Honkai Impact: I, The Herrscher of Ice, Am Loved By Players

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"All right, our esteemed teacher is now entrusted to your care."

With one hand supporting her head, Ana smiled at Natasha.

"It sounds like I'm some sort of merchandise," Himeko quipped from the side, lightening the atmosphere slightly.

"As if I dare treat you as such! If Kiana found out, she'd probably beat me so badly I couldn't get out of bed," Ana replied pitifully.

"Hmph, don't count on it," Himeko retorted, crossing her arms in mock anger.

"Aiya, but I am genuinely delicate and fragile, so please don't bully me," Ana continued, maintaining her helpless demeanor, evoking sympathy with every word. However, unfortunately for her, neither Natasha nor Himeko fell for this act.

"Oh, spare me!"

This time, both Natasha and Himeko unexpectedly responded in unison, then looked at each other, bursting into laughter.

Ana watched them with a smile, feeling uplifted by this scene. In some ways, these two indeed shared many similarities. Seeing how well they seemed to get along put her at ease.

"Well then, I leave Himeko in your care. I'll be off now."

With that, Ana stood up, waved goodbye, and headed towards the door. As it closed behind her, she disappeared from their sight entirely.

Natasha observed Ana's departing figure before casually grabbing a prepared glass of absinthe from the bar, adding ice cubes, and savoring its taste.

"How well do you know your student?" Although not looking directly at Himeko, there was no doubt whom Natasha addressed.

"She's hardly my student; more like my immediate superior." Himeko shrugged dismissively. A joke, right? Having Ana as my pupil? What could I possibly teach her? Whether it's experience or strength, she surpasses me in every way. Even strategically, Theresa can't match her.

"I don't really know much about her, just that she is highly dependable. Trusting her should suffice."

"So—"

Himeko tilted her head and once again studied the woman behind the counter.

"She also said you're dependable."

"That's what she told me," Natasha replied with a slight smile.

Himeko fell silent for a moment. Honestly, it seemed unlikely that "dependable" was a word Ana would use to describe someone. Back at World Serpent, Ana constantly made snarky remarks about others; compliments were rare from her lips.

Yet, she actually described Natasha as reliable to Himeko?

"If I were truly dependable, I wouldn't have failed to protect my own assets so miserably." Natasha spoke with a hint of self-derision.

"Well, unexpected storms can strike anytime—it happens," Himeko responded understandingly. Objectively speaking, despite being considered a reliable teacher herself, things still ended up in such chaos.

Her superior and colleague had to pay a significant price to rescue her, which might lead one to believe that even Himeko wasn't seen as quite as dependable as Miss Natasha standing beside her now.

"On another note...one more cup, please, Boss."

With that, Ana saw Himeko off, feeling somewhat relieved as if a burden had been lifted from her heart—though she also sensed there was nothing left for her to do.

On Kiana's side, the most dependable Goddess Red Kite of Shenzhou stood watch; it wasn't yet time for Ana to intervene. As for Seabed City... It was too far away, and besides, she had promised Gray Serpent not to meddle in their affairs.

Of course, as compensation, she received an opportunity to meet with the Lord of the World Serpent.

However, this reward hardly counted as one; it simply reflected Ana's disinterest in getting involved with Seabed City's messes. Having just offended Cocolia by taking the Gem of Desire, she knew well enough what kind of retribution to expect from that vindictive woman.

Moreover, Kevin's return was inevitable, even with the Gem of Desire in her possession.

Kevin merely needed an anchor—a reference point to locate his intrinsic world—and achieving that was all too easy. Among those energetic troublemakers in Anti-Entropy, someone would undoubtedly venture into the Sea of Quanta sooner or later.

What? You mean Bronya? Isn't she part of Anti-Entropy already?

Considering her dual affiliations, after leaving Schicksal's Far East Branch, it logically follows that she naturally belongs to Anti-Entropy.

Schicksal does not allow double allegiance!

And about Ana herself? It doesn't matter; she hasn't officially joined World Serpent yet, at most being a closer collaborator.

However, with this situation, Ana indeed has nothing much to do.

At times like these, she wishes—just to take a stroll in the Elysian Realm, but alas, it's not possible.

[Character popularity and player favorability have significantly increased, unlocking present-world rewards.]

"Hmm?"

Ana is slightly taken aback, feeling increasingly puzzled by the System's judgments. She believes she must have done numerous things earlier to gain player affection, yet there were no timely notifications from the System.

This leads Ana to suspect that the feedback might be delayed.

No, it must inherently be delayed. After all, calculating popularity and favorability cannot happen instantly, but such a sudden notification after so long seems odd.

It feels as if the timing was calculated precisely when I'm bored and idle, and now mentioning present-world rewards?

"Can this present-world reward enable me to travel back?"

Such thoughts instantly surfaced in Ana's mind but were quickly dismissed.

Going back through time would mean returning to her past life, which seemed impractical now. Moreover, she didn't wish to abandon her current state, and then—

[Reward: A smartphone connected to the present-day network. Usage during plot events is prohibited.]

The System's cold voice interrupted Ana's wild speculations.

Alright! She had hoped it might allow her to physically return, only to find out it just broke the dimensional barrier, giving her an opportunity to communicate online with people from another world.

How should I put this? Although it doesn't have any practical significance, being able to pass some time isn't bad at all.

"Tsk tsk tsk, not bad indeed. It's even the latest model of a domestic phone," Ana muttered sarcastically before turning on the device.

This smartphone looked identical to the ones she remembered from her previous life. Conveniently, it already had Honkai Impact 3 installed along with MiHoYo's social forum app, mihoyo community, popular communication apps like Bilibili and Weibo, and even Tencent services.

Opening the calendar, Ana discovered the date in the other world—March 23, 2019.

Hmm, that aligns perfectly; no issues there.

Casually opening Honkai Impact 3, Ana initially thought she'd need to log in as a guest or create a new account. However, upon launching the game, she discovered that it automatically logged her into an existing one.

The game nickname for this account was naturally "Ana Schariac." It appeared to be a fully authentic profile, complete with various achievements and badges. The character showcase displayed numerous 3S characters, filling up the slots. Both Abyss and battlefield progress were advanced, with high rankings, ensuring no issues in claiming maximum rewards.

Upon checking the premium currency interface, she found over hundreds of thousands of crystals equivalent to real-world money spent. Ana attempted to make a purchase but realized the crystal balance was fake, merely a modified data field.

Indeed, she could directly edit the crystal count, and any changes would reflect on the premium currency interface accordingly.

Oh no! She's playing a cracked version of the official Honkai Impact 3 server!

Regardless, apart from the fake crystal purchases, this account closely resembled a genuine one, akin to an internal test account provided by the developers.

Ana opened the message board and noticed numerous comments:

[Dude, legend! Worshiping you!]

[Brother Cake, I love you!]

[Brother Cake, the epitome of Ana fans!]

Seeing these comments, Ana's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, this wasn't some official internal account; it belonged to one of her fans, and likely a highly skilled player who also spent generously on the game.

"But, could this cash infusion be a System-provided cheat? Is it meant for me to reward him?"

Ana's lips twitched slightly.

This Player was clearly a heavy spender already, with no need for her to modify his crystals using the cash infusion cheat. He had reached the pinnacle of what money could buy within the game.

"The saying 'whales carry servers' holds true indeed," Ana sighed as she opened the Valkyrie interface. Here, she noticed distinct changes in-game, including two sets of Valkyrie Armor assigned to her character.

Ana systematically tested both sets of Valkyrie Armor, exploring their touch interactions and hidden Easter eggs. Finally, she entered the Abyss for real-time combat practice.

As she watched herself on the phone screen, Ana's expression turned somewhat peculiar.

"I'm playing... myself?"

Despite feeling odd initially, she soon found the gameplay exhilarating. The developers hadn't skimped on her stats, and combined with this top-tier account, battling through the Abyss felt like slicing through butter.

"This doesn't even showcase my true skills."

With some regret, Ana exited the Abyss, acknowledging that sometimes microtransactions could indeed dampen the fun of tormenting opponents. As a highly skilled gamer now, her reaction speed and dexterity far surpassed those in reality, making gameplay effortless and dominant for her.

Thus, feeling slightly disappointed, Ana logged out of the account.

Meanwhile, Brother Cake was welcoming his distant artist "brother," who turned out to be none other than a beautiful illustrator of adult manga - yes, you read that right. Although it might sound unbelievable, it was true.

A female Captain creating fan art featuring Ana... well, it did seem somewhat peculiar.

Naturally, Brother Cake had no idea that the real Ana had logged into his account and played around with it.

Hmm, having one's game account used by a paper waifu probably wouldn't bother someone with perfectionist tendencies, would it? Unfortunately, he missed out on a potential gift: an opportunity to forcefully demolish Great Wei's villa. However, due to his account lacking any significant in-game purchases, Ana chose not to pursue it further.

If Brother Cake had known, he likely would have wept bitterly. Eventually, he did find out because the official team sent a special email, akin to an Easter egg, notifying him that Ana logged into his account and expressing their approval.

While most people might not believe such an Easter egg, players genuinely wanted it to be true; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many eagerly anticipating calls from the Valkyries.

As the leading fan of Ana, Brother Cake was no exception. His tearful distress even made Bai Xi, the visiting artist sister, feel uneasy. With a wry smile, she tried comforting her fellow gamer friend.

Unaware of these developments, Ana had just exited Honkai Impact 3 and opened the mihoyo community app.

Initially, she expected to randomly log into another player's mihoyo account, but this time, the System surprisingly provided her with a newly registered one.

After some thought, Ana settled on a username—ReallyNotAnaAh.

Due to name duplication issues, it took her quite a while to finalize the choice. However, in the end, everything worked out. Comparatively, she preferred games where usernames could be easily changed at will.

However, having a fixed username does come with its own advantages; it's just a matter of personal preference.

In her previous life, Ana was typically inconspicuous online—she rarely commented, only occasionally liked posts, followed accounts, and saved content. The reason being—constantly engaging in comments felt exhausting, and dealing with endless notifications was irritating.

Why should I bother with such weird obligations when simply browsing the internet is enough?

This sentiment resonated with many casual internet users. Those genuinely fond of commenting and expressing their opinions constituted a smaller proportion compared to the silent majority who preferred not to engage publicly.

Of course, the current Ana has a different mindset from her past self. Firstly, within the game, no matter how heated her remarks might be, nobody can trace her through the digital connection or dox her. With this assurance, she feels invincible.

If I'm unafraid of the most potent "doxing weapon," what else could possibly scare me?

Well, there actually is something she fears...

Despite usually not caring about others' opinions and doing her own thing, Ana feared negative feedback from Captains. They viewed the game from an omniscient perspective, magnifying every flaw and making them highly apparent.

However, after browsing through the mihoyo community forums, Ana heaved a sigh of relief.

It seemed that her reputation remained favorable. Any criticism... could be blamed on the writers, huh? Well, using the writers as a scapegoat is just too convenient!

Quickly scanning several Honkology threads, Ana nodded to herself. In reality, the perspectives portrayed in the game differed significantly from what she personally experienced. Some of her emotional shifts and subtle actions never made it into the specific storylines.

This way, at least, her identity as a transmigrator should remain forever concealed, with any inconsistencies explained away by Honkai Energy.

Then, Ana stumbled upon this particular thread:

"If you were transported into the world of Honkai and became Ana, what would you do?"

In reality, such questions were abundant and quite common. Authors often explored these scenarios through their creative writing, leading to numerous active responses from Captains in the comment sections.

Frowning slightly, Ana pondered for a moment before crafting her reply:

"I would become Ana."

No further explanation was needed; her actions already provided the best answer to this question.

Unfortunately, in any competition to imitate Ana, she herself could never secure first place.