adapt, making the eerie whispers a part of her life and work.

And since no one else could hear them, the Rhodes Island Medical Department theorized it was a form of tinnitus—caused by work-related stress, possibly intensified by her Oripathy.

But now, Nagami had proof.

There really was a consciousness within the Originium.

"Well then… how about this?"

He picked up the fully analyzed chunk of Originium and gently placed it atop the Origin Stone.

When he said "fully analyzed," he meant everything except the parts currently beyond comprehension—those remained unresolved.

The moment the two stones touched, a faint glow radiated from the boundary between them.

Within the amber-orange Originium, brilliant hues of amethyst purple slowly began to bloom like crystals under pressure.

That the Originium was being overwhelmed came as no surprise.

After all, there was only one piece of it—while its opponent was the source of the Apocalypse Virus itself.

The instant Nagami noticed this imbalance, he reached out with his right hand, the one branded with the King's Sigil, and unleashed Void energy to restrain the Origin Stone.

He stopped it from completely devouring the Originium—and instead guided the Void force to probe deeper into the Originium's core.

This allowed him to explore the hidden layers—parts even his Alpha Stigma Eyes couldn't decipher.

And that was telling. If his current level of knowledge couldn't parse it, the phenomenon had to be at least soul-level in complexity.

Thankfully, there weren't many Originium crystals with properties like this.

"Wait... is this Originium Art?"

With the Void's soul-penetrating power, he delicately extracted a tiny fragment of the unique essence contained within the Originium.

A strange, flickering flame emerged in Nagami's palm.

As the King's Sigil shimmered across the back of his hand, the flame morphed—shifting through various forms:

Brilliant lightning

Flowing water

Soothing light that could heal

And even materials that enhanced the human body

"The power scales with the soul's level of infection… but its outward manifestation isn't solely dependent on that…"

Then, something unexpected happened.

The Origin Stone, having absorbed part of the Originium, let out a crystalline chime—like a pure note resonating in glass.

Nagami could sense it… a feeling of joyful resonance, something only someone marked by the King's power could hear.

Neither the Herrscher of Reason nor the Alpha Stigma Eyes required brutal life-and-death training to grow stronger.

For them, power came from one thing: knowledge.

To study, to research, to uncover the mysteries of strength and the unknown—that was the true path to power.

Nagami had completely immersed himself in his analysis of the Origin Stone and Originium.

But the moment the Origin Stone devoured the essence within the crystal, a sudden shift occurred.

The pink-haired girl—who should've still been sleeping—snapped open her eyes.

Gone was the clarity and innocence in her gem-like gaze.

Now, her pupils had transformed into cold, crystalline amethyst—eerily reminiscent of the Apocalypse Virus.

"…Evo…lve…"

This wasn't Inori Yuzuriha.

And it wasn't Mana Ouma either.

No—this was the pure, undiluted will of the Apocalypse Virus itself.

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