Disaster.
Ruins.
And wandering Honkai zombies.
Those were Xia Ling’s first impressions when she opened her eyes amid a landscape of shattered walls and broken buildings.
It was early spring in Nagazora City, and the temperature was still relatively mild.
Warm sunlight filtered through the clouds and spilled across the cracks in the pavement, draping the city in a thin veil of gold.
If not for the Honkai zombies wandering around and shrieking in every direction—and the enormous Honkai Beast in the distance that stood as tall as an apartment building—it might have been an unusually peaceful sight.
As a veteran player of anime gacha games, Xia Ling recognized those white-haired zombies and gigantic beasts at a glance.
Yes.
They were from that famous game known for being healthy, sunny, wholesome, and overwhelmingly positive—
Honkai Impact 3rd.
Having read more than her fair share of transmigration fanfiction, Xia Ling accepted reality remarkably quickly.
Her first thought was—
Did I transmigrate?
Xia Ling had always believed she was practically the ideal candidate for transmigration.
She had no attachments.
She had grown up in an orphanage, entered a decent university with the help of student loans after becoming an adult, and remained completely alone.
She had never even been in a relationship.
The only things she could really call attachments were her game accounts.
As a four-game grinder of Honkai, Genshin, Arknights, and Star Rail, Xia Ling had poured most of her emotions, time, and effort into games.
Unfortunately, before she could celebrate her miraculous transmigration—
A wave of excruciating pain tore through her body.
Xia Ling struggled to lower her head and look toward the source.
An arrow had pierced straight through her abdomen.
In the distance, a Ranger Zombie silently lowered the longbow in her hands.
There was little doubt where the uninvited guest currently lodged inside Xia Ling’s stomach had come from.
The zombie’s hollow eyes had already lost focus on Xia Ling.
Apparently, in her estimation, it was only a matter of time before Xia Ling was corrupted and transformed into another Honkai zombie.
She might not have understood where this human who had appeared out of thin air came from.
But that clearly did not stop her from trying to turn Xia Ling into one of her own kind.
Looking at the vicious iron barbs on the arrow and the corrosion that looked almost enchanted, Xia Ling gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
With an injury like this, even if she somehow survived, she would probably be permanently crippled.
And besides…
Purple lines were already spreading upward from the wound.
She did not need a functioning brain to know what that meant.
Xia Ling was certain that this was the exact same body she had possessed before transmigrating.
An utterly ordinary female university student.
Which also meant—
She had absolutely no Honkai resistance whatsoever.
“So this is really happening… I transmigrate, and immediately get spawn-killed…”
“At least let me meet the main trio in person before I die…”
[Oh, for the love of—where the hell did I end up?! Is this still Canghai City?!]
[That damned teleportation system! When I get back, I’m giving it a one-star review! Where’s my host?! The host I spent two and a half years searching for?!]
Just as the wound in Xia Ling’s lower abdomen became so numb she could barely feel it anymore, an energetic female voice rapidly approached from somewhere inside her head.
Although…
The cheerful voice and the vocabulary it used did not match in the slightest.
[Huh?! Host?! Host, why are you almost dead?!]
An indescribable system-generated shriek exploded directly inside Xia Ling’s skull.
She nearly blacked out on the spot.
“I am almost dead, yes.”
“But if you don’t want me dying right this second, could you please lower the volume?”
She no longer had enough strength to actually speak aloud.
However, Xia Ling figured that any self-respecting System should have direct thought communication.
Judging by the System’s reaction, her guess was correct.
[S-Sorry, Host! Uuu… how did this happen…?]
The System, which had been spewing enough profanity to trigger an automatic censor moments ago, abruptly dissolved into nervous, guilty sobbing.
Apparently, Xia Ling’s condition had dealt it quite the emotional blow.
This thing is pathetic enough… Don’t tell me it came from Ciweimao too…
Xia Ling maliciously slandered her System’s genealogy before continuing,
“Um… I think I’m still marginally salvageable here.”
“And even if I’m not, could you at least wait until I’m actually dead before you start crying?”
“All that wailing in my head is honestly pretty creepy.”
[Installing Integrated Strategies System. Installation progress: 10%…]
Apparently the System finally came to its senses.
It did not even have time to respond before frantically beginning the installation process.
[Installing Integrated Strategies System. Installation progress: 20%…]
[Installing Integrated Strategies System. Installation progress: 30%…]
Once the installation reached thirty percent, it seemed to pass some important threshold, finally allowing the System enough spare capacity to speak.
[Host, I’m very sorry, but in your current condition, you probably won’t survive until the installation is complete.]
[If we want to keep you alive, I’ll have to terminate the installation early and prioritize preserving your soul inside System Space.]
[The System’s basic modules have already been installed. Reviving an unenhanced Host is extremely simple. The remaining seventy percent mostly consists of different thematic modules.]
[But those theme modules are relatively independent, and a module only functions after it has been completely installed. Right now, you have two options.]
[The first is to continue until sixty percent and install all three major Arknights themes as a package. The second is to stop at forty percent. In that case, you’ll only have—]
“Wait.”
“Forty percent is faster, right?”
“We’re doing that. Install it now.”
Xia Ling interrupted the System without hesitation.
[Eh…?]
“Don’t ‘eh’ me.”
“Look in front of us.”
“If you take much longer, I’m going to turn into Xia Ling-jam.”
The ground trembled.
Xia Ling raised her gaze toward the Temple-class Honkai Beast slowly advancing in her direction.
Her voice trembled slightly.
There was no doubt Xia Ling was not actually its target.
Unfortunately, the pile of ruins she was currently lying in happened to be directly along its walking route.
Barring some miracle, in another dozen seconds or so, the appropriate classifier for Xia Ling would probably change from one person to one puddle.
[O-Okay!]
The System became nervous again and rapidly rearranged its installation sequence.
[First this… then this module… okay! Forty percent!]
[Forcefully terminating installation process. Retaining installed components.]
[Running as administrator!]
[Ding—Integrated Strategies System activated. Checking for updates… Update check failed.]
[Host detected in critical condition. Activating Protection Mode.]
[Loading Trial Theme—Expeditioner’s Jǫklumarkar.]
[Loading Trial Starting Area—Expedition Camp.]
[Loading complete. Initiating transfer.]
As the voices echoed inside her head, Xia Ling’s vision turned black.
She completely lost consciousness.
When she opened her eyes again, her surroundings had become a camp situated in the middle of a snowy wilderness.
The campfire before her drove away the chill and illuminated Xia Ling’s perfectly intact silhouette.
Meanwhile—
Back among the ruins of Nagazora City…
Purple Honkai corruption patterns had already spread across Xia Ling’s entire body.
Her eyes abruptly lost all light.
Her body collapsed limply onto the ground.
One second later—
The Temple-class Honkai Beast walked straight across the ruins.
Thus successfully completing Xia Ling’s flattening procedure.