In the photo, the girl had pristine, snowy white hair braided into twin plaits, and she wore what appeared to be a standard high school uniform.
Her sailor-style top was slightly unbuttoned at the collar, revealing a delicate collarbone
The moment she saw the picture, Kiana sprang to her feet with a sharp gasp.
Her eyes flew open in utter shock, and for a second, her mind went completely blank.
The water bottle in her hand slipped and hit the floor with a thud. Her expression collapsed into one of stunned disbelief.
She couldn't speak.
Her brain felt like it was teetering on the edge of a total meltdown. And there were two reasons for that.
First: the girl in the photo looked exactly like her.
It was like staring into a mirror—same features, same build.
Only the hairstyle was slightly different.
But there was something else… something off.
The girl in the picture had a sort of silly, airheaded vibe, a ditzy kind of charm that Kiana didn't want to associate with herself.
She quickly chalked it up to a trick of perception.
'No matter the timeline', she thought, 'I'm still the heir of the Kaslana family—a proper young lady! That kind of aura? Definitely not me.'
Second: the girl who looked exactly like her was lying in a rather compromising position, laying in someone chest.
Most importantly the girl was leaning in, aiming straight for the boy's face….
Of course, Kiana wasn't actually about to kiss him.
That was her preparing to bite. And when Kiana bit, it hurt.
The photo was obviously snapped during a roughhousing moment between Nagami and this world's version of Kiana.
That ambiguous angle?
Not Nagami's fault—he was just trying to capture the full glory of the "Tuna", while surviving her brute strength.
A difficult task.
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[Nagami]: That's the Kiana from my world. Yeah, she's… a good friend. Now do you believe me?
[Shiraori]: You call that a good friend?
[Akemi Homura]: You call that a good friend?
[Itsuka Kotori]: You call that a good friend?
[Yuzuriha Inori]: You call that a good friend?
[Yuzuriha Inori]: Sorry, I just wanted to join in...
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Inori, ever the good girl, immediately apologized.
Still, C.C. couldn't help but worry that if this kept up, sweet little Inori would eventually be corrupted by the chaotic energy of the group chat.
Especially you, Shiraori. Shame on you.
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[Kiana Kaslana]: …
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"You call that something a normal friend does?!" Kiana shrieked, yanking at her twin braids in frustration.
Her face was a portrait of despair and rage—utterly defeated.
She couldn't believe it.
That this Nagami person was telling the truth… and even more unbelievable—that version of herself might be dating him?!
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[Nagami]: We're really just friends.
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Sure, keep telling yourself that.
Alone in a field, rolling around in each other's arms, looking that close? There wasn't a soul alive who'd believe nothing was going on.
C.C. could swear on her now heavily exercised conscience that she was telling the truth, but… who would actually buy that?
She wouldn't either, if roles were reversed.
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[Kiana Kaslana]: So… what exactly do you want me to do?
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Only God knew what emotions were swirling behind that sentence.
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[Nagami]: According to the future I know, very soon, a Honkai outbreak will occur in my city. The Third Herrscher will be born there, and millions of lives could be lost.
[Nagami]: I want to stop it. Originally, I planned to ask for help from the group, but the rate at which new members are added has been way slower than I expected.
And I don't have enough points to buy the 'Fated One' item. But you… you can help me.
[Nagami]: I want to invite you to my world—to stop the Honkai eruption together.
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In truth, Kiana wasn't even his optimal choice. But keeping the chat group's existence secret meant she was the only real option.
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[Kiana Kaslana]: Of course. Count me in!
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That was Kiana for you. No matter the world, she was always the kind of girl with a strong sense of justice.
As a descendant of both the Kaslana and Schariac bloodlines—and with parents like Siegfried and Cecilia—she had trained her whole life with one goal: to fight Honkai.
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[Kiana Kaslana]: But… someone wants to trigger a Honkai outbreak in your world? Why? What kind of person would do that?
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It was a fair question.
Who in their right mind would willingly cause a disaster like that? Were they insane? Suicidal? Trying to take revenge on the world?
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[Nagami]: It's… complicated. I'll post the details about my world to the group soon.
Even though our timelines are different, it should give you a decent idea of what's going on.
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He couldn't share anything from Honkai Gakuen 2, but Honkai 3? That wasn't this Kiana's story, so it was fair game.
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[Nagami]: Honkai Impact 3rd (Main Story & Setting)
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C.C. trimmed all personal content out of the game's information, leaving only the main plot and worldbuilding.
With a focused mind and a bit of spirit power, she quickly got everything uploaded.
Then, silence.
No one sent a message for a while.
Everyone in the chat was captivated, deeply curious about Nagami's world—even Accelerator.
The group file now showed 6 people reading.
C.C. leaned back lazily on the sofa, her elegant figure stretching with catlike grace.
Her golden eyes shimmered with deep thought beneath long, curled lashes as she absentmindedly studied her slender fingers.
Then, her expression shifted.
The regal gleam in her eyes vanished, replaced by mysterious purple hexagrams filled with arcane patterns.
She was scanning the group chat's user manual.
The manual contained a vast amount of information about worlds, universes, and the chat's operational rules.
Nagami had skimmed some of it before, but it was so dense and sprawling that he'd opted to just read it when needed.
Although Kiana from Honkai Impact 3 was the main character in that world, the Kiana from Honkai Gakuen 2—now a displaced version of herself—was the noble heiress who never appeared in Honkai 3. She was a unique case.
The manual didn't have a dedicated section for alternate versions of the same character, but it did mention them occasionally in the world descriptions.
Now, C.C. was diving through that ocean of text, trying to find the scattered pieces of information about these "alternate selves."
The purple hexagrams spun slowly as dense streams of photon data were rapidly processed by her eyes.
After two hours of digging, C.C. had a general understanding of how alternate selves from different timelines worked—and even formed a theory.
If Honkai Gakuen 2's Kiana came to this world, she might form a special connection with "Sirin."
If that happened—and if her strength was great enough—then she and Nagami might be able to rescue her directly.
Ever since his past life, Nagami. had always had a soft spot for Sirin.
If there was even a sliver of a chance to save that poor girl, he'd take it.
Maybe… just maybe… she could give this story a happy ending.
She believed the Kiana from Honkai 2 would feel the same way.
No version of her would stand by and watch her alternate self suffer so cruelly.
Still, it was too soon to say anything for certain.
Everything C.C. had now was just a hypothesis, based on sparse mentions in the manual.
The truth would only become clear in time.
For now, there was just one thing left to do:
Wait for another person to join the chat.