Kiana lay sprawled across the ground, weak electric sparks flickering off her body every few seconds. Through her blurry vision, she vaguely noticed several glowing objects drifting toward her from the elk she had just killed. She reflexively grabbed one, but the rest were too fast; they sank into her body one after another like wisps of light.
"…What the heck is this?"
Startled, Kiana jerked upright—well, as upright as someone twitching from mild electrocution could be. For a moment she thought the elk had come back to life. But when she looked at the object in her hand more carefully, she realized it was a small chip. A few floating white words hovered above it:
Basic Learning Chip
Kiana's eyes widened.So these were drops. Like in a game. Kill monsters, get materials.
No—this pirate world isn't just like a game. For me, it is a game.
And if this was a learning chip… could it add experience points like in Honkai?
She quickly pulled out her phone and checked her status.
Honkai had two leveling systems. The first was the Valkyrie level, tied to the armor being used. The second was the Commander level, basically the player level—like how in League of Legends, your summoner level is separate from the champion's level, except Valkyrie levels don't reset after a battle. Once raised, they stay raised.
Commander level and Valkyrie level were also connected:When the Commander level increased, the maximum Valkyrie level cap increased with it.For example, if the Commander level was 10, then the highest any Valkyrie could reach was also 10. Not a single level higher.
Right now, Kiana saw that her Commander level had risen to Level 2 from killing the elk, and the White Comet armor level had also risen to Level 2.
But she didn't plan to use the chip on White Comet just yet. She hadn't forgotten that after the beginner mission, she was supposed to unlock another armor—Crimson Impulse. And given how limited these chips were, using them on a beginner armor that was going to get level-capped anyway would be a huge waste.
White Comet could now be upgraded to Level 3, but because of the current Commander level limit, only 10 experience points could apply. The remaining 50 experience points would simply overflow and disappear.
In the mobile game she wouldn't have cared. A tiny loss like that meant nothing.But here?These chips were things she had literally risked her life to obtain.
And just like money you earn by working your ass off always feels more precious than money you happen to pick up off the ground, every chip she had now hurt to spend.
With that in mind, she tapped open the quest system. A small red dot indicated she had a completed mission.
The moment the interface popped up, she saw a bright glowing icon signaling her reward. She tapped it immediately.
In the top-right corner, her gold count changed from 0 to 1000.At the same time, the treasure chest system on the quest screen lit up.
"You can open a treasure chest from a ten-point mission!?"
Kiana froze, then exploded with joy.Originally, the chest system had five total treasure chests:
150 points
45 points
10 points…and so on.If she completed all of them, she could obtain 25 crystals, and then the system would reset at 4 a.m.
Being allowed to open one at just 10 points made Kiana ecstatic.
"Ai-chan! Why can I open treasure chests at ten points now?"
Ai-chan's 3D projection popped up cheerfully.
"This is Ai-chan's special newbie privilege for the Captain! Once Captain reaches Commander Level 10, Ai-chan will restore the original treasure chest system."
"Eh? Nooo! Don't do that!"
Kiana's smile cracked instantly, but Ai-chan ignored her desperate puppy eyes and vanished.
Kiana sighed at the empty screen, feeling betrayed but still helplessly fond.
"Even if you bully me like this… I still love you, Ai-chan…"
She forced herself back to her feet."Whatever. If it disappears at Level 10, then it disappears. I'll take any freebie I can get."
Cheered up again, she opened the treasure chest.Inside were—just as expected—five crystals.It was a low-tier chest, after all. Higher-tier ones gave better rewards: premium materials and 15 crystals. Which only made her more determined.
I need to get stronger. If I only earn mission points once per day, it'll take forever to gather enough crystals to pull supplies. I'll reach old age before I can do a ten-pull!
Crystals were mainly used for supply gacha—drawing Valkyrie cards and weapon cards.
There were four supply categories:
Friendship Supply — required friendship pointsUseless here, because… well, she had no friends in this world.
Expansion Supply — event-limited banners with boosted rates for new armor
Precision Supply — weapon and stigmata draws
Standard Supply — character cards(Though she had once gotten a four-star weapon from standard supply… pure miracle.)
Other than friendship supply, the remaining three all had guarantee systems:A ten-pull guaranteed at least one A-rank Valkyrie armor, or a four-star weapon, or a four-star stigmata.
Single pulls and ten-pulls had identical probabilities, but psychologically…Ten-pulls just felt luckier.
But Kiana looked at the pitiful 5 crystals in the corner of her screen.
"…Heh."
Her mood could be summarized in one word: pain.
She needed 2800 crystals for a ten-pull.It might as well be the distance to the moon.
She sighed heavily and closed the quest screen. But when she tapped open the Valkyrie system, her depression evaporated instantly.
"Miss Mei… Kiana has come to love you… hehe…"
A goofy grin spread across her face. She stared at the shimmering Crimson Impulse armor icon, almost drooling. The image showed a cool, long-haired black-haired girl in crimson armor, black silk covering her chest, and smooth pale thighs exposed in that dangerously tempting absolute territory.
Kiana squinted in joy.
"Hehehe… slurp."
She wiped away the drool threatening to spill out and eagerly tapped on Crimson Impulse.
"Come forth… Miss Mei!"
A flash of light burst out, and Kiana's body changed. Her tight white outfit morphed into crimson armor. Her bright white hair slowly turned pitch black.
Kiana's delighted expression froze.
"…Wait. Why did I turn into Mei!?"
"What's so strange about that, Captain?"
Ai-chan's voice chimed from the phone.
"Didn't Captain transform into Ranger Armor last night? Becoming Crimson Impulse shouldn't be surprising, right?"
"It's not the same!!"
Kiana wailed.Ranger Armor and White Comet belonged to the same character—Kiana.Crimson Impulse, however…That was Raiden Mei.A completely different person!
She had thought unlocking Crimson Impulse would make Mei appear in person, not replace her body!
Tears filled her eyes as she lifted her now-delicate black-haired hands.
"Nooooo… I wanted to touch Mei, not become Mei… How am I supposed to enjoy touching her when I am her!? The excitement is gone!!"
She collapsed to her knees, utterly defeated.
"…Captain."
Ai-chan sounded speechless. She could practically see through this perverted captain's soul.
Kiana grabbed her phone tightly.
"Ai-chan, please! Just once—just once! Let me touch Mei!"
"…"
ZZZZT!!
Electricity surged, and Kiana—now in full Crimson Impulse mode—twitched violently and collapsed like a fried shrimp.
"Go to hell, perverted Captain! Ai-chan will never speak to you again!"