Honkai Star Rail: Saving the World with a Mobile Game — Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Who on Earth Suggested Coming to Amphoreus?!

“They’re… really gone?” Himeko murmured, the soft, golden illumination of the parlor car reflecting in her amber eyes.

“Indeed,” Welt replied, his voice heavy. He adjusted his glasses, his gaze fixed on the screen.

Discovering that this wasn’t merely an empty dialogue option, but a choice that actively triggered a devastating alternate plotline, left both of them in stunned silence.

For some inexplicable reason, as they read through those few short lines detailing the aftermath of the Astral Express Crew’s departure, a deep sense of sorrow settled over the room. Who were they grieving for? There was no way to be certain. Perhaps it was the chilling description of Black Swan’s sudden disappearance, or the irreversible, tragic worsening of March’s condition.

Then there was that final, ominous line—the grim fate of Amphoreus, and the catastrophic upheaval its fall would bring to the rest of the galaxy. A lingering dread clung to them, a suffocating feeling that if the Crew truly turned their backs on this world, something entirely irreversible would shatter the delicate balance of the cosmos.

Despite the heavy atmosphere, Himeko leaned back into the velvet cushions, a faint, appreciative smile touching her lips. She felt a genuine surge of admiration for the game’s Author. Whoever he was, his ability to evoke such a suffocating sense of loss with just a few strokes of a digital pen was nothing short of masterful.

Yet, it also deepened the mystery. Himeko turned her gaze toward the train window, looking out at the endless sea of stars. Just how many secrets did that world shaped like an ‘∞’ actually hold? Could the reality of Amphoreus truly be as grim as the game suggested?

Before either of them could voice their thoughts, the screen flickered. A new block of text scrolled upward.

Himeko blinked, leaning closer. “There’s more?!”

【Leading Star: Stelle】

【Starring: Dan Heng as Dan Heng】

【Phainon as??】

【Castorice as Castorice??】

【Tribios as Tribbie, Trinnon, Trianne,??,??,??…】

【Aglaea as Aglaea】

【Mydmos as Mydei】

【?? as??】

【Nikador as Nikador】

Himeko and Welt stared at the monitor, completely absorbed.

What in the world was this?

The sheer volume of implied information was staggering, leaving them both utterly speechless. It appeared to be a theatrical cast list of the characters who had debuted on Amphoreus so far. Following the pattern of ‘Dan Heng as Dan Heng’and’Tribios as Tribbie,’ it was clearly mapping their real identities to their in-game personas. That part was straightforward enough.

But the glaring issue lay in the redactions. Why were so many names replaced with strings of question marks?!

There was even a completely blank entry—’?? as??’—placed prominently near the top of the hierarchy, despite this entity having never made an appearance. Who could possibly command such a position?

Himeko’s voice dropped an octave, laced with quiet tension. “Just how many layers of secrets is Amphoreus hiding from us?”

Welt shared her grim sentiment. “We don’t know yet. But it likely concerns the very foundation of that world.” He tapped his cane lightly against the floorboards. “Especially this game Author. We don’t have a single concrete clue about his identity or his standing. Is he a friend trying to warn us, or a foe setting the stage?”

“However…” Welt paused, checking the complex face of his pocket watch. “According to the schedule, Sunday should be back soon.”

After receiving the fragmented news regarding Robin, Sunday had immediately departed to track down her whereabouts. His return might finally bring them some tangible clues, no matter how scarce.

“Alright.” Himeko took a slow breath, forcing the tension from her shoulders. “We need to keep following this game for now. If it really comes down to the worst-case scenario…”

If it came to that, they would have no choice but to call in outside favors. After all, Dan Heng and Stelle were currently entirely out of contact, and with Himeko and Welt stranded on the outside, their hands were tied.

Redirecting their focus, the two veterans watched the screen as the final line of text materialized from the digital ether.

【May this journey lead us to the stars.】

And then—the game crashed.

Himeko stared at the black screen. “?”

This bizarre, theatrical cast list wasn’t an exclusive experience for the Express Crew; thousands of players across the galaxy had reached the exact same milestone.

However, the community reaction was entirely different. Even though the subsequent storyline revealed that Aglaea was merely testing Tribbie and the Trailblazers—with zero actual intent to harm them—and both Castorice and Phainon explicitly stated their lives were never in danger, the player base didn’t care.

The interstellar forums were swelling with unmatched rage. The community completely exploded.

【Bro, that’s a massive lore drop, but why the hell did it crash?! Forcing me to stay on a cliffhanger, huh?!】

【I’ve had enough of this! She literally threatened us with death, so why are we still helping her? I want to get off Amphoreus right now!】

【Phainon and Castorice are cinnamon rolls, Aglaea is toxic trash!】

【Is this Aglaea chick the sun of Okhema or something? Forbidding us from talking about the outside universe, then threatening to execute us for it? Psycho behavior.】

【Doesn’t anyone else feel like the plot is completely OOC? As the Trailblazer, how could I possibly lose to some random demigod from a backwater world?!】

【FR! The Trailblazer has thrown hands with beings comparable to Emanators! Has this Author ever even met a Nameless? Writing absolute garbage about power scaling he doesn’t understand.】

【Aglaea’s character is totally ruined. I always said these fan-made indie games are just milking us for credits. Better not get your hopes up.】

【Hold up, isn’t this entirely the Author’s fault? Blame the dev, not the waifu!】

【Sigh. The Author is only good at character modeling. My grandma could write a better villain than this.】

【Hey, upstairs, chill out. The Author’s storyline literally just started. There’s obviously going to be a plot twist later.】

【What a joke~ The Author is just baiting us to pull for characters before dropping the real plot. Blatant cash grab! He’s not even afraid of the IPC’s anti-fraud department! If there’s a twist, I’ll E6 her on the spot!】

The denunciations of Aglaea stretched endlessly across the trending boards.

Yet, ironically, this massive wave of vitriol only proved just how explosively popular Ash’s game had become. The sheer volume of traffic was attracting major content creators, flooding the network with video essays and reaction streams.

【Critical Review of ‘Honkai: Star Rail’: New Waifu’s Persona Collapses? A Trash Game Disguised as an Epic?】

【Understanding Aglaea’s Motives, But Rejecting Her Actions. Maybe Amphoreus Deserves to Fall!】

【Goddess? More Like a Tyrant! Why Demigod Aglaea is Unfit to Lead the Chrysos Heirs!】

Clicking into any of these highly-produced videos revealed a uniform stream of complaints. The comment sections were absolute goldmines of salt.

【I said from the very beginning we shouldn’t go to this Amphoreus place. Did anyone listen? No! Now look at this mess!】

【Oh my god, who on earth even suggested coming to Amphoreus?! Am I, a senior researcher at the Herta Space Station, not authoritative enough? I explicitly said we should go to the ocean planet, Lusaka!】

【Lusaka? Bro, the Glazed Light Belt would have been a vacation compared to this!】

【Wait, I remember now. Wasn’t it Black Swan who first suggested going to Amphoreus? Did she lose her damn mind?!】

【I really can’t take it anymore. Why did I boot up this game just to suffer? Thanks for nothing, Black Swan.】

Of course, a small minority of players felt that the Path of Trailblaze was meant to be fraught with hardship, arguing that Ash’s narrative direction was perfectly fine.

【Can we hold off on the doomposting? This is literally version 1.0, and we haven’t even finished the first main story chapter!】

【Exactly! Didn’t Aglaea explicitly state she’s a demigod who has lost most of her humanity? Acting cold and ruthless isn’t out of character for a divine being, is it?】

Although Guinaifen and a few other streamers felt the plot was perfectly justifiable, the overwhelming tsunami of backlash left them no room to voice their opinions without getting ratioed into oblivion. Wisely, Guinaifen chose to ignore the chat’s rioting and prepared to push through the rest of the available story.

Meanwhile, on the actual world of Amphoreus…

Scrolling through the chaotic, flaming community forums on his system interface, Ash leaned back, thoroughly amused. He had anticipated this exact reaction.

Similarly, the subjects of this massive interstellar controversy were also watching.

Standing in the quiet grandeur of her sanctum, Aglaea held a glowing, ethereal stone tablet. Her expression remained completely serene, her beautiful features unreadable. She silently browsed through the endless streams of player condemnations and the in-game complaints from Stelle and Dan Heng. Not a single trace of indignation or resentment flickered in her eyes.

However, Tribios, standing closely by her side, wore a look of deep heartache.

As the first Chrysos Heir to receive the revelation of fate, Tribios had accompanied Aglaea the longest, standing by her side through the rise and fall of countless cycles. Because of that, she understood better than anyone in the universe the crushing, agonizing burdens Aglaea had silently borne over the millennia.

Watching these outsiders casually tear into her goddess tore at her heart.

“Agy…” Tribios whispered, her voice trembling with quiet sorrow.