Honkai Impact 3rd: Catching the Herrscher of Sentience at the Start

"N-No way! As the headmaster of this school, I'm not scared at all…" Theresa got off Himeko, her face flushed as she weakly tried to defend herself.

"Sure, sure!" Himeko covered her mouth, laughing quietly, not bothering to hide her amusement.

"Ugh! You're laughing at me, aren't you?" Theresa, cheeks red with embarrassment, took her tiny fists and began to lightly punch Himeko's leg.

-----------------------------

"Right! Everyone, hurry up and eat; these buns were bought by our class monitor, Fu Hua," Kiana said as she handed out the buns to everyone.

"??? I don't remember buying any buns," Fu Hua looked confused at first, then speechless.

Kiana stopped chewing and looked at Fu Hua in disbelief. She had just claimed she wouldn't mistake the class monitor, but the truth came back to bite her fast.

Everyone turned their eyes to Kiana, waiting to see how she would explain herself.

…

Otto looked at the two masked individuals glaring at him with malicious intent. Swallowing nervously, he was just about to speak when he was knocked to the ground.

"Who… who are you two… uh!"

"So, you're Otto, huh!"

"Ahh! Ahhh! AHHH!!" (Imagine Tom's screams from Tom and Jerry)

"Ahhhhhh! Stop, stop, please! If you keep hitting me, I'll die!"

Let ask the author to go back in time…

"That was a really good nap."

Fu Lin got out of bed, stretched, feeling completely refreshed and free from all worries.

"Fu Shi, what are you doing on the wall?"

Fu Lin looked at the Herrscher of Sentience hanging on the wall and realized that his nap had wiped all his worries away—he even forgot he was the one who put her there.

Hearing Fu Lin's call, the Herrscher of Sentience opened her eyes and glared at him with a look full of resentment.

Feeling uneasy under her intense gaze, Fu Lin thought, Did I actually do something to wrong her?

"Aren't you coming down?"

"Mmph... mmph..." With her mouth sealed, the Herrscher of Sentience could only make muffled sounds, wriggling as she tried to move.

"Oh—right, I forgot I tied you up," Fu Lin finally realized, then added sarcastically, "Can't you free yourself? A little Honkai energy like that shouldn't be able to restrain you."

Upon hearing his remark, the Herrscher of Sentience froze, wide-eyed, staring him down.

Time itself seemed to stop.

The Herrscher of Sentience easily broke free from her restraints, landed on the ground, and ripped the tape off her mouth, looking at Fu Lin with a smirk.

She felt like a complete fool for hanging on the wall for so long. If other Herrschers found out about this, she'd probably have to relocate to Mars out of embarrassment.

"So, how does it feel, oh mighty Herrscher of Sentience?"

"Hmph—I'll remember this grudge," she said, turning her head away, looking both upset and on the verge of tears.

"?" Fu Lin heard her words and thought, Is she borrowing lines from Eula next door now?

"Put on your mask; today, I'm taking you to the headquarters of Schicksal to fulfill the long-held wish of… beating up Otto," Fu Lin said, pulling out a mask. Normally, he'd be reluctant to go, but he had to indulge the Herrscher of Sentience's request.

It definitely wasn't because Otto embarrassed him last night, right, Fu Lin?

Fu Lin (gritting his teeth): Right, it's all for Fu Shi.

"Yay!" The Herrscher of Sentience cheered, grabbing Fu Lin's hand excitedly as they flew off toward Schicksal.

Meanwhile, in his office at Schicksal headquarters, Otto felt a sudden chill down his spine. Why do I have a bad feeling?

"There's Schicksal headquarters up ahead. Are we sneaking in, or should we just storm in?" The Herrscher of Sentience pointed toward the faintly visible floating island, clenching her fists eagerly as if Otto were already in sight.

"Our target is Otto alone. There's no need to cause a huge commotion. Put on your mask, and we'll sneak in," Fu Lin said as he put on his mask.

"Fu Shi, you'll handle hypnotizing any Valkyries on our path to make us invisible. Yae Sakura, you'll use the Key of Corruption to interfere with the surveillance and alarm systems," Fu Lin added, summoning Yae Sakura.

"No problem; leave it to me," the Herrscher of Sentience said, waving confidently as if to say, I got this.

"…Alright." Yae Sakura, holding Higokumaru, looked at the two, feeling slightly concerned.

"Then let's move!"

…

"Do you even know where Otto is? We've been walking around for thirty minutes," Fu Lin whispered, stopping the Herrscher of Sentience, who was leading the way.

"…Just trust my instincts," the Herrscher of Sentience said after a brief pause, leaving Fu Lin speechless.

"So you're telling me… you have no idea where Otto is?" Fu Lin sighed, realizing they'd been wandering aimlessly this whole time.

"Why don't we just grab a Valkyrie and ask?" The Herrscher of Sentience pointed at a white-haired girl with a golden crystal visor up ahead.

"That'll have to do. Isn't that Otto's secretary, Amber?" Seeing the white-haired girl walking toward them, Fu Lin couldn't help but think they'd just gotten lucky. No one would know Otto's whereabouts better than Amber.

Amber walked right past them, oblivious to the three "lurkers" nearby.

"Mmff…!" Before she could react, Amber found herself pulled into a small, dark room, her mouth covered.

"Who are you?" Amber looked at the three in front of her, alert, one hand behind her, ready to press the alarm.

"Miss, we mean no harm; we just want to have a little chat with Otto. Do you know where he is?" Fu Lin leaned in, lifting her chin slightly as he asked.

"I have nothing to say… huh?!" Amber pressed the alarm button, but it was futile—it didn't work.

"Don't waste your energy resisting."

"There's an old saying in Shenzhou: sorry I don't really care about the saying— but what it means is that we three here can certainly persuade you to tell us where Otto is." Fu Lin wiped his fingers with a handkerchief, speaking in a reasoned tone.

"…" Yae Sakura was speechless.

"…" Amber was speechless.

"Fu Lin, what exactly did your ancestors do for a living?" The Herrscher of Sentience asked cautiously, hearing his flawless nonsense.

"…Fu Shi, just go ahead and read her memory. And remember to erase any memories of us," Fu Lin replied, avoiding her question and clearly unwilling to continue the conversation.

"Found him. Let's go," said the Herrscher of Sentience, using her powers to search through memories until she pinpointed Otto's location. After erasing the relevant memories, she led Fu Lin and Yae Sakura toward Otto's office.

"Huh? How did I get here?" Amber stood up, looking around in confusion, completely unaware of what had just transpired.

"Otto's inside, playing his Kallen fantasy game," the Herrscher of Sentience muttered, arms crossed and clearly unimpressed as they stood before Otto's office.

"... Yae Sakura, you can rest now. Things might get a bit unpleasant in here, so we'll handle the rest ourselves," Fu Lin said, his expression dark as he exchanged a knowing look with the Herrscher of Sentience, both of them practically glaring at the door as if they could already see Otto through it.

"...Alright." Yae Sakura nodded, understanding their intent, and returned to the Stigmata space, relieved to avoid the impending scene.

Fu Lin grinned, "Shall I go first, or would you like to start?"

"Why don't we both go together?" The Herrscher of Sentience said playfully, twirling a strand of hair with a mischievous smile.

"Maybe we shouldn't overdo it—what if Otto can't handle it? Oh, and make sure to seal his consciousness so he can't escape through a mental transfer."