HI3: Starting from the Previous Civilization

Evening. Dusk was upon the land.

The sun in the western sky merged with the clouds, glowing blood-red. The radiant light covered the world in a deep orange hue.

Chen Fan, having just woken up, rubbed the bridge of his nose. He took an ice pack from the fridge, placed it on his head to cool down, then slumped into his gaming chair.

"Sure enough, this method works—if only there were some way to adjust the speed of the Noble Phantasm. Whenever I jump into that ultra-fast thinking state, the rush of absorbing knowledge feels awesome, but I can only hold on for two or three seconds."

"The side effects, though, are too brutal. So much for that 'small goal' I had; it's gonna be delayed for a long time."

"Looks like I'd better find Mobius soon and have her figure out a way to enhance the human body."

"As for training by normal exercise… who knows how long that'd take. 'Monkeys year, horses month'¹ maybe?"

He briefly considered something like the Fusion Warrior project. But the success rate of that is nowhere near guaranteed. And it's not like he's some destined protagonist in the Honkai world who can fuse perfectly with zero issues.

"As for my mental state…"

Recalling his system, Chen Fan spoke up again.

"Forget it. Let's just check if the system has any decent method to get stronger. At least I could use that Noble Phantasm for more than a few seconds—that's my ticket to staying alive."

With a flick of his hand, Chen Fan pulled up the system interface.

As soon as it opened, a pop-up message appeared:

[Host, I'm stepping out for a while. I might not be back for quite some time.

Feel free to tackle the system tasks on your own. Honestly, I admire your guts.

With that skill you got, you jumped in headfirst. If not for that life-saving ability, you'd have lost your life right there.

I hope that by the time I return, I'll see a host who can hold his own. ╭(╯^╰)╮ Good luck!]

"…Huh? (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻"

"Come back here, you piece of… So the Isekai Alliance is this hands-off? Letting the system ditch me to slack off."

He glanced at the date of the message—apparently, it was from two days ago. That explained why the system popped up briefly three days back and then went silent. Must have been enjoying the show after the lottery spin.

Chen Fan sighed helplessly. "Well, guess it's not all bad. Let's see what's here to make me stronger. Otherwise, surviving in this messed-up previous civilization is gonna be tough."

"Unlike the current civilization, there's no Elysia sowing the 'seeds of humanity' in Herrschers."

Looking at the system's interface—so similar to some game menu—Chen Fan noted a standard-issue 'inventory space.'

'Darn it, I should have taken a closer look at this system three days ago.'

There was even a status window and skill proficiency. Most importantly, he saw unused attribute points at the bottom—he could have boosted himself. But no, he went and tested that Noble Phantasm, collapsed for over a day, then raided the fridge, finished that big box of instant noodles, got hungry again, and spent a whole day stuffing himself outside.

He tapped the 'character screen,' which also displayed the system's snarky commentary:

Name: Fan (Chen Fan)

Gender: Male

(System note: 'Host, you should be grateful—I kept your 'essential equipment' intact.')

Combat Power: 0.5 Goose

('You can't even beat up a single goose. Right now, you're basically useless in a fight. Don't even think about taking on a Honkai Beast—at your level, the odds are like nine to one against you. One punch from them, and you'd die nine times over.')

Skill: Hacking Technique

Level: EX

('Cries… those sixteen years when you hadn't regained your memories, you sure worked hard. Watching you piece together bits of memory in your dreams and push yourself moved me so much that I gave you a tiny bit of help. If you'd been born in the Star Rail world, you'd wipe the floor with a certain interstellar hacker.')

Skill: Projection Magecraft

Level: 1 (1%)

('So you want to be a hero of justice too?')

Skill: Kiritsugu Emiya's Magic Crest—includes innate Time Alter

('Better not use those spells at your current state. Your body can't handle it.')

Skill: Reality Marble—'Your Body Is Nothing But Cheap Bones'

('Inside is nothing but sand, so best not to use it. You're nowhere near powerful enough, and the price for unleashing it might be your life.')

Skill: "Tigre, la Brillante Llama"

('At least you have a life-saving ability now. As long as you run faster than anyone else, Honkai can't catch you—though you can only run for three seconds, haha.')

Ability: High-Speed Memory

('When you crossed over, your original universe granted you this as a parting gift. May you survive well in this new world.')

Ability: Honkai Energy Adaptability (1%) & Honkai Energy Resistance (1%)

('With these two combined, Host may well become a Herrscher.')

Ability: Adaptive Evolution

('Applause, confetti! Congratulations on obtaining this top-tier ability. Sure, it evolves slowly, but one day, a giant of light shall stand proudly upon the land. This also includes high-speed healing. Be sure to stock plenty of food or high-purity energy. Feel free to test your limits, Host. But remember, with those two Honkai abilities, you're practically a perfect Herrscher vessel now. Mwahaha…

Oh, by the way, the 'big eye in the sky' is already watching you.')

After reading his own system stats, Chen Fan slapped himself across the face.

What he'd worried about earlier had basically come true.

He opened the system's 'shop' tab and saw items galore:

'Psychic Lock, Emperor of the Heavenly Way… Osiris's Traitorous Dragon, O'Belic's Heartless Horn… all top-tier turtle chow…'

'No good, no good. My old gamer's instincts from my previous life nearly kicked in. None of these are actually useful to me, though.'

He realized the biggest issue: he didn't have the money to buy anything. The currency counter at the bottom of the shop displayed a big, fat zero.

"Looks like I'll have to earn money. If only I could convert my real-life wealth into system currency. That'd be great."

Chen Fan's finger slid over to the 'missions' icon, revealing three Daily Quests:

[Daily Quests]

1. Testing the Waters:

Defeat any Honkai Beast or Deadwalker. Reward: Small Mental-Strengthening Serum (usable up to three times) + 100 'Crossover Coins.'

(System note: 'Honestly, Host, I don't expect you to kill anything right now. You're basically useless, so you can just ignore this mission for now. If you tried fighting a Honkai Beast, you'd be asking for death.')

2. Exercise the Body:

Do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and run 10 km each day to earn 10 Crossover Coins.

('This is basically a freebie. It improves your fitness and pays you money—great deal, right?')

3. The Weight of Knowledge Brings Reassurance:

Study for two hours a day to earn 100 Crossover Coins. After doing this for 100 consecutive days, you'll receive a copy of Advanced Physics.

('Host, think of this as a little gift from me, something for you to appreciate. Whether you can actually manage 100 straight days… that's up to you. Also note, once these tasks are completed 100 times, they'll change into new daily missions. If you really want to get stronger, check the 'Cross-World Missions' tab.')

–––––– ¹ 猴年馬月 ("monkey year, horse month") is a colloquial expression meaning "who knows when?" or "some far-off date that may never come."