Honkai Simulator: Not for Kidnapping Herrschers!

"Don't worry, don't worry, this level of injury won't kill anyone, it's just a bit painful..."

Chen Ran's pain was feigned.

It was the only way to distract Wendy.

As expected, Wendy said, "I'll get you some more alcohol."

"The bandages are already tied, what's the point of more alcohol?" Chen Ran said, and as he spoke, he actually started to feel the pain from his wounds.

His nerves and skin had been injured, and after the alcohol evaporated, the pain became extremely intense.

Chen Ran's body immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"Does it hurt?"

Wendy couldn't move her legs and could only sit in her wheelchair, holding Chen Ran's hand with her palm, looking at him with concern.

As an excellent student, Wendy could naturally tell how powerful the assassin who attacked Chen Ran was. Even if Chen Ran was prepared and his life was no longer in danger, it didn't mean he was completely fine.

After all, Chen Ran was just an ordinary person.

If only there was a way to help him recover... even if it just reduced some of the pain.

At this moment, Wendy didn't know that the data monitoring equipment installed on her at the Oceanic Branch was showing abnormal data on the computer terminal.

The rejection rate between her body and the Herrscher Core was beginning to decrease.

"To be honest, it really hurts."

"It's as outrageous as Lin Daiyu uprooting the willow tree, or Ximen Qing punching Jiang Menshen."

Wendy was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. "I don't understand what you're saying. Can you stop joking?"

Fine sweat from the pain of the alcohol's phản ứng flowed down Chen Ran's face, and Wendy quickly brought a handkerchief to wipe it away.

Her voice was filled with anxiety, "What... what can I do to make the pain lessen?"

Chen Ran still had the leisure to joke, "A kiss will make it stop hurting."

Wendy's face instantly turned red.

"You're still joking at a time like this, then you must be fine."

She turned her head away, deliberately forcing herself not to look at Chen Ran lying on the hospital bed.

Chen Ran, on the other hand, was also getting tired.

He was injured and had lost a lot of blood, so he was already very sleepy. Now that things seemed to be resolved, his spirits relaxed slightly, and the sleepiness washed over him like a tide.

His wounds still hurt, but with the help of medication from the Oceanic Branch, the pain had lessened.

Humans are actually very resilient creatures. As the sleepiness swept over him, he closed his eyes.

Hearing the gradually steady breathing in the private medical room, the blush on Wendy's face began to fade.

She turned back and looked at Chen Ran, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

The young man lay quietly on the white hospital bed, his face pale from blood loss. The sunlight filtering through the gauze window shone on his face, bright and gentle.

"What a surprise, you're always talking nonsense, but you look quite handsome lying here quietly."

She hesitated for a moment, then took Chen Ran's left hand with both of hers and gently leaned down.

A kiss landed on the back of his hand.

Chapter Sixteen: The Third Honkai War from Afar

Chen Ran lay on the hospital bed for many days.

Perhaps it was because he had died once, or perhaps because he was in the same environment and didn't need complex scene rendering, his consciousness's carrying capacity hadn't reached its limit.

Just like a computer consuming extra memory to load a scene, entering a new environment in a simulation required a mental burden.

This system was very scientific.

"Damn it, why didn't it give me a sign-in system? Just punch in at Flame-Chaser and get a Herrscher Core, so much easier."

"Don't all protagonists in novels defeat villains like this?"

He muttered to himself, not expecting anyone to understand.

As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to recover from broken bones, and although Schicksal's medical technology had skipped much of that time, necessary recovery was still needed.

However, today was the last day.

Chen Ran heard a knock on the door and immediately shut his mouth.

A Sub-God Machine robot opened the door and pushed Wendy in front of him.

"You should be able to be discharged today, right? Don't you need a few more days of observation?"

Chen Ran felt his wounds and said, "No need. The wounds are all healed. If I don't get discharged soon, someone will snatch my job."

Wendy blinked. "Isn't your job to take care of me?"

She had learned during this time that Chen Ran was assigned by the Oceanic Branch to specifically look after her.

Although due to the accident, Wendy had ended up visiting him more often.

"Ah, nominally," Chen Ran said.

"Nominally?"

"Actually, I just wanted to slack off," he said. "You have no idea how competitive the job of looking after you is. You're quiet, cute, and don't cause trouble. Several colleagues have already asked to swap with me. They've been chewed out by their department heads."

With the numerous failures of the Divine Right Plan and the looming threat of unknown enemies, the atmosphere within the Divine Right Plan project team had been less than ideal lately.

Wendy chuckled, "So, in simple terms, you just wanted to slack off."

"Why call it slacking off when it's a win-win situation?"

Chen Ran blinked. "But I can't stay here now. If I left you in the care of a Sub-God Machine, wouldn't that make me look useless?"

"In that case, I'd have to obediently go back and get scolded too."

Undoubtedly, Wendy did not agree with Chen Ran's approach to shirking responsibility.

Just as Chen Ran was about to get up and handle the discharge procedures, an unexpected person arrived.

The lead person in charge of the Divine Right Plan at the Oceanic Branch, with a stern expression, looked at him. "Researcher Chen, let's talk privately."

In a small conference room at the Oceanic Branch.

The lead person in charge was a middle-aged man, around forty, with black hair but a long, thin face, appearing to be of mixed heritage.

However, no one would underestimate him because of his appearance. Being in charge of the Divine Right Plan was proof enough of his qualifications and strength.

Yet, Chen Ran remained unfazed.

In his subconscious, everything here was a simulation.

Simulation meant falsehood, meaning no matter the situation, he had a fallback.

He asked, "Dear Supervisor... apologies, I don't know your name yet, so do I have a mission now?"

The long-faced supervisor didn't seem to mind Chen Ran's disrespect. He said, "I apologize for the attack you suffered. It was Schicksal's negligence that we failed to protect you."

"It's been so long, so is there any compensation?"

"Yes, and quite a bit," he said. "However, your workload will increase from now on."

Chen Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.

He knew this supervisor wouldn't have brought him to a private room just for an apology. This was the real point.

"On March 28, 2014, around 2 PM in the Far East region, a Honkai outbreak occurred in Changkong City. I won't dwell on the death toll of this outbreak; you will see these figures through various channels soon enough."

"However, the Herrscher of Thunder, born from this Honkai outbreak, is a girl into whom Anti-Entropy injected the Conquest Gem. Her name is Raiden Mei. She has now been recovered by the Far East Branch and has been determined to possess human consciousness."

Chen Ran's pupils contracted slightly.

He had anticipated the Third Honkai War would happen, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon.

Furthermore, the entire process of Raiden Mei becoming a Herrscher and then a human was eerily similar to the experiments conducted by the Oceanic Branch.

"There's no need to continue experiments for the Divine Right Plan," he said. "From now on, sufficient data calculation will be enough for simulation, classification, and summarization. In other words, the importance of this plan has been greatly reduced within Schicksal."

Using Herrscher Gems to allow humans to seize Herrscher authority had been proven feasible.

For Schicksal, or rather, for Otto, having one more or one less Herrscher combat unit didn't really matter.

The Divine Right Plan was merely a supplement to the Sirin Plan. If the Sirin Plan failed, the Divine Right Plan would be immediately prioritized.

As for Wendy herself, her fate was unimportant.

"What about Wendy?"

"There's no point in continuing the plan," he said. "Wendy is just a sunk cost for Schicksal."

Chen Ran understood the meaning of sunk cost.

It referred to expenses incurred in the past that were irrelevant to the current decision.

Clearly, from a purely rational standpoint, continuing the experiment was meaningless.

Anger surged through Chen Ran, and he grabbed the supervisor by his collar without thinking. "She's an A-rank Valkyrie!"

"Schicksal has plenty of A-rank Valkyries."

"She's hailed as the next S-rank Valkyrie!"

"But that's the future," the long-faced supervisor remained cold and ruthless.

"Schicksal doesn't need to increase its combat power. Even if the Divine Right Plan succeeded, Wendy, as a Herrscher, would face rejection from her fellow Valkyries and everyone in Schicksal. This is the best choice for her after careful consideration."

"This plan will be scrapped. The Divine Right Plan ends here."

"You bastard!" Chen Ran punched him directly in the face.

The man didn't dodge or evade, taking the punch head-on.

"Out of empathy, I understand your anger."

"But this is Schicksal, after all."

The head of the Divine Right Plan had left.

Chen Ran stood frozen in place, suddenly feeling at a loss.

He had originally thought that with Wendy's talent and potential, she would become the core of Schicksal's push for the Divine Right Plan.

But the answer was too cold and realistic.

Schicksal didn't need her.

Because they didn't need her, an A-rank Valkyrie's future was ruined.

Because they didn't need her, a young girl's future was gone.

To Schicksal, one more A-rank Valkyrie or one less made no difference. Even a future S-rank wasn't a bargaining chip worth negotiating with.

Even if they could obtain a Herrscher's authority, it still wasn't that important.

But Chen Ran was unwilling.

"System, I want to temporarily exit the simulation."

[Actively canceling the simulation scenario will result in reduced rewards. Are you sure?]

"I'm sure."

"If Schicksal won't do it, then I will!" Chen Ran thought to himself.