Traversing the Space Station and avoiding the Reavers was easier said than done. Yoru wasn't sure if whatever saved him earlier would happen again, nor did he want to risk it.
"If I can make my way to the storage zone, I should... no." Yoru pauses his train of thought, thinking back on the entire time he's played Star Rail. "The cutscene in the beginning, it showed... the Astral Express should already be here."
If he could make his way into the storage zone, he could get transported to safety with the crew as his protectors.
"Kafka most likely already put the Stellaron inside the Trailblazer... I think the best course of action is to try to intercept Dan Heng and March."
Intercepting them would be good for two reasons, the first being protection. Yoru couldn't beat a Reaver, definitely not. He wasn't a god, not a reincarnation— he was just a regular human. With a penchant for having weird luck.
"It'll be fine, I should be fine-"
Yoru stumbles his way out the and hallway towards the door leading into the main area of the storage zone. To his utter dismay, before he could enter, there stood a dashing lady in a suit. Her hair the color of red wine, tied in a messy ponytail. Sunglasses adorned the top of her head, and her face was devoid of emotion, save for a small smile.
"And who do we have here?" The enigmatic woman's voice was full of mystery and an underlying sense of danger. Yoru knew, all too well that this was Kafka.
"Crap. So that's why the Trailblazer started in the Storage Zone." Yoru gulps. He wasn't expecting to see Kafka here, let alone interact with her. "I can't act like a wimp now, can I?"
"... what's a Stellaron Hunter doing here in the Space Station?"
"The script never said anything about this," Kafka trails on. "Elio just told us to 'place' the target properly."
"She's just ignoring my question." Yoru felt a bit of annoyance prick at Kafka ignoring his question, but he couldn't just be annoying. He needs to maximize his chances of survival, after all.
Yoru spotted her grip on her Mac-10 tighten, ever so slightly. He was definitely going to get gunned down if he didn't say anything remotely useful.
Biting his lip, Yoru tries to reason with Kafka. Piecing together the information of not being in the script, if he can reason with her to not kill him because he's not in the script, it would already be a win.
"You said script. If it's not in the script-"
"Then why does it matter?"
A pause. Then Yoru licks his lips. His mind blanked, and he couldn't think of a response to it.
"Touché."
No more words were exchanged. Bullets fly towards Yoru. He raises his arms in defense, covering his face as hell rains upon him. Bullets pierce through his skin, blood flowing out of the holes that littered his entire being.
Dropping down to the floor backwards, Yoru breathes heavily. An expression of exasperation forms on his face. This definitely wasn't fair.
"If I'm going to die, stare it in the face." Another bullet was shot, flying through the air towards his head. Yoru didn't close his eyes as it flew at incomprehensible speeds towards his forehead.
TING!
The bullet slams into his forehead, before dropping harmlessly to the floor. It didn't make another hole, unlike all the other bullets prior. Upon the bullet harmlessly bouncing off him, he could feel one of the many bullet wounds closing up.
"Oh? That's surprising," Kafka murmurs, although her facial expression never changed. You couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic or genuine. "Bulletproof now, are we?"
Yoru slowly stands up, glaring at Kafka as he does so. She watches him get up with an analytical gaze, no hint of malice on her face. "She's mocking me, isn't she?" She could easily have kicked him back down, cut his head off with her blade, or dominate him using her threads.
Yoru opens his mouth. If this was the time to convince Kafka to not kill him, he should take it. But even still, he can't mention the Trailblazer by name. It was either Stelle or Caelus. If he picks wrong, he'd surely lose his life.
"Whatever. 50/50's never scared me." Yoru went off intuition with his guess. Most players liked Stelle more, so he would just go with majority.
"... did you already talk to Stelle?"
Yoru bites his lip, hunching over trying to hold some of his wounds as he stares intently into Kafka's eyes. He needs to be sure— abosolutely sure that he guessed right.
To his relief, Kafka's eyes seem to soften ever so slightly.
"Surprised me yet again," Kafka murmurs in her hypnotic voice.
To Yoru, she seemed to be weighing the options. He hoped that he engraved the fact that he, a researcher on Herta Space Station, knew of Stelle, and could be part of the script that she never read. Kafka takes a deep breath in, before resuming in her hypnotic tone.
"I suppose that... if it's not in the script-"
"What happens next is up to you, right?"
Kafka's eyes widen slightly in surprise yet again. This was the third time she had been surprised by this researcher.
But just as quickly as it came, it left immediately. Kafka moves closer, striding past Yoru and walking away from him, just as calmly as she appeared. "Well then, bye-bye, Yoru. We'll see if you can surprise me next time we meet."
"She knows my name?!" Yoru whirls around to Kafka, finding his researcher badge on the floor. "When did she..?" He glances down to his pocket, where the badge should be. It was empty. "What... did she just do?"
Yoru walks towards the space that Kafka was last seen, kneeling down to pick up his badge. His body felt sore, aching completely. Taking taking bullets from Kafka's gun was no easy feat. "Maybe that's why HP inflation is a bii..." It hurt like hell, and he was surprised he was still conscious.
"I survived bullets. Am I more overpowered than I thought?" But still, finding out his own powers would have to wait. He needed to hurry and intercept the Astral Express Crew, to get out of this invasion of the Space Station without trouble.
Hobbling through the halls of the Storage Zone, no Voidrangers were in sight. Kafka must have came through this direction, eliminating every soldier of the Antimatter Legion in her wake. Not that it didn't benefit Yoru.
The sound of footsteps are heard, approaching Yoru at a fast pace from behind.
Instinctively, Yoru whips his head around, his hand immediately moving to the book of quotes still holstered at his hip.
All tension in his body drops, his hand falling off the book to his side. Yoru lets out a breath of relief, one he never realized he was holding.
A young woman with messy short pink hair, pink and blue eyes, a sort of mechanical bow at her side. Trailing close behind her was a tall but slender young man with blue eyes and black hair, a spear held at his side, ready to defend and attack at a moment's notice.
Yoru knew all too well that this was the Express Crew, March 7th and Dan Heng.
"Dan Heng, look!" March points to Yoru, a face etched with concern. Something Yoru forgot was a thing, given the only thing he's seen today were Reavers and Kafka's enigmatic face.
"I can see, March. A surviving researcher," Dan Heng responds, his reserved nature on blast for Yoru to observe. "We're looking for Arlan, however. We should take him with us."
"Heh! Was that even a question? Of course we're taking him with us!" March responds cheerfully to Dan Heng's response, her upbeat personality bringing a ray of light to the gloomy nature of the invasion.
Yoru gives a weak smile towards the pair. "If you could take me along, that would be nice. I'll try not to get in the way."
He had no time to keep appearances up, nor care for how he looked in front of characters he always admired. He needed to survive, and then regain favor later.
The two crew members started to walk to match Yoru's pace, given he was injured. It wasn't all bad, though. March continued to ask Yoru questions as they walked through the hallway of cleared Voidrangers. Dan Heng, unperturbed, continued to keep his guard up, only listening to the conversation, adding nothing else.
"I'm surprised that you were in the hallway! I would have thought the researchers would have hidden themselves in a room, or where Asta is."
"... the Master Control Zone?
"Yeah! Did you get lost?"
"... I'm a researcher here. Of course I got lost."
Entering through a rather large door, the room the trio entered revealed many Curios. All of them were in cases, floating off to the sides, like a museum.
"Dan Heng! Yoru! Look!"
Off to the side, near the Curios, lay a young woman. She had medium silver hair, her eyes closed.
Yoru could tell, that this was Stelle, the Trailblazer. They had found her. This was where Star Rail truly began, but for Yoru, who was in the game?
This was where surviving would become a real hassle. But at least he could witness CPR in person.