But that peace of mind did not last long, because Arbiter Chang'an suddenly got clever and found some helpers.
Several million mindless Death Warriors, along with Honkai Beasts that did not worship Ye Chang'an.
"My kin, tear them apart!"
Having failed to win even with a sword, Arbiter Chang'an shamelessly sent the cannon fodder forward. Truly worthy of the First Herrscher.
The instruments surrounding him seemed to be mocking him as they began playing a piece together.
A microphone replicated itself on its own, and Ye Chang'an's voice came through.
"Everyone, get your ears ready. Next, I'll bring you a song that isn't my original work."
""TruE.""
P.S. Bonus chapter for breaking zero. Thanks to readers @{"reader_id":"6948104","reader_name":"Carefree"} and @{"reader_id":"9609730","reader_name":"Stars Soaring Through the Sky"} for their support and tips.
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: 35. You're Already an Arbiter, and You're Still Thinking About Music?
"At exactly midnight on December 25, German time, you were chosen to become the First Herrscher."
A gentle female voice sounded close to his ear. The dizziness in his mind gradually faded, and Ye Chang'an finally came to his senses and continued his unfinished words.
"Because I have a friend... Uh... what?"
He froze halfway through, because he realized he was not on the stage. Instead, he was floating above a vast ocean.
There was nowhere to stand. He was simply suspended in the air.
The view was excellent. As far as the eye could see, it was all fucking ocean.
But why was he here?
"Where is this? How did I get here?"
He was completely baffled.
"This is your sea of consciousness. After your body was occupied by the Cocoon of the End's projection, you were trapped here." The gentle female voice gave him a considerate reply, and Ye Chang'an immediately recognized its owner.
001, the system's temporary customer service representative, the one who had had no presence whatsoever since the Simulation of Destruction began.
But this was not the time to fuss over that, because the other news was far more explosive.
"How the fuck did I become an Arbiter?"
Ye Chang'an was stunned. His eyes widened in disbelief.
After all, the condition for an Arbiter's birth was being within a disaster zone when the instantaneous output during a Destruction outbreak reached over 1,000 HW. Yet he had not felt that much Destruction energy at the concert venue at all.
In other words, he had become an Arbiter without any warning, without even getting the chance to react.
It was unreasonable, but there seemed to be no other explanation.
"Hiss... This is going to be troublesome."
He did not spend much time being shocked over his transformation into an Arbiter. The troubles he would face after becoming one immediately occupied his thoughts.
He was still alive, but he felt like he was about to die.
Because, in preparation for an Arbiter appearing, he had had Old K deploy forces in advance.
His plan had been to run the moment an Arbiter appeared and wait for Old K to bombard it to death.
The Arbiter had indeed appeared, but the Arbiter was himself.
Was this some kind of suicide achievement grind?
What a headache.
"001, is there still a way for me to survive?" Ye Chang'an asked.
"You can survive by ending the simulation."
That was as good as saying nothing. What Ye Chang'an needed was not that kind of way to survive.
Feeling that 001 was no help, Ye Chang'an sighed and propped his head up as he looked out over the sea, considering the possibility of staying alive.
—Arbiters in the Previous Civilization had no chance of regaining their humanity, because Elysia had not yet modified the Cocoon of the End's trial mechanism.
—The projected Arbiter only knows how to carry out the trial, while the original owner of the vessel should be suppressed deep within the sea of consciousness like me, unable to resist... Hmm, wait.
He suddenly sensed that something was wrong. He looked around at the vast ocean, confirming that this was indeed his own sea of consciousness.
After forging his sword heart, he had been able to sense the existence of this thing.
He could still sense it even after his sword heart shattered, though the seawater within had dried up.
It was only because the appearance of Chang'an Melody nourished his sea of consciousness and opened up springs within it that this vast ocean now existed.
In other words, he should be different from those in the Previous Civilization who had become Arbiters.
"I have a sea of consciousness. They didn't."
"I can stay here. They might not have been able to."
"After becoming an Arbiter, I can think in here. After becoming Arbiters, they might not have retained the ability to think."
If there was a difference, then there was a turning point.
Perhaps he could search this sea of consciousness and see whether he could find the Cocoon of the End's projection.
After all, he and the projection were using the same vessel. Physiologically speaking, they should be in the same sea of consciousness.
If he could find it, then grab it and beat it to death, perhaps he could recover.
"Let's go look."
Thinking of it, he did it. Ye Chang'an began soaring through the skies above his sea of consciousness. He circled around without finding the projection, but he did find a stretch of land.
There was a city on that land, a stage, and several million people.
"(⊙o⊙)... What the hell is this?"
He was dumbfounded, unable to believe it.
Because this was where he had held his concert in Germany's capital, and those people were all audience members who had come to watch his performance.
But why were they here?!
Ye Chang'an flew over in confusion to investigate. The audience below, still in chaos, also saw him and began waving, cheering, and calling his name.
"Chang'an, Chang'an, you finally came back."
"Chang'an, where did you go just now?"
The audience asked questions all at once. Ye Chang'an found it hard to answer. After signaling everyone to quiet down, he picked a few people and asked about the situation.
He learned that they had been watching the concert here when they suddenly saw him vanish from the stage. Not knowing what to do, they had somehow ended up waiting here.
That was as good as saying nothing. Ye Chang'an was speechless.
—You guys don't even know you're dead, do you?
These audience members had definitely died. How could anyone watching the First Herrscher's birth possibly still be alive?
But their deaths bringing them into his sea of consciousness reminded him of something—the birth of the First Herrscher in the Current Civilization.
Welt Joyce became an Arbiter during the Great Collapse of Berlin in 1952, causing roughly three hundred thousand deaths.
There seemed to have been some process of gathering up the fragments of those people's minds, but Ye Chang'an could not remember clearly.
In any case, the core of the Arbiter of Reason in the Current Civilization contained the mental fragments of those three hundred thousand people. They were also an important factor in turning the First Herrscher into an Arbiter who stood with humanity.
—If I can gain the recognition of these millions of people, I should be able to recover, right?
He was not sure, but it was worth trying. It was not like he had anything else to do.
So Ye Chang'an returned to the stage and gave the audience a brilliant smile.
"Everyone, it seems a lot happened just now. You're confused, and I'm confused too.
But let's put aside the things we can't figure out for now. How about some music to relax?"
He still did not use a microphone, yet everyone could hear his voice.
"Okay!" the audience shouted in unison, too lazy to dwell on all that messy nonsense.
Since they had come to a concert, they should properly enjoy the music.
"Okay, then let's begin."
Ye Chang'an smiled and reached toward his waist to take out his flute, only to grab empty air.
—Uh, where the hell is my instrument?
Was he supposed to sing without an instrument? What kind of joke was that?
—Give me an instrument.
He thought it, he needed it, and so he got it.
A flute appeared in his hand, and he froze for a moment.
—Oh, this is my sea of consciousness. I just have to think of whatever instrument I need.
He smiled. All kinds of instruments instantly surfaced in his mind. He was familiar with every single one, and he could play them all.
Then those instruments appeared one after another. Whatever he imagined, he had.
Moreover, he felt that he could control every instrument to perform. They could produce sound without being manually played.
"Let's start with a classic—Chang'an Melody."
With a snap of his fingers, the flute automatically began playing Chang'an Melody, sounding exactly like when he played it himself.
—Wonderful. This is absolutely wonderful.
Ye Chang'an was overjoyed, because this was an ability he had dreamed of possessing.
Controlling multiple instruments alone, then performing a flawless symphony.
A single person's strength was limited. As a performer, he could only use one instrument at a time.
The strength of the masses was difficult to coordinate. The coordinated performances of orchestras always struggled to achieve ideal results.
If one person could become an entire ensemble, how wonderful would the music they wove together be?
Ye Chang'an was excited, so excited that he completely forgot he had become an Arbiter.
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: 36. Answer Me, Elysia~
Ye Chang'an was so excited that he was practically having an orgasm in his brain. Once "Chang'an Melody" ended, he decided on the song he wanted to try.
TruE, Elysia's character song.
There was no special reason. It was simply his favorite among the character songs in Honkai Impact 3rd.
Now that he had the chance to create BGM as a one-man ensemble, of course he wanted to try it.
So he recalled that soul-stirring melody, analyzed which instruments it required, and finally conjured a microphone in his hand with complete confidence.
"Everyone, get your ears ready. Next, I'll bring you a song that isn't my original work."
""TruE.""
He did not actually need a microphone. He only held one because holding a microphone made him look more like a singer.
So his microphone had always been nothing more than decoration, but he had never considered that his voice would be transmitted through it to the Arbiter's side.
"..." Looking at the pile of things that had inexplicably begun playing and making sounds, the Arbiter remained indifferent and silent, paying them no attention.
He did not care why those things had appeared or who was controlling them. In any case, they had nothing to do with what he needed to accomplish.
So he let the melody ring out, only to discover... that the Destruction energy in his body was disappearing.
Someone was using it up, and its purpose was amplification, with a range covering nearly every corner of the planet.
Before you continue