A Person in Honkai, But Integrated Strategies Activated

However, Flame Willow found herself in a bit of a bind this time.

While she was quite adept at dealing with the regular monster stages, any node like an Unexpected Encounter meant the possibility of an emergency combat.

It wasn't that she couldn't defeat elite monsters. The problem was if she encountered one that wasn't her specialty, and she couldn't defeat it within five minutes, she'd fail the trial due to exceeding the time limit.

After much thought, Flame Willow decided to play it safe.

"Forget it, forget it. This is the final trial that determines if I can see Elysia. I'll play it safe and focus on the regular monster stages," she thought.

With her decision made, Flame Willow headed straight for the portal representing a combat node.

"Vill-V, I'm here~"

In the Elysian Realm, Elysia stood outside the Spiral Workshop, knocking on the door as she called out.

As if recognizing her voice, the workshop door automatically opened just as Elysia was about to knock again.

Elysia often visited the Spiral Workshop when she had free time, so she easily found Vill-V in the depths of the workshop.

"Elysia, you're here." Vill-V glanced up, then lowered her head again, fiddling with a control screen in her hands.

"Hmm? It's the Conductor, I see~"

Elysia immediately recognized which personality was currently in charge of Vill-V. She sat down nearby, waiting for the Conductor to finish their work.

A moment later, Vill-V placed the screen aside with a sigh, looking troubled.

"Yes, it's me. The Specialist went back to rest after completing their task. The current situation is more suited for a versatile personality like mine to make decisions, so I came out."

"So, what exactly is it that requires so many of you to work together?" Elysia asked curiously.

"We can't say for sure yet. Until we have a conclusion, please allow me to keep it a surprise. For now, let's take care of the matter you asked me about earlier. What was it you came to see the Specialist about?"

Chapter 44: Vill-V: Your favored visitor? Who could it be?

"I see... a backdoor to the Second Divine Key?"

Vill-V pondered for a moment, then shook her head with a hint of difficulty.

"While I know what backdoors the Second Divine Key has, I'll need to ask the Specialist about the specific design and operation methods later."

"After all, according to what you said, the Second Divine Key is currently in Su's hands in the current civilization. He's likely already repaired the more obvious backdoors. As for the more complex ones, if you want to use them, the Specialist will need to create some simple and easy-to-understand 'trigger devices'."

"So, Elysia, have you made a new friend among the visitors of the current civilization? You're specifically asking me for these things."

"A visitor? I suppose... so," Elysia said guiltily.

Perhaps because most of her attention was focused on constantly observing the screen, Vill-V didn't notice the anomaly in Elysia's expression. She simply nodded. "I see. I've been keeping to myself lately, I didn't expect new visitors to arrive in the Elysian Realm."

"Then I'll mention it to the Specialist later, and I'll give it to you once it's ready."

"But..." Vill-V's gaze fell upon the unfinished storybook beside Elysia.

"Is this gift also for her?"

"Yes, it is. But there are still some parts to fill in, and I've also asked you to help with some of the small parts needed for it~"

"That's a small matter, I can get it done for you right away," Vill-V waved her hand. "But it's quite rare. You're choosing such a gift. For previous visitors, you always gave a crystal flower as a memento."

"So, you're quite fond of this visitor?"

"Of course," Elysia nodded emphatically. "Little Xia Ling is a very good child, I like her a lot."

"In your heart, this visitor is that important..." Having known Elysia for so long, Vill-V understood the weight of her words.

"Then, if there's a chance, remember to introduce her to me. I'm quite curious who could receive such high praise from you."

Meanwhile, Flame Willow had fought her way through, reaching the seventh floor, which was the first cat shop.

However, for some reason, the cat shop this time didn't have any treasures refreshed. Instead, there were a pile of strange stones that seemed to have no power, a few crystal flowers, some miscellaneous daily necessities, and even a door.

Flame Willow had a look of utter confusion on her face.

"No, it's one thing for the system to add contract modifiers to the monsters, but why did it remove the shop... What am I supposed to fight now? I'm skipping."

"Oh, I forgot the system can't hear me right now. I won't skip then."

"As for these things...?" Flame Willow picked up a crystal flower from the cat's stall, and wisps of flame began to burn in her hand.

"After burning for so long, other than the color turning a bit golden, leaning towards my flames, there's been no change... Could this be a crystal flower Elysia condensed herself...?"

"But if that's the case, wouldn't this be the cat's actual shop?"

"I don't know if the silver coins dropped along the way are enough to buy this crystal flower... Oh well, I'll just leave them all here for now. At worst, I'll owe them and pay next time."

Putting the discolored crystal flower into her pocket, Flame Willow didn't linger and entered the eighth floor.

"Ah, familiar Huodou, familiar flames."

As soon as she entered the eighth floor, Flame Willow skillfully used her support summon. After the one-second summoning animation, Highmore, Xia Ling, and Huodou appeared on the battlefield almost simultaneously.

"Flame Willow, be careful. This Huodou might not be weak, and the same goes for the two bosses that follow."

As soon as she landed, Xia Ling seized the opportunity to relay information to Flame Willow.

At the same time, Highmore clenched her fist in the void, and a scythe resembling a combination of a tail fin and coral appeared in her hand. She charged directly at Huodou, seemingly to buy time for the two who were exchanging information.

"I took a look before teleporting, and Huodou has at least a dozen buffs on it."

"It's basically got all the common Tier 3 buffs stacked on it."

"Good grief, is this still Elysian Realm? Did I get thrown into a Crisis Contract?" Flame Willow said speechlessly.

"That's the situation. Considering there are at least three or four buffs related to recovery among them, Highmore and I suggest you use the support summons for all three bosses. Whoever is countered takes the damage, and try to finish them quickly. Highmore and I are more reliant on sustained combat; if the fight drags on, we'll likely be timed out past five minutes."

"As for the final Herrscher trial floor..."

"It's fine, I get it. Just gotta endure for five minutes, right? I'm good at that." Flame Willow showed a confident expression.

"As long as it's not an actual Herrscher, I can hold out for a while against something simulated by the system using discarded data."

"Don't worry, we'll win."

"...As long as you're confident, that's fine. But don't put too much pressure on yourself. It's not like we can't afford to revive if things go south."

Xia Ling nodded, and her figure vanished into thin air.

Flame Willow's body blazed with fire. The small flame on her tail had turned into a raging inferno. She took a deep breath, swept her gun-shaped staff horizontally, and a wave of scorching heat forced Huodou, which was approaching Highmore, back a few steps.

At the same moment, Xia Ling's figure appeared above Huodou. Her crimson scythe blade, its edge extended by Honkai Energy, sliced across Huodou's neck, leaving a huge gash.

Then, Honkai Energy erupted from the wound, and the Honkai Energy Crystals that were blasted apart exploded again, exacerbating Huodou's injuries.

As the explosion occurred, Xia Ling's figure vanished into thin air. When she reappeared, a girl enveloped in a gray-blue mist was beside her.

Highmore landed lightly from the air. Several tentacles extending from her clothes, covered in chitinous shells, pierced into Huodou's body, helping her stabilize her stance.

Then, the scythe, which looked inorganic but was actually composed of Sea Creatures, was directly inserted into Chi You's wound.

After Xia Ling took away Highmore, who had finished her deployment, Chi You began to let out a series of miserable wails. As for the culprit... it was naturally the shimmering blue "Mark of the Deep" that had emerged from its back.

"Beautifully done! A few more waves like that should be enough to clear its HP bar!"

Flame Willow, who was struggling to block Chi You's every attack, suddenly felt her pressure greatly reduced. She even had time to cheer.

"What's wrong, Vill-V? Did something go wrong with your experiment?"

Elysia, who was happily chatting with Vill-V in the Spiral Workshop, finally couldn't help but ask.

After all, Vill-V kept glancing at a certain screen every now and then, and sometimes let out inexplicable sighs. It always made Elysia imagine people from the previous civilization playing the stock market, especially when they saw everything turning red.

Elysia also leaned in curiously, but the mass of professional terms and symbols made her dizzy.

"No, it's nothing..." Vill-V sighed. "I'm just lamenting that my experimental progress isn't going smoothly."

Chapter 45: Sirin: Yes, yes, pick it like this!

"So, how is it not going smoothly?" Elysia tilted her head.

"Hmm... let me use a more understandable analogy." Vill-V pondered for a moment. "You can think of it as me playing a territory control game. So far, although I've captured the most important node, I'm still generally behind the opponent. The areas I can control seem to only make up about a third."

"A third?" Elysia blinked, then revealed a gentle smile. "It's okay, a third is great too! You've reached this point in just a few months. If you're given more time, I'm sure you'll succeed!"

"Mhm, Elysia, you're as comforting as ever." Vill-V smiled and said, "But I'm not really that discouraged. After all, I managed to capture the most important node. Later, I'll treat you to a good show."

"Eh, so the 'show' you mentioned is related to this? Then, what exactly are you researching?" Elysia hugged one of Vill-V's arms. "My dear Vill-V, tell me, don't keep my curiosity piqued any longer."

"Heh heh, this all started a few months ago..."

In just over two minutes, Huodou's body crashed heavily onto the floor of the Elysian Realm and gradually disappeared into light particles.

Although it had been strengthened by buffs, Xia Ling and the others' weekly Elysian Realm trials were not for nothing. Simply put, Huodou would reveal its next skill the moment it moved.

"This enhanced version of Huodou is quite a handful. I've decided, I'm giving it a nickname: Boundary Huodou!"

Flame Willow panted slightly, small golden flames flickering on her body. Unlike the fiery red flames used for offense, the golden flames were a symbol of Flame Willow's healing, representing two different levels of output for her Activation.

"Don't, don't go naming things like that. What if a Divine Huodou or a Scheme Huodou pops up later?" Xia Ling quickly dispelled her jinx-like thought.

"Uh, why don't you two stop 'steaming' and come look at this."

From a distance, Highmore's voice suddenly rang out.

"What's wrong... Whoa, what is that."

Xia Ling and Flame Willow looked in the direction she was pointing and were both stunned.

"This portal... doesn't it seem a bit off?"

Indeed, in the center of the trial grounds, only a portal had risen. Moreover, this portal did not have the familiar node markers that Xia Ling and the others were used to. Instead, it was marked with an Insignia.

An Insignia of Floating Life.

"This is wrong, this is very wrong." Xia Ling's eyes immediately became serious. "The system said that the logic of the trial nodes is the same as Roguelike. This portal with the Floating Life Insignia... shouldn't be appearing here."

"Flame Willow, I suspect the system..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xia Ling and Highmore's figures began to deconstruct into golden particles, rapidly dissipating.

"You should finish speaking... Never mind, you don't have to. I'm you, I know what you want to say."

Flame Willow looked at the familiar yet strange Insignia door, muttering to herself, "I felt something was off back at the cat shop... System, can't you be a little more helpful..."

So, what was our cute system miss doing at this moment?

She was sweating profusely.

[No, this, this isn't right! How could my network be discovered? I've been using it for a year!]

The system's eyes had turned into spirals. She was rapidly adjusting the positions of various nodes to prevent losing control at any moment.

[This is bad, this is really bad. Now the host will definitely call me a cat-themed system and I won't be able to clear my name even if I jumped into the Yellow River. The host hasn't finished the trial yet, so I can't directly shut down the Elysian Realm roguelike to kill the virus. What in the world is this ahhhhhh!]

[No, no, I need to calm down. The first priority is to ensure the host's functional departure is normal, the second priority is to ensure the system's interface with the Elysian Realm doesn't fail, and the third priority is to ensure important nodes aren't breached...]

The system forced herself to calm down and made various adjustments rapidly based on the current situation.

[Luckily, I'm more skilled. I designed the seventeenth node as the clear objective. The other party must have thought the eighteenth node was the important one, and immediately seized this node upon exposure...]

[Phew... The other nodes aren't important. As long as the three boss layer nodes are fine...]

Meanwhile, because Flame Willow had entered an event node, Xia Ling and Highmore, who had returned to the standby room, once again saw familiar text descriptions on the light screen.

[Unexpected Encounter]

[You seem to have entered the area of a Herrscher. This is a seemingly very simple courtyard. Within the courtyard, you see a familiar Herrscher – Hua. You are naturally no stranger to this old acquaintance, but she clearly doesn't recognize you.]

[Hello, Hua, are you practicing again? (You're right, but she's lost her memory. Just pretend it's for Sirin and scam her.)]

[Hello, Hua, I'm here to spar. (How could I bully an honest person? Let's just fight fair and square!)]

[Wife, how did you end up here? (Friendly reminder: Hua only lost her memory, she's not stupid.)]

Although the content was amusing, their attention was immediately drawn to the stage name, Unexpected Encounter.

"Hiss, now I can confirm it. This system is definitely having problems."