Star Rail, Starting as Kiana Chapter 22

March 7th noticed Kiana seemed to be playing on her phone nearby, so she immediately sidled over, only to find Kiana lingering on the Star Rail family group chat interface, editing a message with what looked like an image attached below.

It hadn't been sent yet, just showing a thumbnail, but March 7th still recognized it—it was the scene they'd just witnessed.

And Kiana was only one send away from posting.

Shock: This planet's Supreme Guardian actually popped out of a trash can!

March 7th snatched Kiana's phone and deleted the unsent message.

"Kiana, let's not stir up trouble. I really don't want to get wanted a second time."

"Relax, I'm only sending it in the group. They won't find out."

But Stelle alone stayed silent. For some reason, looking at Cocolia before her, she felt an oddly familiar sensation.

Not the feeling of meeting an acquaintance.

Rather, it was something she couldn't quite put into words.

Yet just as Cocolia was rescued from the trash can by Seele and Bronya, and everyone was about to leave, Stelle was forced to stop pondering.

"Maybe it's just my imagination."

Cocolia had been found, but it seemed another disagreement had cropped up. The Express crew didn't feel like talking anymore, watching Bronya and Seele start arguing again.

"We need to head back first. The Supreme Guardian is unconscious—it's not safe to keep exploring."

"Huh? No way, we're only a couple steps from the destination, and you want to go back now? Then go ahead by yourself. I'll take a look on my own—I don't want to make this trip twice."

"No! If the Stellaron really is over there, you'll be in danger alone."

"Then what do you want? Go back and then come again? What if that Stellaron's gone by then and we've got no leads at all?"

"But..."

"Stop 'but'-ing. Why so wishy-washy? Can you just give me a straight answer? Either we both go check it out, or I go alone and you take them back. I'm fast anyway—if it gets dangerous, I can still run."

"Seele!"

Bronya found she couldn't out-argue Seele, and she had no real right to stop her either. Feeling stuck, she shot a pleading look at the others, who were just watching the drama unfold.

March 7th: "Is Bronya asking us for help? Should we lend a hand?"

Kiana: "Don't interfere. It's a couple's spat, and she's holding her mother-in-law. This isn't about rescuing people or the Stellaron anymore—it's basically the 'if they both fell in the water, who would Bronya save first' problem."

March 7th: "Huh?"

Kiana: "You've never heard that one? The wife and mother fall into a river, and you ask the husband who he'd save."

March 7th: "No."

Kiana noticed Stelle and Dan Heng looked just as clueless, so she got excited and told them the story, tossing in a few other versions too—like best friends falling in, or brothers.

And just like that, Bronya's plea for help was completely ignored.

"Hey, Kiana, if you and I fell in the water, who do you think March 7th would save?"

Stelle's ability to extrapolate was decent, but she framed it from the perspective of someone in the water, not on the shore.

Still, the question was pointless.

Because...

"Impossible. I wouldn't fall in anyway. Besides, I can fly—even if I landed on the water, I'd just float on top. And if we both fell in, March 7th's personality would mean she'd have fallen in first, wouldn't she?"

Thinking about March 7th's reckless behavior, Stelle nodded in firm agreement.

"Kiana! Stelle!"

As the three chased each other around, Bronya and Seele had already stopped arguing.

And the winner, unsurprisingly, was our dear Miss Seele-no-last-name. The reason she'd easily won this debate was that Cocolia had woken up.

Though Cocolia said nothing, she shot a strange glance at Stelle and Bronya before returning to normal.

"Alright, target: Creation Platform. Move out!"

On the roads of Everwinter Peak, there were plenty of Void creatures around, but for some reason, today they acted like they were on break—normally they'd attack any life form nearby immediately.

Even when the group got close to the Void creatures, they still weren't attacked.

Only when the group attacked first did the targeted Void creature fight back.

"How weird. Could these Void creatures get tired too? Or did the Stellaron get lost, so no one's paying them anymore?"

"They get paid?"

"Of course not, I'm just making stuff up."

The journey went smoothly without any obstacles.

Though along the way, Stelle seemed to keep sizing up Cocolia—she didn't even glance at the snow-covered trash cans they passed.

Cocolia, meanwhile, said nothing, following behind Bronya without slowing her pace.

Bronya just assumed her mother was eager to atone, had turned over a new leaf, and completely abandoned her plans, intending to find the Stellaron and end everything.

So Bronya quickened their pace as well.

Only Kiana felt something was off.

Though the 0 was fine with the sprout side; Cocolia, her own self in that niche naturally had some ingrained impression of Ei's mountain shadow silk, but why was there no reaction at all from the Kaslana bloodline inside her?

Cocolia, setting aside what she wouldn't do, was genuinely a beauty, and now with the debuff of just waking from a coma, normally Kiana would instinctively want to take care of her.

But this one time, Kiana didn't want to help at all, couldn't even spit out a flirt.

"Weird, could it be that knowing the Stellaron is gone has me a bit down?"

Chapter 41: Path Narrow

To prove whether she was just too tired, suppressing her instincts, Kiana decided to test it on someone.

Bronya and Seele were out, so the victim—no, the lucky one—had to be between March 7th and the Star.

Scratch the Star too; the Star was sometimes too spacey. March 7th's flustered expression when teased was way more fun.

Sidling up to March 7th, Kiana felt her flirtatious streak return.

"March 7th, actually, I'm a little lamb."

March 7th: ?

March 7th was puzzled, not knowing what Kiana meant, but seeing her serious look, she couldn't help but reply.

"What are you on about now? I'd believe you if you said you were a cat, but a little lamb? What's that supposed to mean?"

"If I'm an adorable little lamb, can you give me some grass? I mean food, 'cause I'm hungry."

With that, Kiana puffed out her chest, looking proud.

March 7th didn't catch on at first, then noticed the odd glances from everyone else and realized Kiana was flirting again.

Connecting the dots to what Kiana really meant, March 7th quickly raised her little fist and thumped Kiana's chest.

"What are you thinking!"

"Just kidding, trying to lighten the mood. But hey, besides sunny-side-up eggs, you know what other kind of egg I like?"

"Poached egg?"

"Nope."

"Tea egg?"

"Nope."

"Steamed egg?"

"Nope."

The others were drawn in by Kiana's question too, but after racking their brains, they couldn't think of any other egg-ending words besides those.

"No idea, Kiana, just spill it already, don't tease us."

Seeing March 7th couldn't guess, tugging her hand and shaking it in a pout, Kiana felt her bloodline stir again.

Guess it wasn't her problem. She'd have to be extra wary of Cocolia later. Could it be Sampo in disguise? With his tricks, you never knew.

Kiana didn't drag it out. Instead, she grabbed March 7th's hand, yanked her close, and pulled her into a hug.

Her free hand slid around March 7th's slender waist, while the hand holding hers let go to tilt March 7th's chin up.

"That would be your face."

Even after knowing Kiana for a while, March 7th still couldn't handle her flirting.

She just said, "Stop it," tapped Kiana like a spoiled kid, and stopped struggling.

Only Bronya, hearing Kiana's cheesy line, seemed to have a new world opened up.

Bronya: So that's how it's done. Noted, noted.

Soon, they reached the Creation Platform, but the figure before them froze everyone in place. It was Cocolia, gripping a spear, staring silently at the container that should have held the Stellaron.

"Two Supreme Guardians?"

The Cocolia on the platform spotted them too.

"Bronya, who's that with you?"

Hearing this Cocolia speak, everyone noticed the difference. This Cocolia's tone and voice were identical to the one they'd met before, and she seemed worn down by a string of troubles, her figure thinner.

Meanwhile, the Cocolia in their group hadn't said a word the whole time, had appeared in a trash can, and showed no panic after being rescued.

Before, you could say she was calm and composed, but now, comparing the two, the problem was clear.

The fake "Cocolia" spotted the real one and charged. Bronya stood in the path, nearly getting hit, but Seele grabbed her in time, keeping her from falling.

"Watch out!"

But for some reason, the fake "Cocolia"'s body dissolved mid-charge toward the platform.

A yellow energy orb formed and zipped back.

Bronya almost got hit again, but Seele hadn't let go. As a Hunt-path user, she carried Bronya out of the way.

The Stellaron's target wasn't them, though—it was the Star.

"Xing, careful, dodge!"

A faint blue light flickered over Xing's bat, and her body seemed to move on its own, like a batter swinging a baseball bat, sending the Stellaron flying with a clean hit.

As luck would have it, the knocked-away Stellaron slammed straight into Kiana's chest.

In the haze of fading consciousness, Kiana caught Xing's expression—tinged with a hint of amusement. She felt she'd seen that look somewhere before.

"Holy shit! Aha!"

"Bingo! Right on the money, hahaha, just as Aha expected from a promising little one."

When Kiana's awareness returned, she found herself standing in what seemed like the cosmos, countless star clusters drifting around her, a river of stars beneath her feet.

No need to guess—this was the Path Narrow. Even if Kiana had never seen it in-game or in the Simulated Universe, she recognized it instantly. After all, looking at Aha before her and the few figures nearby, if her memory served her right.

Those figures were likely the Destruction Aeon Nanook, the Preservation Aeon Kliper, and the Abundance Aeon Yaoshi.

A few more silhouettes seemed to be watching from behind.

"Hahaha, come on! You get to choose your own Path—step into whichever one you want to walk. This is something others wouldn't even dare dream of. How about it? Aha treats you well, right? Hahaha."

Before Kiana could speak, Aha cut in, derailing her train of thought.

"Right, I've had my eye on you from the start. You're practically a sprout of Elation. But walking the Path of Elation just because you're suited for it would be way too boring, so I waited until now, gathered these three for you. Aren't you grateful to Aha?"

Hearing Aha's words, Kiana finally understood why she'd never set foot on a Path.

So she should have already embarked on one. It had nothing to do with her guesses—not that she hadn't found the way, nor that her identity prevented her from becoming a Pathstrider. It was entirely because Aha thought it was fun and secretly pulled some strings.

"The birth of the universe is a mistake. Civilization is a cancer quietly rising among the vast stars; conflict is the only universal language among intelligent beings. To correct this error, to erase the universe's stain, join Destruction."

Nanook reached out a hand toward Kiana, but Aha slapped it down with some unknown trick.

"That's going too far. I'm just letting her pick a Path. In the end, she'll have to join Elation to truly unleash her potential, right?"

Chapter 42: Damn, Aha's Got Major Face

Nanook felt annoyed by Aha's behavior. Though he was the youngest Aeon, when it came to combat, not many older than him could necessarily beat him.