Honkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The What-If Chat GroupYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

Kazuki’s gaze was locked on a single line of text: “Emperor the Third · Herta.” His fingertip hovered over the holographic screen, tracing the glowing characters without daring to touch them. A long, silent moment passed before he came to a firm conclusion. No, this was far too chaotic to be the work of some run-of-the-mill Masked Fool.

After all, the sheer audacity of such a timeline… the very concept of Emperor Herta… was something only a handful of entities in the universe could even dream up. Besides a transmigrator like himself, who was privy to infinite possibilities, the only other candidates were those who reveled in cosmic chaos—maniacs from the Path of Destruction, like the Stellaron Hunters or the Annihilation Gang.

Kazuki didn’t even dare to whisper the name aloud. In this galaxy, the title ‘Emperor’ was a name that carried a weight of absolute terror, a bogeyman of such renown that it was said to silence crying children in an instant. It was a grim tribute to the legendary ‘King of Lovers’ and the… contributions two generations of Emperors had made to the galaxy’s population control.

He scanned the other three names on the list.

Titania II · Firefly.

Pure Beauty Knight · Robin.

And… Fanfiction Author · Castorice.

‘How is it that the other three look like they’re from proper alternate timelines, but you, my dear Butterfly, seem like you were plucked straight from the main story?’ he mused.

It was a well-known fact, even in timelines that weren’t speculative what-ifs, that Castorice was a fanfiction author with a penchant for writing. More specifically, the kind who loved to start new stories without finishing them, leaving a trail of abandoned plot hooks and frustrated readers in her wake.

The group chat was silent; no one had typed a word. Kazuki thought for a moment, deciding it was best to drop an anchor and test the waters. He typed out the first message.

[Cliffhanger King: 1]

The instant his message appeared, the screen was consumed.

[Emperor the Third: Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill…]

The crimson text flooded the chat log, a visceral tide of digital blood, each word stark against the interface. With a jolt, Kazuki scrambled for his Group Owner permissions and slammed the mute button on the raving lunatic.

[System: Emperor the Third has been muted by the Group Owner.]

The light screen finally fell silent. A moment later, another message popped up.

[Titania II: Emperor the Third? What is that?]

Kazuki froze. Firefly—the one supposedly destined to become the Empress of the Glamoth Empire—didn’t recognize the Emperor? Logically, any civilization connected to the wider galaxy should have heard tales of that infamous figure. Could it be that the Glamoth of her timeline hadn’t made significant contact with the outside universe yet?

[Pure Beauty Knight: Ah, what sorrow! It seems this beautiful lady has been corrupted by the Anti-Organic Equation and has fallen into madness, even believing herself to be that yet-to-be-born Emperor the Third. Oh, Idrila, if it is your will, I am willing to use the Group Teleport function to soothe her pain with the power of Harmony!]

Kazuki’s blood ran cold. ‘Big sister, don’t you dare use that function blindly!’ he thought, his fingers flying across the screen. He wasn’t about to lose a group member on day one!

[Cliffhanger King: Wait! Don’t use Group Teleport! The person you’re talking about is the real Emperor the Third!]

[Fanfiction Author: What… are you all talking about?] Castorice’s message was tinged with evident confusion. [Is this some kind of light novel enthusiast group? The setting is quite interesting.]and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

‘Ah, the little Butterfly is playing dumb,’Kazuki thought.’Fits her image perfectly.'[Pure Beauty Knight: It seems our mysterious Group Owner knows the inside story. Would you be so kind as to enlighten us? I am certain it is not just I; the other ladies must be equally perplexed.]’Damn it, Robin, you’re just as devious as ever, even as a Pure Beauty Knight,’Kazuki grumbled internally.’This is a trap, isn’t it? You’re deliberately setting me up.’

He realized that if Robin had genuinely intended to practice what she preached, she wouldn’t have waited for him to intervene. She would have already used the Group Teleport function. Clearly, she was testing him, the Group Owner—the only one of the five members with the distinct yellow tag next to his name.

[Titania II: Sorry, I am still on the battlefield. I don’t have much time to chat. Also, could someone please tell me why my name is so blasphemous toward Her Majesty the Empress…]

After leaving that message, Firefly went silent.

In other words… this version of Firefly was still just a regular soldier of Glamoth. That meant the names in the chat group weren’t necessarily their current reality, but a potential future—a destination, not a starting point. At the very least, Firefly certainly hadn’t become the so-called Empress of Glamoth, Titania II, yet.

‘Then…’Kazuki wondered,’has this Pure Beauty Knight · Robin already become a knight, or not?’

The scene shifted. Back when Robin was first notified she had been bound to a “Parallel World Chat Group” system, she had just finished a charity performance. She was backstage, removing her makeup, when she suddenly found herself pulled into a group she couldn’t leave. Even when she tried to probe it with the power of Harmony, she found no dissonance, as if nothing about her had fundamentally changed.

At that moment, she saw her name had been changed to Pure Beauty Knight. For now, she decided, she would play along and use this persona to scout out the nature of this so-called chat group. Still… a Pure Beauty Knight? Compared to her current work of traveling from planet to planet for charity performances, wouldn’t a knight who punished evil and promoted good be able to help even more people?

In her world, her brother Sunday had once evaluated her with a sigh: “My sister has truly grown up. Her strength could uproot mountains, and her spirit could blanket the world.”

Meanwhile, in the chat group, Castorice’s messages continued to appear.

[Fanfiction Author: Battlefield? Miss Titania is in a war? But there haven’t been any wars in Okhema recently…]

Curled up on a plush sofa and clutching a pillow, Castorice frowned. The World Wide Web she knew was sustained by the golden threads of a certain Lady Aglaea, and its reach would never extend beyond the borders of Okhema. Could it be… that these people were lying to her? Or… could they be from beyond the heavens?

The hypothesis made her heart skip a beat, and she quickly suppressed the thought. Regardless, she would first wait and see how this mysterious Group Owner explained the situation.

The perspective snapped back to Kazuki. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to test his theory. He lifted the mute on Emperor the Third.

[Emperor the Third: Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill…]

[System: Emperor the Third has been muted by the Group Owner.]

Kazuki let out a helpless sigh. It seemed the members of this bizarre chat group could be sorted into three distinct categories.

First was the “completed” state, exemplified by Emperor the Third · Herta. In her timeline, Herta had somehow been used as a scapegoat by Nous and had become the tyrannical head of some galactic iron curtain.

The second category was the “in-progress” state, like Firefly. She was still a common soldier, a hundred thousand miles away from the lofty title of “Titania II.” Of course, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Her Majesty the Empress was intentionally feigning ignorance, but Kazuki felt that even in a parallel world, Firefly was still that same, slightly dazed girl. It was unlikely she was capable of such deep scheming.

As for Robin… given that the original Robin was already quite sharp and deeply calculating, Kazuki remained skeptical. For now, he would operate under the assumption that she truly was a Pure Beauty Knight.

And as for the last one, Castorice… well, his little Butterfly was just there to be cute.You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.