[In a desolate land, pungent air filled the entire world.]
[The cataclysmic terrain was stained only by the remains of soul-clenching, iron-rich blood.]
[Wreckage filled the entire place, not a single soul heaving and breathing to lament the outcome of the world.]
[In a wrecked ship, a man woke up and looked around the place, he-]
"Okay, stop. You don't need to summarize all of my doings. Just give me a heads-up on where the hell am I? Like… What happened earlier!? What the heck do you even mean by those words?!"
Amidst the rubble stood a perfectly built man... Not too lean and not too bulky nearing 190 cm tall stood tall. His hair is fiery red adding a unique charm on his already perfect physique.
He is wearing a white naval suit on him. His eyes glowed amber with draconic, slitted pupils, crossed by a faint star that gave his gaze a four-pointed starlit gleam over the desolate lands.
He scanned the area while frowning, though he was actually quite surprised since… His eyes seems to have improved.
No it didn't just improved, it was literally maxed out, limit broken, and even had a mod installed in it.
His vision can literally scan the area in a single gaze and even use his eyes like a telescope and infrared scanner or heat vision.
This man is Lucian Aurelius. It is his body on this simulation run.
In fact, he was quite surprised with the upgrades brought by this body, though there is one thing he is still mad.
It seems like this system didn't even have the Tag modding on its coding and what's worst is that… Who knows where it even landed him in!!
So he wanted no more than ask this system a question and strangle it down like a bait and throw it directly at the Cocoon.
[…Scanning… Error. The system cannot detect where the Simulation was taken.]
"You!!"
He suddenly got a feeling of puking blood from the severe anger this system gave him.
What the hell do you mean that you don't know? For goodness sake!! You are the one who brought me here and you don't know!? Hah!?!
[Sorry. This is truly an error on the system. It seems to have collided with an unknown variable that took us to this World Branch.]
Lucian frowned upon hearing the system's explanation.
After all, there is no way a foreign cheat code like the system can be intercepted. After all, this type of cheat codes exist in a higher dimension, that's why it doesn't makes sense unless…
"System, is it perhaps-"
The system cut off Lucian. With a firm mechanical voice stating only facts.
[No. The system cannot be intercepted by even the Aeons or the Cocoon.]
Lucian frowned even more. If the Aeons nor the Cocoon can't intercept, then who? How?
"Tsk. Forget it, scanning the area is top priority right now. Sigh…"
With a rigid face, he started walking around the place.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Only the crumbling buildings, dissolving lands and crystalline or petrified bodies of humans looking like statues are present.
What's worse is that…
Lucian: "…"
"Damn it… it seems like I really got thrown into some weird apocalyptic world."
The sky… Not the usual darkness nor brightness.
It was… utterly gray. Only leaving shattered spatial fissures that seems to seethe out corrosive black stuff.
It was heavily condensed Honkai Energy.
While walking along the area, Lucian always felt something wasn't right… as if… something was looking at him. Gazing at him. Watching all of his movements.
Crash
The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood flat on end, instantly turning his body towards the crashing sound.
It was only rubbles.
Slowly stabilizing his mind, he continued looking and scanning the area for something that can help him.
A few minutes have already passed but he still couldn't find something.
"Haaa… Damn it. Is there even anything useful in this world? What am I even supposed to do here? Survive? I don't even know what I am going against!"
Cursing under his breath, he kicked a stone very hard that it flew towards a pillar.
That pillar then got absolutely demolished and Lucian was utterly confused and astonished.
But the reason was not because of how he managed to destroy the pillar that easy, but instead…
"Is that a sword?"
That's right, the one behind it was a giant sword, a Cleaver that seems to emit purplish lightning.
He walked towards the Cleaver and pulled it out of the stone like Arthur Pendragon done with the famous holy sword.
The static lightning finally subsided like it got tamed, leaving just a beautifully crafted sword with white and dark purple colored design.
It reminded him of a certain Divine Key but… This one was a Cleaver while that one was a Katana
'Hmm, forget it. I'll just see what is inside this unremarkable chest.'
A chest in an apocalyptic world? Yeah, sounds like trouble, but it won't hurt him right?
So he opened it and thankfully, it didn't have any weird mechanism.
Still he was disappointed, cuz the unremarkable chest only have an unremarkable pen and notebook, and quite worn out at that.
He opened the book but non was written. So he continued to skimmed true to notes fast then…
At the last page there was something written but not by the pen…
But using red large prints that said…
"RUN__"
He continued staring at the note with a blank expression until… He noticed a presence creeping towards him.
He turned his head towards it and…
He immediately regretted it.
It was…
"Oh my holy- WHY IS THERE AN ENDERMAN HERE!?!"
That's right, the entity that was creeping towards him was a tall glitchy black void-like entity, it was screeching like a broken radio.
Though what was surreal was, it just continued glitching like that, erratically moving its head while its magenta eyes locked on him without actually attacking him.
Lucian didn't take a single second to waste anymore and direct slashed the entity, instantly killing it but…
Looking at the sword in his hands and the non-existent entity, he frowned.
"Was that merely an illusion? There is Honkai everywhere… Don't tell me this is some sort of a domain of the Sentience."
Muttering those words, he still continued moving forward, maybe he will find something. Something that will suffice his answer.
Meanwhile, while he was walking aimlessly, behind the fractured space above the heavens, an unknown presence just continued looking down at the young man.
It didn't move… Just silently observing what the man was doing.
Lucian failed to register this entity's presence, nevertheless, it didn't try to do anything, just continued watching this last human standing on this wrecked world.
Hours had passed, still nothing.
Only occasional jumpscare of abnormal entities like Weeping Angels, Necromorphs, Hell Hounds, Mimics, etc.
He even started wondering if this was really a Honkai world, not a horror verse.
"Damn it, I should-"
Crunch!
"Shit!"
He was almost bitten to death.
A hell hound tried to bit off his head but fortunately managed to scramble away from it.
Shing!
Slicing off its head, he can't help but groan.
"Just why? What did I even do this time? Are you sure this is Honkai? It doesn't even have any resemblance to it!"
He angrily stomp his foot on the ground. He kept cursing while roaming aimlessly at the ruined place.
Just as he was fuming with anger, a loud siren noice rang across the area.
This made him curse again while muttering, "Not again."
This noice, he knew too well, after all, this entity was also famous in his previous world.
He looked straight towards the broken utility pole and saw a skeletal mummy figure standing tall near it, trying to blend in with the poles.
"Hmm, Siren Head huh… Can I kill it?"
He looked at his Cleaver and thought, if only he has a way to kill it within long range.
Though, it did not really matter to him, he will just slice of it's head if it came to him.
Although if this was the real deal, he might not actually deal much damage. But he noticed one thing in here, all entities were created by extreme Honkai Energy.
As if hearing his request, the Cleaver actively changed form, and he was very familiar with it.
"This is… Isn't this the Sniper Rifle form of the Key of Sanction, The Seven Thunders of Retribution? Wait. So this Cleaver is indeed that Divine Key."
He was surprised for a moment but brushed it off, not minding it that much. Because, he also remembered that the Thunder Key is literally a Jackpot Divine Key, so no one actually knew what the other forms are aside from the four forms already seen in the story.
He held the Sniper Rifle up and looked straight at its holographic scope, pinpointing the entity directly at it's head.
The Sniper Rifle created a gigantic electromagnetic field eclipsing a near half-kilometer radius, diffusing the air movements at ionized level, making the Siren Head not able to pinpoint him.
The Sniper condensed electromagnetic spectrums and high Honkai Energy voltage at a singular point and…
With a low hum, it fired off towards the Siren Head, whom before even noticing it, got atomized by the shear density of the electromagnetic currents and Honkai energy.
RAHHHHH!
Lucian didn't even had time to sigh as a Necromorph suddenly lounged at him.
"Ahh, shit. Here we go again."
The rifle transformed into a Katana at lightning speed and sliced off the entity horizontally, devastating the rubbled buildings and the other entities with the arching electromagnetic energy.
He really hated this.
Getting thrown into this eldritch subjected wastelands was totally not in his bucket of lists.
He would have rathered gotten thrown into space rather than here!
At least he can take a break, but in here? He can't even close his eyes for a second cuz the moment he does, annoying things starts flocking him like he is some sort of 5 star main dish for free!
He really hate these dystopian type worlds.
"Hmm?"
Right in front of him suddenly appeared a tall building, not even subjected to the fall out of this cryptic barrenlands.
No matter how he looks at it, it is so weird that even idiots would turn their heads down and flee.
Still, he put his chin up and thought to himself.
'Weird. But, definitely something that needs to be checked. Maybe it can help me find some clues to where the heck am I.'
With that, he set out on a perilous journey towards the laboratory!
Like a man in a horror film, he knew that despite the fact that the place is full of unknown dangers, he must set this one out.
Such a thing is definitely something worth checking out, even if it might jeopardize him.
Holding his Cleaver, he stepped inside the laboratory…
Yet the moment he stepped in his left foot.
"Kuhhh!!"
His brain suddenly transmitted pricks of intense pain. Feeling as though his head was getting split and broken then restored back.
Slowly the pain subsided but his eyes were getting foggy, his mind is getting dizzy and drowsy.
He then heard words that seemed to glitch out the moment those words reached his ears.
T̸̰͑H̷̖̿I̸̱̐-̶͌͜S̸͙͝ ̵͓̿I̵̎͜-̴̨̉ ̶̡͐Ṫ̷̠H̵͉́-̷͉̐ ̵͚̈́C̷̤͊Ô̶̭N̸̝͠S̶̨̉-̴̯̾Q̶̡͝Ủ̷̡-̶̭̈́Ń̸̟C̸̻̕E̴͚͒Ś̶͙ ̷̙̇O̵̙͝F̵͚̽ ̶̻̕Ȳ̴̭O̷̝̓-̶̡͆ ̴̪̍R̵̨͐ ̶͈̓A̸̳̓C̶̙͂-̷̥̎T̴͚̆I̸͖͘Ǒ̶̙N̵̯̿.̶͙̕Ń̵̡O̴̠͒W̸͈͋ ̶̡͝F̴̨͒Ẹ̵͠A̵͉͝R̶͇̄!̶̫̔ ̸̞̀L̶͙͆A̴͊͜M̸͎̀Ë̸̢́Ǹ̸̰Ṯ̷̈́!̶̱̕ ̴̞͑O̷̧͌Ṋ̸̔ ̶̧̄H̶̠̊Ǫ̵̀Ẃ̴̝Ỳ̴̡Ó̷͚U̸̥͝D̸͎́I̵̳̚Ḋ̶̨…̴̤͌
"Ughh…"
Lucian succumbed into deep slumber. The surrounding areas were replaced by nothing but a pure white space, stretching wide as the oceans could see.
But he was no longer alone, right beside him stood tall a silhouette of black, purplish murky being with 6-wings and a fractured halo on top of its head.
It was still saying incomprehensible words while looking at him with its deep red eyes.
Y̵͚͋O̵͙̒Ų̵̚ ̸̤͠B̶̻͑Ṛ̶͝O̷̢͋Ṷ̶͆G̸͇̈H̶̰͒T̶̳̀ ̴̯̂T̶͙̒H̵̭͊I̶͜͠Ş̶͝ ̴̠̏Û̴͈P̶͓͋Ó̵͕Ṉ̶͝ ̴̼̓Y̶̭̊Ỏ̴̡U̶͙̓R̶͚̍Ś̵̳Ẹ̵͠L̸͛͜F̴̪̄.̸̪̐
N̶͙̒O̷͕͒W̵͙̔ ̷̱͝F̶̙͌E̸̟̋Ǎ̶̡R̸̎͜ ̸͈͋T̶͖̑H̵͙́Ȇ̸͚ ̸̳̕U̵̡͐N̴̢͐K̴̡̈́N̷̲̑O̶̱̒Ẃ̷̩Ṉ̸̈́!̶̤̕
L̵̨͠A̸̱̓M̸̧̔Ȅ̷͚N̶͓̚T̶̠͒ ̵͇͋T̶̡͝H̸͓̊Ě̷͇ ̸̭̂C̶̫̅O̴͓͑N̸̡̉C̵̳̓L̶̮͒U̷͓͆S̵̢͂I̸̢͊O̶̿ͅN̸͇̏!̶͎̌
À̷̳S̵͝ͅ ̷͚̏T̸̟̓H̸̨̀I̶̲͒S̵͚̃ ̵̯̕I̴͓͝S̸̑ͅ ̸̱̈́J̷̧͝Ṷ̸͊S̷͓̈T̶̜̀ ̵͇͝T̵͙͑H̵͖͋E̵͖͛ ̶̯̈́B̴̪̍Ī̵̙R̵͚̽T̸͉̏H̵̠̊ ̶̝̈́Ö̴̡́F̴̱̀ ̵̟̎Y̵̟͋Ȍ̷̜O̵͕͆U̵̫̐R̷͇̉ ̴̣͝O̸̢̎W̷̬̎Ṋ̵̄ ̸̢̚J̷̳̓U̴͚̕D̸͖̑G̶͙̑Ę̷͗M̷͙͋Ê̵͎N̵͚͋T̶̝̄!̶̡̐
F̶̢̽E̴͕͠E̵̪̕L̶̢̓ ̴͇̌T̴̖̈Ĥ̵̜E̶̝͐ ̴̳̂D̸͉̃E̸̱͝S̵͊͜P̴̖͗A̷͍̾I̷̠͠R̴̭͋…̴̹̿
Then vanished from the sight.
…
"Ugh…"
Deep within an unknown place, maybe his own mindscape, Lucian groggily rubbed his temples as he was still feeling the splitting headache brought by that being.
As the feeling subsided, he snapped his eyes wide and looked at the surroundings.
It was…
"Hmm? Wasn't I supposed to be in a dead land? Why is this place full of colors and living things? It's like… A paradise…"
The place was full of vibrant color, as if the creator painted the landscape full of love and kindness.
The birds are sang as they fly across the sky. The trees dances along the currents of the wind. The bunnies, deers, and other land dwelling animals all hops around in harmony.
There are even kids playing around, catching some butterflies, chatting with their friends, etc.
Then he saw near the biggest tree a girl sitting on the ground, reading some books to the kids.
Her flawless beauty was like a fairy's glistening magic, and her presence were like an angel's, full of love and kindness.
Her pink hair fluttered with the gentle blow of the wind, her eyes as though it is made of amethyst reflects the beauty of the world, while her soft lips curved softly in a smile while reading for the kids.
Lucian almost stumbled upon seeing her here.
Still, his heart seems to take off a huge toll so he wanted to call out to the girl.
However…
Something was stopping him.
No matter how he tried to pull away and walk towards her, his whole body seems to have been taken and wrapped by the darkness.
His mouth was like he is getting gagged as to not be able to say anything.
He can only watch in frustration.
And then…
Crack
Reality shattered. All the illusion of paradise has been plunged into total darkness.
He wanted to scream, but cannot do so.
He wanted to reach out, but he cannot.
So he just closed his eyes and accept it.
Until… A gentle voice soothed his ears, softly telling him something.
"Thank you… Thank you for everything. Thank you for all the things you have done. However… It's too late now. And once again… Thank you…"
He opened his eyes again, only to see a fleeting white light in front of him.
He wanted to reach out but…
Something pulled him downward…
He was getting wrapped by something incomprehensible. Chilling down his spine.
He wriggled and tried to break free when…
An eerie, psychopathic voice brushed to his ears, plunging him further in despair.
"FOUND YOUUUUU…"
[Warning! Warning! Mental stability has exceeded the threshold! Forced ending of simulation initiated!
3…
2…
1…
END.]
....