(Volume I: The Original Story)
"Dumbass author, why is the MC so pathetic? This is the Honkai world, and you didn't give the MC a single cheat. How the f**k is he supposed to clear the game?"
"The commenter above is right. The heroines are well-written; their pure and kind personalities really hit the spot. Raiden Mei is virtuous and gentle, Kiana is lively and cute, Bronya has a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and Fu Hua is responsible and courageous. But why is the MC always getting his ass kicked, or on his way to getting his ass kicked? If Kiana wasn't so cute, I would've dropped this ages ago."
"The author has a seriously sick sense of humor. Honestly, it doesn't compare to Naru..."
The comment section of the Honkai Impact 3rd doujinshi comic was flooded with triggered complaints. The heavy smell of gunpowder in the replies made the author, Li Wu, laugh out loud as he read them.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Unlike the official game, which heavily pushed yuri romance, Li Wu drew a harem-oriented doujinshi.
The comic's protagonist originally possessed a Galgame System meant to save the Valkyries who had died for various reasons.
However, Li Wu felt that made things too easy for the MC, which was boring. So, he axed every single system function except for "Load Save" and "Narration."
In other words, in the Honkai world—where city-busting powerhouses ran rampant—the MC was just a normal guy whose only ability was returning to a save point after dying.
To prevent the MC from exploiting bugs, Li Wu thoughtfully added a special setting—
If any heroine died, it would trigger a forced load.
This explained (or rather, avoided the plot hole of) why the MC couldn't just run away to a safe place and live out the rest of his days in peace.
Since he was just drawing for fun anyway, Li Wu didn't care about his readers' feelings at all. In fact, you could say that smiles never truly vanish—they only transfer from the readers' faces to his own.
As if that wasn't enough, Li Wu clicked on the most replied-to comment and typed out a seemingly ordinary sentence, paired with an incredibly punchable smiley face emoji—
"Haha, you mad?"
Since it was 3:00 AM and the comic was only moderately popular, Li Wu planned to go to sleep. He'd wake up tomorrow morning to admire the readers' red-hot, triggered replies.
However, the moment the message was sent, a reply from a user named 'Invincible Keyboard Warrior' popped up.
"An instant reply? I didn't expect anyone to still be reading at this hour. Let's see how hard this guy is malding, haha."
Li Wu grinned, his smile exceptionally bright, as his finger lightly swiped to quickly refresh the screen.
The page refreshed, but the anticipated long-winded rant didn't appear. The person only asked one question:
"Author, do you really not plan on giving the MC any cheats?"
Below the question was a detailed list: "In Act 1, to save the bullied Raiden Mei, the MC died a total of over three thousand times. This includes, but is not limited to: being beaten to death by a mob, getting blown up in a car by extremists, being pushed off a roof by bullies, being shot by Bronya under Cocolia's orders, being misunderstood by Raiden Ryoma and hacked to pieces..."
"..."
This guy types really fast.
Li Wu marveled inwardly. To instantly reply with such a long wall of text... it was a shame this guy wasn't a typist.
Snapping back to reality, Li Wu pondered the question again. He curled his lips, a hint of amusement creeping into his chuckle.
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown. The MC isn't the MC because he has plot armor. He becomes the MC by doing what an MC is supposed to do."
After typing that, Li Wu let out a long breath. I'm so profound.
Even if I'm just pretending, hehe.
A second later, another instant reply popped up without pause.
"You're just satisfying your own sick fetishes. Torturing the MC is fun for a bit, but torturing him endlessly is an endless thrill for you."
Invincible Keyboard Warrior seemed very dissatisfied with Li Wu's statement.
"Can an author's artistic choices really be called 'torturing the MC'? I gave him a harem, yet they're still complaining. Hmph, in Act 7, I'll have him cosplay as cannon fodder and die thirty million times."
"...Empty words and inflated numbers are meaningless. I hope you can still laugh when you become the protagonist."
Li Wu found this comment hilarious.
What does he mean, 'when I become the protagonist'?
What a joke! He was the author—otherwise known as the "God of Creation"!
Since he knew the plot inside and out, if he transmigrated, wouldn't he be...
Actually, never mind.
Li Wu covered his face, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
The world he had penned was full of malice. There were details he hadn't fully drawn out in the comic, simply explaining with a few lines of text that the MC had died countless times just to obtain a password, intel, or a crucial token.
He could cheat for some of it, but the rest he would have to experience firsthand.
"What the hell, this guy almost got in my head. He's obviously trying to make me see the light so I'll treat the MC better. I'm not falling for that."
"Hmph, I'll just reply like this."
Li Wu's hands danced across the keyboard. His ten fingers looked like elegant dancers, silently laying down every cold brick that would pave the way to his future—
"Trust me, bro. Don't you think I know the comic I drew myself? There's not a single plotline in there that I wouldn't laugh at, haha..."
After replying, Li Wu waited for over ten minutes, but the reader never responded.
It was getting late, and he had school at seven the next morning.
Li Wu figured he'd sleep for about three hours now and continue sleeping once he got to class.
...
...
The next day, his alarm woke him up. Groggy, Li Wu got out of bed and hopped on the bus.
"So tired... I'll just nap a bit more."
As long as you got up early enough, there were always seats on the bus. Li Wu picked a window seat in the middle of the carriage. Leaning against the glass, he closed his eyes, his consciousness growing hazy.
The rhythmic drip-drop of raindrops echoed by his ear, sounding incredibly soothing. Drop by drop, it washed away all his worries and exhaustion.
The whole world felt as though it were sinking into the deep sea. The noise faded into silence, and the curtain of rain lulled him into a cradle of peaceful slumber.
In his daze, a searing sensation suddenly spread across his entire body. By the time Li Wu regained consciousness, all he saw were his own legs, arms, and organs splattered against the steps of the rear exit. His body was like a shattered clay tile, pieces scattered everywhere.
Unable to even wail or whimper, his entire being had been torn to shreds in a terrifying explosion...
...
...
"Aaahhhh!!"
Li Wu screamed, totally losing it as he jolted awake in his seat. Panting heavily, he frantically checked his body.
"My hands are here, my legs are here. I'm not dead? Was that... a nightmare?"
His chest heaved violently, and his fingers couldn't stop trembling. He looked as if he had suffered a massive scare, gripping the handrail tightly to suppress his shivering body.
The agony of his body being blown to pieces in that explosion—even though it had only lasted for a split second—had felt incredibly, undeniably real.
If it was a dream, it was way too real!
The driver sitting at the front noticed Li Wu's abnormal behavior through the rearview monitor and quickly called out, "Kid, are you alright? If you're feeling sick, I can lend you my phone to call an ambulance. How about it?"
The other passengers on the bus stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Li Wu.
Realizing he had lost his composure, Li Wu immediately shook his head to clarify. "Thank you, but I'm fine. I feel perfectly healthy. I just... probably just had a bad nightmare."
"That's good. I was gonna say, if you really couldn't hold on, I'd drive you to a nearby hospital while calling them. As long as you're okay, that's what matters! You kids always get up so early for school, and get off later than we do. It must be tough..."
Hearing this, the driver was relieved, and the bus accelerated from its crawl back to a normal cruising speed.
Some of the adult passengers seemed touched by this scene and chimed in with their own thoughts.
"My kid wakes up earlier than I do and goes to sleep later. But it's senior year of high school, so there's nothing we can do. They just have to push through this year."
"You still need to be careful. Young people these days stay up late every night, and sudden death from overworking is no joke."
The chatter helped calm Li Wu's nerves a bit.
So it really was just a dream?
Scared the crap out of me. I was thinking, how could a perfectly normal bus ride end in an explosion?
Reality operates on logic. Buses have specific anti-explosion measures; they don't just blow up without warning. Unless some extremist planted a bomb on board, you wouldn't run into something like this even if you rode the bus for a lifetime!
Explosives are even harder to get. The country's regulations are incredibly strict. If nothing else, Li Wu felt totally safe when it came to public security.
Gradually, Li Wu accepted that the moment of agonizing, heart-tearing pain was just an illusion, letting out a long sigh of relief.
The bus slowed to a halt, the doors opening with a sharp, wakeful HISS.
Then, emerging from the pale, hazy morning mist, a devastatingly beautiful figure appeared.
Li Wu's gaze unconsciously locked onto her.
A cosplayer?
This Raiden Mei cosplay is way too accurate!
Li Wu rubbed his eyes, repeatedly assessing the girl's level of detail. Compared to those heavily filtered "tech faces" he scrolled past on short video apps, both her makeup and natural beauty were absolutely top-tier.
Staring intently at the girl in the JK uniform, Li Wu racked his brain but couldn't recall a single cosplayer who looked like her. Logically speaking, someone this gorgeous couldn't be a nobody, right?
Long, light-purple hair, a pure white blouse, and a dark pleated skirt, worn almost excessively properly.
The girl kept her head lowered as she boarded. A few strands of deep purple hair hung from her forehead, clinging to her fair, slightly flushed cheeks. The white-spotted ribbon on her collar was highly eye-catching.
Her movements were slow. With every step, her eyes couldn't help but steal glances left and right. Her cautious demeanor made it seem as if she was terrified of bothering anyone.
Since she had boarded late, there were no seats left. She could only stand by the rear exit's handrail, gripping it tightly. She hung her head like a child who had done something wrong, wishing she could bury her face in the floor so no one would look at her.
"Hah, it's her. Seeing her first thing in the morning is such bad luck."
"The daughter of a criminal. My husband lost decades of our savings because he trusted her father! If my son and I hadn't held him back, my husband would've jumped off a building! How does someone like her have the gall to keep living?!"
The atmosphere inside the bus grew strange—both deeply familiar and completely alien at the same time.
Wait... drama?!