Honkai Star Rail: Saving the World with a Mobile Game — Chapter 26

Chapter 26: What If One Day the Person Beside You Disappeared…

Before anyone fully realized it, the gravitational pull of the narrative had dragged an unfathomable number of viewers into the broadcast.

However, the climax was far from over.

On the screen, immediately after concluding her previous discussions, Stelle sprinted back into the familiar confines of the Parlor Car.

What met her eyes was a girl with silver-grey hair standing dead center in the cabin. She wore a pale, crystal-green dress that seemed to glow faintly in the ambient light, draped with a black half-cloak and dark green thigh-high stockings.

Not far from her, Silver Wolf leaned casually against the wall, her gaze drifting out the window toward the endless starry sky.

Himeko and Welt were the first to sense the shift in the atmosphere, exchanging a silent, heavy glance.

Behind them, Pom-Pom waddled past with a vinyl record tucked under one arm, preparing to change the parlor’s background music. Seeing the usually composed crew looking so startled today, the conductor tilted their large ears, wondering what had gotten into everyone.

“Is that… Miss Firefly?”

Welt pressed a finger against the bridge of his glasses, his expression turning serious.

Beside the silver-haired girl, the imposing figures of Kafka and Blade stepped out of the shadows, revealing themselves one by one.

To figure out exactly what was going on, Stelle approached Firefly first, intending to communicate with the intruders one by one.

But the moment the word ‘script’ slipped from Firefly’s lips, even Guinaifen, who was watching intently from behind her stream setup, tilted her head in utter confusion.

“Script? The script again. Only the Stellaron Hunters constantly keep that word on their lips.” Guinaifen leaned closer to her monitor. “By the way, who is this gorgeous young lady? Could she be a newly recruited member of the Hunters too?”

Everyone in the universe knew Silver Wolf, Kafka, and Blade. Their faces were plastered across countless IPC wanted posters.

But this girl named Firefly had never shown her face in public, nor did she have a bounty to her name.

[Is this girl named Firefly really a Stellaron Hunter? That makes no sense, how come I’ve never heard of her?]

[This is a Remembrance sequence; could the timeline be completely messed up?]

[Wait, where did Sam go? Could it be that Sam isn’t familiar with the Trailblazer, so he just didn’t bother showing up?]

[That’s highly likely. Sam is a literal mecha who burns everything to ash; how could he possibly have a good relationship with the Trailblazer?]

[Something is very, very wrong here. Firefly’s tone is ice-cold, but why does her voice sound so familiar?]

The intense, rapid-fire debate about the Stellaron Hunters flooded the chat.

However…

As Guinaifen watched the Trailblazer converse with the Hunters one by one, a major event triggered the moment the dialogue ended—something even the seasoned streamer hadn’t anticipated.

The game immediately transitioned into a cinematic cutscene.

In the sweeping visual, the four Stellaron Hunters blurred and smoothly morphed into the four members of the Astral Express, a visual parallel heavily foreshadowing some hidden truth.

There was no time for the audience to process the implication.

In the very next second, following a faint, echoing whisper of ‘Heavenly Father’ from Orionis…

The camera violently zoomed out.

A blinding white light erupted across the screen!

As the frame expanded into the cosmos, a massive, crystalline bead curtain materialized in the void. Accompanied by an overwhelming, thunderous orchestral score, a gigantic, faceless humanoid sculpture—like a divinely crafted monument of pure ice and memory—unfolded in the dead center of the screen.

It was a shock that defied description. An unmatched, suffocating awe.

That was not a person.

Nor was it a mere work of art.

Because…

He was a God!

One of the only eighteen Aeons recorded in the known universe.

The Aeon of Remembrance, Fuli!

At the exact moment this cosmic entity manifested, the entire world seemed to grind to a halt.

The various factions sitting in front of their game screens—Guinaifen, the high-ranking officials of the Xianzhou Luofu, the crew of the Astral Express, the researchers on Herta Space Station, and even the sprawling masses of Amphoreus.

Countless people held their breath, their faces frozen in sheer astonishment, as if they had been physically petrified by the sight.

An Aeon!

It was Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance. As one of the few Aeons whose existence was still actively felt in the modern era, He had actually manifested right before their eyes.

And He was glancing directly at the Trailblazer!

At the same time…

Just as the audience was trapped in a collective daze, a pleasant, chiming voice broke the heavy silence.

A tiny, flying fairy, appearing from absolute nowhere, floated in a state of utter confusion to the Trailblazer’s side, looking out the Express window alongside her.

Thus, the Trailblazer and Mem met for the very first time.

“Ta-da~ The cute and charming little fairy Mem makes her official debut!”

“Partner really made me look so cute~”

“I just didn’t expect the God from beyond the heavens to look like that. So I was actually receiving His call back then? How Enigmata indeed.”

In the quiet warmth of the real world, the grown-up Cyrene slipped her arms around Ash from behind, pulling him into a soft, lingering embrace.

Resting her chin near his shoulder, she watched the monitor with great interest, following the plot her partner had crafted.

Although the narrative deviations in the game were quite drastic compared to their reality, some of the core emotional beats had indeed mirrored their actual past.

For example, when they had first met in Amphoreus, Cyrene had also been trapped in the tiny, voiceless form of Mem.

Ash didn’t resist the gentle weight of Cyrene’s body pressing against his back. He simply leaned into her touch and murmured, “Yeah.”

“So, my dear partner,” Cyrene purred, her breath warm against his neck. “Where do you think you are particularly mysterious?”

“Hmm, let me think…”

Cyrene lifted her gaze for a brief moment, a happy, sly smile touching her lips. “My identity in Amphoreus is entirely one of a kind.”

“And then there’s my pen name, or perhaps some other hidden abilities and identities… maybe I’m secretly keeping them all from you. Even my dearest partner doesn’t know the full truth—is that mysterious enough? ♪”

Hearing her playful tone, Ash nodded slowly, feigning a deep realization. “I see.”

“So you still have secrets hidden from me. Let me think, then… how should I arrange for you to be written out of the story?”

Hearing Ash drop such a ruthless line so casually, Cyrene’s small mouth parted in genuine surprise.

She quickly arranged her features into a highly exaggerated, angry pout, reaching around to poke Ash directly in the cheek.

“Hey, hey, partner is being way too vengeful! We just reunited on screen and you’re already plotting to make me say goodbye.”

“You’ll make me cry if you actually do that~”

Ash’s movements stiffened slightly, and he turned his head toward her. “Cyrene…”

However, as if she could perfectly read the hesitation in his eyes, Cyrene just let out a soft ‘pfft’ and gently pushed his face back toward the monitor.

She held his cheeks firmly in place!

“Alright, alright, I was just joking with you.”

Her tone softened, carrying a trace of quiet sincerity. “Actually, if I could be written out by my partner’s pen, but with a richer plot and more of my true story shared with the world, I think I would be very happy.”

“After all, the curtain calls of heroes are supposed to be grand and magnificent~!”

Because his face was currently trapped between Cyrene’s soft hands, Ash couldn’t turn back to read her expression.

However, that didn’t stop him from reaching up, blindly finding her hand, and gently lifting her right ring finger.

“So, what’s the actual deal with these things you’re hiding from me?”

“That…” Cyrene’s voice dropped, becoming incredibly small and tender. “That is a young girl’s little secret.”

“If partner really wants to know, you have to play a game with me first.”

She leaned in impossibly close to Ash’s cheek, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered:

“What if one day, the person beside you suddenly disappeared…”

The moment Ash realized the soft pressure by his ear had vanished, he snapped his head back.

The room was entirely empty.

Warm, golden sunlight poured through the window, illuminating a slowly swaying lounge chair. The bedroom was completely silent, save for the distant, rhythmic tick-tock, tick-tock of water dripping from the bathroom faucet.

Everything was exactly as it usually was, yet the sudden absence made the space feel overwhelmingly hollow.

“Just like right now… what would you do?” her voice seemed to echo from nowhere.

A heavy silence settled over the room.

Ash’s expression barely shifted.

He stood there in a quiet daze for a few seconds, absorbing the empty air. Then, a faint smile touched his lips, and he shifted his gaze downward toward the floorboards. “Alright, Mem. Come out now.”

At that exact moment…

A tiny rustling sound came from beneath the swaying lounge chair. Sure enough, a small, glowing pink figure floated up into the sunlight.

“What the~”

“It’s only been a few seconds~ How did partner find Mem so fast?”

Mem slumped her tiny shoulders and floated higher bit by bit, looking incredibly troubled by her swift defeat. “I still wanted to play hide-and-seek with you~”

Ash shook his head, letting out a quiet sigh. Reaching out while she was still distracted by her pout, he caught her.

In her Mem state, she was incredibly small and delicate, making it effortless for him to scoop her securely into his hands and pull her against his chest.

“Let me think,” Ash said, his voice dropping into a thoughtful, serious register. “If that day really comes, then I will definitely tear the world apart to find that person.”

Cyrene didn’t struggle against his grip. After a long, quiet moment, she put her tiny hands on her hips and floated up to his eye level.

“Mmm… then as the winner, partner has to agree to one request from me.”

“The winner gets a punishment too?” Ash asked, his tone dryly amused.

“Of course~ Winning against me naturally comes with a heavy penalty.” Cyrene’s voice took on a childish, demanding lilt.

“Alright then.”

“Then, you must agree to any request of mine~”

“Any request.”

“No matter what ♪”

“No matter what,” Ash confirmed, his gaze steady.

The tiny fairy form shimmered, and her mature, sultry voice echoed softly in the sunlit room: “Hee… partner really is just as gentle as the day we first met~”