The days before the official launch of Star Rail, the player community was buzzing with discussion.
But Columbina was special.
Compared to characters with story trailers building up anticipation, her presence was kept to an absolute minimum, appearing only in the version preview and the OP.
Over time, even the most dedicated players, those who loved digging for character foreshadowing, rarely mentioned her name.
Yet, a character who could make it into the preview and the OP couldn’t possibly remain completely hidden in the story.
Thus.
Columbina became an unavoidable topic.
In the live stream of popular gaming streamer Xiao Hayou.
Sucking on a strawberry lollipop, she smiled and interacted with the bullet chat: “Brothers, why are you still watching my stream at this hour?
Aren’t you going to camp out early to grab a UID?” The bullet chat instantly scrolled by at lightning speed.
[What’s the rush?
There’s still some time before the server opens.
Isn’t it better to hang out and chat with the streamer?] [Seriously, who would have thought!
We’ve been waiting forever for Genshin’s Columbina, but HSR’s Columbina comes out first.
This is a case of the younger sister overtaking on a curve!] [Hahaha, the person above is speaking the truth!
The younger sister always does what the older sister couldn’t.
I’m going with Star Rail this time!] [How did this even get linked to Columbina?] [Look at the design!
That hair ornament, that aura…
it’s hard not to make the connection, okay!] After chatting for a while, the number of viewers in the live stream was dropping at a visible rate.
She raised an eyebrow and slapped the table with exaggerated force: “Eh?
Where’d everyone go?
Why did my brothers suddenly disappear all at once?” [Stupid streamer!
The servers opened early!
If you don’t rush in now, all the good UIDs will be gone.
I’m out, I’m out!] [Hey, stop chatting!
Hurry up and turn off the stream to grab a UID!] [I’m heading out first.
I’ll come back later to watch you play through the story!] Lil’ Hafu froze for two seconds.
When she finally processed it, she burst out laughing: “Fine, so I’m the only one left here chatting like a fool!” She didn’t mind the sudden drop in viewers.
After all, she hadn’t started the stream to gain popularity in the first place; she just turned it on while playing the game for some company.
“Then you guys go grab yours.
I’m just going to start playing!” The loading screen flashed by, and the familiar space station scene instantly unfolded.
Lil’ Hafu pushed forward with the story, and before long, she reached the famous scene where Kafka holds Stelle down and places the Stellaron into her body.
On the screen, Kafka’s hand gently pressed against Stelle’s chest: “Time to wake up.” Before Lil’ Hafu could even comment, the bullet chat exploded.
[Mom!
Stop pressing!
Stop pressing!
Any more and Stelle won’t have a chest anymore!] [Hahaha, I’m dying!
If she’s flat, she’s flat, why are you blaming Kafka?] [No, Stelle clearly has a young woman’s body!
How can she be a flat chest?
The modeler is definitely a bit biased!] [The person above, don’t just hate for the sake of it!
Flat chests are also cute!] There were still over a thousand viewers left in the live stream who hadn’t gone to grab UIDs, most of whom were simply there to watch the story.
Right now, they were all talking wildly about Stelle’s body type.
Seeing the screen full of complaints, Lil’ Hafu quickly cleared her throat to smooth things over: “Ahem, everyone, don’t pay attention to these details!
Aside from that one point, isn’t Stelle very pretty?” As she spoke, she clicked the mouse to advance the plot, and a CG animation suddenly popped up.
In the scene, Stelle’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.
Before she could even get a good look at her surroundings, a face appeared right in front of her.
Columbina was propped up on the ground with both hands, leaning over to look at her.
Looking closer, you could see that Columbina wasn’t completely leaning over, but just half-squatting on the floor.
Her arms were too tired from resting on her knees, so she changed to supporting herself with her hands on the ground, making it look like she had gently “crawled” over.
“You’re awake?” Columbina’s voice was very gentle.
She stepped back a few paces, reached out, and pulled the person up from the ground with a slight tug.
“Ahhh!
She woke up too early!
Why did you wake up so early?!” Lil’ Hafu suddenly slammed the table and shouted in anguish.
“According to the beta plot, isn’t this the part where Teacher Dan Heng is supposed to perform CPR?” “She’s already so close!
Is she going to take Teacher Dan Heng’s place?
I wanted to see the famous scene!” [Theoretically speaking, it’s actually possible!
She’s already this close, just a little bit further and she’s there!] [Wait, that’s not right!
I remember from the foreshadowing before that Columbina was supposed to debut on the Xianzhou, right?] [She’s not in the Space Station plot at all!
Why is she appearing in the very first scene at launch?
This is way too sudden!] [Who cares if it’s sudden!
The earlier she appears, the better.
I’ve already started taking screenshots.
Columbina’s face is just too stunning; she looks ten times better than in the preview!] [The way she pulled Stelle up just now was so gentle!
Who gets it?
I’m an instant fan!] [I’m in, bro.
I’m definitely pulling for this character!] Lil’ Hafu finally managed to suppress her regret over “missing the CPR scene,” only to see Columbina softly ask on the screen: “What’s your name?” Columbina had known Stelle’s identity all along, and she had even secretly called her the Stellaron Spirit with the Little System.
But the Little System had said she couldn’t reveal this in front of the player, so she had no choice but to ask.
“My name is…
Stelle.” Columbina nodded, then said: “This place has been attacked by the Antimatter Legion, and it’s very dangerous.
Come with me, I will protect you.” Stelle looked at Columbina and nodded quickly: “Oh, okay.” Just like that, Stelle followed Columbina into the Space Station in a daze.
Right after turning a corner, she ran straight into two familiar figures.
March 7th was clutching Dan Heng’s arm, glancing around anxiously while muttering Arlan’s name.
“Ahhh!
Big Sister Columbina!” The moment March 7th looked up and saw Columbina, she was instantly captivated.
“I’m actually seeing the real Big Sister Columbina!
I’m not dreaming, am I?” March 7th had always been a member of Columbina’s fan club.
She never expected that visiting the Space Station would actually let her meet the person in the flesh.
Today was simply her lucky day!
Dan Heng quickly reached out to hold March 7th back just as she was about to pounce on Columbina, his tone carrying a hint of apology: “Sorry, Miss Columbina.
March is usually like this.
She’s a bit excited to see you, so please don’t mind her.” In contrast to March 7th’s exuberance, Dan Heng appeared exceptionally calm, his gaze quietly observing Columbina for a few seconds.
“Hello, Nameless of the Astral Express.” Columbina paid no mind to March 7th’s excitement, simply nodding gently to the two of them, her voice still soft.
“Judging by your expressions, you seem to be looking for someone?
Do you need my help?” “We’re helping Station Manager Asta look for Arlan.
We haven’t confirmed his location yet.” Dan Heng answered truthfully, turning his gaze to Stelle and then back to Columbina, his tone a bit more polite.
“Will you come with us?
We can look out for each other on the way.” Columbina didn’t know whether she should go, but the system had told her she needed to stay close to Stelle.
She immediately turned her head and asked, “Are we going?” Lil’ Hafu looked at Columbina’s expression on the screen, couldn’t help but let out an “aw,” and reached out to click the story option.
On screen, Stelle looked at March 7th and Dan Heng beside her, then nodded gently.
“Let’s go see.” This was the only option available to the player, and also the most natural answer in Stelle’s heart at this moment.