In a parallel world known as Blue Star.
Countless streamers had already turned on their broadcasts and were waiting in front of their screens, rubbing their hands together in anticipation.
Most viewers waiting inside the livestream rooms were either office workers or students who couldn’t play immediately.
They could, however, slack off and watch someone else play.
“As a pioneer who participated in all three closed betas, I’m extremely curious to see how much the official version has improved.”
The woman on camera was a generously endowed streamer whose outfit had been calibrated with mathematical precision to sit directly on the moderation execution line.
Her name was Jiang Wuxian.
Because the resolution of her pair of “monitors” was rather terrifying, she was affectionately known throughout the community as 8K Sis.
Or simply—
A-Xian.
She had a VTuber avatar, but since she was doing a reaction stream for a new game, she had deliberately chosen to show her real face instead.
She was also rather talented at drawing artistic literature concerning the continuation of the human species.
Worse still, she was ruthless enough to use herself as reference material.
Naturally, she had quite a large following.
And those viewers knew her far too well to believe even one word of that dignified opening statement.
[STOP PRETENDING, A-XIAN!]
[If Blue-P hadn’t kept me awake all night yesterday after I saw A-Xian’s new masterpiece, I might’ve believed you.]
[Seele × Bronya grinding tofu is indeed peak.]
[I’m new. What’s Blue-P? And what does “grinding tofu” mean? Kind soul please give me a rapid… rapid-fire educational lecture…]
[Don’t ask questions. Believe in science.]
A-Xian knew exactly what kind of creatures inhabited her chat.
Without changing expression, she began setting up a giveaway.
“Family, send any message in chat to participate.”
“I’m giving away three E6 Seele and Jing Yuan accounts. Cash alternatives are accepted.”
“And one free custom doujin featuring a character and theme of the winner’s choice.”
Within seconds, the chat became a unified wall of messages.
Once that was done, A-Xian cupped her cheeks and put on a lovestruck expression.
“My Jing Yuanyuan husband, wait for me~”
“I’ll come to the Xianzhou to see you soon~~”
[Sha Monk Carrying the Pole donated ¥1000 Super Chat: Great speech, streamer. Have you considered drawing a doujin of yourself and Jing Yuan?]
“Thanks to Sha Monk’s Po— Thanks for Sha Monk’s Super Chat.”
“You fishing bastards really like seeing my avatar paired with anime characters that much?”
[Can’t help it. A-Xian makes crime feel dangerously tempting.]
[The streamer is simply too great.]
“Enough.”
“A doujin of me and Jing Yuanyuan is obviously something only I get to enjoy.”
[Hoarding food for yourself, huh?]
[There is no such thing as hoarding if enough money is offered.]
[Heh. Woman. Don’t go falling for someone else when they release an even hotter male character.]
A-Xian suddenly looked straight into the camera.
Her voice was firm and decisive.
“I, Jiang Wuxian, swear that no matter how violently the tides may surge, Jing Yuanyuan will be the only man I ever love!”
[You’re raising a flag without putting anything on the line?]
“What’s the big deal?”
“If I ever fall for another man, I’ll draw a doujin of me and that character and share it with all of you for free.”
“And I’m talking Snow-Woman scale.”
[HOLY SHIT!]
[Very good. Clip team, start recording.]
[MiHoYo, you know what I want, right?]
[First time in my life I’m praying for a male character so handsome I’d lick the screen. I need that boomerang to smash straight into A-Xian’s face.]
“Give up.”
“You think I don’t know which handsome men are coming later?”
The Bishop and Blade Guy might both be handsome.
But Jing Yuan was still her one and only.
[SERVERS OPENED EARLY!]
A-Xian’s eyes lit up.
She immediately clicked the login screen—
Only to discover a roughly 500 MB update patch.
Meanwhile, Lingzhou’s identity in this life was extremely simple.
And his setup was as cliché as cliché could get.
A Nameless who had boarded the Astral Express to search for his missing memories.
The System might be third-rate garbage in almost every category, but at least it had never screwed up identity integration.
In the eyes of the Astral Express crew, he was a companion who had already accompanied them on several Trailblaze expeditions.
He possessed some knowledge of medicine.
And served as the train’s doctor.
Lingzhou walked out of the Party Car and into the Parlor Car.
Welt sat on a sofa tinkering with a model kit.
Conductor Pom-Pom was mopping the floor.
“Everyone already left?”
“Himeko saw that you were sleeping soundly and didn’t wake you,” Welt replied.
Lingzhou nodded.
He hadn’t actually been sleeping soundly.
He had been thinking about the script.
Like the Stellaron Hunters, he had one too.
The difference was that the System’s “script” allowed considerable room for modification.
Room for him to improvise.
Calling it modification wasn’t entirely accurate.
It was more like participation.
Once he participated, everything that happened afterward became real.
In the eyes of players from that parallel world, these people were game characters and this entire universe was fictional.
Even the cutscenes the players watched had to be edited and post-processed by the System.
But Lingzhou knew perfectly well that everyone in front of him was real.
Unique.
Alive.
To put it less politely—
These “characters” had lives of their own.
He couldn’t just rampage through the story doing whatever he wanted because it was supposedly a game.
“Judging by the time, they should be returning from the station with supplies soon.”
Welt glanced at the clock.
Just then, an emergency communication signal came through the synesthesia beacon.
He immediately answered and placed it on speaker.
“What happened, Himeko?”
“The Antimatter Legion launched a surprise attack on Herta Space Station.”
“Asta asked us to stay behind and help!”
“Antimatter Legion…”
Welt’s brows furrowed.
“I’ll come help.”
“No.”
Himeko’s voice was calm.
“The Express is docked at Platform J-23. The Legion will inevitably target it.”
“You and Lingzhou stay behind and guard the train. Wait for further instructions.”
“Understood.”
The call ended.
Welt looked at Lingzhou.
The two exchanged a tacit nod.
Then Welt opened the Express navigation interface.
From it, they could see that Himeko’s group of three was currently split two-and-one inside the station.
“Welt.”
“Look outside.”
Lingzhou spoke up.
A group of Voidrangers were rushing toward the Express.
“You’re a doctor. I’ll handle this.”
Welt placed down his unfinished model, tightened his grip on his cane, and pushed up his glasses.
“A doctor who can’t fight isn’t a proper Featherborn.”
“I happen to know a tiny bit of martial arts and spellcraft.”
“Together will be faster.”
The moment Lingzhou finished speaking, Welt saw the Voidrangers outside the train swept into the air by two currents of wind.
Then—
BOOM!
They slammed violently into one another and shattered into countless pieces.
“Your abilities recovered?” Welt asked in surprise.
The Featherborn were humans born with wings.
They naturally possessed the power to manipulate wind.
“Less than thirty percent.”
“It’s enough for dealing with Legion fodder.”
As time passed, fewer and fewer Voidrangers targeted the train.
Eventually, both men stopped moving.
Welt opened the navigation interface again.
The three separated markers had now converged.
He unconsciously relaxed.
Then—
The entire station suddenly shook.
A far more violent alarm began to howl.
“It’s the Doomsday Beast.”
Lingzhou looked upward.
“The station’s shield has been compromised,” Welt said gravely.
“Communication signals are unstable. I can’t contact Himeko.”
“The navigation system is starting to lose them too.”
Hearing this, Lingzhou smiled faintly.
Now wasn’t that a perfectly timed entrance opportunity?
“The station is under attack both inside and out. There will inevitably be casualties.”
“You stay here and guard the train.”
“What about you?”
“While the navigation signal still works, I’m going to help.”
“If you detect everyone retreating toward the nearest platform, notify Pom-Pom and go pick them up.”
“Very well.”
“Be careful.”