Chapter 2: A Gender-Bent Galaxy

"I... my name is Chen. I'm from Earth," he managed, his voice a dry rasp. He had to make them understand. "I don't know how I got here. I just... I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was in this desert!"

He pushed himself up on his elbows, a desperate energy surging through him. "Earth! Have you heard of it? Can... can you send me back?"

The rescue team members exchanged glances, their expressions clouded with confusion. The leader, a woman with a stern but not unkind face, shook her head.

"Earth? Never heard of it. Is it some unregistered remote colony?"

Just as despair began to set in, a younger team member's eyes went wide. "Ah!" he exclaimed, a flash of memory crossing his face. He turned to his superior.

"Captain, I remember now... Didn't Ms. Welt ask our station personnel about a place called 'Earth' a while back?"

Ms. Welt...?

The name hit Chen like a physical blow. He froze, his mind screeching to a halt. Welt?

He subconsciously glanced at the game interface that only he could see, a phantom screen floating in his mind's eye. There, displayed prominently, was the character avatar for Welt Yang: a five-star Imaginary-type character following the Path of Nihility. It was the familiar, comforting image of a steady, bespectacled uncle.

'Same name...'he thought, a frantic denial seizing him.'It must be a coincidence! Yes, that's definitely it! The universe is vast. It's not strange for there to be a Ms. Welt with the same name...'

The captain pondered for a moment, her gaze assessing Chen's pathetic state. She seemed to conclude that interrogating a half-dead survivor in the middle of a desolate wasteland wasn't standard procedure. She made her decision.

"Alright, Chen, is it? Your situation is... unique. We need to take you back to the Space Station for further evaluation and registration. You're coming with us."

A wild, frantic joy pounded in Chen’s chest.

Who cared if it was Mr. Welt or Ms. Welt? He just had to get out of this godforsaken desert!

He nodded so hard his neck creaked, afraid they might take back the offer. "Yes! Yes! Thank you! Thank you all so much!"

He was so weak he was practically boneless. Two team members had to support him, half-carrying him onto the life-saving spacecraft. As the hatch hissed shut, sealing away the deadly, sun-scorched landscape that had nearly claimed him, Chen collapsed into a seat.

He felt the slight, reassuring push of the spacecraft lifting off and let out a shuddering sigh that seemed to drain the last of his strength.

He had survived. Finally...

Before he could process anything else, the sudden release of tension and three days of accumulated exhaustion crashed down on him like a tidal wave. He didn't even have the energy to look around the ship's interior. His world simply went black as he plunged into a deep, dreamless sleep.

He was dead to the world until a gentle hand shook his shoulder.

"Wake up. We've arrived."

Chen groggily blinked his eyes open. Through the porthole, he saw the grand, massive silhouette of a structure hanging in the void. Countless spacecraft zipped back and forth from its docking bays, a scene of vibrant activity that stood in stark contrast to the lifeless desert he’d just escaped.

After the spacecraft docked with a smooth, near-silent thud, two staff members led him off the ship. As his feet touched the clean, solid deck of the Herta Space Station, the entire experience still felt deeply unreal.

The captain who had rescued him took one look at his tattered, sand-caked, and frankly foul-smelling state. She frowned, though her tone remained polite.

"Mr. Chen, you'll need to get cleaned up first and undergo a basic health check. The Space Station has many restricted areas. Looking like this... it's not very convenient and could cause unnecessary trouble."

Chen looked down at himself. He looked like he’d been living in a sandbox and smelled worse. He couldn't even be embarrassed; he was just mortified. He nodded quickly. "Understood, understood. Thank you for the arrangements."

Just then, the young team member who had mentioned Ms. Welt was speaking into a communication device. He finished his report and turned to the captain.

"Captain, I've filed the report according to procedure. Also, I just got a notification. The Astral Express is scheduled to dock today for resupply. Station Master Asta has already informed the Express crew about our Earth survivor. Ms. Welt said she'll come over later to learn more."

Chen's brain short-circuited. "The Astral Express?!"

Did I really fucking transmigrate into the world of Honkai: Star Rail?

Then... what the hell is this Ms. Welt?! Where is my big, reliable, adult male leader?! How did he actually become a woman?!

He could practically feel the CPU in his brain overheating, smoke pouring from his ears.

'If Welt is a woman...'his thoughts spiraled wildly,'does that mean Aunt Himeko is now Uncle Himeko?! And what about Dan Heng... and March 7th...?'

He didn't dare think any further. The implications were too horrifyingly hilarious to contemplate.

"Mr. Chen? Are you alright?" the captain asked, her voice laced with concern as she watched the series of increasingly panicked expressions flash across his face.

"N-no! I'm fine!" Chen snapped back to attention, forcing a smile that felt more like a grimace. "It's just... I'm a bit... excited! Yes, excited!"

He was internally screaming about the absolute train wreck this world had become.

A staff member gestured for him to follow, leading him toward the cleaning area. The internal corridors of the Space Station were spacious and gleaming, filled with personnel in various uniforms bustling back and forth. Chen's ragged appearance and distinct aroma drew more than a few sidelong glances and wrinkled noses.

He instinctively shrank in on himself, hunching his shoulders and wishing he could turn invisible on the spot. He walked with his head down, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible.

As he scurried along, a figure standing quietly by the corridor caught the corner of his eye.

It looked like a very exquisite... doll?

It had the appearance of an eleven or twelve-year-old boy, dressed in well-fitted, formal clothes. His brown hair was neatly combed, and his face was so perfectly sculpted it was almost unreal. His eyes were closed as he stood there, perfectly motionless.

Chen felt a strange sense of familiarity looking at the little doll and couldn't help but steal a few more glances.

The staff member beside him noticed his gaze and offered a casual explanation. "That's one of Mr. Herta's Bionic Dolls. It's placed here for environmental data collection."

"Mr. Herta?" Chen repeated the name, the syllables feeling strange on his tongue.

"Yes. The true owner of this Space Station, member number eighty-three of the Genius Society, Mr. Herta." The staff member's tone was filled with a deep, almost reverential respect. "He occasionally activates these dolls to move around the station, but most of the time they're on standby like this."

Mr....?!

The word echoed in Chen's mind, shattering the last vestiges of his denial. He had never expected that the eccentric, efficiency-obsessed, doll-collecting genius scientist Herta... had actually become a man.

Damn it, so it's not just Welt? Even Herta... Is this entire Honkai: Star Rail world gender-bent?!

"Mr. Chen?" the staff member prompted again, seeing him freeze solid in the middle of the hallway.

"Huh? Oh! N-no, I'm fine!" Chen snapped back to reality. He forced himself to look away, not daring to glance at the quiet, shota version of the Herta doll again.

Right now, he just wanted to take a bath. A very long bath. Then, maybe he could find a quiet corner to sit in and try to piece his sanity back together.