Honkai Star Rail: Saving the World with a Mobile Game — Chapter 13

Chapter 13: When the Nameless Plays, Everyone Stands Up!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.

The viewer count ticked upward in a relentless blur. From a modest few hundred, it surged past a thousand, then several thousand, until it shattered the ten-thousand concurrent viewer mark.

Relying on a sudden deep dive into this obscure fan game, Guinaifen had unexpectedly struck gold. She practically vibrated with excitement in her chair, not just because of the skyrocketing metrics, but because of the stunning character dominating her screen.

Castorice. An attendant of the Hand of Duskhaze. A woman whose mere presence caused the world around her to wither into ash.

“Isn’t this aura just way too cool?” Guinaifen squealed, her eyes sparkling. “I want her! Chat, I am definitely pulling for her!”

But mid-celebration, a spark of streamer intuition lit up her mind.

“Wait! Fam, I just got a genius idea!” Guinaifen leaned closer to her microphone. “She specifically told us not to get close, right? So… what happens if we completely ignore her?”

Putting words into action, she pushed the joystick forward without a second thought. Stelle marched right up to the imposing figure. Barely a second after closing the gap, the phone screen violently glitched, plunging into pitch black before the game’s startup logo flashed back onto the display. It had force-restarted on the spot.

[LMAO Lil Gui you are killing me!]

[Classic server-wide troll logic. Tell a gamer not to touch the glowing red button, and they will immediately smash their face into it.]

[Her phone actually crashed. The dev for this game is an absolute menace.]

[Clip it, chat! If you walk up to Castorice after she warns you, it triggers a forced-restart easter egg!]

[You guys are terrible influences, hahaha!]

A line of text appeared on the rebooted screen: [Now is not the time for adventure. Perhaps you should follow her suggestion and maintain a safe distance.]

Guinaifen stared at the warning, utterly defeated. She had no choice but to steer clear, guiding Stelle and Phainon forward to face the looming threat of Nikador, the Incarnation of Strife. It was time to dive into the main feature of this version.

Meanwhile, deep within the system backend, Ash observed the data flow with a satisfied nod. He casually registered a verified account on the Interastral Network.

Everything was falling into place. The ‘Nameless’ MV was fully rendered. The Aglaea PV was primed. He even had the high-quality asset files for Madam Herta prepared.

“The time is now.”

Strictly speaking, dragging Herta into the promotional material wasn’t entirely necessary yet. However, a massive chunk of the upcoming Amphoreus storyline revolved around her. More, Madam Herta was a household name across the cosmos. Piggybacking off her immense popularity would draw in a tidal wave of players and massive whales. Their engagement would serve as the fuel needed to promote the rebirth of Amphoreus.

Besides, after suffering through her endless Simulated Universe tests for so long, it was finally time to exact a little payback. Wasting no time, Ash’s fingers flew across the interface.

Aboard the Astral Express, a heavy silence hung in the parlor car.

Ever since learning that Stelle and Dan Heng had crashed and severed all contact with the Express, Himeko and Welt had been locked in deep thought. Neither of them bought into the idea of a mystical prophecy.

Adjusting his glasses, Welt analyzed the situation. Given the theoretical time dilation between Amphoreus and the outside universe, this entire scenario felt artificially packaged. Calling it a prophecy was giving it too much mystical credit; it functioned far more like a delayed live broadcast, carefully orchestrated by an unknown entity.

The download metrics for Honkai: Star Rail were skyrocketing across the network. If this hidden mastermind wanted to play a game, the Astral Express would gladly oblige. They had both downloaded the application to their devices.

“Welt, as it stands, we are completely in the dark,” Himeko murmured, her gaze fixed on her screen. “However, since the narrative follows the children’s perspective, we can use it as a window to observe their true situation.”

“Agreed,” Welt nodded, his tone measured. “Whether it is a prophecy, a broadcast, or a trap, we will not know the truth until those two return. But I did find something rather intriguing. A community forum for this game was established just today. It might hold some clues.”

He slid his datapad across the table toward Himeko. Like any piece of entertainment, a player community had rapidly formed. With the sudden influx of curious users, skepticism ran rampant.

[Playing Cards to the Death: Why is everyone suddenly obsessed with this? Half the streamers I follow are playing it. Is it actually any good?]

[Invincible Fire Dragon: It is turn-based. Can you even use ‘fun’ to describe that? Save your time.]

[Quality Over Quantity: The lore is way too bizarre. Fan games like this always crash and burn. The dev team will take the money and run within a month.]

[Peace Throughout Life: The story is a mess. What kind of ridiculous combat power does that white-haired guy have? He disarmed Stelle in one move! As an Express fan, the power scaling is completely broken.]

[Relentless Divination Machine: Uh, actually… I think it is pretty fun?]

[Relentless Divination Machine: It just dropped out of nowhere, so it hasn’t had any real marketing yet.]

Himeko and Welt scanned the scrolling text. Sifting through the noise for actionable intel was a daunting task. But without warning, a pinned post materialized at the very top of the front page. It bore the official Interastral Blue V verification badge, claiming to be the lead developer of Honkai: Star Rail.

Both navigators froze.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.

[This world has always been waiting for a hero. The Express’s next stop is Amphoreus, the “Eternal Land”!]

[Thank you to all players for your support. Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.0 is now live, officially entering the implementation phase. The first-half limited character banner “Adjudication of Fate” is now open.]

[An in-game announcement will be distributed shortly. Please check your mailboxes.]

The account was registered under the name [Roast Chicken Tonight]. But the username hardly mattered. Attached to the bottom of the announcement was a high-definition music video titled simply: “The Nameless.”

Ash’s sudden intervention threw the forum into absolute chaos.

[Holy crap, the actual dev showed up?]

[Wait, Amphoreus has a theme song? A fan game commissioned a full track?]

[Are you joking? What kind of budget does this guy have?]

Within two minutes, the thread was buried under hundreds of frantic replies.

“This is…” Himeko trailed off, exchanging a glance with Welt. “Shall we take a look?”

“My thoughts exactly.” Welt’s brow furrowed, the lines of concern deepening on his face. Despite the lingering unease pooling in his chest, he reached out and tapped the play icon.

The screen faded to black.

One second passed. Then two. Welt briefly wondered if the file was corrupted.

Then, the silence shattered.

A haunting, ethereal chant echoed through the parlor car’s speakers as golden pool water cascaded over the bare shoulders of a silver-haired man.

“Samsara…”

“This…?” Himeko’s eyes widened slightly.

“Hope and despair alternate in song. Rise and fall…”

“Remembrance leaves only the echo of doomsday…”

The orchestration swelled into a grand, tragic epic. The Chrysos Heirs stepped into the frame one by one, their designs dripping with divine authority. The real-time comments scrolling across the top of the video mirrored the navigators’ shock, entirely composed of endless question marks.

The confusion held for a full thirty seconds.

Then, the tempo shifted. A delicate pink sprite drifted toward Stelle, who stood resolute in the center of the frame. In a flash of light, the sprite transformed into an ornate pink brush.

As the choir hit a deafening crescendo, Stelle’s eyes hardened. She swung the brush with devastating force.

The world went dead silent.

The grand temple shattered into a million crystalline fragments.

And then, a piercing, adrenaline-fueled vocal track ripped through the speakers, hitting with the force of a physical blow.

“Fate has exiled me.”

“So—what—of—it—!”

The comment section completely lost its mind.

[HOLY CRAP CRAP CRAP!]

[My god, why am I standing up right now?!]

[Stand up! Everyone stand up! This is peak!]

[Elysian’s Note: “Roast Chicken Tonight” is a playful reference to Shaoji (often nicknamed Chicken Wing Boy by the CN community), the lead writer for Honkai: Star Rail’s Penacony and Amphoreus arcs, known for his “wholesome and uplifting” stories.]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.