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

Fu Lin sighed. "No wonder you're the old antique's counterpart."

"Alright, I'm going in first." With that, Fu Lin jumped into the pool. Watching the other contestants diving down, he flashed a mischievous grin and slowly pressed the button on the time-stopping pocket watch.

"Although this isn't exactly fair, 10 seconds of time-stop is enough to secure victory. Hahaha, as expected of me... Uh… uh… uh..."

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"Damn, I forgot I'm in the water now." Fu Lin covered his mouth, kicked his legs, and swam downward, but after passing through the blue ring, the score did not increase.

"Huh? Is it because the time stop prevents it from detecting me passing through… Whatever, I'll just go through first."

Fu Lin released the hand covering his mouth and quickly swam toward the purple and orange rings below. After reaching the very bottom, the time stop ended just in time.

After a brief moment of dizziness, Fu Lin returned to the poolside. Seeing the score skyrocketing before his eyes, he revealed a satisfied smile.

"Looks like time stop is useful after all. I'll take first place in one go."

Then, he jumped back into the water. With a few +2s appearing, Fu Lin unsurprisingly took first place in the diving scoring competition and was then transported out of the stage.

[Task List: Take first place in any three stages (1/3)]

Fu Lin stood still, staring at the system screen, and said, "I just need to take first place in two more."

"You're out already?" Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi) sat up, wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes, and looked at Fu Lin in shock. She hadn't expected this guy to be so strong.

Fu Lin looked at Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi) in confusion and asked, "Were you crying?"

Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi) turned her head away proudly and said, "I wasn't crying! You got out so fast—did you take first place?"

Fu Lin grinned smugly and said, "Hahaha, of course! Who do you think I am?"

Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi) scoffed, crossed her arms, and pouted. "Tch, if I had entered, first place would have been mine!"

.....

As the two chatted, more contestants from the Homu race started appearing around them. Before Kiana was even seen, her voice rang out.

"Damn it! I was so close to getting first place! Who was so fast? They must have cheated!"

Chibi Mei comforted her softly, "It's okay. It's just a game, after all. Having fun is what matters most."

Chibi Bronya, however, was blunt.

"Moonlight Dummy Cat, even without first place, you still only ranked 10th. But at least that's an improvement—you weren't dead last."

Moonlight Dummy Cat's face immediately turned red with embarrassment. She snapped, "Blue Duck Machine!"

At that moment, Serious Cuckoo Bird also emerged from the stage, walked up to Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi), and asked, "How was it? What do you think?"

Fu Lin answered honestly, "It was pretty fun. I just need to take first place in two more."

Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi) was puzzled but still smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"Serious Cuckoo Bird, what's up with you? You came in dead last? That's not like you. Could it be that without me as your rival, you felt unmotivated?"

Serious Cuckoo Bird sighed, then looked at Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi) with a doting smile and nodded. "...Yeah."

Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi) blushed slightly, placed a hand on his hip, and said proudly, "Hmph! I knew it! Only I can be your rival and give you real pressure."

Fu Lin silently watched the scene unfold, munching on imaginary popcorn. "..." This world's antique sure has a lot of personality.

Serious Cuckoo Bird turned to Fu Lin and invited him, "Since you got first place in this event, wait for the new stage to open tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?"

As soon as she said that, she immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding Homu's. Moonlight Dummy Cat, in particular, walked right up to Fu Lin and stared at him intensely.

"So it was you who took first place. Next time, it won't be so easy."

Fu Lin shrugged and said, "I'll be ready anytime. But if you don't head back now, someone might just steal your person away."

"Huh...? You bad woman, stay away from White Bud Feather!" Moonlight Dummy Cat turned around and saw Curious Sweetflower? clinging to White Bud Feather while she was distracted. Her fur immediately bristled in rage.

"Aww~ I've been caught. Oh well, I won't hold back then~" Seeing this, Curious Sweetflower? went all in, pulling Moonlight Dummy Cat into her embrace as well, effectively two-timing.

"Awww, just as expected, you're as cute as a kitten. White Bud Feather was right! Let me pet you~"

"You…" Moonlight Dummy Cat's face turned bright red. She looked at Curious Sweetflower? in disbelief but soon fell under the spell of her sweet words.

Fu Lin watched with admiration and clicked his tongue. "Tsk tsk, as expected of Elysia, the queen of yuri in the Elysian Realm."

"We're leaving if you don't hurry up!" Master Chirp Chirp Chirp (Fu Shi)'s voice came from afar. Fu Lin turned back to see that they had already walked quite a distance. He quickly chased after them.