In the endless void.
Kai stared blankly ahead.
He had transmigrated.
Into the universe of Honkai Star Rail
As for how he knew that.
There was a giant purple black hole floating right in front of him.
Kai “(⊙_⊙)?”
A black hole that massive, paired with that iconic vacant little stare.
Yep.
That was IX, the Nihility.
No doubt about it.
Silence.
“Help!”
After freezing for several seconds, Kai let out a scream sharp enough to crack reality.
o(╥﹏╥)o.
What kind of scam was this?
Who starts their isekai journey by immediately getting deleted?
Everyone knew that liking a game and wanting to live inside that game were two completely different things.
Sure, at least it was not the universe of Honkai Gakuen.
That was already a blessing.
But to be honest, Honkai Star Rail was not exactly a vacation resort either.
This was a universe where Pathstriders, Emanators, and cosmic disasters wandered around like they owned the place.
And that was before counting the Antimatter Legion, the Swarm, and every other nightmare drifting between the stars.
For an ordinary person, spontaneous death was basically a local weather condition.
Still, Kai had never expected to spawn directly inside IX’s personal danger zone.
He could feel himself drifting toward the Aeon.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Completely irresistibly.
At this rate, he would be swallowed by IX and earn the title of fastest-dead transmigrator in history.
Kai decided he could still be saved.
So he began trying to save himself.
The only beings capable of dragging him out of an Aeon’s territory were, without question, other Aeons.
Beg IX for help.
Absolutely useless.
IX looked like the type to stare at a collapsing universe and call it a mood.
IX.
“0.o.”
Maybe he could pray to Lan.
Technically, if he squinted hard enough, he might count as an honorary Xianzhou citizen, right?
He had heard Lan was fiercely protective of the Xianzhou.
Maybe the Rainbow Arbiter would save his miserable little life.
So Kai copied Fu Xuan’s tone and shouted.
“Great Rainbow Arbiter, please save your faithful follower.”
Silence.
Nothing happened.
No good.
Kai frowned, but he refused to give up.
His survival instincts flared.
Gritting his teeth, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Merciful Yaoshi, grant me immortality.”
Immortality would not help much against IX.
He knew that.
His real goal was to get Yaoshi to pull him out of this disaster zone.
After all, the Abundance was famous for answering prayers.
Of course, accepting the Abundance might get him sniped by Lan later.
But he was about to die right now.
Was this really the time to worry about future consequences?
Survive first.
Panic later.
And yet.
Nothing happened.
Apparently, Yaoshi had not heard him either.
Unwilling to give up, Kai shouted the names of every Aeon he could remember.
He even tried calling customer support at HoYoVerse.
Still useless.
The only thing that answered him was endless, empty Nihility.
“Fine.
Destroy me already.
I’m tired.”
Kai gave up.
He went limp in the void and let himself drift toward IX.
At this point, he might as well take a nap.
Where life knocks you down, lie there and accept the floor.
He looked emotionally stable.
In reality, he had simply run out of options.
As his body began to tear apart and his consciousness grew hazy, bitterness filled his heart.
Poor little me.
I really rolled a natural one.
Some unknown amount of time passed.
“You’re awake.”
“The procedure was a complete success.
You are now an adorable young woman.”
“!!!”
A voice rang beside her ear, layered from countless tones at once.
Kai jolted.
Her foggy mind snapped awake.
She immediately opened her eyes and checked herself.
Silence.
Gone.
He had really become her.
At that moment, an orange-red mask appeared in front of her.
Wait.
Was that Aha.
Kai instantly understood.
Aha had saved her.
And Aha had also turned her from him into her.
“You, you, you.”
She raised a delicate finger and pointed at Aha in outrage.
“Why did you turn me into a woman?”
“Why?”
“Isn’t this the kind of character people from your world love the most?”
“Aha, thought you wanted this.”
“Besides, your original body had already been torn apart by the gravity of Nihility.”
“Or as you called them, the big gloomy black hole.”
“So Aha simply granted your wish.”
“Aha made you into the type of woman you liked most.”
“No need to thank Aha.”
“After all, Aha loves being helpful.”
“Hahahahaha.”
The orange-red mask shook violently as manic laughter poured out of it.
“Thank you.”
“I ought to thank your whole circus act.”
Kai snapped back angrily, then suddenly realized something.
Wait.
What had Aha just said?
Your world.
“You absolute menace.
You looked through my memories.”
“Hey, don’t make it sound so ugly.”
“When Elation does it, it is not snooping.”
Silence.
What was this?
Aha, doing philosophy now.
Forget it.
At least Aha had saved her life.
If her memories had been seen, then they had been seen.
However, Aha clearly had no intention of letting this new source of entertainment slip away.
“So, little outsider from another world.”
“Do you like your new adorable form?”
“Hahahahahaha.”
Kai’s fist clenched.
She could not take it anymore.
She no longer cared that the thing in front of her was an Aeon.
She kicked the mask.
Her small foot sent the orange-red mask flying through the void.
One spin.
Two spins.
The mask rotated through empty space while laughing all the way.
“Aha got kicked.”
“Aha has lost so much face.”
“Hahahahahahaha.”
“No wonder you came from that place.”
“You are hilarious.”
“Aha has decided.”
“You will become Aha’s strongest Emanator.”
“???”
Before Kai could react, an overwhelming power poured into her body.
Maybe because her new body had also been remade by Aha, she did not feel any discomfort at all.
On the contrary, the power felt strangely pleasant.
Not only that, but controlling it felt completely natural.
As if it had always belonged to her.
Was this seriously happening?
Did she just become an Emanator?
She immediately conjured a mirror and examined her new appearance.
Aha had not lied.
She really was cute.
No.
More accurately, she was unfairly cute.
Her long black hair was tied into twin ponytails.
Her pale blue eyes shimmered as if they reflected a field of stars.
Her features were delicate and refined, and her skin looked almost luminous under the light of the void.
She wore a soft pink dress, with simple shoes that looked far too normal for the middle of cosmic nothingness.
She was petite, graceful, and carried the kind of sweet, harmless look that made people lower their guard immediately.
Which was hilarious.
Because inside, her thoughts were already becoming a festival of bad decisions.
Aha seemed to sense her reaction and laughed again.
“Small can be cute too.”
“Get lost.”
Kai kicked Aha again.
This time, it was not the weak kick of an ordinary person.
This was the full-force kick of an Emanator of Elation.
The orange-red mask cracked in several places and spun away like a top launched by divine nonsense.
“Aha got kicked by Aha’s own Emanator.”
“Aha has really lost face this time.”
“Hahahahahaha.”
As the laughter faded into the distance, the mask eventually became a shooting star and vanished into the void.
Silence.
…
So..
She had transmigrated into Honkai Star Rail.
Gone from a six-foot-one guy with abs into a petite, soft-looking young woman.
And somehow become Aha’s first and strongest Emanator.
What kind of fever dream was this?
Even trashy web novels would call this too much.
Feeling the terrifying power inside her, Kai’s lips slowly curved upward.
Only one thought remained in her mind.
This universe was going to laugh.
In her previous life, she had been an orphan.
She had barely survived school while working part-time jobs, clawed her way into college, graduated, and then spent every night working overtime for scraps.
A life like that made a person feel less like a human and more like a worn-out machine.
But now.
She had become an adorable woman.
She had become an Emanator of Elation.
Who would still choose to live like a corporate drone?
Obviously, she was going to do whatever made her happy.
Her new life philosophy was simple.
Follow the fun.
Otherwise, what was the point of transmigrating?
What.
This universe was full of Path-obsessed maniacs.
Please.
Could any of them out-crazy her?
Did they understand the mental state of someone who worked until midnight every day and still barely made rent?
By the time she clocked out, the resentment clinging to her could scare away ghosts.
Avoid trouble.
Why would she do that?
She looked down at herself, then slowly smiled.
Actually.
Becoming a woman did not seem all that bad.
Now she could openly get close to the female characters she liked without anyone questioning it.
Hehe.
The more she thought about it, the more dangerous her smile became.
As the saying goes.
Reputation comes in many flavors.
Yesterday was yesterday.
Today, she was a menace.
Abandon dignity.
Embrace the chaos.
Reject emotional burnout.
When life gets stupid, get stupider.
Still, since she had become a woman, she needed a proper new name.
How about.
Kai.
Same sound.
New life.
Now the only question was whether the Astral Express had already begun its journey, and whether the Stellaron vessel had awakened yet.
Before hunting for fun, she needed to confirm the timeline.
All right.
First stop.
Herta Space Station.
Kai had so many things she wanted to do.
For example, steal one of Herta’s puppets and give it a very serious inspection.
By which she meant poke its cheeks, ruffle its hair, and figure out how the thing was built.
For another example, she wanted to become bestie with Asta.
Asta was rich.
Absurdly rich.
Ridiculously rich.
If Kai could cling to that golden lifeline, she would never have to worry about credits again.
Sure, with her current power, getting credits would be easy.
But money handed over willingly tasted much better than money taken by force.
Hehe.
Rich bestie.
I am hungry.
Please feed me.