Honkai: Star Rail, Marry Acheron Upon Landing

Lin Shuang first sent an email back to Firefly's studio.

The email stated that she was also a fan of Firefly and naturally agreed to the cover song request, charging a very low fee.

It also mentioned her plan to buy tickets to Penacony and visit during the Festival of Harmony to participate.

She wanted to come across as easy to work with.

At the end, she subtly inquired about when Firefly would resume activities after the Festival of Harmony.

Meanwhile.

Firefly soon received the email reply from Lin Shuang, forwarded by her agent.

Seeing the initial part of the reply, Firefly smiled with satisfaction.

A good singer deserves a good song.

The other party might not have the best conditions for singing, but she could perfectly perform the music produced by them.

At least, in Firefly's opinion, it was a win-win situation.

"The asking price is too low; I should raise it. I can't let fans feel disheartened."

Firefly had no intention of taking advantage of the fan situation.

The price should be what it should be.

This was the attitude of a qualified musician.

"However... traveling to Penacony at her own expense, especially during the Festival of Harmony, that's not cheap."

Even if the other party could invest so much money in promotion, it wouldn't compare to the ticket price for entering Penacony.

After all... the ticket prices during the Festival of Harmony and regular times were vastly different.

Firefly looked at the email and blinked, not even considering offering an invitation letter.

Those invitation letters carried significant weight.

It wasn't necessary.

Just then, a new friend request popped up.

It was from the account Lin Shuang was using.

After replying to the email, Lin Shuang naturally added the social media account provided by Firefly's studio.

However, she never imagined that the account attached to the email was actually Firefly's personal work account.

So, as she watched the friend request get accepted.

She had just sent, "Hello, nice to meet you."

The other side immediately responded, "Nice to meet you, I'm Firefly," leaving Lin Shuang speechless.

The other party was a large studio; they wouldn't stoop to such a childish prank.

Besides, what would be the benefit of pretending to be Firefly at this point?

She had used the studio's email before, so pretending to be the person now would seem utterly bizarre.

[Lin Shuang: Hello, my name is Lin Shuang.]

[Firefly: Yes, I'll get straight to the point. Ms. Lin, your quoted price is too low, far below market value. This is not good. I will re-draft the price according to market standards and then send you the contract.]

[Lin Shuang: ?]

Seeing Lin Shuang's question mark, Firefly couldn't help but laugh.

"Pfft... it's quite amusing. Isn't making more money a good thing? Why send a question mark?"

[Firefly: Speaking of which, Ms. Lin's songs are all very good, but why didn't you sing them yourself?]

Lin Shuang was taken aback by Firefly's question; she hadn't expected this at all.

Did people actually care about such things?

Since Lin Shuang had no experience with the music industry in this world, she had no idea that AI could do so many things in music production here.

[Lin Shuang: No particular reason. But are you really yourself? Or is this the studio's operator?]

Seeing the reply, Firefly blinked. She hadn't expected to be doubted.

After a moment's thought, Firefly simply raised her phone, snapped a selfie, and sent it over.

The moment Lin Shuang saw the selfie, she let out a soft "Oh."

Firefly wasn't wearing the formal gown from her official art, but rather comfortable, casual clothing. Yet, combined with her stunningly beautiful face, it exuded an incredibly alluring sense of approachability.

As expected of an interstellar superstar, she was gorgeous, radiating beauty.

And she possessed a very unique aura.

Radiant and dazzling – that was Lin Shuang's first impression of Firefly.

Compared to her, Tingyun would seem much more reserved.

Honestly, with just a photo, Lin Shuang couldn't confirm if the person on the other end was actually them.

After all, it was their studio's account; getting a few unreleased selfies wouldn't be difficult.

Perhaps realizing this possibility, Firefly quickly added:

[Firefly: Just giving you a photo, you still don't believe me, do you?]

[Lin Shuang: Honestly, no. It's normal for Firefly's studio to have unreleased photos, but I also don't think the studio would impersonate Firefly.]

Firefly nodded with satisfaction. Why would her studio impersonate her? That would be a waste of time.

[Lin Shuang: But just in case, I want to ask an additional question. As an apology, please take these three songs and sing them for free. Of course, if Miss Firefly isn't willing, that's fine too. It was just my one-sided unreasonable demand anyway.]

Firefly raised an eyebrow slightly, finding the person on the other side of the screen a bit strange.

[Firefly: What question?]

Initially thinking it was just some weird fan question, Firefly had prepared various responses and contingencies. After a moment of waiting.

The instant Lin Shuang's message was sent, Firefly's expression turned extremely grim.

She was so tense that she immediately stood up from the sofa, staring intently at the screen with a serious expression. Her hand, gripping the phone, began to tremble slightly from the tension.

And at the very bottom of the screen, in Lin Shuang's chat box, lay Firefly's biggest secret.

[Lin Shuang: There seems to be a slight dissonance in Penacony's Harmony. How is Miss Firefly's singing voice?]

Lin Shuang lay on her bed, imagining Firefly's expression at that moment.

It wasn't that she deliberately wanted to drop a bombshell, but rather that their lives had no overlap, and she was still hoping to get an invitation from Firefly.

How could she achieve that without a significant reveal?

Volume 1: Chapter 61 - Oops, I forgot I naturally like to get straight to the point.

"How is that possible?! Why does she know!"

Firefly was indeed sweating profusely at that moment.

Her vocal cord paralysis stemmed from a discordant note within her family's Harmony.

And discord naturally meant the family was no longer united, which in turn meant a traitor had appeared in Penacony.

Precisely because she understood the grave implications hidden beneath the surface of her vocal cord paralysis, no one outside of her closest circle could possibly know about Firefly's condition.

Even her manager and assistant, who were with her daily, were given the same reason as the public explanation.

This was a secret.

A secret that couldn't even be casually spoken.

A family renowned for its Harmony had produced a discordant note.

Especially now, with the Festival of Harmony about to be held.

The eyes of major powers from all corners of the universe were fixed on this grand event, held only once per Amber Era.

In the warm and comfortable indoors, Firefly felt as if she had fallen into the dead of winter, cold sweat breaking out on her back without her realizing it.

[Firefly: Miss Lin, you jest. I've temporarily halted my activities to prepare for the Festival of Harmony. The family is also as usual. Please do not believe any false rumors.]

[Lin Shuang: Is that so? Then I apologize, Miss Firefly. It was indeed my mistake to test you with unsubstantiated news.]

Lin Shuang wasn't actually trying to confirm her identity or anything. As she had said before, it was already the studio's account, so there was no need to pretend to be herself.

Besides, it didn't matter if it was her or not on the other end.

Lin Shuang's sole objective was to get this piece of information to Firefly.

To let Firefly know that she knew her secret.

In Firefly's eyes, already suspicious of the internal situation of her family, Lin Shuang's presence would undoubtedly be magnified infinitely.

At this point, even if Lin Shuang wanted to avoid her, Firefly wouldn't be able to let her go.

In an extreme scenario, she might even detain Lin Shuang until the Festival of Harmony ended, silencing her completely.

However, setting aside Lin Shuang's capabilities, the fact that she was currently on the Xianzhou and had Acheron as a backer meant Firefly couldn't simply act against her.

If it were her older brother, Sunday, he might still be able to come up with some scheme. Firefly, having been away from Penacony for years, likely didn't hold as much direct power as Sunday.

If Firefly had any sense, after investigating Lin Shuang's background, she wouldn't act rashly right away.

And if they could talk, getting a ticket to Penacony would be much easier to manipulate.

Lin Shuang put away her phone for the time being, not in a hurry to chat further with Firefly.

She planned to let things simmer for a couple of days.

Besides, she needed to give Firefly time to investigate her.

If you want to trick someone, you have to be a riddler.

Information that is partly true and partly false, partly real and partly illusory, is easier to fool people with.

And the most important quality of a qualified riddler is to strike and retreat, to speak only half the story, and never give the other party an easy opportunity to ask follow-up questions.

So, after putting her phone away, Lin Shuang silenced it and fell asleep, looking forward to Acheron's 'gift'.

The next day.

Acheron's speed was frighteningly fast.

In just one day, Acheron sent a message saying she had arrived at the starport they had been to before.

Lin Shuang was very curious if this speed was Acheron's limit.

However, when Lin Shuang pressed the B button on her phone, opening a pixel-art portal and crossing over to the abandoned starport.

Seeing Acheron's slightly surprised expression, Lin Shuang silently opened her arms and gently hugged Acheron.

"I didn't expect our reunion to come so quickly."

She teased Acheron with a chuckle.

To her surprise, Acheron looked down into Lin Shuang's eyes and said:

"I was actually quite looking forward to it."

"..."

Damn, I forgot she likes to be direct.

Lin Shuang clutched her chest and rubbed it, her heart racing for a moment from Acheron's words.

"We've only been apart for a few days, why are you suddenly saying things like this?"

"I'm trying to be less indifferent. My sense of taste is recovering, and I'm barely losing any memories recently. All of this is thanks to you."

Lin Shuang subconsciously wanted to retort.

But then she remembered the things the system had been giving her lately, always hiding functions and playing word games.