In Honkai: Star Rail: With Cheats, I Became Invincible - Author: Name of the Strange
"Where the hell did I end up?"
He had crossed into the world of Honkai: Star Rail, and before he could even process it, his cheats arrived.
[Check-in successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Herrscher of Flamescion character card.] "???" [Check-in successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Acheron (Raiden Bosenmori Mei) character card.] "??!" [Check-in successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Supreme Dragon character card.] "?!!" [Check-in successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained the character card for Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze.]
"!!!"
"I'm already invincible!"
Feeling the fathomless power inside him, Lingchen could not help exclaiming.
But... as he looked at the growing crowd of beautiful girls behind him, Lingchen fell silent.
Chapter 1: A Familiar Transmigration Experience
"Goddammit, where the hell did I end up?"
Lingchen stood up and surveyed his surroundings. If this was not a world of ice and snow, it was certainly a freezing wasteland.
White earth, bitter winds, snowflakes as big as hands-that about summed it up.
All he remembered was reclining in his chair at home, sipping cola and humming a tune while engrossed in the "Daily Competition" on an app. He had just spotted something good and reached out to tap the little heart.
Suddenly, a muffled thunderclap rang out overhead, followed by a shout of "Hurry up, come at me together!" Then came an angry roar and a staff growing larger in his vision.
In his daze, he seemed to hear his next-door neighbor bellow, "Honkai: Star Rail, launch!!!" Then his ears rang, and he lost consciousness.
Lingchen instinctively felt his forehead. The skin was smooth, nothing like what he would expect after getting clubbed.
"Phew, thank goodness."
He sighed in relief. At least he did not have a huge lump on his head. Who knew what that staff had been made of? But all the information on his phone, which had flown into the air as he departed...
"Forget it. This obviously isn't my old world anymore. I'll consider it a parting gift. I wonder which lucky lamb will get it."
The surroundings clearly had nothing in common with the skyscrapers and cars of his old world. After years of reading transmigration novels, Lingchen would have had to be an absolute idiot not to realize that his turn had come.
As for that parting gift... Lingchen figured that even if he did not call it one, he had no way to go back for it right now.
Just as Lingchen made peace with the situation, a sudden chill swept over him, making him shiver.
Transmigration had been such a shock that he had forgotten he was standing in the snow. He was still wearing thin autumn clothes. Luckily, he had been dressed to go out even while at home. If he had only been wearing slippers and pajamas...
Brrr! Damn, this bone-chilling wind definitely proves I'm not dreaming, but... am I going to be the first transmigrator to freeze to death?
Feeling his limbs stiffen considerably in that short span of time, Lingchen's expression darkened.
System, save me!
In his panic, Lingchen shouted inwardly. Would it work? He was about to freeze to death; who cared whether it would work?
[Ding. The host's heartfelt sincerity has been detected. System starting...] [Startup successful. The Honkai: Star Rail Check-in and Lines System is at your service.]
A Check-in and Lines System?
His panic abruptly stopped.
Lingchen froze. Was he supposed to study An Actor's Self-Cultivation now?
But he had not been an actor in his previous life. He did not have that kind of talent.
He did know Honkai: Star Rail, though. He had been playing it just a few hours ago. He simply did not know whether the name literally meant that all his check-in rewards would come from Honkai: Star Rail, or whether that was merely a prefix identifying this world, with the rest being the actual system name. The system did not explain.
As he thought about it, Lingchen began wondering whether he would have to act out roles in particular situations...
[Ding. Checking in before a story character grants a random character card. Upon use, the system adjusts that character's power to suit the current situation. The power will be just right, so the host will neither struggle nor find things excessively easy. [After use ends, an appropriate amount of rewards will be granted. Performing in a manner consistent with a character's persona, such as reciting their lines or making corresponding physical gestures, will appropriately increase the rewards at settlement. Note: All cards have a usage duration of 24 hours. Once activated, they cannot be paused, but their use may be ended directly to settle the rewards.]
The system explained its functions on its own, its voice cold and emotionless.
...System, what counts as a story character?
[The host may consider them participants in the main story or side stories, provided their involvement is not too minor.]
The system's response was brief and devoid of emotion.
But Lingchen understood. Was that not essentially being a drama chaser? He just had to join in wherever something was happening, or give himself extra scenes, deliver a few lines, perhaps even put on some cringeworthy performance.
He was not really a drama chaser, but enjoying gossip and watching the show was a tradition shared by everyone in China, and he was no exception. Joining in on different storylines would be easy enough.
As for whether it would be embarrassing-what was embarrassment compared to power? He had never heard of it.
What about those other vague measurements, like Chinese cooking instructions?
Things like "an appropriate amount" and "appropriately."
[Please discover that for yourself, host.]
Lingchen understood again. This system probably could not turn him straight into an invincible Aeon, but it was likely the sort that let him grow stronger while having fun along the way.
"Neither struggle nor find things excessively easy" clearly meant it would give him a better experience, rather than letting him one-shot everything and get no enjoyment out of it.
From another perspective, it resembled the systems in novels he had read on an app in his previous life.
Granted, it did not offer much of a cultivation experience, but this method of growing stronger was clearly better suited to a transmigrator from modern society like him.
After all, how many ordinary people had that kind of perseverance? Talking about it and actually doing it were two different things.
Right, when you say it adapts to the current situation, do you mean that even if I get Asta's card, its power will be adjusted to Emanator level when I face an Emanator?
[Ding. Correct. For example: assuming Miss Asta follows the path of Harmony, when facing an Emanator-level crisis, the host's use of her card will raise him to the level of a Harmony Emanator, granting greater rewards. Conversely, if the host obtains an Emanator-level card but faces an ordinary person as an enemy, the card will provide power only slightly above an ordinary person's level, and the rewards will be reduced accordingly.]
In that case, he would not need to save cards as trump cards. On the other hand, he would still need to think carefully before using them.
After all, taking Abundance as an example, an Emanator and a lower-level Pathstrider were entirely different concepts.
If he needed higher-level Abundance power to heal something, he would naturally have to use it at the right moment.
Then... what about a beginner's gift pack?
Lingchen asked tentatively.
While chatting with the system, several minutes might pass for him while only a second passed outside, so he could not feel the cold.
But once this ended... he had no idea who he could find to check in with in this snowy wasteland, or whose lines he should say.
Who would act like a lunatic alone in the middle of an icy wasteland?
[Ding. Please be advised, host: it is your actual person that has transmigrated. This is not an immersive game for you, but a real experience. This system is not a game system, either. If you insist on a beginner's gift pack, your passage through the Tree and the Sea has given your body a special adaptability. You may consider that your beginner's gift pack.]
*...*
Lingchen's mouth twitched, and he stopped chatting idly with the system.
He still had to sort out his real-world predicament.
But the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a ball of fire falling from the sky.
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Chapter 2: The Stellaron Hunters Arrive
There seemed to be something inside the flames, and behind them followed an enormous mass of bugs.
Wait, why does it look like it's getting closer?
Lingchen's expression changed, and he took off running. Even with his special adaptability, he had been an ordinary person just moments earlier. Transmigrated or not, his reactions were still those of an ordinary person.
But the flaming object flew incredibly fast.
BOOM-
With a deafening crash, the flames landed in front of him. Lingchen was blown several steps backward, and now he could see what was inside: a burning suit of armor.
"Sam's armor?"
Lingchen did not even stop to wonder why the impact of armor falling from the sky had only pushed him back a few steps, or why Sam's armor was here at all. A huge number of bugs were already swooping down from above.
At that moment, Sam rose from the crouch she had landed in.
"You recognize this armor? Get out of here."
The voice was synthesized, yet it made Lingchen think of one of his favorite characters-Firefly.
He could not help it. This armor looked exactly like Firefly's Firefly Type IV Strategic Assault Armor.
Still, a thought was only a thought. At first, he had assumed this was Jarilo-VI because of the freezing weather, but clearly it was not. This Sam probably was not Firefly, either.
After all, the Glamoth Iron Cavalry had once outnumbered even the Swarm, blotting out the sky. Who knew what era this was?
He had not expected someone in that armor to care about a stranger's life, though. Of course, Lingchen was more inclined to think she had simply said it in passing, without caring whether he lived or died.
"I told you to slow down. Repeated Aether Editing teleports take a lot out of me."
"Good thing there were only three of us on this mission, so we took a smaller ship. We used fuel at first, too, and only started teleporting when our route was cut off near this planet's orbit."
Another voice came from high above and behind Lingchen. The newcomer was rambling, a clear note of complaint in her tone. Listening closely, he could hear her panting; she had obviously expended a great deal of energy.
"This planet was destroyed by a Stellaron ages ago. Nobody survived, so arriving a little late wouldn't have mattered. Besides, isn't your usual style to go 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh' and blow up the enemy? Huh? Who's this man? A local?"
"Dear, his clothes alone should tell you he isn't a local. Listen to me..."
"Wait!"
Lingchen had turned around the moment that distinctly girlish voice reached him.
And so, he had seen who had arrived.
Although the transition from game to reality had changed their builds and appearances somewhat, their individual characteristics still allowed Lingchen to recognize them.
That was precisely why he interrupted the woman who radiated maturity before she could finish speaking.
"Oh? Do you have something to say, sir? Your expression tells me that you seem to recognize us. Then could you tell us how you came to be here?"
Although her "casting" had been interrupted, Kafka did not mind.
She stopped using Spirit Whisper and studied Lingchen with a smile. To her, the man before her was full of openings, and she had countless ways to subdue him instantly. Clearly, however, an ordinary person could not have withstood the air currents from Sam's landing at such close range. The crater in front of them was proof enough.
As for the Swarm attacking from nearby, they were merely low-level bugs. Sam could easily deal with them without even unleashing her full strength.
"I've certainly heard of the famous Stellaron Hunters. Kafka, Silver Wolf, and Sam."
"So you really do know us. What do you plan to do, then? Capture us and collect the bounty?"
Perhaps Kafka was in a good mood today. Or perhaps the appearance of such an out-of-place "ordinary person" on this frozen planet, long since destroyed by a Stellaron, had piqued her curiosity. Had Elio foreseen this?
For that reason, she did not attack immediately as she had in the past, nor did she use Spirit Whisper again.
Lingchen shook his head at her words.
Kafka and her companions certainly qualified as a terrorist organization across the cosmos-at least to some of the civilizations whose Stellarons they had taken.
But so what? As a transmigrator, Lingchen already had some affection for Kafka and her companions as characters. A game was a game and reality was reality, but as long as they did not try to kill him the moment they met and become his actual enemies, he would naturally retain some of that fondness. One could call it a common "affliction" among transmigrators.
"I mean you no harm. You should be able to tell."
Lingchen did not believe that a young man who had spent twenty-odd years in modern society could hide his expressions or thoughts from a group of interstellar fugitives.
People who became calculating, flawless masters of deception the instant they transmigrated might exist, but that would certainly not happen to an ordinary twenty-something from the twenty-first century.
"That's true, Kafka. According to Sam's scans, he feels no hostility toward us, nor any fear. He even feels some goodwill."