Meanwhile, in the real world.
After an agonizingly long wait, the most hyped new game around, Honkai: Star Rail, had finally opened its servers.
To log in right on time and snag an early UID, a not-especially-famous little streamer going by [What Bad Intentions Could a Little Bluebird Possibly Have] already had her game client and her stream up and running at nine sharp.
Everything was ready.
All she wanted was a UID that was low and sounded nice.
Then one scrolling comment drifted lazily across the screen.
[Star Rail opened half an hour ago.
What is the streamer even doing?]
“Huh???”
Little Bluebird’s whole face changed.
She hammered the mouse, and sure enough, the screen shifted.
Oh come on, MiHoYo opened the servers early on the sly?
That’s just evil!
One glance at the bottom left corner.
UIDs were already starting with 1030…
this generation of netizens was too much!
She slapped her own cheeks to psych herself up and launched the game.
She wasn’t exactly famous, but Little Bluebird had been streaming long enough to gather a modest pile of fans, and the comments started rolling in one after another.
[Birdie actually got up early to stream]
[Oh, you’re awake.
The train left almost an hour ago]
“Don’t say stuff like that.
There’s still time to catch the train!”
Answering the scrolling comments as she went, Little Bluebird opened the game.
The opening CG played out over a variation on Canon.
Kafka made her dazzling entrance while Silver Wolf guided her over something like a radio link, the two of them talking as they moved with clear purpose in one direction.
[This part doesn’t look much different from the second beta.
Next they go steal the Stellaron from Herta’s collection and then give birth to the protagonist]
Long, complicated scrolling comments always catch the eye.
Little Bluebird glanced over without thinking.
By the time she registered what she’d read, it was far too late.
“Goddamn spoiler dogs.”
Grumbling at the scrolling comments, she found herself chewing on a different question.
“Though now that I think about it, these two female characters gave birth to the protagonist together…
so are they lesbian…
colleagues?”
[?]
A solid wall of question marks scrolled past.
Little Bluebird cleared her throat and changed the subject fast.
“Let’s just get on with the story, shall we.”
She kept the character moving, following the quest markers.
Kafka reached the objective, Silver Wolf appeared, and after a slick CG, Kafka drew out the Stellaron.
“Ooh, character creation at last.”
Little Bluebird let out a breath.
She barely hesitated before making her pick.
“What?
There’s another option?
Who could possibly say no to a Stelle this cool and this gorgeous?”
She typed in the name [Galactic Femagneto] and hit confirm.
On screen, Kafka pushed the Stellaron into Stelle’s chest.
Then came the classic riddle-speak segment, Kafka delivering an entire monologue to a dazed, barely conscious Stelle.
Little Bluebird didn’t understand a word of it, but she thought Kafka looked amazing.
“On principle, your streamer does not enjoy riddle-speak segments.
But Kafka is way too pretty, so I’m going to ask a few extra questions.”
[You just want her body, you degenerate!]
“How much longer are you going to keep this up?
By the script, the people from the Astral Express will be here soon.
We shouldn’t run into them.”
“I know, Silver Wolf.
Just a little longer.
Just a bit.”
Kafka said her last, lingering words to Stelle, then left alongside Silver Wolf.
[Waaah, Mom, don’t gooo~]
[Where’d this Valorant mama’s boy crawl out of?]
[Next up the Astral Express Crew comes to pick the protagonist up, right?]
“Goddamn spoiler dogs.”
[The streamer’s cursing sounds like flirting]
“Hah.
That’s because your streamer hasn’t shown her full power yet!”
Talking back while she pushed on through the main story.
Nothing to be done about it, really.
Plenty of viewers had probably cleared the whole thing already, and then there were the closed-beta Beaters.
Getting spoiled was basically fated.
Better to buckle down and keep going!
Little Bluebird clicked.
The screen went black as usual, but she waited, and it never lit up again.
“The heck’s this supposed to mean?
Why’s it stuck?
Is the story bugged?”
She scratched her head and sat staring at that black screen for a solid thirty seconds.
[Is the streamer intellectually challenged.
You have to click a few more times to get to the next scene]
R-really?
Is that all it was?
Little Bluebird laughed awkwardly and moved to click again and keep the story rolling.
“Haaah…”
A faint sigh drifted through.
“Holy crap, did somebody just sigh right next to my ear?”
She shrieked before she could stop herself, but the scene was already moving.
Stelle opened her eyes, blank and unfocused, and the camera panned.
Right beside her, a gorgeous white-haired girl crouched on the floor with one arm hooked around her knees, drawing circles.
[???]
[What’s going on, I’ve never seen this scene before?]
[That white-haired girl…
wasn’t she in the OP?]
[Whoa, why didn’t anyone say so earlier!]
[Hidden story!?]
“You’re awake.
You’re the best-quality one out of this new batch.”
“I’m Felutina.
A…
ghost from the past.”
“Someone will be here to pick you up soon.
Remember not to tell anyone I exist, okay~”
Felutina’s first appearance wasn’t long, but it left a deep impression.
Especially at the very end, when Felutina passed straight through March 7th’s arm and body and vanished down the far end of the corridor.
[Cyber ghost girl!]
[Whoa, that had so much atmosphere, this episode was god-tier!]
[This episode was trash]
[She shows up, holds my hand, calls me babe.
She likes me!!!]
“Uh, well…”
Little Bluebird finished watching the scene, then checked the viewer count in the top right corner of the stream.
Somebody must have spread the word that she’d streamed a hidden scene, because that number was climbing at a frankly terrifying rate.
There’s an old saying that gets passed around the internet: stand where the wind blows hard enough, and even a pig can fly.
Little Bluebird had to seriously consider whether this was the one chance she’d ever get in her life.
Keep going!
Sadly, everything that followed was identical to the closed beta, and the ghost girl named Felutina never showed up in the story again.
Back at the Master Control Zone, Asta suggested the protagonist go wander around for a bit, and control passed back to the player.
Since the dialogue coming up was on the dull side, and the viewer count in the corner had started to slide, Little Bluebird began rambling.
“Ohh, Miss Asta is so pretty too.
I love her.”
“Honestly, big sis Himeko is stunning as well.
prprpr”
“March 7th, take me away with you, I really do love you—”
[Why does the streamer fall for every single one she sees?]
“Don’t talk nonsense.
My heart just shattered into a whole lot of pieces, so it takes a whole lot of love to fill it back up.”
She clicked around at random until she opened the conversation with Dan Heng and March 7th.
“Have either of you seen a ghost?
White hair, red eyes, really pretty…”
Here it comes!
Little Bluebird perked right up.
[Whoa, the female lead’s voice is so nice.]
[Didn’t she already talk earlier?]
[Not the point.
Streamer, streamer, hurry up and go get my wife back!]
“Heh heh.
If your wife is a white-haired, red-eyed ghost girl, then she isn’t your wife.
She’s MY wife!”
Little Bluebird huffed, and sped up her clicking, unable to wait a second longer herself.
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