Becoming a Cosplay Master in the World of Honkai Impact 3rd

"It's true, just as the rumors say, you're adorable."

Flattery, no matter how it's delivered, always gets through!

Even if Li Pu hadn't deeply understood Theresa, it didn't mean he didn't understand her. On the contrary, Li Pu understood her very well. At least, all of Theresa's character models on the "Honkai Impact 3rd" game were unlocked, and all her outfits were acquired.

If nothing else, calling her "World's Cutest" was a safe bet.

Such flattery did seem to ease the atmosphere a bit.

'But isn't hiring usually handled by HR or other administrative departments?' Li Pu thought with some trepidation. 'Why is Theresa personally handling this?'

"Hee hee hee~" Theresa wore a cunning smile on her youthful face, one that didn't quite match her age.

"I heard Mr. Li Pu had a bit of a conflict with a student from the academy today. Is that true?"

"It was just a minor misunderstanding," Li Pu explained helplessly. "I tried to explain, but she just wouldn't believe me. There's nothing I could do."

"The students in the academy can be a bit stubborn. I hope Mr. Li Pu won't take it to heart," Theresa said. "However, your astonishing feat today was quite surprising."

"I couldn't beat anyone anyway~" Li Pu shrugged. "I won't take that to heart either."

"That's good~ That's good." Theresa took a form from her desk and placed it on the table. "This is your employment registration form."

"If you don't have any other questions, then fill it out and hand it in to the HR department."

"You'll be officially hired."

"Oh, oh, that..." Li Pu didn't have any problems, or rather, he had a difficult secret. He scratched his head and said, "Um... could I possibly get an advance on my salary?"

"This! It's not that I want to take the money and run, it's just that I'm really broke lately..."

Li Pu didn't want to say it like this, but reality was just that dire. Without an advance, he'd have to start eating inorganic matter.

"Hahahaha~" Theresa laughed heartily, showing no signs of displeasure. "It's fine. Since you were recommended by the Raiden Group, I trust your character."

"You can have an advance for half a month's salary, but I do have one question."

"Are you really over 20 years old?"

"We don't hire child labor."

Of course, he was, at least in terms of mental age. As for his actual age in this life, well, it had only been a thousand and one days since he transmigrated.

But that wasn't important. What was important was that he finally had a job today!

"This is truly a long-awaited, wonderful beginning." Li Pu had already changed into his work uniform: a gray canvas outfit with a baseball cap. He held a bucket in his left hand and a mop in his right.

"Time to start today's janitorial work... As if!"

"I, Li Pu, am learned in all things and understand everything!" Li Pu threw the mop to the ground in anger. "To think they'd make me, such a talented individual, do this!"

"Damn that eternally young loli, making a great scholar like me do this!"

"Really..."

"Gotta endure."

Li Pu was truly unhappy. He was furious but had no way to vent. After complaining for a long time, he picked up the mop again and said with self-pity, "Forget it. Who told me I don't have a diploma, no degree certificate, not even a graduation certificate?"

"From now on, if anyone tells me society doesn't care about diplomas, I'll smash their heads in!"

He had been rejected from a thousand jobs. Besides his seemingly underage face and lack of any proof of his education, he also hadn't been interested in these ordinary manual labor jobs in the first place.

He never expected to end up doing this.

"Forget it~ Forget it." Li Pu leaned against the window frame behind him, wanting to smoke a cigarette. But then he remembered it was a girls' school and decided against it.

"I still have to work. Otherwise, I'll just have to live off a woman."

"Speaking of which, I think I had a quest..."

Li Pu suddenly remembered something very important. After transmigrating, he seemed to have completed his first quest, a very crucial one.

Li Pu immediately closed his eyes and silently chanted, "King of Understanding System, Li Pu, activate."

As soon as he finished chanting, the darkness before his eyes suddenly gained a bit of light and shadow. Golden light appeared in his vision.

A point of golden light rapidly spread, followed by countless characters he couldn't understand flashing before his eyes.

As the characters increased, borders gradually appeared, along with some text he could understand and some patterns he could recognize.

'King of Understanding System is online. Hello, Li Pu, welcome.'

The next second, a synthesized female voice, as emotional as possible, sounded in Li Pu's ear.

"Congratulations, you have completed the final item of the system's initial quest, 'Find a Job'." the system voice said. "Initial quest complete, you have obtained a title."

'Equipping this title will increase your learning speed by 5%, increase your damage resistance by 50%, and give you a 50% chance to trigger Novice Protection.'

'Congratulations on obtaining a chance to draw. We hope you continue to advance on the path to becoming the King of Understanding.'

The system, this was probably something every transmigrator would have.

It's just that Li Pu's system seemed a bit more primitive.

It didn't act cute, it didn't sell itself, and it didn't provide any loans to the transmigrator. Of course, it also didn't have a system store to provide transmigrators with strange items.

It only issued quests, with rewards for completion. If a quest wasn't completed, and if it didn't feel like it was blocking progress...

There's no penalty for not completing it.

The first mission the system gave Li Pu was "Survival in Another World." This involved getting an ID, opening a bank account, finding a place to live, buying food and furniture, and finding a job.

The tasks seemed straightforward, and the initial ones were easy enough.

The system provided Li Pu with 50,000 yuan in starting funds, and he successfully completed the first few tasks.

However, the last task wasn't as easy to complete.

Without any diplomas and nothing to show for his work experience besides his ID, coupled with his youthful appearance that made him look like a middle or high school student, Li Pu struggled.

This meant he couldn't find his ideal job, and any jobs he did find were unrelated to his aspirations.

After searching for so long, he thought his luck had turned when he met Mei, believing he might finally find a decent job.

But it turned out to be the same kind of work.

He didn't know what to say.

"System," Li Pu shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it and focusing his attention on the last item the system had given him. "What's this lottery thing?"

"Lottery: a method of deciding rewards or recipients by drawing lots," the system explained. "For you."

"You can choose to draw characters, equipment, or a side quest."

Chapter 2: To Be a King of Understanding, You Need Great Luck

"Characters? Equipment? Side quests?"

Li Pu felt like his system was playing a joke on him.

"Never mind the equipment and characters for now; I can understand those if I have to draw them," Li Pu grumbled. "But you even have to draw for side quests?"

"Shouldn't missions just be given directly?"

"Drawn missions are considered bonus missions," the system explained after Li Pu finished complaining. "For side quests, besides the mission rewards, the objectives, procedures, and completion conditions can all be customized."

"They are custom missions, and the rewards are determined by the evaluation of the mission after it's submitted."

"Tch~" Li Pu pouted after hearing the system's explanation. "Don't you get rewards for completing missions? This lottery system is completely meaningless."

"Missions are bonus missions with non-fixed rewards. Drawing is simply about whether you can obtain the qualification to create a mission," the system explained to Li Pu again. "These missions will definitely have rewards, and the more difficult they are, the more generous the rewards will be. Missions given by the system have fixed rewards and do not become more generous with increased difficulty."

"This means the main mission will only grant one chance to draw, regardless of what kind of mission is executed."

This time, Li Pu finally understood what these side quests were all about. It seemed his system was quite different from others.

Other people's systems found trouble for the transmigrators, but his system made him find trouble for himself!

Since the mission system was so different from others, surely the characters and equipment were different too?

"What about the characters and equipment?" Li Pu glanced at his system interface. "It seems there's only a mission release system and a lottery system. Where's the mission shop? Why isn't that here?"

"Items in this system can only be obtained through the lottery. They cannot be purchased with money or points."

"Scam! Truly a scam!" Li Pu complained even more when he heard this. "Did Tencent or miHoYo write this system? You can only draw, you don't sell anything."

"Characters obtained through the lottery can acquire things that are normally unobtainable when equipped," the system immediately explained, hearing Li Pu's complaints. "These include, but are not limited to, the character's 'wisdom,' 'memories,' 'abilities,' and so on."

"Items obtained through the lottery include, but are not limited to, 'weapons,' 'armor,' 'electronic products,' 'vehicles,' and so on."

"And the sources of these items include, but are not limited to, 'anime,' 'manga,' 'games,' and so on."

"The themes include, but are not limited to, 'sci-fi,' 'fantasy,' 'magic,' 'superpowers,' and so on."

"Oh... I think I get it now." After listening to the system's explanation, Li Pu had a general understanding of how his system worked.

Although it didn't offer a system shop, it could provide some strange and wonderful items.

However, unlike other systems with clear pricing, he would have to rely on his luck to get what he wanted.

"I'm quite confident in my luck," Li Pu said confidently, stroking his chin. "If I'm going to draw... then... then I'll draw a character first."

Thinking about it, missions were actually the most difficult. Drawing was about getting the qualification to create a mission, which already increased the difficulty of obtaining the final reward. Secondly, the more difficult the mission, the more generous the reward, forcing the transmigrator to increase the difficulty of their custom missions.

Therefore, obtaining the final reward had many prerequisites.

Equipment, on the other hand, was relatively easier. The scope of equipment was too broad, and equipment was actually somewhat specialized.

This specialization could be for the real-world environment or for usage conditions, and it didn't specify what equipment you would get.

So, drawing for equipment wasn't particularly worthwhile.

Especially since equipment would definitely require future maintenance, and investing in that right after getting a stable income was a bit too early.

The best option was truly characters. Once obtained, according to the system's explanation, one could acquire the character's 'wisdom,' 'memories,' 'abilities,' and so on.

If he drew a good character, his own improvement would be immediate and tangible.

He hadn't heard any news about Honkai yet, but this was Changkong City, and this was St. Freya High School! If he drew a good character.

His self-preservation ability would be greatly improved.

"That's it," Li Pu finally made his decision after careful consideration. "I've decided to draw a character!"

"Please draw the symbol you wish for on this summoning card, connecting it in one stroke," the system said in its emotionless electronic voice. "Note that you only have one chance, and this is merely a cutscene. The character summoned has no relation to the pattern you draw or its complexity."

"Please begin."

"This…" Li Pu looked at the paper floating before him, written as 'paper' but read as 'card', and said, "Is your boss running a pig farm?"

This gacha system is too much like Onmyoji!

He had no words, no words at all.

Li Pu thought about it and casually drew a five-pointed star on it. After all, it was the most complex pattern he could think of that could be drawn in one stroke, and it also had a certain religious feel.

With a single stroke, a not-so-nice-looking five-pointed star appeared on the paper charm.

Then, the paper charm began to burn. Red flames from bottom to top engulfed the paper charm. Just as it was about halfway burned, a real card began to appear.

First, a corner appeared, and as it gradually burned, it was fully revealed before Li Pu.

"Well, I'll be, it's a Lunar person?" Li Pu exclaimed, looking at the card. "This… this has too many elements!"

Yes, after the paper charm finished burning, a card appeared that, while not a complete copy, had a very similar basic composition and color scheme.

When the card was completely revealed before Li Pu, another change occurred.

A white light began to emanate from the center of the card, spreading outwards in a circular motion. Once the entire card was bathed in white light.

The white light suddenly dissipated, and the actual character illustration appeared before Li Pu.

"Character: Artoria Pendragon, Rank A."

"Long-term mission 'How to Become the King of Understanding' activated."

"Character mission 'No One Understands King Arthur Better Than I Do' activated."

"Normal mission 'If You're a Man, Last Five Minutes' activated."

Chapter 3: The King of Understanding System Also Likes to Rip People Off