Chapter 5: Hi, Infinity Abyss

"We did it..."

The system space refreshed once again, and Luo Lin, who was unscathed, stood in place. She stared blankly at Fu Hua · Valkyrie Accipiter not far away, who had vanished into thin air, until she felt someone grabbing her sleeve and shaking it excitedly.

Little Bianca jumped up and down, cheering, "Luo Lin sister, we did it!"

Only then did Luo Lin truly feel the reality of passing the challenge. She couldn't help but show an exaggerated smile, then felt she had lost her composure and patted her face.

She squatted down slightly, lifting her head slightly to see Bianca's face, and said sincerely, "Thank you, Bianca. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to pass this trial..."

"We did complete the challenge together..."

After saying this, the girl couldn't help but yawn—today, Bianca had expended too much energy. When the joy of success faded away, all that was left was exhaustion.

"Um..."

The petite blonde girl looked at Luo Lin, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Sister Luo Lin, will we see each other again in the future?"

"Of course, not only here, but we will also meet in reality." Luo Lin adjusted Bianca's bangs and said without hesitation, "Bianca, believe me, you will definitely become an outstanding Valkyrie."

And will become the strongest Valkyrie of Schiksal.

"So, are we friends now?"

Luo Lin couldn't help but smile wryly and replied, "Of course we are, Bianca... I thought you would ask me if we are friends."

"Of course we are friends! But, what the Valkyries of Schiksal need more are not just comrades! Remember to call me for help in the future!"

Little Bianca playfully winked her eyes, finally showing the childlike nature belonging to her age.

"Let's pinky promise!"

"Yeah."

Luo Lin and little Bianca hooked their pinkies together and gently shook them a few times.

"Good night, Bianca."

"Good night, Sister Luo Lin."

The golden-haired girl rubbed her eyes and gradually disappeared from the system space.

[Congratulations, host, for adding your first friend, Bianca Atagina.]

[The friend will occupy an additional position in the auxiliary Valkyrie lineup and will not affect the randomly matched auxiliary Valkyries. After each call for assistance, there will be a cooldown period. After the cooldown is complete, you can continue to call on your friend for assistance.]

"Oh, we can contact each other often in the future... um..."

Luo Lin suddenly remembered that Bianca was a character Otto, the Overseer of Schicksal, was focusing on. When Bianca wakes up from sleep, she won't excitedly blurt out everything that happened here, will she...

Do I still have time to pack my bags and escape from Schicksal?

[Host, you don't need to worry about the exposure of your identity. Characters called to assist in battle generally treat their experiences here as a dream when they wake up and will forget about it. However, everything they experience here will subconsciously affect them and help them grow.]

"That's good..."

Luo Lin stood up, somewhat excitedly exclaimed, "System, show me the rewards for defeating the Boss after the battle!"

[Congratulations on achieving the achievement "First Blood."]

[First Blood: Successfully defeating a strong enemy for the first time.]

The achievement badge that popped up this time had a blue background with a golden trophy on it, highlighting a simple and unadorned style, but Luo Lin felt it was much more pleasing to the eye than the shiny "Persevere in Defeats" badge next to it.

[Achievement Reward: "System Store" unlocked.]

[Host can obtain crystals through challenges, completing tasks, and other means to purchase various items and abilities.]

Luo Lin opened the system store, and what caught her eye were a series of familiar words: "Logistics Terminal," "Exchange House," "War Treasury," "Challenge Armament,"...

"You just copied the shop interface from Honkaei Impact 3 without changing it, right?!"

Luo Lin looked at those familiar words, feeling like her hairline was receding, and her liver was hurting.

She carefully looked around the items in the system store and was pleasantly surprised to find Valkyrie character cards and fragments for sale. But unfortunately, when the girl tried to touch those familiar Valkyrie icons, a red prompt box popped up.

[The Valkyrie module is not unlocked, and this item cannot be purchased. Please strive to improve yourself, challenge the Abyss, and unlock this module.]

Luo Lin asked somewhat unwillingly, "System, how do you use Valkyrie character cards after buying them?"

[You must unlock the module before you can inquire about related items.]

"Tch." Luo Lin clicked her tongue.

The store had everything from toothpicks to toilet paper, from stigmata to Titan mechs, and even divine keys were available for purchase. Of course, the string of zeros behind the price was quite touching.

"Why can you sell imitation divine keys but not the real ones?"

[Divine keys are special plot items and cannot be purchased.]

"System, I don't know if I should praise you or criticize you for this new store system."

Luo Lin evaluated the newly opened store system.

The system did not respond to this but continued with its icy voice:

[Due to your success in the strong enemy challenge, the "Infinity Abyss" challenge module is officially open.]

[In the "Infinity Abyss" challenge mode, you need to defeat the enemies that appear. As time passes, you will face gradually increasing Honkai energy erosion and stronger opponents.]

[Host will earn battle points during combat and will be ranked in a randomly assigned group of twenty people according to the points, determining the rewards for the current settlement and the rank for the next settlement.]

[Please quickly defeat the enemies, complete the challenge, earn rewards, and continue to challenge yourself!]

The girl looked at the icon representing the Infinity Abyss on the system, and what flashed through her mind were the memories left before she transmigrated.

The Infinity Abyss—some people liked it, some people didn't, and some even clamored to cancel this mode, which was both laborious and even a little Machiavellian.

But this couldn't deny that the Infinity Abyss was an important part of Honkai Impact 3.

Countless Honkai Impact 3 players worked tirelessly, pulling out their wallets, drawing characters, stigmata, and weapons, studying team combinations and combat techniques day and night, just to get their scores a little higher—most of the time, the deciding factor for ranking was just those few points, whether to promote or demote, whether to lose or shed tears.

After all, the joy of fighting with others is Infinity. Only in this way can the players' desire to spend money be maximized and ensure the stable flow of the game.

Luo Lin lightly tapped on the icon with her finger, and a dense stream of data crossed the sky, making the originally empty system space look as cool as a sci-fi movie transition.

A huge scoreboard appeared in front of the girl, adorned with the iconic cross emblem emitting a strong presence.

[Infinity Abyss · Original Sin Three]

This Abyss is divided into five major groups according to the difficulty level, from Forbidden, Original Sin, Agony, Red Lotus, to Annihilation. Each group has a significant increase in difficulty compared to the previous one. Among them, Original Sin and Agony are further subdivided into three levels: Original Sin One to Three, Agony One to Three, with difficulty ranging from low to high.

"I thought I had to start from Forbidden..."

Luo Lin looked down and found that there were already a series of names on the scoreboard:

[1. Iron Mie! - 21719]

[2. Babatoxi - 21674]

[3. Captain Deck Sweeper - 21661]

[4. Angel Rin - 21659]

...

[19. Light and Darkness - 18000]

Nineteen names, each with distinctive and even witty names, Luo Lin could be two hundred percent sure that these were... players.

At the end of the group, she found her name.

[--. Luo Lin - Not Participated]

[Participate in at least one battle to receive settlement rewards.]

"No way..."

The Valkyrie muttered difficultly, swallowing her saliva.

Do I have to enter the Abyss alone with my flesh and blood body, fighting against monsters experiencing full pain, and finally comparing scores with players who have a team of three Valkyries equipped with complete sets of stigmata equipment and ELF's?

"I must not be awake, I'm tired, and when I wake up tomorrow, I'll find that all of this is fake."

Luo Lin numbly exited the system space, curling up on the small bed illuminated by the moonlight of Kolostein, speechless.