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ArabicHonkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 2
Chapter 2: A Chat Group, But the Members are Emperor the Third
As a native-born son of the Xianzhou, Kazuki had grown up in a world where the toys of his childhood could be considered divine artifacts on some backwater planet, “cheats” for a lucky soul to stumble upon. Consequently, he didn’t exactly feel like this was his personal “golden finger.”
Immersed in such an advanced society from birth, he had long since shed any obsession with so-called “golden fingers.”
Back when he’d first been unceremoniously “sent off” by a truck on a national highway and reincarnated, he’d done the obligatory shouting into the void. “System!” he had yelled. “Old Grandpa in a ring!” he’d pleaded. The only response was the whistling of the wind.
But after being reborn on the Xianzhou, he’d gradually come to a deep realization: just being an ordinary Xianzhou native was a lottery win of cosmic proportions. Not only was he blessed with a long lifespan and an excellent family background, but his family had even arranged a fiancée for him—a Luofu government official who was over a hundred years his senior. By any metric, his starting line had already surpassed that of 99.9% of all beings in the universe.
So, when the words [Parallel World Chat Group] suddenly materialized on his retina, his first reaction wasn’t ecstasy. It was a deep, weary frown.
“Which Masked Fool is pulling a prank this time?”
Across the entire cosmos, only that particular faction delighted in such elaborate, pointless tricks. For all he knew, his room was being live-streamed in perfect 360-degree view, with a tavern full of Fools raising their glasses, eagerly waiting for the “Number One Cliffhanger King of the Exalting Sanctum” to lose his cool over a “System.”
He stared at the line of text for a long, silent moment. The light screen remained quiet, setting off no celebratory fireworks nor blaring any alarms. It lacked the usual exaggerated, garish style of the Fools. Kazuki stroked his chin, deciding to adopt a wait-and-see approach. If it really was a trick, and he couldn’t handle it himself, he’d just find his Great-Uncle Jing Yuan. If all else failed, there was still his older, perpetually tsundere fiancée.
Surely the Dharma Eye of the Lord of Omniscience or the spirit of the Reignbow Arbiter could suppress such a minor disturbance? Unless… it was Aha Themselves.
The thought sent a genuine chill down Kazuki’s spine. “Holy crap,” he muttered, “it couldn’t actually be that big shot, could it?”
‘But my memories have never been read, not since I was a child, right? How could I have possibly caught the attention of an Aeon?”It’s not like I’m hiding some scandalous secret history in my head about Aha and Akivili hooking up!”But… if it really is Aha’s doing… maybe that could be considered a golden finger in its own right. No, no, I can’t just assume it’s an Aeon’s prank… I should get someone else to take a look at this later.’
While Kazuki was wrestling with his thoughts, the progress bar for the Parallel World Chat Group finished loading.
A chat panel, strikingly similar to the QQ messenger from his previous life, materialized before his eyes. The group name was displayed simply as “Parallel World Chat Group.”
The group’s functions were also uncannily similar to those from the chat group novels Kazuki had devoured before his transmigration.
There was a “Group Red Envelope” function, likely for exchanging items or for some magnanimous tycoon to make it rain on the other members.
There was also a “Group Teleportation” function, perfect for gathering the party for a team raid, though features like this were usually reserved for groups whose members actually got along.
Then there was the “Group Upload” function. On a whim, Kazuki tried to upload some of his own skills, like his masterclass on how to create suspense with cliffhangers and his starship piloting license. He earned a few dozen points for his trouble, and more, his own skills were not stripped away in the process.
The “Shop” tab was currently barren, displaying only the two skills he had just uploaded. He couldn’t tell if the shop was limited to member-uploaded content or if the goods from the myriad worlds simply hadn’t been unlocked yet.
These functions weren’t exactly new—in fact, they were a bit cliché—but they were enough to make Kazuki about eighty percent convinced. An ordinary Masked Fool couldn’t pull off something with this level of functionality.
As for the most important function… Kazuki’s gaze fell on the “Recruit Group Members” option. He thought for a moment, but didn’t click it just yet.
Instead, he picked up his phone and dialed a number saved under “Tsundere Fiancée.”
“Hello?” The voice on the other end was crisp and cool, laced with the faint impatience of someone perpetually buried in official duties. “What business do you have with this Seat?”
Fu Xuan’s attitude had always been this way, which was hardly surprising. Theirs was a political alliance, plain and simple. It was a marriage arranged between the Fu family, a divination clan from the Jade Abode Xianzhou that held sway over many key departments of the Divination Commission, and the Jing family, which controlled numerous important divisions within the Luofu’s Department of Terrestrial Balance.
The Jing family would help Fu Xuan clear the obstacles on her path to becoming the Grand Diviner. In return, the Fu family would marry off Fu Xuan—a prodigy destined to help their family establish a new branch on the Luofu—to Kazuki, who was himself considered a child prodigy.
It was, at its core, a political marriage of convenience. There was no deep emotional foundation between them. Kazuki had only learned he even had a fiancée right after he passed the Xianzhou’s coming-of-age exam at twenty.
In short, while they weren’t exactly a lovey-dovey couple, they treated each other with a baseline of mutual respect. Still, Kazuki knew that Fu Xuan wasn’t nearly as repulsed by him as her professional demeanor suggested. That understanding was precisely why the contact name for this “waifu” he’d once admired in a game was saved as “Tsundere Fiancée.”
‘Hmm… and it’s definitely not just because my handsome face happens to align perfectly with the Reignbow Arbiter’s aesthetic tastes!’
“What are you muttering about over there?” Fu Xuan’s voice cut through his thoughts, sharp with irritation. “If you have something to say, say it. If you have time to waste, this Seat does not!”
Kazuki snapped back to reality. “I think I might have been targeted by a Masked Fool. Could you do me a favor and run a divination to check?”
“A Masked Fool?” Upon hearing his words, Fu Xuan immediately closed her eyes, activating the full power of the Dharma Eye she normally kept in a low-power state. Because of their engagement, a close karmic link existed between them, making it easy for her to deduce the situation on his end.
“There is nothing… At least, this Seat detects nothing with the Dharma Eye. If you are still uneasy, I will use the Matrix of Prescience to perform a full deduction.”
When it came to Kazuki’s claim of being targeted by the Masked Fools, Fu Xuan’s stance was that it was better to believe it than to dismiss it. Although her fiancé was an idle layabout who often lacked a sense of propriety, she knew his character well enough to know he wouldn’t play a prank on her about something so serious.
“No need, thanks. I think I have a better idea of what’s going on now.” After a bit more small talk, Kazuki ended the call.
‘Well then,’he mused, a slow grin spreading across his face.’If even Lady Fu Xuan can’t divine the abnormality affecting me, then it makes no practical difference whether this is a genuine golden finger or the handiwork of Aha.’
If it was a real golden finger, that was naturally for the best. It was just that a name like “Parallel World Simulator” suggested its upper limits wouldn’t be particularly high; it wasn’t going to let him elbow-strike an Aeon anytime soon.
And if it was a prank by the Aeon of Elation? That was even better. Not just anyone gets to be the personal plaything of an Aeon. In Kazuki’s own words: being messed with by Boss Aha was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
“Recruit…”
As Kazuki’s finger pressed the shimmering button, the member count displayed next to the group’s name instantly changed from (1) to (5).
Four new members at once? he thought.
Kazuki immediately handled to the group member list, fully intending to dox the true identities of his new companions. After all, according to the sacred conventions of the genre, anyone who gets into a chat group is never just a background character.
And when Kazuki’s eyes fell upon the very first name on the list…
“Oh, for the love of… you have got to be kidding me! Who the hell put this name here!”
The name of the Level 1 group member was displayed in stark, unmistakable characters:
Emperor the Third · Herta.