"Huh? How did it suddenly jump to Version 1.1?"
While Lumina and Jingliu were happily playing together, Version 1.0 of Honkai: Star Rail in the real world vanished in the blink of an eye, and the game was now on the verge of launching Version 1.1.
"Come out and explain this," Lumina demanded.
"How could the real world suddenly be on the eve of Version 1.1's launch just because I spent some time making a new friend?!"
Noticing the abnormal flow of time, Lumina first glanced at Jingliu, who was sitting beside her as still as a corpse, before turning to the System with a question.
[The flow of time here is inherently different from the real world. To synchronize the timelines, this adjustment was necessary.]
[When the Main Story is active, the time ratio is 1:1. When there's no Main Story progress, time in the real world accelerates until it matches your timeline.]
The System patiently typed out an explanation in response to Lumina's question.
"Why didn't you tell me this beforehand?!" Lumina's mood visibly soured as she read the message.
[Uh... I thought... I thought you wouldn't mind.]
Noticing Lumina's rising anger, even through the typed words, the System's tone immediately softened.
"How could I not care?" Lumina retorted, her voice dripping with fury. "Because of you, I completely missed Jing Yuan's gacha banner and didn't get him!"
"So, tell me, how are you going to compensate me?"
["I'm sorry, my fault... Huh? What did you just say?"]
Hearing Lumina's wrathful words, the System panicked and hastily apologized.
But before long, it detected something amiss...
"I said, because of your actions, I didn't get my E6S5 Jing Yuan. How are you going to make it up to me?" Lumina demanded, her frustration palpable.
Jing Yuan's signature weapon was incredibly versatile, and Lumina had originally planned to pull ten copies to refine them to max level. But thanks to this damned System's interference, she hadn't even managed to get a single one!
How could she not be furious?!
["Um..."]
The System fell silent, utterly stumped by her words.
"Hmph!" Lumina scoffed softly, then tapped open the game. Seeing that the servers were still down, she idly browsed the community forum.
Although the official launch hadn't arrived yet, it was likely imminent. Many players were already camped out, eager to board the Astral Express the moment it departed and dive into the game, ready to burn through their piles of special tickets to relentlessly pull for Silver Wolf.
[Server's up! Server's up! -]
Lumina walked beside Jingliu, refreshing the community forum when a new comment popped up, posted just moments ago. She immediately switched to the game and tapped the screen.
In that instant, the Astral Express streaked across the cosmos, soaring toward the starry sky. As the progress bar filled, Lumina successfully entered the game.
Once inside, she ignored everything else and headed straight for the gacha. Thanks to her excessive spending during Version 1.0, her account was still overflowing with tickets. Without hesitation, she began pulling.
And so, Lumina walked beside Jingliu, cradling her phone in her hand, proudly joining the ranks of the perpetually head-down crowd.
Jingliu: ?
Observing this, Jingliu was utterly perplexed.
"Is that... Yanqing?"
Although Jingliu wasn't interested in Lumina's strange behavior, she couldn't help but glance at her phone.
A golden light flashed as the Reignbow Arbiter Path icon appeared, followed by a smiling swordsman on Lumina's screen.
Recognizing the familiar figure, a flicker of confusion crossed Jingliu's brow. Slightly curious, she asked, "What game are you playing?"
"Honkai: Star Rail," Lumina replied matter-of-factly. She then handed her phone to Jingliu, pointing at the gacha button. "Go ahead, tap it."
"This is... Stellaron Hunters?" Jingliu's confusion deepened as she stared at the Silver Wolf banner on Lumina's phone. "How did this game even get their permission? I can understand the Stellaron Hunters, but Yanqing? As a Cloud Knight Lieutenant, he'd never agree to this!"
Has the Luofu changed its rules while I've been away? she wondered.
"Hurry up!" Lumina urged, noticing Jingliu's dazed expression. "If you don't pull, I'll do it myself."
"Mm."
Hearing this, Jingliu didn't overthink it. She reached out and tapped the spot Lumina had indicated earlier.
In the next moment, a ticket floated into the cosmos, a train materialized from the distance, and a sudden burst of purple light erupted.
"What was I even expecting?" Lumina muttered to herself, tucking her phone away with a sigh. In a normal gacha game, wouldn't giving a newbie a pull guarantee at least a double-gold result?
"I'm sorry..." Jingliu apologized, noticing Lumina's reaction and realizing her pull had been terrible.
"Why are you apologizing?" Lumina asked, her expression genuinely puzzled.
Jingliu fell silent.
After a moment, she asked, "So, what kind of game is this?"
"Didn't I already tell you?" Lumina replied casually. "It's Honkai: Star Rail."
With nimble fingers, Lumina swiftly pulled an E6S5 Silver Wolf. After maxing out her Eidelons and Light Cone, she nodded in satisfaction.
Then she noticed Jingliu's curious gaze. Lumina tilted her head in confusion, stared for a moment, and then her eyes twinkled mischievously.
A smirk played on Lumina's lips as she flicked her phone screen in her hand. "What's wrong, Sword Leader?" she teased. "Do you want to play this game too?"
"It's nothing," Jingliu replied, shaking her head and averting her gaze. Whatever this game is, it has nothing to do with me...
"Hey, can I download Honkai: Star Rail on someone else's phone?" Lumina asked her internal System, watching Jingliu's reaction.
Do whatever you want...
With the System's permission, Lumina quickened her pace and stepped in front of Jingliu, blocking her path. Under Jingliu's confused gaze, Lumina held out her hand. "Give me your phone."
Jingliu: ?
"Hurry up, don't dawdle."
"..." Jingliu glanced at Lumina indifferently, then reached into her pocket and rummaged around. Finally, she pulled out an old flip phone and placed it in Lumina's palm.
Lumina: ?
Staring at the ancient device, Lumina was dumbfounded, a giant question mark forming in her mind. "This is... your phone?"
"Is there a problem?" Jingliu replied, her voice neutral.
Hearing Lumina's nonsensical words, Jingliu tilted her head slightly and countered with a question.
Lumina: ...
"N-no... there's no problem, right?"