Bai Ming had transmigrated, but not entirely.
His soul had made the journey safely enough, but his body had been destroyed along the way.
"Goddamn it... this isn't going to work at all. I think I'm dying."
Bai Ming couldn't feel his body, couldn't see or hear a thing. He had no idea where he'd been taken or what state he was in. All he knew was the sensation of fading away.
But then, right on cue—classic, really—a ding! rang out.
A luminous screen materialized before him, and that creeping feeling of death was brutally cut short.
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming]
[Lifespan: 03:26 (Paused)]
[Transformable Characters: None]
[Available Draws: 1]
--+--
So it was one of those silent system types.
As Bai Ming stared at the sparse interface, detailed information about the system unfolded in his mind.
It couldn't withstand the journey between worlds, resulting in his body's annihilation. His soul, now all that remained, would have been a goner without this system.
As an ordinary soul in its original form, he couldn't last long in an incompatible body, and existing as a pure soul would lead to rapid dissipation.
But by taking on the roles of famous figures in this world and stirring up major events, Bai Ming could feed on the attention and notoriety his actions generated.
He would gather emotional energy to forge himself a new lease on life. If the actual person he was impersonating reacted, the gains would be even greater.
As for whether he'd ever break free from the lifespan limit someday, the system didn't say, and Bai Ming couldn't guess.
But looking at his measly three and a half minutes of life, Bai Ming had no choice but to trust the system.
'Forget it, let's just pull!'
Focusing on the single available draw at the bottom, Bai Ming chose to roll the dice.
--+--
[Detected host's first draw. Automatically matching the most suitable character card based on the environment...]
--+--
A beginner's benefit, plain as day, appeared before him.
And then, in a flash, the familiar Honkai: Star Rail gacha animation played out before his eyes.
A purple light shimmered, revealing the image of a beautiful woman with a sharply pointed, witch-like hat.
"The Herta?"
But before Bai Ming could process it, the card emitted a powerful pull. His consciousness was swiftly sucked into it.
In an instant, Bai Ming felt as if he had taken control of an unfamiliar body.
Not only that, he even felt as if he had inherited the wisdom of the lady Herta herself—like gaining an external supercomputer. But he could tell this intellect belonged to Herta, not to him.
He could use it only because he was currently controlling her form. It was like playing a game and controlling a character; he could activate the skills but had no understanding of how they were actually executed.
It was at this moment Bai Ming truly grasped the meaning of an 'incompatible body.' Though the thoughts originated from him, the body responded and even produced results.
But the 'how'—the countless calculations and processes flashing through this mind—remained incomprehensible to him.
None of that mattered now, though. Bai Ming didn't expect to instantly become a genuine genius just by playing a role. Right now, he needed to confirm his surroundings.
So, he willed Herta's eyes to slowly open. Those beautiful eyes finally allowed Bai Ming to see everything clearly. Before him was a massive floor-to-ceiling window, and beyond it, an incredibly large, combined spacecraft.
The massive facility these ships were connected to... if his memory served him correctly, looked exactly like the Herta Space Station from the game.
From the building's intercom, he gathered that today seemed to be the space station's launch day.
The realization sent a jolt through Bai Ming. The Herta Space Station was launching today? Wouldn't the real Herta be here watching?! Did that mean he was about to get caught red-handed the moment he arrived?
Sure, performing in front of the original would yield greater rewards, but wasn't the difficulty a bit too high for his first act?
'Wait, no.'
Considering Herta's personality, a project on the scale of the Herta Space Station, measured in years, would only warrant her attention at its very inception, at most. As for the actual launch? That seemed like a triviality.
He doubted she'd even send one of her puppets for such an event.
It was more likely she hadn't arranged for any presence at all, planning to just ship her Curios over in batches for containment after the station was operational.
'Yeah. That must be it.'
Bai Ming breathed a slight sigh of relief and glanced at his panel:
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Big Herta)]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta]
[Available Draws: 0 (0%)]
--+--
The lifespan counter itself hadn't changed, but a new 30-day countdown had appeared next to it.
Separate from the three-minute timer, it was clear these two times represented different things. It seemed this was the system's solution to the soul-body incompatibility issue.
The three minutes probably represented the time his soul could be sheltered in a latent state, while this month was the duration the Herta form could preserve his soul. After a month, his soul would begin to fade again.
He wondered, if he could switch to a new body after this month, would he need to re-draw the Herta card, or would it just have a cooldown before reuse?
The system hadn't provided that info yet; he'd have to wait and see.
As for the draw count, now zeroed out, a percentage progress bar had appeared next to it, currently at 0%. He didn't know how to increase it yet.
But according to the system's introduction, he could at least increase his lifespan by causing trouble.
So, for now, he wouldn't worry about obtaining a second character card. He'd first try to boost his lifespan.
Having rapidly processed these thoughts, Bai Ming—now in Herta's body—lifted her head. Forget the draw count for now; he needed to stir up some trouble and get that lifespan increased.
After glancing around his location, Bai Ming's focus settled on the Herta Space Station itself.
If he wanted to make waves, what could be more impactful than the lady Herta herself appearing at the launch ceremony and personally sending the station on its way?
But that would be completely out of character for the real Herta, who would never attend such a tedious publicity event.
So, he couldn't just go out and cause a scene directly. He needed to do something more... capricious, something that fit the persona of the Herta he was impersonating.
"Hmm... definitely can't take the stage at the press conference, but I need everyone to know this Lady Herta is personally attending the space station's launch ceremony."
After a moment's thought, Bai Ming reasoned that letting people know Herta was present wasn't the hard part—her fame alone would handle that.
But merely showing up probably wouldn't create enough of a stir. He needed to make a splash with the space station itself, to give her presence a plausible, in-character reason.
'Yeah... though after I cause trouble, the real Herta will probably come hunting for this impostor immediately.'
'Alright then, first step: write a firewall. Keep the real Herta from teleporting directly into the space station.'
Hehe~
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.