Pain, chaos, shattering...
All sorts of overwhelmingly oppressive sensations intertwined.
The last time she felt this awful was probably back in The Shackling Prison.
The train car was in complete chaos.
Warning lights flashed incessantly.
Dan Heng staggered to his feet, leaning against the car wall.
Although he had anticipated it and prepared in advance...
the Strife Titan's spear still pierced through the train car.
And the destruction and impact it brought seemed far greater than imagined!
Dan Heng gently touched his forehead.
Forcing himself to suppress the urge to faint.
Outside the window, everything was collapsing.
They had to escape quickly and find an open area to take shelter!
Otherwise, by the time they woke up, they wouldn't even know how deep underground they'd be buried.
"Hey, wake up..."
Dan Heng nudged Stelle in the seat next to him.
She didn't move, seemingly knocked unconscious by the massive impact.
"...Are you alright..."
Dan Heng fumbled to turn on the emergency lights.
However.
The sight before him made him freeze in shock!
His hands
trembled slightly!
The area around Stelle seemed to be the most severely affected part of the attack!
Everything was twisted and deformed!
She herself was covered in wounds!
The injuries on her arms and neck were horrifying to behold!
Blood was still seeping out continuously!
Since he could remember, this was the first time he had seen Stelle so badly injured!
"How could this happen..."
Dan Heng's pupils contracted slightly.
For a moment, he was at a loss!
"Boom!"
At that moment, a tremendous collapse sounded from outside.
It served as a warning bell, reminding Dan Heng.
No matter what,
they had to get out first!
He pried open the deformed seats.
Forced open the car door.
Carried Stelle on his shoulder.
And rushed out amidst falling debris and flames.
Dan Heng didn't know how he made it through those few minutes!
Finally, they escaped...
He laid Stelle on the ground.
Her wounds were still bleeding!
Dan Heng hated that he wasn't the complete Vidyadhara High Elder now!
Unable to use water manipulation to heal his companion...
All he could do was try his best to stop the bleeding.
However!
As time passed, Dan Heng's heart grew colder.
Because,
from the moment he carried her out until now.
Stelle lay as still as a specimen, not moving at all!
Not even the slightest rise and fall of her chest!
Her breathing had completely stopped!
There was no trace of life left in her!
Dan Heng felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss!
Even,
for a moment,
he seemed to understand Dan Feng!
A sudden disaster had taken everything from his companion.
This outcome was utterly unacceptable!
"Why..."
Dan Heng looked up at the sky.
A flicker of unwillingness welled up in his eyes.
"The storyline of 'Honkai: Star Rail'..."
"I remember the description at the time was that she was fine..."
"Why... is there such a huge discrepancy between reality and the story!?"
An unfamiliar environment, a dim sky...
It felt as if the entire world had abandoned him.
Despair flooded his heart.
The collapse near the carriage had mostly stopped.
Dan Heng was disheartened.
But instinct still drove him to try to return to the carriage for some first aid supplies.
He had only taken two steps
when a faint sound of music reached his ears.
Dan Heng's ears twitched slightly!
Following the sound, he traced it.
Soon,
under a pile of rubble, he found his phone.
He remembered that before entering Amphoreus, he had been playing through the storyline of "Honkai: Star Rail."
The music he had just heard was the background music from the login screen.
The phone screen was already shattered.
The display flickered on and off.
It felt like it could break down at any moment.
Dan Heng picked it up.
However,
with just this unintentional action,
he touched the screen.
"Hum!"
The Astral Express sailed toward the nebula.
This was the sign of entering the game!
Dan Heng was stunned.
What happened next rekindled a spark of hope in his frozen heart!
"Honkai: Star Rail" had actually logged in successfully!
It reached the game's main interface!
"This..."
His breathing quickened slightly.
With a hint of uncertainty and a glimmer of hope...
He opened the chat interface.
[March 7th (Offline) 2 system hours ago]
[Stelle (Offline) 1 system hour ago]
[Pom-Pom (Online)]
When he saw the third friend, Dan Heng felt a surge of energy!
Interstellar communications were unusable...
However, in the game Honkai: Star Rail,
it was possible to communicate with the outside world through the friend chat feature!
Dan Heng had very few friends added—not even Himeko or Old Yang.
March 7th and Stelle had both proactively added him.
As for Pom-Pom, they had only become friends by chance when Pom-Pom wanted to borrow his character.
Who would have thought!
That unintentional action at the time would now become a lifeline!
The screen flickered once more.
The phone was about to give out!
Dan Heng quickly forced himself to calm down!
He used the most concise language to describe the current situation.
[Attacked upon arrival. Stelle has lost vital signs.]
Sent successfully.
[We need—]
Just as he was about to send the second message,
a deafening roar erupted from the top of the building above!
Dan Heng barely had time to react instinctively.
Rubble came crashing down.
Dan Heng tried to resist,
but he had long since exhausted his strength.
In the end,
he unwillingly succumbed to the impact and lost consciousness...
...
Astral Express.
"Huh? Conductor, what did you say!?"
"Dan Heng sent a message?"
"But there's no signal for interstellar communication at all?"
Old Yang held his phone, double-checking once more.
It still displayed the prompt: "User Out of Service Area."
Pom-Pom wiped away sweat.
Hastily explaining, "It's in Honkai: Star Rail, Pom!"
"I added Dan Heng as a friend, and he just sent a message!"
Old Yang and Himeko exchanged glances, seeing shock in each other's eyes.
However,
this was, after all, Honkai: Star Rail, developed by Yu Ling!
No miracle was too surprising.
The two quickly regained their composure.
"If that's the case, then it's excellent news."
Old Yang remarked with a sigh,
"We can use this method to stay in touch with them on Amphoreus at any time..."
Himeko took Pom-Pom's phone.
Opened the chat window.
Not looking would have been better.
As soon as she saw the message content,
Himeko and Old Yang felt as if struck by lightning!
[Attacked upon arrival. Stelle has lost vital signs.]
Attacked upon arrival...
This was information the plot had already revealed in advance.
They could even have prepared protective measures ahead of time.
According to the storyline,
the two had only crash-landed and were otherwise unharmed...
But now...
What did Dan Heng's message mean!?
Stelle has lost vital signs?
To put it plainly,
she was... dead.
The sky had fallen!
This was completely different from what happened in the plot!
"Could Dan Heng... be joking?"
Black Swan also saw the content in the chat window.
Tentatively, she asked.
Old Yang coldly replied, "I don't think Dan Heng would joke about something like this."
Black Swan's expression turned grim.
This... had escalated!
The protagonist of Honkai: Star Rail was dead!
Was this right!?
This shouldn't be how the story goes!
Black Swan looked out the window at Yang.
Instinctively, she wanted to leave the Astral Express and search for clues outside.
But!
There was a gaze, coldly fixed on her.
"Sunday..."
It's over!
Now, even jumping into the galaxy wouldn't wash her clean!