“Goodbye, Herta Space Station.”
“Goodbye, Astral Express.”
“Universe, here I come!”
The anti-gravity drive housed within the [Black Tomb Puppet] hummed to life against his back.
Kazuki slipped the invisible tether of the station’s artificial gravity and threw himself into the endless sea of stars.
The biting chill of the void pressed against his protective barriers as he drifted outward.
He did not float aimlessly for long.
Engaging his anti-scanning module, he skirted the sweeping radar arcs of a massive interstellar carrier ship.
Moving with the fluid grace of an eel, he slipped through an exhaust port and into the vessel’s labyrinth of maintenance corridors.
He tracked down a logistics crew lounge, ambushed the lone worker inside, and swiftly tied him to the bunk.
After pocketing the man’s Destiny Cards, Kazuki triggered his system.
The familiar rush of energy washed over him as he transformed into [Student Himeko].
Stepping up to the reinforced porthole, he gazed out at the receding Herta Space Station.
The sprawling, advanced facility now looked like a scattered pile of children’s building blocks.
The researchers and security personnel he had just left behind were reduced to microscopic specks, indistinguishable from a colony of ants.
The swelling, organ-heavy chords of ‘Cornfield Chase’began playing on an unprompted loop in his mind.
A deep, crushing sense of sorrow washed over him.
The universe was infinitely vast, and he was nothing more than a drifting speck of cosmic dust.’Wake up.
The soundtrack in your head fits the scene a little too perfectly.
You are going to make me depressed at this rate.’
The voice of [Student Himeko] echoed in his mind, laced with dry exasperation.
Kazuki remained silent, offering only a heavy sigh.
Her voice took on the crisp cadence of a classroom lecture.
‘Let me educate you.
This sudden existential dread you are experiencing is scientifically classified as the Overview Effect.
It is a perfectly normal psychological reaction.
From an evolutionary standpoint, your survival instincts are triggering a sense of isolation and vulnerability.
From a cognitive neuroscience perspective, your foundational understanding of scale has just been shattered, disrupting your neural homeostasis.’
Kazuki turned away from the window and began pacing the cramped quarters, a restless edge creeping into his movements.
“Himeko, I know it is just the Overview Effect messing with my head, but I cannot stop thinking about it.
Can I actually survive out here?
Make a name for myself?
Maybe I should have just stayed on the Astral Express…”
He dragged a hand through his long crimson hair, stepping backward in frustration.
His lower back collided hard with a metal storage locker.
A sharp clatter of shifting metal rang out from inside.
Pausing, Kazuki pulled the locker doors open.
Stacked neatly inside were two heavy crates packed with tin cans.
He pulled one out and inspected the label.
Strong liquor.
“No way.
They allow hard liquor on a space flight?
Isn’t this highly restricted contraband?”
He caught himself a second later.
This was the Honkai: Star Rail universe.
He was still applying the mundane logic of his previous life to a galaxy governed by Aeons and Paths.
Grinning like a thief who had just struck gold, he scooped the two heavy crates into his arms.
As he lifted them, the cold metal of the cans pressed firmly against the soft, heavy curves of his current body’s chest.
The sudden, sharp contrast in temperature sent a jolt straight through his nerves, snapping him entirely out of his existential funk.
He glanced over his shoulder at the unconscious logistics worker bound to the mattress.
“Sorry about this, brother,” Kazuki offered with a sheepish smile.
“I am going to borrow your stash.
If we ever cross paths again, I will pay you back double.”
He released the transformation.
His original body snapped back into existence.
Gripping the crates tightly, he projected his consciousness directly into [Student Himeko]’s card space.
The transition was absolute.
One moment he was surrounded by the sterile, freezing steel of a starship; the next, he was standing on a sun-drenched university campus.
A warm breeze brushed against his cheeks, carrying the sweet, fragrant scent of drifting cherry blossoms.
“Woohoo, Himeko!
The drinks are here!”
Following the familiar layout of the mental landscape, Kazuki sprinted up the stairwell, his boots clattering against the steps until he burst out onto the school rooftop.
Himeko was crouched near the edge of the roof, carefully adjusting the lenses of a brass astronomical telescope.
She did not bother looking up at his dramatic entrance.
Through their shared sensory link, she had already seen the prize he was carrying.
Kazuki dropped the crates onto the concrete.
She finally stood up, gesturing to the floor with a faint smile.
“Just set them down.
Though, I have to ask…
are you entirely sure you want me drinking that?”
Kazuki blinked, looking her up and down before slapping his forehead.
“Oh, right!
You are technically still underage in this form, aren’t you?
Relax, relax.
Just take a sip to see how it tastes!”
Himeko rolled her eyes so hard she nearly dropped the heavy wrench in her hand.
She looked ready to hurl it directly at his face.
Did he really think that was what she meant?
“I was asking,” she began, her smile vanishing as her expression hardened into absolute seriousness, “if you are truly certain you want to summon me into the real universe just to fulfill my wish?
If there ever comes a day when you decide to delete me like a useless, obsolete card…
then I will not drink a single drop of this.”
The playful grin slid right off Kazuki’s face.
The air between them grew heavy.
When he spoke, his voice was low, stripped of all its usual levity.
“Himeko, what exactly is that supposed to mean?
Do you really look at me and see someone who would throw away a companion the second they stop being useful?
From the exact moment you linked your vision with mine, you stopped being a piece of cardboard.
You are one of us.
Do not ever talk to me about being discarded.
I refuse to hear it.”
Himeko’s fingers twitched.
The harsh lines of her posture softened, and she slowly reached out toward the crates.
Yet, a shadow of hesitation still clung to her features.
Her lips parted, trembling slightly as if fighting the urge to ask for more reassurance.
Kazuki did not give her the chance to overthink it.
He reached into the crate, grabbed a cold can, and tossed it directly into her lap.
He pulled another for himself, hooked his index finger under the metal tab, and yanked.
A sharp hiss pierced the quiet rooftop.
The rich, sharp aroma of fermented malt and heavy alcohol instantly spilled into the warm air.
“Enough of the sentimental nonsense,” Kazuki said, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Where is that fiery attitude you had when we first met?
Drink!”
Himeko stared at him for a second, then gritted her teeth.
She hooked her finger under the tab, ripped it open, and tilted her head back.
She took a massive, unfiltered gulp.
Amber liquid spilled over her lips, trailing down the elegant curve of her jaw and soaking into the collar of her uniform, but she completely ignored it.
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she let out a bright, ringing laugh.
“So this is alcohol?
I expected something deep, but it tastes exactly like sweet fermented malt juice!”
[Elysian’s Note:
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