The Gamer who traveled to Honkai: Star Rail

The once densely populated battlefield was now empty. 

Kevin stood expressionless, scanning his surroundings: previously, this area had been filled with enough Voidrangers to topple any city, but now, every single one of them had been reduced to ash by the flames of Judgment of Shamash.

Eleven consecutive strikes—this was the first time Kevin had truly experienced what it meant to have power. What it meant to wield 'Powa!'

And not all of his weapons had even entered cooldown. Thanks to the blessing of the Hunt, every weapon skill he used had its cooldown instantly reset upon killing an enemy. At this moment, Kevin could unleash the full might of his arsenal again at any time.

Yet, instead of being drawn in by this power, his first thought was whether he should put in some extra work—wipe out every remaining Voidranger on Earth before calling it a day.

As he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out to him. Instinctively, he looked up and saw a Starskiff stopping right in front of him.

The moment the Starskiff halted, Pei Guang leaned over and greeted him.

"How does it feel? Class skills paired with a powerful weapon—pretty satisfying, huh?"

For a player, getting stronger was exciting. Watching your teammates get stronger was exciting. And seeing your loyal NPC allies turn into absolute powerhouses? That was just as thrilling. Players didn't mind sharing top-tier weapons with NPCs or allies—what they really hated was having loot stolen from under their noses or getting screwed over in a roll for gear.

As long as those two things didn't happen? Watching others grow stronger was always a good thing.

Hearing Pei Guang's question, Kevin nodded.

"It's incredibly powerful. And with the items you provided, I can unleash these skills at full force. The blessing from the Hunt also allows me to use them more frequently…"

Pei Guang crossed his arms.

"So, basically, it's just NP regen on kill. Standard mechanic. Didn't expect your class skill to be this useful—pretty nice. You wanna keep going, or are you good? If you're done, we'll head back to base. After that, I'll sort out a few more things, see if there's anything left for me to do. If not, I'm just gonna go skip some storylines."

Waiting around was boring—especially in a world as realistic as this one. Even with a player's hacks, scientific advancements still took years, even decades.

Sure, with accelerated time, those "decades" would only be a matter of days for Earth. But still, waiting even that long was a drag for Pei Guang.

If there wasn't much left for him to do, he figured he'd head back to the Xianzhou or the Astral Express to pass the time. If not, he might drop by Belobog for a while.

When he last visited the city, he'd been busy recruiting Silver Wolf. Even though he had looted plenty of resources, he hadn't done many of the side quests.

And now that he thought about it, he should probably chat with Bronya about a potential alliance. Sure, the distance between Belobog and Earth was massive, but that wasn't really a problem.

The city had access to Resonance Space, and he had already racked up a ridiculously high level of prestige there. Setting up a teleportation node shouldn't be too difficult.

But before deciding on anything, he'd need to check it out for himself—get a proper look and figure out the best way to proceed.

Besides, there were still mysteries in Belobog, hidden stories, and forgotten histories that he hadn't uncovered yet. 

All of that was prime exploration material!

Sure, Pei Guang often had a "Who am I? Where am I? Time for a massacre!" mindset.

But outside of battles, he genuinely loved digging into a world's lore.

Whether it was doing side quests alongside the main story or coming back to explore every hidden detail after finishing the main campaign—it all depended on his mood and interest.

After all, it was just a game.

And as a player, the best way to play was his way—by following his own feelings, his own understanding, and his own choices.

Kevin didn't know why, but as he looked at Pei Guang in front of him, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. It was as if he had just experienced something similar but couldn't quite recall where he had seen it before.

But it didn't matter. Right now, Kevin had something he wanted to do. He turned to Pei Guang and said, "Leader Pei Guang, I have a request. May I personally witness your strength?"

Pei Guang: "Huh? My strength? Not to brag, but what you guys consider formidable enemies are just small mobs to me. Voidrangers are like tutorial monsters; I kill them so easily that I'm afraid it'll crush your confidence."

Kevin: "That's fine. I want to see how large the gap between us truly is. I want to know how far I still need to go before I can protect this planet and the people I love."

Pei Guang: "Oh? A character quest, huh? Ah, seriously—this was something I could've done before, but the quest only gets triggered after a certain stage is completed. Now I have to redo something I've already done. What a headache.

"Stelle! March! Help me out here. I triggered a character quest, and I need you two to back me up."

Stelle pulled out her spear and her bat. "No problem at all, but you'll have to split the quest rewards with me."

March 7th: "I don't need a reward! Just carry my shopping bags next time we go out."

Stelle: "Huh? In that case, I want my reward to be Ah Guang carrying my food when we're out eating."

Pei Guang: "No problem, no problem~ I doubt there's much left for us to do after this, so we can just go on a proper shopping spree."

Stelle: "But didn't we already show him how we fight?"

Pei Guang: "Traditional quest mechanics—something you've already done? The game still makes you do it again. Even if you demonstrated it right in front of the NPC, they'll act like it never happened."

March 7th: "Does that mean we're doing a full demonstration? Including the, uh… victory dance?"

Stelle: "Of course! If we don't follow up a battle with a dance routine, something just feels off."

March 7th: "Hehe~ I didn't feel anything weird when we did it before, but now that I think about it, it's kinda embarrassing."

Stelle: "So? Are you in or not?"

March 7th: "Of course I'm in! This is part of our battle routine—we've gotta put on a good performance."

Pei Guang: "Exactly! Kevin's such a positive guy with a determined will. We should absolutely respect that and do his character quest. No matter the game, I've always admired those who dedicate themselves to saving the world and actually take action to make it happen.

"Kevin, hold onto that conviction of yours. And if you ever have any doubts, just speak up. If you can't put it into words, just do as I do. What I'm really worried about is that, one day, you'll throw yourself away for the sake of your ideals.

"I'm a player. Saving the world is what we players do. As an NPC, you just need to stick to your ideals and put in the effort. Leave the rest to us."

Hearing Pei Guang's words, Kevin felt a little embarrassed. But at the same time, his resolve grew even stronger. He could tell that Pei Guang wasn't mocking him—he was simply stating his understanding of reality.

And to be acknowledged by Pei Guang, the so-called ruler of Earth, to be recognized by someone capable of leading humanity toward safety and prosperity… That sense of fulfillment was indescribable. It only reinforced his belief in his mission to save the world.

As for why Pei Guang said those words? He had simply thought about how people with the dream of saving the world often ended up being crushed by reality—and the painful choices they sometimes made.

Besides pain, sometimes these people would make sacrifices in the name of their ideals… leading to storylines that felt like a knife in the heart to any player watching.

In a world with complete freedom, suddenly getting hit with a tragic twist while playing would make Pei Guang extremely annoyed. If he could reunite an ordinary scientist with his lover, then he believed he could also help someone with grand ideals fulfill their dreams. After all, he was a player, and he had stitched everything together.

If he still couldn't accomplish that, then what kind of stitched-together system was this supposed to be?

Games with low freedom wouldn't let players do what they wanted. The higher the freedom, the less anything could obstruct a player's actions.