Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

"The medicines are probably buried in the rubble, but there is still a certain amount of food and water."

The girl loosened her grip on the stone slightly, seemingly having calmed down, and calmly explained to Su Qing'an.

"If you're hungry, the food is in that cabinet." The girl pointed to a cabinet in the corner, which was originally designed as a cabinet wall, but was now mostly buried by the rubble.

It's already a stroke of luck that there's space left to store food.

Su Qing'an nodded to indicate that she understood. How long could the wound on her back last without medication?

He didn't know if the monster's claws carried any viruses, but unlike ordinary wounds, when he tentatively touched them, he felt a hard lump similar to a scab. The hard texture and the loss of sensation in that part of his senses made him uneasy.

However, the absence of the need to stop bleeding also reduces the urgency for medicated bandages.

Reality didn't give him much time to think. After eating a small amount of food and water, Su Qing'an chose to rest in a curled-up position, just like the girl.

There were no blankets or beds, but he quickly fell asleep due to the extreme physical and mental exhaustion.

the next day.

"...How's your sprain?" the girl suddenly asked.

"It's alright," Su Qing'an replied, glancing at her ankle.

The cuts I got yesterday have started to scab over, and the sprained ankle shouldn't affect my mobility anymore.

But what the boy didn't tell the girl was that he was starting to feel something strange in his body.

It wasn't a simple discomfort like a cold or fever; I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong, but I instinctively understood that my body was undergoing some unpleasant changes.

It seemed that because of Su Qing'an's unpretentious and polite manners, he naturally interacted with the girl much more today than yesterday.

Neither the girl nor Su Qing'an liked remaining silent in such an environment. Some communication could undoubtedly relieve their mental stress, so they began to talk in tacit understanding.

They chatted about their past and every little thing, easily bridging the gap between them who hadn't known each other for very long. Perhaps compared to the bleak reality of the present with no future, any scene from the past seemed so beautiful.

Su Qing'an leaned his head against the cold wall and revealed what should have been his biggest secret.

"I am not from this world."

The boy spoke in a nonchalant tone, as if stating some utterly mundane facts. Perhaps, in such circumstances, even the most earth-shattering secrets could only become topics of conversation for amusement.

The girl didn't laugh at the other person's ridiculous and delusional words. In conclusion, questioning the other person's mental state should have been the first reaction.

But after seemingly thinking it over carefully, she asked:

What kind of world is that?

Su Qing'an thought for a moment, then answered just as seriously:

"That was also not a very good world. There were still wars between humans, which would lead to death and tragedy."

"But it was also a wonderful world. There was no calamity called collapse, and many people could enjoy peace without having to work hard. In the place where I lived, people were often worried about money rather than their lives."

The girl listened intently, a dreamy, radiant smile spreading across her face, and said:

"A world without collapse?"

"Su Qing'an, that kind of world is wonderful, I like it very much."

"Even if humanity continues to fight, wage war, and cause tragedies, there will be no calamity more cruel and unreasonable than the Honkai."

Su Qing'an nodded silently, wondering if his words had woven an unattainable dream for the girl.

That was clearly an unattainable shore, but today's words might give rise to different aspirations and obsessions in the girl.

Perhaps, in such a world, having hope in one's heart is not necessarily a good thing.

But perhaps that's all I can do.

The boy smiled and said:

"Hey. You already know my name, so it's perfectly normal for you to use your own name as a return gift, right?"

He actually didn't like to smile, but he felt he had to smile when he was with this girl.

The girl glanced at the boy's face, tilted her head slightly, and said:

"Don't tell you."

The girl's strange awkwardness was also very cute in Su Qing'an's eyes.

Day three.

It's hard to survive.

Both the girl who wished to remain anonymous and Su Qing'an understood this.

According to the information from the girl, the calamity known as the Honkai Outbreak had ended less than a day ago. The monsters he encountered on the street were actually humans who had turned into humans, and these monsters were called "dead soldiers."

Even more terrifying monsters known as Honkai Beasts roam this city.

If you encounter this situation and have no means of transportation, it will likely end in death.

Given that the two of them were no match for the assassins, their only way to survive was to hide themselves.

In just three days, Su Qing'an experienced hardships that were completely different from her previous easy life.

The will to fight against hunger, fear, and confusion every minute and every second was tormented to an unbearable degree. If it weren't for the girl who faced it with him and prevented him from experiencing loneliness, he would have already developed serious mental problems.

Simply being together as a couple can help ward off a lot of negative emotions.

They are currently in an emergency shelter that is half destroyed, which contains a certain amount of food and water, so that they will not have to risk their lives to find food and water outside in the short term.

This is already a rare stroke of luck.

Through his conversation with the girl, Su Qing'an roughly guessed what kind of world he had come to.

With so much information—Honkai outbreak, Honkai infection, assassins, Honkai Beasts—he could only conclude that he had most likely entered the world of a mobile game he used to play: Honkai Impact 3.

He's the kind of player who only plays games, skipping through the story and CGs. He's hardly ever read any of the comics or visual novels that game companies create to enhance their IPs.

With his limited understanding of the Honkai world, he couldn't tell what plot point he was in; the only thing he could confirm was that he was in a pre-civilization era.

The reason is that there is an organization called the Moths of Fire in this era.

However, these are not things he plans to consider right now; survival is his top priority.

Su Qing'an leaned against the cold, hard wall, gazing at the faint light filtering through the cracks in the ruins, and said to the girl:

"Hey. If you're not going to tell me your name, I'll just name you myself, okay?"

"...Whatever you want." The girl's habitually aloof expression shattered at the boy's words, but she still answered in the end.

If Su Qing'an insisted on knowing, the girl wouldn't mind telling him her name after three days of getting to know him, but she wouldn't tell him unless he asked directly.

Is this kind of personality considered rigid or awkward?

However, this stubbornness might also be part of her charm.

“Is that so? Then let’s just use a word from my former country,” Su Qing’an said, looking into the girl’s eyes.

"I'll call you Hua."

"Whatever you like." Su Qing'an wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the girl's answer and tone had become much more lively than before.

Could it be that she accidentally chose a character that is the same as one in her real name?

"Then I'll call you that from now on, Hua."

Su Qing'an smiled. Only when he talked to Hua could he feel spiritual comfort and joy.

Sometimes he felt that Hua was like a cat.

Cautious, sensitive, easily startled and unapproachable, but even when she has a cold expression, she is quite cute.

In short, perhaps because of this mutually dependent environment, he had a very high level of affection for Hua.

Before he was born, he was not good at socializing. Since his parents died in a plane crash when he was 13, he had very little contact with society.

But now, seeing Hua's subtle expressions and movements, he can understand the girl's feelings and general thoughts.

Besides the fact that she only observed his pastimes over a long period of time, the girl's own pure personality was also a reason.

The character "hua" is easy to understand in various senses.

If you were to compare her to a cat, it would be a bit of a shame that I've never seen her with her fur standing on end.

In such a perilous environment where death could occur at any moment, Su Qing'an began to ponder these boundless thoughts.

This was one of the methods he used to combat fear and confusion during those three days.

However, a voice then shattered the tacit and peaceful atmosphere between the two.

"Help me, I don't want to die, is anyone there? Is anyone there?"

That was a sound coming from above; the desperate cries of a woman echoed in the space where the two were.

Like Su Qing'an, who was being chased three days ago, the woman had clearly reached a dead end.

If he hadn't been lucky enough to fall next to Hua, he would be a skeleton by now.

If they spoke up at this moment and persuaded the woman to come down and hide in the shelter with them, she might be saved for a short time.

The premise is that it risks being hunted down by assassins or Honkai Beasts.

Su Qing'an dared not gamble, as did Hua, who feared death.

Neither of them was prepared to risk their lives for a stranger, especially since the woman would still die if they lost the bet.

Logically speaking, holding your breath, keeping quiet, and waiting for the woman to die and the monster to leave is the right option.

Hua and Su Qing'an remained silent. The woman's wails, the sound of flesh being torn apart, and the breath of death were closer to them than ever before. In those few short minutes, they were careful with every breath they took.

The woman's wailing lasted for less than three seconds, but both Su Qing'an and Hua remained silent for nearly an hour before slowly relaxing their tense bodies.

Neither the assassins nor the Honkai Beasts have the habit of staying in one place for too long.

They are safe for now.

But the atmosphere became gloomy and heavy.

"Tell me, does this count as me killing her?" Hua hugged her legs tightly, a position she was used to. She looked up at the world outside the crack, somewhat confused.

Hua is very kind. Even though this disaster has worn away her innocence, this kindness still makes her feel guilty.

If she's allowed to dwell on this, she'll probably be plagued by guilt for a long time.

"This isn't Hua's fault; it's right to remain uninvolved when you lack the ability," Su Qing'an replied.