Honkai: Star Rail: I Develop Star Rail Mobile Games at the Company Chapter 11

Chapter 15: Story Choice, Stay at Herta Space Station?

As soon as the official account's launch announcement went live, a flood of comments appeared below!

"Ten-year veteran fan, here uninvited!"

"This game is way too realistic! Whether it's the characters or the story, you can actually find real-life prototypes!"

"Which company is the official account from? How come I've never heard of this game before?"

"Now that even the Destruction Star God has shown up, I don't even dare to think about what comes next!"

"Thanks for the invite, I'm in the Annihilation Gang, just became a Great-Eradicator!"

"The in-game mail gave 20 pulls, go check!"

"Boo, can you boost the probability for Standard Banner characters separately? I want Clara (crying)!"

"The Interastral Peace Corporation's flagship product, galactic spending every day! You top up 6480 Credits, I'll pay! Click the avatar to apply now!"

"Press one for The Abundance's blessing!"

"What's going on, comments are growing this fast?"

Most people didn't read the game announcement first; they just opened the comments to vent their emotions.

By the time everyone noticed the content in the announcement, all their breathing quickened considerably!

"My god, am I seeing this right? These are launch rewards?"

"How... how many?!"

"One ten-pull, two ten-pulls... that adds up to 70 pulls total!"

"It's just that they're all Stellar Jade Tickets. I see there's also a Star Rail Special Ticket, probably for pulling Limited Characters!"

"Be grateful, they also gave 1600 Stellar Jades. The devs need to eat too!"

"Next door, Yuan Nong Zhou only gave 20 pulls at launch. This is insane!"

"Yuan Bao, don't contact me anymore. I'm afraid Star Treasure will misunderstand!"

"The devs are way too generous. Let me top up ten times 6480 to support them!"

"Whoa! Thanks to the whale keeping the servers running!"

"And these free characters given out—Ms. Herta actually appeared!"

"Looks like it should be Ms. Herta's puppet. Otherwise, with her status and power, she'd have to be at least a 5-star main DPS!"

"I disagree. Herta clearly looks like an A-cup!"

"You little punk.jpg"

Lao Mu looked at his current Trailblaze Level. He was just one level away from claiming the event reward of 10 Stellar Jade Tickets for level 5, and his motivation to explore surged.

"Push forward, push forward! Brothers, charge!"

The story had now reached the point where the protagonist was gazed upon by Nanook, about to lose control before being interrupted by Welt. After waking up, Dan Heng told them to go find Himeko.

"About time. The person I'm waiting for should be arriving soon."

As Himeko's words fell, Herta, who had just returned to the space station, appeared.

"I've only been gone a few months, huh? And the space station ends up in this state?"

"You're back, Herta."

Herta looked at her puppet's image on the screen in the game, finding it amusing while pondering how the other party had obtained all this information and turned it into a game.

"Interesting. A game starring that Stellaron girl as the protagonist..."

Herta began speculating about the story ahead. If she wasn't mistaken, her Simulated Universe Project would come next. She was curious to see how this game planned to present it.

"This is the true owner of the space station, Genius Club member #83, Herta."

Herta was clearly dissatisfied with the number 83.

"If you're going to introduce me, do it properly. Why mention the Club? I have so many extraordinary achievements—any one of them sounds better than #83!"

This disdainful remark struck a nerve with many.

The Genius Club—a place only geniuses who had caught The Erudition's attention could join. Every single member's achievements could influence the development of the universe!

As long as these geniuses were willing, all major forces in the galaxy would rush to cooperate with them. Wealth and status were nothing to them!

And yet Herta was complaining that the 83rd seat was too low and didn't sound good...

Mortals and geniuses—how many people dreamed of crossing that threshold!

But Herta's achievements were indeed outstanding even within the Genius Club, and she was also an Erudition Emanator!

She was just speaking some plain truths!

In the story, Herta was clearly intrigued by Star, who had absorbed the Stellaron. She circled around Star's body several times, her curious gaze constantly examining, making Star feel quite uncomfortable.

"Heh, truly remarkable. To restrain this unactivated Stellaron and spare Jarilo-VI from disaster, I built an entire space station. Yet someone cut to the chase and used this kid's body to handle it—how did they do it?"

Herta and Himeko discussed it openly, and three options appeared in the story.

[I'm not a little kid.]

[My name is Stelle.]

[Do you have to discuss me right in front of me?]

Lao Mu picked the third option to try and protest, but clearly, the geniuses' discussion wouldn't care about a mortal's opinion.

After the protest failed, Herta looked at Himeko and asked if she could run some experiments on Stelle.

"I can't make that call—you'll have to ask Stelle herself..."

Three options appeared before their eyes.

[No way!]

[What kind of research?]

[How much?]

"Damn, how do I choose this? So conflicted—will picking wrong mess up the game later?"

Lao Mu stared at the three options, stuck in indecision.

"Do you even need to think? Of course pick 'How much?'! Mainly want to contribute to science, definitely not for the money!"

"Who knows what experiments Herta plans to do on us? Maybe our kidneys will get yanked out in a bit! Definitely the first one!"

"Maybe pick the second one and see what's up first?"

"Actually, I also have an experiment about Propagation I need to discuss with Herta!"

"Wake up, that's a puppet!"

"Hmph, that just means your faith in Propagation isn't deep enough!"

"It's all the same—options in games like this don't affect the story anyway, just pick one!"

"Exactly, exactly! Streamer, hurry it up!"

Seeing the barrage urging him on, Lao Mu picked the third option. Sure enough, the plot looped around to Herta wanting to keep Stelle on the space station to study the Stellaron, while Himeko also extended an invitation to Stelle.

"Stelle... you know you have another choice. There's a Star Rail Express docked on the platform. If you're willing, you can come with us."

"Damn, no need to think—of course follow the Star Rail Express and sail the universe!"

But after the earlier choices, a thought suddenly struck Lao Mu: what if he kept choosing to follow Herta?

That same thought appeared among the Train Crew.

March 7th looked at Stelle and asked curiously.

"Stelle, if I chose to leave you on the Herta Space Station right now, what do you think would happen next? Would you still board the Star Rail Express?"

"There shouldn't be a choice like that. Even though the dialogue options were a bit different before, the key story points probably won't change. I'm sure I'll still end up boarding the train in the end."

Stelle rubbed her chin and thought for a moment before replying.

"Then let's try it now! Maybe we'll unlock another timeline!"

Chapter 16: Simulated Universe, Acheron the Hot-Blooded Youth

Faced with the invitations from Herta and Himeko, Lao Mu also discussed it with the barrage.

On one side, choosing to cooperate with Herta's research meant staying on the space station, but the story clearly showed Herta was only interested temporarily—once the research ended or she lost interest, he'd have no value.

On the other side, joining the Star Rail Express, with its knowledge of Stellaron, could also help him.

Normal people would basically choose the Star Rail Express. It wasn't that the Express's option was that great, but Herta had already made her stance clear in the story.

In real life, there'd be no need to think twice, but in a game, many people's curiosity started bubbling up uncontrollably.

"Guys, if I choose to accept Herta's invitation and join the space station here, what happens next? Will it just shunt me back to the Star Rail Express?"

Lao Mu watched the barrage discussions, all telling him to give it a try.

"Probably! In games like this, they usually don't give you options that affect the whole game progression!"

"Who knows! Honkai: Star Rail is different—maybe you really can join the Herta Space Station!"

"Streamer, pick Herta for us! I'll send you a Big House!"

"As they say, fortune favors the bold!"

So Lao Mu made up his mind, planning to make a change in the upcoming choices, but unexpectedly, the story suddenly ended!

What followed was a text message from Herta.

Herta: [Hey, Stelle, it's Herta. Got something good for you.]

Herta: [Come to my office ASAP! Waiting for you!]

Stelle: [But you're right next to me.]

Herta: [Auto-reply: Hello, I'm busy right now. I won't be contacting you later either.]

Looking at the phone messages in the story, Lao Mu was also puzzled. Weren't they just discussing things right next to each other? How did it jump to another plot?

Lao Mu didn't overthink it, just assumed it was some side quest inserted after the main story segment ended, and followed the plot to Herta's office.

The Herta in the space station watched this scene and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

"Never thought even my Simulated Universe Project would show up. At this stage, it should still be a test version—I wonder how it'll perform?"

When the scene reached Herta's office, they saw the Herta Puppet standing before a large computer.

"Well, well, you're finally here."

After some conversation, Herta explained why she had called Stelle to the office.

"No beating around the bush, Stelle. A few colleagues and I are working on a big project. If it succeeds, we'll crack the ultimate problem that's plagued us for thousands of Amber Eras: the mystery of the Aeons."

"The Aeons—just think about it, what incredible beings! Some Aeons were once ordinary humans like you and me, but somehow they gained power beyond our imagination! They're enigmatic, mighty, silent, terrifying! The riddles surrounding them can't be explained in just a few words."

"How were they born? Why were they born? What were they born for?... I'm asking you, Stelle, have you ever thought about these questions?"

"Are you even listening to me—we want to uncover the mystery of the Aeons! And now I want you to join this project!"

This barrage of dialogue left the audience completely stunned, and they only snapped back to reality at the last sentence.

"My god, is this the kind of project geniuses work on? Actually researching Aeons!"

"As expected of the Genius Club!"

"But what does this have to do with me, the Pork Butcher?"

"Dammit, my head's itching—feels like I'm growing a brain!"

"From now on, I'm someone who's been part of a big project. I'll put 'Participated in Ms. Herta's Simulated Universe Project' on my resume! Let's see who dares look down on me!"

"Whoa, could he actually be a genius?"

"Then I'll write that I'm someone gazed upon by the Destruction Star God, Nanook!"

"Well said, here's your reward—go be the centerpiece of the Anti-Matter Legion!"