What Guinaifen and her viewers saw on the screen was a space station floating in the void. It was massive and highly advanced, orbiting a brilliant blue planet.
As a soothing rendition of Canon began to play, silhouettes flickered around the station. These weren't humans; their bodies looked like they were constructed from armor, and their weapons crackled with antimatter particles.
With a single glance, Guinaifen recognized these monsters.
"The Antimatter Legion!"
Her own home had been destroyed by the Antimatter Legion. She was intimately familiar with these non-human horrors. Memories of that trauma made her clench her fists. Was this space station about to be destroyed just like her home?
On the screen, the staff inside the space station were in a panic due to the sudden attack. Security personnel were helping with the evacuation. Red emergency lights flashed on every monitor, and the sense of urgency was palpable.
Yet, in the middle of this life-or-death crisis, a woman in a long coat stood calmly, moving as if she were dancing. Though she held no instrument, she looked as if she were playing an invisible violin, completely immersed in her performance.
The contrast between her grace and the chaos around her was striking. Even more disturbing was the faint, playful curve of her red lips. It was as if the chaos brought her joy.
As the camera provided a 360-degree close-up, the woman's face was revealed to everyone. Guinaifen calmed herself and adjusted the camera angle so her viewers could see the game content more clearly.
"Fam, do you see this? The graphics are so realistic! If you didn't tell me this was a game, I'd think it was a live recording from real life!"
"Little Gui will give you a quick lesson. Those creatures are from the Antimatter Legion. They are the embodiment of the will of Destruction, often called Voidrangers. Their goal is the total annihilation of all civilization and life!"
—"The Antimatter Legion? I can't count how many civilizations they've wiped out."
—"This game starts with a bang!"
—"Good thing our Xianzhou is a fortress. We don't have to worry about these monsters."
—"That woman looks so familiar..."
There was no doubt that the opening cinematic had successfully hooked Guinaifen and her audience. Lin Yu watched it all. And this... this was only the beginning. The real shocks were yet to come.
Boom!
An explosion near the woman in the coat interrupted her solo performance. The room bathed in the red glow of emergency alarms.
"It seems I didn't come at the right time," she said. Her voice was husky and magnetic.
At that moment, a silver-white icon appeared on a screen in front of her the silhouette of a wolf. A young girl's voice came through the comms.
"No, I think you've arrived just in time."
The scene shifted, transitioning into actual gameplay. The girl's voice continued: "23:47:15 system time. You're on time, Kafka."
"Kafka? Where have I heard that name before?" Guinaifen tapped her head. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Wait, isn't she that demoness the IPC put a massive bounty on...!?"
The moment that name was spoken, the stream chat exploded.
—"I knew she looked familiar! It really is Kafka!"
—"The dangerous criminal with a bounty of 10.899 billion Credits!?"
—"My god! This game is for real!"
—"Where can I download this?"
—"What's the name of this game!?"
Antimatter Legion, Stellaron Hunters... It was safe to say that Honkai: Star Rail had played its best cards right from the start. Guinaifen was completely dazed. She had never heard of a game that dared to feature the two most dangerous factions in the galaxy in its opening act.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she saw her stream numbers skyrocketing. She tapped the screen to continue the dialogue.
"Elio's visions of the future are never wrong. What was that explosion? Was that in his 'Script' too?"
"Yes. [23:44:59 system time: The pulse from the explosion results in the failure of the master control system's large mask.]"
"Did you do that?"
"The Antimatter Legion did. They began a full-scale invasion of the station two system hours ago."
"Do we need to engage them?"
"I don't know. Elio didn't say, so it's not important."
"Understood~" Kafka gave a soft whistle. "In that case, I'll take over the operation from here."
The person speaking to Kafka was obviously another member of the Stellaron Hunters! This conversation was terrifying to overhear. It felt like eavesdropping on a conversation between elite terrorists. How could anyone not feel a chill?
Moreover, based on their talk, it seemed they were about to start something big themselves. Guinaifen couldn't imagine what would happen to a space station caught between the Antimatter Legion and the Stellaron Hunters.
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