Witnessing Dan Heng's exceptionally flashy ultimate ability, Guinaifen's eyes sparkled with admiration. After managing to compose herself, she couldn't help but feel indignant on behalf of the developers!
"How dare they not let me pay for a character like this!"
"Who do they think they're underestimating?!"
She even wished she could become a planner for the game herself, envisioning different tiers for Dan Heng's abilities:
The first tier would lack any cinematic close-ups.
The second tier would unlock the close-up effect but without the ink-wash background visuals; to access the full version, players would need to spend extra money!
Only the third tier would offer the complete ultimate ability experience!
Developers, don't you know how to make money?! You should take cues from me! Seriously!
Unfortunately, instead of implementing her ideas, the developers gave away this character for free. Unable to contact the enigmatic developer "Feathered Spirit," all she could do was leave suggestions in the game's comment section.
For now, Guinaifen pushed these thoughts aside.
Shifting her focus back to the unfolding story.
Though this elite Voidranger couldn't defeat them head-on, it suddenly let out a fierce roar. Multiple ghostly shadows emerged in the air—each one representing its lesser Voidranger minions.
March 7th protested indignantly, "Hey, hey, hey! Resorting to ganging up just because you can't win... Is that how you play?"
As she spoke, she cautiously began inching backward.
Dan Heng, wielding his spear, took a defensive stance to cover their retreat.
Just then, a mechanical device resembling a propeller appeared on the scene.
Spinning rapidly, it instantly shredded one of the Voidrangers. Then, a circular saw extended from the propeller blades, effortlessly mowing down the remaining enemies like slicing through butter. Finally, with a flourish, it shattered the elite Voidranger.
Seizing the opportunity, the group swiftly charged forward and broke free.
The scene shifted.
On the other side of the space station, a pair of slender, jade-like hands gently lowered.
A mature, resonant voice echoed, "Creating such close calls every time, but... as long as they return safely."
A woman with long red hair entered the frame, revealing a gentle smile.
"A new character has appeared!"
"And she's a sophisticated older sister!" A hint of excited flush colored Guinaifen's face.
"I wonder if she'll be playable!"
"What a beautiful big sister!"
"I love mature and gentle women like her!"
"Hold on, you guys don't recognize her? She's the navigator of the Astral Express, Miss Ji Zi!"
"Oh, it's her! Not only is she a top-notch scientist, but she's incredibly gorgeous too!"
"I'm sold! From now on, I'm all about Miss Ji Zi!"
Aboard the Astral Express...
As soon as Old Yang saw the single-molecule saw appear, a smile spread across his face.
He had a hunch ever since Dan Heng's introduction earlier.
And just as expected, now even Himeko made her appearance.
"True to form, Miss Ji Zi is incredibly dependable in the eyes of these children," Old Yang observed.
Himeko remained unfazed, continuously operating on the nearby screen.
Curious, Old Yang asked, "Himeko, what are you doing?"
"I've been searching for information about this game, but there's shockingly little available publicly. All I could find out is that the developer goes by 'Feathered Spirit.' It's unclear if it refers to an individual, a company, or perhaps even an organization."
"But..."
"But what?" Old Yang prompted.
"But I did come across a related game livestream started by a young girl from Xianzhou. Just like us, she's also beginning her experience with the game."
Himeko turned the screen towards Old Yang.
Sure enough, the progress displayed in the live stream matched theirs closely.
The real-time viewer count shown in the top right corner had already surpassed ten thousand!
"Her usual viewership was only a few thousand. However, streaming Honkai: Star Rail has quickly attracted a lot more attention."
"It seems this game is gradually gaining popularity among the masses," Old Yang marveled.
At the same time, a flurry of comments flooded the live stream chat.
"What qualities would it take to marry Miss Ji Zi?"
"This big sister is incredibly charming—I fell for her at first glance!"
"I'm a woman myself, and even I can't resist!"
"Got some dream material for tonight."
Himeko glanced briefly and discreetly turned off the chat.
On the screen, it depicted the moment of her first encounter with Stelle.
Apart from minor variations in dialogue and expressions, the scene closely matched her memories. It was as if an invisible camera had captured everything during that time, later turned into this game.
This led Himeko to ponder one question:
If the game's storyline ends at the space station, it would be understandable.
After all, those events had already occurred, and recreating them through technical means was feasible. However, if there were further developments in the plot, wouldn't she soon witness the situation on Jarilo-VI unfold before her eyes?
She looked out the window at the snow-covered planet below.
Just as she considered contacting Dan Heng and the Trailblazers, her phone signaled an incoming message.
It was from March 7th herself.
Himeko read it quickly.
The gist was that their mission was progressing smoothly so far, aided by a robot named Svarog who provided information about the Stellaron. They planned to rest for the night and head towards the location of the Stellaron tomorrow.
Himeko hesitated momentarily but ultimately decided not to inform them about Honkai: Star Rail just yet. There would be time enough after they completed their task tomorrow.
Of course,
Tomorrow, she would continue monitoring the situation closely to ensure no unexpected incidents occur.
Setting down her phone, Lin Yu heard Little Gui Zi's startled exclamation from the screen on the table.
"Peeps! Am I seeing this right?!"
"Miss Himeko is also a playable character!"
"And she joined our team!"
"Ahhh, I must quickly try out Himeko's skills!"