If the appearance of Herta at the beginning just made people think the game Author was bold...
Now that the Stellaron Hunters have shown up in the game, it can only be described as downright suicidal.
After all, no matter what, Herta is a relatively righteous figure, but the Stellaron Hunters? They are a notorious terror organization across the cosmos!
They kill without batting an eye!
Using their reputation to make a game? If they come knocking, you'd be wiped out without a trace!
At this moment, no one knew that the game's Author was actually lurking in the livestream.
Seeing the rising popularity of Guinaifen's stream, Caelus finally saw a glimmer of hope.
Meanwhile, after Guinaifen selected her character, all sorts of tutorials immediately popped up: skill descriptions, team compositions, Relics, etc., overwhelming her.
This made her even more surprised. How could this no-name game have so many features?
She even discovered that after choosing Stelle, Stelle directly became a playable character in her party!
"No way?"
"Are all the characters in this game directly playable?"
"Stelle! Even the Trailblazer from the Astral Express is playable. Then, among the characters that have appeared so far, could it be that even Ms. Herta has a chance to be..."
Guinaifen glanced at the stream chat and hesitated to continue.
But obviously, everyone knew what she wanted to say, including some players in the stream who were getting excited.
Of course, these weren't Guinaifen's main concerns right now. She could study the details once the actual game started.
What caught her attention most was that this game called "honkai: star rail" actually had a main storyline?!
So those animations earlier weren't just for introducing the world setting...
[Penacony 3.0 Main Story: Chronicles of the Fire Chasing Heroes of Fallenwood]
[Silver Carriage, Hasten to the Black Earth. Quest Available]
[Yes/No to Begin]
The quest prompt box had already appeared on the left side.
Guinaifen suddenly realized her spawn point was actually on the Astral Express, and she even saw several familiar figures on board.
Dan Heng, March 7th, and even Miss Himeko and Mr. Welt were there.
To be honest, even though she had visited the Astral Express before, this was the first time she could wander around the train's various areas so freely.
Seriously, does this game have no sense of copyright? Aren't they afraid of getting sued by all these important figures?
Also, how did they get such detailed information?
And another thing, where's Caelus?
"Forget it, forget it, let's not overthink it, folks. It seems some features can't be unlocked without participating in the main story."
"Let's just get ready to start the main story and see what it's all about!"
With that, Guinaifen quickly clicked the 'Confirm' button, immediately starting the first segment of the main storyline.
...
As Guinaifen started the story, the stream's popularity continued to grow.
It soon climbed onto the recommendation slots of several interstellar channels.
Xianzhou, The Luofu.
Training Grounds. As a new recruit of the Cloud Knights, Sushang had scheduled sword practice every day.
Fresh from her training and covered in sweat, she was resting on a nearby stone stool, thinking of checking if Guinaifen was streaming.
If she was, Sushang, having just finished practice, could go hang out with her.
But as soon as she picked up her jade screen and refreshed, entering the stream, Sushang thought she had clicked the wrong room.
The galaxy, a train, vast empty voids everywhere.
"Is this still Guinaifen's stream? Has she been kidnapped or something?"
Sushang jumped up in alarm, but then quickly realized something was off.
"Wait, hold on. This seems... off. Is this a game screen?"
"The Astral Express? A train meeting?"
"The Ocean Planet Lushaka, Mikhail's... hometown?"
"The Agate World Melustanine, the ascension site of the Aeon of Beauty, Idrila?"
"And the eternal land of Amphoreus? What in the world is all this?!"
After watching for just a little while, Sushang was completely bewildered.
Guinaifen seemed to be playing some game, and Sushang found herself drawn right in.
And looking at this storyline, half-real, half-fake, it actually seemed pretty interesting. Could it be a fan-made game based on the Astral Express?
...
Herta Space Station.
Life here was the most leisurely, also dubbed by Caelus as the best 'newbie village'.
As research staff, not only were the benefits good, but they didn't have to run around everywhere. Plus, it was under the protection of the 83rd seat of the Genius Society, the great Herta.
They were basically safe from threats, invasions, or colonization by other factions.
A meeting had just concluded.
Leisurely staff members were enjoying a relaxing lunch break.
A young researcher named Jackson was scrolling through his phone while worrying about his future research projects and direction.
Suddenly, he saw a peculiar livestream with quite high viewership, but the game was one he had never seen before.
Thinking he was bored, he clicked in.
However...
"This scene... isn't this the interior of the Astral Express?!"
"And what's this '∞'-shaped planet? Amphoreus? How have I never heard of it?"
These were just minor points.
But what truly caught his eye, what completely shocked him, was a certain scene.
"Holy sh*t—!!!"
"M-M-Ms. Herta?!"
The young staffer named Jackson bolted upright, his eyes filled with disbelief.
This game Author actually dared to...
At that moment, a hand suddenly clapped onto his shoulder.
Startled, he whipped his head around to find Alan standing there.
"What's wrong, Jackson? You don't look so good."
"What are you looking at? Let me see... This..."
...
Meanwhile.
The Astral Express.
The train was parked just outside the Festival Star, Penacony.
Some time had passed since the events in Penacony concluded. Now, Conductor Pom-Pom had gathered everyone to start a train meeting to discuss the next destination.
"Please wait a moment, passengers. The route meeting will begin shortly."
"Huh? Speaking of which, where has Passenger March 7th run off to again?"
Pom-Pom looked exasperated.
Sunday had no intention of joining the meeting, Black Swan, as a hitchhiker, voluntarily opted out, and Caelus had disembarked not long after the Penacony ordeal ended.
And now even March 7th had disappeared?
Pom-Pom felt that even though there were more people, it somehow seemed increasingly quiet.
"Heh." Himeko crossed her arms, wearing her signature gentle smile. "Little March said she had something come up temporarily. She should be here any moment."
"See? Speak of the devil. Look, Pom-Pom, here she comes."
Everyone looked over to see March 7th jogging over, phone in hand.
"Sorry, sorry, everyone. Something came up last minute."
Himeko smiled back at Little March, signaling it was fine.
Pom-Pom sighed, not making a big deal of it. "Alright, alright. Since all passengers are present, let's get ready to start."
"Listen up, passengers. I'll list a few options first."
Pom-Pom paced back and forth in front of the five, hands behind its back, adopting the posture of a navigator.
"First..."
"Uh, first, the Ocean Planet Lushaka, Mr. Mikhail's hometown, which has been affected by a Stellaron."
March 7th suddenly spread her hands and continued.
Pom-Pom nodded contentedly. "Mhm, mhm, mhm. Passenger March 7th is correct."
"Then..."
"Then the agate planet Melustanine, the ascension site of the Aeon of Beauty, Idrila. It's said to be one of the epicenters of the Stellaron disaster. Pretty dangerous, hehe."
March 7th scratched her head and chuckled lightly.
"Right, right." Pom-Pom nodded again, high and proud. "Finally."
"Finally, the eternal land of Amphoreus!"
"Correct, Amphoreus..."
"That's right, that's right, right... Huh?!!!"
Pom-Pom jolted in fright, then quickly looked at March 7th.