Honkai: Star Rail – Banner Character, Delivering Knives to the Player [57]

The anxiety on Sampo’s face immediately froze in place.

Wait—that was all Lingzhou wanted to confirm?

No worries, then!

"Huh? Wildfire didn't tell you about this already, Brother Lingzhou?"

"Just like you guessed, it's not that Wildfire doesn't want to break through that blockade—they simply can't."

"With Brother Lingzhou's intelligence, you've probably already figured it out now that I've confirmed it."

Lingzhou fell into thoughtful silence, making no reply.

Sampo desperately wanted to leave.

But as long as this fellow didn't dismiss him, he didn't dare move a single muscle.

He felt an inexplicable, indescribable sense of oppressive pressure directed specifically at him from Lingzhou.

What exactly was going on?

Lingzhou certainly wasn’t a Masked Fool.

He felt neither the aura of a mask nor the subtle imaginary fluctuations of another Path.

As for being a Mourning Actor?

What a joke! Had anyone ever seen a Mourning Actor smile like that?

If he put on his mask, would this oppressive feeling vanish…?

But then again—

He could put on a mask, sure, but it wasn't necessary yet.

Ultimately, Lingzhou was Nameless.

Unlike certain foolish thugs, as long as he didn't deliberately step on Lingzhou’s bottom line, Lingzhou wouldn't threaten someone's life easily.

Ignoring Sampo’s cautious thoughts, Lingzhou muttered softly to himself.

"The vast gap in firepower and combat capability prevents Wildfire from breaching the blockade around the Furnace Core…"

"What’s Svarog’s logic behind suppressing the Underworld’s resistance, then?"

"Oleg said Svarog was a war machine from ancient conflicts, at least seven centuries old, so…"

"Lingzhou, Sampo?" A familiar voice suddenly called from behind, tinged with surprise.

Sampo reflexively turned around, his eyes lighting up instantly upon seeing who approached.

Thank goodness!

Good big sister! Please tell me you have some urgent business with Lingzhou.

Then I, old Sampo, can justifiably slip away…!

"What are you two doing here?"

Stelle approached them slowly.

---

"Ah, perfect seamless entry for Stelle, but looks like she didn't overhear their conversation."

Ah Xian knew miHoYo well.

They often employed this kind of storytelling technique, allowing the player’s viewpoint to gain extra information without the protagonist necessarily knowing it.

---

"Why do I smell alcohol?"

Stelle wrinkled her pretty nose slightly, gaze pausing at the cups in their hands.

① "Drinking without inviting me, the Galaxy’s God of Wine?"
② "I’m having trouble sleeping. Got any booze left? Could use some."

Sampo weakly interjected, "Good sister… minors shouldn’t drink alcohol…"

① "Would a minor have a face as glorious as mine?"
② "Brother, you think I'm an eight-year-old kid?"

---

Ah Xian giggled.

"What eight-year-old looks like that?!"

---

Sampo laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, sorry, I've been too exhausted lately. My brain is a bit fuzzy—good sister, don't mind me."

"No minor could ever possess your… graceful, dignified features, sparkling gaze, and skin as flawless as snow!"

Hearing that, Stelle’s lips curled into a smug, satisfied grin.

"You're surprisingly honest, aren’t you?"

---

"Haha, curious though—how would Sampo compliment the male MC in this scenario? Anyone in chat know?"

Ah Xian genuinely wondered aloud.

[Sharp brows, star-like eyes, elegant like jade, steady as a mountain!]

"Chat’s quick today—did you have that typed out in advance, just waiting for me to ask?"

[Quick reaction. As expected, Ah Xian’s brainpower remains impressive.]
[Wait, wasn’t it said women’s IQ drops drastically when they're in love?]

"How can I be Lingzhou-hubby’s little wife without having brains? Loving him means not embarrassing him!"

[Is this typical of paper-character lovers?]

"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! I'm clearly an exceptional case!"

---

Lingzhou gently intervened. "Brother Sampo, didn’t you have another business appointment to attend?"

"Ah! Yes, yes, yes! I'll stop bothering you two, I'll take my leave now!"

Instantly understanding the hint, Sampo bolted away like he'd received amnesty, practically gliding over the ground.

Stelle blinked, confusedly watching Sampo’s fleeing figure.

Was he running from some plague?

Were she and Lingzhou really that scary?

"What’s keeping you awake? Many questions on your mind?"

Lingzhou’s voice was soft and calm, filled with genuine concern.

Mobile games often struggled to accurately show subtle facial expressions.
Yet, even compared to Sampo, Lingzhou’s gentle tone was unmistakably kinder. Everyone could feel the difference.

---

[Yifu’s care toward his companions is truly unmatched.]
[Cold and fierce externally, gentle and soothing internally—I adore this type of mobile game character.]
[Who doesn't enjoy being carefully cherished in someone’s palm?]
[As they say: question Ah Xian, understand Ah Xian, become Ah Xian.]
[I'd settle for becoming 1% Ah Xian. Her affection toward Lingzhou could power an electric car for tens of thousands of kilometers.]

"Tens of thousands? Who are you looking down on? My love alone can power an entire city for half a week!"

[That's… impressive as always…]

---

Stelle nodded. "You could say that. Mind if I know what you and Sampo were talking about?"

Lingzhou smiled warmly. "Of course not."

[Lingzhou tells you about his conversation with Sampo, carefully omitting the part where he threatened and questioned him.]

It was clearly just a summary narrative, yet countless players felt profoundly reassured by it.

He really resembled a single dad raising two kids.

"Now that you know this, do you have any thoughts?" Lingzhou prompted gently.

Stelle nodded thoughtfully.

"I don't think Svarog's decision to prevent Wildfire from reaching the Surface is directly connected to Cocolia."

Lingzhou made an encouraging gesture. "Keep going."

He always remembered not to overshadow the protagonist. Using the protagonist as mere decoration to boost himself would never do.

Now, he just needed to guide Stelle toward the truth, providing occasional support or correcting misconceptions where needed.

A protagonist who was mischievous and goofy normally, but became sharp and insightful at critical moments, was usually highly relatable for players.

Only when players were genuinely willing to embody their game avatars, observing the story from their eyes, could deeper empathy be cultivated.

Simply put: Players needed to feel their avatars truly existed in the game world, and that existence had meaning.

If Lingzhou did and said everything himself, what purpose would the protagonist even serve?

Becoming a mere camera, passively recording events?

That would practically be protagonist abuse—a different method but fundamentally similar.

In web novels, that would be akin to a protagonist entirely dependent on teammates, worthless on their own.

Such writing would poison a huge audience, provoking curses that would leave his ID registration a single-page document.

A morbid joke to himself: Lingzhou’s own registration papers had vanished ages ago, but he still knew boundaries.

If you fed players garbage, how could you efficiently gather faith?

The system hadn't forgotten its core purpose.

But due to unknown reasons, it had become incomplete, missing many key features.

That’s precisely why over nearly two thousand Amber Eras, the system’s attitude toward him had grown increasingly humble, almost servile.

It knew it owed him greatly.

The absence of a progress bar was akin to a bizarre joke he once heard:

A succubus constantly claims you're "almost full," yet even as you become a dried husk, she still can't tell how far away "full" is.

Even while sighing internally, Lingzhou’s attention never wandered too far.

His focus remained fixed on Stelle.

Confidence shone clearly from Stelle’s face.

"It’s a simple deduction: If Svarog was acting under Cocolia’s direct orders, Cocolia wouldn't have become so desperate the moment we mentioned going to the Underworld to find the Stellaron."

---

T/N: UGH the reason this hasnt gotten much chapters is because i still havent found a good way to do what the viewers see and what the characters see thingie, yea i could do this

im talking here

but that doesnt transfer over to webnovel :(

please let me know if you have any ideas!

This is a fan translation of 崩铁：卡池角色，给玩家发刀 by 三十度幻. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!