Star Rail, Starting with a Single Pull for Acheron
Author: Lu Xiaobi
Synopsis:
(This is Season Two. Readers following from Season One should start from Chapter 24.)
Caelus: I thought being picked up by a beautiful girl at the start was already the peak of my life. I never expected to pick up another beautiful girl too. This is Acheron. She can eat, and she can fight.
Acheron: Where is Penacony?
March 7th: Don't let those bad women trick you!
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The Birth of the Trailblazer
The story began in an inconspicuous corner of the universe. Amid the vast, boundless sea of stars, a tiny Space Station could only be called a drop in the ocean. It floated in planetary orbit, existing only because its owner needed a warehouse.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Piercing alarms blared throughout the Space Station. Countless holes had been corroded through its outer defensive layer by the power of Destruction, and monstrous soldiers clad in black armor were pouring into the station through those openings. Their exoskeletons extended into weapons—blades, spearguns, sword-guns, arrows. They possessed every tool capable of killing living beings. An unavoidable catastrophe had descended upon the Space Station.
The Space Station's researchers stared in shock, mouths agape. Someone was the first to react and sprinted toward the escape route. Those behind them quickly followed, and before long, a surging crowd had formed.
Amid the crowd, a mature purple-haired beauty seemed utterly out of place. Everyone else was running forward, while she strode toward the rear on long legs. The thin braid floating behind her head swayed gently with her steps. If this had not been a life-or-death moment, plenty of people would surely have stopped to strike up a conversation with her.
The purple-haired woman was named Kafka, and she was a Stellaron Hunter. This disaster at the Space Station had been caused by her and her companion. Their mission was simple: follow the script of a certain existence.
Kafka soon passed through a long corridor and reached the Space Station's core, where she met up with her teammate. Her teammate looked like an underage little girl, her figure far from fully developed. Standing beside Kafka, she looked like a younger sister; there was no comparison between the two. Yet this seemingly petite girl was one of the most skilled hackers in the galaxy. Otherwise, she could not have become Kafka's teammate.
The girl had silver hair tied into a ponytail behind her head. Due to its natural curls, the ponytail spiraled like some kind of soft bread roll, making one want to take a bite. Her silver eyes held a shrewd gleam. She wore a slightly short jacket that exposed her delicate waist and navel, along with black shorts that left most of her legs bare. A rectangular game console hung at her right thigh.
"Silver Wolf, am I late?"
Kafka asked. Her voice was gentle, flowing through the listener's heart like a stream and reducing their vigilance to its lowest point. If they met her eyes as well, someone weak-willed might immediately kneel and shout, "I'm Kafka's dog!"
"No, you came at just the right time."
Silver Wolf glanced at Kafka and replied lazily. This mission was far too easy for her, and she had not been able to get motivated from the start. It was only because the Space Station's owner was absent; otherwise, their infiltration would have been millions of times more difficult.
Snap!
With a snap of Silver Wolf's fingers, she and Kafka appeared inside a sealed room. There was no entrance or exit to this room, and it could not be infiltrated through ordinary physical means, yet they had appeared there with ease.
"No matter how many times I see it, it still feels amazing."
Kafka looked at the golden sphere before her and spoke. However, she was not referring to the Stellaron in front of them. She had seen plenty of those before. She meant Silver Wolf's ability.
"I just modified the reality data a little. It's an insignificant little trick."
Silver Wolf casually said as she popped a piece of bubble gum into her mouth.
Silver Wolf did not waste time chatting. A translucent screen appeared before her. She tapped it with a finger, opening a spatial passage, then tapped again and pulled a sleeping human out from within the space.
The person was male and around 1.8 meters tall. His gray hair shifted faintly with his breathing, and he had fallen into a deep sleep. The two Stellaron Hunters' mission was to use him as a vessel and place the Stellaron before them inside him.
It was an extremely dangerous undertaking. In known cosmic history, no one had ever accomplished such a thing. Yet Kafka casually grabbed the golden sphere, wrapped one arm around the sleeping man, and pressed the Stellaron into his chest.
The fusion between the Stellaron and its vessel was unexpectedly simple, as if they had always been one. However, just as the fusion was taking place, an accident occurred. The Space Station suddenly shook, as though some area had been damaged by Voidrangers. The Stellaron showed signs of instability, and a black-hole-like suction force appeared around it. Kafka hurriedly steadied herself, narrowly avoiding being affected.
Silver Wolf, however, ran into trouble. She had just taken out her game console to check how her character was progressing. Before she could even turn on the screen, the console turned into a streak of light under the Stellaron's suction and was drawn into it, becoming part of the vessel.
In the quiet, suffocating atmosphere, Silver Wolf's expression had become ( ).
"Little Silver Wolf? Have I ever told you not to play with your game console during a mission?"
Kafka turned around and called Silver Wolf's name in an unprecedentedly gentle tone. Her expression had visibly changed as well.
"I-I'm a victim too! That was my favorite game console! It vanished with a snap! Give it back!"
Silver Wolf's guilty conscience immediately put her beneath Kafka in status. It was hard for her to act tough now. Upon seeing Kafka smile with narrowed eyes, she immediately began explaining herself in a panic.
By then, the vessel had completely absorbed the Stellaron and slowly opened his eyes. Perhaps due to the Stellaron's influence, his eyes were golden, with dazzling light gathered within them.
Caelus's mind was a mess. He felt as though he could not remember anything, yet many strange memories had appeared in his head. There were memories of racing cars, mounted combat, piloting mechs in battle, and wielding a katana longer than a person while fighting dragons.
"Child, are you all right? Do you not remember anything?"
Kafka looked at Caelus with concern. He was the most important piece of the plan, and she hoped that Caelus had no other memories. It would be best if he simply followed the script.
"Mom!"
Caelus glanced at Kafka, directly hugged her slender waist, and shouted. Then he began rubbing against her chest, softer than cotton, while acting spoiled.
Silver Wolf's expression became ( ) again. She knew things were heading in an uncontrollable direction. Logically, when this Stellaron woke up, he should have been in an "aba aba" state. How could he possibly call someone Mom?
"Huh? I'm Mom, then who is she?"
Kafka looked slightly surprised. Her lips, coated in light pink gloss, parted slightly. Then she pointed at Silver Wolf and asked.
"Auntie."
Caelus answered with absolute certainty. This made Silver Wolf start looking around for a wrench. This kid was beyond saving and needed to be reforged from scratch.
At that moment, the shrill alarm sounded again. Kafka and Silver Wolf both knew it was because the Stellaron had been stolen, alerting the Space Station's true owner. That person was likely about to make a move.
"Caelus, listen to me. I'm leaving this place."
Kafka looked at Caelus as she spoke. Since he wanted to play this strange mother-son game, Kafka would not refuse him, but they still had to part ways.
"No, Mom!"
Caelus panicked the moment he heard Kafka say she was leaving. He grabbed onto Kafka's arm and refused to let go, but his young mother merely smiled and shook her head.
"From here on, you will face many dangers and find yourself in terrifying situations. But you will also encounter many wonderful things. You will have companions like family and embark on adventures you could never imagine even in your dreams. And at the end of your journey, all the riddles that trouble you will be answered."
"When you have the chance to make a choice, do not let yourself regret it."
After leaving those words behind, Kafka and Silver Wolf disappeared before Caelus. Caelus's mind remained a blur. After watching them leave, his body fell of its own accord. A transfer field enveloped him and swiftly sent him out of the sealed space.
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PS: New author, new book. This time I really am a newcomer. Just like Pokémon, changing maps resets your level to zero.
Starting with Beautiful Girls
While unconscious, Caelus sorted through the strange knowledge in his head. It contained everything, including basic common sense. It was as though he had played the protagonist in countless productions, with so many identities that he could choose one at will. In the end, he chose the identity of a katana hero. There was no reason for it—only that it looked cool.
After deciding to travel the world as a katana hero, Caelus opened his eyes and prepared to get up. However, two strangers were already standing before him: one was a beautiful pink-haired girl, while the other was a young man with black hair.
"Who are you?" Caelus asked in confusion.
"Oh, you're awake! We were just discussing who should give you mouth-to-mouth."
When the pink-haired girl saw Caelus wake up, she revealed a heartwarming smile. She had thought he was half-dead and had been preparing to help him.
Caelus looked over the pink-haired girl's appearance: a pretty face, short pink hair falling to her shoulders, beautiful eyes that held both pink and blue. Suddenly, he felt as though he had lost a hundred million. His body, which had been about to rise, gradually went limp again. He covered his chest with one hand and wore a pained expression.
"I suddenly feel a little oxygen-deprived. I'm about to be unable to breathe! If a beautiful pink-haired girl could give me mouth-to-mouth, I'd get up immediately."
Caelus put on an expression as though he could not catch his breath. He was only one step away from directly naming the pink-haired girl as the one he wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth. Naturally, he had learned such twisted behavior from his good auntie. He did not know why, but he felt that all the strange knowledge in his head had come from his auntie.
"That's way too fake. You're insulting my intelligence."
The pink-haired girl glared at Caelus and complained. She might be a little airheaded normally, but if she could fall for something like this, she might as well go home and sleep. What would she be rescuing people for?
"My name is March 7th, and this is Dan Heng. We came to support the Space Station. Our goal is to drive away those bad Voidrangers."
The pink-haired girl pointed to herself, then to the calm-looking man beside her, briefly explaining why they were at the Space Station. They were guardians standing on humanity's side.
"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. My name is Greatsword Honored."
Caelus said cheerfully. He did not know why, but talking to pretty girls always put him in a particularly good mood. He felt it was probably because of the influence of his beautiful mom and beautiful auntie.
"Who calls themselves something like that? Is it some kind of codename? Tell the truth, or we'll deal with you as a Voidranger."
March 7th put her hands on her hips and glared at Caelus angrily. She felt that either this guy was treating her like an idiot, or he was an idiot himself. Either way, he did not look like a good person.
"My name is Caelus. Caelus, like the one from Kasugano."
Caelus honestly answered this time.
"Who's that?"
March 7th was full of question marks, but since Caelus had given his real name, she still recorded it. Later, she could check whether he was on the Space Station's missing persons list.
Although Caelus looked like something was wrong with his head, March 7th added him to her team and headed toward a safe area. Their rescue team would save whoever they could. Before leaving, however, she looked around, intending to find Caelus a weapon for self-defense.
"Can you fight? See if there's anything here you can use to protect yourself."
March 7th spoke.
"Are there any katanas? I remembered a scene where I held the Black Dragon Annihilation Blade to rescue children. They all called me Greatsword Honored."
Caelus crossed his arms and wore a proud expression. That pride did not seem fake at all. March 7th actually believed his nonsense, and she even felt that the sword's name sounded incredibly cool.
"Probably not. I use a bow, and he uses a spear."
March 7th looked around and found a baseball bat that appeared sturdy, then handed it to Caelus. Although it seemed like a mediocre weapon and could not compare to a katana, Caelus reluctantly accepted it. The method of using it was already in his mind, once again thanks to those strange memories.
Not long after the three entered the escape route, several Voidrangers wielding dual blades appeared before them. Caelus took one look and hid behind March 7th, then began shouting provocatively.
"Dual-blade punks dare show themselves? If I had a katana in my hands right now, I'd chop every one of you apart."
Caelus's words were full of aggression. The Voidrangers looked at the weapons in their hands, and all their hatred focused on him. One leader-class Voidranger raised a hand and pointed at him, causing a red cross-shaped mark to appear above Caelus's head.
"Why did you provoke them?!"
March 7th loudly complained. A white glow immediately appeared in her hand, and an invisible barrier enveloped Caelus to ensure his safety.
"Thank you, little March. I can never repay this lifesaving grace. If we die together today, maybe we'll be reincarnated as lovebirds in our next lives. I'll repay you then."
Caelus felt the barrier March 7th had placed on him and immediately decided that she was kind-hearted. She cared about him. Deeply moved, he spoke.
"Since when did we become that close? And I don't want to die here!"
March 7th felt completely numb and could not help complaining about Caelus again. Those few Voidrangers had not posed much pressure, but after he said that, it felt as though they had encountered the ultimate boss.
Dan Heng was clearly the ruthless, quiet type. He had already rushed forward and engaged the Voidrangers in close combat. March 7th could not manage Caelus, so she could only leave him to fend for himself while using her bow to provide covering fire for Dan Heng.
The Voidranger that had marked Caelus was already charging at him. It swung the blade on its left arm at Caelus's head, but Caelus, with his abundant combat experience, would not be struck by such an attack. He merely leaned back slightly to dodge it, then swung his baseball bat upward into the Voidranger's jaw, knocking it back in a stumble.
"I hit with the flat of the blade. I don't kill."
Caelus maintained his poise and looked at the Voidranger before him with contempt. Though he spoke like a lunatic, his combat ability was actually decent. He could easily dominate a Voidranger one-on-one. However, around seven thousand Voidrangers had invaded the Space Station this time.
Caelus saw a spatial vortex appear before him, and fresh Voidrangers leaped out from it one after another. There were more than thirty of them. He immediately put away his baseball bat and ran, directly abandoning March 7th and Dan Heng. If he did not run, all three would die after being surrounded. If he ran, then because he had the mark above his head, only he would have to die.
Picking Up a Beautiful Girl
After running for a while, Caelus did not know which dark corner he had wandered into. It was quiet here, almost creepy. Caelus rested against a wall for a moment. Just as he was about to start running again, he heard light footsteps approaching.
Caelus warily looked toward the sound. The lights at the corner had already cast the person's shadow. The shadow was covered by something large and round, making it look a little abstract, but it should have been a woman.
Since sticking his head out meant death and hiding it meant death too, Caelus simply jumped out to face the person directly. The two met face-to-face, and the woman ahead stopped walking.
She was a strange woman. Even inside the Space Station, she held a red paper umbrella in her left hand. The shadow Caelus had seen was cast by that umbrella. In her other hand, she held a sheathed long sword. The sword was clearly longer than she was tall. Although she was only holding its front half, she seemed fused with the blade, inseparable from it.
Caelus's heart could not help but skip a beat. Although the woman before him was a little strange, she had a katana!
The katana Caelus had been searching for had appeared here. Both its length and shape matched the one from his memories, and a bold idea emerged in his heart—he had to find a way to make her his.
Caelus was a moral person. He did not commit crimes, so the best way to obtain the katana was to make this woman his. Then the sword would be his too.
"Hello. Is this Penacony?"
A purple eye settled on Caelus. The sword-wielding woman spoke in an even tone. It seemed that she was lost and looking for a local to ask for directions.
"I don't think so. This is a Space Station."
Caelus met the woman's gaze. She did not have only one eye; rather, her left eye was covered by long dark-blue bangs. People who only showed one eye were usually ruthless, so Caelus politely answered her question.
"My apologies. It seems I've gotten lost again."
The woman nodded and spoke with a slightly disappointed expression. She had lost track of how many times she had gotten lost. This terrible sense of direction had been with her for a long time.
"Gah! Don't leave me here alone! I'm scared!"
Seeing the woman turn to leave, Caelus rushed forward, dropped to his knees, and slid beneath her long legs. He grabbed one of her bare, tattooed, snowy-white thighs.
"What is your name? Have we met somewhere before?"
The woman looked down at Caelus and asked. She did not seem angry at all over him hugging her leg. Caelus carefully sensed it. Her thigh was warm and soft. She was not some monster in disguise, but a living person.
"My name is Caelus. I feel like we've known each other forever. How about we travel together?"
"All right. Pathstrider, Acheron... that is what they call me."
Acheron closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She had already sensed malicious intent approaching nearby, so Caelus's frightened behavior was not an act. She gave him her name, a somewhat ominous name.
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