Because I've Seen It Before

Honkai, I Alone Save Everything

What did you mean?

Author: Half-String

Synopsis:

Record of completing 2.3 million words

Ming Yu, who had traveled to the Honkai world and possessed the power of Time Reversal, began a journey of endless loops and salvation.

"After entering St. Freya, you met many trustworthy friends."

"You tried to save many girls who should have died young, and in return received their gifts."

"Railgun, Mahapratimoksha, Unlimited Void..."

"Facing Kevin, you began chanting and summoned a Reality Marble constructed entirely from Judgment of Shamash."

"Facing Elysia, you promised her that humanity would surely defeat Honkai, but would not need to pay the price of everything."

"When facing the Cocoon of Finality, you gradually understood everything about that man. You knew you could defeat it, but it would be a long process, lasting until eternity."

"Having traversed endless futures, you finally turned this imperfect world into the shape of hope."

Volume One

Because I Had Once Seen It

February 2014, Changkong City.

Inside a hidden area of an office building.

Ming Yu stood before the window, turning slightly to discreetly inspect the Honkai Beasts and Dead Soldiers wandering the streets before looking back at the sizable crowd behind him.

He sighed.

At ten that morning, accompanied by a purple beam shooting into the sky from the direction of Chiba Academy, the Third Honkai Eruption had suddenly descended.

For most people living in this city, it was an unexpected disaster. Ordinary people without resistance to Honkai energy had turned into walking corpses—Dead Soldiers—in an instant, shambling through the streets and hunting the surviving humans.

For Ming Yu himself, however, this was an even more disastrous start.

—He was a transmigrator who had landed, without deviation, at the scene of the Third Honkai Eruption just as it broke out in Changkong City.

One second, he had been buying things at a convenience store. The next, after stepping out the door, he had abruptly appeared here. It was practically a Natsuki Subaru-style transmigration, with surprise as its defining feature.

...What a wonderful start.

In any case, there had been no time to think about anything else. He had been forced to begin his struggle for survival.

He knew something about the Honkai series. He had been happily saving crystals while waiting for Big Moon Beneath to board the ship, only to find himself in the story in the blink of an eye.

Honestly, Honkai's story was decent enough when viewed from outside, but experiencing it firsthand was genuinely dangerous.

If possible, he would have preferred a safer world—Kivotos, for example...

Setting aside those powerful Valkyries, for ordinary people without special abilities, encountering a Honkai eruption was nothing less than a complete apocalyptic crisis.

If he had appeared anywhere other than the site of the Third Honkai Eruption, he would have immediately fled this city and run to a relatively safe one—Sky Dome City in Shenzhou, for instance, one of the few cities that remained unharmed even after Queen's Advent.

Though Jackal had caused trouble there in an attempt to verify the Stigmata Project, she had still been stopped in the end.

Unfortunately, he had no right to choose his "spawn point." He could only struggle to survive in this Changkong City that had already become half ruins.

And now, after fleeing for some time, he and a group of fortunate survivors had hidden inside this temporarily safe building.

This group of survivors, himself included, all possessed a certain degree of resistance to Honkai energy, which was why they could barely cling to life for the moment.

Due to the electromagnetic field disturbances caused by the awakening of the Herrscher of Thunder, all electronic equipment throughout Changkong City had failed. Thus, the survivors inside had no idea what exactly was happening, nor could they contact the outside world or learn what had occurred beyond the city.

For example, had these terrifying monsters appeared only in Changkong City, or had the entire world already become an apocalyptic hellscape?

Clearly, the others here were more inclined to believe the latter.

It was a form of self-comfort. Otherwise, the thought that only they had suffered the misfortune of destruction was simply unbearable from the bottom of their hearts.

And people's hearts were impossible to predict. After gaining a brief measure of safety, many of those who had originally cooperated to escape began entertaining other ideas.

If this was now a barren apocalypse, then the laws and morals of the past had completely lost their meaning.

Strength and weapons were the only useful things now. Whoever controlled them could become the leader and redefine order.

A group of people had visibly gathered in the corner, seemingly discussing and plotting something.

Ming Yu did not join their discussion. Instead, he leaned against the wall by the window and sat on the floor, resting with his eyes closed.

At that moment, a little purple-haired girl broke away from the crowd and walked straight toward him.

Her purple hair covered one of her eyes, leaving only the other, a ruby-like eye, visible.

This was the child Ming Yu had rescued along the way while fleeing. Her name was Xiaokong.

She came to his side and sat down, copying him.

"What is it, Xiaokong?"

Without opening his eyes, Ming Yu asked calmly.

"Um... Big Brother..."

Xiaokong hesitated for a moment before softly saying:

"Those adults said... they want to drive you out of here..."

"Probably because I don't get along with them very well."

Ming Yu showed no surprise, as though he had known about this all along, and answered casually.

Conflicts within temporary survivor groups like this were common. Clearly, he was the one being excluded by a portion of them.

Now that they had reached a temporarily safe place, someone had begun causing trouble and planned to eliminate dissenters.

"But this safe place was clearly found by you, Big Brother... Without you, we never could have found somewhere to shelter..."

Xiaokong said unwillingly.

If not for Ming Yu, they would never have found such a safe place.

"It's fine. By the way, Xiaokong, would you like to leave here with me?"

Ming Yu patted her head and asked with a smile.

"...Huh?"

The purple-haired girl was instantly stunned, then said timidly:

"But it's dangerous outside. We could run into monsters at any time..."

Even from here, they could hear the roars of Honkai Beasts in the streets.

The sounds alone were enough to make one shudder with fear.

"The outside is certainly dangerous, but this place may not be safe either."

Ming Yu waved his hand and continued:

"I'll be leaving here shortly. Whether you want to come with me is up to you."

"..."

Xiaokong fell silent for a time, clearly hesitating.

At that moment, a middle-aged man wearing glasses could no longer restrain himself. He stood and announced:

"Everyone, the outside world has become a complete mess. As survivors, we need to establish a new order so that we can live better in the future.

"Whether this is a global disaster or a regional one, we need to hold on as long as possible!

"From now on, the food and drinking water we have must be distributed according to rules!

"If anyone refuses to cooperate, then I'm sorry, but we can only exclude him from this group!"

As he spoke, his gaze very obviously turned toward Ming Yu.

Just as he intended to make trouble for Ming Yu and announce that he was being expelled, Ming Yu stood up, stretched slightly, and said:

"No need to go through the trouble of putting on an act. I'm leaving now."

"You... Huh?"

The bespectacled middle-aged man was caught completely off guard by Ming Yu's response.

He had indeed wanted to make things difficult for Ming Yu and use him as an example, but he had not actually planned to drive him away. He had merely wanted to see him cry and beg for mercy, to thoroughly crush his spirit.

He had not expected the other man to seemingly know what he was going to say and simply decide to leave.

"You... You'd better think this through. The outside is full of monsters that kill people. A guy like you can't survive alone at all!"

He threatened viciously.

They had already completely regarded this as a post-apocalyptic world.

Unfortunately, there was no global apocalypse like you imagined, at least not yet... Hmm, if he calculated the time, Aunt Himeko's Hyperion should arrive in Changkong City within the next couple of days...

Ming Yu thought silently to himself.

Of course, he would not tell them any of this. Besides, they would not live to see that time.

"That need not concern you."

After a pause, he swept his gaze over the others and said:

"If anyone is willing to leave with me, you can come along as well."

Clearly, no one was willing to give up a ready-made safe haven and return to the dangerous outside world.

If this was merely a regional disaster, then staying in this safe place and waiting for outside rescue was the best option;

if it was a global apocalypse, then they should all the more avoid seeking death outside. There would be nowhere safe in the world.

No one answered, so Ming Yu waved his hand and unhurriedly left the safe place.

The crowd fell silent for a moment. Only Xiaokong, after hesitating, resolutely jogged after him.

"...What if he brings monsters here to harm us?"

After Ming Yu left, someone suddenly said.

He did not care about Ming Yu's safety. He was only worried that Ming Yu would retaliate by deliberately luring monsters here to attack them.

"Those monsters are unbelievably fast. It's already lucky not to be killed the instant you run into one. How could he possibly have the ability to lure them here to harm us?"

Another person said dismissively.

They had all witnessed, more or less, what those monsters could do.

Ordinary people simply had no way to face those enormous monsters!

After leaving that office building with Xiaokong, Ming Yu did not go far. Instead, he led the girl around the Honkai Beasts and Dead Soldiers roaming the streets and entered another small residential house two blocks away.

—Xiaokong found it astonishing. Ming Yu always seemed able to find a particular route, avoiding the monsters searching the streets and moving smoothly from place to place.

It was as if he had traveled this route countless times and knew it like the back of his hand.

After avoiding all the Honkai Beasts and Dead Soldiers, Ming Yu led Xiaokong into the house and closed the door behind them.

It was an empty house. Its original owner had probably already fled to escape the disaster.

Ignoring everything else, Ming Yu walked directly to the dining table, where a mechanical watch lay.

Because of the citywide electromagnetic field disturbances caused by the birth of the Herrscher of Thunder, most mechanical equipment had lost its function. But a mechanical watch like this could still faithfully fulfill its duty of telling the time.

Of course, Ming Yu did not know whether the time it displayed was accurate, but it could at least serve as a reference.

"Time... Mm, time is important."

Ming Yu muttered to himself as he picked up the mechanical watch and fastened it around his wrist.

Then, he slowly walked to the window and sat down in a chair.

From here, he could still clearly see the building they had previously stayed in. In stark contrast to the low residential houses surrounding it, it stood out like a crane among chickens, conspicuous and eye-catching.