I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

I already said this isn't a life simulator!

Author: Mingxue

Summary:

Congratulations on your time travel!

what?

[Is this your favorite Honkai Impact 3rd, or the previous civilization? There are girls as beautiful as falling petals, aren't you happy?]

I have a feeling I'm going to die soon...

[Be grateful it's not Honkai Impact 2, and here's a cheat code for you too, are you satisfied now?]

[To prevent you from not knowing how to use it, let me explain it to you first. First of all, this cheat allows you to rewind time using yourself as the starting point. You can use this to explore all sorts of futures until you are satisfied, although you must reach the ending to rewind... Also, after starting, your original memories will be temporarily sealed, which is a small balancing mechanism.]

Why does this feel so familiar...? Life simulator?

No, it's not a life simulator... By the way, you'll get some unique items every time you complete an ending~ like unique attributes, upgradable attributes, etc... These will make it easier for you to get the next ending~ Of course, after rewinding, you'll also get all the memories from that ending, which is a kind of alternative reward~

...Isn't this just a life simulator?

【I said no, and that's final!】

Chapter One: In conclusion, welcome to the start of a new "day".

rustle………

It sounded like the turning of pages in a book.

The sound was very soft, but it felt exceptionally loud to me, as if it were coming from inside my head.

What followed was a severe headache and an extremely strong urge to vomit, which forced me to wake up. Instinctively, I lay down and dry heaved.

"Cough cough... What is this...?"

Once he felt a little better, the boy wiped his mouth, looked around somewhat dazedly, and then sat down in a corner, muttering to himself.

"I remember I just finished staying at home and was about to go out to do volunteer work... How did I end up here? Kidnapping?"

While recalling his previous memories, he muttered to himself, as if confirming the situation with himself, or perhaps it was just a habit.

"And... my body... a child? I've never heard of any famous detectives in the Far East, nor do I see any news about skyscraper explosions popping up out of nowhere..."

After briefly examining his suddenly smaller body and pressing his throat, the boy said with a hint of helplessness...

Oh right, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Xiwang.

I get it, I get it. This name sounds ridiculous, especially the pun. That's going to get me penalized!

Actually, this name is quite meaningful. The two characters are taken from the two gods, Xihe and Wangshu, respectively. It means that like the sun and the moon, it can exist in both day and night, and can show its brilliance at any time, and can illuminate and guide others, becoming the light and hope for others... Okay, I can't make this up anymore.

Well... although according to my parents' explanation, I always felt that this name had some superstitious elements (or maybe it was a joke?), it still carried the elders' good wishes and expectations, so I didn't really dislike the name, nor did I want to change it... Besides, changing the name wouldn't be good either. If I really changed it, wouldn't that be giving up "hope" in a sense?

Although I always get teased, especially when I'm called out by name, like "Xi Wang from Class XX" or "Xi Wang from School XX," it's always funny to hear. And when parents boast, "Our Xi Wang is our family's hope," it sounds kind of ridiculous.

All I can say is that Mom and Dad chose a really great name! (reading aloud)

Le.jpg

Well... anyway, it's not something particularly embarrassing, so let's get back to the current situation.

"Okay...it seems I can only accept that I've inexplicably become some organization's 'test subject'? But if the 'shrinking drug' from the comics were actually made, it would probably cause a sensation around the world, right? Then I, as a successful 'test subject,' would probably attract attention, wouldn't I?"

He ran his fingers through his slightly messy and long hair, which seemed to have been neglected for a long time, and wrapped his large, tattered coat tighter around himself. Xi Wang half-jokingly muttered to himself—not to brag, but he's always been pretty good at being optimistic.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

"But if that's really the case, then I, the [test subject], wouldn't have been dumped here... So, does that mean I've failed? Or is it just that others don't know?"

I peeked out a little and looked around the dim alley. One side of the alley was a solid wall, which, together with the buildings on both sides, completely isolated the alley from the sunlight. Only the other side of the road and the sky above could be seen.

As for the possibility of him escaping from the lab, while it's possible, he hasn't considered that direction yet. Firstly, he doesn't recall it happening, and secondly...

"This thing... doesn't seem like something an ordinary person would encounter, does it?"

He blinked, repeatedly checking the special words that appeared at the intersection and the semi-illusory light screen floating in front of him, constantly glowing and proclaiming his presence.

The words at the alleyway intersection weren't in a script I was familiar with, and I didn't recall ever seeing a similar variant... It must be some kind of new script? And although I had no knowledge of this font, I was surprisingly able to understand its meaning—[Welcome to the start of a new "day"].

At first, Xi Wang thought it was some kind of fluorescent billboard across the street, but upon closer inspection, she realized that the lettering was floating at the intersection.

Adding to the information displayed on the floating screen beside him, Xi Wang's expression became somewhat strange.

"Could I have time-traveled...?"

He reached out and repeatedly tried around the screen, finally confirming that the thing was indeed in a semi-illusory state.

"Okay, it seems like I really have traveled through time..."

Xi Wang sighed, summarized her situation, and decided to accept the reality for the time being.

Although she does really like the other world, Xi Wang is quite satisfied with her life. She can live comfortably on the rent she collects each month. The rest of the time, she either stays at home, goes out with friends, does volunteer work, exercises occasionally, and travels when she has free time...

Aside from his parents leaving him, his relationships with other relatives becoming distant, and the fact that he has never had a girlfriend, it seems he has no regrets.

Xi Wang knew very well that this kind of "ordinary" life was already what most people longed for. This was also his parents' greatest wish for him before they passed away: a stable life, good health, kindness to others, a few close friends, the ability to do what he liked, and a life free from major illnesses or disasters.

Not to mention that as the only son in his family, he had a relatively happy childhood and school years, which is the life most people dream of.

So although he liked that magnificent and fantastical other world, he did not yearn for it... even though he had dreamed about it.

So, am I considered missing or dead?

She scratched her head unconsciously again, her thoughts jumping slightly as she recalled the questions that were mentioned to some extent in those time-travel stories.

"If she's missing, that'll be difficult to handle... Death... Um... Will we be able to find her body? I don't recall having any memories of dying..."

"I just hope those relatives don't take advantage of this time to steal my property... We have no feelings for each other and no contact, but they're very eager to take my property."

I get angry just thinking about those people.

"But my little cousin is still studying. She'll be graduating from university soon. It wasn't easy for her to come all the way from our hometown. I should leave her some tuition fees... I think I asked a lawyer to help with that... Hmm, we can sell the rented house to the tenants cheaply. They've been renting it for years, and their kids are almost in high school now... As for the assets, we can donate some, give some to my little cousin for her tuition, and give some to those kids. They've been playing together since high school... Sigh, we were even talking about going on a road trip together during the holidays. I'm afraid that's not going to happen now."

"And the old man and the old woman, I couldn't visit them today... Ah, I broke my promise, I hope they won't grumble about it..."

"I promised the little ones I'd visit them... I haven't bought any snacks yet, but I probably won't need them now. I just hope they don't throw a tantrum... Otherwise, if they get scolded by Grandma, they'll blame it on me..."

While muttering to herself, she carefully recalled her past and found that she had actually arranged everything in a way that was unexpected. Except for the things she had promised to do, which she couldn't do due to the force majeure of time travel, everything else was taken care of.

Although there's something off about this kind of thing, like preparing for my sudden departure in advance, especially for someone as young as me... it also shows that I have foresight!

"As expected of me!"

Xi Wang felt a little smug. (Although it was unclear what was so smug about it.)

"So now..."

His gaze returned to the light screen in front of him, lingered for a moment, and finally he sighed, accepting the reality that he had been forced to leave the "ideal land".

Let's organize the current information a bit.

Raise your hand and lightly tap the air with your index finger. Although there is no corresponding tactile sensation, a light spot does appear on the screen where your finger is lightly touching—this is something I just tested, and you can use this screen as a touchscreen computer.

Dragging down will stretch the screen, revealing an area marked "Recordboard" at the bottom.

"That's convenient~"

After a brief trial and confirmation that she could write and edit freely in this area, Xi Wang nodded in satisfaction and then began recording the information she had received.

While there's no need to worry too much about the original world, whether I'm considered dead or missing there remains an open question—though the final outcome may be unknown, what if? Maybe I can go back? Right?

The place I'm in now is most likely not the "future" or "ancient" world, nor does it seem like the "modern" world. Judging from the text, it should be an "other world." Although I don't know where I am, since there are modern-looking buildings here, I can rule out the medieval type. Maybe it's the "near future" type?

In short, knowing that it's from a similar era to the original "world" is quite convenient and can prevent any embarrassing mistakes. We'll have to find out the rest later.

I woke up feeling extremely unwell, and there was that sound of pages turning. I don't know if it was something that triggered the time travel, but I might pay close attention to it if I have the chance.

As for the text floating at the intersection and the light screen currently in use... let's just consider them my "cheat codes." I don't know the purpose of the floating text, but this "light screen"...

"........."

Xi Wang paused for a moment, then pulled up the screen to see two other areas. The top one was marked as the "Event Board," which contained a message that read "You have time-traveled." Clicking the message would bring up a small box that detailed his actions in confirming the time-travel, all written in a language he had never seen before but could understand.

Moreover, Xi Wang was certain that there was no text displayed on it before she confirmed that she had transmigrated.

"Will confirmed events be displayed? I wonder if there are any other features..."

The middle section is marked as "[Entry]", containing two entries:

[Record] (Gold): ? ? ?

Effect: After each [Ending], there is a chance to extract a portion of [Experience/Trait/Achievement] and convert it into fixed [Entries].

【■■】(blue): Currently not visible.

It looks very useful, especially the "Record" entry, which reveals a lot of information. However, the content of the screen and the overall layout style feel very familiar to Xiwang.

"...Life simulator?"

Xi Wang was very familiar with this layout and the style of the "entries"; it was the style of text-based games like "Life Simulator." It seemed that this screen was used to display this.

And then there's the effect of the "Record" entry... is it the effect of "retaining this entry in the next simulation"? Is it really a "life simulator"? But shouldn't this effect be present by default? Why is it listed separately? Or is it a version I haven't played? And the other blue entry is hidden; is there some special message behind it?

As for why this simulator doesn't provide an initial point system... it probably just locks in my current situation and skips this stage.

Xi Wang speculated in this way. Although he was about 80% sure, he still wrote down the message with a question mark on the record board: "Initial points based on one's own status?" After thinking for a moment, he added the question: "What is the definition of the ending?" However, he should be able to get a definite answer to this question in the future, so he didn't need to worry too much.

"And another thing is... it hasn't even started yet."

Xi Wang frowned and shifted her gaze to the floating message, "Welcome to the start of a new 'day'."

Does this thing replace the existence of "Beginning"? And... one day? Just one day? Why are there quotes?

This, combined with the fact that the event board only showed things he had confirmed, made him feel puzzled.

If it's just about experiencing one day, then quotation marks aren't necessary. And in that case, this "simulator" shouldn't be called a "life simulator"; it should be called a "future day simulator." Moreover, it's unknown whether it's even a "simulator," and whether it will return to this point in time is also unknown…

"Everything is unknown... It's really difficult. I'm not used to the new environment."

After much thought, it seems that all I've managed to do is sort out my current situation and incidentally conclude that I have something that looks like a "simulator," which might be a cheat. I'll need to get more information to find out anything else.

"Okay, whatever happens, I'll live well in this new place."

Patting her still-childish face, Xi Wang habitually erased what she had written on the [noteboard], and cheered herself up in a lighthearted tone.