“Little Girl, Do You Desire Power?” 1: [1] – Kafka, A Three-Day Girlfriend.
“Little Girl, Do You Desire Power?” Punklorde, the place that never sleeps.
Inside a minimalist, high-tech apartment, the rhythmic squeaking of the bed finally came to a halt.
After a long moment, the silk sheets slipped away to the floor.
The woman propped herself up lazily.
Her long, burgundy hair was a tangled mess, with a few sweat-dampened strands clinging to her cheeks.
A black leather choker pressed against her pale neck, leaving a red mark.
Naturally, it was the only thing she had on.
“My three days as your girlfriend are up.
I’m leaving.” Kafka tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, showing her smooth, slightly flushed face.
She lowered her head and gave the man a gentle wink before getting out of bed.
Her bare feet padded softly across the cool floor as she walked to the bathroom.
Her hips moved with smooth grace, and a faint trail of moisture marked her path on the tiles.
“Come with me to meet someone.
After that, you’re free.” Zane leaned against the headboard, slowly swirling a glass of red wine.
His eyes were half-closed as he enjoyed the calm moment.
“Alright.” Kafka stopped walking.
She didn’t look back, and her voice sounded tired but calm and mature.
—•——•——•——•——•——•— Soon, thick steam fogged up the bathroom.
Zane stared at the alluring curves shifting behind the frosted glass, letting his mind drift back to how this all started.
Just a week ago, he was stuck in a dull nine-to-five job.
One night, while picking up takeout and playing a retro gacha game on his phone, he finally unlocked the ultimate boss character, the Holy Spirit.
At that moment, a blinding white light surrounded him.
He had been hit by the infamous Truck-kun.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing in Punklorde.
He had crossed over into the universe of Honkai: Star Rail.
In Punklorde, it was almost impossible to survive without a [Cartridge].
He was like a ghost in this cyberpunk city, without any official record.
On top of that, the universe was full of dangers like the Antimatter Legion, the Swarm, and the Denizens of Abundance—this was a reality where gods could destroy planets just for fun.
But Zane had gotten lucky.
The ultimate gaming cheat he unlocked before he died—the [Holy Spirit Template]—had come with him.
Having a power that broke the rules of reality made him feel safe.
As for Kafka?
On his third day in this world, the elegant and mysterious woman showed up outside his building.
She gave off a dangerous, captivating vibe.
Standing under a black umbrella in the rain, looking up at his window, she looked like a work of art.
And how did he get the apartment?
A few days earlier, the original tenant had gone cyberpsycho, leaving the apartment empty.
Zane moved in right after.
The moment their eyes locked, Zane knew she was here for him.
He didn’t realize that Kafka was tracking a strange anomaly connected to Silver Wolf.
The scriptwriter, Elio, hadn’t planned for Zane to exist.
Still, once Zane met Silver Wolf, Kafka would notice, and a confrontation was sure to happen.
Zane also needed a strong opponent to test his newly awakened powers.
The Stellaron Hunter was the perfect choice.
With a quick spatial warp, they landed on the nearest empty planet.
Zane had to hold back his power as much as possible.
He worried that if he hit her too hard, the beautiful Stellaron Hunter might disappear completely.
His [Holy Spirit Template] was a Multiverse-level cheat code.
It allowed him to tank cosmic explosions, manipulate reality, and infinitely fracture timelines.
After a day of “friendly sparring”—which was basically a one-sided massacre—Zane had fully mastered his new abilities.
He even figured out a few creative exploits.
Kafka had been utterly defeated and magically sealed.
Her punishment for losing was three days of total obedience as his girlfriend.
—•——•——•——•——•——•— Night fell, and the rain grew icy cold.
A skinny ten-year-old girl, wrapped in a torn gray cloak, was pushed around by the crowds in the neon-lit streets.
“Move it!
Are you blind?” “Level 0?
An undocumented rat?
Tsk, bad luck!” “Get lost!
Don’t block the road!” The harsh words resounded in the alley as the girl stumbled and fell into the cold, muddy rainwater.
“…” She didn’t cry or argue.
Instead, she stared at the people who pushed her, memorized their faces, then got up and limped into a dark corner.
She had gone through this many times over the past ten years.
She was used to it.
In Punklorde, your Level was your entire existence.
From birth, the number on your [Cartridge] decided your fate.
You died with the same Level you started with.
Level 0s were at the very bottom, treated like trash and forced to survive on the streets.
But she was somehow even lower than a Level 0.
She didn’t even have a Cartridge.
She was like a glitch in the system, undocumented and ignored.
To the city, she was nothing more than dirt.
If she hadn’t gotten lucky a few years back and been taken in by a kind-hearted fast-food owner, she would have starved to death in an alley.
Ten years had gone by quickly.
She had no legal name, no ID, and no friends.
Other kids avoided her, and adults looked at her with disgust.
Every day, she faced cold stares, teasing, and beatings.
But despite it all, she was surviving.
But today, she finally found the courage to say goodbye to the restaurant owner.
She was done with the miserable life of hiding in the basement.
She wanted to change her fate and become a legendary hacker in Punklorde, just like the heroes she idolized—Zero and Stoneblade.
But reality hit her hard.
Since she didn’t have a Cartridge, she didn’t even have the digital currency to buy a cheap bottle of water.
It was only her first day out on her own, and she was already starting to regret it.
Back at the diner, she at least had scraps to fill her stomach.
But she refused to crawl back in defeat.
She was determined to prove herself.
She remembered everyone who had mocked, beaten, or humiliated her.
One day, she planned to make them all pay.
—•——•——•——•——•——•— The rain grew heavier.
Big drops hit her skin like small stones, making her feel like the world itself was mocking her ridiculous dreams.
Shivering and soaked, the girl dragged herself through the mud and found a small alcove under a roof.
The concrete overhang gave her only a little shelter.
The freezing wind whipped the rain sideways, mercilessly lashing against her exposed legs.
Her thin cloak clung tightly to her shivering frame, doing nothing to stop the bone-chilling cold.
Her teeth chattered uncontrollably.
“Reality…
is such a garbage game,” she muttered bitterly.
“It only cares about stats.
It doesn’t care if you cry.” She hugged her knees to her chest, curling into a tight ball to preserve whatever body heat she had left.
“Grumble” Her stomach growled.
She was starving.
She hadn’t eaten anything all day, and the hunger pains were getting worse.
Without a Cartridge, even the cheapest food stalls wouldn’t serve her.
“Yeah…
life really is a broken game,” she whispered into the darkness.
“And I started with the worst stats.” She pressed her pale face deep into her knees, curling up even smaller in the shadows.
Cold water dripped from her tangled hair and ran down her cheeks.
Suddenly, a sharp, steady sound cut through the heavy rain.
Click…
clack…
click…
clack…
The sound of high heels on wet pavement came closer to her alley.
“Tell me, little girl…
do you desire power?” “…?” Her guard immediately went up.
She raised her head, squinting through the heavy rain to find the source of the voice.
A round, cute holographic blue whale floated in front of her face.
It flapped its tiny fins and hovered in the air.
The little digital creature glowed with soft neon blue light, lighting up the dark alley like a dream.
But it wasn’t the whale itself that shocked her.
It was what the whale held in its mouth.
Clamped between its jaws was a Cartridge.
It was a perfect, ultra-rare Cartridge glowing with a faint golden light.
— [Note: The new journey begins!
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