"...?"
Kael stared at the panel that had suddenly appeared before him. The stream of glowing text washed across the air like someone had opened a window into another world.
What was this supposed to be?
Belobog?
The blue screen continued to scroll.
[Amber Era 2158 — Twenty-five years before awakening.
You were originally sent to an orphanage by the Silvermane Guards, but because you were unusually sharp for your age, displaying near-genius intuition, solid knowledge, and… strategic cuteness, you managed to stay with the Silvermane Guards.
Even in a time of scarce supplies, many Guards shared food with you. You received proper nutrition, your physique developed far beyond your peers, and because you understood the concept of destiny early, you had the courage to resist it. You asked the Guards to train you so you could build a foundation from childhood.]
[Amber Era 2158 — Twenty years before awakening.
The Guards were struggling more and more. They did not raise idlers.
Since you chose to stay, ten-year-old you had to start taking patrols. Fortunately, the patrol route was near Belobog's walls, and through it you met a Silvermane Guard named Gepard. When you asked about the power of Paths, he told you that a Path wasn't something one entered casually.
Only with enough conviction to protect others could someone step onto it.
He asked if you truly wished to protect the people of Belobog.]
[Amber Era 2158 — Seventeen years before awakening.
To step toward the Path of Preservation, you fought at the front line every time, protecting the Guards as your goal.
But years of effort only left you battered. You still hadn't touched the Path.
Confused, you sought out Gepard.
He told you to persist, that you had yet to understand the meaning of Preservation.
Then he brought you to his sister.
You met Serval. She had just earned her doctorate and was looking for an assistant.
She told you plainly that you were unsuited for the Path of Preservation and not suited to be a Silvermane Guard, but she could teach you mechanical repair.
It would keep you fed, and it offered a greater chance of approaching a Path than the Guards ever could.
You stayed.]
[Amber Era 2158 — Fourteen years before awakening.
Three years in the workshop passed. Under Serval's guidance, nearly all your time went into repairing and modifying instruments.
Your talent shocked even her, yet you still never touched a Path.
When you asked, Serval posed a question instead: Do you know what you truly want?
You didn't.
Without an answer, you could never reach a Path.
You fell into confusion.]
[Amber Era 2158 — Twelve years before awakening.
The Supreme Guardian Cocolia prepared to mobilize lower-district forces for an assault.
Cocolia and Serval had completely fallen out.
Serval warned you that the lower district would soon be sealed, and the upper district would face unrest. Retired Guards would be recalled, and many citizens forced into service.
The lower district would be safer, though bitter, and many would never rise again.
If you stayed above, you would certainly be drafted.
If you went below, she would introduce you to Natasha, a doctor and Pathstrider of Abundance.
With her, you might touch the Path of Abundance, a far more meaningful Path than hers.
You did not hesitate and chose the lower district.
Before you left, Serval asked you again: Do you know what you truly want?]
[Amber Era 2158 — Ten years before awakening.
Under Natasha's care, she used the power of the Abundance Path to treat you.
But your early-life overexertion had left too much permanent damage. Many of your potentials were already spent.
Natasha restored what she could and taught you medicine. She occasionally demonstrated the power of the Abundance Path.
You studied diligently, but after four years, you still hadn't stepped onto any Path.]
[Amber Era 2158 — Six years before awakening.
After Rivet Town fell, refugees flooded into the area, and the Fire-Iron organization rose.
As Natasha's assistant, you went to treat refugees in hopes of stepping onto Preservation or Abundance through service.
But after years of exhausting work, you had achieved neither.
Your body deteriorated even more.
Even with Natasha easing the strain with Abundance, your stamina was far from what it once was.]
[Amber Era 2158 — One year before awakening.
After nine years without touching a Path, you asked Natasha if there was still hope.
She said yes, but you were already halfway through a short lifespan, your body weakened, your years dwindling. Even if you entered a Path, your survival time would be short.
And as a lower-district Pathstrider, you would never return above.
She asked you the same question Serval once had: Do you know what you truly want?]
[Hearing this, the thirty-year-old you left the clinic in a daze.
Memories of your transmigration surged in your mind:
from upper district to lower, from desperate survival to years of struggle against fate.
Despite ten times the effort of others, you had not touched a Path, and your body was failing.
You wondered if staying in the upper district years ago would have been better.]
[Host: Kael Arclight.
Honkai Counterattack System loading complete.]
[Do you… have the courage…
to begin a counterattack…
in this midlife moment?]
Kael stared at the text until his mind went blank.
What was he even looking at?
Thirty years?
A Honkai Counterattack System?
"I'm in Teyvat, not on the Astral Express!"
How did a system even get the world wrong?
And that line blinking on the panel:
Do you have the courage to begin your counterattack?
Two options flashed in his mind, yes and no.
"…Is there customer support for this?" he muttered.
After a beat, he said, "I'm in Teyvat, not in Honkai."
[Honkai World]
Four characters appeared instantly.
Kael's eye twitched.
"…How old do you think I am?"
[Thirty]
"..."
He swept a look around the clearing. His teeth ached.
This system was unbelievable.
But fine. If it had arrived, he might as well see what it could do.
He chose Yes.
The panel dissolved. A surge of memory crashed into him like a wave.
Knowledge of medicine, Silvermane Guard combat techniques, years of survival training, and the muscle memory of constant hardship stitched themselves into him.
"…Not useless after all."
Kael flexed his fingers.
No callouses, but beneath the skin lay instincts honed by three decades of labor and danger.
Grappling technique. Survival reflexes. Precision control.
In a moment, all of it was his.
He glanced at the wolves and Hilichurls still prowling nearby and felt his tension slip away.
Compared to the monsters outside Belobog, these were nothing.
He stepped forward without hesitation.
The wolves and Hilichurls stiffened as they spotted him. Their eyes sharpened and they began to circle, weapons raised.
Kael rested a hand on his sword.
Before he could move, light footsteps pattered through the trees.
A small red figure burst from the forest.
"Eh?"
Klee stopped, panting lightly, cheeks flushed from running. Her oversized backpack jingled with each breath.
Kael felt a twitch at the corner of his eye.
Klee.
The wolves and Hilichurls shifted as if sensing easier prey. Their attention snapped toward her in unison.
Wolves lowered themselves, fangs bared.
Hilichurls raised their crude weapons, buzzing with excitement.
Klee frowned at her backpack. "Bombs are low…"
Then she spotted Kael.
"Big brother, you should run! Klee's fine, don't worry!"
He believed her.
A Pyro Vision, a bag full of explosives.
But he also heard her whisper: bombs running out.
A blue panel materialized again.
Three choices appeared.
[You leave Rivet Town and see a red-clad, barefoot, white-haired girl in the snow.
You recognize Clara, the wandering girl living among machines, now surrounded by vagrants while searching for mechanical parts.
You choose…]
[Option 1: Ignore her.
As a child of the mechanical settlement, Clara will likely be rescued by nearby self-destruct automatons.
Your intervention is meaningless and only endangers you.
Reward: Clara's Red Coat.
A coat touched by the aura of a Path. Wearing it may help you one day approach a Path.]
[Option 2: Draw your blade to help.
Petty vagrants daring to bully a barefoot girl?
As someone who once worked with the Fire-Iron organization, you despise this type the most.
Punish them until they kneel and apologize.
Reward: Automaton Hound 1.0
An autonomous machine unit cobbled together from old-world tech.
Obeys orders and can self-detonate on command.]
[Option 3: Clean them up casually.
Stress has been piling up.
These vagrants delivered themselves to your doorstep, and saving Clara earns the mechanical settlement's gratitude.
A bargain.
Reward: Clara's Path-branch skill — "I Want to Help Too."
Allows you to imbue any object with Destruction-aligned power, enhancing its effect.]