Mesopotamia, somewhere in Sumer.
Amid broken walls and shattered pillars, Haruka Kochō moved through the ruins, listening for any sign of life.
Only disappointment answered her.
She had been in this world for a day. Aside from an endless tide of magical beasts, she had not seen a single intelligent being. There was not even anyone to ask for directions.
Human bones lay scattered ahead, stripped to mangled remnants by teeth and claws. A flicker of pity crossed Haruka's eyes. Several massive beasts circled at the edge of the rubble, drool stringing from crimson maws. They watched her warily, hungry for the prey before them, yet held back by an instinct older than thought.
It was fear of death, that most primal tremor of life.
With a casual sweep of her hand, a purple-black surge unfurled from her palm and swallowed the monsters whole.
"Take this as a final consolation," she said softly. "May you sleep, where the west wind ends."
Like flowers shriveling at dusk, the powerful beasts withered beneath the tide, their vitality ebbing away until only ash remained. When the ground fell quiet, Haruka knelt to straighten the scattered bones and buried them in the earth. A gentle look touched her face.
"At least you will not be left for the carrion, baking under an open sky."
[Host has slain 18 monsters. Points gained: 18. Mission progress: 435/10000]
The words rose in her mind. Haruka showed no surprise.
She did not truly belong to this world. She was a traveler.
In her previous life, Eiji had thrown himself under a truck to push a child out of the road. When his consciousness returned, he found himself here.
What shocked him most was that his once male body had changed, and with it came a second life's memories, a life named Haruka Kochō. Without thinking, his mannerisms had begun to lean toward this body's former owner.
After instinctively performing a first burial for the creature that tried to devour her, a chime revealed the truth. A system had chosen him.
Its function was simple.
To make up for a life cut short, the system would guide Eiji across worlds to witness their wonders. In each world, he would assume a random role, along with that person's memories and abilities.
There was a cost. To move on, he had to complete missions, gathering enough energy and points.
In this world, three missions had generated automatically.
First, exterminate ten thousand magical beasts. In a single day Haruka had slain several hundred. By comparison, this one seemed almost easy.
The remaining two were far more difficult.
[Find your other half. Accept the ember of Death. Become a new god.]
[Defeat Tiamat and stop her "Re-Creation."]
If the first task could be done at will, the second and third were tightly bound together.
After one day of acclimation, Haruka had full command of this body. She was Goldenborn, a walker of the earth for a thousand years. Her strength was immense. She lacked a perfect yardstick, yet by her own estimation, she could stand beside this world's gods without flinching.
Even so, felling the primeval Mother of Creation was beyond reach. In myth, Tiamat precedes even the concept of death. Haruka's unique gift could grant death to living things, but where death did not exist, her blade would find no purchase.
Unless she seized the whole authority of Death and became a demigod.
Bad news. The latter two missions were hard and chained together.
Good news. The system would let her leave this world after completing any one of the three.
In other words, slay ten thousand beasts and she could go.
With her power, that was only a matter of time.
Yet as she walked these lands and witnessed the catastrophe the beasts had wrought, the toppled stones and burned homes, Haruka could not leave without guilt.
If possible, she wanted to help.
She was not someone who could look upon a calamity and pass by.
If she had come to this world, there was a reason.
Perhaps her arrival was meant to help it survive this disaster.
So she thought, and the thought rooted.
If this had been the world of Honkai: Star Rail, even without the system she would have ended up a Trailblazer on the Path of Abundance. Fate seemed to enjoy such symmetry.
At first, becoming Haruka had felt strange. For twenty years Eiji had lived as a man. Turning into a girl with a face that could topple cities was no small adjustment.
Still, although his body had changed, his orientation had not. Years of ingrained habits did not dissolve overnight, so there was no need to worry about his mind drifting to match his form.
She had yet to meet another survivor, but the footprints and drag marks told their own story. People had fled in a clear direction. She did not need to rush. She only had to follow.
More beasts appeared along the road, but Haruka did not slow. She did not waste time on scattered stragglers.
Finding a human settlement mattered more.
She also needed to know what moment of history she had landed in.
As she hurried along the exodus trail, a sharp cry split the sky. Haruka shaded her eyes. Against the sunlight, a figure plummeted at terrifying speed.
By some perverse luck, the fall line aimed directly at her position.
"Move out of the way!"
With a strangled wail, a graceful girl hurtled down. Haruka hesitated a fraction, then stepped back half a pace. The newcomer hit the ground at an angle and, regrettably, in a posture that could not be called dignified.
Her hands touched first, but what met the earth right after was a somewhat modest chest that plowed a dusty furrow. Momentum carried her forward, and when she finally skidded to a stop, the scantily clad girl ended up on her knees, hips tilted, pointed squarely at Haruka.
For a beat, Haruka stood there awkwardly. She wanted to help the girl up, yet the curse upon her forbade touching others.
The newcomer was no mortal. She was a goddess of this land.
Ishtar.
"Ow… that hurt," the girl groaned, clutching her chest with both hands, face scrunched in pain. Then she glared at Haruka, indignant.
"Hey! I told you to stay put, so stay put! Why didn't you throw your body under me? Being my cushion should be an honor!"
Haruka: "..."