The Gamer who traveled to Honkai: Star Rail

That single sentence left Pei Guang completely stunned.

He had always thought he'd explored this world thoroughly. But now, March 7th was telling him that he could actually go back and fight past enemies again?

March 7th was just as shocked. "You really didn't know? I thought you already did…"

Pei Guang: "It's possible that I know how something like this works, but in this world, I've never discovered it myself… Quick, tell me—how do we go about fighting powerful enemies from the past again?"

March 7th thought back and explained, "After a spatial distortion occurs, there's a surge of high-frequency spatial energy. This phenomenon is called Echo of War. During an Echo of War, our usual understanding of time and space gets completely altered—it can even recreate specific scenes we've experienced before.

"For ordinary people, stepping into an Echo of War is extremely dangerous, but for us, there's no harm at all. In fact, we can relive battles that left a lasting impression on us. However, entering one isn't straightforward: we need to use the power of the Path of Trailblaze to step into the Echo of War and re-experience those fights.

"Also, when re-entering an Echo of War, we can bring others along. The copied enemies are somewhat weakened, but they're still fatal to ordinary people, so it's best not to bring them in. But for us? There's no real danger. And if things do go south, we can always use Trailblaze power to escape that space."

March 7th grew increasingly excited as she explained, but she soon noticed Pei Guang's expression becoming more and more serious.

Pei Guang grabbed her shoulders. "March! Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

March 7th blinked. "You never asked! Besides, we've been busy the whole way through—I just kind of forgot about it."

To be fair, it wasn't really March 7th's fault. Pei Guang had never brought it up either, and as long as an area he explored hadn't changed, he never revisited it.

On top of that, their journey had been packed with one thing after another. Even though they had taken breaks, like in Belobog, most of that time was spent experiencing the city's culture or preparing for the showdown with Silver Wolf. The topic never came up, and neither Pei Guang nor Stelle paid any attention to it.

As for Pei Guang's approach throughout the journey? It had always been: Who am I? Where am I? Who do I need to fight next?!

Sure, he had accurately predicted both main story developments and side plot twists, even suspecting the existence of dungeon-like mechanics. But between speeding through the story and the Echo of War being somewhat hidden, he had completely overlooked it.

If this were a game, there would probably be visual cues or some kind of guidance to lead players to the Echo of War. Even if they missed it in the overworld, there would be plenty of in-game hints pointing it out.

But Pei Guang, despite having plenty of game-like abilities, wasn't omniscient. If he hadn't triggered something, there was no way he would know it existed.

Pei Guang: "I see… But that raises another question—can we get any good loot from fighting enemies in the Echo of War space?"

March 7th shook her head. "Nope. Since these enemies are just data copies within the distorted space, there's no actual reward. The only thing we gain is the chance to relive how strong they were. Once they're defeated, they vanish like raw data.

"You can fight them repeatedly, but from what we've seen so far, nobody's gotten anything good out of it. Ordinary enemies aren't worth mentioning, but the battle we had with Phantylia should have left behind an Echo of War space.

"That said… I think there is a way to challenge powerful enemies we've faced before. I know I've heard about it somewhere, but for some reason… I can't remember how it works."

March 7th furrowed her brows, trying to recall. She was certain she had heard of a method that would allow Pei Guang to challenge past foes again. Maybe Uncle Yang or someone else had mentioned it, but no matter how hard she tried, the details just wouldn't come back to her.

Seeing March 7th deep in thought, Pei Guang patted her shoulder. "Alright, don't overthink it. Since this so-called Echo of War lets us challenge past bosses, let's go check whether there's one left where we fought Phantylia. If there is, we'll have Sushang battle Phantylia with our BGM playing, record the fight, and use it as our promo video!"

March 7th: "Yes! Let's go! But these Echoes don't always appear. I've been to so many planets, and only a few had this happen."

Pei Guang: "That's because I wasn't there before. Now that I'm here—since I'm a player—this dungeon exists whether it wants to or not."

March 7th: "It's just a shame… I still can't remember how you can truly relive the experience of challenging strong enemies."

Pei Guang: "That's completely normal. Would you remember exactly how many grains of rice you ate yesterday?"

March 7th: "Hmm… I do remember. The answer is zero!"

She puffed out her chest proudly, flashing a smug grin.

Pei Guang: "Wow! So you're just gonna call me out like that?!"

While Pei Guang and March 7th bickered and prepared to search for an Echo of War, back aboard the Astral Express, Pom-Pom was feeling particularly happy. 

It wasn't about the value of the souvenirs Pei Guang had brought—those didn't matter. What truly made Pom-Pom happy was that Pei Guang had thought of him.

More accurately, every Trailblazer who kept Pom-Pom in their heart made him happy. And when that sentiment came with a precious memento, he was even happier.

As the conductor, he naturally had to take good care of these keepsakes. His happiness was practically radiating off him, to the point that little happy symbols seemed to pop out of his head.

Then, suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

Pom-Pom had the eerie feeling that something… had appeared aboard the train.

"This is so weird, Pom!!"

Nearby, Himeko, who had been sorting through some documents, noticed Pom-Pom acting strangely and walked over curiously. "Pom-Pom? What's wrong? You don't look so good. Need someone to measure your height? I've got time~"

Pom-Pom shook his head vigorously. "No! I don't know what it is, but something weird has gotten onto the train. Pom-Pom can feel it. Nobody knows Akivili's train better than Pom-Pom!"

Himeko frowned. "Something weird?"

Just as she furrowed her brows, as if responding to some unseen signal, Welt suddenly returned to the train from Earth.

Seeing him arrive, Pom-Pom immediately turned toward him excitedly. "You help look too, Pom!"

Welt adjusted his glasses. "What happened?"

Himeko explained the situation to Welt. The fact that Pom-Pom sensed something was off made him frown as well. Although his original reason for returning was just to retrieve some of his belongings, given the circumstances, he decided against heading back to Earth for now.

After all, the Herta Puppets were keeping things in check on Earth, so there wasn't much to worry about there. Pom-Pom's concerns, on the other hand, were more urgent.

As Pom-Pom, Himeko, and Welt searched, a fractured mirror stood in the train's lounge—one that was only visible to those designated to see it.

Within that shattered reflection, a hooded girl watched the movements of the Astral Express crew with clear nervousness.

To be honest, at this moment, she was absolutely terrified.

It wasn't the crew members of the Astral Express she feared—they were Trailblazers, and there was little they could actually do to her.

What she truly feared was Pei Guang!

That wooden sword of his was a direct counter to her. Ever since he embedded it with the Stellaron from Jarilo-VI, it had gained the ability to kill beings like her instantly.

Had it not been for the higher-ups deciding to send her here, with barely ten seconds between the decision and her arrival, she would have sworn she was being thrown under the bus.