"But the other characters look so cute! They're all beautiful girls! Especially this one named 'Kiana,' I have a feeling she and I would totally get along!"
March 7th looked incredibly excited. It had been so long since a game suited her tastes so perfectly! And it wasn't PVP! From the description, it even seemed like a game where you get to be all buddy-buddy with cute girls!
"!"
Welt, who was sitting nearby, looked up sharply, spilling some of the tea in his hand due to the sudden movement.
Just now, was he hearing things? He thought he heard a very familiar name…
"Oh yeah, what's this game called?"
March 7th pulled out her own phone and asked Stelle. She was already prepared to download it!
"Oh, it's called Honkai Impact 3rd. The developer is… miHoYo Interstellar Inc.? Strange, is this a new company under the Interastral Peace Corporation?" Stelle said, a little confused.
"Pfft!"
Welt, who had just taken a gentle sip of his tea, heard the word "Honkai" and promptly spat his mouthful of tea all over Pom-Pom, who had just walked out of the driver's cabin.
"Waaah!! Passenger Welt! What are you doing, Pom!"
Pom-Pom, caught in the sudden attack, squeezed their eyes shut and tumbled onto the train floor in a fluster.
Thankfully, they had just wiped the floor, otherwise it would have been covered in another layer of dust…
"Uh, sorry, let me clean that for you…"
Coming back to his senses, Welt seemed to realize his emotional reaction had been a bit extreme. He picked Pom-Pom up, placed them on his lap, and took the dry towel Wende handed him, carefully drying off the now-soaking-wet conductor.
"Hmph… honestly, don't be so jumpy!"
Pom-Pom wanted to complain a bit more, but seeing Welt's genuinely apologetic expression, as the conductor of the train, they decided to let the matter slide!
"Yes, thank you, Conductor."
Welt nodded lightly. Watching Pom-Pom's departing figure, he then took out his own phone and began to search for the game called Honkai Impact 3rd.
"Hey!? Himeko! Come look! You're in this game too! Not only does she look exactly the same, but her name is also Himeko!"
Like someone who had discovered a great treasure, March 7th excitedly ran over to Himeko's side and handed her the phone.
Himeko, who had been discussing with Jingliu how to make coffee taste better, was at first confused by March's words. But after taking the phone and seeing the familiar figure on the screen, her brow furrowed slightly. For some reason, looking at the in-game version of herself, Himeko suddenly felt a strange sensation welling up from within…
"How strange. I don't recall selling my portrait rights to any company…"
Himeko looked at the image on the phone with a puzzled expression, but in a daze, she felt that the person in the game wasn't her at all…
"Huh? There's that side of things, too? Oh, right…"
Hearing Himeko's words, March 7th scratched her cheek thoughtfully, a look of sudden realization on her face.
She knew she had forgotten something! This was it!
"So… should we contact the game's publisher and tell them to stop the copyright infringement?" March asked, looking at Himeko's gentle smile.
"Never mind. Let's see what my in-game self is like first. If I don't like it, I might get angry," Himeko said with a chuckle as she pulled out her phone and also began to download Honkai Impact 3rd.
"Hmm…"
Off to the side, Dan Heng held his phone with a deadpan expression. The screen was held horizontally, and his two thumbs were rapidly tapping away at something.
Wende, who was walking by after putting the towel away, happened to notice that the screen of his phone was, in fact, displaying his very own Honkai Impact 3rd.
What was this? A silent competition?
In an instant, everyone on the train started downloading Honkai Impact 3rd. Even Tingyun and Jingliu, swept up in the enthusiasm, began to download the mysterious game.
Seeing the serious expression on Welt's face, Wende suddenly felt like he had forgotten something…
That's right! Their destination was the Honkai world! But now they had already launched a public beta of Honkai Impact 3rd here… If only Uncle Yang knew, it would be fine, but now everyone knew…
Thinking of this, Wende was struck by another, equally serious problem.
Honkai: Star Rail had also been updated in the Honkai world!
If the two groups were to meet… Wende didn't dare to imagine the scene… Would it devolve into the two sides spoiling each other's stories?
A wave of anxiety washed over Wende.
He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He hoped…
That this public beta of Honkai Impact 3rd would have some restraint and not push the main story plot too far ahead…
As for the Honkai world, their version of Star Rail should only be up to Version 1.3, right? The problem shouldn't be too big… probably?
Wende was very uncertain. He could already imagine the atmosphere that would permeate the air when the two groups met…
He was afraid that a certain Aeon of Elation, upon learning of this, would probably laugh so hard one of their masks would crack overnight…
Indeed, no matter how you looked at it, the [Elation] level of this situation was about to go off the charts…
Wende's head was starting to throb. Watching Welt's expression grow progressively graver as he was about to register an account, Wende finally realized.
Uncle Yang's internal conflict was the minor issue. The big one was yet to come!
The train was currently in the first stage of its warp jump. There were still about thirty minutes until they reached the next jump point. When the second jump stopped, the train exited the star rail, and they headed towards the anomalous coordinates…
That would probably be the moment a legendary scene was born…
"Sigh, looks like there's trouble ahead."
With a look of utter resignation, Wende accepted the glass of juice Pom-Pom handed him and started playing Honkai Impact 3rd himself. He had to admit, this "Star Rail" version of the game really felt different from the one in his old world… If he put on the VR gear, could he actually play as Kiana in first-person?
To Pom-Pom's complete bewilderment, the entire cabin grew eerily quiet.
Pom-Pom looked at everyone playing on their phones, then looked down at their own small, round hands that couldn't possibly hold one…
Where did this inexplicable feeling of being left out come from?