To him, who had just returned from the dead, all it took was closing his eyes for everything he had experienced before death to replay over and over in his mind like a video set to loop:
It was the Dominion Theater, steeped in an ominous dark-purple aura. The dolls' blatantly inhuman shrieks rose and fell one after another. Blasphemous chants disguised themselves as well-meaning charity and considerate concern, bewitching and coaxing the weak-willed into mistakes they would regret for the rest of their lives.
Black pus flowed across the ground. The Rabble hanging high in the filthy sky wielded vicious, poisonous threads woven from every kind of evil and immorality. They howled, corroded, and surged toward the white-haired girl swaying on her feet with a crimson broken sword in hand, determined to stain her with the color of Honkai.
And then there was the Eternal Burning Firewood that tore through endless night and despair, those sapphire-blue cross-shaped eyes brimming with intense reluctance and deep apology, and the searing agony of a greatsword piercing his chest while flames scorched his heart.
"We won in the end."
With his memories ending there, Fu Li opened his bloodshot eyes, pressed the back of his hand against his forehead, and let out a complicated laugh that defied description.
"Back to three years ago..."
His tone was hard to put into words, though relief outweighed everything else.
So long as this was not some Brain in a Vat scenario or some absurdly massive illusion, Fu Li, who had died during the Tenth Honkai, had truly been reborn into his 2014 self.
And thinking about it carefully, before his death he had at least broken past A-rank and reached the Critical level, only a step away from the legendary S-rank. Even if someone truly wanted to cast a large-scale illusion on someone like him, the chances of him failing to see through it were extremely low.
It was not that nobody had the ability. There was simply no reason to waste those resources.
He was just trash who had worked his ass off for two and a half years to reach Critical. He did not have some vault of forbidden knowledge or secret key hidden in his head. Why would an S-rank powerhouse go to all that trouble for him? Were they bored out of their minds, or had they eaten too much?
As for some big shot capable of reversing the entire timeline sending him back from the future... Well, putting aside whether he had ever encountered such a promising individual in his previous life, should they perhaps reconsider the possibility of a Brain in a Vat or a massive illusion?
"No matter what, at least it was a good death."
Habits formed during his mercenary days made Fu Li instinctively reach for his waist while thinking. Only when he grabbed empty air did he realize that two gleaming longswords were no longer hanging there.
He focused his unfocused gaze and raised his brows as he examined the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings before him:
The little room was barely over ten square meters, so there was no distinction between living room and bedroom. Even washing up and using the toilet meant going to the shared washroom at the end of the hallway.
All rooms after Room 202 were like this. The neighboring Room 201 was one of the few nicely furnished units with its own bathroom, but Fu Li, who had once had the chance to move in, had voluntarily given it to the white-haired girl who lived there now.
Remembering that part, the young man pursed his lips and walked over to the desk by the window.
The shoddy wooden desk he had picked up at a secondhand market gave off an unpleasant smell. An old laptop sitting on it hummed loudly.
On its seventeen-inch LCD screen was a half-edited, unsaved WPS document, evidence of the miserable reality that its failed-author owner had fallen asleep halfway through rushing out a draft last night.
Fu Li opened his palm, clenched it, then relaxed it.
Feeling the emptiness inside his body, he thought to himself:
A body in suboptimal health, malnutrition, an unstable mindset, and the aftereffects of working part-time odd jobs alongside school. It seemed this rebirth had brought back nothing but his memories.
As though the heavens were deliberately trying to slap him in the face, no sooner had he said that than a calm voice with a faint milky softness rang out in his mind.
"Detected that the holder has awakened the Hyper-mutation Factor. Key of Governance 0017 is activating automatically."
"Scanning the holder's current condition..."
"Given the holder's current combat rating is too low, Article 171 of the Flame-Chasing Moths Fusion Warrior Management Regulations is being invoked. End-of-World Assistance personal support module loading—"
"Does the holder permit the onboard AI Prometheus to access their memories?"
Fu Li did not agree immediately. Instead, he asked, "Is reading them necessary?"
"Under the regulations, the holder of the Key of Domination has the right to reject Prometheus's proposals."
He had only been probing, yet it could actually be negotiated...
"Then don't read them for now."
"Notice: Inability to access memories will prevent Prometheus from providing personalized recommendations to the holder. Confirm?"
"Just asking, could you provide personalized recommendations by scanning only my body and not my memories?"
"...Feasible."
"Then do that."
"Understood. Loading remaining modules—"
Fu Li's feelings were mixed. The good news was that, at this level, it probably would not turn into some overbearing system that treated its owner like dirt and casually got him killed whenever he failed a mission.
The bad news was that this End-of-World Assistance System was probably only a beta version. It could not carry him straight to the top like one of those brainless power-fantasy novels from Feilu.
It was hilarious. Starting a novel invincible really did strip away most of the fun.
But if this were reality, who would not want to be invincible while everyone else could do whatever they liked and look pretty on their own?
While Fu Li was thinking, Key of Governance 0017 completed loading its remaining modules.
"End-of-World Assistance module loaded. Prometheus 0017 is at your devoted service."
As the words fell, a cute expressionless girl composed of pale-blue light appeared on Fu Li's retina.
She wore a short gray trench coat and nylon miniskirt combining military and cyberpunk styles. Her twin spiral ponytails were tied behind her head with metallic hair ornaments.
Her limbs were linked at the joints like those of a doll. Her face was completely blurred, and the only thing visible was her inorganic eyes, glowing with a scarlet halo.
—Wait, this appearance? Bronya?
As if noticing Fu Li's confusion, the girl calling herself Prometheus explained, "The AI model was based on individuals familiar within the host's interpersonal relationships. To prevent cognitive dissonance arising from this, facial features have been blurred."
"Interpersonal relationships?"
"Prometheus did not access the host's memories illegally. Consideration of the host's interpersonal relationships mainly relies on environmental data recorded within the Key of Domination."
That was why talking to smart people felt so comfortable. Fu Li had merely changed his tone slightly, yet Little AI had already picked up on the hidden meaning in his words.
"End-of-World Assistance 0017"
To clarify the origins of the End-of-World Assistance System and Prometheus, the first thing to explain was the concept of Honkai Energy.
Honkai Energy was a universal form of energy widely present in space, produced by the conceptual phenomenon known as "Honkai."
Compared to cultivation novels, it was like the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In fantasy novels, it was akin to magical power or mana.
In fact, the term "Honkai Energy" had only become fully standardized in modern times.
In the planet's ancient eras, whether it was Shenzhou's true qi and internal energy, Tianzhu's chakra, or the West's magic, they were all names given to it by people from different regions.
And because Honkai possessed a characteristic of coexisting with civilization, quite a few researchers speculated that Honkai was actually a trial imposed upon human civilization by some higher existence.
Of course, others believed it was merely a natural disaster, differing from typhoons and earthquakes only in how it manifested.
Setting aside the theory of Honkai's origins, which academia had yet to define conclusively—though the esteemed readers knew full well—as a phenomenon born alongside civilization, Honkai could hardly have inflicted its immense cruelty only upon modern society.
For example, the Previous Civilization.
Yes, just like the universally known Ultraman Tiga, the planet beneath Fu Li's feet had an ancient civilization beyond recorded history.
Compared with the distant thirty million years ago of Ultraman Tiga's setting, the Previous Civilization era in the Honkai world was only a little over fifty thousand years ago.
And the End-of-World Assistance System now bound to Fu Li was a powerful technological creation from that civilization.
Its original form was not what it was now, but an ancient golden sword three chi long—Key of Domination, Number 0017.
Fu Li had obtained it during an expedition before his rebirth. From then on, he had always used it as a backup weapon.
Why a backup rather than his primary weapon?
Because the damn thing was far too fragile.
It was fine for killing people and bullying weak enemies, but once it struck a target with strong armor, that ancient and imposing golden sword would instantly chip. One more swing, and it would turn into a shattered popsicle.
You might ask, the former was one thing, but how did Fu Li know about the latter?
The answer was simple. Before his rebirth, he had used this thing as a backup dagger.
A backup dagger that had originally been three chi long, but was now only one chi long.
They were all lessons written in blood and tears.
Remembering this, Fu Li finally could not help clicking his tongue. "No wonder the golden sword always felt too weak for an ancient divine weapon. So I had been using it wrong?"
"That is correct."
The twin-turbo little girl on Fu Li's retina nodded slowly, pixel by pixel.
"Key of Governance 0017 only activates its internal programs after detecting the holder's awakened Hyper-mutation Factor, evolving into a growth-type armament best suited to the user. If used crudely as nothing more than a weapon, it cannot even penetrate the armor of a Honkai Beast over thirty meters in size."
"Growth-type... Feels like I gained something, but also didn't."
Fu Li, who had gained absolutely nothing in his previous life but now received his first pot of gold after rebirth, felt conflicted. Overall, though, he was subtly relieved.
"The host is reassured because the End-of-World Assistance System's origins can be traced. The host is very easy to understand."
"That's normal." Fu Li sat back down in his computer chair and spoke honestly. "Put yourself in my shoes. If you had just been reborn and some strange thing calling itself a system suddenly appeared inside your body, wouldn't you be suspicious?"
"I am pleased that the host is not the sort of stupid idiot who sees a system and grandly assumes he is the protagonist. However, I have also taken note of the host's refusal to allow a memory scan."
Fu Li curled his fingers in a fake beckoning gesture, trying to win back Little AI's favor. "You don't need to remember that~"
"By the way, if the End-of-World Assistance System truly had unknown origins, how would the host intend to deal with it?"
"Keep calm and adapt to the situation. A real man can bend and stretch. At the moment, that is all I can do."
He spread his hands. "I can't exactly blurt out, 'I don't trust you,' or slit my stomach open because something strange appeared in my head, can I? What if System-chan really just saw how miserable my past life was and wanted to help me become CEO, marry Hifumi, and embark on the road to insanity in life?"
"The host looks rather... His imagination is rather beautiful."
Prometheus glanced sideways at his delicate face and silently swallowed the word "ugly."
"People need something to hope for. What's the difference between having no dreams and being carefree?"
Lying back and staring at the white mist gradually dispersing outside the window, Fu Li said, "I just heard you say that the system can only activate after the holder awakens the Hyper-mutation Factor. So that means my Hyper-mutation Factor has already awakened, right? What is it? Where is it now?"
As someone at the Critical level, only one step away from the strength of an S-rank Valkyrie, Fu Li knew far more about the truth of the world than ordinary people living beneath the sunlight.
But because he had never joined a massive organization such as Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, or World Serpent, he was, in high-EQ terms, a lone warrior and, in low-EQ terms, a solitary mutt. He was largely clueless about deeper matters.
Some might find that absurd, but just as ninety percent of people would not know their city mayor's or party secretary's name without looking it up, information cocoons were real.
The one-way blockage of information from the lower classes had always been an important tool used by those above to control the situation. If even the real world worked like that, then the Honkai side, where information was even less transparent, was naturally worse.
Of course, Fu Li was in no position to criticize others.
Right now, he also possessed valuable intelligence that could allow countless people to leap across social classes. If someone asked him to share it, he definitely would not be willing either.
If you have the skills, go get reborn yourselves!
"Goal! Develop an Overpowered Feature That Automatically Fills In the Attribute Panel!"
"The Hyper-mutation Factor within the host is currently still dormant."
"Hm?"
Fu Li, who was stuffing beef jerky into his mouth to replenish nutrients while planning his next course of action, froze.
Prometheus continued, "The Hyper-mutation Factor is a latent inheritance contained within DNA (harmonized) fragments. In theory, every human of the current civilization can awaken it through a fortuitous opportunity, just as the host did before rebirth."
Pay attention to the key point: before rebirth.
Since it was based on genetics, Fu Li, who had returned to a time when he was merely an ordinary person, naturally no longer met the conditions.
"Having detected this, the Key of Domination should have remained dormant."
At this point, the little girl gave her host a slow glance.
Only after seeing not a trace of nervousness on his face did she continue explaining expressionlessly. "However, because the Key of Domination had already registered the Fu Li who awakened the Hyper-mutation Factor before rebirth as its highest-authority user, after considering multiple factors, the Key of Domination, now without its original vessel, decided to form a soul bond with the host. In accordance with the Flame-Chasing Moths Fusion Warrior Management Regulations, it transformed into the current End-of-World Assistance System."
In short, it had bound to him before death and activated after rebirth.
"Furthermore, due to the system's strong binding to the Hyper-mutation Factor, the Hyper-mutation Factor awakened by the host before rebirth has also been incorporated by the system, becoming part of its support functions."
"That's great, then. The one I awakened in my previous life wasn't wasted, and I can still awaken one in this life." Fu Li grinned. "Then as a legendary system, what functions do you have, Prometheus?"
There was a saying in the world of webnovels: natives were inferior to transmigrators, and transmigrators were inferior to reborns.
Memories of the future were already the greatest weapon a reborn person could rely on to dominate the world. The arrival of the End-of-World Assistance System was simply the icing on the cake.
If the timing had not been wrong, Fu Li would have raised both hands and shouted, "We're taking off! We're taking off! What a wonderful start!"
Don't ask! A real man had to pop champagne at halftime! How could Prometheus riding right in his face possibly lose?!
Then a virtual screen visible only to Fu Li appeared before his eyes.
True Name: Fu Li Permanent: N/A
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