Orchis's disheveled hair obscured her face, her gray and haggard features gradually losing their vitality.
The girl was impaled in the sky by the Swarm King, her suspended, tragic state a public execution for the offender.
The little gray-haired girl gritted her teeth, her expression a complex mixture of anger and sorrow, her mind a complete blank.
To be honest, Orchis and the Trailblazer didn't share any profound memories.
The girl had merely guided Stelle onto the Express, seemed to be connected to Stelle's past, and offered her extreme, unconditional affection for no clear reason.
Of her past, her origins, her life story—Stelle knew nothing at all.
Their only interaction was that brief encounter at the very beginning, a tiny episode in the grand journey of the Trailblaze.
Stelle had never understood the truth of Orchis's past, and now she might never get the chance. From beginning to end, they had never truly gotten close to one another.
What kind of relationship did we even have?
How could Stelle have any deep feelings about the puppet girl's demise?
But—the affection was there.
Stelle couldn't just leave her be. She could sense the pure, sincere heart Orchis had devoted to her without reservation.
Someone had sacrificed herself for the Trailblazer, had been harmed while protecting the Trailblazer. This was an ironclad fact, one she could never distance herself from.
When the girl who cherished her fell into danger, it was only natural for the gray-haired girl to be furious. It was more than she could bear!
Stelle felt weak, humiliated, and powerless. She couldn't repay the kindness shown to her; she could only watch as tragedy unfolded...
I've accomplished nothing... The Trailblazer's rationality instantly vanished, and a string in her mind snapped!
Unforgivable!!!!!!!!!!!
She was already at the end of her rope. She had lost her lance, her bat, and Orchis. She had no means of fighting left!
(But... I'm still alive!)
This life of a loser... could still be used as a bargaining chip!
Come to hell with me.
With a cold look, her expression twisting into a snarl, Stelle gripped her own chest as if to tear out her heart, intending to trigger the explosive power of the Stellaron! She would play her final card and perish together with the Swarm King!
The Trailblazer had given her answer!
She intended to sacrifice herself! To give her life to protect the people of the space station! To use the last of her strength to take the enemy down with her! To bring solace to Orchis!
The Trailblazer did not retreat, nor did she wait meaninglessly for death. She stood up tenaciously and charged forward. The plot had progressed far enough.
The little gray-haired girl had done everything expected of a game protagonist, and Orchis had also showcased her own character's charm in this story.
The ending was set. The farce should end here.
"——?!"
Under the little gray-haired girl's bewildered gaze, the Swarm King suddenly let out a mournful cry, its blue body erupting in a brilliant light.
The next second, without any warning, the vicious enemy vanished without a trace.
The replica of the Emanator of Propagation that Ruan Mei had created could only exist for fifty-six seconds.
After Orchis took that final blow, the Swarm King activity time reached its limit, and its form dissipated!
The Trailblazer was in disbelief. She saw Orchis's body falling from the sky. Snapping back to her senses, she rushed over to catch her.
"Orchis... Orchis! Hang in there!"
There was no joy of surviving the ordeal. Stelle held the puppet girl's broken body in her arms.
Her movements were hesitant and gentle, timid, as if she were holding the world's most fragile and delicate treasure.
She knelt on both knees, surrounded by the slime and charred remains left by the vanished Swarm King. The stark contrast made Stelle seem utterly isolated and helpless.
The Trailblazer's eyes trembled, her emotions in violent turmoil.
She gasped for breath, trying to find any sign of life in Orchis's silent form.
A sense of panic was unavoidable. The puppet girl had always been the anchor for the Trailblazer's sense of belonging.
Orchis's abdomen had been completely torn apart by the Swarm King's attack. Only her black clothes and the mechanical parts at the edges held her slender humanoid form together. The light of Memoria leaked from the wound. Stelle couldn't tell what it was, nor could her arms feel the hardness and coldness expected of a puppet. There was only a heart-stopping transparency, as if she were holding nothing but a shadow on the verge of dissipating.
How... How could this happen...
The Trailblazer's mind replayed the image of Orchis reaching out to her, the tears streaming from those clouded eyes, and her final, endlessly apologetic "I'm sorry."
This wasn't the end. How could she allow Orchis to just disappear like this?
"There has to be a way. Think, quickly."
Helplessness and guilt.
Stelle lowered her head, pressing her cheek against Orchis's cold hair, and held her tight.
Since she wasn't human, she couldn't die from ruptured organs and blood loss. And because of that—there was still hope.
Life in the universe was divided into organic and inorganic. A moving puppet, by all accounts, should be a type of intelligent machine.
Then perhaps Herta would have some relevant knowledge? Even that genius named Screwllum was a monarch who governed inorganic intelligent machines.
"That's right... The Genius Society must have a way."
The Trailblazer staggered to her feet, holding Orchis tightly in her arms. It was a matter of utmost urgency. With a sliver of hope, she prayed to the gods in her heart and ran anxiously toward the Simulated Universe, afraid of wasting a single second.
-----------------
Orchis fell silent.
The story of the game world came to a temporary close, the main plot pausing at a critical point.
The actors on stage gave their all, but it's no fun if only the people on stage are entertaining themselves.
The stage, the actors, and the audience are all integral parts of a brilliant play.
A lively story naturally needs a lively player base to cheer it on, to fill the game's atmosphere with vibrant life.
The scene shifts to the real world.
Kisaragi sat in front of her computer. The moment the girl started her stream, a swarm of meme-lords rushed in.
Today was the day Honkai: Star Rail's version 1.6 story was released.
At that time, the game was still thriving, on an upward trend of getting better and better.
When players saw that the version update would give them a ten-pull, and then compared it to the three Intertwined Fates from its sister game, Genshin...
They were instantly blown away! They praised Star Rail as a great game!
miHoYo were the greatest game company! Could other turn-based games achieve Star Rail's quality? As for those who say turn-based games are the easiest to power creep and that not giving out more rewards will cause players to be boiled alive, I think you're just looking for trouble! Fearmongering! Disrupting morale! You're just trolls who don't even play the game and competitors trying to farm hate engagement!
Look at our Destruction Trio! Blade! Jingliu! Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae! They hit for hundreds of thousands of damage like it's nothing.
Every one of them is a master! Slaying gods and buddhas alike! So beautiful! How can a character as perfect as the High Elder exist?!
E0 Jingliu is a complete package! E2S1 Dan Heng IL will last you until the game shuts down!
An insurmountable peak in Star Rail's design history! We Star Rail players have our own Dragon King!
"The tide, I have returned!"
Stop saying the two dragons are shameless power creep, that making a popular main DPS strong to sell Eidolons has set a bad precedent for the planners! What do you mean, "look at Honkai Impact 3rd"? I can't hear you! All I know is people keep saying Seele is getting power-crept, but she's still clearing with 0 cycles! I can't hold back my laughter! If you're bad, just practice more!
The power level is controlled quite well! As for the story, while the High-Cloud Quintet reunion and Topaz coming to collect debts seemed to require a brain, everyone's beloved Scott and the Ghost-Hunting Squad also left us with laughter. The unique UI, the internet-troll-style writing, a game growing out of memes is just too much fun!
The player welfare is good! The story is interesting! The endgame is a breeze if you have hands! There are little details everywhere! The development team's productivity is ample!
"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one!" Star Rail is already a dynasty! You competitors' little games are only fit to be vassals!
Do you have to wait for a certain penguin company to become the publisher for a miHoYo game to realize how good you have it? If it were touched by other companies, the top-up and gacha banners would be plastered on your face the moment you entered the game. They'd create cumulative top-up rewards that require thousands of yuan and cycle through various reskinned mini-events, then you'd learn your lesson!
In this world, there are only people with no taste who don't play Star Rail, and people with taste who praise Star Rail!
As for why some girls on Weibo are fawning over Ms. Ruan Mei's exposed navel in her splash art?! Children, those people don't have netcitizenship!
"...I can't take this community anymore. Seriously, what do you gain from me inheriting my credit card debt?"
The first thing Kisaragi did after waking up was glance at the community forums. Although any normal person knew to avoid the community drama when playing a game, she couldn't resist taking a bite.
Faced with Ruan Mei's upcoming release in 1.6, players were engaged in a heated discussion. They felt this character should be a gentle and elegant lady with a classic style. Her splash art, her model, her promotional posters—a holy trinity. That face and aura were simply too magnificent.
Putting her next to our big sister Jingliu is a feast for the eyes! This is the beauty of our national-style women! We've nailed cultural export!
Kisaragi didn't have any particular feelings about Ruan Mei. Her main concern right now was Orchis's storyline.
Regarding that puppet girl, there had been no news of her since version 1.0. Even in 1.3, which implemented the Swarm Disaster and brought players back to the Herta Space Station, no story related to Orchis was triggered.
But Kisaragi had a faint feeling that the Astral Express's return to the space station in 1.6 would bring something big.
"We're almost at 2.0. It's about time they wrote Orchis's story."
The reason was that the impact of Orchis's hidden route was far more than just a pocket watch and a wife's farewell.
The protagonist, the Trailblazer, had now split into two discussion tracks: the surface-line Trailblazer and the hidden-line Trailblazer.
Players discovered that after triggering Orchis's storyline, the character would also have some influence on the main story.
Aside from the shared travel routes on the Express and the enemies they had to fight, the personalities of the Trailblazers on the two lines were distinctly separate.
The surface-line Trailblazer went with the flow, enjoying a happy-go-lucky journey. The hidden-line Trailblazer, however, had a bit of an overachiever streak. Not only was she overly knowledgeable in the plot due to being a Simulated Universe master, but she also learned how to control the Stellaron from Uncle Welt and even managed to save Cocolia on Belobog, a scene that left players utterly stunned.
[What? So we didn't have to kill Cocolia and become an unsung hero?]
[So we could have returned triumphantly and been hailed as heroes by the people of Belobog?]
[Wait, miHoYo's productivity is this high? They actually polished a whole other branch in the main story? Something's not right!]
Multiple routes and choices leading to different stories, more game content, was a good thing. Players had a richer story to experience. Kisaragi felt it was like how in Gal Gun, the chosen heroine would have a different impact, but having a common storyline wasn't that hard to do. The major events still converged on the same path with the same script. It wasn't that difficult to change some text in minor places and make some new content with a few slideshows.
For a game, high productivity is a good thing, and comparing the differences between the lines is also fun... but, some in the player base were getting fussy.
They said it wasn't fair!
[Why is there no reward for choosing the right route, but a punishment for choosing the wrong one?]
[We want our white-haired wife Orchis's affection too!]
[The surface-line Trailblazer is cute, but the hidden-line one is cool too. Can't miHoYo add a story rollback feature?!]
[We didn't mean to choose the wrong line, and this isn't a single-player game where you can't reload a save!]
Even though the major events were more or less the same, some players were just not happy!
Where do I go to claim my missing white-haired wife?!
And some were also confused as to why Orchis, a character who didn't appear in the main story, could get resources for an independent story?!
Favoritism! Internal favoritism! There's something shady going on!
This is unacceptable! In case you didn't know, the noble limited 5-star, big sister Jingliu, has never even interacted with the Trailblazer!
Can't we have a Jingliu route?! A March 7th route?! Can't we have independent stories with Clara and Huohuo?!
Once one character gets their own independent storyline, fans of other characters will pop up to demand benefits for their own favorites.
"And as time goes on, the two lines will diverge too much. The different protagonist personalities might be hard to reconcile. I don't think lazy old miHoYo would do too much thankless work. The multiple routes are just an easter egg. It's all about cost reduction and efficiency."
So Kisaragi felt that before heading to the next planet, which their internal sources called Penacony, it was time for Orchis to appear in the main story, and then a major event would make the surface-line and hidden-line little gray-hairs walk the same path and become the same person.
With that thought, Kisaragi opened the game and started playing the 1.6 main story.
Her own game account was the surface-line Trailblazer. The protagonist and Orchis had never properly met. She arrived at the space station and proceeded through the story to meet Miss Ruan Mei.
On screen, the little gray-haired girl bumped into Ruan Mei eating pastries on the platform. Just as she went up to greet her, Ruan Mei reached out and touched her.
"Hmm?" Kisaragi's expression instantly lit up.
"Oh! No way. I was clearly here to simp for the static beauty Ruan Mei. Why is she getting handsy with me right off the bat? She even called me 'dear' right away! Oh my god! Ruan Mei is a carnivore! How can I not get wet? I'm starting to ovulate on the spot!"
?????
The stream had just begun, and the screen was instantly flooded with question marks.
Comments like "There you go again, streamer," "Can you mind your image, Kisaragi," and "When will this stream ever take the story seriously" floated by.
The scene quickly progressed to Ruan Mei offering the little gray-haired girl a pastry. Just as our innocent Trailblazer was about to chow down without hesitation, a hand suddenly grabbed the game protagonist's suspended arm.
"?!"
The little gray-haired girl froze, looking beside her. A gothic, twin-tailed girl had appeared at some point.
"Gray... Wait, you absolutely cannot eat anything this person gives you."
"Eh?"
The Trailblazer looked at the girl beside her, her dazed eyes meeting Orchis's, and was startled. "Who are you?"
"What are you talking about?" Ruan Mei couldn't see the Memetic Entity and thought the little gray-haired girl was talking to herself, asking a strange question in return.
Stelle dazedly scratched her head, looked at Orchis beside her, then at Ruan Mei before her. She blinked in confusion, not understanding the situation. When the Trailblazer opened her eyes again, the gothic girl was gone, as if it had all been a hallucination.
Was it my imagination...?
But after that interruption, the little gray-haired girl didn't dare to carelessly eat things given to her by others.
Whether this scene was the game protagonist's daydream or not, the players watching had their own verdict. They had seen it all clearly.
[WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
The stream's chat instantly exploded, and Kisaragi's eyes began to sparkle.
[Oh my god, it's the hidden-line's girl!]
[Orchis is so cute!]
[Looks like a new person is in charge for the new version. Has our hidden-line writer finally succeeded in their possession and returned?!]
[Orchis: Have you asked about my character release?]
[Ask again and you're deleted!]
[Really really really really, this isn't some fake leak from a damn fake uncle?! Finally, my Orchis is implemented in the main story!]
[Children, the true female lead has finally won her revival match!]
[March 7th, that spot doesn't belong to you. Give me the mascot icon!]
[Orchis fan peeking in. After suffering in silence for the entire 1.0 era, can we finally stop being called a non-existent character that's 'making a fuss'?!]
[It's time to hold those Jingliu and DHIL mains accountable for their claims! What do you mean, 'internal hate that will never get into the main story'?! A weed on the roadside deserves to eat too? Isn't she served up right here? Next up should be a deluxe promotional PV and an independent animated short.]
[Goodbye, Ruan Mei. Today's schedule is fast-forwarding to my date with Orchis. I don't care what your story is about anymore. Whether there's an Orchis companion mission is really important to me!]
[The big one is finally here. Orchis fans have nothing to fear anymore! We will reclaim the status we deserve! We will beat all those who stole her story and screen time to their knees! The female lead will return to her loyal throne!]
Kisaragi was a little shocked seeing the chat stack up over ten layers deep from a scene where Orchis appeared for less than a few dozen seconds. Although she liked Orchis too, were the fans in the community really this *heated*? The power of a white-haired, red-eyed girl who says she loves you was too strong. Weren't these people afraid that the writers would see the crazed fans arguing every day and decide to just cut the character to avoid the trouble? That this was just a final farewell? Do you really understand the 'subtle little ideas' of our miHoYo writers to be celebrating like this?