Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

Shu stumbled through a dim, unfamiliar world. Yet, the sky felt strangely familiar, as if he'd been here before. And the ground beneath his feet… it didn't feel like ground.

More like…a giant clock face?

Click…

As if on cue, the gears of time turned in his mind, a sound of grinding metal echoing through his thoughts. The ground vibrated, and the world suddenly blazed with light, a blinding white that forced him to shield his eyes.

If only I still had those sunglasses Otto conjured… The thought drifted through his mind.

Gradually, his eyes adjusted. He opened them a crack, but a massive black wall loomed before him.

Time was a giant clock. Each passing second turned the hand, and everything in its path was swept along, pushed forward by its relentless movement. Shu found himself pressed against the enormous second hand, his feet scraping against the ground, sparks flying, yet unable to slow its inexorable progress.

"Whoa, whoa, dead end!" He looked up to see a precipice before him. He yelped, but the giant hand swept him over the edge, like a giant brushing a speck of dust from a table.

"Aaaaaah—!!"

Help me, help me… He mashed the internal help button seventeen times a second, but there was no response.

His scream echoed as he fell face-first. This time, there was no one to catch him. He landed with a thud.

"Oof…" He groaned, rubbing his lower back, getting to his feet. "Ow, ow, ow…think I broke my back…at least the ground's soft…"

Wait, soft ground? What was underneath?

He looked down, surprised by the strange texture beneath his hand. His fingers brushed against a bed of roses. His eyes widened, all discomfort forgotten. He scrambled to his feet.

It was the familiar place…the endless rose garden, the sky swirling with pink and purple clouds, and… the giant flower basket in the distance, the one he'd wanted to run from.

But…this time, the feeling of revulsion wasn't as strong…

He frowned, tilting his head, cautiously eyeing the gently swaying basket. Roses of every color bloomed in perfect harmony, their vibrant hues complementing the pastel shades of the sky, creating a scene of breathtaking beauty.

Yet, he still hesitated to approach. He'd been hazy during his previous visit, but the urge to flee, the deep-seated aversion, remained vivid memories.

There was something in there he hated. Or at least, strongly disliked.

But what? He racked his brain, but couldn't pinpoint anything he truly, deeply loathed. It had to be something really awful to evoke such a strong reaction.

…so, what was it?

He didn't notice his thoughts becoming unusually active and disjointed. He was more startled by the fact that his curiosity was actually piqued by the unknown contents of the basket.

Question: When you hate something, but are also intensely curious about it, what's your mental state?

Answer: Scared.

Shu swallowed, arriving at an answer he absolutely refused to acknowledge.

"No, I'm not that kind of person!" He shook his head, banishing the thought, then sat down, hugging his knees, trying to recall what had happened before he arrived here.

He remembered…falling from the sky. The memory of the height made him pale.

"Holy crap…from that high up, shouldn't I be dead?" He slapped his thigh, then froze, whirling around. "So, this is heaven?!"

"No way, what about the rewind? The rewind?! Was my only purpose to kill that Honkai beast? Was I only supposed to…with…"

Confusion clouded his eyes. "With…who? Who helped me kill it? Whose hope did I answer?"

He fell silent, finally feeling like himself again, not the carefree, expressive person he'd been during the battle. He'd used the Taixu Sword God…like in the manga, when Fu Hua burned her memories to unleash the strike that cleaved the Tower of Babylon. He was certain his attack had been just as powerful.

But the Sword God against a single Honkai beast…wasn't that overkill? He hadn't wanted to do it, yet he had.

As though…he'd had no other choice. As though…only then could he have done it.

But why?

That, he couldn't remember. No matter how hard he tried, the reason eluded him.

"Wait…Fu Hua suffered a side effect from using the Sword God, right? Memory loss? But wasn't that because of the Feather of Dust? Why am I…"

Why was he forgetting things too?

Was it because…he hadn't truly used the Sword God…but had somehow replicated Fu Hua's attack, down to the side effects?

"Well, at least I remember how to use it. And it didn't cost much Hope. I just forgot a few insignificant…"

He stopped mid-sentence, frowning deeply.

Those weren't insignificant memories…they weren't meant to be forgotten… he told himself, falling silent again.

["It's alright…this is our thanks to you."]

A faint voice echoed from behind him, layered, like the whispers of countless people in the distance. He spun around, staring.

For a moment, he saw an endless crowd bowing before him, offering him a respectful salute. Then, it was just the rose garden again, the colors even more harmonious now, the feeling of aversion fading further.

"…you…" he responded instinctively.

["Hello…"]

The ethereal voice greeted him.

Shu stood, taking a deep breath, and replied, "Hello."

["Goodbye."]

"Goodbye," he answered quietly.

Nothing changed. Except for the appearance of several new, multicolored roses.