Honkai Double Traverse, Taking Cyrene to Honkai Impact 3rd

...Probably?

In any case, Jiang Cheng successfully made it into the room.

He saw the luxurious decor, a blend of modern and classical Chinese elements, and the soft bed that had already been warmed up.

Phew...

He took off his jacket, all by himself.

Before he had entered the room, Yae Sakura had already led Raiden Mei away, using her naturally innocent tone and the excuse, "Could you show me around?"

Mei had initially wanted to ask another servant to take her place, but before she could even make an excuse, Kiana accidentally tripped and tumbled down the stairs. Several servants cried out in alarm and hurried after her to help.

In the end, Raiden Mei had no choice but to go herself, leaving him without a single servant to call on.

...That was fine, too.

Jiang Cheng himself didn't need any servants waiting on him. It was as if a person's nobility could be judged by whether they felt embarrassed to expose their body in front of servants.

He was obviously not noble.

He'd probably feel embarrassed if someone stared at his body. No... he would definitely be embarrassed.

Rather than having a servant help him get ready for bed, what mattered more now was checking the system again—

He seemed to have heard a system notification earlier.

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51. System Panel, Bugs in a Dream

But was Kiana really that clumsy? This wasn't the future, when she'd been spoiled rotten for three years.

The memory surfaced unbidden—

The confident way she swung the baseball bat, her expression for one fleeting moment as cool and clear as moonlight.

By comparison, wasn't she a little too dazed now?

Maybe Paramecium mode had been triggered.

Jiang Cheng didn't pay it any mind.

He changed into his sleepwear. The fabric was incredibly soft, so light he could barely feel it against his skin. It was as comfortable as being wrapped in clouds.

Jiang Cheng opened the system.

Scrolling up from the bottom, he could see several rewards that belonged to him. It seemed they couldn't be issued because the system lacked energy.

A little farther up, he spotted the notification requesting energy.

Jiang Cheng calculated the timing. It had probably appeared right around when he had stepped onto a Path.

He'd assumed the system would need a more advanced kind of energy. So Imaginary Energy would work, too?

"Then use it. I grant permission. But first, explain something to me—will extracting this energy have any effect on me?"

[No.] The cold mechanical voice sounded deep within his consciousness. [The energy will not be extracted from the host's body. Instead, the host will serve as an anchor point, and the system will draw energy from the Path using the host's authority—the Traces the host has carved along the Path.]

"Do I have enough energy right now?"

[Estimate: sufficient to support activation of minimum functions.]

"What are the minimum functions? And how much energy will it take to unlock the next level?"

[The host's personal panel and reward-claiming function.]

[Take "the Hunt" as an example. The host must endure three more arrows. The host has currently endured three arrows.]

Jiang Cheng recalled the three streaks of light he had seen earlier.

If enduring nine arrows was enough to become an Emanator and wield Divine Might, then he had already come a fair distance along the Path after being struck by three.

However, there was no precise system for measuring strength here. They didn't even have a crude ranking system like the different Valkyrie classes, and the generals' strength wasn't a useful point of comparison.

He would have to wait for the panel to unlock and see what it said, as well as the testing room Raiden Ryoma had prepared for tomorrow.

At any rate, with his current strength and a Third Generation Battlesuit, he could already fight his way through Schicksal seven times over.

Jiang Cheng prepared to claim his reward. With his current physical condition, setting an alarm for three hours and forcing himself to wake up would be easy.

Then he sank into a brief rest.

A long while later, prompted by the power he had prepared in advance, Jiang Cheng opened his eyes amid a faint chill.

The first thing he did was look out the window—

A breeze happened to drift through, billowing the curtains into a free-flowing shape as they stirred softly in the night.

The quiet night seeped in through the window. The wind chimes hanging beneath the eaves rang out, "Ding—ding—." Though made of glazed material, they seemed to have been coated in a layer of bright moonlight.

Dreamlike, gorgeous moonlight spilled across the world. Through its faint glow, he could make out a world that was subtly different from reality.

The night wind brushed past the greenery in the courtyard. The wind chimes rang out of their own accord, their notes seeming all the more ethereal in the utter stillness.

Everything he could see was hazy.

Only that silver cascade streamed serenely down from the sky, as if glazing everything beneath it.

Jiang Cheng could hardly stop himself from reaching out, wanting to see how the clear moonlight would look as it painted his hand.

[Basic functions repaired.]

The cold, lifeless machine voice sounded beside his ear.

Against the backdrop of the moon's cool glow, it gave him the uncanny feeling that he had stepped into a world beyond humanity.

"Open the personal panel."

Jiang Cheng issued the command deep within his mind.

The panel seemed to be projected directly into the depths of his consciousness. Just as it had been described in countless novels, it slowly appeared—

[Name: Jiang Cheng]

[Gender: Male]

[Species: Semi-electronic life-form]

[Abilities possessed: None.]

[Ability enhancements: Products of the Path of Destruction, Path of the Hunt, and Path of Remembrance. Dual-Path resonance.]

[Strength assessment: S-rank Valkyrie—Highest.]

Jiang Cheng's gaze lingered on the words [S-rank Valkyrie—Highest] for three seconds.

"I'm glad you can apply patches. But isn't your strength assessment a little too sloppy?"

[This world has no concrete standard for measuring strength. The host does not use Honkai Energy levels as a measure. Instead, the host primarily uses the Paths' Imaginary Energy, with Honkai Energy as a secondary measure. Assessment: using the Valkyrie evaluation standard is reasonable. If dissatisfied, the host may seize sovereignty over the world and change the method of rating combat strength.]

"...Fine."

"Then give me the rewards I can claim."

Jiang Cheng didn't waste much more time on the matter.

He was quite interested in the gift packages provided by the Valkyrie Strategy System.

A system capable of tearing through Amphoreus's barrier and sending him intact into another universe surely had extraordinary rewards.

He couldn't help rubbing his hands together, gazing at the panel in the depths of his consciousness with eager anticipation.

Then—

[Location of the Seven Thunders of Retribution: World Serpent's Third Base. Enter through the front door and turn left. Proceed straight for 300 meters, then turn right and proceed straight for 700 meters... Kill a guard patrol and cut off its head and fingers. Use the iris and fingerprints to unlock the three security measures ahead, then bypass the security mechanism by jumping up, down, right, left, up, up, up. Use your height to... bypass the infrared beams, enter the room, and knock out Natasha to claim the reward.]

[Warning: This mission's reward is not suited to the host. Recommended user: Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei.]

—???

Staring at the system panel, Jiang Cheng's eyes widened. He had been sitting there, relaxed, ready to receive his weapon.

"What do you mean?!"

[Mission reward issued. Please claim it.]

He checked the system panel over and over, confirming that he hadn't misread anything. Every word was perfectly clear. His expression turned to disgust.

"Wow. Your reward-claiming function is just giving me the location and making me go get it myself?!"

"What kind of system is this half-assed?!"

[When sufficient energy is available, the system may take temporary control of the host's body with permission, providing an emergency boost to combat ability to ensure absolute acquisition of the reward—kill first, ask questions later.]

The mechanical voice explained evenly.

[However, due to the current severe energy loss, the system cannot provide assistance. With sufficient energy, the loss incurred by opening a portal can be reduced to a minimum within a single universe, allowing constant travel within that universe. No time will be wasted searching for the target. Estimate: if the system takes control, the reward can be obtained in three to seven minutes. If the host acts personally, it will take thirty minutes to one hour and twelve minutes.]

Kill first, ask questions later...

Now that was a fine way to do things.

Jiang Cheng felt like he couldn't even be bothered to complain.

There really wasn't anything to complain about with this purely mechanical system panel. It didn't even have a complaint button.

He suddenly remembered the beginner gift package, which could only be claimed after entering Nagazora. The system had specifically stated that it couldn't be claimed while its energy was depleted.

"So that's what you meant by... the beginner gift package?"

[The system will take control of the host's body and travel to the Yae Village Ruins, install Stigmata, and unlock the first side-story stage: Sakura Samsara. It will also unlock the first recruitable Valkyrie: Yae Sakura.]

—I see.

Jiang Cheng took a deep breath. He had completely come around to the idea.

By the system's standards, the beginner gift package really was quite substantial. It would give him Stigmata right away and let him train a Valkyrie in no time.

After clearing the stage, he could even obtain the Key of Corruption—

A Divine Key that theoretically had the greatest potential, the most powerful offensive capabilities, and the best technique.

Besides, the difficulty wasn't that high.

Yae Sakura wouldn't harbor any ill will toward an innocent person who had wandered in by mistake. At the very least, she wouldn't hurt them.

Trapped in an endless cycle, she would return to the period surrounding Yae Rin's death, when she was in her worst mental state. That would make it easy to take advantage of the situation...

Or, rather, to play the hero and save the beauty.

After raising her affection, given the system's usual approach, he guessed the reward would probably be the Key of Corruption.

With its energy intact, the system could defeat Rin in three to seven minutes. And with Rin weakened afterward, she might even be recruitable as an extra Valkyrie.

By comparison, the Nagazora side-story—

Tsk.

That was practically asking to die. If he weren't tempted by the Key of Corruption, he wouldn't go anywhere near it.

"Can you use Honkai Energy as a power source?" Jiang Cheng suddenly asked. Honkai Energy was easy to get in this world, far more so than his one-of-a-kind Path energy.

[Honkai Energy can only provide a one-time supply. If Imaginary Energy is drawn from a Herrscher Core, it may cause the Honkai in the current civilization to rapidly intensify. Assessment: interfering with a Path and drawing energy from it would be easier.]

...Fine.

Whatever happened, he would wait until tomorrow, after testing his strength and properly figuring out his strengths and weaknesses.

If he was strong enough, and his abilities were well-rounded, with no gaps in his Paths caused by the Cocoon of Finality's seal, then he could act with even less restraint. First, he'd get Raiden Ryoma to make him a full set of men's Valkyrie armor. Then he'd go claim the Key of Corruption, get his loadout completely ready, and immediately storm Schicksal's Floating Island to kill Otto.

If he wasn't strong enough, he'd hide out at ME Corp for the time being, stay with Raiden Ryoma while developing and honing his strength, and find a chance to claim his beginner reward—Yae Sakura—before figuring out how to storm Schicksal.

[Yae Village Ruins: head right from the valley...]

He closed his eyes and slept soundly this time.

He didn't get the melodramatic cliché he'd expected—the kind where a hot-blooded manga protagonist, after going berserk or gaining power for the first time, was inevitably dragged into a dreamscape and beaten senseless by someone they didn't recognize, or someone who looked just like them, before being subjected to a soul-searching interrogation.