Chapter 3

Status: N/A

Active: N/A

Armament: N/A

Items: N/A

Overall Evaluation: N/A

He blinked and looked up at the beautifully solitary Prometheus, "What does 'N/A' mean?"

"To be filled in," the little AI replied concisely.

"Who fills it?"

"The host."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Me? My system is telling me that the personal data panel needs to be filled in by the host myself?!"

Fu Li vividly expressed what it meant to have his pupils tremble. Thinking of a possibility, he tentatively asked, "Then, if I had you scan my memories earlier—"

"Even after scanning your memories, it's still up to the host to fill it in," Prometheus cruelly shattered his fantasy.

"Because the degree of growth is tied to the host's strength, the current End-of-World Assistance System has not yet evolved the super-powerful function of automatically filling in the attribute panel."

"..."

Question: What is the most Zen place in the world?

Some people would say Buddhist temples, some would say the Western Paradise, and some would say it's within their own hearts.

But Fu Li would say that the most Zen place is a milk tea shop.

No matter how well a person disguises themselves, as soon as they walk into a certain milk tea shop, the young lady will kindly ask if you want a medium, large, or extra-large.

Amitabha, this old monk wants extra-large.

As if feeling that Fu Li wasn't miserable enough, the little AI's mechanical voice, as devoid of emotion as its physique, spoke again:

"The self-filling function can only be used normally after the next system upgrade. The parts of the character panel that can currently be registered are only skills and items obtained through the exchange/lottery function."

"Don't say anymore, just let me be quiet. And don't ask me who Quiet is, she's my yet-to-be-married, unrelated little aunt."

Fu Li's expression was less one of despair and more one of having seen through the world. He waved his hand, signaling the little sprite flitting around his retina to scram—

"Wait! Tell me more about this exchange function?"

As soon as he heard about the lottery, Fu Li 'popped!' and straightened up towards the little AI, very quickly.

"Who was it that just complained about the system's functions being incomplete?" Prometheus retorted, acting a bit sulky.

Facing the displeased AI, Fu Li quickly soothed it like he was coaxing a girlfriend, "I was just joking earlier, Prometheus, you're actually very important to me!"

"How important?"

"When I was wandering outside and suddenly found my phone battery was less than 2%, and after searching everywhere, I finally managed to rent a power bank before it shut down. Is that important?"

"Important."

"You're more important to me than that!"

"That is indeed very important."

Perhaps due to sharing the same plight as a mobile phone, another technological product, the little AI nodded very seriously.

She explained, "The End-of-World Assistance System's exchange/lottery mechanism isn't complicated. The system has two lottery modes: one is a ten-pull lottery every thirty days, and the other is a single pull every seven days."

"Whether it's a ten-pull or a single pull, the host must submit items that meet the system's requirements. The higher the quality of the submitted items, the higher the probability of drawing high-quality prizes."

Fu Li put down the eighth beef can he had just finished, "Feels... alright?"

These cans were what he had stockpiled for emergencies. He was usually reluctant to even eat them.

But considering what would happen later, not eating well and not having enough energy at a crucial moment would be truly idiotic.

The little AI said in surprise, "You didn't complain with a disgusted look, 'Why do I have to submit items to enter a lottery?' Your performance just now scored highly with Prometheus."

She had already planned to tell him that the system's lottery function originated from the Hyper-mutation Factor 'Fu Li' he awakened in his previous life, if he had started complaining.

It felt unsatisfying to have thrown a punch into the air, not hitting someone with a boomerang.

"It's probably because your beta version character panel set my initial expectations for the system extremely low. Once you hit rock bottom, any direction is upward."

Fu Li finally understood. This little imp liked to refer to herself by name when she was happy or unhappy.

And she said others were easy to understand, but she herself was quite easy to understand.

Prometheus glanced sideways at the sneaky him, "The End-of-World Assistance System is a growth-type armament that evolves with the host. It's currently unsightly simply because the host is also currently unsightly."

"Perhaps that can be translated as relying on each other, sharing the same boat, and forging ahead together on the path of growth?"

"The premise is that the host doesn't die halfway through their entrepreneurial journey."

Damn, that little duck's mouth is sharp!

"On a side note, due to the vast amount of spacetime-attribute imaginary energy absorbed while being reborn with the host, the system has met the conditions for the initial ten consecutive draws."

"Hooray!"

Sharp mouth? What sharp mouth? My AI is clearly a little angel who has descended to the mortal realm!

"So, host, do you want to draw now?"

"Mhm, let's start."

"Hyper-mutation Factor 'Fu Li' has been activated, multi-dimensional alternate world resonance 0%—100%, system searching..."

As soon as the voice fell, a white light enveloped Fu Li's vision.

Chapter 5: "A Debt is a Debt"

The light before him made Fu Li's breath catch, his heartbeat suddenly slowing by half a beat.

Although he hadn't played many mobile games, he knew that in games, golden light was the best when drawing items, followed by purple, while blue and white skies meant you were basically out of luck for anything good.

The light quickly faded from his retinas, and some strange objects, which he could only call items, appeared before Fu Li.

They emitted colorful, dazzling light, vying for attention as if to entice the two people before them to investigate further.

Fu Li's mind stirred, and instead of opening the boxes immediately, he opened the personal panel of the End-of-World Assistance System.

As expected, the panel, which had been empty moments ago, was now filled with information.

True Name: Fu Li

Permanent: Human Immortal Path (B), Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal (A)

Status: Partial Amplification Technique (D), Breath Concealment (D)

Active: N/A

Weapon: Galaxy Bat (C)

Items: Healing Bullet x7 (D), Fourth-Dimensional Skirt (D), Memory Eraser (D), Solar Apollo (C), Incomplete Moon Ring (C), Flying Thunder God Kunai (B)

Overall Evaluation: C-rank Valkyrie

Ten-draw cooldown 719:59:59 / Single draw cooldown 00:00:00

"The vast majority are items. This gacha is a bit too realistic."

Fu Li, who had inadvertently spoken his mind, noticed a point: "Isn't it a ten-draw? Why does the panel record eleven items in total? Buy ten, get one free?"

Prometheus had anticipated this: "Breath Concealment is a skill attached to the Human Immortal Path. The total number is still ten."

"Buy one, get one free, that's pretty good," Fu Li marveled. "Are the subsequent levels also references to our world?"

"That's right."

Whether it was combat skills, mecha creations, spell formations, or defensive consumables, anything related to supernatural power would inevitably be classified into various ranks.

The Honkai world was no exception, and the classification method was simple and crude: D, C, B, A, and above, EX.

"Of course, this is just a general overview. Within different categories, there will certainly be variations... and it's worth noting that even for powerful individuals S-rank and above, low-level skills and items can still provide a certain degree of amplification. It's not that an A-rank Valkyrie must use A-rank skills and weapons."

Fu Li explained carefully: "Both skills and items need to be used in conjunction to unleash greater power. Winning solely with a special move is something that only happens in games, and that's assuming the enemy is so pathetic that they can't figure out how to counter the same move after taking it so many times."

Prometheus listened with great interest: "What kind of skills does the host possess?"

Combat techniques don't disappear with rebirth; this is one of the advantages of a second-round player.

"I don't know many, just a few A's, a few B's, a few C's, and a few D's. They're all low-energy consumption types."

Fu Li nonchalantly showed off: "Once the system updates, I'll write them all on my character panel. For now, let's see what I just drew."

Just seeing the A-rank Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal, he could be sure that with his system, white light was definitely not the pity reward.

"Mhm."

Prometheus nodded its little head and leaned over to examine the effects of the skill with the host.

[Name: Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal]

[Rank: A]

[Type: Permanent]

[Effect: A supreme Feng Shui-based divine ability that allows civilizations to develop at high speed. As long as the holder possesses vital signs, the surrounding marketplace will prosper, the land will yield abundant harvests, and economic sectors such as industry and commerce will develop greatly.

In addition, the residents living nearby will become happier, cultivators' practice speed will increase, the pace of technological development will accelerate, and even public security will become stable. It is an ultimate aura that can be considered cheating in strategy games.

The range of Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal expands with the holder's strength.]

[Remarks: Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal, flowers fall, forgetting their roots. A lonely fragrance in the cold, stars in a cup, becoming a god together.]

As it stands, Fu Li's evaluation of the powerful A-rank skill, Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal, was noncommittal.

To say it wasn't strong would be a blatant lie. Whether it was accelerating technological development, boosting cultivation speed, or stabilizing morale, Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal was, just as its description stated, a game-breaking aura in strategy games.

With this characteristic alone, no matter which large organization Fu Li joined, he would be treated as a priceless treasure, more valuable than elephants' teeth made of gold that would last longer than elves.

Humanity's greatest scientist, Lieser Albert Einstein, once said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

But she also said that the one percent of inspiration is often more important than the ninety-nine percent of perspiration.

Throughout history, many scientists' solutions to certain puzzles were just one crucial flash of inspiration away. Countless geniuses throughout the ages died without breaking through that final barrier, passing away in regret.

Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal was the perfect piece of the puzzle that filled that final one percent of inspiration.

Despite this, for Fu Li, who currently needed hard power to seize an opportunity, this A-rank skill felt somewhat like a wasted effort, too good to discard but not useful enough to keep.

This was an ultra-rare, powerful A-rank skill. If it could be converted into immediate combat power, combined with the abilities Fu Li already possessed, even if he couldn't reach his peak state before rebirth, he would still have more than enough to kill three to five Titan mechs.

However, Fu Li quickly adjusted his mindset. One couldn't have both fish and bear's paw. Moreover, this lottery draw was something he got for free from Prometheus.

It was like someone going to a restaurant, being served some dishes, and then complaining to the manager that the food was mediocre and demanding to leave a bad review.

But if the restaurant then stated that this entire table of fine food and wine was provided free of charge, then not leaving a good review would be unconscionable.

Besides, Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal wasn't even a bad dish; it was just served at the wrong time.

His earlier disdain for the End-of-World Assistance System's beta-version character panel was another matter entirely. The predecessor to the system, Key of Governance 0017, was a treasure Fu Li had risked his life to retrieve from ancient ruins fraught with danger.

Since he had paid the corresponding price, it was natural to have expectations.

One thing at a time.

Chapter 6: "Rules Are Meant to Be Broken!"

"Let's look at the next one."