Honkai Simulator: Not for Kidnapping Herrschers!

No one rejoiced at this news.

"Damn it!"

Theresa, upon hearing that Wendy had been captured, couldn't help but blame herself. "It's all my fault for not protecting her properly."

She had thought that having Hua protect Wendy would be foolproof, but no one expected Cocolia to create a clone of the Herrscher of the Void.

Although this clone was a bit strange, its ability wasn't creation but gravity control, it still managed to tie Hua down.

In that situation, Hua didn't even have time to put on her Valkyrie armor or grab a weapon. It was already impressive that she held on with just her physical strength.

She looked at Himeko lying in the infirmary and said self-reproachfully, "I'm sorry, I dragged you into this too."

"Don't say such foolish things. Taking care of students isn't just your responsibility," Himeko's voice was weak. She had already been injured in the fight against the Herrscher of Thunder, and this was just adding insult to injury.

But she didn't regret it.

"Instead of talking about this, why don't you go check on Chen Ran? You've seen how close he is to Wendy. I'm afraid he might do something foolish."

Theresa sighed at Himeko's words.

After Anti-Entropy's invasion was repelled, Theresa had asked Rita to investigate the source of the attack.

The Far East Branch had no intelligence-gathering capabilities, so she had to rely on Rita to collect information.

But intelligence took time, and she couldn't even begin to imagine what awaited Wendy.

Still, as the leader of the Far East Branch, Theresa had to pull herself together and go visit Chen Ran.

Fortunately, to Theresa's relief, Chen Ran was fine apart from excessive blood loss and some frostbite on his skin.

A medical staff member told her, "Mr. Chen Ran needs rest and to consume more sugar to replenish his energy. If you're worried, you can have him observed here."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Theresa breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Ran was still unconscious, so at least she had time to compose herself.

Just then, she heard footsteps and went to the door to look.

Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya had arrived at the infirmary.

"Auntie, we heard Himeko was injured and came to see her," Kiana said directly. "Is Himeko okay?"

"She's fine. But what about you all? Did last night's events affect you?" Theresa asked with concern.

Raiden Mei shook her head. "It happened in the middle of the night, and the fighting didn't reach us."

Bronya said calmly, "Headmaster, what exactly happened?"

"It was Anti-Entropy, and another unknown force. They were after Wendy."

Theresa slowly recounted the entire incident.

Theresa knew that Bronya was Cocolia's adopted daughter, but she chose to trust Bronya now, explaining the full story of how Chen Ran brought Wendy to the Far East without bias.

Kiana was stunned. "So that's what happened! Little Pudding, you even called him a liar."

Theresa looked puzzled. "What liar?"

Bronya hesitated. "Bronya thought Chen Ran's feelings for Wendy were somewhat insincere, but now it seems Bronya was wrong. Bronya will find an opportunity to apologize to Researcher Chen."

She had even considered exposing Chen Ran directly and revealing his true nature.

But now, she realized she was the one who was mistaken.

Raiden Mei said with slight worry, "But shouldn't Wendy's safety be the priority right now?"

Theresa replied, "I've already contacted headquarters to investigate the enemy. We can't act rashly until we have more information."

"Himeko's room is over there. Her injuries are mostly after-effects; she wasn't actually wounded last night," Theresa said. "I'm currently thinking about how to comfort Chen Ran."

Even the usually boisterous Kiana knew this wasn't a time for jokes.

However, they weren't very familiar with Chen Ran and didn't know how to comfort a stranger.

"We'll go see Teacher Himeko first," Raiden Mei said. "Headmaster, if you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask."

When Chen Ran woke up again, he saw Theresa sitting by his bedside.

Her head was nodding, and she looked very sleepy.

The Headmaster seemed to have dozed off, then jolted awake.

She met Chen Ran's eyes and instinctively became nervous. "Ah, ah, you're awake."

Chen Ran's voice was weak. "Yeah. Is there anything to eat? I'm starving."

Theresa quickly stood up. "I'll get you something to eat."

Theresa had no experience caring for others and brought back a pile of bitter gourds from somewhere.

Chen Ran looked at the verdant things and sighed. "When people are weak, it's best not to eat things that are too stimulating. Don't you have any chocolate here? Or an apple would be fine too."

"Ahhh, I'm so sorry, I'll get it right away."

Three minutes later, Chen Ran's mouth was finally graced with a chocolate.

With sufficient sugar intake, he felt his mind lighten considerably.

He looked at Theresa and saw her looking at him with an apologetic expression.

After a long pause, he said, "Is Teacher Himeko going to be alright?"

"Just like you, she'll be bedridden for a few days," Theresa replied instinctively.

Then, she apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't protect you all."

It wasn't so much that Anti-Entropy's attack was too sudden, but rather that Theresa had become too complacent.

She had lived for too long in peaceful times and hadn't experienced anything like this before. She had thought 'Schicksal' could deter everyone, but now it seemed she had been too naive.

Chen Ran shook his head, remaining silent.

His expression, however, was quite grim.

At that moment, two system notifications flashed in his mind.

[You have cleared the first simulated scenario. Upon ending the simulation, the System will issue corresponding rewards.]

[You can continue to enter this scenario for simulations in the future, but no further rewards will be issued, and correspondingly, there will be no limit to consciousness capacity.]

[Due to system limitations, subsequent entries into this scenario by the host will result in an unobservable quantum state, with zero impact on the future.]

[The second simulated scenario has been unlocked. You may choose to enter it after ending the current simulation.]

This message revealed two possibilities: 1. Wendy has become a controllable Herrscher within the Divine Right Plan; 2. Wendy has died.

Chapter 34: Bronya's Apology

When Chen Ran entered the simulated scenario, the System had already reminded him that everything he experienced was a simulated scenario, not reality.

The worst mistake was to confuse memories between reality and the simulation. Once lost within it, it could be quite fatal.

Therefore, Chen Ran had been comforting himself by telling himself it was just a simulation.

Theoretically, he could end the scenario now and proceed to the next one.

But...

Why did his heart feel so heavy?

He could no longer hear what Theresa was saying beside him. When his world finally came into focus again, the entire hospital room was empty.

"System."

He slowly opened his mouth and asked a question, "Tell me honestly, how much influence do simulated scenarios have on the reality where the Herrschers exist?"

The first time he received the System, he had joked with it, saying that even if it was a simulation, it still had an impact on reality.

However, because of this joke, the System hadn't properly explained the main functions of the Simulator.

[Destiny.]

"What do you mean?"

[Honkai Resistance Simulator No. 666 can be considered a special Stigmata. This Honkai Resistance armament adjusts the destiny of Herrschers to find the ultimate answer to resisting Honkai. Simulated scenarios centered around the host can be viewed as rehearsals for the future destiny of that Herrscher, thereby shaping their destiny.]

Clearly, the System had made three gambles.

The first gamble was relying on Chen Ran to obtain rewards through simulated scenarios and find opportunities to resist Honkai. The second gamble was relying on No. 666 to enter Flame-Chaser, understand Honkai more deeply, and find opportunities to resist Honkai.

The third gamble was relying on the Herrschers influenced by the simulated scenarios, deviating their destinies to find opportunities to resist Honkai.

Chen Ran mused, "So, what happens in the simulated scenario now is bound to happen in the future?"

[The temporal distance is too great, and the System's capabilities are limited. It can only be said that the future in simulated scenarios has a probability of occurring, but it will only follow certain vague nodes. Therefore, simulated scenarios influence the future destiny of Herrschers.]

Chen Ran suddenly thought of a term: Stigmata Terminal.

It seemed that the Stigmata Terminal in Guns Girl Z did something similar, except it influenced reincarnation. And the System did not have A.A.A.

So, the System's prestige was actually weaker than the Stigmata Terminal's.

But even so, it was already outrageously powerful. By using simulated scenarios to shape the destinies of Herrschers and guide them onto pre-planned paths.

"Then, if Wendy were to have an accident in a simulated scenario, would that mean there's a high probability of her having an accident in the future as well?"

[Yes.]

The System's brief answer left Chen Ran in silence.

It was clear that the purpose of this Honkai Resistance Simulator was to reduce the damage caused by Herrschers to civilization. As for the Herrschers themselves, it didn't care, or cared very little.

His mind fell into deep thought.

At the same time, in another room of the infirmary.

Kiana and the others were visiting Himeko.

Raiden Mei wore a look of clear guilt on her face. According to Theresa, Himeko hadn't been injured last night; the wounds she had were mostly from Changkong City.

Himeko didn't seem to mind them.

She waved her hand, saying, "Alright, you can all go back now. The medical staff here are watching over me, so you're not needed.

"Especially you, Kiana. If your grades drop, don't come begging me when it's time for make-up exams."

Kiana immediately puffed out her cheeks indignantly, "This young lady is a genius! How could those exam questions possibly stump me!"

"Don't give me that. I've seen your grades from Chiyou Academy; you've barely passed a few times."

Himeko paused, then said, "Being a Valkyrie is different from being a student. Every weapon parameter needs to be mastered precisely, which naturally requires a high level of skill in mathematics and physics."

Kiana pouted, "Don't look down on people."

At this time, Kiana hadn't faced any exams at St. Freya yet, so she could still pretend to be a genius student.

The three of them followed Himeko's words and left the infirmary.

However, before they left, they heard Himeko say, "Oh, right. Before you go, help me with something."

A strained smile appeared on her lips as she said, "Help me apologize to Chen Ran. I failed to protect Wendy."

When the three of them, Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya, arrived at Chen Ran's room, they found him staring blankly at the ceiling.