The Gamer who traveled to Honkai: Star Rail

As the duo disappeared from sight, Ruan Mei let out a long breath. Based on her previous contact with Pei Guang through the Simulated Universe, she'd assumed he was just a ■■.

But after actually meeting him, she realized he was far more outrageous than she'd imagined.

His physical structure matched that of a regular human by all known standards, yet everything about his behavior and thought processes defied all logic and expectations.

But… that's what made it interesting. 

While she didn't fully understand many of his actions or abilities, Pei Guang's presence had solidified one belief in her mind: that Emanators could indeed be created. She simply lacked the ability: for now. 

Once she unraveled the mystery behind Pei Guang, creating Emanators, or even more, would no longer be a problem.

Ruan Mei smiled. She realized she was growing more and more interested in Pei Guang. It was the first time in her long life that she found herself truly curious about someone.

Because of certain past experiences, she found it hard to trust anyone but herself. As for Pei Guang being an exception... it was because he had shown strength surpassing hers, along with his unique, one-of-a-kind nature in the universe, his potential and her own curiosity.

She once thought she'd never feel curiosity toward a "person" again, but unexpectedly, today she had come into contact with someone who genuinely piqued her interest. 

Special people deserve special treatment. She couldn't offer the trust others wanted from her, but toward Pei Guang, someone she was curious about, she was now willing to offer some trust: such as telling him in advance what she planned to do.

She understood that among intelligent beings, curiosity was the most enticing, yet possibly bitter, dessert in building relationships. But she didn't mind tasting it, not even once. 

And what kind of flavor that curiosity might bring her... that was something worth anticipating.

Pei Guang and Below One Bucket took the elevator to the most mysterious section, and inside the elevator, as the environment grew darker, Pei Guang started ranting again.

"Good lord, I didn't even know the space station had a place this mysterious. But seriously, it's so dark and gloomy: why does it feel like déjà vu?"

Space setting, space station or spaceship, dark atmosphere, powerful enemies!

At that moment, Pei Guang suddenly thought of a certain horror game. "Agh! If I could hear 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' playing right now, that'd really seal the deal."

While Pei Guang was joking to himself, the elevator arrived at the lowest level. Seeing the pitch-black environment outside the elevator, he sighed, pulled out his weapon, and began his exploration.

"Bucket! Stay sharp! In this kind of darkness, there's probably enemies lurking around!"

Pei Guang was analyzing the situation based on experience when he suddenly realized that Bucket was gone.

"Huh? Where's my bucket? My big ol' Bucket? You're telling me in this horror scenario you took away my only teammate?! How the hell am I supposed to play now?!"

Only then did Pei Guang notice that the trash can, who had been with him in the elevator all along, had now vanished. But since he was already here, he decided to fully immerse himself in the horror experience.

He thought carefully about what makes horror games scary: dim environments, monsters jumping out suddenly, and that sense of dread when being chased by something you can't fight back against.

That last one didn't worry Pei Guang. He had plenty of firepower now, no way he'd be unable to fight back. So, all he had to do was fix the first two.

With that in mind, Pei Guang sprang into action. He spent half a minute setting things up, and after that, the dark corridor was suddenly lit up with dazzling lights. 

Accompanying the light were lively firecracker sounds and a song etched into Pei Guang's DNA.

"Good luck's coming your way~ wishing you good luck~"

In the pitch-black darkness, the moment the light burst forth, the song "Good Luck's Coming" played. And as it played, Pei Guang set off fireworks he'd bought in the Xianzhou Luofu.

With the fireworks, the music, and the brightly lit surroundings, Pei Guang felt like he was celebrating Lunar New Year. That reminded him: if he counted the time since his transmigration, it was probably almost New Year's Day in his original world.

Even though he mainly celebrated Lunar New Year, the solar New Year still came with a holiday. Besides, he was in another world now: who cared whether it was lunar or solar, a celebration was a celebration!

With that, Pei Guang began decorating the place. Since it was New Year, it needed that festive vibe. He turned the place into a vibrant celebration to welcome the new year.

He had the music, the fireworks, the lights: how could there be no New Year's feast? That had to be arranged too! 

With that thought, Pei Guang happily started setting everything up, even bringing out some delicacies he had gotten from the Xianzhou Luofu.

At this point, Pei Guang had completely forgotten why he came here in the first place. That was classic player behavior: pick up a quest and then suddenly get distracted by something fun or interesting and forget all about it.

The quest wasn't going anywhere, after all!

As he decorated the hallway, Pei Guang figured as long as the place was cheerful and festive enough, he wouldn't need to worry about monsters, ghosts, or sudden ambushes.

He did encounter a few ambushing bugs on the way, but it wasn't a big deal. One blast of Savory Truefire, and boom—roasted True Sting, now a new dish on this year's New Year's Eve table.

Meanwhile, as Pei Guang was decorating, the gears of fate were beginning to turn. The elevator, which had gone up earlier, came back down again. This time, the one coming down wasn't just anyone: it was Stelle.

Stelle had taken on a request from Herta to search for a missing Curio. According to Herta's description, the last known location of the Curio was inside a room in this very section, so Stelle figured she'd start the search at the spot where it was last seen.

As for calling Pei Guang? She thought about it and figured if she called Pei Guang, the quest would basically be finished already. 

She could call him if she got stuck—no rush. For now, she decided to enjoy the mission on her own.

At first, as the elevator descended and the surroundings got darker, Stelle was a little scared.

But the moment the elevator doors opened, seeing the bustling, red-lit scene in the hall, hearing a song she'd never heard before, "Good Luck's Coming", she gulped in fear.

The red lights, the music, all extended down the corridor. 

Following the strange light and sound was a red carpet on the floor, stretching like an invitation from hell, inviting Stelle to join the party. Alongside that invitation, she seemed to hear the agonized screams of a creature: like something being roasted alive.

"Too creepy…"

Stelle swallowed nervously. Taking a deep breath, she looked toward the other corridor, one that Pei Guang hadn't decorated. Considering the possible quest rewards, Stelle steeled herself and walked down the undecorated path.

After all, on one side was a lively but suspiciously monstrous party scene, and on the other was a quiet, enemy-filled path with predictable threats. 

For Stelle, the choice was clear!

But just as she stepped into that hallway, her heart suddenly tensed up: because she vaguely saw something hiding in the air.

Seeing those monsters made Stelle even more frightened, but then something shook her to her core. She saw something that gave her peace of mind.

It was a walking trash can. A trash can with reassuringly sturdy limbs. 

She watched as the pink-and-white gradient Below One Bucket approached the hidden monsters in the air, then spun in a 360° roundhouse kick that sent the camouflaged bug flying.

That massive kick made the bug's seemingly tough shell shred like paper, and the moment it was torn apart, the entire creature was sucked into its body.

Trash belongs in the trash can. As a trash can, Below One Bucket refused to tolerate littering!

At that moment, Stelle was in tears. "Family! My family!" 

She knew now: she'd made the right choice. She didn't expect to find a living trash can here. With a trash can around, she didn't have to fear any monster, because she could just climb in!

What Stelle didn't know was... both paths ultimately led to the same destination.

Looking at the trash can, Stelle felt tears well up in her eyes. Right now, she just wanted to hug the bucket and listen to some toilet stories.

But as for Stelle's idea… Bucket declined. 

Sure, waste could go in a trash can, but a trash can wasn't a toilet. He couldn't tell toilet stories: he could only tell trash can stories.