I Am Honkai Chapter 96: What Does It Have to Do with Me?

"In your eyes... is everything that happened just a ga, a farce?"

Upon hearing this, Selene turned her head to look at Kiyama Harumi, who stood on the cracked overpass, full of anger. She was puzzled—she hadn’t provoked Kiyama, so why was Kiyama attacking her now?

Selene wasn’t known for her patience, and her expression turned cold. "What do you an by that?"

"You should be able to hear them," Kiyama Harumi said, her eyes fixed on the slowly dissipating remains of the "Imaginary Honkai Beast." Her expression was complex, her voice full of anger. "This creature was ford from the painful consciousness of tens of thousands of people. You can hear their whispers, can’t you?"

"What if I can hear them? What if I can’t?" Selene responded calmly to Kiyama’s questioning.

This indifferent tone imdiately reminded Kiyama Harumi of Kihara Gensei—equally cold and unfeeling. "Their cries are just a ga to you?!"

...

Watching Kiyama’s face twisted in hatred as she looked at Selene, Uiharu Kazari tugged on Shirai Kuroko’s sleeve and asked in confusion, "Why is Professor Kiyama so hostile towards Selene-senpai?"

"Maybe it’s a difference in viewpoints..." Suddenly, a voice full of weariness but vigor ca from behind them.

"Onee-sama!" Hearing her sister’s familiar voice, Shirai Kuroko turned around excitedly.

However, Misaka Mikoto’s expression remained downcast, and she muttered to herself, "Status, resources, worldview... differences in how we judge things."

Just monts ago, as Selene destroyed the "Imaginary Honkai Beast," Misaka had clearly heard these cries in her ears.

"Selene, why is your heart so strong... so cold, cold enough to be frightening..."

In the past, she might have stepped forward to argue, but influenced by Selene, she no longer knew how to confront this. To her, she was a Level 5 Esper, the young lady of Tokiwadai, but...

Using her own experiences and situation to judge and offer "encouragent" in a Versailles-like manner would only hurt them, wouldn’t it?

Recalling the various appeals and wishes echoing in the air, that sadness and heaviness inexplicably brought her mood down.

"Is Level 1 really a defective product?"

"So people see it that way. But we’ve been trying so hard."

"It shouldn’t be like this!"

"I just want power so that I won’t be bullied. Is that wrong?!"

"You probably wouldn’t understand, right? After all, such expectations are too heavy."

...

"Yes, isn’t this farce of yours?" Selene’s tone remained calm in the face of Kiyama’s anger. Her deanor was so gentle, yet her words were so cold.

"You...!"

Boom!

With a flick of her wrist, a deep crater exploded beside Kiyama. Selene’s expression remained serene. "Don’t point your finger at . I’m not in a good mood, and next ti, I won’t miss."

"Cough, cough... A farce? If soone you cared about was involved, would you still see this as a ga? Would you stand by idly?!" Kiyama brushed off the debris on her clothes, glaring intently at Selene.

"Of course not. Why else do you think I would get involved in this nonsense? Kiyama Harumi, as a forr researcher at the Advanced Education Bureau’s Child Ability Developnt Institute, you should understand the simple truth that ’human joys and sorrows are not the sa.’"

"..."

With this, Selene had rcilessly ripped open Kiyama’s scars. Truth be told, ignoring Kiyama’s pleas and using her to test the flaws of the Honkai Serum left Selene with a slight sense of guilt.

But she had no regrets!

It was her choice!

Selene would never make excuses for her actions!

anness is the pass for the an; nobility is the epitaph for the noble. Even if what she did was despicable, Selene disdained using long-winded explanations to justify her actions.

Because—she is a "predator."

Despite her gentle facade, Selene knew herself well. She was essentially a selfish person, driven by profit. She simply dressed too finely for people to see through her.

anwhile, ever since becoming a Herrscher, Selene felt her indifference to life growing daily. Apart from those she knew, others ant nothing to her, just like pawns.

This feeling of a tiger in sheep’s clothing was becoming unbearable.

"Advanced Education Bureau... Gensei Kihara?... It’s all because of you! Do you understand?!!" Kiyama’s face twitched slightly. Despite trying to control her emotions, her eyes were bloodshot and trembling.

The Advanced Education Bureau, Child Ability Developnt Institute, Kiyama Harumi, and the discarding of excellence—all were shadows over Kiyama’s life and the reason for everything she did.

"That experint... it wasn’t about creating esper crystals at all!" As she spoke, Kiyama could no longer suppress her emotions, her body trembling as all calmness vanished, replaced by a low growl of rage.

"That experint... was an experint in inducing ability outbursts!!" Kiyama’s voice was low and deep. "Stimulating AIM diffusion fields to probe the conditions for an ability to go berserk! Those children... have never woken up!"

"It’s all my fault!" At this point, Kiyama collapsed in agony, pounding the ground, her voice a bitter roar. "Like lab rats, once used, they were deed worthless!"

"And it’s all because of you people at the top! The experintal data obtained from their sacrifices served you so-called Level 5 ’chosen ones!’ It’s laughable! And in the end, all it was considered was a farce!"

"How could this... such experints..." Hearing this, Misaka Mikoto was stunned. She could no longer stand by; she couldn’t believe such experints existed in Academy City. "Can’t we notify Anti-Skill...?"

"Heh heh hah hah..." As if hearing sothing amusing, Kiyama laughed. Such a sheltered young lady! Turning her bloodshot eyes, she stared chillingly. "What good would notifying Anti-Skill do? The Board of Directors would never allow this to co to light. It’s because of those at the top that such experints were allowed to exist!"

"I’m not wrong, am I, Habsburg, Miss Director!" Kiyama looked up at Selene, expressionless in midair, gritting her teeth as she spoke.

"Yes, you’re right." Selene’s voice remained indifferent, as if Kiyama’s words were just a story. "I know quite a bit about the situation and had thoughts of stopping it..."

For a mont, Kiyama’s heart filled with hope. Wasn’t Selene a director? If possible, she might still save her students. But Selene’s next words sent her heart plumting.

"But... why should I stop it? Do I know them? I’m not the highest authority; why should I get involved in this ss? Most importantly, I wasn’t the one doing these things, nor were they under my command."

"So... what does it have to do with ?"