Honkai: Star Rail: I Developed the Star Rail Mobile Game at the Company Chapter 16

It wasn't just messages—every single one of her actions was like this. Before leaving that abnormal gravity environment, every month Leslie passed through would consume far more time from the outside world.

If Rocky was living anchored in the "now," then relatively speaking, Leslie...

She was already living in the future!

Listening to Bernard's explanation, the audience gradually caught on, understanding this cruel reality.

"Ah? So that means even if Rocky spends ten, twenty, or even more years searching for Leslie, when he finds her, she might have only experienced two or three days?"

"Damn, that's insane! How can such a ridiculous phenomenon exist?"

"What do we do? Why make two people in love go through something like this? This is too cruel!"

"Boo hoo, production team, I'll kill you!"

"I think it's fine. As long as Rocky goes to that Stellar Quake region too, or Leslie comes out of that star domain, won't they be reunited?"

"After the Stellar Quake, the star domain coordinates are already chaotic. In the vast universe, trying to pinpoint a star domain's location is harder than reaching the heavens!"

"Exactly, and Rocky is just a short-lived species. Even if he throws his whole life into it, he won't find the location!"

"Letting Leslie come out is no problem, but if she spends a few days leaving the star domain, decades might have passed outside!"

"If Leslie came out and saw Rocky, white-haired, still waiting for her..."

"If Leslie knew the outcome, she probably wouldn't want Rocky to wait for her either!"

"It hurts, it hurts so much!"

"Someone's stabbing my eyes with knives!"

"You pull this on me late at night (crying)!"

Watching the two lovers separated by time, Lao Mu felt a strange tightness in his chest. He'd just wanted to find a side quest to grind some experience—who knew this side quest would hit so hard!

In the story, Bernard finished explaining and then continued speaking.

Bernard: [...] I was a young man once. I think that compared to being rejected, being with someone whose heart doesn't match yours is the crueler thing.]

[Perhaps when he's old and gray, a geezer like me, Leslie will finally return.]

[But the time that's flowed over her is so little—maybe she'll still be the same age as now.]

[How would they be together then?]

[Space can be crossed; but time is untouchable!]

[Now, since you've lifted this veil, it's up to you to decide.]

Chapter 23: I Want to Go, Chase Time!

The full story unfolded from Bernard's lips, and now Bernard chose to let the audience make the decision.

In Bernard's hands were two Signal Translation Records copied from the relay, one red and one blue.

The red record held Leslie's true reply, but it also contained the truth about the Stellar Quake!

If this were told to Rocky, given his personality, even Bernard didn't know what reckless thing he might do.

The blue record was a forgery Bernard had made. In it, Leslie would reject Rocky's confession, so Rocky wouldn't have to wait for her anymore.

And now, the Red Truth and the Blue Lie—which record to give to Rocky, this choice was left to the audience.

Bernard: [Take them. Think carefully. Rocky is still waiting for your news.]

"Damn, how am I supposed to choose! I don't want to give either to Rocky!"

Seeing such a heart-wrenching plot development, Lao Mu couldn't bear to tell Rocky the cruel truth, nor did he want to choose to deceive him. He simply glanced at the bullet comments.

"Red! Has to be red! Leslie already agreed!"

"Not good. These two are no longer in the same time and space. Better to give up early. Blue is better!"

"Why not put them in a box and let Rocky draw lots? Let fate decide. That'd be fun!"

"God damn drawing lots, you trolls go die!"

"This is too agonizing. Which big-dicked bro has chosen before and can tell me the ending?"

"Pick red. After that, Rocky will shout once and ascend to become the Pure Love Star God!"

"That's just ridiculous!"

"What a mess of a story!"

"Definitely blue. I've already thought out the plot development. Rocky will get married and become a father, and then unexpectedly Leslie comes back! Seeing the lover who confessed to her just days ago become someone else's husband and father—just imagining that scene gets me hyped!"

"Damn, that's way too cliché. Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt!"

"This flavor is way too strong. What kind of twisted 8 PM soap opera is this?"

"Better go with the Red Truth. I feel like Rocky will become a self-annihilator while waiting in a sliver of hope, with only the belief of waiting for Leslie sustaining him. When Leslie, still a girl, returns, she'll see Rocky, seventy or eighty years old, fulfilling his wish and ending himself!"

"Damn, what a sick taste. My stomach is already starting to hurt!"

"Stop it, you can't say anymore (crying)!"

"You bunch of devils! Are you even human?!"

"Compared to these endings, I'd rather believe the one where he ascends to become the Pure Love Star God!"

"The dev team has no heart!"

"It's not bad, this story's just average (puts on sunglasses)!"

"Hand over those sunglasses right now!"

Seeing the barrage of comments in chaos, Lao Mu had no choice but to make his own decision.

Looking at the two choices before him, Lao Mu recalled what Bernard had said earlier.

Compared to being rejected, being unable to be with the one whose heart you share, when you should be able to—that is the crueler thing.

Though he was very unwilling to face this reality, compared to life itself, love is just a seasoning, isn't it?

Just as Lao Mu's choice leaned toward the Blue Lie, the scene from before—choosing to board or stay on the space station—flashed before his eyes.

Swept along by the barrage into staying on the space station, the regret he felt watching the Star Rail Express depart—that feeling, Lao Mu still remembered it.

And yet here he was, thinking of making someone else follow his own wishes in making a choice!

"His fate should be decided by him. I've made up my mind—I choose the Red Truth!"

With his decision made, Lao Mu found Rocky. The moment he chose the Red Truth, the hearts of all the viewers tightened!

What would Rocky do, now that he knew the truth?

The screen flickered. Rocky took the record and read it carefully. Its contents brought him no small shock.

Rocky: "How could this be... Leslie accepted my confession, but that part about the Stellar Quake... I, my mind can't wrap around it..."

After a while, Rocky finally snapped out of his shock and began to analyze the situation carefully.

Rocky: "It seems... because of the gravitational effects of the Stellar Quake, for every month that passes for her, decades pass for me. Doesn't that mean by the time she comes back, I'll be as old as Master?"

He then sought confirmation from the stars, as if he couldn't believe it, and got a definite answer.

Rocky: "She... went to the future. And I... stayed in the present... Is that it? Then the long time I spend missing her—wouldn't it be just an insignificant moment to her? I never thought even time could be unfair to people."

At this point, some viewers' eyes were already moist. Yes, who would have thought even time could be unfair to people!

The Rocky in the story seemed to have come to terms with it, his tone lightening.

Rocky: "So, hoping for her to come back isn't realistic. Even if she travels for months, crossing light-years, in my time coordinate, I'd already be a decrepit old man."

"Spending a lifetime waiting for someone, enduring endless longing and loneliness... Honestly, buddy, you didn't really think I was that naive, did you?"

Seeing this, Lao Mu and the viewers all felt a bitter taste in their hearts.

"Looks like Rocky is going to give up?"

"That's pretty normal, right? Who can endure decades of waiting with no result!"

"Boo hoo, I'll never believe in love again!"

"Crying? Crying counts as time too!"

"It's all the world's fault!"

"World: What did I do wrong this time?"

Yet just as everyone thought this romance, which had barely begun, was about to end, Rocky's words began to firm up.

Rocky: "Haha! Of course I won't wait for her! I won't wait!"

"I won't wait..."

"But I'm going to chase her. I'm going to chase time!"

"Since her spacetime curve has become a grand canyon, instead of hoping she'll come out, why don't I just climb over that canyon?"

"Maybe it'll take me ten years to find her, when only a month has passed for her, but then our time flow will be synchronized from then on. That's still better than sitting here waiting to die!"

No one expected Rocky to choose to chase time!

"Holy shit, that's awesome!"

"So cool! I'm going to chase time too!"

"Such a dazzling light—the Path of Pure Love has been opened! Welcome the Pure Love Star God, Rocky!"

"This is love!"

"Boo hoo, stories like this are too tear-jerking! The dev team really knows how to do it!"

"I wonder if there are people like Rocky and Leslie in real life. I really want to know how their story ends!"

"May all lovers in the world end up together!"

"Please, let them end up together! I still want to be their bridesmaid!"

"You must be happy!.jpg"

In the following story, Rocky made up his mind to leave the Herta Space Station and venture into the universe, leaving behind one final poem.

[Darkness lines up in the distance.]

[Dissecting time in an almost cruel way.]

[The petal of love, seeking an answer, has already fallen, like the ticking of a clock in infinite spacetime.]

[We have no choice but to slide into the universe's ominous tremor, like slipping down a twilight slope.]

[And so, the stars still play their music overhead, their elegant weary faces lining the path.]

To: The Dim Star—End

No viewer had expected Rocky's choice to be this. All of them prayed and blessed the couple in their hearts.

And there was another streamer watching this scene unfold, whose online ID was A Leng QAQ. They usually liked making fan videos of game storylines, but since most people weren't interested in game plots, their videos never got many views.

They had just come to the livestream to casually browse, never expecting to see such a romantic side quest!

Recalling that line, "I want to chase after time," A Leng lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The emotional surge from watching the story kept stirring within their heart.

A seed of an idea sprouted in A Leng's mind.

I want to write a song for this story!

I want more people to see this romantic side quest!

Chapter 24: Incentive Plan

With the conclusion of the To the Dim Star side quest, the time had already passed 3 AM. Lao Mu bid farewell to the audience and prepared to end the stream.

"See you tomorrow, streamer!"

"Bye bye, streamer!"

"Bye bye, my love!"

After ending the stream, Lao Mu checked today's streaming revenue. The viewership of around ten million had brought him nearly 500,000 Credits in income!

Under normal circumstances, he probably wouldn't have earned that much in a month of streaming. It was all thanks to riding the wave of Honkai: Star Rail's launch traffic!