"How much longer are you gonna talk? The Astral Express crew should be arriving soon."
"I know, Silver Wolf. Just a little longer, really."
After a chaotic "save data protection battle" that left the place in an uproar, the two Stellaron Hunters finally completed their respective tasks.
Though Silver Wolf wasn't entirely satisfied. After all, Lynelle's protective measures hadn't actually deleted her save files. It was just as Silver Wolf had said earlier—it was more of a petty, playful tease.
While she felt relieved, a strange sense of resentment lingered. Something along the lines of, 'You went this far and just stopped?'
While Silver Wolf and Lynelle (the real human-version) were locked in their battle of wits, Kafka had also finished her "farewell" with Stelle, her tone gentle throughout.
"Let me think, what else was there…"
Kafka's gaze fell upon Lynelle's motionless form lying nearby.
"Ah, that's what I forgot."
"Time's almost up. I should go now… Listen to me:The girl lying beside you will be an important companion. You can embark on adventures with her. Soon, others will find you. Don't worry, go with them. You won't remember anything… except for me."
"Ka…fka…?"
"When you have the chance to make a choice, don't let yourself regret it…"
With that, Kafka took one last look at Stelle, who had fallen asleep again, and rose to her feet, a hint of reluctance in her movement.
"All settled? Are you sure it's fine, adding this girl from who-knows-where?"
"It's fine. It was in the updated script Elio gave me… She will be a significant help in the future."
"Alright, if you say so."
Silver Wolf shrugged. Then, as if remembering something, she trotted back and dragged Lynelle over next to Stelle. "Let's put these two together. Otherwise, it looks like some kinda crime scene."
"And now… their journey begins."
--+--
Meanwhile, on the Siberian snowfields.
"Kiana-chan… Are you sure this direction you pointed me in is right?"
[Y-yes… I think? Actually, I don't really remember this place either…]
"But I've been walking for so long, and I still haven't seen any signs of people…"
Lynelle let out a deep sigh. "Feels like I accidentally wandered onto the set of some wilderness survival show."
Though only minutes had passed back in the Star Rail world, Lynelle had already been trekking across this snowfield for nearly four hours.
Truth be told, as the Herrscher of Corruption, she wasn't without means of travel.
Even without using item or character cards, she could transform into a data state—literally, the legendary 'punch you through the internet' trick.
The problem was, with her Core of Corruption heavily sealed, she couldn't just transmit herself out of nothing. Without a physical medium in the real world, the ability was useless.
Perhaps due to Otto's Honkai energy fission bombs turning this area into a no-man's land, after four hours, she hadn't found so much as a village.
The only thing she'd managed to do was get snarled at by bears on the roadside.
If it weren't for the fact that even if she died here, she'd just respawn in the same spot next time, she'd have long since returned to the Star Rail universe.
[Host! Host!]
"What, are we almost there?"
Lynelle's eyes lit up.
[No.]
"Then why are you so excited?"
[Ahem. Well, even though I don't know the way, someone who does is about to wake up.]
"So you really were just pointing blindly this whole time!"
Lynelle felt the urge to flip a mental table. Then, she registered the second part of what Kiana-chan said. "Wait, you mean… Cecilia's waking up?"
[Mhm. Her consciousness is fluctuating intensely right now. She should be coming to any moment. Also, you need to take Cecilia's soul out of your backpack now. Once she's fully awake, integrate her back into your body to complete the system's upgrade quest.]
"Oh, right…"
Not daring to delay, Lynelle quickly opened her backpack, selected the tiny icon representing Cecilia, and released it.
"By the way, how am I supposed to put Cecilia back into the system later?"
[Well… you can't, for now. Once the conditions are met, the system will undergo an update and upgrade.]
[During that time, the gacha pool will be disabled, and you can only take items out of your backpack, not put them in. After the update, the items in your backpack will be directly transferred to the system space.]
"So… Cecilia will be… attached to me… until the system update is finished?"
Lynelle paused. "How long will that take?"
[Just a few hours. I need a bit more time to prepare mentally—I mean, prepare for the system upgrade!]
"Ohhh~ I see… So it's 'preparing for the system upgrade,' is it?"
Lynelle drew out her words, struggling to suppress her rising smirk. "Fine, you go and make your 'adjustments.' I'll take Cecilia here and get on with our wilderness survival."
Just as Lynelle was teasing Kiana-chan, Cecilia slowly began to open her eyes.
"Huh? Where is this… Why am I… floating?"
"Ahem. Well, you see, we both accidentally died in the Second Honkai War. This is heaven."
Lynelle said with a perfectly straight face.
"I… Is that so…"
Cecilia fell silent for a moment, a bitter smile forming. "I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd end up dragging you down with me. In the end, I couldn't do anything…"
As she spoke, Cecilia instinctively reached out to pat Lynelle's head, only for her hand to pass right through her.
"Eh?"
"Hehe~"
Lynelle let out a light, mischievous hum. "Alright, don't worry. I'm not dead, and you're not dead either… It's a bit complicated. Let me explain everything slowly, Cecilia… uh… Sis?"
"While I'm happy to hear you call me 'Sis,' if Sirin calls me Mama, wouldn't the family tree get a bit messy?"
Cecilia's attention was suddenly captured by this odd detail. "How about… you call me Mama too, Lynelle? I wouldn't mind having a few more daughters, you know~"
"Cough, cough, cough…!"
Cecilia's straightforward proposition caught Lynelle completely off guard. "Th-that's moving a bit too fast! Maybe I should just call you Senior… Senior Cecilia."
"Anyway, here's roughly what happened…"
Lynelle then proceeded to explain how she used an item to preserve their souls, and roughly how she could travel between the two worlds.
After all, there wasn't much reason to hide these things from Cecilia.
In a few hours, Cecilia would be meeting Kiana-chan anyway, and Lynelle didn't think a simpleton like Kiana, who wore her heart on her sleeve, could possibly keep secrets from Cecilia.
"So… with the help of this system of unknown origin, both my and Sirin's souls were preserved. But because we lack suitable bodies right now, we can only temporarily… attach ourselves to you…?"
Cecilia nodded, seeming to understand somewhat. "For some reason, I find myself feeling quite anticipatory about that system spirit you mentioned… Judging by her way of doing things, I feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity with her…"
"Don't worry, you'll get your chance."
Lynelle glanced sideways at the system interface, where Kiana-chan was using the 'system maintenance' excuse to hide inside like a little hamster, and smiled. "But for now… Senior Cecilia, do you know the way?"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.