Honkai Star Rail: I Became the World Tree — Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Golden Legend!!!

Natasha walked over, gently lifting Hook and setting the little girl back on her feet against the uneven floorboards. “Hook, don’t climb on the window frame. Dinner will be served soon.”

Hook wiped a line of drool from her mouth with the back of her hand. “Hehe! Hook can’t wait. Today’s dinner smells so good!”

Natasha smiled. “Then make sure you eat a big portion.”

Hook nodded vigorously.

The kitchen staff finished preparing the evening meal and brought out the large portions: steaming white rice paired with thick, savory stewed mushrooms. It was simple fare, but in the harsh environment of the Underworld, it was a feast that made both Hook and Seele salivate.

After getting their food, Stelle, Seele, Natasha, and the others gathered around a worn wooden table.

Seele held her tin lunchbox, practically shoveling the rice into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged like a chipmunk’s, and a few stray drops of mushroom broth stained the corners of her lips.

Natasha took a modest bite of her own meal and looked across the table. “Stelle, are you absolutely sure you don’t need me to arrange accommodation for you three?”

Stelle shook her head, swallowing her food. “No need for the trouble. We will have a place to stay in a bit, don’t worry.”

Natasha nodded slowly. “Alright. If you change your mind and need a place to sleep, go straight to the Goethe Hotel and find the proprietress. I have already spoken with her.”

“Okay, we will head over if we need to. We still have some work to do tonight, so we will probably head back to our own base after dinner.” Stelle paused, thinking of the system mechanics. “Speaking of which, once the Adventurers Guild levels up, I can invite you guys in. That way, your food shortage problem can be solved completely. The food and other supplies on Samuel’s side refresh every single day. They are practically inexhaustible.”

Natasha tilted her head, thoroughly curious about the strange terminology. “Adventurers Guild? Can you tell me a bit more about what that is?”

Stelle thought for a moment and gave Natasha a rough, gamer-centric explanation of guilds, daily resets, and leveling systems. After listening to the breakdown, Natasha looked completely lost. She had never even come into contact with an online video game before, so she had absolutely no frame of reference for what Stelle was describing.

Seeing the blank stare, Stelle waved a hand dismissively. “Anyway, it is roughly like that. You will understand the specifics once you actually go there.”

Natasha smiled warmly. “Thank you, Stelle.”

“You’re welcome.”

Evening, 18:30, Source Continent.

A massive silver moon breached the treetops, casting a pale glow over the dense canopy of the Elven Forest. The nocturnal woods grew quiet, save for the rhythmic sounds of combat echoing from a massive wooden treehouse.

Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng were locked in a fierce skirmish with a pack of screeching Goblins. All three had reached Level 2. The downside of their newfound strength was that each Goblin now only yielded a measly five experience points. To reach Level 3, they needed to slaughter twenty of the green pests.

“Precision Arrow!” March 7th called out, letting a frost-tipped shaft fly.

“Heavy Strike!” Stelle swung her baseball bat with bone-crushing force.

“Penetration!” Dan Heng lunged forward, his spear piercing clean through a Goblin’s chest.

The trio dispatched their respective targets with practiced ease, letting the green bodies dissolve into data fragments.

Dan Heng shook the green blood from his spear. “Stelle, how many more?”

Stelle summoned the system interface with a thought.

[Name: Star Adventure Group]

[Level: F]

[Members: 5/5]

[Experience Points: 49/100]

“Already halfway there,” Stelle reported. “Fifty-one more to go.”

Dan Heng checked his bracer. “Let’s try to finish the quota today.”

Having set the pace, Dan Heng turned and walked toward the next cluster of treehouses. Stelle and March 7th followed close behind, practically buzzing with energy.

“Alright!” March pumped her fist. “We have to finish this tonight. No sleep until we are done!”

They pushed deeper into the settlement. After clearing out another treehouse filled with shrieking Goblins, the dense foliage opened up into a wide, circular clearing.

Dan Heng scanned the ruined wooden structures lining the perimeter. “This looks like it used to be a marketplace.”

March 7th scratched the side of her head. “A marketplace? Dan Heng, how can you even tell?”

Dan Heng gave her a long, deadpan stare, choosing silence over a sarcastic reply. Did she really need to ask? Every single ruined building featured open storefronts, display shelves, scattered goods, and transaction counters. What normal person would keep five display cases in their living room?

Before March could press the issue, Stelle’s internal radar pinged. She noticed a faint, metallic glimmer coming from a nearby alley.

Her body moved entirely on its own, drawn like a moth to a flame toward a large wooden barrel. The barrel looked suspiciously like a trash can, filled to the brim with broken glass bottles and cracked clay jars. Beneath the debris, something small and golden was sparkling.

Stelle licked her lips. Without a second thought, she plunged her head and shoulders straight into the barrel, rummaging wildly through the garbage.

March 7th and Dan Heng walked over, watching the chaotic display. March gently patted Stelle’s back. “Stelle, what in the world are you looking for in there?”

A moment later, Stelle yanked her head out of the trash and let out a deafening shout. “Holy crap! A Golden Legend!!!”

She shot up to her full height, thrusting her right hand toward the sky. March and Dan Heng leaned in. Pinched between Stelle’s fingers was a single, heavy coin. It was pure, shining gold, its surface catching the moonlight and emitting faint white specks of digital light.

March stood on her tiptoes, her eyes wide with curiosity. “What? What is it? Stelle, let me see!”

Stelle lowered her hand, her eyes practically turning into dollar signs. “Look! A gold coin! A literal gold coin! We are rich! We are filthy rich! Muhahaha!”

March froze, her jaw dropping. “What? A gold coin! You mean the gold coin that can be exchanged for a thousand silver coins?”

Stelle nodded frantically. “Yeah! Just look at the system prompt, you will see.”

March focused her gaze, and a small blue box popped up above the shiny metal.

[1 Gold Coin]

Seeing the confirmation, March grabbed her own head, squealing in absolute delight. “Whoa! Stelle! We really are rich!”

She started counting on her fingers. “Let me calculate this. One gold coin can be exchanged for a thousand silver coins. One silver coin can be exchanged for a thousand copper coins. Then one gold coin can be exchanged for… can be exchanged for…”

Dan Heng sighed softly and delivered the math. “One million copper coins.”

March gasped, her eyes sparkling brighter than the loot. “One million! Heavens, how many Travel Frogs, snacks, and plushie toys can that buy! We can never spend it all, we simply cannot spend it all!”

Stelle happily weighed the heavy gold coin in her palm before tucking it safely into her dimensional pocket. “Let’s look around some more. This place definitely has more hidden loot! We might even find rare weapons and equipment.”

Dan Heng surveyed the sprawling ruins. “This area is huge, roughly the size of a small human town. Let’s split up and search the perimeter to be faster.”

Stelle and March agreed instantly. The trio broke off in different directions to scavenge the ruins.

Stelle hummed a cheerful little tune as she prowled through the dark alleys of the abandoned marketplace. She turned every single shop upside down, smashing crates and even prying open the rotting floorboards to check for hidden compartments.

Her thorough, ground-scraping search method actually paid off, netting her another three silver coins.

Just as Stelle stepped over a shattered doorway to enter the next shop and scavenge for supplies, the air shifted.

Suddenly, a massive dark shadow lunged from the ceiling with lightning speed.

Before Stelle could even raise her bat to react, a heavy force slammed into her, and her vision instantly went pitch black.

When her sight finally returned, the ruined marketplace was gone. She found herself standing right back in the small cafeteria next to Natasha’s Clinic in the Underworld.

Stelle stood frozen in place, completely dazed. A few seconds later, two flashes of light illuminated the room as Dan Heng and March 7th were teleported back as well.

The three companions stared at each other, mirroring the exact same expressions of shock and utter confusion.

March rubbed her arms, shivering slightly. “What just happened? I was just searching a wooden crate when everything went black, and then I ended up back here.”

Stelle spread her hands in exasperation. “I don’t know either. What is going on?”

Dan Heng lowered his head, his brow furrowed in deep thought for a moment before he spoke. “Stelle, try opening the portal again.”

Stelle concentrated and summoned the portal. The dimensional tear ripped open normally, revealing the swirling vortex within.

Seeing that she could still access the gateway, Stelle let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.