Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

Darkness is an inherent fear, a villain etched into everyone's instincts. The simplest way to create a sense of oppression is to make the sky darken.

At a higher level, it involves adding special anomalies, such as unique natural disasters or environmental changes.

What appears before your eyes now is the most classic style—countless thunderbolts hanging in the sky. As one of the most terrifying natural disasters in ancient times, the thunderbolts, imbued with countless meanings, vent their power wantonly, adding a touch of madness and rage to the otherwise calm scene.

The endless flashes of light, which should have been fleeting, leaving only a moment of brilliance and a brief thunderclap, instead appeared for a long time in a way that defied the laws of physics, creating a scene resembling a prison-like hell.

At the edge of the field of vision, Changkong City, which is almost one color with the sky and can only be vaguely seen as a blurry shadow, is clearly the place where the Great Demon King's royal city resides, as the darkest and most chaotic center.

……

The Herrscher of Thunder?

why?

Raiden Mei had just gone on a date yesterday.

Nothing particularly devastating has happened recently.

Without any change in emotion, even Raiden Mei, as the person involved and as the Herrscher entity, was in a positive and optimistic mood.

Even if Cocolia forcibly releases a large amount of Honkai energy and pours in huge sums of money, she still wouldn't be able to create the Herrscher of Thunder, right?

If Herrschers were really that easy to create, there should have been hundreds or even thousands of Herrschers in the simulator before I died.

The Honkai energy eruption of thousands of magnitudes posed only slightly more of a threat in that hellish difficulty pre-civilization than firecrackers set off during the Lunar New Year.

An ordinary person with a little training, much like a third-rate amateur who occasionally goes to the gym, could theoretically take any mass-produced weapon and fight a regular player whose difficulty level hasn't been increased.

Crises like this, which would be a major collapse in modern civilization and require global vigilance, are commonplace there and are at most handled by the local community.

Herrschers are not that simple, nor are they mass-produced. As shadows capable of wielding power, they are not something that can be eliminated simply by destroying the Honkai.

The previous civilization might have been able to create simple tools and machines devoid of thought, but in the present civilization, whose destiny has been shattered and who chose to sacrifice herself to return to the Origin Sea and rewrite everything, no matter how much Honkai energy is available, it is meaningless if a suitable candidate cannot be found.

What matters is the Herrscher's physical form and aptitude, not just energy. At most, it's just pulling out a few Honkai Beasts that can't wield true authority.

So why?

Why did the Herrscher of Thunder descend?

Even according to the timeline, it shouldn't be now. It should be at least a long time after Kiana arrives here, long enough for the three-year Sakura storyline to pass, allowing the invincible Monkey King to defeat a yandere.

If it's an emotional issue, that's even stranger and more impossible. There's no way to find anything that could make Raiden Mei break down like this. The weather has been fine lately, and nothing has happened in the last two weeks. She's encountered whatever she was supposed to encounter, and there haven't been any negative changes since she met me. We even went on a date yesterday.

Even if someone bullies you, it's the norm. It's happened countless times. If something goes wrong, it would take another six months before you can even fully process the emotions.

It's worth noting that even Raiden Mei's downfall in the story can, in a sense, be attributed to Kiana's appearance, which created a stark contrast in her life.

Kiana, who brings light into the darkness, is innocent, righteous, and courageous. She unknowingly displays her bravery in front of someone who is being bullied, and tells them about the beauty of the world. The usual loneliness and the occasional light make the dark life even more unbearable.

Kiana clearly knows nothing, yet she can speak these profound truths with such confidence. In a sense, Asakura Miyuki and Raiden Mei, who have both suffered from the world's malice, share many similarities in their emotions.

The same process, the same ending, the same transformation into a monster of the Honkai side after being overwhelmed—it's just that an ordinary girl was bullied to the point of having her body defiled, with no room for maneuver, and was forcibly turned into a mentally twisted yandere and a madwoman, ultimately leading to the despair of being killed by the person she trusted.

From the very beginning, he was bullied, but because of the morbid education he received in the Far East, he couldn't cause trouble for others and didn't want his parents to worry, so he chose to procrastinate.

They are all perceived as becoming increasingly weak and easily bullied, and no matter how they are treated, they will not choose to report it, so the methods of harm they choose are becoming increasingly cruel and violent.

This is a story where there's still room for maneuver until the very end; at least you can choose to escape, and if you muster the courage, there's still somewhere to go.

Raiden Mei's personality is gentler than Raiden Mei's. She hasn't experienced such extreme things; rather, it's an accumulation of despair from various aspects of life, with malice coming from every corner of life, leaving nowhere to hide.

It's not that I need to hide it, or that I don't want my family to know I'm being bullied, or that I don't want them to worry; it's that I simply want my family to cease to exist.

It wasn't a pain that was deliberately delayed; it was a pain that only she could bear alone, a pain that was being watched from behind the scenes by evil people as the girl slowly fell into despair.

Because she can contain more sadness and anger, she becomes a monster that is more twisted and powerful. However, because of her gentle nature, she does not ultimately suffer a completely bad ending. Her yandere and madness are hidden in her heart, and she usually does not appear to be very crazy on the surface.

In short, it's relatively normal.

I have basically never gone through a particularly desperate or extreme path.

Every choice she makes is basically forced or unavoidable by others; if she could, the girl might just want to live a quiet life.

Judging from her outward appearance at least, Raiden Mei is probably the most normal person in Honkai, a world full of mentally ill people.

As an important character who has appeared across several generations, Raiden Mei is an absolute must-mention for anyone who has played with the entire Mi Home ecosystem. Her storyline and character design have been analyzed in depth many times.

That is why the birth of the Herrscher of Thunder seems so ridiculous and absurd at this moment, as if she hadn't woken up yet and was still having a nightmare.

Unless another person suddenly appears in this world with the talent to become a Herrscher of Thunder, and happens to be qualified to become the Herrscher of Lightning, and whose mood has just been at its lowest, having experienced the most tragic disaster in the world, lost all light, has no hope for the world, and has completely thrown themselves into despair, it is impossible for a Herrscher of Lightning to appear at all.

I haven't spent that much time with Raiden Mei, and I've never shown any behavior that suggests I think the world is a good place or that I believe is righteous and brave.

Unlike Kiana, who is mostly unaware of the situation, Raiden Mei is fully aware of the disaster that happened to her. Although she cannot reveal the whole truth during conversations, she can still empathize with Raiden Mei emotionally, a fact she has never hidden.

There are channels to vent emotions, friends to talk to, and people who can understand, so the malice suffered has not accumulated to the point of overflowing.

So why...

Who is the Herrscher of Thunder?

……

It doesn't matter.

Jiang Cheng shook his head, unhesitatingly throwing away all the random thoughts and chaotic ideas that existed in his mind, suppressing all his worries and slight fears—by touching the Star Sea Harmony once again, he felt the pulsation of energy that was even in sync with the frequency of his breathing.

It's not a difference between the weapon and the wielder; the equipment made of specially crafted soul steel doesn't feel cold to the touch. Rather, it's the ease with which humans use their hands, as if manipulating an extension of their own limbs.

The unbuttoned hem of the school uniform fluttered slightly, along with her hair, which, though faded from its original sheen, still retained a hint of blue.

There's no time to hesitate.

Let's go directly to Changkong City.

In any case, they can do anything to make up for regrets, or for some game characters that only exist in simulations, to the point that they make the whole world know that there are strange individuals in this world who can wield meteors and need to be wary of.

For people who truly exist, this is also the reason why I must let go of my obsessions—I don't want my obsessions to hurt them.

How could we possibly refrain from intervening just because there was a slight butterfly effect that we might have caused, leading to unexpected events?

If you don't even have that kind of courage, then you shouldn't have come into contact with Raiden Mei in the first place; you should have turned around and run away the moment you saw her.

In a pure beginner-level dungeon like Changkong City, at this point in the game, before even the World Serpent has shown its face and when Ancestor Kevin is still in the sea, a fully usable Divine Key is more than enough to dominate.

Even if they encounter a Herrscher, they wouldn't be instantly killed. If the Herrscher of Thunder is as pathetic as in the original story, they might be able to take her down directly.

As for the mastermind behind all this, if it's Cocolia, there's absolutely no need to worry. As for others... well, they can just use cheat codes.

If you can't beat them, switch to simulation.

Level up your character and then continue fighting.

Even with the aftereffects, I must rescue Raiden Mei.

You won't get anything out of guessing here. Instead of wasting time scaring yourself, you should take action and go to Changkong City to see for yourself.

……

220. Why is it a fully-fledged Herrscher?

They didn't go all out, carefully controlling their speed and subtly distorting the light and shadow to ensure they wouldn't be noticed.

It's not just about conserving energy to deal with what's coming next—even if you can quickly become stronger by temporarily activating a simulation, this kind of behavior with side effects should be used as a last resort. If the simulation lasts too long, you might lose a lot of feelings for Raiden Mei in the blink of an eye.

A long period of time can wear down many things, and surging emotions can be enough to crush mountains and rocks. It is impossible to spend most of the time in a simulation in a state of losing oneself and losing emotions.

To avoid being noticed and captured by the many organizations in this world, and especially to avoid Otto's gaze, is also a very important thing.

—I'm about to do something really stupid.

Go to the sky to rescue a Herrscher body, or even Raiden Mei, who is suspected to be a Herrscher.

This time, they deliberately exposed their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, just like Joyce showed his justice and courage to Otto.

Even the biggest idiot would realize his weakness after seeing this.

Moreover, Otto is the ultimate god of civil war.

……

They are all just trivial matters that don't need to be taken seriously.

Even the most reckless act is closer to courage than a weak and incompetent act of simply running away.

If someone has the ability but doesn't even dare to save their friends, this kind of mentality, if continued, will likely lead to them being powerless to resist the erosion of even a minor major collapse, directly splitting their personality and transforming into a pure Herrscher madman to go on a killing spree.

There was no fear, no cowardice; the drooping eyebrows and all the worries were not for himself, and the lightly bitten lips were not an attempt to escape.

How to do it is irrelevant, since we already have a backup plan. Just do it first, make a mess of things, and then slowly make changes.

Jiangcheng is simply moving forward, riding the torrent of gravity through the heavens and earth, constantly chasing the dark clouds that blot out the sun in the distance.

I've lost count of how many times the air exploded beside my ears. Even with the eyes of the Herrscher's true form, I can barely make out the outline of the earth as I move forward.

The overactive Honkai energy can only be perceived through perception, and the disasters caused by the Great Honkai are even further away than the limits that can be observed.

It seems that while I was sleeping last night, a massive collapse affecting half the planet had already occurred.

Was the damage from the Third Honkai Impact really that severe?

……

Despite a degree of concealment, hiding their own logic, and doing their best to adjust the state of their body, the time taken to reach Changkong City was still not very long.

Is the existence of non-human beings a force that civilizations like planets should accept? Whether it's quantum or imaginary numbers, these are energies that can only be encountered after countless millennia of accumulation and free travel in interstellar space.

As a projection of the cocoon of the end connected to the imaginary number, the Herrscher's authority is on a level of blasting fish, offering a unique embrace of Earth.

Despite the severe limitations on the output capacity, high-level capabilities are still high-level capabilities; unimaginable quality is not simply the accumulation of quantity.

Abandoning thought and surrendering the body to instinct, mimicking the Herrscher's posture, achieving complete resonance with the core, time and thought were almost completely consumed to ensure that there would be no mistakes when dealing with the enemy next.

Until they reached the heart of the thunderstorm, moving forward amidst the ear-piercing thunder that sounded like a thousand birds chirping, without seeing a glimmer of light, they could only rely on their instinctive observation and ability to spot their own kind to race towards the center point, towards the highest peak of energy convergence—the location of Changkong City.

The electronic storm that surrounds you is the kind of thing that can instantly collapse any structure that has even the slightest connection to civilization, tearing apart all technology.

Any seemingly high-end and advanced information network, a robust, indestructible, and perfectly reliable system, will be instantly crushed into dust.