Honkai: Star Rail: Can't You Let Me Grind Commissions in Peace?

Honkai: Star Rail: Can't You Let Me Grind Commissions in Peace? Author: Chip Time

He had transmigrated into the Nasuverse as Shirou Emiya—and on top of that, he had gotten Emiya the Great Hero's script.

The good news was that he had a gacha system and had directly transformed into the Miracle God, tearing through the Einzberns.

The bad news was that the planet's will seemed to be about to kick the bucket, and the world was about to enter the Steel Earth storyline, along with what looked suspiciously like a Fate/Grand Order storyline.

But that was fine.

There was more good news: he had pulled the Aurora Curtain, which let him flee to other settings and develop there. As long as he farmed enough commissions from other people, he could pull infinitely.

The bad news was that it was not easy to farm commissions from any of these people.

Fine, fine, fine. So this was how they wanted to play it?

"Mr. Welt, you wouldn't want to see a blonde old acquaintance rise from the dead, would you?"

"Elysia, you wouldn't want to see all your little friends turned into shaved ice, would you?"

"Brother-in-law, Lumine and I are getting married soon. Everyone's going to be there—guess who didn't get an invitation?"

"Kiana, while you're on the moon, I'll definitely take good care of Mei. When you come back, Himeko and I's child will still be waiting for you to become their godmother."

Tags: Honkai: Star Rail, Genshin Impact, Honkai, some Japanese anime, tokusatsu elements

I Decided to Bring My Talents to the Express Crew (1/4)

"Susana, you'll never have to be troubled by work again! As long as Grandpa is revived, you and I... won't ever have to work again!"

"Effective immediately, I, Theresa Apocalypse, will resign as High Priest of Destiny and retire completely."

"My successor, the former High Priest, Otto Apocalypse, will immediately return to the Destiny Group and assume full responsibility for all Mandate of Heaven affairs."

"Oh! This familiar feeling—the wooden desk in the office, and all that endless work..."

"After a long silence, you are all still the same as ever."

"Of course, and you too, Theresa. My child, the children of Mandate of Heaven..."

"I'm back!"

As he listened to that "hope-filled" voice coming from the tiny screen, the old man who had been away from home for many years was suddenly overwhelmed by a powerful homesickness.

He clutched his phone tightly, a "friendly" and "kind" smile appearing on his face. He turned to look at the little grey-haired girl March 7th had brought aboard the train and asked,

"Stelle, where did you get this footage?"

Seeing the "nuclear-friendly" expression on the old geezer from the new unit she had yet to join, Little Grey Hair immediately realized she had stepped on a landmine. Without hesitation, she pointed at the pink-haired creature beside her, who had just been full of excitement.

"It was March 7th. She accidentally opened a door in the space station, and after going inside, she met a Defense Department officer named Emiya. When that officer heard March 7th was from the Astral Express, he enthusiastically said he wanted to bring some hometown specialties to an old friend on the train."

"Hometown specialties?! Fine, fine, fine. He called this thing a hometown specialty?!"

The old geezer was so furious that he wanted to send a Star of Eden straight back as a return gift. How long had he been away from home? And Theresa had sent him such a massive surprise?!

Revive Otto?

Paimon! How could any normal person do something like that?!

Kiana was absent—were Mei and Bronya in the dark too?!

And Bianca, Rita...

With all those people around, Theresa had still managed to secretly revive Otto? Since when had Theresa gained such heaven-defying ability?!

"Where is that officer? March 7th, can you take me there?"

The old man, who was normally always gentle and refined, slowly pushed up his glasses. His lowered eyes revealed a rare trace of viciousness. Wearing a "kind" and "warm" smile, he enunciated every word to March 7th.

"I think... I need to give that kind officer a little return gift."

"Welt took the bait. He's left the train, and March 7th is taking him toward your compartment."

After completely finishing off the Void Trotter still struggling under his feet, the orange-haired young man turned to the illusory projection behind him. It was a colleague from his current organization: an experienced old Mi employee in a bodysuit, the hacker girl currently affiliated with the Stellaron Hunters. She was a single-turbine Bronya with curly high twin ponytails, codenamed Silver Wolf.

"You used Otto's resurrection to provoke him. If he still didn't react, I'd have to assume someone had possessed him."

The orange-haired young man casually replied, then continued,

"Seriously, Wolfy, it would be much safer to use your Aether Editing to make a short red-haired, twin-tailed Dr. Lobster squat here than to have me deal with that old geezer. Soloing the former Herrscher of Reason isn't easy for me, and that old geezer is always pulling a Yang sit-up..."

"No. If that Dr. Lobster you mentioned fails to hold Welt back and the script goes wrong, who knows whether Acheron will toss us another new script? I'm not planning to work overtime."

"Actually, Mr. Emiya has an even better option. As long as you style your hair into curled twin tails and tie them with two blue ribbons, just lying on a little motorcycle would be enough to scare that old geezer into a heart attack."

"Funny. The work's already been assigned to you. Do you really think I'd interfere?"

Listening to the childish, snarky nonsense coming through his earpiece, the orange-haired young man fell silent for a moment before softly sighing.

"...Fine. Wolfy, you know this too—Stelle is my good little sister. We once worked together to pluck Acheron's feathers. Welt and I can also be considered half-acquainted. That guy is absurdly strong. I was there when he tore the Herrscher of the Void apart with his bare hands. And Dan Heng and March 7th—the Seclusion Dragon and the 'Ultimate Being'—though I've never met them, I've long felt a spiritual connection with them. Even if making decisions can be difficult sometimes... I've decided to bring my talents to the Astral Express."

"Sure, but you need to finish this script first. Acheron said you would want to join the Astral Express, and we also happen to need someone permanently stationed on their train. Acheron said Shirou Emiya would definitely accept 'this new commission.'"

"..."

The young man named Shirou Emiya fell silent the instant he heard the words "this new commission." But the very next second, an exceptionally cheerful smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Director Acheron really knows how to read people. If it's a 'new commission,' I really will accept."

"Don't act like I'm slandering you. We've all figured out your behavioral logic. And you've almost drained my prize pool dry, haven't you? Although I'd love for you to stay so I can peacefully keep slacking off on company pay, you probably won't be willing to give up 'new characters' like that Seclusion Dragon over there, right?"

"Whether he's a Dragon Sovereign or not doesn't really matter. The important thing is that he's kind. Your Brother Shirou once wiped out a criminal syndicate that had plagued an entire region for over ten years overnight. People on the street called me Emiya the Great Hero! A person like me should join an organization like the Astral Express, one filled with such 'positive energy,' and shine there."

"Heh. Isn't it because the Express crew wanders everywhere, and without script restrictions, it's easier for you to farm your 'commissions' all over the place?"

Why did this kid have to keep telling the plain truth?

Still, to be fair, if Acheron's scripts did not impose so many restrictions on his range of activity and behavioral logic, he really would have been willing to keep idling away his days with the Stellaron Hunters. There was the sexy big-sister Kafka, the delicate and adorable Firefly, and Little Silver Wolf, who was terrible at games but loved playing them anyway. If this club added some musical elements, he would definitely be willing to play in a band with them for the rest of his life.

"Alright, enough talk. I've separated Welt from March 7th and the others. The rest is up to you. I'm going back to play Score-Setting Gun. Call me directly if anything comes up."

"Go on, go on."

What bad intentions could Little Silver Wolf possibly have? She was just an adorable little girl who was bad at games but loved playing them. What could Mr. Emiya do? He could only forgive her.

"Now then, it's time to properly complete my 'new commission.'"

You have received a new commission!

Join the Star Rail (Client: Acheron): You must gain the trust of the Astral Express crew and join the Astral Express as a Stellaron Hunters member permanently stationed with the Express crew, while ensuring completion of the prerequisite mission "Hold Welt Back."

Reward: 420 points + limited-time opening of a chosen Express crew member's limited-up banner

Difficulty: 2 stars

Additional Note: If the prerequisite mission fails, this mission will also be considered failed, and the "Stellaron Hunters" faction banner's up probability will decrease.

Off-Screen Job (Client: Acheron): Delay the time before "Welt" reunites with the "Express crew" members, ensuring that Acheron's script at the "Herta Space Station" is successfully performed.

Reward: 540 points + limited-time opening of a random up banner

Difficulty: 3 stars

Just an old multiverse anime fan. I haven't written much for a while, so if there are any issues, feel free to point them out in the comments.

Bearing the Heavy Burden of KPI Targets, I Absolutely Cannot Lose! (2/4)

"Spatial transfer...? No, matter transformation."

Just dozens of seconds ago, March 7th and Stelle had abruptly vanished right before his eyes. There had been some fluctuations from the mobilization of Imaginary energy, but if this were Space Manipulation, even the Herrschers back in his home world could not achieve such a precise level—let alone within the Herta Space Station.

Touching the cold floor, Welt wore a thoughtful expression. He narrowed his long, narrow eyes slightly and murmured under his breath,

"They deliberately separated me from March 7th and the others. Are they planning to target Little March and Stelle? But if that's the case, there was no need to lure me out of the train. They could have acted directly in the space station."

"Or perhaps... perhaps that person named Emiya had been targeting me from the very beginning?"

He could not understand the intentions of the person behind this. Even as someone who had come from his home world, he had already lost the Core of Reason. By now, he should not possess much value worth plotting over.

"Joachim! Is Joachim Nokianvitainen there? Your wife, Dr. Tesla, asked me to pass on a message: if you don't go back and hand in your marital dues, she'll dismantle every Alahato figurine in your office!"

"How dare she!"

The old man immediately stood up with conviction. Other things were one matter, but Alahato was his beloved friend and family!

"Teacher Yang, you wouldn't want the Express crew to find out that you used to mingle around an all-girls school as a teacher, would you?"

The man's voice carried a teasing laugh. Welt adjusted the glasses on his nose slightly, then responded with a straight face,

"This friend from the Far East, please exercise some restraint."

"I'm already being very restrained. Luckily, you were only a history teacher and not the principal. Otherwise, I'd be arguing with you right now about whether Magical Girl Triri is the cutest in the world."

Upon hearing the word principal, Comrade Welt could not help but smile at first. But then his smile froze directly on his face. He had laughed because he knew exactly whom the other person meant by principal—and the reason his expression froze was precisely because of that principal!

"Theresa... really revived that man?"

His voice suddenly became extremely low, and a cold, chilling severity began to surface in his eyes. The state of Mandate of Heaven did not have much to do with him, a retired old geezer, anymore. But if Otto had been revived, then even if the culprit were Joyce reborn, he would have to properly reason with them using Star of Eden.

"That was only one of Theresa's dreams. At most, it was merely a past event from some World Bubble. It cannot affect your True World."

"Hard to say..."

The old geezer narrowed his eyes slightly. The one having that dream was the current High Priest of Destiny. What if Theresa truly obsessed over it day and dreamed about it at night, then one day suddenly shouted, "This is the most selfish thing a person can do," before turning around and finding a way to truly bring Otto back?

Kid, that was not impossible.

If Otto won his resurrection match, then as Otto's "old brother," if he could not immediately send him several hundred Star of Edens as congratulatory gifts, would that not make it seem like he did not value their "friendship" enough?

"Back to the point, Young Master Emiya. Why did you use that suggestive audio for March 7th to lure me here?"

There was no point dwelling too much on matters from his homeland for now. Instead, this apparent fellow countryman from home made him far more curious. What was his basis for acting this way, and what exactly was his own stance?

"Couldn't it simply be one fellow countryman meeting another, Mr. Welt?"

"Then why did you arrange for Little March and the others to be sent away?"

"Actually... I have gynophobia."

"I heard you were very enthusiastic when you received Little March and the others earlier."

"Yes, but I had a split personality then. Back home, multiple personalities are one of the local specialties. You simply have to try it."

As he spoke, Mr. Emiya listed several examples of outstanding local talents from that world without changing expression.

"For example, the Herrscher of the End and the Herrscher of the Void, the Herrscher of Thunder and the Herrscher of Origin, Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Consciousness... Then there's Black Seele and White Seele. In the Previous Era, Vill-V even split into six or seven personalities in one breath. With so many successful examples of outstanding talents, it's perfectly normal for me, Shirou Emiya, to have another personality named Redp, right?"

Was it normal?

The old geezer really wanted to say that it was not normal, but when he thought of the "local customs" back home, he fell into silence for a moment. Yet after only a brief pause, he suppressed those distracting thoughts. The faint smile on his face abruptly vanished, and he spoke in a grave voice.

"We can find a brighter place to sit down and slowly discuss local customs from our homeland later. But I want to know exactly why you are trying to keep me here."

Welt slowly tightened his grip on his cane. He had already noticed that this person, who knew his homeland's local customs like the back of his hand, seemed to have ulterior motives for delaying him here. Though he did not understand the man's intentions, he had already vaguely formed an answer in his heart regarding why he had deliberately been separated from March 7th and the others.

"You sent me away, then planned to take action against March 7th and that new child?"

Now one of the veteran old geezers aboard the train, Welt naturally could not allow the young people on the Express to encounter any danger. Even if they needed opportunities to grow, it absolutely could not happen while he knew nothing about it.

"Mr. Emiya, if you withdraw now, then from the standpoint of fellow countrymen, we can still end this with dignity."

"Dignity?"

The young man smiled when he heard that, then replied with a smile,

"I don't really need something so impractical. Dignity is not important to me, but keeping you here is very important to me right now, Mr. Welt. Carrying KPI targets on my back, I absolutely will not—"

Before he could finish, the Imaginary energy Welt had been building up instantly erupted. The replica Divine Key recreated using the Ninth Divine Key as its template began to unleash its power from within the cane.

"Star of Eden—!"

A crushing pressure capable of grinding lions and elephants into pulp in an instant descended upon Emiya.

And at that exact same moment, the strongest magecraft belonging to the man named Shirou Emiya completed its chant at a speed nearly equal to High-Speed Divine Words!

"This body is made of sword—!"