It must be miHoYo's doing.

In the distance, there was the roar of collapsing buildings. Mei quickly opened her terminal: "The city center has begun to be evacuated, but if this continues..."

"We will split up." Bronya decisively adjusted her weapon mode. "Kiana will be in charge of the east commercial district, and Mei will go to the south subway station."

"What about the residential area to the west?" Kiana tilted her head.

Bronya had already jumped onto the Heavy Armor Bunny: "I'll go."

As the three men rushed into the night separately, no one forgot that there was a world-class killer tied to the sycamore tree.

…………

On the plane tree in Shanghai's Central Park, the "cleaner" was awakened by a biting evening breeze.

"My head hurts..." He subconsciously tried to rub his temple, but found his wrists firmly fixed to the tree trunk. His memory was like a jigsaw puzzle—the last scene was of him packing up his equipment at the hotel, preparing to carry out his plan against Bronya Zajček.

"What on earth is this..."

"Wow! There's a foreign guy tied to a tree!"

The clear, young voice startled him. Three high school boys in school uniforms were standing under the tree, frantically taking pictures of him with their phones.

"This must be a new type of performance art!" The boy with glasses pushed up his glasses. "The 'Urban Prisoners' series?"

"Bullshit!" the chubby boy next to him retorted, "It must be a livestream! Uncle, what's your livestream room number?"

The cleaner's mouth twitched. A legend in his field, he once took out a team of mercenaries with his bare hands on the battlefield, yet now he was being watched by middle school students as if he were an internet celebrity.

"Listen, kids." He forced what he thought was his kindest smile. "I'm just..."

He suddenly stopped and looked down.

Damn it! I forgot I was already tied up!

Furthermore, he was bound by the β-3 tactical rope in his hand—a special fiber he knew how to use, capable of withstanding two tons of tension and featuring a built-in chemical timer that automatically dissolved after three hours. But within those three hours, he wouldn't be able to break free on his own...

"Damn it..." Cold sweat slid down his back. He had no idea why he tied himself up.

"Children," he said, his voice suddenly serious, "can you help me untie it? I'll give you each a thousand dollars."

The fat boy's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Wait!" The man with glasses suddenly became alert. "Could he be a fugitive? That's how it's played out in the movies..."

Volume 2 must be done by miHoYo! 乆! : 074 The killer enters the pit of "Honkai Impact 3"

"What kind of movie are you guys watching?!" The cleaner finally couldn't help but ask, "Have you ever seen a fugitive tie himself to a tree?"

The three high school boys looked at each other and seemed to be really thinking about this problem seriously.

The man wearing glasses pushed up his frames and said, "The Shawshank Redemption?"

The fat boy shook his head: "No, no, no, in Prison Break they also tied themselves up!"

The tall and thin man added: "There seems to be a similar scene in "Death Game"..."

The cleaner's mouth twitched. "...I mean real life! Who would do that in real life?!"

The three of them said in unison: "Performance artist!"

"..."

The cleaner took a deep breath and decided to give up struggling. "Well, I have a piece of rope in my pocket. First, tie my hands, and then help me untie the rope from the tree."

The fat boy's eyes lit up: "Ah! Reverse kidnapping tactics!"

The man with glasses nodded. "That makes sense. This way, even if you want to escape, it will be difficult for you to do so."

The tall and thin man added cautiously: "...but what if he is an expert?"

Janitor: "..." (Inner thought: Why am I talking about tactics with three high school students?)

In the end, the three of them followed his instructions carefully as if they were carrying out some important secret mission.

——Five minutes later, the "cleaner" was finally free.

He rubbed his wrists which were covered with red marks, and reached into his inner pocket to pull out a stack of brand new red banknotes.

"Thanks. One thousand each."

however--

The three high school students looked at each other and took out their mobile phones at the same time. Three payment codes lit up on the screen.

"Scan the code to pay!"

Cleaner: "???"

The tall and thin man said: "You don't want to default on your debt, do you?"

Fat boy: "That's right! That's what we agreed on!"

The man with glasses added: "Besides, cash is too troublesome. We have to go to the bank to deposit it."

Cleaner: "…………"

He awkwardly shook the cash in his hand. "This is all I have."

The expressions of the three people fell instantly.

"Oh, it's all in vain." The fat boy sighed.

"Who still uses cash these days?" The man with glasses shook his head.

The tall, thin man wailed even more: "I was planning to use this thousand dollars to buy Bronya's new form in Honkai Impact 3! Now I can't even spend this cash!"

The cleaner was just listening to their complaints helplessly, but a certain name suddenly pierced his ears——

"Wait, what did you just say? Bronya?"

Three pairs of eyes lit up instantly.

"Uncle! You also play Honkai Impact 3rd?"

"Holy crap! Met a like-minded person?!"

"Hurry, hurry! Add me as a friend! What's my UID?!"

The cleaner was speechless for a moment. He did know about Honkai Impact 3rd—after all, his assassination target was the company's chief designer, Bronya Zajček.

"Uh... I just heard about it, haha~"

The three boys immediately showed an expression that said "something is wrong with you", and then exchanged glances with each other, as if they had reached some kind of consensus.

"Uncle!" The fat boy suddenly put his arm around his shoulder enthusiastically, "Lend us your phone!"

The man with glasses smiled and said, "We'll help you download a copy of Honkai Impact 3rd!"

The tall and thin man added: "I'll take you into the pit for free!"

Janitor: "...wait, I haven't—"

after an hour.

The ropes that had bound the cleaner's hands had been undone at some point. He and three high school students were squatting on a stone pier by the street, their four phones neatly displaying the battle interface of Honkai Impact 3rd.

"Uncle! Look! This is Bronya's new armor—Herrscher!" the chubby boy excitedly pointed at the screen. "Her ultimate move is riding a motorcycle and smashing people! So cool!"

The man with glasses pushed up his glasses and said, "But based on DPS calculations, Herrscher of the Void is the answer in this meta."

The tall and thin man retorted: "Bullshit! Logic is faith!"

The cleaner stared at the silver-haired girl charging on a motorcycle on the screen, his brows slightly furrowed.

——This girl...why does she look so familiar?

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot into my temple. Blurred fragments of memory flashed by.

The silver-haired girl... the blue data stream... the gun barrel pressed against the back of his head...

"Hiss..." He covered his forehead.

"Uncle? What's wrong with you?" the fat boy asked with concern. "Did you get a card wreck?"

The cleaner forced a smile. "It's okay... maybe I have a little low blood sugar."

The tall, thin man immediately pulled out a bag of chocolates. "Here! Metaphysical snacks for card drawing!"

Cleaner: "..." (What kind of weird setting is this?)

Just as the four of them were immersed in the game, a loud noise suddenly came from the distant sky.

"boom--!!!"

A purple spatial crack tore open between the tall buildings, and a huge, twisted black shadow emerged from it.

The three high school students were so scared that they almost dropped their phones.

"Holy crap?! The game's special effects are real?!"

"No, no! This is... an alien invasion?!"

The cleaner stood up suddenly, his professional instinct making him instantly alert. But what shocked him even more was——

The shape of that monster is exactly the same as the "Imaginary God's Skeleton" in "Honkai Impact 3rd".

(Of course, he didn't know that this was the "evil creature from outer space" that Bronya and the others were dealing with.)

In the distance, a silver-white figure streaked across the night sky.

"Look! There's someone in the sky!" the fat boy exclaimed.

The cleaner narrowed his eyes——

It was a silver-haired girl riding a hover mecha, rushing towards the monster.

"Bro...Nia?"

He muttered to himself, and the shackles of memory seemed to loosen a little.

The three high school students have already thrown the land into chaos:

"Holy crap! Is that Bronya in real life?!"

"No, no! It must be cosplay!"

"But how do you explain that floating mecha?!"

The cleaner didn't reply.

He looked down at the Herrscher of Reason still fighting on his phone, then looked up at the real silver-haired girl in the distance. A certain absurd perception gradually took shape.

"Everything in that game... is it true?"

...............

With a loud "bang", a deep hole with a diameter of three meters was smashed into the asphalt road next to the three people. Amidst the flying gravel, a huge monster wrapped in black mist slowly stood up.

"Holy crap! This, this is..." The tall and thin boy's phone fell to the ground with a "click", and the screen was still on the card drawing interface of "Honkai Impact 3rd".

The chubby boy mechanically compared his phone to the monster in front of him. "Armor thickness 30cm... 105mm Honkai cannon on the right shoulder..." His voice trembled. "Isn't this the tank-class Honkai beast from the game?!"

The boy wearing glasses pushed his crooked frames and said, "According to the law of conservation of energy, this is impossible..."

"Now is not the time to talk about science!" The tall and thin man screamed, because the gun barrel on the monster's shoulder had already lit up with a dangerous purple light.

The cleaner's body moved faster than his mind. He lunged forward, his tactical dagger sliding from his sleeve into his palm. The metal collided with the Honkai beast's shell, sending sparks flying but leaving no trace.

"Damn it!" He cursed inwardly and yanked his insulin pen from his inner pocket. The needle pierced the monster's joint precisely, but the dose, enough to stop the heart of an adult elephant, was like a bucket of cold water—the Honkai Beast didn't even spare him a second glance.

The buzzing sound of the gun barrel being fully charged is chilling.

"You three! Run!" The cleaner turned around and yelled, only to see the scene that made his blood pressure soar.

Instead of running away, the three high school students simultaneously pulled out...baseball bats?

PS: Thanks to @{"reader_id":"13562412","reader_name":"This is a wonderful world"} for the monthly ticket and two blades orz~

Volume 2 must have been done by miHoYo! 乆! :075 We are... best friends who played Honkai Impact 3rd together!

"We won't let you face danger alone!" The chubby boy gripped the bat with both hands, striking a standard batting stance. The bat was prominently emblazoned with the gold-plated logo "Limited Edition with Kiana."

The tall, thin man's legs trembled, but he still took a step forward. "That's right! We're close friends who've been through a shipwreck together!"

"According to the game data," the man with glasses calmly pushed up his glasses, "the tank-class Honkai beast's weakness is the energy core on its back. If hit, there's a 13% chance of paralysis..."