Chapter 24 - 24: Attention from the Stellaron Hunters

"Buzz!" The spectacled Silver Wolf shuddered violently. Her senses returned from the Herta space station to the high-rise building where she was with Kafka. Seeing her agitated state, Kafka found it amusing and teased, "Why such a strong reaction this time? Did those guys catch you by your tail?" Silver Wolf's expression remained cold; she had no mood for joking with Kafka. Immediately, she took out her phone and began checking it. Moments later, looking as if she were about to cry but unable to shed tears, she exclaimed, "It's gone, all gone! Not even a trace left... This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous!" "Alright, stop acting like a child throwing tantrums. You're not that young anymore." "I'm not throwing tantrums." Taking a deep breath, Silver Wolf seemed to compose herself, treating it merely as a momentary vent. Her gaze regained its usual clarity. "Kafka, there's something I want to show you." "What? Is it that 'Punklod Spirit' you mentioned earlier? You know I'm not really interested in it." "No, it's not..." "Oh?" "It's another game." Kafka fell silent. "Listen, Silver Wolf, I understand you love games, but even if your accounts got banned, couldn't you just hack into a nearby miyatsuko branch and recover them? Let's not give up so easily." "That's not it. This game truly has something special." As she spoke, Silver Wolf projected the game's screen from her phone directly in front of Kafka. Kafka felt somewhat helpless but decided to indulge Silver Wolf, considering how distraught she had been earlier. He thought it might be worth giving this game a brief look. "Buzz!" Honkai: Star Rail launched! Kafka saw a retro-style steam train navigating through the vast cosmos. "The Astral Express?" "A train-themed game? That's quite unique." Silver Wolf shook her head. "Don't ask me; I'm playing for the first time too." "But let me tell you, the game's storyline mirrors real-life events. Who knows, we might even make appearances ourselves!" "Oh, now that piques my interest. I wonder how the development team will portray me?" Just as he finished speaking... The smile on Kafka's lips froze instantly. Silver Wolf also paused, taken aback. She had mentioned that their roles might appear in the game's plot. However, unexpectedly! The opening scene immediately focused on Kafka playing her Akashic Violin—a close-up shot! Kafka had expected some exposition, introducing the background and setting of the story. Instead, it jumped straight into the pivotal moment of their infiltration of the space station. Her smile faded as she began to watch attentively, growing increasingly serious with each passing moment. "Silver Wolf, could our invasion of the space station have been recorded by surveillance?" "Impossible! I disabled all remote connections at the time. Not only surveillance but even detection signals couldn't penetrate." "And if we were truly under surveillance, how come no one intervened? Plus, our departure was surprisingly effortless." Kafka didn't question this. In fact, she was well aware that there was no way they could have been recorded during their mission at the space station! But then, what explained this storyline? It mirrored their actual experience perfectly! Even certain minute details aligned shockingly closely! Soon, Kafka witnessed her own battle and saw the animation of her ultimate ability being activated. —[Tragic Crescendo] "Putting aside how this storyline unfolded, I must say, the effect of my Ultimate is quite to my liking." A hint of admiration shone in Kafka's eyes, even she had to admit it. The animation truly captured her essence perfectly—not only aligning with her combat style but also exuding an artistic beauty throughout its execution! Silver Wolf whistled appreciatively. "What do you think? Told you this game was cool!" "Hmm..." "Quick, look! My turn now!" Silver Wolf's eyes sparkled with excitement. After joining the team, she eagerly tried out her skills without delay. Activating her Ultimate Ability! —[Account Permanently Banned!] "What does this Ultimate name mean?!" Silver Wolf nearly burst out laughing in frustration. Immediately following that, she found herself playing as if in a rhythm game, unleashing rapid attacks on the enemy. "Not bad at all! This ultimate move fits our hacker style perfectly, with even a touch of Ether Editing!" After watching the animation for her ultimate ability, Silver Wolf felt quite satisfied. However, being highly attuned to game statistics, she furrowed her brow upon seeing the damage output. "Why is my ultimate single-target while yours is area-of-effect?" "And why does your single-target DMG surpass mine?" Kafka smiled. "How would I know? I didn't design this game." "Let me think... Ah, got it!" "My skill must have additional mechanics attached; it can't be just pure damage. There's definitely some powerful secondary effects involved. Let's wait and see when we use it!" "I believe you, okay? Happy now?" Apart from battling monsters, the duo closely monitored the progression of the storyline. Finally, they reached the room containing the Stellaron. As they watched themselves personally placing the Stellaron into its carrier, it felt like reliving a moment from yesterday. "I never thought I'd witness this scene again," Kafka murmured. "That's enough! The game has already revealed too much!" Silver Wolf slammed her hand on the table. "The developer clearly knows us far too well!" "Even Elio isn't exempt from this!" Kafka stared at the screen, her eyes reflecting its glow as she said, "This level of detail in recreating events seems reminiscent of Elio's abilities. However, while Elio writes possible futures into 'scripts,' this developer has turned past incidents into a game." "Never mind that now. I'm going to post about this in our group chat and ask our colleagues, including Elio," Kafka murmured. Indeed, the Stellaron Hunters had their own group chat. However, they didn't use a conventional platform; instead, Silver Wolf created something akin to a local network, allowing them to evade searches by companies or other entities. Quickly, Silver Wolf summarized the information about the game and posted it in the group. Sam was the first to reply, "What's Star Rail? Never heard of it before." "And Kafka, you're featured in Elio's next script. Shouldn't you be preparing for it?" Using her phone, Kafka responded, "Thank you, I will make preparations." After that, Sam stopped replying. It was unclear whether he secretly went to download the game or if he genuinely had no interest in it. "If I remember correctly, we have one more colleague, right?" Silver Wolf started tagging Blade frantically. After a long pause, as if finally unable to bear the nagging, Blade replied: "Don't know, not interested." Silver Wolf anticipated Blade's dismissive attitude from the start. Immediately, she sent him a clip of Dan Heng's ultimate ability animation that she had captured during her stream. A few seconds later, Blade responded promptly, "It's him! Yinyue-jun!" "How do you have footage of his combat?" "Wait, this doesn't seem like a real battle?" "Where is he?" Silver Wolf replied with a sly grin emoji, "I'm not entirely sure either; it's actually from within the game." Blade stopped responding after that. In contrast, Silver Wolf's expression showed keen interest as she turned to Kafka and asked, "Do you think he'll play the game himself? I can hardly imagine what he'd be like while gaming." "That's hard to say. Bladie tends to be very attentive when it comes to matters involving that man," Kafka replied.