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

"Even if a hundred thugs tried to smash our shop, I could smash them all away."

She said this with a confident yet somewhat smug expression.

This scene was reflected in Su Qing'an's eyes, and for a moment, he felt as if his heart had been struck.

A strange warmth spread through his chest, an emotion more overwhelming than despair, helplessness, loneliness, sadness, or anger, which stirred his tear ducts, and in that instant, he felt an urge to cry.

No, Su Qing'an, how can you be so fragile just because you've come to a strange world and died once again?

In order not to be ashamed to show his abnormality, he tried his best to suppress his emotions to the bottom.

Kiana truly lives up to her title as the queen of the harem; I almost fell for her charms.

He mentally grumbled to himself, trying to calm his emotions.

"Thank you, you idiot Kiana."

"(▼皿▼＃) Why did you add 'idiot'?! Shopkeeper, are you a primary school student? It's so awkward!"

"Let's go see the Moonlit Waterfall. It's probably the most famous attraction at Seigetsu Temple." Su Qing'an abruptly changed the subject, pulling Kiana towards the temple.

"Hmph, ヽ('⌒'メ)ノ."

It's called a waterfall, but it's actually just a small stream that flows down three stone channels from a mountain spring. Legend has it that these three streams represent health, marriage, and studies, and that as long as you drink the spring water and pray sincerely, your wishes will come true.

The two men each took out a long-handled water ladle from the water vat.

"Manager, the internet says you can only choose one spring water to drink, otherwise it won't work if you drink them all. Which one do you want to choose?" Kiana, who had been earnestly explaining useless knowledge, had obviously calmed down.

"Health." Although feudal superstition is unacceptable, in a different world, Su Qing'an decided to start believing in metaphysics and made a simple decision earnestly.

"Huh, surprisingly simple." Kiana said to Su Qing'an while using a ladle to catch the stream in the middle, which represented health.

"After all, health is more important than anything else. Besides, you chose the same thing."

Amidst the bustling crowd, the sound of the stream falling into the pond was exceptionally clear. The boy and girl spoke of nothing more than ordinary things. Although the cherry blossoms in March were not as beautiful as those in April, they were still beautiful enough. The green mountains surrounding the temple seemed to be witnessing this ordinary yet heartwarming moment.

The wooden ladle struck the bluestone railing with a clear sound, making the water surface shimmer.

The boy and girl looked up at the same time and drank from the spring.

As if time had frozen, or as if in a fraction of a second, Su Qing'an's world changed.

Before the excruciating pain that shattered his reason could even reach his nerves, his central nervous system was torn apart by incomprehensible wavelengths. His unconscious body was disintegrating, but the remaining vision and reason made him understand.

This is a scene he has already experienced.

They were transformed into undead amidst the dense Honkai energy.

“I knew it,” the boy said, his throat still intact, but his voice hoarse and strained. He turned to Kiana, who was still bewildered, and said, “Kiana… run… and… I’m sorry…”

Run! This place is going to be very dangerous.

I'm sorry for forcing you to come with me, even though I knew there might be situations I couldn't understand.

I'm sorry for letting you indulge my whims with your gentleness and kindness.

I lied to you, I'm sorry.

You don't have many friends, right? Then you should apologize even more.

I'm sorry to have to watch your very few friends die before your eyes.

The peaceful scene was shattered by an unreasonable force, and chaos engulfed everything.

Except for a few women with Honkai energy resistance, the rest of humanity was transformed into zombies by the violent Honkai energy in a very short time.

Kiana stood there, stunned, watching Su Qing'an quickly turn into a suicide soldier. She said to Su Qing'an, "Run! And I'm sorry."

"Su Qing'an?" Kiana hugged the boy in front of her, whose body had been mostly destroyed by Honkai energy. "You'll be alright, right?"

Saying stupid things that she herself didn't believe, the girl panicked and started to ramble incoherently, "I'll help you grind for all the equipment in Houmu Fantasy, so I won't be clumsy and break plates at work anymore, I swear I'll never curse you to not get any drops again, so, so... please stop joking, okay?"

Having fought against the Honkai alongside her father since childhood, she knew all too well that ordinary people who began to transform into zombies were like their souls falling into hell.

Kiana, you're such an idiot.

Compared to the other humans who instantly became dead, Su Qing'an's death was significantly slower. He could still barely control his body after more than ten seconds. This was probably God's punishment, to allow him to witness his own death more comprehensively and profoundly.

But this is for the best. At least it allows him to do what he wants to do.

He could probably understand the time remaining before he completely lost control of himself; there were still twenty seconds left.

He shoved Kiana away abruptly. As most of his body was destroyed, his power also became stronger and uncontrollable as the boundaries of his body collapsed. This was good, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to leave Kiana's embrace.

Su Qing'an tore his left arm apart with his right hand, then smashed his remaining right arm against the bluestone pillar without hesitation. Finally, he used the hardness of the railing to break his teeth.

In less than ten seconds, his unrestrained strength and the weakened human body allowed him to perfectly disarm himself of all his potential threats.

Even without the ability to feel pain, he couldn't have understood why he would do something so decisive and crazy.

But who can blame Kiana for being such an idiot?

This was the final act of tenderness that Su Qing'an decided to give to Kiana before he died.

Ahhh, why, why, why?

Kiana was sobbing uncontrollably, tears blurring her vision.

Even on the day her father abandoned her, she had never cried like this.

She knew why.

Because she believed her father was still alive somewhere in the world, she could work hard. She could gradually follow the clues to get closer to her father's location. She believed that one day she could punch that person in the face and then show off her growth. She could feel that the future was promising.

But now she understands.

She would never see Su Qing'an again.

She crouched down in a panic and hugged the boy whose limbs were mangled. She stared at his face, which was covered in Honkai energy. His toothless mouth and the constant flow of blood looked terrifying. His eyes gradually lost their light. In the end, Kiana heard a sound as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

That was him speaking, “Idiot Kiana, give me... to live well.” As if it were a final cry, after which his face transformed into a ferocious, ghostly appearance, and the sound emanating from his throat was not human speech, but a meaningless roar.

Su Qing'an is dead.

Kiana remained silent.

"Honkai, Honkai." Unprecedented rage, anger, and sorrow threatened to tear her soul apart. A touch of gold, like lacquer, began to shimmer in Kiana's azure eyes.

11. Hello, Kiana.

[Congratulations on your second death. Your foolish rule-breaking and actions before death have successfully pleased the gods. As a reward, before the gods grow weary, each of your deaths will restart the world line, resurrecting you in a random timeline during the Honkai event.]

Ah, when will the gods tire of things? Do they favor the fearless warrior or the foolish clinging to life? Do they admire the wise who see the big picture or the madman who defies conventional logic? Guess, guess.

[A friendly reminder: Please live with the fear that the next death could be the real death, and strive forward.]

I will witness your every death.

Nice to meet you. My name is Atropos.

Finally, let me tell you the conditions for passing the game.

[Clearance condition: Personally defeat the collapse of Civilization Plus One.]

In the boundless darkness, the fluctuations of thought were forcibly awakened by streams of chaotic information. As the soul named Su Qing'an was revived in this place where there was no concept of time, it also came to understand the power of the so-called gods.

He was able to instantly cross the barriers between worlds and arrive in another world.

He would give himself fragments of Su Qing'an's soul after her future death in this world.

He turned himself into a suicide soldier by controlling the concentration of Honkai energy out of thin air.

And then there's the most unreasonable one: resurrection and restarting the timeline.

Ignoring the power of logic, incomprehensible motives.

"Atropos? What a wicked name."

Atropos is the eldest of the three Fates in Greek mythology. She governs death, is responsible for severing the thread of life, and is tasked with examining the past.

The phrase "I will witness your every death" is perfectly fitting, and as Su Qing'an said, it's a name full of wicked humor.

"So you're just a simple witness? Then can I simply think of you as a camera broadcasting live to the gods?"

In addition, I will selectively inform you about the game rules and information.

So that's it. It means the gods don't like games without rules, right?

If so-called gods don't add rules to the games they set, then the absolute power gap plus the information gap will only make the game a boring and uninteresting torture.

Therefore, explaining the rules is like a necessary process to maintain superficial fairness and basic entertainment value.

After all, selectively informing people of this information already implies a certain degree of malice.

This malice has absolutely nothing to do with fairness.

But to talk about fairness and human rights with such a being is simply ridiculous and naive.

So he remained silent.

[Currently available information]

[1. The time and location of random respawn are not completely random.]

[2. Player's Personal Information]

Player's personal information? When you ask this question, information about this part will automatically appear.

Name: Su Qing'an

Gender: Male

[Strength: 8]

[Min: 8]

【Body：9】

[Soul Essence: 39]

Honkai Energy Resistance: 3 (Extremely Low)

[Evaluation: An ordinary, normal human male with no basic combat abilities. Your Honkai energy resistance is within the normal average for human males. Apart from your soul essence, you have nothing special about you.]

[A message: Your soul possesses a special quality; after experiencing two brushes with death, it has automatically ascended to four times the level of an ordinary person. Use this unique advantage to survive in this chaotic apocalypse.]