Here in the world of Honkai: Star Rail—also known as the Warhammer 40K of the anime world—on a bench along some street on Canglan Star, sat a young man in a disheveled white coat.
His name was Ryan.
Just Ryan.
No grand meaning, no heroic backstory.
“Little one, you look so gloomy. You survived, and you’re still not happy?”
A lazy female voice broke the silence.
A young woman with dark brown hair now stood before him, the decorative flowers on her black witch’s hat swaying gently in the breeze.
It was none other than Madam Herta, member #83 of the Genius Society, who had twice stood before Nous and—by her own account—saved Canglan Star sixteen times.
The Herta Space Station wasn’t even a concept yet, but Ryan figured that at this genius’s efficiency, it wouldn’t be long now.
“Do you even hear yourself? I got hit by a nuke.”
Ryan responded weakly, feeling like a figurine that had been played with too roughly.
Who would believe this story?
Aha would laugh their ass off.
“That’s exactly why I’m curious about you. If you’d died, I wouldn’t be able to study you.”
Herta said it matter-of-factly, as casually as commenting on the weather.
Ryan shot her a look.
“Getting nuked and still sitting here chatting with you—doesn’t that deserve some kind of ‘Medical Miracle’ trophy?”
“No trophy,” Herta replied, “but I could give you a full-body scan. Honestly, you’re worth studying. Far more interesting than those cuckoo clocks on Screwllum’s planet.”
She gestured casually toward the brilliant green aurora streaking across the sky.
Ryan instinctively looked up.
Fragments of the detonation flashed through his mind.
Before the searing heat and shockwave consumed him, text had burned itself into his consciousness:
[Unlocked Module: Electromagnetic Field and Wave Theory]
[Chapter One: Vector Analysis and Field Theory]
When he regained consciousness, he discovered he wasn’t dead—and that he could somehow perceive and manipulate electromagnetic fields around him.
As for that aurora in the sky?
He genuinely had no idea if it was some massive side effect of his unconscious doing.
“So,” Herta leaned in closer, her faint perfume almost brushing his ear, “tell me—how did you survive a nuclear explosion, and how did you make the sky light up like that? Don’t tell me it was luck. That would be an insult to intelligence.”
“What if I said it was natural talent? Would you believe me?”
Ryan tried to deflect, internally grumbling.
What was he supposed to say?
Thanks to the Aeons for their favor?
Aha would probably love that answer.
Herta didn’t answer right away.
She tilted her head, the way she did when a reading refused to match her model.
“I’ve cracked theorems that made the Genius Society stall for decades. I’ve mapped radiation fields no one else could measure.” She tapped one finger against her arm.
“And your file has two lines in it. Both blank.”
A pause.
“Twice in one day. That hasn’t happened since… well. Never.”
Ryan sighed.
Playing dumb in front of her clearly wasn’t going to work.
“What if I told you I’m just an ordinary electromagnetics researcher?”
“Ordinary?” Herta let out a short laugh, like she’d heard a genuinely good joke.
“I know Canglan Star’s atmosphere. Natural conditions can’t produce this kind of aurora. Unless… it’s the result of a powerful energy field disturbance.”
She turned.
“Come with me. I’m taking you somewhere.”
“Where?” Ryan asked warily, feeling like a lab mouse about to be delivered to the lab.
“My laboratory.” Herta glanced back.
“Since you won’t talk, I’ll just have to get my hands dirty and take you apart—oh, I mean, carefully examine you—to find the answers myself.”
Ryan shrugged, looking like he’d given up.
His home had been nuked anyway.
On Aerido Star—that backwater, primitive civilization—he’d at least counted as a high-level intellectual.
Here, he was just a “cosmic hick.”
At least working with Herta meant free room and board, plus getting to observe a genius up close.
Though he’d probably be the one being observed.
His “hometown,” Aerido Star, was a satellite planet of Canglan Star, lagging behind technologically by who knew how many centuries.
When he first transmigrated there, he thought he’d been reborn into the past, ready to use modern knowledge to make his mark.
Then he looked up and saw Herta’s news broadcast.
In that moment, he deeply understood what it meant to face overwhelming technological superiority.
Following Herta through several streets, they eventually arrived at what could only be described as an estate.
It had the elegant silhouette of a medieval castle, yet was covered in streamlined luminous materials and holographic advertisements.
“Welcome to my home,” Herta said lightly as the doors opened automatically.
Stepping inside, Ryan was struck speechless.
Under a soaring dome stretched an impossibly vast space.
Countless precision instruments hummed with activity, overwhelming to the eye.
“Uh… it’s pretty impressive.” That was all he managed after a long pause.
He felt like a caveman who’d just walked out of the forest.
Every device here was beyond his comprehension.
A random phrase surfaced in his mind from somewhere: “This is science! Science! You cosmic hick!”
Well, that fit.
“Wait a moment,” Herta said casually, snapping her fingers with elegance.
A doll that resembled Herta—maybe seventy or eighty percent similar, but noticeably smaller with a more blank expression—clattered out from a side room.
It was carrying a white lab coat with delicate lace trim.
Herta naturally extended her arms, and the doll climbed onto a small stool, efficiently helping her change out of her outdoor clothes and into the lab coat.
The whole process was fluid, with a strange ritualistic quality.
Herta didn’t even pause, continuing to observe Ryan’s expression.
Watching the doll modeled after a young Herta, Ryan thought to himself: So this is the daily life of a genius?
Even changing clothes is automated…
Are there dolls specifically for eating and for insulting people too?
Now properly attired, Herta’s entire demeanor shifted toward that of a rigorous scientist.
She walked to a control console, her slender fingers dancing across a virtual keyboard as she pulled up a new analysis interface.
Then she turned, arms crossed, studying Ryan with the appraising look one might give a rare experimental material.
“Alright, small talk’s over,” Herta said, all business now.
“Before we begin testing, I have a very important question.”
“Ask away.” Ryan had already prepared himself for questions about nuclear yield, blast radius, and his personal durability.
“You,” Herta fixed him with her purple eyes, “have you walked any Path?”
“Path?” Ryan blinked, then realized this was one of the core concepts of this world.
He turned his attention inward, examining the knowledge imprints and control instincts about electromagnetics deep in his consciousness, then shook his head.
“I don’t think so. I haven’t felt any Aeon watching me, no whispers, no compulsion to follow any particular philosophy.”
He tapped his head, then held out his hand, a faint arc of electricity flickering at his fingertips.
“If I had to say… after the nuke, those electromagnetic theories appeared in my head, and so did the ability to control them. Does that count? It feels like a switch—like I was born knowing how.”
Herta nodded thoughtfully, arms still crossed.
“Controlling electromagnetic fields and waves… that sounds more like a scientific privilege based on cognition and understanding—a unique ‘talent,’ rather than a gift from following an Aeon’s philosophy.”
She paced to a massive holographic screen and pulled up energy spectrum charts and Path resonance patterns that Ryan couldn’t begin to understand.
“Nous might find pure physical phenomena interesting, but the machine head prefers mathematics and ultimate answers… Elation? You’re too serious. Preservation? Even less likely.”
She quickly eliminated several options, her gaze settling back on Ryan.
“No clear Path, yet possessing such unusual abilities. That makes you even more valuable as a research subject.”
Herta’s voice carried undisguised excitement.
“This means your power system might be independent, or derived from some fundamental law we don’t fully understand yet.”
She pointed to a circular platform in the center of the lab, radiating soft white light.
“Stand over there, little one. We’ll start with basic energy radiation and field strength measurements. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe.”
Ryan walked onto the platform, feeling like an artifact about to be scanned.
A ring of soft light immediately lit up around him.
Several oddly-shaped probes extended silently from the ceiling and floor, emitting scanning waves at different frequencies that swept across his body.
“Relax. Don’t be nervous. Too much data fluctuation will affect the initial readings.”
Herta watched the data screen while directing a nearby doll.
“Number Three, bring the high-sensitivity flux meter. Number Five, adjust the environmental background field shielding. Don’t let interstellar network signals interfere with my readings.”
Watching the dolls bustle around the lab while Herta merely gave orders, Ryan once again felt the Marianas Trench-deep gap between himself and this genius.
Which raised a question—why didn’t Madam Herta have a Mount Everest…
“Now, try to concentrate a small electromagnetic spark at your fingertip. Keep the intensity at about what’s needed to light a lamp.”
Herta gave the instruction directly.
Ryan took a deep breath and focused.
Crackle.
A tiny spark, flickering with blue light, appeared at his fingertip, jumping like a living sprite and making faint, clear crackling sounds.
Almost simultaneously, the data on several screens in front of Herta began jumping wildly.
Curves fluctuated dramatically.
Some values instantly maxed out before quickly dropping back down.
“Interesting… very high energy conversion efficiency, and almost no dissipation loss… now that’s intriguing. Doesn’t conform to conventional energy conservation…”
Herta muttered to herself, her fingers flying as she recorded every anomalous data point.
“Looks like certain physical constants will need to be redefined where you’re concerned.”
She closed the frantically updating holographic screens and turned to face Ryan, her purple eyes gleaming with calculation and assessment, like she was appraising a rare treasure.
“Alright, little one.” Herta announced.
“You’ve piqued my interest. Twice over, actually. Not just as a research subject. Perhaps… you could be useful for something else.”
She walked over, and a doll immediately brought her a cup of liquid that smelled of exotic fruit and caffeine.
Herta took it and sipped elegantly before continuing.
“You can stay here. I’ll provide housing and protection. After all, if the IPC or some overly curious idiots found out about your ‘talents,’ the trouble would be considerable. And… I’d have continued opportunities to study these fascinating phenomena.”
“In return, you’ll cooperate with my experiments.”
Before Ryan could respond, Herta seemed to think of something else, a shrewd glint appearing in her eyes.
“Also, I might get some excellent inspiration from you. The IPC has more money than they know what to do with—they’re always eager to invest in novel projects. If I could develop some practical little gadgets based on your electromagnetic manipulation abilities, combined with a few of my own improvements…”
She waved her hand, as if dismissing that thought as getting ahead of herself.
“In any case, securing research funding from their investment managers should be feasible. After all, who argues with efficiency and profit?”
Ryan listened, his feelings tangled.
On one hand, he truly had nowhere to go.
Staying with a genius like Herta meant at least guaranteed safety and access to cutting-edge technology.
On the other hand, this was Herta!
Her interests came and went quickly.
What if tomorrow she found an even more interesting cuckoo clock and kicked him out?
Or worse—turned him into a figurine?
But thinking about his nuked hometown of Aerido Star, and this seemingly prosperous but actually dangerous interstellar world…
he didn’t seem to have better options.
At least here he got food and shelter, plus a top-tier mentor—even if her methods might be a bit hardcore.
“Sounds like… I don’t really have a reason to refuse?” Ryan spread his hands, looking resigned.
“As long as your experiments aren’t ‘survival limit testing in simulated nuclear environments’ or ‘observing electromagnetic field responses by bombarding targets with antimatter weapons,’ I think I can accept.”
“Rest assured, my experimental style is known for elegance and efficiency.” Herta nodded with satisfaction, spreading her hands.
“At least during the current phase where the ‘specimen’ remains intact, I can’t bear to damage such a unique sample. After all, broken toys aren’t fun to play with.”
She waved, and another doll clattered over, carrying a clean set of clothes and basic toiletries.
“Follow it.
It’ll take you to your room.
Rest today and get familiar with the environment.
Starting tomorrow—” Herta’s eyes lit up with that heart-palpitating research flame again, though it might be temporary, “—we’ll have plenty of time to unravel your mysteries.
After all, the one thing I don’t lack is time.
And patience.”
Ryan took the items and followed the doll toward the deeper areas of the laboratory.
He glanced back to see Herta already absorbed in the sea of data on her holographic screens, clearly beginning to plan tomorrow’s experiments.
“Genius thinking is impossible to keep up with… This life might be even more exciting than doing research on Aerido Star.”
Ryan muttered quietly, but felt a strange sense of anticipation.
Yeah, he probably shouldn’t worry.
After all, the danger level here was probably several…
dimensions higher than a nuclear bomb.
Aha above, he hoped this genius girl would maintain her interest for a long time—and not decide one day that he’d gone “stale.”
Here’s a new translation—this time for Honkai: Star Rail.
It’s pretty well-written, in my opinion, though the “slice-of-life” genre speaks for itself; the pacing is quite slow.
I’ve only skimmed the plot so far, but I haven’t spotted a harem setup (I haven’t finished reading it, so I can’t be certain)—just hints of a potential relationship with Herta (unconfirmed).