“Mm…”
Amid a hazy, heavy sense of oppression, as if submerged deep beneath the sea, Xian Ling’s consciousness slowly awakened once again.
“This feeling again…”
Sensing the sticky, enveloping sensation surrounding every part of her body, the girl let out a helpless sigh.
The girl’s name was Xian Ling.
Not long ago, she had still been a cheerful college student on the Third Planet of a certain Solar System, squandering her youth like countless others her age.
Of course, her area of expertise was somewhat niche—she could probably be considered a hardcore gacha game player.
However, after being sent on her way by a speeding pink truck one day, Xian Ling entered her current state: chaotic, empty, yet unmistakably alive.
When she first became aware of her predicament, she had tried screaming and moving to attract someone’s attention.
Unfortunately, she seemed to have been stripped of her ability to speak.
She couldn’t even open her eyes.
Only her hearing remained somewhat free, but even then, all she could hear were strange mutterings.
“How many times have I woken up now?
Thirty?
Fifty?
I can’t really remember anymore…
Hiss—ouch!”
Just as she was about to lament her miserable situation, her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden stabbing sensation.
Though she couldn’t see, Xian Ling could clearly feel a needle piercing her body and injecting something into it.
“What’s going on…?
Could it be that this state is finally about to end?
Fine by me.
If I stay like this any longer, I think I’m going to fall into Nihility.
Even if getting out means being thrown straight into Holy Terra—…hm?”
Xian Ling perked up her ears.
“It sounds like…
someone’s talking outside?
No, wait, these are still the same mutterings I’ve heard before, but somehow…
I can understand them now?”
With the same concentration she once used when listening to math questions for gaokao, the fragmented voices from outside gradually reached her ears.
“…For the sake of a result like this, you were even willing to expose your location.
Zandar, you’re making me question whether this assassination is truly necessary.”
“Your research has already touched the singularity of knowledge.
That alone is a death sentence.
As for her, it’s simple.
If she can emerge from my Unknowable Domain unscathed, I’ll give her a chance.”
“?!”
Xian Ling was dumbfounded.
“No way…
You really dumped me into the anime version of Warhammer?!
I was joking!”
Although the information she heard was fragmented and she had clearly missed parts of the conversation, those two sentences alone were enough for a veteran Honkai lore enthusiast like Xian Ling to arrive at a conclusion.
Without a doubt, she had transmigrated into…
Honkai: Star Rail, the world often described as anime Warhammer.
In this godforsaken universe, if you don’t have power, then at any moment you might be stomped to death like a stray dog by a randomly spawned Walker of the Scorched, Rescuer, Cremator, Swarm, Abomination of Abundance, Annihilation Scholar, Pyromaniac, member of the Annihilation Gang, Pre-Battle Caregiver, Maniacal Chess Player, Cleaner, School of Relative Cognition, School of Evolutionary Perfection, Star-Picker, or any of the countless other lunatic organizations not worth listing.
And if you do have power…
Just kidding.
It doesn’t stop stronger lunatics from tormenting you.
The universe is vast enough that there’s always a brand-new madman perfectly suited to ruin your day.
Of course, compared to encountering any of those lunatics, Xian Ling’s current situation couldn’t exactly be called safe.
She was practically dead already.
From the information she had just overheard, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that she seemed to be a creation of Zandar—or perhaps one of his nine avatars.
Even worse, this Zandar…
Apparently had already attracted the attention of some mysterious candy-colored woman.
“Waaah…
Why am I crashing and burning the moment I finally get freedom?
What kind of opening is getting spawn-camped by Polka right from the start?
Is humanity finished?!”
As time passed, the voices outside gradually ceased, replaced by a series of explosions and whistling gusts.
Aside from catching occasional words like “Enigmata” and “Fiction,” Xian Ling could no longer make out anything else.
Clearly, all she could do now was pray that Old Zandar could beat Polka.
According to the information available, the Zandar on her side probably wasn’t the original.
At the very least, he was genuinely resisting.
The only question was whether he could actually win.
However…
[Collecting Path Energy…]
A pixel-art screen suddenly lit up before Xian Ling’s eyes, filling them with the first light she had seen in ages.
[Current Charge Progress: Erudition—82%, Enigmata—39%.]
“Hm?”
Xian Ling’s eyes widened.
“Could this be…
that thing?!”
That’s right.
As a devoted fanfiction enthusiast, much like Feiying and countless others, Xian Ling had read more fanfics than she could count.
She was extremely familiar with this situation.
The most common cheat of all transmigrators:
A system!
Although she still had no idea why she had been born into this world as Zandar’s creation, why she had been forcibly sealed away for so long despite being fully conscious, or why the interface looked strangely familiar, none of that mattered right now.
Her highest priority was obvious.
Survive first.
“System, System!
There’s a mysterious candy-colored woman outside trying to kill me.
Can you get me out of here first?”
“As long as you’re not some useless Cat Guest system, you can do that, right?”
[…System?
What’s that?
Are you talking about those concepts from the fanfictions in your head?]
A line of text suddenly appeared on the pixel screen.
“Eh?
You’re…
not?”
[Don’t panic.
Let me finish reading your memories first, then I’ll think about how to explain this…]
The words that appeared on the screen made Xian Ling’s eyelids twitch.
[Mm, done reading.
You can think of me…
as Paimon.]
“?”
Xian Ling blinked.
“So you’re emergency food?”
[I’m your game guide, little one.
The thing in your head isn’t the system from your memories, but it’s not all that different.]
[You can think of it as…
a game demo developed by Zandar.]
“A g-game…?”
[A game with an absurdly high difficulty level, but one capable of changing the world if cleared, I suppose…
Don’t focus on the name.
It’s only called a game because it was created in the Biphasic Paradise.
Since he was on the turf of the God of Games at the time, it was only natural to do as the locals do, right?]
“That sentence just contained way too much information…
No, wait, this isn’t the time for that!”
As a renowned Honkai lore enthusiast, Xian Ling’s instinctive urge to analyze everything immediately kicked in.
Then her survival instincts promptly dragged her back to reality.
“Polka’s right outside!
I don’t care whether you’re a game or a system…
Do you have any way to save me?!”
[I know you’re in a hurry, but calm down first.
This game demo isn’t very complete.
Entering a simulation can indeed save your life, but if you choose the wrong game, there won’t be a second chance.]
[See those two charge bars?
The system is collecting Path Energy.
Enigmata and Erudition form the underlying logic of this game demo that’s constantly fighting itself with its left and right brains.
Once a bar is filled, you’ll be able to open a simulated worldline containing tasks aligned with that Path.]
[As long as you complete the task, when you leave the simulated worldline, you’ll gain a random teleportation opportunity.
If you use it, you’ll be teleported to the vicinity of an existence possessing a large amount of the corresponding Path Energy.]
[But if the task fails…
well, given the current circumstances, you’ll get to personally experience what it’s like to be carved up by Polka.]
“Who would want to experience that?!”
[Current Charge Progress: Erudition—100%, Enigmata—45%.]
Noticing that one side had already filled, another line quickly appeared on the screen.
[This isn’t looking good.
The game’s original design was to wait until both energies were fully charged so players could choose between two simulated worldlines.
That would at least provide some room for decision-making.
But right now, both Polka and Zandar are Emanators of Erudition, so Erudition Path Energy is accumulating far faster than Enigmata…]
“This Zandar avatar follows both Erudition and Enigmata?”
[That’s not the important part.
The important part is…
he seems to be getting beaten to death.]
[Little one, are you really going to keep waiting?
Let me tell you this first.
Zandar created this game, so he knows exactly how to charge it.
Before he dies, he’ll definitely blow himself up and max out your Enigmata charge.]
[But that also means that during the few seconds you’re running the simulation, Polka might lock onto your location…]
“Stop talking and start it.”
Xian Ling rejected the suggestion without hesitation.
“Even though Polka gets treated as a punching bag in power-scaling debates all the time, anyone who genuinely underestimates her in reality probably has an IQ lower than the monkeys in the Primordial Research Forest.
Besides, according to what you’ve said, even if I wait for the final choice, it’ll probably just be picking between two terrible options.”
“So let’s do it now!”
[Excellent, little one.
The last person I met who liked gambling this much was—…ahem, never mind.
Since you’ve decided, let’s begin.
Who knows?
Maybe you’re secretly a gaming prodigy.]
After displaying that line, streams of data rapidly flashed across the pixel screen before assembling into a sequence of code.
[Selecting Path Alignment…]
[Current Path Alignment: Erudition]
[Simulation Associated Targets: Cyrene, Lycurgus, Herta]
[Simulation Background: In this worldline, the Astral Express chose to travel to the ocean planet Lushaka.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, after an excessively long cycle and the efforts of the Garden of Recollection, the balance of Amphoreus was finally broken.
At the same time, Genius Society #83 Herta became involved in this conflict through a coincidence.]
[Mission Objective: Eliminate the erroneous course of development.
Prevent Iron Tomb from being born in the form of Rupert III and return the worldline to its proper track.]
[Additional Note: Players cannot revive after death.
Death does not end the game.
Players may wait until the worldline simulation is complete and watch the final outcome.]