Honkai Star Rail Simulation: I'm Surrounded By Characters

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******

The next morning, upon waking up,

Silver Wolf felt quite cheerful, possibly due to a pleasant dream from the previous night.

Her first team, her first love, her first heartbreak, and even her first experience of parting...

Having gone through these events, Silver Wolf believed she had matured significantly.

[Herta: Another great illusion of life.]

[Stelle: Is the respawn cooldown already over?]

[Firefly: Resurrected so quickly! You're incredibly resilient, little Silver Wolf!]

[Sparkle: Great! Now we can go back to gifting our heads again. 😅]

Attempting to think rationally, Silver Wolf realized that this situation couldn't continue.

Throwing tantrums was indeed childish and solved nothing.

As a carefree and immensely skilled legendary hacker, fretting over parting seemed unbefittingly uncool.

Moreover,

if I show a more mature side, perhaps Su Qing might change her mind?

[Firefly: So that's what you were aiming for!]

[March 7th: Usually watching fantasy little Silver Wolf is amusing, but at times like these, it feels different...]

Thus, Silver Wolf summoned the screen and sent a message to Su Qing: "Are you there?"

A classic opening line.

Silver Wolf checked periodically, but after an entire morning, the message remained unread.

Unable to resist, she thought for a moment and sent two more messages:

"Do you have time today?" "Can we meet up?"

Regardless of anything else, Silver Wolf knew Su Qing was highly dependable. If she saw the messages, she would undoubtedly respond.

However...

Despite Silver Wolf checking every so often throughout the day, by evening, there was still no reply.

[March 7th: By any chance, has Su Qing already...]

[March 7th: I'm afraid to look anymore?]

[Sparkle: Me too, I dare not look?]

[March 7th: ?, Did Sparkle finally come to her senses?!]

[Stelle: ? → ???, Huh!?]

[March 7th: ???, Sparkle, you big fraud!!]

[Sparkle: HAHAHAHAHAHA.]

[Sparkle: LOL.]

[Seele: LOL.]

[Himeko: (Smile) Little March is too gullible; she needs to be more cautious.]

[Bronya: Remember last time when Stelle tricked her as well?]

[Stelle: Yes indeed! (Hands on hips)(Proud)]

[March 7th: Ugh, infuriating!! Next time, I'll get my revenge!]

As another day passed without any response from Su Qing, Silver Wolf began feeling increasingly anxious. Despite considering herself mature, her thoughts started spiraling.

Is Su Qing still asleep and hasn't woken up yet? What kind of deep slumber is this?

Or perhaps busy with something else? But even then, wouldn't they check messages at least once a day?

Unable to stay calm any longer, Silver Wolf summoned the screen and hesitated for a moment before taking action.

The missed video call from yesterday prompted her to initiate one today instead.

Beep, beep, beep.

With each waiting tone,

for the first few seconds, Silver Wolf felt uneasy, pondering how to face Su Qing once the call connected.

Thirty seconds passed, yet there was still no answer from the other end.

Silver Wolf's heart gradually sank, not due to impatience this time, but as if plummeting from the sky, falling off a cliff into an abyss...

Her breathing suddenly quickened, feeling somewhat labored.

Compared to the more benign guesses like being asleep or simply not checking messages for a day, darker scenarios began surfacing one by one.

One possibility was that Su Qing deliberately ignored her messages and refused to answer calls.

Just contemplating this made Silver Wolf's heart ache, as if it were wrenching painfully within her chest.

Is this how Su Qing felt when I didn't answer yesterday...?

I didn't do it on purpose... But, I indeed didn't respond...

This was the first time Silver Wolf experienced the complex emotions following a conflict with a friend.

After a moment of dejection, Silver Wolf managed to ease her distressful feelings. Upon careful reflection, she realized this scenario seemed unlikely. She held Su Qing in high regard, almost through rose-tinted glasses, believing Su Qing wouldn't intentionally ignore messages or calls.

So what other possibilities could there be?

Considering that Su Qing had initiated gaming sessions, sent call invitations voluntarily, and then abruptly stopped moving mid-game...

A sudden realization struck Silver Wolf's mind.

As this thought took hold, her heart began to plummet faster, inducing a sense of weightlessness and panic that spread within her. Her pretty face abruptly turned pale.

***

Outside Su Qing's residence, Silver Wolf placed her hand on the door lock, simultaneously reviewing information while rapidly typing on a virtual keyboard.

[Seele: Oh no, hacked!]

[Stelle: This isn't just hacking; it's practically picking a lock!]

[March 7th: There's no other choice at this point...]

Focused and frowning deeply, Silver Wolf worked diligently to crack the electronic door lock.

She had effortlessly disabled the hallway camera, but this lock was clearly on another level of security.

Su Qing must have specially encrypted it; likely only a handful of individuals in all of Punklorde could decipher it. Some hidden codes were uniquely designed, comprehensible only by Silver Wolf, who frequently sparred with him...

After several tense moments, the lock finally yielded.

The indicator light turned green, causing Silver Wolf's furrowed brows to relax slightly. Before she could celebrate, a notification suddenly popped up on the screen:

"Detected incoming file transfer. Accept?"

Virus?

Shrugging off any doubts, Silver Wolf swiftly accepted without much thought. Even before stepping inside, she eagerly opened the file.

It was a video.

The content within... turned out to be a farewell message that Su Qing had specifically left for Silver Wolf.

In this video, he encapsulated everything he wanted to say and express.

A five-minute video allowed ample room for conveying his thoughts.

Standing silently in the corridor, Silver Wolf watched it through to the end.

Despite her foreboding, upon confirmation, she felt dizzy, almost losing her balance.

As the video concluded with Su Qing leaving all his assets from Punklorde to her, Silver Wolf's defenses crumbled completely.

There's little else to describe-it simply shattered her emotional fortitude.

As commonly known, the first emotion to surge after such a breakdown is often anger.

After all, there's even a term for this state-"furious despair."

To vent her fury, Silver Wolf gritted her teeth, raised her foot, and forcefully kicked the incredibly sturdy security door.

Following that moment,

Silver Wolf leaned on one knee, slowly squatting down outside Su Qing's room.

Beyond the initial anger came a wave of pain, regret, discomfort, and heartbreak.

A torrent of mixed emotions overwhelmed her, leaving her utterly devastated.

However, at that moment, the most vivid sensation was undoubtedly...

Her foot throbbing with pain...

Silver Wolf buried her face in her knees.

This was the most disheartened she had ever felt since as far back as she could remember.

[March 7th: Sigh, Silver Wolf...]

[Stelle: How to put it?]

[Stelle: Right now, I feel both sympathetic and on the verge of laughter - laughing because it's just so tragic yet amusing.]

[Seele: Stelle captures it perfectly; I'm feeling the same way.]

[Firefly: +1]

[Bronya: +2]

[Qingque: +3]

And so on...

Later that evening,

Silver Wolf lay sideways on her bed, gazing out the window at the unchanging, ceaseless array of lights visible since moving here.

For a long time, she remained frozen in this position.

[Stelle: Three strikes and you're out!]

[Qingque: Just as her revival cooldown ended, she got sunk again.]

[Seele: So sad, truly heartbreaking.]

Feeling deeply dejected, Silver Wolf stared outside, her thoughts drifting through various memories.

Her thoughts drifted back to the moment right after challenging Punklorde's organization.

If only she had properly said goodbye then, could it have left a beautiful memory before parting for good?

She recalled the following two or three days.

Had she not stubbornly insisted on distancing herself, perhaps they could have spent that time together with Su Qing...

And last night, during that brief phone call lasting mere seconds—it might have been her final chance for a heartfelt farewell.

As she reminisced now, the sound of the "beep" signaling the end of the call still made Silver Wolf's heart race uncontrollably, filled with regret.

Missed opportunities.

Every single chance, she let slip away.

In the end, Su Qing departed, and their separation became irrevocable.

All that remained was a video; there were no remarkable memories from their parting, just the lingering image of her own disheveled state.

Silver Wolf felt a lump forming in her throat.

She grabbed a pillow and buried her face into it.

Realizing now, the place Su Qing held in her heart was even more significant than she imagined. She also discovered that she wasn't as carefree as she thought.

Perhaps even if she had chosen to properly bid farewell at that time, her emotional defenses would have crumbled during the actual goodbye.

This time, Silver Wolf was genuinely devastated. With her face buried in the pillow, tears uncontrollably streamed down, splashing onto it.

At heart, despite becoming a legendary hacker, she remained just a young girl. Her singular focus on hacking left her inexperienced and ill-equipped to handle such overwhelming emotions.

The more she admired and liked Su Qing, the stronger the sense of abandonment felt, beyond mere regret.

If separation was inevitable, perhaps it would have been better to remain alone from the start.

That way, even if occasional loneliness crept in, it wouldn't hurt this deeply...

After a long while,

Silver Wolf's trembling body gradually calmed down.

She lifted the pillow, now damp with moisture.

[Bronya: Silver Wolf, you're crying so hard...]

[Silver Wolf: No, these aren't tears.]

[Bronya: Then what are they?]

[Silver Wolf: ...It's...just saliva.]

[Bronya: ?????]

[Seele: Seriously, you're pushing it too far!]

[Qingque: Would rather claim it's saliva than admit it's tears? Wow, I'm impressed!]

[Herta: Indeed, a bit excessive.]

[March 7th: ? Right now, I'm genuinely torn between crying and laughing.]

[Fu Xuan: Silver Wolf was already pitiful enough, yet she insists on being so stubborn.]

[Fu Xuan: It truly underscores how tragedy and comedy often intertwine.]

[Sparkle: Amused.]

[Kafka: @Silver Wolf, poor thing, won't even tease you this time.]

[Firefly: Feels like I should comfort her. Pat pat, don't cry, dear.]

[Himeko: (with a slightly sympathetic gaze)]

[Silver Wolf: Hmph. ??? (emits an uncool snort)]

In the blink of an eye, two weeks had passed.

During this time, Silver Wolf sent dozens of messages to Su Qing intermittently, but they all remained...

Unread, unread, unread! And the account never went online again!

Looking at her phone, Silver Wolf was now almost certain that Su Qing likely wouldn't use this account anymore.

The cooldown period for resurrection seemed lengthy, but after half a month, Silver Wolf had somewhat recovered.

A sense of unwillingness surged within her once more.

How infuriating!

Is Su Qing just discarding everything from the past as soon as entering a new phase?! Angry! Even if you come begging to team up with me later, it'll be too late!

[Herta: Dreaming again, I see.]

[Firefly: Good, Silver Wolf, stand your ground! Don't meet with Su Qing ever again!]

[Himeko: And conveniently eliminate one more competitor, right?]

[Kafka: Firefly always finds ways to take advantage amidst chaos.]

[Qingque (excited): Take advantage? Where's the opportunity?]

[Fu Xuan: ...It's not what you're thinking.]

***

Cut to the next scene.

Silver Wolf gazes at over a hundred messages she has already sent.

Alright then.

After trying for some time now,

regardless of what anyone else might think, Silver Wolf was more convinced than ever that Su Qing definitely wasn't using this account anymore.

[Qingque: Over a hundred messages?!]

[Firefly: Just earlier, we were saying it's too late to ask for teams!]

[Seele: Ah, well...]

[Seele: Isn't Silver Wolf's sentiment, perhaps, a bit "intense"?]

[Stelle: Hmm... Different from Asta's, right?]

[Stelle: With Silver Wolf, it feels more like after becoming the underdog due to their tsundere nature, they're constantly seeking redemption but realize it's already too late.]

[Seele: Stelle has a point.]

[March 7th: But I feel that because Silver Wolf's emotions are so genuine, naturally, they would be somewhat intense.]

[March 7th: For example, considering thoughts like "being teammates with Su Qing for life," I doubt Silver Wolf never entertained such ideas.]

[Seele: Uh, March 7th, you make sense as well.]

[Qingque: hhh Seele is baffled; both sides seem reasonable to her.]

[Black Swan: If we follow little March's logic:]

[Black Swan: Kafka and Himeko might have also contemplated the keyword "lifetime" at some point.]

[Stelle: ...Oh no! What gravity trap is this?!]

[Black Swan: Let's ask the main parties involved directly. @Silver Wolf, @Kafka, @Himeko.]

[However, the three mentioned by Black Swan simultaneously maintained their silence.]

[Lifetime?]

[Kafka felt that perhaps "lifetime" might be too short of a term.]

[Himeko took a sip of her coffee.]

[She wondered if revealing she had indeed created a detailed plan for spending her life with Su Qing would frighten Stelle and little March.]

[Seeing the first two remain silent...]

[Silver Wolf decided to follow suit, pretending to embody stoic wisdom.]

[Stelle: ? Your silence is deafening; it's making me even more scared!!]

[Sparkle: Le, I'm increasingly eager to see how these interactions unfold in the upcoming multiplayer simulation.]

[Stelle: Phew... In the end, our little Firefly remains the safest and most harmless among us.]

[Firefly: !! (unconvinced)]

[Firefly: A lifetime or whatever—don't underestimate me! I can be serious too!!]

[Seele: This isn't the time to be competitive, ah!]

Silver Wolf glanced at his phone, pondering for a moment.

Since Su Qing no longer used this account, could he seize this opportunity...?

With slight hesitation, Silver Wolf slowly typed out a few lines in the chat box:

"That day, when I said wanting to beat you just once was why I asked you out, it was a lie."

"I actually, truly liked you..."

[March 7th: Ah???]

[Bronya: No way! After all we've been through, is Silver Wolf really going to confess via text message?!]

[March 7th: Stop, Silver Wolf! Don't do something like this—you'll definitely regret it later!!]

[Sparkle: Go for it, Silver Wolf! When faced with such a life-changing decision, you must take action!!]

[Stelle: ??]

[Silver Wolf: It's fine; regardless of whether I send it or not, Su Qing isn't using this account anymore, so he won't see it.]

[Herta: ...If you're not careful with your words, chances are high that Su Qing will end up seeing it anyway.]

[Silver Wolf: Flags again? Haven't you been playing too many games?]

[Herta: Do you have any right to say that?!]