Just as open-world games consumed a huge amount of phone memory, the scenarios simulated by the system also had an enormous impact on consciousness.
An environment that was too realistic could muddle one's memories. In electronic terms, the RAM was full.
He subconsciously patted his head, then synchronized with No. 666's memories.
"Hey, rookie over there, stop spacing out and come with us." Someone called out, "Since you joined the Flame-Chaser, let me see your resolve!"
Chen Ran: "???"
Then he saw Kevin beside him say calmly, "Let's go."
While he had been managed by No. 666, Chen Ran and Kevin had unexpectedly gotten along... fairly well?
Of course, that was also because they were similar in age and both survivors of the disaster.
There were not many survivors from Changkong City who joined the Flame-Chaser. People naturally feared unknown creatures. Kevin had only considered joining the Flame-Chaser because of Mei.
No. 666's reason was also straightforward: fear of Honkai and helplessness in the face of its own weakness.
No. 666 was 99% similar to Chen Ran. There was practically no difference between the Managed AI and the original. However, what left Chen Ran speechless was that No. 666 would basically go cozy up to Kevin whenever it saw him.
Though if it were him, he would have gone over too.
But he deeply despised this sort of sucking up to someone powerful.
"Sure thing, bro. Wherever you go from now on, I'll follow. We're both survivors, so you can't abandon me."
Kevin ignored him and set off directly.
Chen Ran eagerly followed after him.
It was only after they arrived at the Flame-Chaser aircraft that he slowly began processing the reward granted by the system.
The system's rewards had no fixed scope, but this time, it had directly brought the knowledge used by his simulated identity into the real world. In other words, he now possessed the knowledge base of a biology graduate student from Heisenberg University.
Heisenberg University's biological research did not include research on Honkai Beasts, but focused heavily on genetics. Back then, he had discovered a substance related to stigmata within the human body...
Wait, why did this plot feel so familiar?
Got it. It was Iserin.
In short, he had been recruited by Schicksal because of his discovery of hereditary stigmata material and the paper he had written.
Chen Ran fell into thought.
Clearly, the system had not fabricated the backgrounds of identities in its simulated scenarios out of thin air. Instead, it directly "grafted" the backgrounds of certain characters onto them, then "pruned" them.
Oh, then if one day he became Mei of the Electro-Chemical Society, there would be no need to be too surprised.1
Chapter 4: Flame-Chaser
According to the system's calculation of your consciousness capacity, the optimal time for your next simulation will be in three days.
On the aircraft, Chen Ran communicated with the system expressionlessly.
According to the system, what he needed to do most right now was digest the knowledge in his mind rather than conduct another simulation.
Although the system could directly grant knowledge as a reward, possessing knowledge and knowing how to use it were two different things.
Otherwise, a certain pufferfish would not be so useless.
And just as the human body grew stronger through exercise, as his number of simulations increased, the simulated scenarios his consciousness could contain would also increase.
Once his consciousness reached its limit, his simulation time would stabilize.
The system said that his brain still had plenty of potential to be excavated.
For example, he could first set a small goal: become a psychic Fusion Warrior.
Or he could be bolder and propose the Fusion Warrior project before Mobius did. The system encouraged Chen Ran like this.
Clearly, this system was like its ass was on fire, constantly urging Chen Ran to complete his missions as soon as possible.
Chen Ran wanted to hurry too.
He wished he could immediately kick Herrschers around, punch Finality in the face, and handcraft a divine weapon to take on Honkai. But aside from simulated scenarios, the system would not give him the slightest cheat.
Clearly, the system had its limits as well.
The only thing that comforted him was that the rewards he received were not completely useless. Moreover, judging from this, his relationship with the system was not that of a tool and a tool user.
They were partners.
At least until Honkai was defeated, he did not need to worry about the system screwing him over.
The Flame-Chaser was a frontline organization formed to fight Honkai, with the United Nations at its head and nations around the world providing technology and personnel.
It was located somewhere that did not exist on any map, remaining constantly vigilant against Honkai.
Its technological level rivaled that of the Tower of Civilization on Mu Continent. The advanced military concepts and cutting-edge weapons of every nation were tested here.
From the earliest special weapons designed to fight Honkai to general-purpose weaponry... all of them were crystallizations of human wisdom.
However, the current Flame-Chaser had encountered difficulties.
"During the battle against the Second Herrscher, general-purpose weapons had already begun showing signs of weakness, though the war was not yet at a critical point. But during this Honkai outbreak, the Honkai Beasts were stronger. Current general-purpose weapons are no longer suitable for fighting Honkai. Humanity needs greater power."
At a high-level meeting within the Flame-Chaser, a man furrowed his brows and explained the current situation.
"Mu Continent has accepted the Flame-Chaser's commission and begun researching autonomous weapons, but we still do not know when results will be available."
He looked toward a woman on his left and said:
"Dr. Mobius, I hope you can temporarily set aside the First Research Institute's current work and instead research specialized anti-Herrscher weapons. Future Honkai lifeforms are very likely to become increasingly powerful. More than two billion people have already been affected by this Honkai outbreak."
The green-haired woman called Mobius frowned slightly at his words. "Progress on new weapons will not be so smooth. My specialty is biology, not materials science."
She paused before saying, "Compared to that, I am more interested in the Third Herrscher's corpse."
"You will be given the Herrscher's corpse, but right now, only the First Research Institute can shoulder this research responsibility."
Even though he was the current leader of the Flame-Chaser, he could only speak to Mobius politely.
Mobius was also one of the Flame-Chaser's veterans. Basically, the general-purpose weapons currently in use and the drugs that strengthened the Flame-Chaser had all been developed by her. Together with her improvements to certain special weapons, they had allowed the Flame-Chaser to gain the upper hand against Honkai incidents.
However, this unprecedented Honkai incident had already exceeded the Flame-Chaser's current ability to handle.
Setting aside the current issue of public opinion management, it was plain to see that the Honkai Beasts in the next Honkai incident would be even stronger.
Increasing the combat capabilities of Flame-Chaser soldiers was already an urgent matter.
"Ah, Kevin, when do you think this kind of training will end?"
On the second day after joining the Flame-Chaser, once he had been assigned an identity and a Flame-Chaser intranet account, Chen Ran had been forced to begin training.
He had already been panting after Wendy made him run five kilometers before, but here, five kilometers was merely the baseline.
The Flame-Chaser had clearly taken ordinary people's stamina into consideration. Every exercise was designed to push the human body to the limits of its physical capacity.
And the designer of this method was Mobius.
No one understood the human body better than Mobius.
Kevin, whose name Chen Ran had called, also looked exhausted. At this time, he was not yet a Fusion Warrior. He was merely a little better than ordinary people at basketball.
Even so, Flame-Chaser training was not something one person could simply endure alone.
Still, it had to be said that Kevin performed the best out of everyone.
The instructor evaluated him as the most promising recruit in First Squad.
His evaluation of Chen Ran was equally direct: not dying on the battlefield would count as success.
Kevin glanced at Chen Ran and said, "If you grit your teeth, you can always hold on. At the end of the day, this is war."
He said, "After joining this organization, people only have two states left: fighting and preparing to fight."
"Fine, you sure know how to sound badass."
He knew Kevin was right.
This was war.
His eyes narrowed slightly, as though he had thought of something. "Kevin, wait here. I'm going to get some medicine."
The biology department at Heisenberg University had also conducted research related to biological bone density and muscle growth.
Since he could not compete in talent, he would invest in technology instead.
Although he had no authority as a recruit, the Flame-Chaser intranet allowed users to submit requests for certain materials. If the materials were not expensive, their use could be approved for free.
Aside from being forbidden to resell them, the rules were quite relaxed.
After all, it was an organization backed by the entire world. It was not short on money.
Medicine for increasing muscle and bone density was not particularly complicated, though some of it could potentially damage the nerves.
Naturally, Chen Ran would not ruin his own body, so the medicine he made was conservative auxiliary medicine with practically no side effects. It was only meant to prevent strains and relieve muscle tears, while indirectly increasing muscle density.
Though its effects were limited, it was the best thing he could make with his current knowledge.
The Flame-Chaser naturally had similar medicine internally, but it was too harsh. He simply anonymously posted the flaws in that medicine, then published the formula for the new medicine he used.
The Flame-Chaser was very efficient.
He quickly prepared a dose himself based on the materials, then used it.
As for what he had posted, it had temporarily sunk without a trace.
Chapter 5: No. 666 Is Pursuing Kevin
"Sure enough, the medicine I mixed myself works pretty well. So is my character setting actually Iserin?"
In his new dormitory, Chen Ran twisted his arm and felt the strength brimming within his body, unable to help finding it remarkable.
Even for a graduate student in biopharmaceuticals, creating a qualified medicine required repeated trial and error. But when he obtained the medicine, it had felt completely natural. He quickly mixed the ideal ratio, as though he were a genius.
He felt that the knowledge granted by the system had already exceeded that of a proper biology graduate student.
For now, though, that only brought benefits.
His aching muscles had been eased, and Chen Ran had originally wanted to give Kevin a dose as well.
However, Kevin clearly trusted the Flame-Chaser's medicine more. In terms of visible effectiveness, the Flame-Chaser's medicine was indeed fiercer and more potent.
After all, Chen Ran was an uncertified graduate student, and his medicine was an unlicensed product with no guarantees.
Chen Ran was helpless about that.
Still, even if the Flame-Chaser's medicine had side effects, they would not matter much. Kevin would become a Fusion Warrior in the end anyway, so it would not affect him at all.
That was how he spent the next three days.
Over those three days, Chen Ran's state could no longer be described simply as "comfortable."
Although the medicine had some effect, the Flame-Chaser was also gradually intensifying the training. They were truly training people to death.
The enormous organization was ruthless and harsh, with everyone operating like gears in a machine.
Aside from training, all he did each day was focus on digesting the knowledge in his brain. To accomplish that goal faster, he had specifically used the Flame-Chaser intranet to access Mu Continent's network, trying to solve advanced biological research problems himself.
Though he could not solve the vast majority of them.
But the result did not matter. Being able to understand them was enough.
Chen Ran had always known that if you wanted someone's science grades to improve by leaps and bounds, you had to make them tackle and digest problems beyond the syllabus.
That was the fastest method. Though most people had their resolve worn away by those out-of-syllabus questions.
He did not understand most academic terminology, but fortunately, the scope of the knowledge provided by the system was broad enough to greatly increase the value of his "graduate student" status.
The system had very likely stuffed all the material a graduate student might encounter in their field into Chen Ran's mind.
And after three days of exercising during the day and studying at night, Chen Ran could finally proudly announce—he had lost five pounds.
Before you continue