A Person in Honkai, But Integrated Strategies Activated

[The system explained that elite upgrades only grant the strongest abilities, but the host should have realized after their first enhancement that possessing an ability doesn't mean you can fully utilize it. For example, the host hasn't even managed to fully unlock the effects of their acceleration talent yet.]

[Mastering an ability takes time, and even after two elite upgrades, further development requires talent.]

[The higher a character's star rating, the easier it is to achieve this.]

"I see, now I understand."

"Then, System, please proceed with your self-reinstallation. It'll be nice for me to experience a day without having to train in the training grounds at night for a change."

[Hey, hey, I never forced you to spend all your time in the training grounds, don't make me sound like some kind of black-hearted system.]

[Please don't blame the system for the host's excessive hard work.]

"Alright, but you have to understand my sense of urgency about not having enough power."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Ling felt her consciousness return to her body.

Simultaneously, notifications for system uninstallation and reinstallation progress sounded.

"Students, today I'll be introducing a new teacher."

After the first class of the morning ended, Himeko didn't leave the classroom immediately but continued, announcing the news from the podium.

"A new teacher? Is it a man or a woman? Is she good-looking?"

"Good looks can't be eaten, can they? Isn't the most important thing whether she's strict or not?"

"That's true, I guess..."

However, the murmuring in the classroom didn't last long. Soon, Himeko cleared her throat and called out towards the door, "Xia Ling, you can come in now."

As the classroom door opened a crack, Xia Ling first poked her head in and looked around before entering the classroom.

This had almost become a subconscious habit for Xia Ling. Theresa noticed it but didn't point it out, only privately speculating with Himeko that it might be a habit developed from Xia Ling's long periods spent in dangerous environments.

Actually, this speculation wasn't entirely wrong. After all, trials were quite dangerous, and for now, her cautious, small-animal-like demeanor seemed to be considered a cute trait by most people.

Like the students below at this moment.

"Wow, is this the new teacher? She's so petite, so cute, and so well-behaved."

"She must feel really nice to hold in your arms, hehehehe."

"Hey, why are you drooling!"

"Kiana, Kiana." Mei secretly poked Kiana beside her and asked in a low voice, "I have a question I don't quite understand."

"Huh? You're asking me?" Kiana pointed at herself with one finger, looking confused. However, she always obliged Mei's requests: "Okay, Mei, ask away. I'll do my best to answer you."

Mei's purple eyes flickered with great confusion: "Why is it that even though Bronya is also petite and stoic, even more so than Sister Xia Ling, the classmates have never shown such... uh, enthusiasm towards Bronya?"

"Hehehe, Mei, you've asked the right person with this question." Kiana looked smug. At this moment, she finally understood what it felt like for a top student to explain things to others: "It's because of the contrast, Mei."

"Contrast?"

"Exactly. While both have the stoic and loli elements, Sister Xia Ling has another important cute point: she's a teacher! Someone in such an imposing profession is a little sister who looks like she'd curl up and defend herself at any moment. Don't you think that's amazing, Mei?"

"To put it simply, Mei, you can think of it like the reason why Auntie is so popular."

While Kiana was sharing some "fun facts" with Mei, Xia Ling had already finished her self-introduction.

This was an identity she had hastily concocted yesterday with Himeko and Theresa. She was supposedly a Valkyrie who had retired from Schicksal due to severe injuries and the sacrifice of her teammates, forcing her to take up an educational role.

Of course, this reason was actually quite flimsy. However, Otto had agreed to protect Schicksal, but the Valkyries he dispatched to Schicksal usually operated under hidden identities. Fu Hua hadn't returned to Schicksal recently either, and she certainly wouldn't bother asking Otto about a new teacher, as her mission was solely to monitor Kiana's situation.

"So, for the upcoming period, Teacher Xia Ling will be assisting me in managing the class. Additionally, if a teacher is temporarily unavailable, Teacher Xia Ling might substitute for you. If any students have questions, you can also approach Teacher Xia Ling for assistance."

Seeing that Xia Ling's introduction was mostly complete, Himeko stepped forward, bringing the self-introduction to a close.

"Alright, let's not take up any more of your time. If you have any questions, you can ask Teacher Xia Ling during self-study. Now, for the next class..."

"Sister Himeko, the teacher for the next class has been waiting at the door for quite a while." Xia Ling reminded her softly.

"Oh, Teacher Yang, I'm so sorry, I've kept you waiting a bit."

Himeko then noticed that the history teacher had been standing at the door for some time and quickly apologized.

"It's alright, it's alright. Teacher Himeko, please continue if you have something to say. It won't cause any delays." Welt waved his hand, indicating he didn't mind.

After speaking, he looked at Xia Ling curiously and asked Himeko, "Teacher Himeko, who is this...?"

"Oh, this is Xia Ling. She's a new teacher transferred in yesterday. Since she's not familiar with the academy's affairs, I'm having her assist me as a teaching assistant."

"Ah, I see. That's why I haven't met her before." Welt extended his hand to Xia Ling: "Hello, Teacher Xia Ling. It's a pleasure to work with you."

Although a bit confused, Xia Ling shook hands with Welt. After some pleasantries, Xia Ling followed Himeko out of the classroom.

Strange... Welt's gaze was deep as he pondered Xia Ling's situation in his mind while teaching.

There shouldn't have been any new teacher appointments recently. When they shook hands, he could clearly sense that the energy fluctuations within this young lady were not weak. Where did she come from...

What Xia Ling didn't know was that to prevent Welt from encountering Valkyries he had previously met during his undercover work, Dr. Tesla had been keeping an eye on the Valkyrie recruitment postings for him. After all, the firewalls of St. Freya Academy were practically nonexistent for Anti-Entropy.

This resulted in Xia Ling's seemingly innocuous identity being full of suspicious points in Welt's eyes.

Meanwhile, Xia Ling, completely unaware of this, was busy with various job handover procedures with Himeko.

Chapter 21: Support Recruitment

"My dear Kiana, if you fall asleep in self-study class again, I'll have to limit your gaming time at night."

"Oh, wait, that won't solve the root of the problem. How about this: I'll team up with Bronya, and no matter what game you play, we'll create alt accounts to snipe you, ruining your entire gaming experience. How's that?"

Standing beside Kiana's desk, Xia Ling reached out and vigorously ruffled the white-haired girl's head as she slept slumped over her desk.

"Wow, Sister Xia Ling, are you a devil? You must be a devil!" Kiana's head was being manhandled by Xia Ling, but she didn't dare to resist. She could only groan from her desk, "I won't sleep, I won't sleep, okay? Sister Xia Ling, please don't ruin my gaming experience!"

"Hmph, with your skill level, you wouldn't have a good gaming experience even if I didn't snipe you."

Xia Ling finally released her hand from Kiana's soft white hair and tapped the desk. "Hurry up and read for a bit. School's almost out, and you're still sleeping."

"Okay, okay."

Watching Kiana reluctantly take out a book and start reviewing, Xia Ling nodded with satisfaction and slowly walked back to the podium.

Unknowingly, Xia Ling's life as a teaching assistant had already passed four days.

The teachers at St. Freya were very helpful. During these four days, no teacher had asked Xia Ling to substitute for them due to other commitments or reasons.

Therefore, during these four days, Xia Ling only appeared in the classroom during self-study class before school ended each afternoon, and during the lunch break.

Although her presence wasn't frequent, Xia Ling had left a very deep impression on the students in the class.

Besides rigorously supervising Kiana every day, Xia Ling's terrible sense of direction had also been fully exposed during these days.

The primary victim of this was our honest class monitor, Fu Hua.

In four days, this dedicated class monitor had guided Xia Ling to the office a total of five times, three of which involved personally escorting her.

Other students had also experienced similar situations where Xia Ling would randomly appear somewhere and start asking for directions.

It wasn't until Bronya, unable to stand it any longer, secretly modified the navigation function of Xia Ling's teacher terminal, risking a violation of school rules, that this phenomenon slowed down.

However, Xia Ling's authority had probably returned to normal (sad).

But for Xia Ling, today was a day she had long been looking forward to.

Because after midnight tonight, seven days would have passed since her last trial.

This meant that tonight, Xia Ling would embark on her trial journey once again.

However, if it were just a trial, it wouldn't be enough to make Xia Ling so excited.

What truly gave Xia Ling great motivation was the compensation after the system upgrade was completed three days ago.

In the system mailbox, besides the six Originium Ingots from the beginner's gift pack, there was a long apology letter and a compensation gift pack.

And inside the compensation gift pack lay something that made Xia Ling's eyes light up.

[Advanced Senior Operator Training Invitation]

[Allows you to directly promote one acquired character card to Elite Phase 2.]

Xia Ling was no stranger to this item. In her previous life, in the Arknights gift packs, this item wasn't uncommon.

But for the current Xia Ling, this item was extremely precious.

Just reaching Elite 1 had given the ordinary Xia Ling the ability to fight against B-rank Valkyries. She couldn't even imagine what kind of strength a six-star character would possess after reaching Elite 2.

She could at least go toe-to-toe with Sister Tazi.

This way, at least in the early stages of the plot, she would have the capital to enter the fray.

And now, she only needed five more Originium Ingots to get the half-price six-star ticket in the shop.

After inquiring with the system, Xia Ling learned that the total rewards for clearing the third floor of the trial were 6 Originium Ingots, 2 Hope, and one random collectible.

Isn't that perfect? It was just enough.

So, Xia Ling was full of confidence, ready to go head-to-head with the mini-boss on the third floor.

Time quickly passed into the night.

To Kiana's confused expression, Xia Ling turned off her game early, using the excuse that she had stayed up too late yesterday and was very tired today, and returned to her room early.

Although "early" in this case meant almost midnight.

After taking a quick shower, Xia Ling returned to her room and, as she had said, went to bed early and closed her eyes.

"System, quick, quick, quick! I can't wait any longer, hurry up and bring on the new trial."

As soon as she entered the system space, Xia Ling eagerly called out to the system.

[Got it, got it. Host, you're in such a hurry, be careful not to get yourself cornered?]

"What am I afraid of? I'll just go in and kill, kill, kill. At worst, I'll restart."

Xia Ling stood with her hands on her hips, full of confidence.

[You'd better be this confident when you're being chased by a group of people.]

The system quipped before starting the trial.

[Please select difficulty]

"Challenge Natural - 1"

[Challenge: Nature - 1 Selected. Enemy Difficulty +0%, Cipher Modifier Probability 0%, Normal Environment]

[Cultural Comparison Buff Level: 43]

[Please Select Squad]

"Choose the Logistics Squad."

Starting with Logistics was the best opening Xia Ling had found after promoting herself to Elite Phase 2.

After Elite Phase 2, Xia Ling could handle most normal combat stages, and even flee from emergency operations. Therefore, the playstyle of skipping stages with three Cipher Plates, like when she first transmigrated, was no longer suitable.

Since Xia Ling didn't have any other characters right now, most tactical squads were basically useless.

So, the only choice was the Logistics Squad.

Not only could she gamble for artifacts on the first floor to strengthen herself, but even if she didn't get lucky, she could choose to save money. Facing a money-saving system that wouldn't malfunction, Xia Ling's efficiency in saving money was still quite high.

[Please Select Recruitment Combination]

"As You Wish."

Due to the unique nature of Xia Ling's weapon, the system classified her as any one of Guard, Sniper, or Specialist. Therefore, most of the time, Xia Ling would choose "As You Wish" to start. If, by chance, none of the three classes were available, she would just restart the run.

Three recruitment tickets slowly reappeared on the light screen before Xia Ling: Advanced Heavy, Guard, and Medic.

Skillfully clicking on the Guard recruitment ticket and selecting herself, just as Xia Ling was about to proceed to the next step, she was suddenly stopped by the system.

[Wait, Host, don't rush to continue.]

[Look, the Support Recruitment on your recruitment ticket, isn't it lit up?]

"!" Xia Ling quickly clicked on the Advanced Heavy recruitment ticket. Sure enough, in the upper right corner of the screen, the Support Recruitment option had changed from a dim gray to an orange-yellow.

[It's because the Host has already forged Bonds in reality. Anyone who considers you a friend in their heart will appear in the Support Recruitment.]

"Wow, is this the legendary True Heart Detector?" Xia Ling felt a bit eager to try. "By the way, System, what if nobody shows up when I click it? That would be so awkward."