Honkai: Star Rail: I'm Developing the Star Rail Mobile Game at the Company Chapter 5

Meanwhile, on the Stellaron Hunters' side.

Silver Wolf began to sense something off during the character selection process.

If it were merely a Memokeeper recording everything through some secret means, then the game's protagonist should only have been Stelle.

But now, she could actually choose the male protagonist, Caelus.

"Kafka, something's not right. This doesn't seem like a simple recording."

Kafka also saw the already-selected Caelus on Silver Wolf's phone.

"Elio's script did have this kind of development before, but this really isn't something a Memokeeper could pull off. Silver Wolf, can you trace the developer's info?"

"I'll try."

With that, Silver Wolf pulled up a virtual screen and started working, preparing to locate the other party through the game's release IP address.

But no matter what she did, she couldn't dig up a single piece of information.

"No good. I can't crack their concealment methods for now."

Kafka also searched for the game's official account on her phone and quickly found the target.

Currently, the Honkai: Star Rail official account had 360,000 followers, with a level 2 account clearly being a newly created one. The only post was the recent hotfix update.

"No good. This account doesn't reveal any personal info either."

Seeing that even Silver Wolf couldn't pinpoint the other party's location, Kafka had to set aside her doubts for now, planning to ask Elio about it when they got back.

Yan Shi finished designing the promotional plan and began gradually allocating the game's advertising budget.

A large number of game streamers started receiving promotion tasks for Honkai: Star Rail, and the streamer Sweet Potato Pigeon was one of them.

He barely qualified as a first-tier virtual streamer in the gaming section, usually making game walkthrough videos and casual talks, holding some influence in the gaming circle.

But Sweet Potato Pigeon often spouted outrageous takes in his streams to show off his "professional" gaming skills and insight, leaving the audience stunned.

When he got proven wrong later, he'd have his mods patrol the chat heavily while he pretended nothing happened, earning him a mixed reputation.

Taking on this promotion task, Sweet Potato Pigeon was quite curious.

After all, his promotion fee wasn't cheap. If the other party could afford it, why hadn't he seen their ads before?

And when Sweet Potato Pigeon saw it was a turn-based mobile game, his mind automatically filled in all the details.

Ah, so it's an old-school game with no promotional value, just trying to cash in on a big streamer's hype at launch, right?

No closed beta, no public release announcement, and the official account only had a hotfix update—this was clearly a setup ready to bail at any moment!

Thinking he'd found the truth, Sweet Potato Pigeon mentally labeled the game and prepared to expose its true face in the stream.

After all, as long as he was streaming game content for a commercial gig, no one said he couldn't badmouth it on the sly!

Heh, this time I'll use your game to show those haters what a real game reviewer looks like!

So Sweet Potato Pigeon downloaded the game, launched it immediately, and started streaming, introducing it to the audience.

"Brothers, a turn-based mobile game dropped today! Let me, Sweet Potato, take you for a taste!"

The virtual avatar appeared in the bottom-right corner of the screen, and the chat flooded with "care" for the streamer.

"Here he comes, my favorite little devil streamer!"

"Streamer, you said you'd eat your screen if your game revenue prediction failed last time. You haven't done it yet—I'm waiting!"

"I love how you suck at games but keep playing, then ragequit and play dead when you're wrong!"

"Shut up! Haters shut up! Thanks!"

"Our Pigeon's trying so hard! Are you guys out of your minds? Have some shame! Don't you dare eat our Pigeon's eggs!"

"Exactly, we finally found such a fun e-pet. Don't break him too fast!"

The chat was full of haters, too many to ban. After all, Sweet Potato Pigeon had just ragequit his last stream in shame a few days ago, and everyone still remembered.

Seeing those hateful comments, Sweet Potato Pigeon gritted his teeth in anger, but knew he couldn't manage it for now. He just activated his "play dead" mode and casually started talking about the game.

"Oh wow, this game's opening animation is actually decent. It's well-made."

The opening CG was playing in the game, and the audience's attention shifted to the first character to appear: Kafka.

"Huh? The character design in this game is pretty good, so detailed."

Some viewers who already knew about the game came to Sweet Potato Pigeon's stream.

"That's Kafka from the Stellaron Hunters. All the characters in this game are based on real people!"

The chat erupted in surprise, and Sweet Potato Pigeon was no exception.

Judging by the current game quality, it looked pretty solid. Did they dump all the budget into the beginning?

Guess I'll have to focus on the gameplay. With that thought, Sweet Potato Pigeon sped through the story. As a (fake) hardcore player, he didn't have the habit of watching game plots.

The battle segment came quickly. After a brief look at the tutorial, Sweet Potato Pigeon immediately shared his opinion.

"The story seems okay, but the gameplay is dragging it down!

Turn-based games are relics from years ago. They're just number games—you hit me, I hit you, zero room for skill."

"I dare say, after this game you can just set everything to auto-battle!"

"Hmph, a professional game review streamer has to be bold with their predictions!!!"

Chapter 7: Bro, You Smell Nice

Seeing Sweet Potato Pigeon start spouting nonsense in the livestream again, the barrage of comments grew thicker.

"Here we go, with Sweet Potato saying that, this game is guaranteed to blow up!"

"Heavens, this is my favorite episode!"

"Locked in! With Sweet Potato ruling out the wrong answers, everyone can jump in without worry!"

"Guess right and get a prize, guess wrong and get a punishment—what's Sweet Potato eating this time?"

Seeing the comments completely dismiss him, Sweet Potato Pigeon let out a cold snort.

"Hmph! Just watch, in a game like this, as long as you pay to pump up the stats, you can clear it without even using your hands!"

On the other side, Lao Mu, a casual entertainment streamer, didn't pay much attention to the gameplay and was going through the story with his viewers.

The plot had now reached Himeko's appearance, and the Train Crew was starting to show up.

"This person's coordinates weren't sent by the Space Station..."

"Why are you still nitpicking at a time like this? This living person is right before our eyes, it can't be fake."

"...Their heartbeat and pulse are very weak. March, get ready to perform CPR."

"Ah... this, doesn't seem right!"

Seeing this, the corner of Lao Mu's mouth started to twitch again.

"But to save someone, there's no other choice, right?"

But the next moment, the smile on Lao Mu's lips froze.

"Huh?! I... I don't have any experience! Dan Heng, you do it!"

Holy crap, I'm not gay!

The comments instantly turned into a riot.

"Alright! I'll do it!"

"Bro, you smell nice!"

"Bro, open wide, urgent business!"

"Lao Mu, turn around, I'm Kafka!"

"No matter how cold a man is, his rectum is always warm!"

"Maya, scared faint by the gays in the comments! Good thing I'm straight!"

"You'd better be!"

Fortunately, Himeko opened her eyes in time in the story, or Lao Mu would have had to sleep against the wall to avoid nightmares.

"Stop—shut up!"

"She's awake!"

Seeing Himeko open her eyes, March 7th quickly pushed Dan Heng away, her big head filling the screen.

"So cute!"

Lao Mu's fondness for March 7th, who had saved him, shot up instantly.

"Are you okay? Can you hear me clearly? Do you remember your name?"

This time, the protagonist only had one option.

"I... don't remember anything."

"...That's a problem. Can you try to recall? Your name is..."

The only choice was "My name is Himeko," clearly requiring him to say his own ID.

Another wave of comments swiped across.

"Wait, that's actually a thing?"

"Divorced three times, two kids in tow~"

"Overbearing General Lan falls for me!"

"Kafka, mistress, step on me!"

"I'm fifty-fifty with Aha!"

"BYD really has creativity in this area!"

A bunch of outrageous IDs flooded the comments, a true sight of the stars of humanity shining bright.

Good thing he had the foresight not to pick some ridiculous ID. Lao Mu continued playing the story.

"Himeko? Hello, I'm Dan Heng, and this is March 7th."

"This space station is under attack by the Anti-Matter Legion. We're here on commission from Station Master Asta to provide rescue."

Then the screen presented three options, two of which introduced the game's backstory—though in truth, they were all about real-world events.

"Where should I go..."

"Return to the main control deck. Asta and the researchers who evacuated in time are all there."

"The Star Rail Express is also parked nearby! So don't worry about monster attacks—we'll handle this crisis!"

"Who are you?"

"Dan Heng and I are crew members of the Star Rail Express. Nice to meet you!"

Seeing this, Lao Mu understood.

"So it looks like we'll join the Star Rail Express and become Nameless after this! Kinda excited to see where we'll end up going!"

Although interstellar civilization was highly advanced nowadays, it was still basically impossible for an ordinary person to travel across star systems.

Unless you happened to run into a kind Aeon Faction like the Star Rail Express, the Knights of Beauty, or the Mourning Performers willing to give you a ride.

Otherwise, you'd be stuck in one corner of the universe. And now, being able to experience it firsthand through the game—well, that was a little thrilling.

After Dan Heng briefed March 7th, he said he needed to find Arlan from the Security Department and left.

March 7th was about to take Stelle to the main control deck when she suddenly spotted a baseball bat lying on the ground.

"Stelle, why don't you take this? The Legion's running around like mad dogs in space, and the way back isn't safe either. Better to have some self-defense weapon. Just a suggestion though—no worries, you've got me!"

Then the story segment came to an end, and a brand new character button appeared in the top right corner.

Here it comes! Finally, I can check out the characters!

And besides the protagonist, there was actually a March 7th too!

"Hurry, hurry, let's enter battle and see what my own skills are!"