Pain!
It hurts so much!
A heart-wrenching pain surged from his chest!
"Ugh...!"
Zeig painfully opened his eyes, and the first thing that came into view was Kafka's stunningly beautiful face.
Her soft wine-red hair fell onto Zeig's face, carrying a faint fragrance that drifted into his nose.
Besides that soft hair and her delicate oval face, Kafka's eyelashes were also fluttering gently.
"What's going on? Why won't it go in?" Her originally lazy voice now sounded somewhat puzzled.
Kafka's brows furrowed slightly as she struggled to push the Stellaron into Zeig's body once more.
According to Elio's prophecy, this Stellaron should have gone in with a single press.
It shouldn't be taking this long.
Zeig, having been pained to the limit, couldn't help but speak even though Kafka was holding him down:
"Big sis, sister, mom! I'm already awake and you're still pressing? Can you respect the opinion of the person involved?"
"Shush." Kafka completely ignored Zeig's words. "Objection overruled!"
"I refuse to believe this!"
With all her strength, a white light flashed.
The Stellaron's glow merged into Zeig's body.
"Ah…"
As Zeig was thrown to the ground with a thud, a mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
[Detecting that the host has arrived in the Honkai: Star Rail world. Activating the "Hard Work System." As long as the host works hard, they can become stronger!]
"Huh?" In his consciousness space, Zeig rubbed his head in disbelief.
The moment he saw Kafka, he knew he had transmigrated into the Honkai: Star Rail world.
But what did this "Hard Work System" mean?
MiHoYo only has a few games, and every single one is full of suffering.
Honkai: Star Rail probably wouldn't be an exception, and Zeig guessed that in the end, he might have to face an Aeon…
Or perhaps fight to the death against a group of Aeons.
No matter how hard he worked, the ending probably wouldn't be good.
[Please confirm binding with this system.]
"I refuse!" Zeig declared firmly.
"I was already exhausted enough in my previous life. Do I still have to grind after transmigrating?"
Zeig frowned. "Just kill me now. I don't want to work hard anymore."
After saying that, he lay flat on the ground, completely motionless.
System: […]
Outside, a silver-haired girl with a high ponytail, chewing bubble gum, walked over to Kafka.
She bent down slightly, glanced at Zeig lying motionless on the floor, then exchanged looks with Kafka:
"What's going on? Did you crush him to death?"
Kafka shook her head, feeling just as confused: "No, I held back."
"Then why isn't he moving?" Silver Wolf asked again.
"No idea."
"Then he's basically dead."
Kafka: "…"
Back in the consciousness space.
[Please adjust your mindset, host. The simple truth is that hard work leads to wealth.]
Zeig couldn't help but laugh in exasperation: "If that's the case, then why aren't there any assembly line workers on the Forbes rich list?"
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
Twenty minutes.
...
The standoff lasted for quite a while.
Zeig showed no reaction whatsoever.
The system fell silent too, as if competing with Zeig to see who could outlast the other.
Another five minutes passed.
[…]
[Detecting that the host possesses talent for slacking off. Replacing the system with the "Slacking System"!]
"!!!"
In the consciousness space, Zeig—who was about to fall asleep—suddenly raised his head.
"It can do that?!"
Good thing he didn't agree earlier.
Zeig loudly asked: "Is it really possible to slack off? How exactly does the Slacking System work?"
[Replying to host: This system has no other abilities—it's purely for slacking.]
[Since you have already fused with the Stellaron, slacking will increase Stellaron experience. Reaching a certain amount will allow the Stellaron to level up!]
[Additionally, slacking for a certain number of days will grant extra rewards.]
It sounds like a huge profit.
This was exactly the kind of system Zeig could accept.
[The system reminds the host: As the pleasure value during slacking increases, the Stellaron experience gained will also increase accordingly. However…]
[If you exit the slacking state, you will be unable to gain Stellaron experience for the next 8 hours.]
Zeig stroked his chin: "What counts as exiting the slacking state?"
[Replying to host: Using the power of the Stellaron counts as exiting slacking.]
So using the power would waste eight hours.
It doesn't seem like a big loss. Just use it when necessary—eight hours isn't much!
"Alright, I want this system!!"
…
After Kafka and Silver Wolf checked him, there were clearly no injuries on Zeig's body, yet he had lain motionless on the floor for half an hour.
Suddenly!
His leg twitched.
"Look." Silver Wolf nudged Kafka's hand. "He moved."
"I told you, I held back." Kafka calmly looked at Zeig on the ground. "It's not my fault—he's the one with the problem."
Zeig slowly opened his eyes and looked blankly at the two women.
The one with wine-red hair had lazy eyes with a hint of teasing. Just moments ago, she had been desperately forcing the Stellaron into his body.
No mistake—that was Kafka.
The shorter one beside her was blowing bubble gum, hands in her pockets, looking completely indifferent.
That was unmistakably Silver Wolf, the hacker of the Stellaron Hunters.
Zeig swallowed hard and shakily stood up.
In his mind, he asked: 'System, when does slacking start counting?'
[It can start now.]
[Slacking for 24 hours will grant the newbie reward: Mastery of the Phoenix Immortal's true martial arts (full set); and Stellaron level upgraded to Emanator First Order.]
'Good!' Zeig nodded inwardly.
…
Shortly after.
Inside the cabin.
Kafka and Silver Wolf watched as, with a "thud—", the man lay back down again.
He even kept groaning:
"Ouch, my back…"
[Resting… Stellaron EXP +1 +1 +1…]
Emanator level.
Zeig vaguely remembered that the Lord Ravagers of the Antimatter Legion were at the Emanator level.
This Phoenix Immortal's true martial arts should include "Taixu Sword God."
When the time comes, using the Stellaron's power to unleash "Taixu Sword God" would be spectacular.
Seeing Zeig lie down again, Silver Wolf couldn't stand it anymore and walked over to kick him:
"Hey, you're a grown man—seriously? The big sis next to me has been worried about you this whole time and dragged me here to wait."
Silver Wolf was utterly helpless: "Now that you're awake, what's the meaning of lying down again?"
Everything that happened today was far too abnormal.
According to Elio's prophecy, implanting the Stellaron should have been a one-and-done process, and Zeig should have recovered quickly.
But him?
He just got up… and lay back down.
"I don't know either," Zeig said with an innocent expression. "These old bones of mine have been tossed around by you two, and you kept shoving something into my body—when it wouldn't go in, you forced it anyway. Boo hoo hoo… my innocence…"
Kafka: "…"
The wine-red-haired girl had been silent since earlier, seemingly trying to recall where things went wrong.
Logically, it shouldn't have turned out like this.
"Hey, Kafka…"
While Kafka was lost in thought, Silver Wolf nudged her hand.
Her tone carried some disbelief.
"What is it?"
"Forget about him for now—look outside."
At that moment, Silver Wolf was staring blankly at the galaxy beyond the space station's glass.
Dense black dots appeared in their field of vision, growing larger and larger.
"Antimatter Legion…" Kafka also looked over and murmured.
Those Voidranger creatures surged toward them like a tidal wave.
Blotting out the sky—roughly… tens of thousands?
No.
Far more than that!
Why were there so many Voidranger creatures rushing over?!
Kafka stared at the rapidly approaching Antimatter Legion, her eyes filled with confusion:
"How can there be this many? Is this the same batch from before at Herta Space Station?"
Silver Wolf's mood had hit rock bottom:
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? We need to leave now, or we'll end up running into the people from the Express!"
She tried to pull Kafka away to retreat immediately, but Kafka shook her off.
"Kafka, what are you doing?"
"No." Kafka shook her head. "If we leave now, he'll die for sure, and Elio's plan will fall apart."
Silver Wolf: "…"
Zeig leisurely lay on the ground, calmly meeting the gazes of the two Stellaron Hunters.
Zeig: "Cough cough, well, I'm very fragile, you know."
Kafka and Silver Wolf were momentarily speechless.