At precisely noon on April 24th, amidst widespread anticipation, the official Star Rail account released a promotional video.
The comments section immediately flooded with urgent demands for the game's release:
[I'm Miss Lumina's Dog!: You seem pretty hyped too! Why not just launch it today?]
[Creamy Cut: Finally! We've been waiting for you. I'm so glad I didn't give up!]
A smattering of bot-generated comments criticized the game's monetization, but these were quickly flagged and removed. The remaining comments largely consisted of excited exclamations and well wishes.
Oh, and of course, there were the die-hard fans of the Mysterious Girl:
[Mysterious Girl When?: Seriously, dude? She was the grand finale of the pre-release livestream. I thought she'd be a game-changer, but the game launches in two days and we haven't seen a single trace of her!]
[Su Dongpo Points: This character hogged the spotlight during the entire public beta preview, then vanished without a trace for a month with zero promotion. If it weren't for the archived livestream, I'd think this was some fan-made trailer. Seriously, what's with this Greater Lord Rukkhadevata act?]
[Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: Let the world... completely forget me...]
Lumina scrolled through the comments, liked Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's post, then copied and pasted the phrase below to farm some experience points.
[I'm Miss Lumina's Dog: Let the world... completely forget me...]
[My host, you have time to farm experience points? I'm begging you, please take action already!]
[If there wasn't a penalty for Resonance Points, you'd have been docked 6,000 points this month, reducing your total from 8,000 to a mere 2,000!]
Having witnessed Lumina's behavior over the past month, the System nearly shattered its core programming. It had been somewhat forgiving before, reasoning that the actual release was still far off and Reality was in its testing phase.
But now the pre-release PV had been released, and Lumina had even made her public appearance! Why was she still lazing around like this?!
[Give me back my diligent Holy Maiden! I don't want this lazy, good-for-nothing Miss Lumina!]
"Look, it's getting impatient again," Lumina yawned, waving her hand dismissively.
"Anyone who didn't know better would think you were the one being added to the gacha pool."
"After diligently serving as the Holy Maiden for several Amber Eras, I'm tired. I'm ready to embrace the darkness and transform into a lazy, salted fish lady. Can't you even grant me that?"
Lumina couldn't hear the System's inner thoughts, but she could see them displayed on the screen. After all, this ditzy System had no filter, broadcasting everything, whether it was meant to be private or spoken aloud.
[...]
"Alright, alright, relax," Lumina said with a gentle smile, clapping her hands as she stood up. With a casual flick of her wrist, the entire room became spotless in an instant.
"Time to get down to business~"
Lumina stretched languidly, showcasing her flawless figure.
"Let's see~" Her slender fingers tapped the screen as she reviewed the schedule for the official promotional videos. Finally, her gaze settled on one particular PV.
"You're the one!"
"A misleading PV? Overdoing the theatrics shouldn't be a problem, right?" Lumina hummed softly.
[Suit yourself.]
-
April 25th, one day before the official release of the game Star Rail.
On the Xiaopozhan platform, in Xiao Hunhun's live stream, the streamer was currently losing his mind over the close-up of the Mysterious Girl that had appeared at the end of the latest preview.
"Aaaah, my Mysterious Girl! When will you finally be released?! 😭"
"Mysterious Girl... you're taking 'mysterious' way too far!"
"It's been a whole month with absolutely no news..."
[I'm Xiao Hunhun's Dog: Streamer, trust me! I've traveled from the future. Today at noon, the official account will release a PV featuring the Mysterious Girl.]
[Practice Makes Perfect: Yo, Future Bro's here! Quick question: what's the Mysterious Girl's name?]
[I'm Xiao Hunhun's Dog: Her real name is Buer. She follows the Path of Abundance, and her power is absolutely insane.]
[I Wanna Lick Mysterious Girl's Toes: 666, just like Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, hence Buer. Her white and green color scheme signifies Abundance, and her overwhelming aura implies insane power, right? If that's all it takes, I could come up with that too!]
[I Really Want to Eat the Mysterious Girl's Tiny Feet: The Mysterious Girl must have a child or a clone. Let's call her Nahida.]
"Alright, alright, everyone calm down," Xiao Hunhun said hastily, trying to defuse the brewing argument in his live stream chat.
As a devoted fan of the Mysterious Girl and the host of a wildly popular "Mysterious Girl Fan Frenzy" live stream with hundreds of thousands of followers, Xiao Hunhun's channel had become a gathering place for most of her dedicated fans.
While the past month had brought him a surge in viewership, Xiao Hunhun couldn't help but feel weary watching the daily battles in the chat over the Mysterious Girl.
"Okay, it's noon. Let's see if the official account has posted a promotional video yet."
Xiao Hunhun didn't really care anymore. As long as his live stream wasn't shut down, they could all go wild...
He opened the official Star Rail account and immediately saw a pinned video titled "OP: Interstellar Journey."
"Eh? Eh? An OP! An OPENING!" Xiao Hunhun exclaimed, his excitement palpable.
After all, most characters made their debut in the opening animation, and with the Mysterious Girl's grand promotional reveal, there was no way she'd be excluded!
Having made up his mind, Xiao Hunhun quickly clicked on the video, turned off the comments, held his breath, and started watching.
The video began with the typical opening sequence. As the music started, Kafka appeared on screen.
As Kafka threw a card, the Star Rail logo appeared.
[Get rid of debris from the rusty time, those years (those years)~♪]
[Don't stay in a daze looking for a sign, start in a trice~♪]
A vocal track began as Himeko, Dan Heng, and March 7th appeared successively on the screen.
"March 7th, my waifu! She's so cute, hehe!"
March 7th's expression—a mix of cuteness and melancholy—struck Xiao Hunhun's heart directly, causing him to lose control of his expression and burst into a goofy grin.
As the music continued, Lynx and Yukong appeared, followed by a fleeting glimpse of a white-haired young girl wearing a black blindfold over her eyes.
In a live stream, missing this scene would mean waiting for the replay. But this was a video.
Xiao Hunhun immediately pressed the spacebar to pause the video and dragged the playback slider back.
"Yay, another waifu! I wonder what her name is."
After taking a screenshot, Xiao Hunhun pressed the spacebar again to resume the video.
After the black-blindfold girl disappeared, another red-haired man flashed across the screen, someone Xiao Hunhun didn't recognize.
[And yet you say... ♪]
The music continued as Tingyun, Dan Heng, and the protagonist appeared and disappeared in quick succession.
[The past is gone... ♪]
As the music built toward its climax, a man with dragon horns hidden among maple leaves appeared in silhouette.
Maple leaves fell, drifting into the water, where a reflection revealed another man cradling a sword.
Hmm, Xiao Hunhun didn't recognize any of them.
"Haha, I'll leave the opening analysis to the experts," Xiao Hunhun chuckled awkwardly.
[Why linger here? ♪]
The Ambrosial Arbor rose into the sky, a white-haired girl flashing by, followed closely by a red-eyed deer.
But everyone's attention was clearly drawn to the fleeting figure of the white-haired girl.
Xiao Hunhun paused the video and dragged the progress bar back a bit.
"My wife!!!" he blurted out, staring at the figure on screen.
In the video, the mysterious girl stood before the Ambrosial Arbor, holding the Stellaron and glancing sideways at the camera.
[ I'm Miss Mysterious Girl's Dog ]: What do you mean "your wife"? She's mine!
[ I'm a Pervert ]: Sorry, slipped out.
[Great Inventor: ] Squinting sideways, he mused, "God of the Patch, Story Intensity, or Gameplay Intensity—at least one of them is bound to be solid."
-
"I kind of look like a villain in this video," Lumina muttered, stroking her chin as she watched herself on screen, lost in thought.
She quickly shrugged it off.
"Oh well, let's just call it a PV scam," she said with a shrug.
Seeing the Resonance Points flooding into her System interface, Lumina nodded in satisfaction.
She opened the Interstellar Map and locked onto the coordinates of Herta Space Station.
"Stellaron spirit, here I come!"