Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Kiana had originally planned to come over today to see how Noldrei's new cyborg was doing.

Right at the entrance, she saw a six-foot-tall RoboCop who looked remarkably like that young man, Hachiman Hikigaya. He even had a layer of meticulously designed living dermal tissue. Kiana could tell at a glance that this wasn't normal human skin.

Why, you ask? It was actually quite simple.

To judge the quality of a person's skin, you just need to compare it to a baby's. But considering the skin's natural protective function, Kiana usually made her assessment by visually comparing it to the skin of fourteen-year-old boys and girls.

Human skin is never perfectly uniform; it always has some imperfections. Even for the people whose bodies had been modified by Noldrei's techniques, their skin still closely resembled their original texture.

Even so, the differences were still visible, and such textural issues couldn't escape Kiana's notice. But the skin of the Hachiman Hikigaya before her was different. It was a completely uniform product; you could tell at a glance it was artificial.

It was like looking at a masterful sculpture: the larger it is, the more details you can see. Conversely, if a sculpture lacks any detail, it begins to feel fake.

If that's still hard to grasp, just picture Kamisato Ayaka's in-game character model. Because her bangs are oversimplified, her hair doesn't look as delicate or beautiful, giving her modeled face a somewhat vacant expression.

I wonder if he did this on purpose...

Kiana sighed and left without paying the "evolved" young man any more mind.

"Onii-chan, how did you turn into... this... after just one day? You're not a robot pretending to be my brother, are you?!"

Komachi Hikigaya couldn't believe her eyes. It felt like she was in a dream.

What was going on? How did human technology suddenly leap into the Terminator era? Why was there such a realistic and handsome version of Hachiman Hikigaya standing here?

"Did they... did they take my brother's body and use it for human experimentation?!"

Komachi's face went pale. Unlike Miyuki Shirogane, she had never seen Hachiman's body. Her first assumption was that the higher-ups of Academy City had given him a new one.

But to her, it felt more like someone had dismantled Hachiman for research and then created a new, simulated version of him.

This dashing face, these bright, piercing eyes, this vigorous, powerful body. And that posture... he walked without a hint of his usual slumped shoulders or hunched back, carrying himself like a high-ranking military officer.

If he went out into the world like this, he could at least pass for a Far East Colonel.

"I really am your brother! Listen to my voice, look at me... I even know where you ran away to that one time. Komachi! I'm really your brother!"

Seeing Hachiman, with his idol-like face, trying so desperately to prove himself to his sister like a complete loser, made Komachi believe him a little.

"But... Onii-chan, your... your head..."

"It's nothing. My body was broken, so they gave me a new one. Look, this is a good friend I made in Academy City. Your big brother has friends now, you know. He might be... well, he might be a little more handsome than I used to be, but that's not a problem anymore!"

Hachiman's words left Komachi speechless, but she gradually came to accept the situation.

What else could she do? Declare this Hachiman a fake and demand to see her real brother?

Komachi knew she couldn't bring herself to do that. She wanted to believe Academy City wasn't such a dark place.

What a coincidence. Right now, pretty much all the darkest people in the world were gathered here. The girl was just too naive.

Hachiman wanted to introduce his good friend.

Honestly, the fact that Miyuki Shirogane had rushed over so anxiously when he heard Hachiman was in trouble showed that he hadn't thought twice about his own safety.

Do people this good actually exist?!

And now he'd met one. Guess there were some perks to high school after all.

"Shirogane, what have you been staring at this whole time? You're holding a thick booklet and you look so gloomy."

Miyuki Shirogane didn't seem to hear him at all, still flipping through the untitled, white-covered book in his hands. His expression shifted between surprise and fear, but was mostly dominated by an irrepressible urge to watch the impending disaster with a healthy dose of schadenfreude.

Hachiman wasn't sure how he was able to perceive so many emotions from Shirogane, but he vaguely noticed that his perception of the world had changed. It was as if the spring flowers smelled sweeter, the sunlight felt brighter, and the air seemed clearer.

He dismissed it as his imagination. After all, anyone who'd just come back from the brink of death would have a special appreciation for how wonderful the world is.

"Shirogane? Miyuki Shirogane?! What are you looking at?!"

"Huh? Oh... this... I... Never mind, you should see for yourself. I'm gonna head back now. I'm just glad you're okay."

Miyuki Shirogane shoved the white-covered book into Hachiman's hands and took off running, as if some major crisis had erupted at the research institute that only he could solve.

"That's weird. Even a student researcher has that much work? Life's tough..."

Hachiman shook his head with a sigh and looked down to flip open the first page of the book.

One look was all it took for his newly repaired eyes to nearly explode.

Inside, the title read: [User Manual for the Bio-Organic Mechanical Stigma Body].

"What a weird name!"

He flipped to the table of contents, and what he saw was even more outrageous.

It listed: [Power Core Drive & Maintenance], [Key Points for Torso Usage], [Cognitive System Precautions], and [Precautions for New Male Appendage Restoration].

Hachiman didn't even see the other items; his eyes were immediately drawn to "New Male Appendage." Clearly, he was very concerned about what kind of modifications had been made to that part of him.

There aren't any problems with it, are there?

Right there, under his sister's dumbfounded gaze, he turned to the page with a huge diagram of said appendage, which even included an expertly rendered illustration of the sacs for storing genetic information.

[...Note: As the original functionality has been restored, special care was also taken to restore...]

[...Therefore, it will naturally engage a compulsory erection function after long periods of abstinence. Nocturnal emissions during sleep are also possible...]

[...Due to the superior quality of the bio-mechanical appendage, standard-issue underwear will g◆e■n■e■r▲a■l■l■y not be able to withstand its hardness...]

[...As for adjusting sensitivity levels, this can be explored on your own based on the condition of the original...]

"DAMN IT! WHERE THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND THE ORIGINAL VERSION?!!"

In a fit of rage, Hachiman slammed the white-covered book onto the ground. With a loud CRACK, the paper book instantly shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Crap!"

Only then did he realize he had destroyed his own body's user manual. He frantically started gathering up the paper fragments.

Komachi could only see a blurry figure darting back and forth, like a whirlwind snatching up pieces from all over the ground.

The little girl's eyes started spinning in circles; Hachiman's frantic movements were making her dizzy.