Star Rail, Starting as Kiana Chapter 13

Her face instantly flushed bright red.

"Kiana, what are you writing?!"

Whether it was because of March 7th's voice or simply time to wake up, Bronya also stirred at that moment.

Due to limited resources, the two beds were pushed together head-to-head.

Startled by March 7th's exclamation, Kiana's hand jerked, and the diary slipped from her grasp, landing right by Bronya's head.

Bronya picked it up and began to read.

She skimmed through it—it seemed to be a story. The names looked oddly familiar, since one of the protagonists was herself. The other name she had no clear memory of, yet it carried a strange sense of familiarity.

To skip ahead...

By evening, Bronya left the Supreme Guardian's office, secretly used a hidden passage to reach the lower district, and found a certain special friend of hers.

She looked at the friend she hadn't seen in a long time, a smile spreading across her face.

"It's good to see you."

But her friend didn't seem welcoming. At Bronya's arrival, she turned her head away, refusing to meet her eyes, and spoke coldly:

"Isn't this our Supreme Guardian? Isn the upper district's scenery good enough? How could you remember a lowly welder like me from the lower district?"

Bronya's expression turned bitter. "Seele, you don't have to be like this."

Seele: "Hmph!"

Bronya: "I missed you."

Seele: "Sorry, we're not that close."

Bronya draped her coat over the rack by the door, wrapped her arms around Seele's waist, rested her head on Seele's shoulder, and breathed softly into her ear.

"Don't you want to see me?"

"Sorry, I see you every day—every time you're on the square or the TV."

"Sorry, I've wronged you."

And then Bronya's words seemed to ignite Seele's fury, like a single spark that set off a powder keg on the verge of explosion.

Faced with Seele's accusations and scolding, Bronya said nothing. Instead, she wiped away the tears Seele had shed from anger and disappointment, then kissed her directly.

Seele could barely breathe and couldn't help saying, "You..."

But before she could finish, her lips were pressed against again.

"You damn..."

Several times Seele tried to break away and say something, but each time Bronya's passionate response cut her off.

Bronya's blood was boiling. Having been raised with aristocratic etiquette and kept away from all filth, she felt for the first time that she had grown up.

She wanted to keep reading, but suddenly the notebook was gone from her hands.

"Ahem, Bronya, forget it. Just treat it like a dream."

"Do you think that's possible?"

For the first time, Kiana felt that not being able to trigger her ability at will was truly agonizing.

And the next second, Kiana felt the notebook slip from her hands again—March 7th had snatched it from Bronya.

"So thrilling!"

Even after Kiana grabbed the notebook back and tossed it into her space, March 7th was still lost in thought for a long time.

When she finally snapped out of it, she was staring at Kiana with wide eyes, blinking. Though her pretty face was flushed, she showed no intention of looking away.

March 7th thought to herself: "Wow, so many of those flirtatious lines Kiana said to me before... Could it be she feels the same way about me? Ah!"

As for suspecting that the names meant the story was about someone else?

March 7th had no doubts at all. First of all, who was Seele? Whether she even existed was unclear. And besides, when Kiana wrote this notebook, they hadn't even arrived in this world yet.

Could it really be a story about Bronya?

Kiana: "Oh no. I was just bored, so I wrote a little story to vent my urge to cuddle, for my own enjoyment. I used Herta and Seele's names because I was afraid that if I used my own and Mei's, I'd die of embarrassment when I met this world's Mei."

Now, after Bronya meets Seele, will she even be able to face her?

But the atmosphere in the clinic grew more and more awkward. Unable to bear the stares of the two girls, Kiana chose to get up and leave the room.

Seeing Kiana get up and leave, March 7th also climbed out of bed and followed. Bronya, after curiously glancing around the room and spotting Natasha nearby, didn't rush to leave. Instead, she walked over to Natasha to ask where this place was.

"Kiana, slow down!"

"..."

"Ah, those silky strands of hair, cascading down my chest, haunting my dreams..."

Hearing March 7th about to recite what she had written, Kiana quickly stopped, turned around, and tried to cover March 7th's mouth.

But March 7th was ready. Seeing Kiana turn back, she dodged swiftly.

"Ouch!"

Bronya had barely stepped out of the door when she was knocked flat on the ground by two people chasing each other in play.

"Sorry, sorry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

After wandering around a bit, with Sampo acting as their tour guide and explaining things, the group more or less understood the situation in the Underworld.

Only Bronya looked utterly incredulous.

"Little princess of the Overworld, even after seeing the Underworld with your own eyes, you still believe that woman Cocolia's words without question?"

"Shut up. The Supreme Guardian has her own difficulties."

Even as she said that, doubt had already begun to creep into Bronya's heart. Meeting Serval in the morning and hearing her words, then seeing the Underworld firsthand now—she couldn't help but wonder if the Overworld had been living in a lie all along.

I actually wanted to write this chapter's story separately and put it in an extra, but since I figured not everyone reads extras, I just put it in the main text. Originally I planned to focus on Kiana, but as expected, messing with other people is more fun.

Chapter 24: That's Slander Against Perverts

A full several hours passed, and Stelle still hadn't woken up. On top of that, she seemed to be having a nightmare.

If Natasha hadn't confirmed that Stelle was fine, March 7th would've already taken the group to teach Sampo, the culprit, a lesson.

"Kiana, why isn't Stelle awake yet? Could something be wrong? Should we contact Himeko and the others?"

"No need. Leave it to me."

Kiana cleared her throat and leaned in close to Stelle's bedside.

"Stelle, wake up. If you don't, Sampo's going to steal all the trash cans."

Sampo: ?

But Stelle, who had been unconscious the whole time, suddenly snapped her eyes open and leaped up from the bed. Spotting Sampo leaning against the wall, still looking as charming as ever, she immediately pulled out her baseball bat.

If Sampo hadn't run fast and others hadn't held her back, Stelle might really have achieved the feat of becoming a troublemaker.

"Stelle, eat something first and calm down. There's no way Sampo could steal all the trash cans by himself. But why wouldn't you wake up no matter how much others said, yet the moment someone mentioned trash cans, you did?"

Watching the cake Kiana pulled out, Stelle accepted Kiana's hand-feeding while trying to recall the memories from her dream.

But the feeling had vanished the moment she woke up. Even in the dream, the wish of a young Cocolia was gradually fading from her mind.

So Stelle just replied, "I don't know."

Natasha watched the small cake Kiana casually pulled out of thin air. Even as the de facto leader of the Underworld Fire, she hadn't eaten one in a long time.

After the Underworld was sealed off, let alone pastries like cake, even ordinary biscuits or pie crusts were extremely rare down here.

Even at the most upscale Goethe Grand Hotel in the Underworld, the most precious food was nothing more than rat jelly and moss-based vegetable soup.

"Want some?"

Kiana felt a gaze fixed on her hand. Following the line of sight, she saw Natasha staring intently at the cake in her hand.

So, though Kiana asked, she directly produced another pastry and placed it on Natasha's table.

And until Stelle woke up and the group left together, Natasha only looked at the cake on her table, not choosing to eat it.

Some time after everyone had left, Natasha finally couldn't resist her craving for the cake. She picked up the small fork stuck in it and brought a piece to her mouth.

"Kiana... who exactly are you people?"

Natasha only took one taste to satisfy her craving, then put the remaining cake away in a cabinet nearby.

"By the way, who are we going to find?"

"A hardworking welder."

"Welder?"

Sampo had originally planned to take the group to find an Underworld Fire member after Stelle woke up, but hearing the word "welder," he was taken aback.

Did the Underworld Fire even have someone like that?

But they hadn't gone far before they spotted their target: Seele.

Whether by coincidence or not, Seele was holding a welding rod, standing with Bronya in front of an iron door.

"Oh, if it isn't Miss Seele. What a coincidence."

"Seele?"

Bronya glanced at the girl beside her. The one who had been surrounded by a group of vagrants had been saved by this very person, but she hadn't even asked her name before the others showed up.

"What? Does my name sound that strange to you?"

Seeing the looks from March 7th and Bronya, Seele felt something odd. It wasn't the fear or hostility of those vagrants, nor the respect of her Underworld Fire comrades.

Instead, it was an indescribable, inexplicable feeling that made her uncomfortable.

So Seele tossed her welding rod to the ground, picked up her scythe, and put on a fierce, cat-with-its-hackles-up expression.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that we read your name in a book recently, so we were a bit surprised."

"Oh, is that so? Well, I've never read a book. Anyway, why am I even talking about this with you? Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

For the other three women, Miss Seele didn't feel any hostility toward them—she only found Bronya vaguely familiar, as if she'd seen her somewhere before.

But that blue-haired guy in front of her? For some reason, the moment she laid eyes on him, his whole vibe rubbed her the wrong way.

It gave her the urge to take a swing at him.

Seeing Miss Seele's glare, Sampo quickly raised his hands in surrender, feeling utterly wronged. What had he done to make these people so hostile?

After his transformation, he looked pretty good, didn't he?

Kiana: "Looks matter, but honestly, that sleazy aura of yours is what really pisses people off."

"Miss Seele, don't you remember? It's me, Sampo. I've helped the Underworld Fire bring in supplies plenty of times."

"Sampo?"

Miss Seele put away her weapon, tilted her head, glanced at Sampo, and searched her memory.

Finally, after a long pause, she managed to squeeze out one sentence to express her thoughts.

"Is this what they call a pervert?"

Hearing Miss Seele's words, Kiana quickly retorted, "Seele, that's not right to say."

Miss Seele hadn't expected that. Sampo? This bastard actually dared to talk back? She raised an eyebrow, waiting to hear what he'd say to defend himself.

And Sampo looked flattered.

"You comparing Sampo to a pervert? That's an insult to perverts."

"Pfft."

"Hahaha!"

"I thought you were some clueless young lady from the surface who knew nothing, but turns out you're not bad. I like your style."

Seeing Miss Seele put away her weapon, Sampo instinctively wanted to get cheeky and cut in: "Miss Seele, the word you're looking for is 'naive.'"

"Shut it. I haven't settled the score with you yet for bringing that guy from the upper district down here."