Everyone is lining up to talk to a trash can in Honkai: Star Rail

Out of all the ridiculous objects you can interact with in Honkai: Star Rail (including a toilet and talking plant) one particular trash can has players questioning their own actions.

"You've been staring at it a while, but it's just an ordinary trash can," the narrator text reads when you interact with one of the many metal bins steampunk-style city Belobog early in the game. Your allies look on in disgust and the button prompt appears again.

You're told something is glowing inside of it, and that it is now a treasure chest, so you reach your arm in and search for a reward. "You don't need to explain," March 7th, the pink-haired member of your trio, tells you. "I get it. The urge is too great for you to resist."

The reward for a quick dumpster dive is a trash can icon to use on your account profile. You'd think the silly interaction and reward would be the end of it.

But then the prompt appears again.

If you insist on interacting with the trash can yet again you are given the option to charge deep into the Garbage King's rancid domain "to reach enlightenment." You fail, of course, and are left to imagine what awful thing your character has in their hands as your crewmates hold their noses and step away from you. And the trash can debacle is never spoken of again.

"[Developer Hoyoverse] understands that a JRPG is just about digging through all the trash cans," BDsb commented on a Reddit post of trash can fan art.

This game that loves trash cans from r/HonkaiStarRail

It's true. Trash cans are a valuable source of discarded items, crafting materials, and, in the case of Bioshock, entire meals. Star Rail is just innovating on this classic activity.

Lil_Parasite's post is simply titled, "Trash can, my true love", and DescriptiveKiwi calls it the "best profile icon by far" in their post. And Napoleonixx couldn't help themselves from making a joke about one of Genshin Impact's worst characters: "Damn, didn't expect a Dehya reference."

Star Rail has plenty of opportunities to interact with objects you probably shouldn't interact with, including a haunted closet, a talking plant, and a magical teleporting toilet. The main character is just about down for anything, which makes searching for button prompts a surprisingly fruitful part of the experience.

As I wrote in my Honkai: Star Rail review, it's a brilliant turn-based RPG with a keen sense of humor. No other RPG has a main character quite as tired and lazy as the Trailblazer. I've played way past the trash can incident in Belobog, and let me assure you that it gets worse.

Honkai: Star Rail is free-to-play and available now on HoYoverse's site and the Epic Games Store. If you need a headstart, there are several Star Rail codes to redeem for free premium currency.