Playing with Stats in Honkai: Star Rail

Playing with Traits in Honkai: Star Rail by YuYu Kuai Pa

Heh?! I can transform into Haxxor Bunny and drag the real Haxxor Bunny into an argument with Silver Wolf? This is hilarious!

I can even transform into Raiden Mei and cross blades with Acheron? Hmm? Cooking, really?

Hehehe, Aha, you're the one plotting against me, aren't you! Liuge looked at the group of people staring daggers at him from behind and wiped away a cold sweat...

ps: "A purely hedonistic, chaos-driven story." "Please understand the protagonist before reading; you can skip to chapter 33 to start the Xianzhou arc! I'm not very familiar with Herta Space Station and Belobog, so the writing there is poor."

001 What kind of damn questionnaire is this!

It seems I have truly transmigrated.

Listening to the constant roaring and piercing alarms outside, Liuge, huddled in the corner of an unknown storage room, only felt that they were noisy.

No one expected it! No one expected that on a long-awaited day off, just as I finally logged into Honkai: Star Rail to check out the new main story, I'd be greeted by a questionnaire that wastes one's life.

For the sake of the inevitable mysterious reward, Liuge decided to waste a few minutes.

"What is your gender?"

--Male.

"What is your age?"

--22.

"What is your preferred combat style?"

What kind of strange question is this?

But if I had to choose a preferred style, it would definitely be "Aether Edit," even if I don't fully understand the nuances of that ability yet.

But "Aether Edit" is just too cool!

And it fits the daily combat methods of a programmer—I mean, my work!

"What do you like about Honkai: Star Rail?"

"Herta Space Station."

Hmph! People ultimately love rich women, and they ultimately love things that are fragrant, soft, and petite. Besides Herta Space Station, where else could there be?

Although Belobog is quite nice, that three-turbo Bronya is too mediocre, and Seele lacks distinct characteristics; only Cocolia is worthy of being an opponent.

As for the Xianzhou...

It wouldn't be very polite to critique it any further.

After filling it out for about three to five minutes, the moment Liuge clicked confirm to submit, his vision went black.

In the blink of an eye, this lazy dog lost his kennel and appeared in a metallic steel corridor. Before he could even confirm if this development was a bit too "space-age," a blinding red light and deafening alarms followed.

"Alert! Antimatter Legion invasion detected. All combat personnel, prepare to intercept the Antimatter Legion!"

"Alert! Antimatter Legion..."

Listening to the broadcast, Liuge realized where he was.

Without a doubt, this was Herta Space Station.

"This is a total waste of life, damn it!"

Then, Liuge very prudently shrank back into the current storage room, calmly pondering whether the Trailblazer—that trash-loving woman—or the "Mom"—that bad woman—would arrive first.

But then again, since the transmigration was caused by the questionnaire, would the combat style I filled in grant me the desired combat abilities?

After all, I had already arrived at the supreme city of rich women, Herta Space Station, which I wanted to reach.

Generally speaking, transmigration must come with a cheat; otherwise, it would be as terrifying as not being able to find a charger when going to bed or not being able to find a phone when waking up.

Listening to the increasingly dense gunfire, Liuge, who wasn't exactly calm, felt his analysis starting to heat up.

Da-da-da...

The intensifying firepower, the sound of objects falling, the noise fading until only the clear sound of heels hitting the floor remained...

"Silver Wolf, there's someone in this storage room."

A lazy tone, though mixed with a hint of confusion.

Without a doubt, the owner of this voice must be an incredible older sister.

"Hmm? According to the script, our route shouldn't encounter anyone; we should only be guessing against trash mobs like Voidrangers."

This time it was a crisp voice, seemingly a young girl.

Probably a peerless "low-hand"—referring to her gaming skill level.

"Then, do you want to go in and take a look?"

"I think you're just too bored, Kafka. Since they aren't planning on coming out, it means they won't cause any trouble... and you want to go in and look? Are you in a rush to find trouble?"

"Fine, you're right."

A soft chuckle, though the meaning was a bit profound.

At this point in the conversation, Liuge, located inside the storage room, looked up at the glowing, unfamiliar ceiling and basically confirmed who the two people passing by were.

Kafka and Silver Wolf of the Stellaron Hunters.

Judging by the dialogue, this is the exact moment before the Express arrives, when the Stellaron Hunters are on their way to awaken the Stellaron—though there is no telling if the Trailblazer is male or female this time around.

"Should I... follow them and take a look?"

The thought lived for only a split second; knowing full well that his combat prowess was currently inferior to a Slime, Liuge shrank back and immediately dismissed the notion.

Speaking of Slimes... Genshin... stop!

His wandering thoughts were strangled in the cradle. As he slapped his forehead, the corner of Liuge's eye caught a sphere glowing with white light, appearing without warning on a crate to his front left.

"What the? Did I get a cheat?"

With three parts confusion, five parts excitement, and two parts thrill, Liuge was just about to stand up and approach it.

Bang—

The warehouse doors were blasted open with a violent roar. A humanoid creature with a purple-black body, purple flames radiating from its head, and golden blades attached to its arms strode inside.

"Crap!"

It's a Voidranger: Reaver!

Liuge instinctively lunged toward the orb of light, and the Voidranger charged toward him as if it had been aiming for him all along.

The biting glint of blades accompanied by a murderous aura shrouded the space.

But before he could be sliced into seventeen pieces, Liuge reached the spot and touched the orb of light.

"Obtained Stat-Stick: Strength"

"Perform Aether Edit?"

The moment he made contact, a voice echoed in his mind.

Being at the brink of life and death, Liuge immediately initiated the edit.

At the same time, the surrounding space seemed to enter a state of stasis, like something out of a time-stop series. The blade arc carved by the Voidranger hung suspended beside him, and a transparent light screen appeared before his eyes, displaying six 3D models and square options marked with "NEW."

"...Is this Aether Edit?"

His eyelids twitching, Liuge shifted a few steps to avoid the range of the blade, moved behind the Voidranger, and tapped the entry labeled "Strength."

"Edit Stat-Stick 'Strength' to right hand?"

Yes!

As he confirmed, Liuge's right hand felt as if it had merged with something; he could feel a certain surge of power.

And so, time began to flow again.

The biting blade arc descended. Liuge, now outside the attack range, clenched his right fist. With a small step, he delivered a punch that looked plain and simple but was actually powerful and heavy, slamming it into the back of the Voidranger's head.

With a dull thud and a ripple of air, the Voidranger was sent flying, slamming heavily into the steel wall before dissipating into black particles without a moment's delay.

"Is this... is this Aether Edit even legal?"

Staring blankly at the shallow dent left in the wall, then looking at his fist for several seconds, Liuge more or less understood.

With a thought, the light screen and 3D models reappeared, though now there was a glowing dot on the 3D model, located on the right hand where he had just added the stat.

After a little experimentation, Liuge confirmed that this stat could also be detached... in other words, this was a collection game; or to put it another way, he was meant to be a scavenger.

If nothing else, this Aether Edit likely required collecting various stat-sticks to combine and edit, thereby developing all sorts of different abilities.

It was truly, even nine-tenths, intense!

"I suppose I barely have the ability to protect myself now. The Herta Space Station is so huge, and there are so many strange collectibles... should I try to seek wealth in the midst of danger?"

Liuge, who was struggling while at full health, paused for a few seconds, then gritted his teeth and peeked his way out of the warehouse. However, he hadn't taken two steps before his eyes were dazzled by a blinding golden light.

"Golden... Golden Legend?"

Indeed, he had barely stepped out when he saw two golden orbs, complete with stat-type displays.

"Stat-Stick: Character"

Perhaps it was the scavenger instinct, or perhaps it was a human's craving for golden light, but Liuge reached out his hand—

"Obtained Character Stat-Stick: Genius Hacker"

"Obtained Character Stat-Stick: Bad Woman"

"Oh my god! Transformation!?"

002 Haxxor Bunny

"I like 2D characters."

Looking at the stat-sticks flickering with golden light, Liuge couldn't help but frown.

"But I don't want to become a 2D character."

But then again, did these types of female-exclusive stats imply something specific—of course, he wasn't trying to show off his martial arts here, but rather, could the so-called Aether Edit actually rewrite personal reality?

"Yeah, no transforming!"

A normal human should have some hesitation; he couldn't just get his hands on a stat and rush to try it out. At the very least, he couldn't easily abandon his all-important brothers!

Convinced of their mutual importance, Liuge put away the interface and returned to his essential work as a scavenger, continuing to explore forward with extreme caution, not even sparing the Trash Cans.

Relying on his hearing to barely avoid the combat zones, he traveled for a long time before successively picking up three white, common-grade Stat-Sticks—

Stat-Stick: Speed, Stat-Stick: Concealment, Stat-Stick: Listening.

Just like the previous Stat-Stick: Strength, these were only the lowest-tier entries, though their buff effects were still nine times higher than Liuge's own base stats.

During this time, Liuge attempted to combine Stat-Stick: Concealment with Stat-Stick: Speed, and the final result obtained was—

Stat-Stick: Stealth 1

Eliminates a certain degree of footstep noise without affecting movement speed.

He poked his head out from around the corner like a sneaky dog; although the corridor he saw was covered in scorched marks, at least there were no signs of Voidrangers, and Liuge couldn't help but feel a sense of relief...

Then, a humanoid creature resembling a hulking giant, wielding a heavy cannon, walked over.

Upon spotting Liuge, whose eyes were slowly widening, it tilted its head and paused for a second before raising its pitch-black cannon muzzle, energy beginning to gather.

"Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky!"

With an instinctive step backward, Liuge retreated behind the corner just as a blazing light and intense heat erupted.

Seeing this, Liuge made a very decisive choice to retreat, flashing back behind the corner in one motion.

"Cough, cough, cough... how terrifying!"

The dust and smoke brought on by the explosion made Liuge cough instinctively.

Bang, bang, bang.

Rapid footsteps, accompanied by the murderous intent of a heavy cannon, echoed through the corridor.