Honkai: Star Rail – Banner Character, Delivering Knives to the Player [49]

What everyone thought would be a plain, ordinary elite-encounter—turned into a bit of Elation thanks to the two minis in the Express crew griefing each other.

March’s reckless joy, Stelle’s helpless snark, and Lingzhou’s…

Mm, he was probably speechless.

Maybe a little amused.

And at the very end, a pinch of a senior covering for juniors, indulgent and soft.

Of course, that last part was Ah Xian impatiently tacking it on.

Because in her heart, Lingzhou is just that reliable.

---

"Stupid little robot, taste my move—Trailblaze Style! Bat, strike!" Stelle declared.

The victory cut-in popped.

Stelle charged the Automaton Direwolf, swung her bat, and knocked its head clean off.

Then a neat midair flip, landing steady at Lingzhou’s side, stowing the bat.

The pose and aura were peak cool—until the follow-up ruined everything—

She flicked the Six-Phase Ice stuck to her shoe…

First she threw Lingzhou a look that said “thank goodness you’re here.”

Then she glanced at March with an expression that carried an indescribable flavor.

---

When the animation ended, it took a minor deity to keep Ah Xian from bursting out.

“Holy—dumping CG budget into an elite kill, even a victory cutscene?”

“I’m laughing my guts into knots. Our girl’s vivid little look perfectly explains the gap between god-tier teammate and pig teammate.”

“So who’s the useless one now, huh? Hahahaha~~”

[I’d think this was a final boss if I didn’t know better. That last blow had my blood boiling.]
[Why does Stelle’s line sound familiar…]
[Of course it’s familiar. CV joke!]
[Stelle’s VA is Benmei-sensei, same as Sushang. The line’s a modded version of Sushang’s ult!]
[Pfft—am I the only one who caught that March roast came from Flirting Scholar?]
[Good catch. It is.]

① "Little March, Lingzhou was right. You really are useless."
② "Sigh… without Lingzhou, our little trailblaze team really would fall apart…"
③ "Battle over, hair intact. Perfect."

“No wonder she’s the poster girl. No wonder it’s a space comedy. I’ve been laughing all day—only stopped once.”

Only a fleeting sadness could stop it, and even that lost to the fun by a landslide.

Ah Xian hovered the mouse between options ① and ②, then clicked ③.

“Little March is too cute. I can’t tease her anymore.”

---

"Um… you don’t actually have a hairstyle…" March offered weakly.

"Nonsense. Can’t you feel the wild, languid, melancholic, decadent aura of my casual hair?" Stelle protested.

"Er… when you’re not talking or smiling, you do have a teensy bit of melancholy beauty," March admitted.

"?" Stelle blinked. "So you’re saying I’m a perfectly good beauty—ruined by having a mouth?"

"I didn’t say that. Don’t overthink it. Are you hurt anywhere?" March hurried to change the subject.

① "I’m pretty sturdy. How would I be hurt?"
② "With Lingzhou’s heals, even if I was, I’m fine now."

She picked ②.

"Game jargon’s piling up. I’m not a priest. I don’t restore HP," Lingzhou said.

"Why not? Doctors can be priests too," March blinked.

"Because nobody wants healers in dungeons. Except battle-priests," Lingzhou replied airily.

Stelle snorted.

"No, really. Once, while we were gaming on the Express, a priest with glowing hands entered and just… stabbed his staff into the ground."

---

Ah Xian didn’t catch every reference, but she immediately got that one from Lingzhou’s mouth.

“What, Ye Buxiu?”

“Bad news: the game is stitched with memes.”

“Good news: it’s stitched with all the memes!”

[Hell yes, ground-stab healing!]
[The Honkai: Star Rail dev team is a complex alloy. I want to pry open their skulls and see how much they crammed in.]
[Every skill of Lingzhou’s is a reference. Wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled out a white plastic chair next.]

---

Watching the Express trio bicker made the two beside them smile without realizing.

Though they’d only just met, their squabble carried a weird warmth.

Seele glanced at Bronya by reflex—only to meet her eyes exactly.

Seeing the curve at each other’s lips, both flushed and looked away at the same time.

---

[I ship them!]
[Cyan Sea pair saikou!]
[Place your bets—who’s 1, who’s 0?]
[Easy in HI3, but HSR… hard to say.]

---

"A few more minutes and we’ll be able to overlook half the Great Mine," Seele said.

A few minutes was nothing.

Soon they reached a high perch above a designated entrance.

"From up here, this vein looks truly magnificent," Bronya breathed.

Since childhood, the Underworld had been under lockdown.

She knew Geomarrow was piped up from below, but had never seen what a vein looked like.

"Magnificent, yes—but who knows if the Underworld can hold out until the day this vein is fully mined," Seele dropped a heavy line.

"…" Bronya exhaled into silence.

"That’s odd," Lingzhou said suddenly.

"I think so too. If this Great Mine is where the trouble is… why don’t we see anyone?" Stelle pointed down.

Only then did Seele remember what had felt off earlier.

Right. Where are the people?

Too quiet!

"Could they be deeper, in Sector 4? Natasha told me earlier the new vein was found there," Seele said, growing convinced.

"Let’s move. We haven’t passed any miners heading back. Nor vagrants. The conflict might not be over!"

Or maybe they left through the D-to-G conveyor tunnels—but unlikely. That path’s a pain.

The player view slid into real-time cutscene.

Countless robots, large and small, flowed inward from outside the mine.

Through the robots’ POV, the scene quickly reached the two opposing crowds.

Seeing machines closing in, both sides’ faces turned wary.

As everyone knows, cutscene time is often desynced.

By the time it plays, what’s on screen might’ve happened a while ago.

When Ah Xian ran down into the area, the dialogue confirmed it.

"There’s the sound of fighting deeper in—doesn’t sound like humans against humans. More like humans against inorganics," Lingzhou said.

"'Inorganics' means what?" Seele asked.

"Sorry, slipped out. I mean robots."

"Damn it. Why would Svarog be involved in this? I’m not at ease. I’m going on ahead!" Seele snapped.

"I’ll go with you!" Bronya cried.

"We don’t even know this place—how are those two so fast?" March yelped.

Stelle patted her shoulder, calm as a lake.

"You little dummy. If Lingzhou sensed a fight deep in the mine from here, he can get us there."

"…Right," March mumbled.

---

No. No, no, this isn’t right at all. Nine parts out of ten, not right.

As the plot reached this point, Ah Xian fell into thought.

[Don’t tease—spit it out!]

“I’m recalling the beta storyline—Dan Heng’s route, to be exact. If the release didn’t change it…”

---

This is a fan translation of 崩铁：卡池角色，给玩家发刀 by 三十度幻. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!