Turning back time to not long ago...
"Six hundred eighty-one, six hundred eighty-two..."
In St. Freya Academy's simulation training room, a white-haired girl was seriously practicing her abilities. Her somewhat troublesome braids had come undone, with smooth strands of hair dampened by sweat clinging to her cute face.
"Why are the training room lights still on at this hour? Did someone forget to turn them off?" A young voice came from outside as Theresa walked in through the door, looking puzzled.
"Kiana?!"
When she saw the unexpected person inside, Theresa was so surprised she had to rub her eyes, almost thinking she wasn't fully awake yet. This was truly like the sun rising from the west - her troublesome niece was actually being studious?
"Yo~ Auntie, Teacher Himeko, you're here!"
Seeing these familiar faces, Kiana temporarily halted her training plans. She removed the 60kg weights and stood up, greeting them with a silly grin.
"Kiana, Mei, Bronya, why are you three still training at this hour? Did something happen?" Himeko looked around and noticed the other two resting nearby, asking with slightly furrowed brows and concern.
As a teacher, seeing her students become more diligent was certainly something to be happy about. But unusual behavior usually meant something was wrong - she knew their normal personalities well enough. Especially since today was the release date of a new game.
Yet looking at the situation, neither Kiana nor Bronya had immediately returned to their dorm after school to start gaming, which was quite unusual in itself.
"Did something happen..." Hearing this question, the three looked at each other, their gazes shifting back and forth between them.
Should we tell Theresa and the others about this?
This was something the three had been pondering since returning from the Destiny Gap.
Bronya felt that while telling Theresa wasn't necessarily a problem, this matter involved too many things. Since there was already one spy in St. Freya, there could be others. The Principal was usually quite naive, and if she accidentally let something slip, things could get serious.
However, Mei thought that more people meant more help, and both the Principal and Teacher Himeko were trustworthy. As long as they explained things clearly, they shouldn't make such basic mistakes.
So in the end, the decision fell to Kiana.
Although Auntie can be a bit airheaded, if we want to get stronger quickly, having guidance from a former S-rank Valkyrie would definitely speed things up...
After pondering for a moment, Kiana decided to tell them.
"--Kiana's explanation--"
"...This isn't some joke you all planned together, is it? Is predicting the future really possible?" After hearing Kiana's story, Theresa's expression grew increasingly skeptical.
This was somewhat unscientific. What did it mean to be suddenly pulled into another world? What did it mean that Bronya would die at the hands of Anti-Entropy's leader in the future? How did any of this make sense?! Was this even Earth anymore? Even Herrschers couldn't do things like this!
"I need a moment to process this..." Theresa said, massaging her temples.
"Auntie, I'm telling the truth, I'm not lying!" Kiana rushed forward and grabbed Theresa's shoulders, afraid she wouldn't believe her.
Bronya also floated over, her usually expressionless face showing a hint of seriousness.
"Principal, it doesn't matter if you don't believe us, but please don't tell anyone else about this."
"Don't worry Bronya, your Principal isn't so careless with words," Himeko said with a reassuring smile, though she wasn't entirely confident herself. She knew her old friend's personality well - usually she was fine, but once she got carried away, things could go wrong quickly.
"I'll keep watch outside while you continue talking. You can fill me in later - it's better to be cautious with these things," Himeko said as she left the training room.
But just as she stepped through the doorway, a flash of white light appeared, causing a slight dizziness that made Theresa feel uncomfortable.
"Am I feeling dizzy because I stayed up late reading manga?" Theresa held her head, seeing stars.
However, before she could react, a strange panel suddenly appeared before her eyes, startling her.
"Wah! What is this thing?!"
"Principal, looks like you've been brought in too..." Mei said with a somewhat helpless smile, seeing Theresa's confused expression.
"Brought in... you mean this is that Destiny Gap thing?" Theresa was admittedly getting nervous now. She used to be an S-rank Valkyrie for Schicksal, and even though she was retired, her sense for danger was still quite sharp. Yet she had been pulled in here without any ability to resist.
What kind of power was this?
Thinking this, Theresa's expression grew serious as she examined her panel, looking for clues.
Just as she was about to try typing in public chat, a familiar name caught her attention.
Himeko: "Is everyone okay? How's the situation?"
"Hi...Himeko? Did she get pulled in too?" Theresa tilted her head in surprise.
But then a group of strangers started interacting with that "Himeko," discussing things she couldn't understand at all.
Something about a train, the Stone Heart Ten, a Strategic Investment Department - Theresa was completely lost, her brain nearly short-circuiting.
Meanwhile, Mei was troubled to discover they could still answer questions.
No matter how she looked at it, this question had nothing to do with them, so why could they still participate?
Was their conclusion wrong? Were the participants actually completely random?
"Bronya, use your almighty analysis equations!" Kiana faced the question with an agonized expression.
She was trying her best, but studying just wasn't her thing.
"Stupid Kiana, how is Bronya supposed to analyze this? There's no information to base it on," Bronya rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"This is so annoying, I hate doing questions! I'm just going to follow my gut!" As if giving up, Kiana directly pressed option B.
"Oh no, I pressed the wrong one! I was going to choose C!"
"Kiana, what are you doing?" Mei looked worriedly at the panicking Kiana, afraid she would receive some harmful punishment.
But surprisingly, Kiana's mistake actually led to the correct answer.
[Answer... correct. The correct answer is B, Aventurine.]
"Yeah, the great me has such good luck!" Seeing the announcement on the panel, Kiana let out a sigh of relief.
While she wasn't afraid, it was still better to avoid punishment if possible.
"Ugh! Ah... AAAAAH!!!"
But before she could celebrate for long, black Honkai energy began pouring out of Kiana's body uncontrollably, and an immense pressure emanated from the girl.
"What's happening? Didn't I get it right?!"
Kiana struggled to look at the panel, and in her final moments of consciousness, she saw her special "reward."
[Reward: Activation of all dormant powers within you belonging to the Second Herrscher.]