Chapter 347: The end of Penacony? The special thanks roll in, and the players' PTSD kicks in!
Guinaifen's Livestream.
With Sunday's defeat, the final battle came to an end with the siblings embracing each other.
Guinaifen patted her chest.
She rubbed her slightly moist eyes.
She muttered to herself, "This time… it should~ be the real end."
"Whew…"
"This storyline was really too long-."
"The sun is already coming up outside the window."
"But being able to witness such an amazing storyline with my own eyes, it was totally worth it!"
"The plot, the dialogue, the animated performances… they were all so great!"
"I'm going to search for the battle BGM."
"And listen to the full version of Miss Robin's song!"
Just then.
The game screen went dark.
A line of white text appeared on the screen.
[ In the first year of the Amber Era 2158,. A fiery conspiracy dawned for the universe's turn of the century in the Land of the Dreams, only to quickly turn to ashes amidst chaos and destruction. ]
Guinaifen, who was about to alt-tab out of the game screen, was suddenly stunned!
It came out again!
Oh my god!
Back when she fought the Harmonious Choir the first time, they defeated the boss under Dan Heng and Jing Yuan's combo move, and then this thing popped up!
Now it was happening again!
And,
Guinaifen noticed a key point!
This time, the narrator's voice was no longer Black Swan's.
It was a completely unfamiliar male voice!
[ Whispers carried the tale of those fateful 48 system hours, when a sun teetered on the precipice of collapse, a paradies stood on the brink of destruction, and a world was poised to surrender to its new master. Amidst it all, a body decayed, a pack of vultures gathered, and a brother and sister were doomed for eternal separation. ]
[ And so, an Aeon succumbed to slumber once more. Some celebrated this fall, while others mourned. Among the insignificant witnesses, mere specks in the vast tapestry of the universe, it was said that this time, the Aeon met THEIR demise with dignity. ]
Guinaifen was like a startled rabbit.
Her ears perked up,
And she listened and watched this passage very carefully!
This was introducing Penacony's current ending.
Whether in sentence structure or tone, it was highly similar to Black Swan's previous narration.
[ As the Cosmos bathed in the radiance of a pure dawn, a tepestuous storm brewed on the horizon. The chant of "Everything for the Amber Lord" grew even louder. Yet, no matter how one contemplated it, time inexorably swings Qlipoth's colossal hammer in eternal cycles. ]
[ The tale of the Astral Express reaches both its conclusion and a new beginning. Time marches forward, heralding the arrival of a new chapter in the history of Trailblazing expeditions. ]
…
"There's more!?"
"Holy crap, holy crap, this kind of text is appearing again?"
"My heart just stopped."
"Who on earth is this narrator's voice?"
"Could it be Elio, the Slave of Destiny?"
"Oh my god, don't tell me this is another fake ending?"
"I can no longer tell dream from reality!"
…
Finally,
After the narration ended.
New content appeared on the screen!
Under a stars.
An innocent boy and a romantic girl were having a conversation.
Girl: "Brother, do you think… the stars will fade away?"
Boy: "Where did that come all of a sudden?"
"Because that constellation that looks like a little bird, the… Torrent Eagles Constellation… looks a bit dim lately."
Boy: "It's the Torment Eagles. Don't worry, it's still there. It's just it's located in the inner ring of Penacont and can only be seen when spring and summer overlap."
"As for the question you asked… I suppose stars do die, just like people."
This sudden dialogue scene
Left all the viewing players a bit bewildered!
What was going on here?
But having watched so much of the story, everyone understood.
Often, these clips at the very end carried extremely strong symbolic meanings or foreshadowing!
So at this moment, they were exceptionally serious!
They were terrified of missing any details!
The boy continued: "But do you know, sister? No star actually belongs to the present. The stars we see is the light they emitted a long time ago."
"Even after the stars die, this light will still travel millions of light-years, crossing millions of years of time, to light up the night sky of another world."
"I believe that in our paradise, there will also be such a star, blooming with the same light. The time it shines will be eternal, and its name… is called Happiness."
Girl: "Wrong! How could there be only one? It should be two stars, no… a sky full of stars!"
"Hmm, you're right."
"Pinky promise!"
"Pinky promise. It's a deal. Nothing can change our ideals."
"Yeah, absolutely!"
…
"Is this Robin and Sunday when they were kids?"
"If it's the two of them, why are they using pronouns instead of their names at this time?"
"Something feels off, let's keep watching!"
"Suddenly thought of a lyric from 'White Night': One last taste of eternity~"
"Is the value of 'White Night' still rising?"
"One star represents Order, a sky full of stars represents Harmony."
…
The screen slowly faded to black once more.
But this time,
Guinaifen didn't dare to switch to other screens.
This game,
Until the very last second, you never knew what kind of final twist it was hiding!
Sure enough.
After a brief delay of a few seconds,
Another line of text emerged!
[ The Land of the Dreams, Penacony, The End ]
[ Honkai: Star Rail ]
[ Lead Actors: Stelle ]
[ Starring ]
The moment she saw the credits appear.
Guinaifen's breath hitched!
Familiar!
Too familiar!
It was the exact same scrolling credit style as before!
The bullet comments also exploded instantly!
…
"???"
"We're doomed!"
"AGAIN!!!"
"It's here, it's really here."
"Waaaaah, seeing this scrolling text now makes my heart panic like crazy!"
"Feathered Spirit, you've really done so much evil! You've given me PTSD!"
"This time it can't still be fake, right? No way? No way?"
"Oh no, I'm still in the dream!"
"Are we awake this time or not?"
"I think it's really over this time."
…
Guinaifen also had a face of 'I'm crying to death'.
Suddenly,
Her eyes flickered!
In this cast list, there seemed to be a few subtle differences.
[ Raiden Bosenmori Mei, as Acheron ]
[ Penacony, as Gallagher ]
Except for these two, basically everyone else used their real names.
"This should be because of the changes after re-entering the storyline…"
"And Gallagher is a fictional character fabricated based on a certain History Fictionologist and various facts of Penacony, so having his real name listed as Penacony here makes sense."
Guinaifen gave a reasonable explanation.
"As for March 7th's real name being ???, we still don't know March's true identity! We can only wait for Feathered Spirit to open March 7th's storyline in the future."
[ In Loving Memory of: Razalina Jane Estella ]
[ Breukelen Tiernan ]
[ Legwork Char Mikhail ]
In this set of credits, the life stories of these three Nameless were also briefly introduced.
Even though it was expressed in just these few lines of text,
The sheer volume of information contained within still made the players who saw it unable to help but be deeply moved!
Regardless of whether this was truly the end or not.
Once these three great Nameless appeared, bullet comments flooded the livestream to show their respect.
…
"I, a Level 60 Trailblazer, pay tribute to the three former Nameless!"
"The Mirror Princess, Captain Revolver, and Watchmaker!"
"Salute!"
"Forever remembered!"
"The introductions written for the three of them literally made me cry."
"I hope 'Honkai: Star Rail' can release a large-scale memory dungeon to put the stories of these Nameless in it. I've even thought of the name, let's call it the Elysian Realm!"