A soft, golden glow had just settled over the main promenade of Penacony's Golden Hour when a lone Trailblazer paused near a shimmering bubble pinball machine. The world of Honkai: Star Rail had expanded once more, and with the version 2.0 update, the dreamlike planet of Penacony had unfurled its velvet curtains. Beyond the obvious treasure chests and readable relics, whispers of hidden Clockwork Quests and emotion-imbued gears circulated among the most curious explorers. Two years had passed since those secrets were first mapped, yet even in 2026, fresh-eyed travelers still sought them out, determined to wring every last Stellar Jade and Dreamscape Pass Sticker from the reverie.

The Clockwork Quests were never the sort to announce themselves with a glowing waypoint. They required a keen ear and a sharper eye—little murmurs of distress or strange enthusiasm emanating from ordinary NPCs. Fourteen such undertakings lay scattered across Penacony, largely concentrated in the Golden Hour but also tucked into the quiet corners of Dream’s Edge and The Reverie (Dreamscape). A meticulous adventurer would open their quest log and navigate to the Clockwork tab, confirming that none had eluded them. To even begin one of these quests, however, a specific emotional key was needed: an Emo Dial, calibrated to Calm, Happy, Sad, or Angry.

The Golden Hour’s Tenfold Mystery

In the Golden Hour, ten Clockwork Quests waited on the F2 level, including the notably elusive Lew Archer quest. Near the Sweet Corner Space Anchor, a woman in a purple dress often stood with a heavy heart, ripe for the Absorb Emotions command. A few paces north, two Pepeshi could be found sharing a quiet moment—their emotions practically buzzing in the neon light. The quest-givers formed a loose ring around Aideen Park and the Oti Mall, and most could be spotted simply by strolling the main boulevard with the Psychic Detective’s lessons in mind.

Dream’s Edge, by contrast, was more intimate. Beneath the branches of the Verdant Manager’s Great Tree, three NPCs brushed shoulders with each other, all within a short walk of the Family’s Construction Authority Space Anchor. The air here crackled with family disputes and artistic frustrations, and each NPC required a different emotional gear to unlock their stories.

Far more solitary was Mullich’s quest in The Reverie (Dreamscape). The Psychic Detective refused to reveal it, so explorers had to descend from the Platinum Guest Room on F3 and slip through a lounge lined with foes. Once the enemies dispersed, a small Pepeshi emerged from a side passage, glowing with an angry aura—a silent demand for an Angry Gear before any words were exchanged.

The Art of Emotional Harvesting

No Clockwork Quest could be coaxed forward without the right Emo Dial, and while it might seem daunting to stockpile four distinct moods, the dreamscape offered an overabundance of emotional nodes. A wise Trailblazer checked their inventory’s Missions section to gauge how many gears they already possessed before setting out. Most of these nodes bloomed in the Golden Hour, especially on F2, where a single systematic sweep could fill pockets with Calm, Happy, Sad, and Angry Gears in a single circuit.

Calm gears often nestled in the most unassuming places. Two bottles resting on a bench southeast of the Sweet Corner Space Anchor could be examined. A Dreampeak Call device hummed away on the corridor below F2, reachable via the Clockie Statue teleport point. Even a pair of NPCs near the newspapers—one tall, one short—willingly surrendered their calm when prompted.

Happy gears, meanwhile, frequently gravitated toward children and grandparents. Two young NPCs right beside the Sweet Corner Space Anchor radiated innocent joy. A trash can to the north of the map, surprisingly, brimmed with gleeful energy when interacted with. Two Pepeshi sitting together on a bench near the SoulGlad Trolley bubbled with mirth, and an old lady in a chair along the main road was practically a fountain of serene happiness.

Sad gears gathered around lonely figures—the NPC on a bench clutching newspapers, a group lingering by the SoulGlad Trolley north of the Reverie Hotel Space Anchor, or a Pepeshi sitting near a pile of gifts beside Hanu’s Adventure. Even the popcorn stall west of Aideen Park Space Anchor hosted two sorrowful souls.

Angry gears demanded a bit more audacity. A Pepeshi by the Cash Spewer west of The Reverie Hotel Space Anchor simmered with frustration. Near the ice cream trolley, a female NPC stewed over some perceived slight, and just up the main road, another churned with similar ire. Perhaps the densest pocket of anger awaited by the golden fountain on the east main road, where two Pepeshi were always on the verge of a spat. For those who trekked to the far east of Oti Mall, near an inaccessible area, a lonely Pepeshi offered one more burst of fury.

A visual reference to the dense cluster of gears in Golden Hour, F2. (URL adjusted to the general gear map above; see original article for detailed labels)

The scarcity of gears in other maps only made them precious. Dream’s Edge cradled its few nodes near the Great Tree: a praying man offered Calm, two young NPCs by a fountain exuded Happy, and a trio east of the Space Anchor practically radiated Anger. No Sad gears existed here, as if the weepers had all moved elsewhere.

The Reverie (Dreamscape) parceled out exactly one Calm, one Sad, and one Angry gear, but withheld Happy entirely. They were all relatively close to the Space Anchors, so a quick sweep before diving into Mullich’s quest served any explorer well.

A Child’s Dream, the most surreal of the maps, held only Happy and Sad gears. A Dream Ticker near the northern Space Anchor gave off a melancholy hum, while a table close to the southern Space Anchor seemed to hold echoes of laughter. Sometimes, the simplest investigations unlocked the deepest feelings.

A Legacy in the Dreamscape

As the clock hands spun in Penacony’s eternal twilight, the Clockwork Quests continued to reward those who paused long enough to listen. Every completed quest fed Stellar Jades into a Trailblazer’s pocket, nudged the Clockie Statue’s level higher with Clock Credits, and stitched another sticker into the Dreamscape Pass album. The gears, once collected, were never meant to be hoarded—they existed to be spent on moments of genuine connection. By 2026, guides like this one had become a rite of passage for new players, ensuring that the hidden corners of Penacony would never be truly empty, and that even the smallest Pepeshi’s story might find an audience.