Chapter 60: What to Do if My Hands Suddenly Feel Itchy Seeing Kafka?
The metallic corridors of the Herta Space Station hummed with a quiet, steady rhythm. The chaotic aftermath of the Antimatter Legion's invasion had finally faded, replaced by the familiar scent of ozone and freshly sanitized floor tiles. Surviving researchers bustled between terminals, their daily routines restoring a sense of normalcy to the battered station. For Asta, the crushing weight of administrative crisis management had finally lifted.
Slumped in her plush office chair, the Lead Researcher let out a soft sigh. Her manicured fingertips glided lazily across her phone screen, scrolling through endless requisition forms. A sudden chime broke the silence. A notification banner popped up at the top of her screen.
[Leon: The game I made is now live.]
"Oh? He finished it already?" Asta murmured, her pink eyes widening slightly. Curiosity getting the better of her, she tapped the provided link. The screen went dark for a split second before a sleek, starry logo materialized: 'Honkai: Star Rail'.
Star Rail... Asta rested her chin on her hand. Just as she suspected, he had turned the Astral Express Crew into the protagonists. The title alone was a dead giveaway. And the names he chose for the two main vessels, Stelle and Caelus, were entirely too fitting.
A faint smile graced her lips as she pressed the start button, diving headfirst into a digital recreation of the very disaster she had just survived.
Asta was far from the only one slacking off. Across the station, dozens of researchers and security personnel had Leon's social accounts set to priority notifications. The moment the release ping echoed through the base, productivity took a massive nosedive.
Since they were technically still on the clock, pulling up a full immersive rig was out of the question. Phones were the weapon of choice. To maximize their covert slack-off sessions, the vast majority opted for the casual turn-based combat mode, allowing them to easily swipe their screens out of sight whenever a department head walked by.
Whispers and stifled giggles began to erupt from cubicles and break rooms.
"Wait, is this the invasion from last week? The Stellaron Hunters were here too?!"
"Hold on, why are the Stellaron Hunters playable? Aren't they wanted intergalactic criminals?"
"Look at how Mr. Leon makes his entrance! I'm dying, that is way too funny!"
"Hahahaha, Mr. Leon really has zero shame."
"Whoa... so this is how Miss Stelle and Mr. Caelus were born? The Stellaron Hunters literally printed them into existence!"
"But wait, why is the game making me pick between Stelle and Caelus? Weren't they both activated?"
"Eh? Holy crap, the AI in this game is insane! I literally just thought about wanting both of them, and the UI shifted to let me select both! If I hadn't thought of it, would I be stuck with just one?"
"The cinematic where Kafka pushes the Stellaron into their chests... it's gorgeous. I completely understand why Mr. Leon called her 'Mom' the second he saw her."
"Mommy!!!"
"Aaaah, Kafka's gentle, intellectual villain vibe is completely destroying my defenses!"
"Don't sleep on the hacker! That tsundere Silver Wolf is adorable!"
"Are we sure they're actually villains? There's no way. You don't make villains this playable and attractive."
"I bet the evil Interstellar Peace Corporation just framed them. The IPC throws dirt on everyone! Justice for the gentle and kind Stellaron Hunters!"
Meanwhile, light-years away on the Xianzhou Luofu, the vibrant streets echoed with the energetic voice of a certain street performer. Guinaifen was right in the middle of her daily livestream, expertly balancing a flaming pole, when a priority notification flashed across her streaming interface. Leon had updated his status.
She caught the flaming pole with one hand, tossing her bright orange hair over her shoulder as she leaned close to the camera lens. "Look at this, family! Our favorite guy from the Astral Express just dropped something new. Shall we check it out together?" Without waiting for an answer, Guinaifen tapped the link, projecting her screen for the chat to see.
The live chat instantly exploded into a flurry of scrolling text.
"Eh? Little Gui isn't smashing boulders on her chest today? We're doing a gaming stream?"
"Wait... is this actually a fully rendered game?"
"Hold up, isn't that the wanted criminal Kafka?! I literally just walked past her holographic bounty poster this morning!"
"Ooh, spicy! This is getting interesting!"
"By the Reignbow! Didn't the news just report that the Herta Space Station got trashed by the Antimatter Legion? Someone actually made a video game out of a real terrorist attack? The absolute madman!"
"So the Antimatter Legion was just a cover? The Stellaron Hunters were pulling the strings?"
"I don't know, man. Those Stellaron Hunters don't look like good people to me."
"Are you blind? Look at that character design! These Stellaron Hunters are doing the Aeons' work!"
Unlike the researchers at the space station who had seen Stelle and Caelus walking around together in reality, the average player across the cosmos lacked that context. Faced with the character selection screen, most simply picked one vessel and moved on, completely unaware of the hidden mechanics. Because they did not actively desire both, the hidden easter egg triggering the dual-birth sequence remained locked. For the general public, this was an 'IF' route, a branching timeline where they could only obtain one protagonist.
It was a deliberate design choice. Leon had completely stripped away the predatory mechanics of traditional games, replacing them with a massive, branching narrative structure. He had carefully constructed multiple worldlines within the game's engine. If a completionist wanted to collect every achievement and uncover the absolute truth, they would have to dive into a second playthrough, then a third, peeling back the layers of the universe through endless, repeating cycles.
Back in the parlor car of the Astral Express, the atmosphere was a mix of cozy relaxation and mild confusion.
"Leon..." Welt Yang adjusted his glasses, the lenses catching the soft light of the cabin. His brow was slightly furrowed, his deep voice carrying a distinct edge of hesitation. "Why exactly did you add the word 'Honkai'before'Star Rail'?"
Making a game about the Express was perfectly fine, flattering, even. But that specific prefix was impossible for the seasoned trailblazer to ignore. Honkai. To the rest of the crew, it might just sound like a cool, edgy sci-fi term. To Welt, it was a word soaked in tragedy, war, and apocalyptic destruction. It was not a pleasant memory. He could only pray to whatever Aeons were listening that it wasn't the exact same Honkai that had ravaged his home.
Leon leaned back against the plush velvet sofa, crossing his arms behind his head. A bright, utterly shameless grin spread across his face. "Is it possible that 'Honkai' was added precisely because of you, Uncle Yang?"
Welt froze. His hand hovered awkwardly near his glasses. "Huh? Because of... me?"
His mind raced. Wait, what? This game's title was his fault?
"Exactly!" Leon leaned forward, slapping the older man on the shoulder with entirely too much enthusiasm. "Old Yang, before you crossed over into this universe, didn't you come from a world plagued by the Honkai? To honor your legacy and pay tribute to your roots, I specifically slapped it right at the front of the title!"
Leon flashed a thumbs-up. "How's that? Pretty thoughtful of me, right?"
The real reason, of course, was simply because it was part of the original franchise. But since Leon couldn't exactly explain the concept of a multi-game corporate universe to the people living inside it, weaponizing Welt's tragic backstory was the perfect smokescreen.
The corner of Welt's mouth twitched violently. "This... this was really unnecessary!"
He suppressed a weary sigh. Was his previous world actually called 'Honkai'? Thinking back on the endless disasters... yes, the label was dreadfully accurate. But to realize that he was the reason this cursed word had followed him into a brand-new universe? The guilt was entirely misplaced, yet heavy all the same.
"Ooooh, so that's how it is!" March 7th punched her palm, her pink hair bouncing as she nodded in rapid realization. "I was wondering why the title sounded so weird. It turns out Uncle Yang is to blame!"
"But why not just call the game 'Astral Express'?" Caelus chimed in from the corner, pausing his furious screen-tapping to look up in genuine confusion.
"You dummy!" Stelle reached over and flicked her twin on the forehead. She crossed her arms, puffing out her chest with an expression that practically screamed 'I am a genius'. "If the game was just called 'Astral Express', then whenever people talked about it online, the search algorithms would get completely messed up! Nobody would know if they were talking about our actual train or Leon's video game!"
Caelus rubbed his forehead, his golden eyes widening in awe. "I see... Your wisdom knows no bounds."
Right at that moment, the audio from Stelle's phone shifted. The upbeat background music faded, replaced by the low, dramatic hum of the game's opening cinematic.
"How much do they remember?"
On the screen, Kafka leaned over with predatory grace. The camera angle framed her perfectly as she moved close to the dormant bodies of Stelle and Caelus. A faint, dangerously ambiguous smile curled the corners of her dark plum lips, an inscrutable emotion swirling in her magenta eyes.
"At least, they'll remember you." Silver Wolf turned away from the holographic console, blowing a bubblegum bubble as she shot Kafka a fleeting glance. Her tone was flat, yet laced with absolute certainty.
Upon hearing the hacker's confirmation, the smile on Kafka's face deepened. The subtle shift in her micro-expressions was rendered flawlessly, making her look as though a heavy weight had just been lifted from her chest.
Then, as the real-life Stelle and Caelus watched in rapt attention, the digital Kafka raised her hands. Golden, volatile energy pulsed between her fingers. Holding a fractured piece of the Stellaron in each palm, she pressed them forward. With movements that were terrifyingly gentle yet undeniably firm, she sank the celestial seeds directly into the chests of the two artificial vessels.
The screen zoomed in tight. Kafka leaned down, her lips brushing just inches away from the digital camera lens. Her voice poured from the phone's speakers, languid, husky, and utterly enchanting.
"Time to get up."
Staring at the beautifully rendered cinematic, watching the gentle yet resolute figure of the Stellaron Hunter who had literally breathed life into her, Stelle felt a strange tightness in her chest. Without thinking, her lips parted, and a soft murmur escaped her throat.
"Mom..."
It all clicked. She finally understood. So much had happened in the shadows before she and Caelus had ever opened their eyes on the space station. Kafka hadn't just dumped them there; she had spoken to them, guided them, and looked at them with a tenderness that defied her ruthless reputation. Sitting side by side on the Express, both Stelle and Caelus felt a deep, lingering warmth, an emotional connection that seemed to transcend the boundaries of time, space, and memory.
Across the parlor car, Himeko sat in her usual armchair.
The elegant navigator froze. The delicate porcelain coffee cup in her hand stopped halfway to her lips.
She stared at Stelle, then slowly shifted her gaze to the phone screen displaying Kafka's face. A dark, unreadable shadow seemed to pass over Himeko's crimson eyes. For some inexplicable reason, her fingers twitched. Her hands suddenly felt incredibly itchy.
She set the cup down — too carefully.
What exactly was she supposed to do about this sudden urge to smack someone?
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