o— Hua Yi watched the researcher leave, his gaze shifting downward.
Standing on the high platform, he looked at the crowd in the reception hall as an electronic broadcast echoed through the Base Zone’s main lobby.
[The mysteries of the universe are a subject that countless scholars spend their entire lives exploring.
They may be so complex as to be inexpressible in any language, or so common as to be hidden in any crevice or corner.
Yet, the scattered beings throughout the galaxy have collectively painted a magnificent creation called civilization…] This was the station’s introductory voice-over, broadcast specifically for outside visitors.
It was personally written by Station Master Asta as a replacement for the old version penned by Ms.
Herta.
Even though the researchers in the station’s various departments knew that Ms.
Herta’s sharp words were the undeniable truth, they still breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that the manual, written by the genius’s own hand, was eventually replaced by Station Master Asta’s version due to “design issues.” Of course, everyone respected the great Ms.
Herta, member of the Genius Society.
But, setting aside the feelings of the visitors who had gone through a long wait and a strict review process just for the privilege of a tour, if the researchers had to listen to a daily broadcast about being “humble researchers,” what little self-confidence they had left would be utterly annihilated, and their ambition along with it.
In that state, who could possibly focus on their research?
They might as well just stand at attention and wait for Ms.
Herta to verbally flay them alive.
Fortunately, Herta rarely managed the station directly.
Station Master Asta was responsible for all its affairs, and the stable operation of the station was a credit to them both.
Otherwise, judging by Herta’s directness, if she had offered just a few more “words of wisdom” or left behind a few more of her personal writings, who knows how many researchers would have despaired at the gap between themselves and a genius, crying all the way back to their home planets after quitting their jobs.
Enduring the disappointed gazes of family and friends back home would be better than being constantly crushed at the space station.
The Herta Space Station was no paradise.
It gathered many of the finest minds in the universe, which also meant that intellects would inevitably clash, and a hierarchy would be established.
[We piece together the fragments of fallen movements, recreating the feasts of glorious moments; we decrypt the core of unknown technologies, glimpsing the dazzling crystallization of a civilization’s wisdom.] Unlike Herta, who delivered a crushing blow to visitors right after a magnificent opening, ruthlessly revealing that ordinary tourists were mere passersby, Asta’s version was far gentler in its wording.
[Scholars transform themselves into small boats, crossing to the very end of the vast galaxy.
And the silent answer on the other shore is the best response to our progress.] As a transmigrator, Hua Yi didn’t even need to specifically organize information about the Honkai: Star Rail universe; he could feel the young station master’s gentleness and kindness just by listening to the broadcast.
[We hope that you can feel the charm of the unknown and the joy of seeking knowledge at the Herta Space Station!] The visitors’ access was limited to the space elevator and the reception hall, and their tour time was only thirty minutes.
Such a restricted journey was destined not to be a life-changing event where one could suddenly grasp some supreme truth or profound wisdom.
Yet Asta still offered them her sincere encouragement, doing her best to protect that small spark—be it born of ideals, faith, or even simple interest—in the hope that it might one day bloom into a brilliant light.
—o— “Hey, what are you spacing out for?” Emily, a Level II Researcher from the Department of Lumina Archives and a youthful girl with short, gray-black hair, greeted Hua Yi.
“I just saw a researcher leave here looking overjoyed.
Were you being a good Samaritan again?
Aren’t you tired?
And now you’re staring at the reception hall.
What, you want to show concern for the visitors who are only here for a short while, too?
Can you even manage all that?” The string of questions, combined with the girl’s slightly rapid speech and stern expression, gave her a rather aggressive air.
However, Hua Yi knew that Miss Emily was already holding back quite a bit.
Her social track record was nothing short of legendary.
When a female colleague invited her to submit some documents together, she replied on the spot, “If you don’t know the way, you can use the navigation,” nearly making the other girl explode with anger.
Another time, a different female researcher from their department saw Emily asleep at her desk and kindly covered her with a blanket.
When Emily woke up, not only did she not say thank you, she stated with a stiff face, “The station’s temperature is constant.
You don’t even know that?” which sent another person’s blood pressure soaring.
If it weren’t for the fact that Emily’s words were merely hurtful, and that she had actually helped her colleagues in her work and daily life and wasn’t a bad person at heart, she would have been completely ostracized long ago.
Not that her current situation was much different.
Whenever the Department of Lumina Archives arranged a project requiring teamwork, no one dared to team up with Emily.
So, it was only natural that the young researcher, who usually didn’t have a single friend to talk to, would interact with a newcomer like Hua Yi.
“Why are you looking at me like that?
Am I funny to you?” “I’m just a newcomer, unfamiliar with the Herta Space Station and the cosmos, so I’m gathering information through various means.
Besides, being helpful is a virtue.
Otherwise, who would help you practice your communication skills?” “Wha-?
How did you know…” “The last time you showed me around the station, Miss Emily, a book order list fell out of your pocket.
It included, but was not limited to, The Art of Language, Skills for Effective Communication, and The Communication Bible: Thirty Tricks to Capture Your Audience’s Heart.
By the way, have those books arrived yet?” “Argh!
You’re so annoying…
I…
I don’t know what to do either!
The fact that I’m bad with words—I know that!” Seeing Emily stomping her foot while admitting in a fit of shame and indignation that she was using their conversations to improve her social skills, Hua Yi, who had remained perfectly calm while reading the Level III researcher’s report earlier, feigned shock.
“You’re actually reacting like this?” “How else?
What kind of reaction did you expect?” “To deny it to the death, or to forcefully change the subject, or even to angrily demand whether that book list fell out by accident or if I stole it.” “Huh?
As bad as I am at talking, I would never frame an innocent person—or are you saying my communication skills are so terrible that I’d lie with my eyes wide open?” “Emily, I was just joking.
You should be able to confirm that from the speaker’s tone and expression.
However, since my joke made you angry, how about I treat you to a meal as an apology?” “Uh, I wasn’t that angry…
and if we’re talking about treating someone, I-I…” Emily struggled for a long time, her pretty face turning almost completely red, but she still couldn’t manage to get the words “My treat” out.
—o— CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Aleph_0 show some support!