My days as a Simulation Herrscher since the Honkai Impact

“Of course. But before that, you must prove that you truly have the ability to summon the people you promised from history.” Otto narrowed his long, narrow eyes.

While Rita's report proves that the Herrscher of the Void does indeed possess the ability to control the flow of time on a small scale, this small-scale time manipulation and, under the control of the Imaginary Tree, flowing backwards through time to summon historical figures are two entirely different concepts. We can only say that a similar possibility exists, but for it to become reality is still a considerable distance away.

"It's hurtful for you to question my credibility like this," Bai Chen said, pursing his lips.

An old, yellowed book appeared on the table. Bai Chen picked up the book, then took a red watercolor pen from the table, went to the center of the suite's living room, and drew a strange circular array on the floor.

The task Bai Chen is currently undertaking, and the tools he holds, come from the system he carries. That system is called "Simulation Experience," and as the name suggests, everything provided within it is based on simulation experience.

The items are all replicas, the characters are directly modeled after existing entities in this world, and even the issued quests are mostly modeled after literary works, anime, novels, and so on.

However, just as it is usually the piracy army that ultimately destroys the legitimate market, academic plagiarists often hold higher positions and more power than real researchers. Although the simulation system is only a simulation, the simulated items can be even stronger than the genuine ones.

Returning to the topic, what Bai Chen is drawing on the ground is a magic circle that appears in a game called FGO. The purpose of this magic circle is to summon Servants in the Hall of Heroes when participating in the Holy Grail War. The original magic circle requires extremely expensive materials such as mercury gems, but Bai Chen is not actually trying to summon Servants. He is just following the simulation conditions of the simulation system to try to improve his mission completion rate and increase the non-existent drop rate.

Although Otto has thick eyebrows, big eyes, fair skin, and Western ancestry, making him a true European, what if his ancestors actually had some bad luck? This is a precious single pull; there's no going back!

Otto watched with considerable interest as Bai Chen drew a strange magic circle on the ground. From a scientific point of view, this magic circle drawn with a ballpoint pen was utterly useless; it didn't contain even a trace of Honkai energy. If one had to pinpoint its use, perhaps it could be used to cosplay as a magical girl?

But a true scientist will not deny anything he does not understand, unless it is proven to be completely useless. Otherwise, Otto will not easily deny the actions of a Herrscher.

"Is that all?"

Bai Chen finally drew a complete magic circle on the ground according to the diagram provided by the system. He turned around twice with the book to confirm that his magic circle was drawn perfectly. Then he came to Otto's side and handed him the fake book.

"Come, the Book of Imaginary Numbers will summon the person you most want to see. All you need to do is recall the appearance of the person you want to see in your mind."

Bai Chen smiled as he watched Otto stand in the center of the magic circle.

"Now, it's time to witness a miracle."

Chapter Twenty-One: Karen Kaslana and the Devil

Although the magic circle was drawn on the ground with a ballpoint pen, miraculously, as Otto stood in the magic circle and opened the yellowed book, the ballpoint pen magic circle under his feet actually lit up.

A blinding red light surged across the ground, and a hurricane appeared within the magic circle, whipping up the curtains in the room and making them flutter loudly.

The yellowed books began to burn, but not with red flames; instead, they emitted strange flames that resembled pale ashes. The flames scorched in Otto's hands and quickly spread downwards across the entire magic circle.

Flames have no temperature, and similarly, they won't harm anyone standing in them. But Otto's expression was blank, and his once bright eyes gradually became unfocused.

Through the pale flames, he saw a hazy phantom. No, it wasn't a phantom, but a scene etched deep in his memory.

It's like watching a movie you know by heart through 180 layers of frosted glass. Although you can't see it clearly, you can understand the whole picture by looking at the details.

That was the scene before the death of Kallen Kaslana, the Holy Maiden of Destiny. She was shackled, her head held high, ready to accept her fate of death.

But at that moment, pale flames appeared out of nowhere and began to burn at her feet. She was bewildered and unable to escape, and it seemed that in the blink of an eye, she vanished from the execution ground.

Within the magic circle of the hotel's private room, flames gathered into a human shape before suddenly scattering and extinguishing completely.

"Excuse me, are you my... Ah, Otto, it's you?"

Appearing in the magic circle in a half-kneeling position, she was a nun dressed in a simple nun's uniform, a black long skirt, sheepskin boots, with silver braids that were almost identical to Kiana's, and carrying a cross on her back.

She was none other than Kallen Kaslana. She had just been summoned, her condition fixed at its peak, and she had been bestowed with much knowledge by the pale flames. The flames told her that she would be summoned to a point in history to participate in a seven-day war. She was to help her master achieve victory in this war, and the ultimate victor would receive certain rewards that could not be directly explained.

The reward might even allow her to change her destiny, something Karen naturally couldn't refuse.

Unexpectedly, the person I met after being summoned was someone I knew.

“Otto, is this your trick? Didn’t I say that being judged as the Holy Maiden of Destiny is the last thing I can do for the people? So don’t come to save me anymore.”

For a moment, Karen failed to notice Otto's unusual behavior, still believing she was in her original era. Because of the Church's oppression and exploitation of the people, she was utterly disillusioned with it, and even though she was sentenced to hang, she didn't want to use her connections to escape punishment.

Bai Chen sidled up to the somewhat dazed Otto and patted him on the shoulder familiarly: "This is such a stubborn summoner character. We've already provided her with an action guide and instruction manual, but she doesn't read them at all. She truly deserves to be Kiana's great-great-great-great-great-great-aunt."

"Kallen...it really is you, Karen..."

Although he harbored a vague expectation, Otto did not truly believe that Bai Chen, as the Herrscher of the Void, could reverse the time of the Imaginary Tree.

However, the outcome far exceeded his expectations. The items produced by the system were just that powerful. The moment Otto summoned them, he even experienced the strange sensation of going against time.

It was not a cover-up, not a deception, not some unimaginable fantasy; it was a real miracle that pulled the originally deceased Karen from her previous life into the present.

Even Otto, whose long-cherished wish had suddenly appeared before him, couldn't help but feel somewhat incoherent.

However, Bai Chen quickly broke the atmosphere.

"Cash on delivery!" He slapped Otto hard on the shoulder.

A feather emitting a faint red glow appeared on Otto's body. Unexpectedly, Otto also absorbed this feather into his own body, but clearly, Fu Hua's will did not come out to communicate with him.

Bai Chen grabbed Yu Duchen's feather, then snapped his fingers, and Otto and Karen, a pair of childhood sweethearts whose relationship was neither a happy couple nor a fated entanglement, were thrown onto the road.

"Pay the bill and leave quickly, there's no room for us to eat here," he muttered.

In any case, any character summoned using the fake book provided by the system will definitely participate in the upcoming seven-person war. In fact, if Bai Chen's guess is correct, none of them will be able to leave the area of ​​Sky Dome City.

So he wasn't worried about Otto running away; as long as Karen was still around, he couldn't go anywhere.

"So, as you can see, this is part of the ball. I will provide you with items to summon a character, and you will participate in the rest of the ball with that summoned character," Bai Chen said to the Far East Branch members who had just witnessed everything through their laptops.

"By the way, Mei, as a member of my favorite club, I can give you a small perk. If you can defeat Kiana at the upcoming ball, I can help you safely extract all the Herrscher cores and Herrscher wills from Kiana's body," Bai Chen said with a smile.

"You need to understand that although Kiana still has her own will now, this body will eventually be controlled by the Herrscher Sirin."

"So, Mei, are you satisfied with this benefit I've given you? Look, you won. Kiana can regain her human identity, and Kiana, having won, can regain her freedom and return to your side. Either way, you've got it all."

Bai Chen held the top edge of the cola can in his hand and gently shook his wrist, as if he were drinking 1982 Lafite wine instead of cola.

He rested his chin on his hand and added happily, "But before that, you have to figure out how to deal with Otto. Although Karen is old-fashioned, her strength is enough to go toe-to-toe with that immortal."

On the other end of the computer, Raiden Mei remained silent for a long while. The man opposite her made no attempt to hide the malice in his words; his playful smile and mocking tone suggested he simply wanted to see her fight Kiana.

"Bai Chen, are you a devil?" she couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"My beautiful girl, please call me boss." Bai Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Your boss, I'm really not some kind of devil."

P.S.: What I actually wanted to say was that Bai Chen should stand in the heavens...

Chapter Twenty-Two: Otto Has a Dream

Bai Chen hopes that Mei can recover and become a Herrscher as soon as possible. If the original world trajectory is followed, it will take until Kiana escapes from the World Serpent, and Mei, persuaded by Kevin, decides to fall into darkness in exchange for Kiana returning to the light. She absorbs a large amount of Honkai energy accumulated underground in Changkong City before becoming the Herrscher of Thunder again.

The whole thing can be said to be without any difficulty. After all, Mei is different from Kiana and Bronya. She is a true and completely chosen by the world to become the original Herrscher, and can be said to be the only vessel of the Herrscher of Thunder.

The members of the Far East Branch would certainly not refuse Bai Chen's invitation to the ball. According to the method proposed by Bai Chen, a courier from the same city would soon come to deliver the three fake books to the Far East Branch.

Theresa, Bronya, and Raiden Mei were all invited by Bai Chen to participate in the upcoming battle.

As for the remaining two spots, Bai Chen already has his preferred targets.

In the story of Honkai Impact 3rd, both World Serpent and Anti-Entropy play important roles. Therefore, he plans to reserve one spot for Cocolia and the other for either Gray Serpent or Raven.

Raven, in particular, must be filled with rage at Kiana, the culprit who drowned her island, making her an excellent target for Kiana's training.

Bai Chen ended the video call with the members of the Far East branch, but instead of shutting down his laptop, he used it to retrieve a new surveillance video.

This was a drone camera that he had hidden in the distance on the street long ago. Protected by the power of the Herrscher of the Void, even Otto couldn't easily find it.

The people appearing on the computer screen are Otto and Karen, who were thrown onto the street by Bai Chen.

It's worth mentioning here that Bai Chen, a renowned genius scientist even before his transmigration, didn't have any voyeuristic tendencies. However, during his long experimental life, he somehow developed a love for observation.

Observing scientists' work, how can that be called spying?!

"Oh dear, it seems I missed the most exciting part," Bai Chen said thoughtfully, looking at the two people on the screen.

At this moment, Karen was holding a tablet computer, and Otto was standing behind her, pointing at the tablet and introducing Karen to the missing history of the past five hundred years.

Otto had Kallen completely under his control all along. If he hadn't discovered her involvement in Schicksal's dark experiments and her acceptance of Schicksal's philosophy of using human lives as raw materials to fight the Honkai, Kallen might not have taken the final step that led to her death, as happened in history.

Furthermore, Kallen didn't ultimately die by hanging, but rather at the hands of the Honkai Beasts released by Otto. It can only be said that Otto at that time hadn't yet become the cunning old fox he is now, and made many of the mistakes that young people make.

Five hundred years have passed, and after the initial shock, Karen is clearly once again quickly under Otto's control.

"Is this all there is to 500 years of history? It's incredible. In just 500 years, human civilization and technology have developed to this extent," Karen couldn't help but exclaim.

"But doesn't the Honkai evolve and become stronger with the development of technology? So the Church has been deliberately controlling the development of civilization?" After a moment of reflection, Kallen quickly recalled the Church's attitude towards science in that era. "Has the policy changed now?"

“Yes, after all, so many years have passed, and human technological development is constantly moving forward. No one can stop people’s desire to live a better and more convenient life, not even the church, which has to compromise in this regard.” Otto tucked a strand of hair that had fallen from Karen’s temple behind her ear with his fingers and answered softly.

"In the end, the enlightened faction prevailed, which is great." Karen awkwardly scrolled through the pages on her tablet. The magnificent buildings, which she had never imagined before, and the massive technological products made of machinery and electricity filled her with a sense of goodwill towards this era.

Otto watched with a smile. He wouldn't tell Karen that it was precisely to resurrect her that Destiny, at his behest, allowed the development of civilization to proceed without interference.

"You say you are now the Archbishop of Destiny? That's right. 500 years have passed, and with your wisdom, you are indeed worthy of the position of Archbishop."

For Kallen, surviving for 500 years was not particularly unimaginable. She had participated in the Eastern Expedition of Destiny, where she encountered the immortal Chi Yuan, who was at least a thousand years old, and was defeated by someone for the first time in her life.

It was that defeat that made her re-examine the purpose and meaning of the Eastern Expedition, sowing the seeds for her eventual death.

Bai Chen even felt that the reason why Fu Hua was tricked so badly by Otto was because there was an element of revenge involved, which was self-evident.

“Let’s go back to the nearby branch first. I still have a lot to explain to you about your arrival in this era.” Otto gently tugged at Lakaren’s sleeve, inviting her to return with him to the nearby Destiny base.

He needed to conduct a thorough investigation into Karen. First, he needed to know exactly what methods Bai Chen had used to bring Karen to this point in time. Second, he needed to reassess the impact of this incident on his plans.

Karen didn't object and obediently followed Otto away. She also had many questions for Otto, including how he was doing after her death, whether his career was going well, whether his life was satisfactory, and whether he had settled down, married, and had children.

500 years have passed, and by now they must have a large family.

Bai Chen took a big gulp of iced cola and slapped his thigh in frustration at his own incompetence.

"I thought I'd see some touching, tearful confession scene, but after 500 years, the archbishop's performance was really bland," he muttered.

"Kiana... is still progressing smoothly... Let me first try to see if there is a part of Fu Hua's consciousness in this Feather of Dust."

A red feather appeared in Bai Chen's hand. He closed his eyes and sensed it for a while, then suddenly slapped the feather onto his chest.

He was going to use his own Herrscher core to connect directly to this Feather of Dust! Whatever was hidden inside would be forced out.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Life is Like a Dream, No Island, No Money

The eighth Divine Key, Feather Crossing the Dust, is the one Bai Chen desires most among all the Divine Keys. This is because it represents not matter and consciousness, but the ethereal spirit and soul.

Throughout history, many philosophers and theologians have engaged in famous discussions about the spirit and the body, unifying the soul and the body in an attempt to prove the real existence of the human soul.

Of course, modern medicine shows that humans do not have a soul. All memories are just the storage and exchange of electrical signals and chemical information. The physical body is just a cleverly connected tissue composed of biological components such as proteins. Under the ingenious genetic control of nature, countless biological parts without any consciousness have successfully become a sentient being with consciousness and thought.

However, these principles undoubtedly cannot be applied to the Honkai world. After all, the existence of Feather Dust and the Herrscher of Consciousness proves that such wondrous things as souls truly exist in this world.