I just wanted you to make a movie: You made a Honkai Star Rail movie

"I knew you'd ask this," Xia Wen replied. "Don't worry, I can totally BS—ahem, I mean, explain this to you."

Playing along with a joke, he laughed and said, "Actually, at that time, the entire storyline of Penacony had already been filmed."

"From my perspective, what I see is completely different from what you see."

"You're only seeing the first episode, but I've seen much more than you. So, misunderstandings are inevitable."

"But I can guarantee! The story in the second episode will be absolutely sunny!"

-------------------------

: Really? Absolutely uplifting.

: Damn, Director Xia, can we still believe what you say now?

: I'm very pure, so please don't lie to us!

...

Looking at the comments.

Even the girl on the other side couldn't help but ask, "Director Xia, is it really uplifting? Boohoo, you can't lie to us anymore."

"I won't lie to you."

"It's absolutely positive, full of energy!"

Xia Wen thought about Aventurine's past in his mind, confirming that he wasn't wrong.

After all, is there a character more positive than Aventurine?

The entire clan had been reduced to just one person.

Even so, when it came time to stand up, he never hesitated.

Although there was a certain self-destructive tendency in his actions, just this behavior alone surpassed countless others.

Everyone in the live chat room breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Xia Wen's response.

They flooded the chat with, Director Xia finally acted like a decent person for once!

All of a sudden, their confidence in Episode 2 skyrocketed.

"And I can give you a little surprise."

"The plot development in Episode 2 will use a POV change."

"I hope it will bring everyone a fresh viewing experience."

Xia Wen revealed another little spoiler.

...

: Multi-perspective storytelling! Excited, excited!

: It's like they experimented with this back during Xianzhou, where Dan Heng's scenes were completely standalone!

: Whoa, can't wait to see which POVs we get this time.

: I hope it's from the Acheron! I want to see the perspective from Acheron!

...

The audiences were incredibly excited, eagerly spamming the chat with the perspectives they wanted to see.

"Thank you, Director Xia, for showing mercy! Now we can finally rest assured!"

"One last question!"

"I'd like to ask, Director Xia, the Honkai Star Rail series has always excelled at its detail work."

"When watching the show, we often feel like this world truly exists thanks to those intricate details."

"There are many characters or settings that feel like they have rich stories, but due to time constraints, they couldn't be showcased in the main storyline."

"I feel it's such a pity to miss out on such a well-crafted world…"

"Do you have any plans to write stories about ordinary people in the Honkai Star Rail world—not just the Express Crew?"

The girl asked the final question, her voice trembling with a hint of nervousness.

In the end, she mustered up the courage to voice her true thoughts:

"For example, stories like To the Fading Star."

These words hit the audiences' hearts directly.

To the Fading Star was one of the rare instances in the Honkai Star Rail series that told a story from an ordinary person's perspective.

When watching the main storyline, viewers naturally immersed themselves in the shoes of the Express Crew.

However, when the audiences dived deep into the lore and world-building, they often fantasized about the lives of ordinary people in the Honkai Star Rail world.

Imagining what kinds of stories people from different walks of life would experience.

This was also the source of much fan-made content online.

"Great question." Xia Wen became a bit more serious.

Fortunately, he was prepared.

"Actually, we've prepared a lot of such stories, but due to the pacing of the main storyline. And considering how Honkai Star Rail performs as a series, we were worried these stories might slow it down."

"In the end, a significant portion of them had to be cut."

"To the Fading Star was one of the few that survived."

At this point, Xia Wen paused. Seeing the chat filled with regretful and heartbroken reactions, he slightly curved his lips and shared some good news with the audiences.

"However, in Penacony, we still managed to save several stories like this. They'll be interwoven and aired between the weekly main episodes."

Some side stories were excellent. But when adapted for the series, if incorporated into the main storyline, they would drastically slow its pace.

If released on their own, without the immersion provided by a player's perspective, many side stories might lose their impact in visual storytelling.

Simply put, as side quests in a game, they were outstanding.

But as scripts for filming, they lacked the critical elements of rising action, climax, and resolution, making the quality seem average.

After all, game experiences and visual storytelling are two different things.

But Penacony is different.

The three major side stories have powerful cores, Love and faith, war and peace, crime and redemption.

If it were just this, Xia Wen probably wouldn't have done this part of the content.

But each side story happens to reflect another side of the major factions of the era.

The Masked Fools, The Family, as well as The Stellaron Hunters and The Galaxy Rangers.

These are many plots that expand the audiences' understanding of the worldview.

At this moment, hearing Xia Wen's words, the girl connected via live audio almost couldn't help letting out a tea kettle-like squeal.

"This is amazing!"

"As expected of Director Xia! He really knows what we the audiences want to see!"

The comments section was filled with praise.

After the brief audio chat ended, Xia Wen selected a few more lucky the audiences to connect with.

Some also asked about the storyline.

Without giving spoilers, he tried his best to answer the audiences' questions.

Before anyone realized it, over ten minutes had passed.

The live stream reached its conclusion.

After bidding farewell to the audiences, Xia Wen quietly went offline.

For the audiences, it was naturally a huge regret—they were unwilling to leave for a long time.

Even after the live stream ended, countless viewers flocked to the channel.

Upon discovering that Xia Wen was gone, these latecomers let out desperate wails, regretting their missed opportunity.

Just appearing as a director for ten minutes, the heat immediately topped the charts.

...

In the days that followed, because of Xia Wen's live stream, the audiences were filled with anticipation every day.

They either went to forums to analyze the plot or analyzed Honkai: Star Rail's Werewolf.

Or they frantically refreshed the official site, hoping to see the story on par with To The Dim Star as mentioned by Xia Wen.

Under such anxious waiting, by noon on Friday, the official site finally released the latest video.

Moreover, a new section was launched, titled the Garden of Recollection.

Clicking in, one could see the inscription above,

"Truth and falsehood are merely human illusions, wavering between dimensions."

"Only the memories proving human existence are the true treasures."

"The Memokeepers collect precious memories and display them in the Garden of Recollection."

"The aim is to discover the meaning of existence through these memories."

Below the inscription was the cover of a video.

An elderly man wearing a hat and hunched over was sitting on a bench, gazing at the nightscape of Penacony.

It's here! It's finally here! the audiences had been waiting for so long.

They never expected this content to be released as the prologue for the newly opened section!

They were eagerly anticipating it.

Within less than a minute, a massive influx of traffic poured in.

...

: A story on par with Dim Star!

: I'm so excited, and it's set in Penacony too!

: Stories like these are more flavorful when they're ordinary!

: This old man on the cover looks so ordinary. Is he the protagonist this time?

: These side stories probably won't feature any major characters, like subplots in games.

: It'll likely focus on personal experiences.

: Let me guess, is it about love or family ties?

...

The comments section buzzed with speculation.

And the story slowly unfolded.

At the very beginning, there was a moment of black screen, accompanied by ambient sound.

"The story takes place during Stelle's golden hour exploration, while gathering intelligence…"

In the game, this part only appeared after the 2.0 main storyline ended.

But in the show, the timeline was slightly adjusted.

After all, the 2.1 and 2.0 storylines were seamlessly connected.

After briefly introducing the timeline to the audiences, the story officially began.

...

The setting on-screen was at the intersection of the golden hour.

A kind-looking elderly man was sitting on a bench, staring blankly into the distance.

Above his head was the eternal sleepless night of the golden hour.

Not far away was the junction of another, forever frozen in the dawn of sunrise.

Under the meticulous lens, dusk and hope simultaneously appeared on the old man.

This tranquil atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps.

It was Stelle wandering aimlessly, she had gotten completely lost and somehow, she ended up here.

As soon as she arrived, Stelle found the old man.

In Penacony, it was rare to see someone as calm and serene as this old man.

He seemed like a statue, with even his breathing nearly imperceptible.

The camera lingered here.

Stelle carefully observed, and the audiences, through the camera, also gazed at the old man.

After a while, everyone was shocked to realize— the old man really wasn't breathing.

Before they could react, the old man raised his head and looked kindly at Stelle,

"Hello, young nameless."

"How do you know I'm a nameless?"

"No, wait, why don't you need to breathe?"

Stelle subconsciously asked the two most puzzling questions in her heart.

For the first one, the old man gave no comment but directly answered Stelle's second question.

"Many people fail to realize that breathing in a dream is actually redundant."

"It's just that, for most organic lifeforms, forgetting to breathe is a difficult thing."

"Ah... It's been so long since I've spoken to someone, forgive me."

The old man seemed to realize his words were inappropriate and not exactly polite, so he switched to a calm and gentle tone, saying, "My name is Chadwick. May I know your name, child?"

"Hmph, that's a secret." Stelle crossed her arms akimbo.

She hadn't forgotten her purpose for being here. Until she uncovered the truth, she would never carelessly reveal her identity.

"Ah..." Chadwick looked slightly surprised, but then said calmly, "You do carry a certain air of mystery about you."

"Once, I could deduce a person's background just from their demeanor and attire, but you're quite special, child."

"Even through the thick filter of a dream, I can feel the surging vitality within you."

Although Chadwick appeared old, his gaze was exceptionally clear.

He paused, lowered his head, and seemed to be mumbling thoughtfully, "The energy within you... endless... seemingly spilling out ceaselessly."

"It surpasses the limits of what any living creature's heart can bear that I know of."

Chadwick was too ordinary.

An ordinary hat, ordinary clothes, with no aura of a powerful figure about him.

He looked no different from the elderly you'd find on the streets.

But as he finished speaking, the chat exploded.

...

: Ah? What?!

: Wasn't this supposed to be an ordinary person's story?

: Damn, what's up with this old man? Did he notice the Stellaron inside Stelle?

: This is getting ridiculous. Is this the standard for randomly encountered characters in Penacony?

: ?? Wait, we all came here expecting a slice-of-life story, what the hell is this? Director Xia isn't fooling us again, is he?

: This is no ordinary person's story!

...

Despite the complaints, the audiences were still filled with anticipation.

A story placed in its own dedicated section must have its standout qualities.

At this moment, everyone was speculating about who this old man really was.

On screen, after pondering for a moment, Chadwick didn't seem to understand why he had said such things either.

But he also inexplicably felt a sense of joy.

This old man's joy wasn't expressed through a smile, but through the wrinkles on his face and his calm, reflective gaze.

This tied back to what he had mentioned earlier about not having spoken to anyone in a long time.

"Child, the unknown within you fills me with curiosity and delight."

"Both are emotions I haven't experienced in a long time. After all, I now know nothing about myself."

"Thank you for coming before me."

One could only say, this indeed fits Penacony's absurd tone.

Chadwick's words were as enigmatic as ever.

He claimed to know nothing about himself, yet was overjoyed at Stelle's arrival.

The contradictions made the audiences feel as if they were transported back to the first episode.

Just as Stelle remained silent, unsure how to respond, Chadwick suddenly closed his eyes.

All the emotions he had just displayed were instantly withdrawn.

Now, he appeared like a senile old man.

"Sorry to disturb you, Dr. Chadwick."

"The Bloodhounds received word that you were being harassed by an unknown individual."

"We're here to help drive away the troublemaker."

Several members of the Bloodhound family approached Chadwick, standing protectively behind him, their wary gazes fixed on Stelle.

"I was merely having a peaceful conversation." Stelle said, speechless.

"Intruder, do I need to remind you that this place is off-limits to dream guests?!" The lead female Bloodhound's tone was both hostile and cold.

At that moment, Chadwick opened his eyes and pleaded, "Don't do this, Moira."

"I like this child. Can you let her go, just this once?"

"On my account, you know I detest violence the most."

The female Bloodhound furrowed her brow, pausing briefly in thought.

She then hesitantly said,"...Fine, Dr. Chadwick, but only for your sake."

"But just this once. Don't let it happen again!"

Her last sentence carried an unmistakable warning.

The dense atmosphere of strangeness filled the screen, shattering the earlier tranquility completely.

These Bloodhounds seemed to be there to protect Chadwick.

But their attitude lacked even a hint of respect one might expect when guarding someone important.

Even Chadwick himself appeared so powerless and resigned when facing the Bloodhounds.

All these signs made their protection feel more like surveillance!