Honkai Star Rail: Saving the World with a Mobile Game — Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Herta Exposed, Discovered by Madam Herta

Originally, when Herta debuted in the promotional video, the player base assumed the developer was simply riding the coattails of her fame to generate cheap hype.

Who in their right mind would actually dare to code the real Herta into a game as a playable character?

Everyone knew the stakes. Herta held a deep, cooperative partnership with the Interastral Peace Corporation. Since interstellar games were distributed almost exclusively through IPC channels, crossing her was a death sentence. If Herta even hinted at displeasure, the IPC would deploy a dozen different legal and financial weapons to bankrupt the developer overnight, reducing them to a corporate slave toiling away lifetimes of debt.

Herta Space Station.

Station Master’s Office.

Asta sat in absolute silence. The seconds ticked by, heavy and slow.

Suddenly, two frantic knocks struck the heavy office door before it burst open. Arlan rushed inside, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.

“Lady Asta… Lady Asta…”

Under normal circumstances, Arlan observed strict etiquette. He would never cross the threshold without formal permission. But the sheer gravity of the situation had shattered his usual composure.

“Arlan?” Asta blinked, her calm demeanor slipping for a fraction of a second as she casually slid her mobile phone behind her back.

Had anyone looked closely at her screen, they would have seen her Stellar Jade balance sitting at a staggering two hundred thousand.

Freshly topped up. Still warm.

“My apologies for the intrusion,” Arlan breathed out, his expression darkening into something grim. “The game you assigned me to monitor… something massive has happened. Right now, millions of players across the galaxy have already…”

Asta, a seasoned gamer in her own right, was hardly out of the loop. She let out a soft sigh, offering Arlan a reassuring smile. “Is this about Honkai: Star Rail? I know. The developer turned Herta into a playable unit. I imagine millions of people are currently staring at her likeness.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Do not worry. I will inform her myself. As for the game, it has clearly grown beyond the Space Station’s jurisdiction. We will need to contact the IPC to handle the fallout.”

Truthfully, Asta had felt a cold sweat prickle her skin the moment she saw Herta’s in-game model. The developer had actually built her. And they had done it flawlessly. But the situation had spiraled out of control, directly infringing on Herta’s personal rights. The Space Station had to step in.

Asta felt a twinge of genuine regret. It was such a brilliant game. Why did the developer have to throw their life away by misappropriating a Genius Society member’s identity?

Arlan shook his head violently. “No, Lady Asta. It is not just the character model. Have you not seen the new story update?”

Asta tilted her head. “Story? What story?”

“It is about Herta!” Arlan’s voice cracked. “An audience with the Aeon… Nous!”

Asta froze.

As a pure power gamer, she only cared about pulling characters and improving stats. She skipped the story entirely.

Meanwhile, Guinaifen sat on the opposite end of the gaming spectrum. As a dedicated lore enthusiast, she absorbed every line of text and ignored the community forums completely. She had not even seen the basic character reveals or the promotional videos.

Having just finished reading the in-game lore entry ‘As I Have Written’, Guinaifen watched the screen as her perspective shifted.

Then, a cinematic played that would leave her stunned for the rest of the year.

A strange, disembodied voice provided the narration as the camera panned across the Herta Space Station, lingering on the scattered Herta puppets.

“Look. Where is this? It is the Herta Space Station. A camp for Geniuses, a cradle of science. Look at these puppets. Are they not exquisitely crafted? I have heard people secretly praise them more than once, calling her beautiful. But if you ask me, these dolls do not capture even a tenth of her true beauty. No, not even a hundredth…”

At first, it sounded like a flattering tribute.

Then the art style violently fractured.

A colossal, crimson mechanical entity filled the entire screen. Its metallic pupil flared with a terrifying, oppressive light, radiating an aura that felt as though it could pierce through the fabric of reality itself.

And floating directly in front of Nous, seated casually upon a staff, was a woman in a wide-brimmed pointed hat.

It was the real Herta.

The narration dropped an octave. “The distinguished Genius Society Member Number 83, Herta, is questioning the great Nous, seeking the mystery of Divinity from the Aeon!”

The word ‘Divinity’ echoed with heavy emphasis.

The sheer scale of the cinematic was too abrupt, too massive. Guinaifen sat completely paralyzed. The shock of seeing an Aeon completely eclipsed the internet’s obsession with Herta’s true appearance.

Her livestream viewer count hovered well above a hundred thousand, and she could only cover her mouth with both hands.

[Chat: An Aeon? Is that Nous the Erudition?!]

[Chat: Did the game get hacked? Why did we just jump to the Space Station? What is happening?!]

[Chat: It is the main story! This game does not just sell gacha cards, it actually wrote a lore drop about Herta!]

[Chat: No way.]

[Chat: Herta is secretly researching how to meet an Aeon? She wants to understand Divinity?!]

[Chat: Everyone calm down, it is just fanfiction. Right? Just fanfiction.]

[Chat: You cannot just write whatever you want about the gods! How is this not blasphemy against an Aeon?!]

Deities like Qlipoth commanded absolute, terrifying reverence across the cosmos. Disrespecting an Aeon was a direct challenge to their zealots. The player base collectively realized the developer had just signed their own death warrant. Herta was not just a Genius. She was an Emanator of Erudition. An Emanator with a notoriously volatile and eccentric temper.

Guinaifen finally found her voice. “What is going on, chat? I was just reading a book. How did I get teleported to the Space Station?”

[Chat: Little Gui, do you not check the forums? Herta’s banner is live, and there is a whole new video!]

[Chat: The developer is literally risking their life to give us content. I am crying.]

Reading the scrolling text, Guinaifen drew in a sharp breath and immediately tabbed over to the community hub.

The game’s popularity was exploding, fueled by the sheer audacity of the new lore. Dragging an Aeon into a narrative was a monumental risk. Especially using an Aeon to weave stories of unknown truth.

Naturally, a ripple of this magnitude eventually reached the subject herself.

The Galactic Frontier.

Inside the Clock Tower.

This isolated domain served as Herta’s permanent residence. Four cracked mirrors stood in a perfect row across the room, each containing a swirling, abyssal vortex.

Facing them stood a young woman. Her appearance was undeniably youthful, framed by smooth, purplish-grey hair that cascaded down her back. She wore a dark purple gown, black stockings, heavy boots, and a wide, pointed hat.

Herta listened to the report echoing from the four mirrors, her eyes glinting with a strange light. “A game? Are you joking?”

“We would never dare!” a voice rasped from the glass. “The perpetrator has not only monetized your image, but they have also leaked the grand design. They scheme against you. Punish them!”

Ignoring the mirrors’ dramatic demands, Herta pulled out her mobile phone and scrolled through the network. She found the game and her character promotional video in seconds.

Tapping the screen, she watched the cinematic play out, a faint spark of genuine interest warming her features. “Oh. How fascinating.”

She paused the video.

“Amphoreus. And Nous. Could it be Zandar? No… that does not fit.”

As an Emanator of Erudition, Herta possessed a terrifyingly cold, analytical mind. Where others would panic, she simply processed the variables. The developer knew her true physical form. They knew about her secret ambition to secure an audience with Nous. And they had broadcasted it to the entire universe without reservation.

Yet, she remained entirely unbothered.

According to her internal calculations, a handful of individuals had seen her true body. But those who knew about her plans regarding Nous were exceptionally rare.

As she scrolled down to the character preview details, her eyes locked onto a specific string of text. The developer had used the nickname ‘Madam Herta’.

Only one person in the known universe had ever addressed her with that exact title.

The corners of her mouth curved upward. “Is it that kid?”