Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

"He knew about the Bizarre. He thought I was one of them?"

"But Bizarre entities can't be killed. A katana is useless. Might as well use a peachwood sword and chicken blood."

"So he didn't think I was a Bizarre. He genuinely wanted to kill me."

"No, that's not the point. The point is, he knew I was human."

Li Mo examined the man's face. A faint, unsettling smile lingered on his lips, a disturbing final expression.

He picked up the katana. Clean, polished. Odd. The cabin was filthy. If this was the owner, why was he so meticulous? Even his clothes were fresh, his body clean. The katana still had the price tag. Recently purchased.

"I don't understand. Contradictions within contradictions. Bizarre within Bizarre…"

"Is my perception that corrupted? If it were, I wouldn't notice these inconsistencies."

"Two main anomalies," he muttered, organizing his thoughts, anchoring himself to reality.

"First, Mei. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong situation. This world's fate has been drastically altered. I can't rely on the original timeline."

"Second, the corpse. Identical to me."

He knelt, dissecting the body with the katana. The effort required confirmed his small stature. He was truly a five-year-old child, at least physically. The contamination shouldn't have affected his senses so quickly.

"Damn… this body is weak." He panted, exhausted.

He continued his examination, finding nothing unusual, except for the still-beating heart.

"Why is it still beating? And the organs… they seem smaller than an adult's."

"And the inscription… 'I am you. Leave me.' What does it mean?"

He felt lost, adrift in a fog of uncertainty.

The thermometer was useless. It had been pegged at freezing since he left the cave, indicating widespread Bizarre contamination.

"Should I talk to Mei? But…" Her condition… she was barely alive. Her innate Honkai resistance might be keeping her alive, but that didn't mean he could safely remove her.

He hesitated, then pulled out the Notebook.

"How do I resolve this spreading Bizarre?"

The Notebook flipped to the second page, the lavender scent wafting out, tinged with blood.

[...] Nothing. As if saying: It's impossible.

Li Mo changed his approach.

"Who am I?"

The Notebook responded, revealing his fate in this world.

[My name is Li Mo. When you read this, I will have abandoned that name.]

[I traveled through the Bizarre cave to another world. I have a new identity: Raiden Mo, the five-year-old son of the Raiden family.]

[I cannot reveal my true identity. Everyone here is a Bizarre entity. If they discover I'm human, they will kill me.]

[This world is deeply contaminated by memetic corruption. Every inhabitant has a unique 'quirk,' a rule imposed by the source Bizarre.]

[These 'quirks' are alternative rules, followed even by humans, allowing them to blend in with the Bizarre entities.]

[My 'quirk' is cruelty. The target determines my classification. When the target is Raiden Mei, I am recognized as one of them.]

[In public, I am a cheerful child. In private, I am Mei's tormentor. Those who know me are aware of my actions in the basement. This is how I survive.]

[I brought Mei home, and Raiden Ryoma adopted her, naming her Raiden Mei.]

[My name is Li Mo. If I live to eighteen, the Bizarre incident will be resolved.]

The Notebook fell silent, having revealed far more than Li Mo had asked for.

He felt a chill. Survive until eighteen in a world of Bizarre entities? Was he supposed to relive the entirety of Honkai Impact 3rd's story? If everyone was a Bizarre, then the Flame-Chasers, Otto, his own father Ryoma, even his future companions Kiana and Bronya…

"A masquerade?" This was far more dangerous than facing mindless Bizarre entities. These were people, with human minds and motivations. One slip-up, and he was dead. Even the Bizzare Kiana wouldn't be enough to save him.

"If I go home now, they'll test me, scrutinize me, relentlessly, until I reveal my true nature."

"And the Elysian Realm… Su, Aponia… they're Bizarre entities now. How can I possibly fool them?"

"Mei… is she a Bizarre entity? I have to torture her, and make sure everyone knows…"

"So I'm… a sadistic Bizarre?" He sighed. He was glad he was alone. This wouldn't look good on his resume.

"Mo! Mo!" A deep voice called from the forest.

Li Mo's heart pounded. They're coming. The voice sounded too normal, too warm, too human.

"I have to prove I'm one of them. I can't let Ryoma find me acting like a normal human…"

He glanced at the corpse. Would mutilating it be enough?

"No!" He stopped. The corpse might not be a native. Bizarre entities were strange, but not normally strange. The man's behavior, his expressions, had been too human.

"The inscription… 'I am you. Leave me.' He knew I'd check the body. A warning. Don't target him."

"My options are limited."

The voice was closer. Ryoma would be here any minute.

No… he was already here!

The thermometer plunged below zero. The Bizarre entity was right beside him.

But the voice sounded ten meters away.

He's behind me. Don't look back… His senses were already being affected, distorting his perception of distance.

He stood, pretending not to notice, and quickly entered the cabin, slamming the door shut. He walked towards the cage, the room dim, lit only by slivers of sunlight.

The cage creaked open. To Mei, it sounded like the devil's whisper.

"Eee… ah…" She whimpered, scrambling backwards, the chains restricting her movement.

Li Mo felt a sympathy, but he couldn't afford to be kind. He had to inflict pain.

He searched for a less brutal method, but there was none. Cruelty wasn't gentle.

He gagged her with a rag, then picked up a pair of tweezers, digging them into an unhealed wound on her arm, tearing out a chunk of flesh.

"Mmm! Mmmph!" Mei's muffled cries echoed through the cabin, tears streaming down her face as she thrashed in agony.