The major reveal of the memetic entity was, to this day, finally and thoroughly unveiled right under the noses of the players and the Trailblazer!
At that moment, discussions surrounding the plot of Star Rail Version 1.6 reached their absolute peak!
The heroine had given her all for the one she held dear in her heart, willing to accept a future where she might not even be by their side.
She hoped the one she loved could cast aside the unpleasant, sorrowful past and live on in blissful ignorance.
Forget me. That is my only wish.
The beautiful girl, who should have died long ago and been forgotten by the protagonist, returned to the world as a meme. The girl gazed upon a world that had changed beyond recognition, and at the Trailblazer who had lost all memories of her. Yet, she still resolved to fulfill everyone's wishes without a second thought!
Even in death, her soul could find no rest! It burned away like kindling!
Orchis was imbued with this tragic undertone in the story, and her character design was finally revealed to the vast player base.
She was already dead before the story even began! Her love was a heavy, one-sided devotion that asked for nothing in return, her prayers unanswered!
A humble offering, a past shadow unable to even fend for itself, a sincere attachment, a memory that could never be redeemed.
Seeing this, the community players let out a sharp scream.
The groundhogs sat before their screens, hysterical with powerless rage. The sound of their wailing was enough to bring tears to any who heard it and sorrow to any who saw it.
As a player, when you continuously progress through the main story to defeat the final Boss, hoping for some sweet interaction with your little girlfriend afterward, the plot takes a nosedive! It tells you the protagonist can't do anything! It tells you the heroine is already dead! That she never existed from the start! Everyone just lost it!
Why are there so many bloodthirsty bastards in this world! Can't you write a plot for normal people to watch?!
Normal people just want to see good rewarded and evil punished, to see hardworking people receive their due, to have the protagonist I'm projecting onto be showered with affection! To be popular with the opposite sex! To have a little cookie made of dreams, friendship, and love! And on top of that, maybe add a little cultural depth to make one reflect!
That would be fine! That would be enough!
[Real life is already exhausting! Do I have to suffer in a game too?!]
I'm just playing a game to be treated kindly! To find someone I like, who also likes me.
I just long to be cared for by others! To find a safe harbor in this cruel reality, a 2D world where I can recuperate!
The burdens of my financial situation and the 3D life are already suffocating! Why is it that after a long day, when I come home and open up our space comedy to relax, the fountain of life itself turns around and attacks me!!!!!!
[No... I don't want that.]
Orchis being dead and all! A plot like that should wait at least ten versions!
[I want her to always be waiting for me on the platform, shyly following behind me, tugging on the Trailblazer's sleeve with a bashful little smile.]
Full of affection, a reassuring sense of support.
And I would worry about her falling behind, take her hand, and confirm each other's existence.
[I don't want to see this... I don't like this!]
I can't accept this kind of plot!
We Chinese people believe in repaying debts of gratitude and vengeance. If you receive a kindness but are powerless to repay it, how can you ever rest in peace?!
I can't accept it! I can't let it go! This is too much! This story development is definitely strange!
In the story, the Trailblazer learned the shocking truth from the messenger and felt like she could never trust this world again.
Weather-beaten, Stelle's face was haggard with sorrow. One could imagine the endless grief brewing in her heart, yet she couldn't speak, couldn't even mourn!
Instead, a vast sense of nothingness spread throughout her entire body, and the light vanished from her eyes.
Even the protagonist was so distressed and wretched! How could the players outside the screen be in any better a mood?!
The voices of the bloodthirsty lunatics were loud! Tragic plots were already commonplace on the cruel internet of 2025! But still—
Something upsetting is still something upsetting.
Everyone was just numb, adapted, and accepting. They could even joke about it to death, but pain is still pain!
Pain can't bring happiness!
"miHoYo, you truly never disappoint when it comes to being inhuman."
Strangely, some people were laughing while their faces twisted in disgust. Kisaragi turned and picked up her phone.
This won't do. I need to order an ice cream or bubble tea to catch my breath.
I'm getting too old for this!
Although Orchis's past had yet to be revealed, along with the memories and bonds of long ago... while the girl's motives for doing what she did were certainly important, whether a character is successful and reasonable ultimately depends on what they do in the story.
The girl's devotion was genuine! Her sacrifice was real! The truth revealed by the messenger only made Orchis's feelings seem all the more sincere, pushing the story's twist to its climax! But it also caused the plot to plunge headfirst into an insane abyss with no clear path forward, never to return!
Stab the protagonist, reveal the cruel reality, and bid farewell to the warm daily life and the naive self!
I told you there would be a major plot point that would make life worse than death!
"The white moonlight who guides the protagonist's faith. Even more impactful than a white moonlight is a dead white moonlight!"
Orchis was even connected to the little gray-hair's past... This is it! An epic, super-sized cup of "childhood friend from the sky" plus "holy widow"!
My god! This time, I bet Shaoji is going to be launched into outer space by the moe-lovers, never to return!
Kisaragi's hand, holding her meager meal, trembled slightly. The bullet comments in the livestream chat refreshed madly with every blink.
Humanity's brightest stars are shining! The unpredictable stage of destiny!
[It wasn't a mutual crush, they were actual partners.]
[Orchis fans are very satisfied with this highlight. They're already lying on the rooftop.]
[This pair has the vibe of recklessly eloping against all odds. Their feelings are incredibly deep.]
[Even after losing the bonds of memory, they fought side-by-side so naturally, holding nothing back.]
[Orchis has no future. But the little gray-hair's situation isn't what you'd call a breakup, because Orchis still loves her. But as long as the little gray-hair can't let her go, she'll have to live in her shadow for the rest of her life.]
[This is what I wanted to see!]
[Orchis is dead. I have no heart to explain right or wrong anymore!... For her! I will use the Stellaron to destroy this universe that does not love her! Power! Ideals! A place to belong! Transcend this destiny! I shall be crowned the Aeon of Finality!]
[The world abandoned my Orchis! Yet even in death, you still make my heart race, disappearing with such a tragic expression.]
[Feeling a bit sour after this plot. Will there be a patch later to salvage it?]
[The more I think about it, the more regretful, the more I miss her, the more I pity her. Let me ask you, dare you say, how much weight does she hold in the depths of your heart?]
[I say: Everything.]
[Thinking of Orchis makes me sick with longing!!]
[Reading of Orchis, I will never forget her for all eternity!!]
[Loving Orchis, for lifetimes to come!!]
[Orchis! Orchis! My Orchis!!!!]
There were no humans left!
The discussions in the player community were booming, but for now, that's all on them.
No matter how boisterous the outside world became, they were essentially just an audience watching the stage, mere outsiders.
The story still belonged to the characters within it.
The audience enjoyed the plot, driven mad by its twists and turns. Good or bad, it was all part of the game.
But for the performers on stage, this was their real world. The life belonging to the characters had to go on.
-----------------
The scene changed, shifting to the Herta Space Station.
In front of the Simulated Universe, several geniuses mulled over the Trailblazer's strange actions.
"Inference: Was the rumored Nameless from just now influenced by Remembrance?"
Screwllum believed the hasty, gray-haired girl's cognition had been interfered with by a Memokeeper. Her confused and lost behavior matched the symptoms of memory interference.
"What? Are you looking down on me, or do you think too highly of the people from the Garden of Recollection? Countless Memokeepers have come to my space station trying to steal memories. The ones who paid the price for their mischief could be strung up on the lampposts and wrap around the station," Herta retorted.
"It is merely a conjecture, which has its merits, madam. But to continue the line of reasoning, neither an ordinary Memokeeper nor a member of The Cremators should have left such an obvious flaw that would allow the subject to notice it."
Screwllum answered his own question. Meanwhile, Ruan Mei picked up her tablet and pulled up the surveillance records from her laboratory.
The traces of the Trailblazer's battle and the insect powder clinging to her looked very familiar to Ruan Mei.
On the screen was the scene of the little gray-hair fighting the Swarm King of Star-crushing alone. The woman was only now witnessing the full event. In the original game's plot, Ruan Mei had always said that if the Trailblazer really couldn't handle those experimental creatures, she would step in.
But now, the Trailblazer was not Ruan Mei's assistant. By barging into the lab, she had caused Ruan Mei to be a step too slow.
Observing closely, Ruan Mei saw a golden pocket watch floating in the air in the footage, and a scene where the little gray-hair seemed to be muttering to herself, protecting something.
"...This must be what they call 'darkness under the lamp'," Ruan Mei said to the other two.
If a Memokeeper invaded the space station, any little move would be sniffed out by Herta. But something analogous to a tiny Memory Bubble could be found everywhere throughout the station. Who would care about a wisp of memetic material on the level of a roadside pebble, so faint it would vanish with a puff of dust?
The magnitude was too low. Herta's vast experience made her think on a higher level, falling into a pattern of thought where she designed her hypothetical enemy to be too powerful.
"You have a lead? How surprising, Ruan Mei. You're actually taking the initiative to pay attention to someone else's affairs? What is it about that little one that caught your eye?"
Since the problem occurred in her own laboratory, shouldn't she at least show some humanitarian care? Is that how one navigates the world? Ruan Mei thought so. She was aware of her own empathy constantly dissociating, but she didn't think it was something that could be simply discarded.
Research life, deconstruct life, master life, yet she herself was still human. She must not abandon the foundation of her humanity.
If she accidentally ended up like Dr. Primitive, she wouldn't be able to live a reclusive life anymore, and Ruan Mei disliked noise and trouble.
"I'd like to borrow one of your Curios. It might come in handy," Ruan Mei said to Herta before leaving.
"Again? You still haven't returned the Phase Flame you borrowed last time."
"I lost the Phase Flame."
"Huh?"
"So, what do you say?"
"Whatever. Take what you want."
-----------------
Ruan Mei left the front of the Simulated Universe and went to the observation platform. Just as she was about to visit the Astral Express, a somewhat sorrowful melody reached her ears, seemingly from a music box-like instrument.
Drawn by the music, Ruan Mei went to investigate. There, on a deck chair on the observation platform, she saw the figure of the Trailblazer, Stelle. The girl was holding a golden pocket watch, curled up in the chair, simply watching the hands of the watch face turn, devoid of any meaning.
During this time, it seemed the Trailblazer's companions had come to see her.
March 7th and Dan Heng had witnessed Stelle's gloomy state ever since she returned to the Express from the space station. They wanted to ask what was wrong, but the only reply they got was that she wanted to be alone. After that, she didn't speak again.
The more enthusiastic March 7th felt she couldn't leave Stelle alone, but Dan Heng's reserved personality made him think that being alone is necessary when one is in a bad mood.
Some things can only be processed by oneself. When the other person doesn't want to talk, we can't pry into the reasons. To care is to create chaos.
Aren't the Nameless a group that came together precisely because they don't ask about origins or pasts? We can only help those who are willing to press forward and explore.
March 7th suddenly ruffled her hair. "Fine, fine, you've convinced me! Stelle, you have to take care of yourself, okay? If you have any problems, just tell us and we'll figure it out together! Don't be a silent gourd, it makes me sad to see you like this."
"Thanks... I'm really fine," the little gray-hair managed to squeeze out a smile, but her eyes were dim and lightless.
Her own affairs, Orchis's affairs... how could she make the people around her understand and empathize, let alone change the outcome?
Speaking up would only add to her friends' worries. It was meaningless.
The Trailblazer stared at the watch in her hand and at the slumbering Orchis in her arms, and suddenly felt like nothing mattered anymore.
There was nothing she could do about Orchis, because she was a phantom formed from past memories, not a living being that actually existed.
Her own trailblazing was equally meaningless. Reaching the end by her own will... in the end, she had accomplished nothing.
Stelle seemed to have lost all motivation to move forward in an instant.
She had decided to board the Astral Express because of Orchis. But if Orchis herself was a meaningless phantom, she couldn't boast to anyone. After everything was over, embarking on a journey... who was she even doing it for?
"...I see."
The gray-haired girl suddenly realized that her trailblazing might not have been because she truly wanted to do something.
Perhaps that was a factor.
But more than that, when Stelle boarded the Express, it was Orchis's pull that made her feel she had to become someone.
(Because of her, according to her, an answer on the verge of being spoken.)
At the very, very end, when she saw that puppet girl give her a sad smile and bid her farewell.
Perhaps Stelle simply wanted to understand the meaning of that expression...
She didn't want the other person to wear such a pained look.
(...)
Silence. Head bowed, the Trailblazer's trembling hand clutched the pocket watch.
She thought she would break down in tears, but after learning the truth, she couldn't muster much of a reaction beyond a sense of desolation.
She couldn't find a direction to strive for, nor a reason to strive.
"I'm tired."
Suddenly, she felt that none of it mattered.
Trailblazing, whatever. Orchis, whatever. The Stellaron Hunters, whatever. The will of Preservation, whatever. Her own past, whatever. It all had a hollow sense of absurdity.
Stelle had seen Orchis as her anchor, the beginning of everything for her. If she couldn't firmly believe in this anchor, then nothing could begin.
(I want her to always be watching me, and I want to be able to find her...)
(For the first time, someone looked only at me, focused only on me, existed only for me.)
(Even though I can't remember my past, Orchis painted a future for me.)
At this moment, that future was gradually fading away.
Without a beginning or an end, in this dark star chart with no known destination, there was only an endless sense of nothingness.
Stelle was completely lost, constantly asking herself, what kind of person did she want to become?
(About... Orchis...)
She was already dead. What you're embracing is just information from the past.
Therefore, her thoughts came to a halt. She had accomplished nothing and didn't want to think about anything anymore.
The Trailblazer looked at the hands of the watch. If only they could be reversed, if only they could go back to the past... What was the point of thinking about such things?
Reversing time was nothing but a loser's extravagant hope. No one could travel against the flow of time.
No one.
Then... what about the Aeons?
To put it bluntly, only humans live along the axis of time. Aeons are not bound by such limitations.
Aeons roam the universe, and the gaps between planets are essentially a mix of real and imaginary energy. The world is a leaf on the Imaginary Tree.
If one could master the Imaginary, perhaps time itself would become meaningless.
And the Astral Express was a vehicle that could travel between planets, sailing on the Tree.
Could the Express... travel to the past?
(If I trace the so-called Tree to its roots, and distort it...)
Heh, am I already escaping reality and indulging in fantasies?
Don't be so pathetic, Stelle. You're a Nameless too.
One who pioneers forward. Perhaps Orchis was an afterimage of the past, but the feelings she gave were by no means fake.
She tried to comfort herself. If she wanted to defy fate, she should be happy, just as the other person wished.
The past couldn't be changed, but in the present, Stelle still had the people on the Express worrying about her.
Stelle couldn't let the people who came specifically to worry about her continue to feel sad, right?
...Right!
"——" The girl gritted her teeth.
Sometimes she really hated her rational mind. If she were a little more ignorant, perhaps she could have just wailed her heart out from the straightforward pain of losing Orchis and her own powerlessness.
No... she was actually already crying.
At some point, large teardrops had already slid down Stelle's cheeks and onto the watch face.
She cried without a sound, quietly, on the verge of collapse, yet holding on to the very end.
Perhaps it was precisely because her companions on the Express were still there to support her that the Trailblazer didn't fall into a dead end in her heart.
Trailblaze and Finality are reflections of each other. Stelle could be Akivili, but at the end point, there was also Terminus who traveled toward the past.
The girl must become the one who transcends the universe's end according to Elio's prophecy, so she would always walk a good path.
This good path was not necessarily the good ending the Trailblazer hoped for, but one where the universe ultimately avoided the finality of the Four Apocalypses.
At this moment, if the Stellaron Hunters didn't appear, the current story could at least be improved.
Destiny would not allow the Trailblazer to wallow in depravity.
-----------------
"...What are you here for?"
The Trailblazer didn't lift her head. Her voice was indifferent, directed at Ruan Mei who had approached her side.
It was because of the Swarm King that Ruan Mei had created that she had ended up in such a miserable state. Logically, she should be angry and dissatisfied. Ruan Mei cultivating an Emanator on the space station was also an extremely dangerous act. But firstly, it was Stelle who had barged into the laboratory, and secondly, if not for this incident, Stelle might have one day depleted Orchis's life and unknowingly activated the pocket watch. This at least gave the Trailblazer a chance to know the truth. Although Ruan Mei probably didn't have such kind intentions, the exhausted Stelle seemed to have no intention of starting a conflict. Her heart was persuading her to become numb.
"You might need this."
Ruan Mei handed over a book. Stelle glanced at it and found it to be a familiar yet strange object. It must be a Curio from Herta's collection.
But Herta's Curios were many and varied, and Stelle's focus in the Simulated Universe was only on historical knowledge and world-building. Her knowledge of Curios was not that clear.
"This Curio is called [Written in Water]. Once, when the Antimatter Legion under the command of Celenova arrived in the Boquelet Nebula in full force, all that was left before them was a blank residue of matter. The Memokeepers had packed the entire world's memories into a book and swaggered out of the encirclement set by the Lord Ravager. By abandoning their cumbersome physical forms, the residents of Boquelet successfully completed a memetic rebirth. So, this book can alter life forms and store memetic information. Although in the universal value system, Boquelet is considered to have died silently, what do you think?"
After hearing Ruan Mei's explanation, Stelle stared at the woman with a wary gaze.
"Why are you giving this book to me? Back in Herta's office, didn't you say you saw nothing?"
"It seems the being you mentioned named Orchis is indeed a meme."
"Trying to trick me in reverse?"
"No... The other two and I have already deduced that a memory-related entity caused your strange behavior. I have also sorted out what you did in my laboratory through the footage, and I believe the memetic life form by your side can only be the lowest form of existence in terms of information volume."
"Then, what's your motive?"
"Motive?"
"There's no reason for you to go out of your way to deliver a book to me."
Stelle didn't think someone who would drug others would have a strong moral compass.
"..." There really wasn't one.
From a logical and self-interested standpoint, Ruan Mei had to admit this.
However, the woman recalled the Trailblazer's panicked and desperate appearance before in Herta's office, how she looked as if she was about to cry.
Why, though? Was it to clean up after her own experiment? A guilty conscience? Or perhaps…
"Cherish the part of yourself that can still cry. It's proof that you still have people—and a self—that you can, are willing to, and are able to love."
Ruan Mei could no longer remember the last time she had cried.
On the day her parents died, after witnessing the unnamable thing within the snowy ice sheets, she was no longer herself.
She couldn't even cry when her own parents passed away.
The moment she resurrected those two, aside from a comforting sense of familiarity, there seemed to be no other feelings.
In Ruan Mei's eyes, perhaps the Stelle before her was also missing something familiar—an unbearable void.
Was it so strange for Ruan Mei to want to fill in those empty windows?
That said, it would be very difficult for Ruan Mei to resurrect a memetic entity that had no biological matter and was merely a small fragment of information.
She was a genius in the field of life, not an expert in memetics.
"Speaking of which, do you have the remains of the being named Orchis?"
"Are you trying to provoke me?!" Stelle's gaze instantly turned cold.
"The chance to resurrect someone is right before your eyes…"
Seriously considering Ruan Mei's words, Stelle suddenly realized that Ruan Mei, as a master in the field of life, could indeed bring the dead back to life. Herta had mentioned this rumor before—that she could reverse death.
So, it was really possible?
Then even if Ruan Mei's Emanator of Propagation destroyed the entire space station, she had the ability to clean up the aftermath.
"...No."
Hope had just been kindled, only to be extinguished in an instant.
The Trailblazer had nothing that could provide information on Orchis's life form.
"I see..."
Ruan Mei's expression didn't change, her gaze finally falling back upon the Curio, Written in Water.
"Then, do you need this book?"
"To preserve a thought-form from the past and live on in self-deception?"
"But, that person is very important to you, aren't they?"
"But that would just be an illusion. Even if I forced it to continue, it would disappear one day.
Orchis wouldn't want me to see her like that, either."
That was why the puppet girl had hidden in a corner of the lab after learning she was a memetic entity.
She believed the Trailblazer shouldn't know the truth, shouldn't cling to someone with no future.
Clinging to last words from the past for too long would only make parting more painful.
One needs to look forward. I should return the deceased's information to where it belongs.
(But… about Orchis.)
(Everything about her… I still know nothing.)
(I think… I should have the right to know the truth, to understand our past.)
(At the very least, I should remember that there was once a girl who gave her all for me. I shouldn't forget her.)
To let her disappear while I know nothing… when I haven't been able to do anything for her at all.
At the very least, when we part, I hope it is with a sense of release, not with regret and sorrow.
"——"
The Trailblazer gritted her teeth.
She would be committing a transgression, doing something Orchis absolutely would not have wanted.
Stelle took the Written in Water from Ruan Mei's hands. Holding the pocket watch in one hand, she looked down at the frail puppet girl resting in her arms.
Information from the past is meaningless, only adding to the sorrow… I get it!
She hoped I would just travel on, ignorant of it all. The living shouldn't immerse themselves in the mirage of the dead.
The grand principle of respecting her wishes… I get that too!
"But how do you expect me to endure all this…"
Though she was one who should be trailblazing toward the future, Stelle reached back to hold on to an unknown past.
No, that wasn't it.
(It is precisely so I can better step into the future that I need to reach the day I can bid her a proper farewell.)
Rather than being haunted by an unknown sacrifice, I would rather walk on with painful memories.
If you love someone, if they are important to you, you must support each other. You must never allow a one-sided sacrifice.
That's how it should be… right?
TheCurio in the Trailblazer's hands emitted a faint glow. Then, Orchis's body sank into it, vanishing without a trace.
Stelle pressed her lips together as tears of self-perceived weakness streamed from the corners of her eyes. The sunset breeze blew, swaying her gray hair.
Prepared for the inevitable farewell, she would carry the sin of holding on and continue her journey with Orchis.
(Chapter 26 is already up on P@treon)