Lu Xing was a transmigrator.
His method of transmigration was a bit shabby.
To put it nicely, it could even be called classic: unworthy of a run-in with Truck-kun, he was electrocuted by a faulty power strip while swiping away on his phone screen, leading to a forced logout from Earth Online.
The moment Lu Xing opened his eyes.
A mixture of joy and sorrow surged into his heart simultaneously.
The joy was that this was the game world of Honkai Impact 3rd—a game where you control a Captain with absolutely no presence, a game where all you want to do is watch cute girls get all touchy-feely, but can only look.
As a pure, unadulterated old lecher.
Lu Xing was definitely a loyal supporter of Honkai Impact 3rd.
While other Captains were progressing through the story, challenging the Abyss, or grinding in the Elysian Realm, Lu Xing spent all his time on the bridge, poking at waifus who weren't even his own.
It was truly an NTO player's wet dream.
The sorrow was that Lu Xing would probably have to completely, or at least for a very long time, sever ties with his hobby—
Because he was now playing a brand-new version he'd never experienced before: No Cock to Speak Of.
His vision was hazy with a faint purple hue.
Whether such perception could even be described as "vision" was actually debatable.
The inside of his body was visible in minute detail. Apart from the very center of his head, which contained a Honkai crystal fragment—about one-third of a whole—composed of irregular cubes, the rest was entirely filled with Honkai energy.
This Honkai energy constantly overflowed and accumulated, forming Lu Xing's shell through some unknown transformation.
His body was a pure white, semi-spindle shape, stacked in three inverted conical sections, reaching a vertical height of nearly one meter. Three pairs of wings, one large and two small, were symmetrically suspended on either side of his body, their sharp edges adorned with purplish-red patterns. The most obvious feature was the circular Honkai energy halo appearing directly above his body.
Without a doubt.
Lu Xing had transmigrated into a "Ranger-class Honkai Beast."
————
"Wuu~!"
Time passed with the whistling wind.
It took Lu Xing a full 15 seconds to accept his current situation.
He had to get stronger; if he didn't, he'd be killed. He had to become human; if he didn't, he couldn't get close and cuddly.
To achieve all this, he needed something that all transmigrators must possess—
"System!"
Lu Xing tried shouting in his mind.
In his mental world, or sea of consciousness, or whatever you call such a place, a so-called "system" actually did pop out of the void:
"Honkai Beast Development Manual 5.7."
"..."
"Isn't this just the HI3 version from when I transmigrated?!"
Lu Xing complained internally.
Solo stand-up comedy could indeed alleviate loneliness, but what was more important now was to see what this system, his lifeline, actually was!
The moment Lu Xing's consciousness made contact with the system—
Race: Ranger-class
Level: 1
Abilities: None
Equipment: None
Attack: 1
Speed: 1
Constitution: 1
Evaluation: Mosquito
The attribute panel looked somewhat decent.
At least it gave him a feeling that the future held promise... or perhaps, the future could be paid in installments.
Lu Xing was very clear about the status of a Ranger-class Honkai Beast.
Even if race didn't represent ultimate strength, no matter how you ranked them, Ranger-class beasts were at the very bottom among lower-tier Honkai Beasts.
Fortunately.
The system wouldn't let him down.
Standing at the very bottom of the Honkai Beast hierarchy, as long as he steadfastly completed system tasks, it wouldn't be long before he leveled up and strengthened, became a Planet-level, took up the mantle of a new Herrscher, married a Valkyrie, and reached the pinnacle of his Honkai life!
Just thinking about it made him a little excited.
"..."
Complete tasks, obtain rewards.
This was the modus operandi of most systems, and the one in Lu Xing's head was no exception.
When he looked below the attribute panel, under "Honkai Beast Development Manual 5.7," he only saw two very simple lines of text.
A concise task description.
A straightforward task reward.
Task: Defeat a Honkai Beast of the same level (Ranger-class) in a one-on-one fight.
Reward: Attack +1, Level +1
"What an unpretentious system."
This was Lu Xing's first impression upon seeing the task.
However, regarding the difficulty, Lu Xing might have a slight objection.
As a Ranger-class, defeating an opponent of the same level shouldn't be... well, it shouldn't be difficult.
But for Lu Xing, it was truly asking too much of him.
As a good young man who had lived two lives (?), Lu Xing had never even gotten into a fistfight, let alone having to use this unfamiliar body.
————
Spring had arrived.
It was once again the season when animals ma—呸! (Pah!)
It was once again that season full of burgeoning… cough… vitality, where all things compete… 呸呸! (Pah pah!)
End of solo stand-up.
Lu Xing hid behind a dilapidated stone wall—reinforced concrete was everywhere here.
At this moment, he was intently staring at his prey.
Not a single human figure could be seen in the ruins. Even finding a Honkai Beast of his own kind had taken considerable effort—the city was almost completely eroded by Honkai energy. It seemed this wasn't the front line of the battle between Honkai and civilization.
At times like this.
Lu Xing was quite grateful that, as a Ranger-class, he had no legs.
His floating method of movement allowed him to move without making a single sound.
Controlling his body was much simpler than he had imagined. The six suspended wings could be moved and positioned like limbs, according to his thoughts.
As long as the distance didn't exceed one-third of his wingspan.
By the way.
It was hard to say whether lower-tier Honkai Beasts possessed independent consciousness.
But one thing had been verified: they didn't need to eat.
Honkai energy leaked out from the gaps in their shell structure at a very slow rate.
This was Lu Xing's only form of consumption at this stage—and this consumption could be replenished by absorbing Honkai energy.
In the ruins of cities destroyed by civilization, free-floating Honkai energy was everywhere.
As long as he controlled his body to approach it, the Honkai energy would be naturally absorbed by the "Honkai Energy Halo" above his head and then transferred into his body through some unknown means.
As for the sensation of inhaling Honkai energy...
Lu Xing didn't know what getting high on O-ijuana felt like.
As a former male, the feeling he got each time he inhaled Honkai energy was probably equivalent to firing an O-shot.
Freaking awesome.
Relying on the free-floating Honkai energy.
Lu Xing's level, after nearly 24 hours, had doubled—literally doubled: Lv.2.
The prey was moving.
Lu Xing really had no choice; the Ranger-class he had finally spotted was his only target for such a long time.
He attempted to use this Ranger-class to complete the task.
It was truly just an attempt—newly born, pitifully level 2, all attributes at only 2 points (all attributes increased by 1 point after leveling up), and his skill bar was completely empty. It would be a miracle if he could actually beat that thing.
Even if he wanted to launch a sneak attack.
Lu Xing didn't have any suitable tools.
Throwing stones was useless. It was hard to say exactly how tough the shell of a Ranger-class was, but cutting through metal like mud wasn't difficult for them.
Yesterday, Lu Xing had tried "practicing calligraphy" with his wings.
At that time, still Lv.1, he had effortlessly gouged a hole in the wall—only encountering resistance when he hit rebar.
And as he increased his force.
Before reaching his own limit, Lu Xing successfully severed the rebar.
Even though the wall and rebar were severely aged, this definitely surpassed the capabilities of an ordinary human.
So, using weapons was less reliable than using his own body.
Author's note:
PS1: The data in the text largely references Baidu, Moegirlpedia, and Wikipedia.