Honkai Impact: Become Their Hero

When the night grew silent—

Elias stepped out of his room once the two girls had fallen asleep.

Even though Mei and Kiana were excited about having a friend stay over for the first time, the exhaustion from the day's events had drained them, and they were now fast asleep.

Elias made his way to the bathroom.

He stared at himself in the mirror.

One by one, he unbuttoned his pajama top.

(Side note: the pajamas belonged to Mei's father, so they didn't fit him perfectly. That said, the cooking queen wouldn't mind buying him a set of his own if he decided to stay long-term.)

But that wasn't the issue right now.

[Dear Host, you're about to perish.]

"Yeah, I know."

Hearing the system bluntly state the reality of his condition, Elias let out a bitter chuckle. He pulled back his shirt, revealing his upper body.

The reflection in the mirror was horrifying.

His skin had taken on a pale, silicone-like texture, marred by streaks of lingering violet Honkai energy. It was clear—his body was beginning to transform into a zombie.

Perhaps most people hadn't noticed, but Elias was no overpowered protagonist blessed with a god-tier cheat.

From the beginning, Elias was nothing more than an ordinary person who had been thrown into the world of Honkai Impact 3.

He had no resistance to Honkai energy whatsoever.

And without any resistance, even a short exposure to Honkai was dangerous—let alone being in direct contact with the semi-awakened Herrscher of Thunder.

The fact that he hadn't already lost his sanity and turned into a mindless monster was a miracle in itself.

But at this rate, by sunrise, he would no longer be human.

[But, Host, you don't seem panicked at all. Do you have a way to resolve this?]

"Of course~ I don't…"

[Uh…]

"Come on, you know Honkai corruption is nearly irreversible at this stage. Otto hasn't even completed his research on the God-Slaying Spear, and even in the Previous Era, making a single dose of Honkai resistance serum required extracting resources from thousands of infected subjects."

Elias shook his head, absentmindedly poking at his half-mutated skin. In the game, zombies were all female and couldn't be examined up close.

[Still, you're surprisingly calm about this.]

"What else can I do? Panicking won't help. Staying positive is always the better option. Besides… I already expected this outcome."

[Oh? You predicted that you'd end up like this?]

"Not exactly. I just… know better than anyone that I'm an ordinary person. And if someone like me wants to greedily chase after miracles—to save everyone—then I should have known there'd be a price to pay."

Elias was just a regular human.

But he refused to accept an ordinary fate.

Despite having no right to interfere with the Honkai, he had thrown himself into battle. He had stopped the envoy of the gods and saved an entire city's worth of lives.

And the price for such an achievement… was his body succumbing to corruption, turning him into a mindless killing machine.

Perhaps… this was the cost of a mortal attempting to perform miracles.

"Honestly, this is a bargain. I thought for sure I'd drop dead on the spot. Haha~ I got off easy."

Elias wasn't sad. He wasn't in despair. He didn't even regret his actions. Instead, he had enough humor left to joke about it. He casually grabbed his phone and snapped a selfie of his half-corrupted form.

He almost absentmindedly posted it to his social media.

[…]

Even the system was speechless.

Encountering such a relentlessly optimistic host, even when death was practically knocking on his door, left it utterly baffled. Most people would have been consumed by despair, but Elias? He was still joking around.

[Host, you should know this isn't over. You may have foiled Cocolia's plan for now, but she won't just give up. She'll strike again at any moment.]

The system issued a warning.

Although Herrscher Mei's decision had prevented the Honkai Eruption, Cocolia's scheme had not been entirely thwarted. She could always try again.

After all, Anti-Entropy had an unlimited supply of Honkai energy crystals. As long as the concentration of Honkai energy reached the critical 1000HW threshold, Mei would be forcibly transformed into a Herrscher—whether she wanted it or not.

She was simply too compatible with the role of the Herrscher of Thunder. Even without the Gem of Conquest, it was inevitable that she would become the Third Herrscher.

"Yeah, I know. That's why… I can't afford to fall just yet."

Elias set his phone down, his gaze firm.

Welt Yang had died and come back to life multiple times.

So how could Elias afford to collapse here?

He still had so many things he wanted to do—playing games with Bronya, attending Himeko's lectures, getting close to Seele, going on a date with Elysia, eating noodles with Kevin, uncovering Aponia's secrets, petting the cat-girl, and indulging in Griseo's culinary masterpieces!

A new storm was brewing.

Now was not the time to stop moving forward.

So…

"System, stop holding out on me. Hurry up and save your damn host! You've been slacking for too long—shouldn't you finally do something useful?! You call yourself a system? At least pretend to be helpful!" Elias whined impatiently.

Other people's systems turned them into god-like protagonists—dominating the world, slaying gods, punching Otto, and kicking Kevin.

Meanwhile, his system?

All it had done so far was grant him a legal identity and function as a glorified chatbot. If it were at least a proper chat group, that'd be something—but who the hell wanted to chat with a system?!

"If you don't give me something useful today, I'm uninstalling you. If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me. Even if I can't delete you, I'll leave you a five-star negative review!"

[Fine. Please remain calm. The system has now fully loaded. You may now activate its functions.]

Hearing this, Elias finally let out a relieved sigh.

Damn, finally! Even downloading a 30GB Honkai update was faster than this.

"Can you save me?"

[Yes.]

"Good! I knew I wasn't going to die!"

Elias eagerly began reading through the system's user manual. After several minutes, he finally understood what kind of cheat he had.

In simple terms, it was a Past Simulator.

It allowed him to travel back in time within the world of Honkai Impact 3. If he successfully completed a mission in the past, he would receive a reward.

Elias grinned.

This was perfect.

Even though Elias had arrived early in the story, he had still missed out on so much.

Like the Previous Era.

He wasn't sure how much he or the system could change, but at least he finally had a chance to rewrite some of those tragedies.

If he worked hard enough… maybe he could even ensure all of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers survived to the Present Era.

Even if the simulator claimed it was just a "simulation," everything he accomplished within it would become real.

Just the thought of it filled him with excitement.

He was going to meet Elysia!

He was going to hug Griseo!

And he had to meet the class monitor from 50,000 years ago—just to see if her figure had truly remained unchanged for all that time!

[Unfortunately, Host, the system's time-travel nodes are completely random. However, you will receive Buff-enhanced attributes to ensure you have at least the minimum level of power necessary.]

"Alright, alright~ I won't be picky. As long as I have something, I'll take it. Like they say—big cheats get you banned, but a small buff isn't really cheating. Let's go!"

Elias didn't have high expectations—he just wanted a chance to change those tragedies.

Nothing in this world was more precious than opportunity.

Just look at a certain Overseer—he spent over 500 years chasing after just one chance to alter the past, only to ultimately sacrifice himself entirely in exchange for the briefest moment of success.

As Elias pondered over this, a translucent system interface appeared before him, displaying what looked like a roulette wheel.

[Ding!]

[First Time-Travel Destination Confirmed!]

[Designated Timeframe: Second Honkai Eruption! Due to the extreme difficulty of this event, Host will receive double Buff-enhanced attributes. Enjoy your experience!]

The moment the roulette wheel stopped, the words Second Honkai Eruption flashed before Elias' eyes. A storybook with a violet cover materialized in his hands.

Instinctively, he knew—

The moment he opened this book, he would be transported back to the era of the Second Honkai Eruption.