Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Shirogane Miyuki felt his current life was a bit strange.

Kaguya Shinomiya, by some stroke of bad luck, seemed to have been kicked back to Academy City by her family.

The whole "transform into a man and go home to realize your ambitions" thing? All fake.

Her family didn't acknowledge it at all, and Kaguya had no choice but to change back to her original self.

"Hah, Shirogane... what do you think I should do?"

'Why are you asking me this? Do you think I'm just lazing around on my day off? I haven't experienced your kind of high-society power struggles. What's the use of asking me?'

Shirogane almost rolled his eyes. He found this Kaguya Shinomiya woman to be truly absurd.

"It's no use asking me, and... why are you asking me this question? Don't you have subordinates and friends to discuss these things with?"

Kaguya fell silent.

To be honest, she didn't really have any true friends. Or rather, they weren't in the same place anymore. The screening process for Valkyries was extremely strict and demanding.

A failure like her was naturally separated. Was Kaguya supposed to face Ai Hayasaka, who had risen to the top in a single step, every day?

My god, her pride could never accept that, okay?

"Maybe, it's because you've seen me switch genders? I just didn't expect that turning into a man would be useless. Just because my mother was a concubine, I was shut out and thrown out."

Kaguya sighed, feeling helpless about her ill-fated destiny.

"You? A concubine's daughter? Is it okay to tell me this?"

This was the first time Shirogane had heard about these issues.

"It doesn't matter if I tell you. After all, I've already suffered enough blows in Academy City." The once-proud Kaguya Shinomiya was being casually beaten down like an ordinary person here. Even the daughter of that local councilman from the Yukinoshita family dared to challenge the Chief of the City Guard.

Kaguya had also tried to socialize with the daughter of the Raiden family, but she was just like a normal girl. Besides liking activities like kendo, her usual hobbies were basically the same as everyone else's.

Raiden Mei even had a particular fondness for home economics class...

'Why? Why is it? Why are these young ladies so different from the ones in the past?'

"But, besides that..." Kaguya suddenly remembered some of Academy City's special arrangements.

"Do you remember that Academy City is preparing to open up to the outside world, allowing some people to come in for tours? Especially some parents of students, even more so since the second batch of students was enrolled. Have you thought about having your family come over?"

Kaguya had asked a good question.

Shirogane figured that Academy City wanted to ease the different prejudices and conflicts between the inside and outside, which was why they were bringing in these parents as observers.

But no matter how he thought about it, he believed that if all of Academy City's secrets were broadcasted, it would only cause an even bigger storm.

But this kind of problem wasn't for a small fry like him to handle. Even Dr. Tesla hadn't been in the mood for research lately. He heard that she had even personally killed a few of the Honkai Beasts she had raised to vent her frustration.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for him to apply for leave.

These leisurely good days were always so rare.

His good friend had been promoted and gotten a raise, while he was still just an ordinary trainee.

Speaking of which, it was absurd. After his good friend's promotion, even his sister's status had risen.

"Have my family come to Academy City? I'd rather my sister stay outside, but I feel like sooner or later, big problems will arise out there."

Shirogane smiled bitterly. "Besides, the cost of living outside is lower. If it weren't for the generous welfare benefits Academy City provides to its residents, it would be difficult to even use the city's higher-level permissions. If you just want to live an ordinary life, eating and drinking here, there's no problem. You could even just eat and sleep all day."

"But that's not the problem. Among the people living here, those without the authority to change their own genetic information are all classified as lower-class citizens. When you see the disdain in the eyes of many people around you for being an ordinary person, you can't help but think that the lives of ordinary people in the original world are just too backward."

Shirogane, of course, knew the fate of these people. Those sinners who had been turned into beastmen were still working off their sentences. They were much more obedient now. They didn't want anything else; they just wanted back the authority to change their own genetic information.

Without this autonomy, you were just a lower-class laborer whose future was controlled by the industry in Academy City.

"You can just imagine, if my sister came here, how much confusion and pain would she have to face in this society? She's not one of those teenage girls who have suffered on the streets as shrine maidens. Her morals and ethics are much higher than the average person's."

"Academy City is not suitable for my sister..."

Shirogane really didn't dare let his sister come into contact with these things. Hachiman Hikigaya had no choice, which was why he had brought his family to live here.

Kaguya could also understand this thinking.

She was also very aware of the huge gap. "But the outside world isn't necessarily that good either. Especially the huge gap in living standards, which has made it so that outsiders can hardly recognize the lives of people in Academy City."

"Too many people want to obtain the quality of medical care and education that Academy City has."

Noldrei was too good to the citizens of his empire. He would try his best to bring down the cost of any good thing. He even thought the value levels he set were very high.

But even so, in the eyes of many, these things were being sold at practically zero profit.

What kind of spirit was this? It must be the legendary spirit of sharing.

Now, the perception of Herrschers to the outside world was not the traditional sense of some world-destroying existence, but the powerful benefit of changing oneself brought about by their material nature.

"Yes, too many people want these things. If I ask myself, if my sister's life was coming to an end, would I be willing to use Academy City's biotechnology to extend her life by five hundred years? I definitely would. Even I myself might want to make that choice."

"Everything here can solve the suffering brought by humanity's own limitations, but at the same time, new restraints will be placed on the new humans."

Shirogane figured he probably wouldn't live to see that day. He just wanted to leave this incomprehensible world as an original human in the future.

But the course of history is never up to the individual.