Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

"You want to play fear and despair on me, don't you?"

Behind Cheng Xing appeared the figure of a scarecrow suspended by silk threads.

"Then let's have a pleasant ordeal!!!"

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Past is the Future

Cheng Xing entered the consciousness of the Herrscher of Consciousness. It is unrealistic to erase the existence of this consciousness through the outside world, or rather, it is unrealistic with his current strength. For the Herrscher of Consciousness, the physical body is just a medium for activities in reality, and even if she loses her body, her consciousness will exist forever.

Just like crossing the surface of water, Cheng Xing arrived at a familiar place.

He stood on a school playground. It was right after school let out, and the students, in the prime of their youth, were freely radiating their youthful energy. Some were running, some were strolling, and some were playing football.

Everything here was very familiar to him, the decor was very familiar, and even the clothes the students were wearing were very familiar to him.

Because this is his high school.

The Law of Consciousness pulled millions of people from the previous civilization into a dream, then hid her own consciousness, constantly operating in the shadows. Therefore, to find her deepest consciousness, one must traverse the countless complex dreamscapes composed of one's own consciousness and the consciousnesses of those millions of people.

For a normal person, this is extremely difficult and complex, because as one constantly travels through dreams, one's consciousness will be continuously weakened, and one's perception of the surroundings will become increasingly blurred.

Many people, or rather, many fusion warriors, will perish on this journey. They will forget their past identities, forget the missions they are about to carry out, and become just an ordinary passerby in the dream world.

Only an inhuman, iron will could withstand countless trials and reach the final Herrscher's location. But by then, would the self-awareness, worn down by countless trials, be able to defeat her?

Compared to the Herrschers of the previous civilization era, who wielded their abilities to an extraordinary degree, the Herrschers of the current civilization era are quite different.

However, even without Federico's abilities, Cheng Xing still had ways to find her.

"Even if I only obtained a very small portion of the power, it is still the power of a Herrscher of the Void!"

Golden threads began to entwine around everyone in the dream, turning familiar and unfamiliar characters into puppets and scarecrows. The school, which was once full of youthful energy, became dilapidated and looked as if it had been abandoned for many years.

How do you make someone struggle to wake up from a dream? It's simple: have a terrible nightmare!

Starting with his own dream, Cheng Xing uses the power of the Law Master and the Scarecrow to create a virus that spreads continuously to the community.

All those who were once lost in beautiful dreams now find everything around them transformed into a sinister and terrifying nightmare, constantly frightening them.

The things I fear most are constantly being unearthed, the things I fear most are replayed before my eyes, and the creatures I fear most keep crawling out from every dark corner.

It could be a silent stillness, a loud scream, the pungent smell of blood, rotting flesh, or a desperate cry.

Fear is a virus that spreads silently throughout the group, and the fear brought by that group constantly intensifies, replenishing the scarecrow's power and causing its level to rise continuously.

The phantom behind Cheng Xing became increasingly solid, and he could feel the personality of Federico, which he had finally managed to defeat, constantly resurfacing, making him forget love, hatred, and pity, and immersing him in fear.

However, Cheng Xing would not allow himself to completely succumb to depravity. He did something very simple: he separated those powers from his consciousness.

He inserted an eye.

Yes, this is a technique learned from Fiddlesticks: dispersing one's consciousness and power to become a new scarecrow.

However, this scarecrow has no bottom line of integrity or personality; it is a truly nightmarish devil.

Cheng Xing's series of swift and terrifying actions greatly disrupted the consciousness of the Herrscher of Knowledge. She wanted to stop that terrifying nightmare from being born from her consciousness, but it was too late.

Cheng Xing himself was terrified that a demon had been born, so he didn't hesitate to immediately leave the dream and turn around and run away.

"Let's go!"

Cheng Xing was never blinded by anger. He knew that although he could quickly and accurately kill that guy with his own strength, his personality and consciousness would be assimilated by the scarecrow in many ways, and he would turn back into the Fiddlesticks in the simulation who killed indiscriminately and created fear.

At that time, he was Federico, not Cheng Xing.

The book's title will be changed to "The Destruction Story of the Scarecrow's Honkai Impact 3rd".

Cheng Xing returned to the outside world and then waited for the floating, illusory body in the sky to be completely shattered.

Some people might ask, wouldn't this split scarecrow create a huge hidden danger?

Hmm... not at all, because that scarecrow is also under my control. After all, although the Herrscher of Domination can only control one target, and that target must not be too powerful, or rather, its consciousness must not be too powerful.

However, there are basically no restrictions on manipulating the things that split off from oneself.

Aside from the fact that you can only control one, which is a very frustrating condition.

While quietly awaiting the Herrscher's death, Cheng Xing suddenly remembered a question: if he hadn't intervened, how exactly was this Herrscher defeated?

"Indeed, this Herrscher of Consciousness is not someone that the people I know can kill. So how did she die? And in this simulated scenario, if no one harbors strong love or hate for me, wouldn't everything I do change the past?"

Just then, the system popped up to explain.

"Host, let me explain it to you like this: the situation I simulated for you was a selection from a stretch of time in the past, and then I put it into the timeline. Everything you did in it will be recorded, but if no one has a very strong understanding of you, then this recorded information will be erased when the timeline returns to normal."

"There must be someone who has a very strong perception of your existence, otherwise time will bring everything back on track, and only love or hate can achieve that effect."

"You don't need to worry that everything in the so-called simulation is fake, because it really happened in the past. Oh, of course, some simulations are inherently illusory. In those simulations, you can only experience the abilities and physical qualities of the simulated character but cannot use anything else. That's what's called immersive simulation."

"...So, I will definitely go back to the past in the future and meet Aponia and the others, right? It's just that I haven't reached that future yet, so many things are still buried by time, right?"

"Simulation ended."

Cheng Xing's power cord was disconnected by the system.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Mental Illness is Cured

"The simulation has ended, and the secret of the special singularity has been cancelled."

"After evaluation, your performance this time was mediocre. The reward you receive is: the sickle used by the scarecrow."

"Your performance has been very lackluster. The higher-level narrators are not satisfied with your performance, or rather, your recent performance has indeed been rather subpar. They hope you can provide us with more entertainment. The origin of this system is that simple. There's no need to think about any strange conspiracy theories anymore. I'm just here to provide entertainment for the higher-level dimensional beings."

"Please note that this system is really just a machine and a program. Please do not have any strange ideas."

Cheng Xing stared at the subtitles displayed on his retina with a question mark on his face, then looked blankly at the tattered scythe lying to the side.

"Damn, you really hate trouble. Just say it all. And another thing, system, a professional system can transform into a female character and become its host's wife. You can't even do that. Are you even a qualified system?"

Perhaps because he has completely eliminated the personality influences brought by the Thousand Lawyers and Federico, Cheng Xing has now reverted to being the same unreliable otaku he used to be.

That guy who has his own ideas, likes to joke, and has his own bottom line.

And it's neither sentimental nor pretentious.

What kind of pretentious, melodramatic thing is this? Someone else didn't fall in love with me anymore, and they only saved me out of a sense of redemption. I cried and screamed that the world rejected me. What kind of pretentious, melodramatic thing is this?

And then, because the girl he had only cared for for a while had a better future and thought she no longer needed him, he committed suicide?

What's wrong with you, bro? Can't you get your brain checked? I think you might need to see a specialist in this area; maybe they can help.

Now, when Cheng Xing recalls his previous expression of compassion and world-weariness, he feels like he wants to carve out a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment.

"It's all the fault of the Thousand-Man Herrscher! After being defeated, he became a twisted Kiana fan, and then Fiddlesticks brought me all this chaotic thinking, which made me inexplicably sick before! I should have listened to the system and gone to see a doctor. I really do have a mental illness!"

Cheng Xing now wishes he could go back in time and erase all his dark history. He suddenly wants the system to go back in time, simulate his past self, change the future, and claim that it can do anything!

"But having a period of mental illness has brought me a girlfriend who will have a wonderful future, so it seems like a pretty good deal!"

Thinking this, Cheng Xing transformed back into a crow and went to Bronya's bedside. Looking at the sleeping girl, he pondered for a moment, left a letter, stuffed the feather he had left behind into it, and then left again.

When Bronya woke up the next morning, she wanted to look for the figure beside her, but found that he had already left sometime earlier.

However, she soon discovered a letter left on her pillow.

"When you wake up, I'll be on the other side of the world. Don't worry about me. I'm now a senior executive at a private company with a great salary and benefits. Just take good care of yourself here. Although I accept your confession, I really don't want to get arrested by the police if I go out. This is a great place. Theresa is a good dean, and Himeko is a very (boldly) good teacher. Enjoy your school life here. If you miss me, you can contact me using the phone number below."

Signed: The Scarecrow.

Bronya picked up the black raven feather, and a smile appeared on her originally delicate, expressionless face—a very, very beautiful smile.

Cheng Xing pushed open the bar door again, a rather smirk on his face. He whistled at Raven, who was wiping glasses behind the bar, and said, "Hey! Raven! I'm back. A glass of milk, please!"

Raven nearly crushed the glass she was wiping. Why was this guy back again? And the first thing he did was order milk, something so childish, like in a bar.

However, for the sake of the money, Raven still took a carton of milk from under his counter and handed it to Cheng Xing.

"It seems like your mood has changed a lot since you came back from your trip."

Raven looked at the guy, whose fake smile was no longer on his face, with some strangeness.

"Oh, so you had already noticed before? I really didn't expect that such a seemingly aloof senior would pay attention to the inner thoughts of a junior. I'm so touched. It seems that the money I gave him wasn't wasted after all?"

Cheng Xing's expression was extremely moved, and before Raven could lash out, he took out a wad of US dollars and stuffed it into his hand.

"……call!"

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round, and Cheng Xing gave too much!

After finishing a glass of milk, Cheng Xing left without lingering. Before leaving, he called out to the raven behind him.

Goodbye, Little Island Boom Duck!

After saying that, he ran away as fast as he could, afraid that the raven behind him would pull out its bow and shoot him through.

The raven had a strange expression.

"How did this guy mention the nickname that woman gave me? Does it mean he went there sometime ago?"

After handing the document to Gray Snake, Cheng Xing returned to his residence. Looking at the empty villa, he didn't feel lonely or sad, but instead exclaimed, "I'm rich now!"

Then he went online and did something he never dared to think of before.

That means buying all the AAA games available online.

"Wuhu! Let's have a blast!"

As he spoke, Cheng Xing opened Kallen Fantasy.

Since the intense shock she experienced last time, Cocolia has become much more restrained in her actions and has also kept silent about Bronya's situation, refraining from interfering with or paying attention to her.

After all, that guy might come through the internet cable and scare me again, right? That would be terrifying.

What she was truly afraid of was not the horrific scene, but the fact that her life and actions were not under her control and that she was being threatened and manipulated by others.

"Therefore I must obtain even greater power!"

As Cocolia looked at the clone submerged in the culture tank, her ambition for power and desire grew ever stronger.

"Conquer the gems, and you must reclaim them!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Immersive Simulation