"Next, let's check out the protagonist Stelle's Ultimate!"
Guinaifen excitedly clicked on Stelle's finisher. At this point, what she looked forward to most was seeing the unique animations for each character. Every one of them had their own style, and the special effects were exquisite and lavish a far cry from the low-effort, mass-produced games she was used to.
It was obvious the development team had poured their hearts into every detail. For instance, the flash of splash art when an Ultimate was triggered was consistently stunning.
Whoosh!
Stelle's splash art was unexpectedly domineering. Standing mid-air on one leg, her left hand hovered over a glowing golden orb. She looked down with a gaze that screamed "I am number one," while the massive Astral Express streaked behind her through a fusion of steel and steam.
"Stardust Ace!"
Stelle coolly drew the baseball bat from her waist. The mundane bat was suddenly wreathed in lightning and starlight, as if it had instantly transformed into a +999 legendary artifact!
"Rules... are made to be broken!"
The subsequent area-of-effect attack was devastating. It felt as though she might actually smash the screen! The monsters hit by the blow were vaporized instantly.
For the first time, a high damage number of 124 popped up. Before this, they had only been chipping away with tens of damage at a time. Not just Guinaifen, but the viewers in the stream were clearly overjoyed.
"Is even the protagonist's Ultimate this cool?"
"She took a baseball bat and somehow made it feel like a Galactic Holy Sword!"
"So generous! This skill design is top-tier!"
"What a boss heroine. I love her!"
Guinaifen found herself liking the female lead more and more; she was absolutely delighted. She couldn't wait to find more monsters to fight.
Upon reaching an elevator, a cutscene triggered. The elevator's operating system had malfunctioned, blocking the path to the Master Control Zone. Fortunately, Dan Heng appeared just in time. After a brief bit of banter, he decided to take the two of them to the surveillance room to find Arlan from the Security Department for help.
As the dialogue ended, a flash of purple light swept across the screen!
Under a winding maple tree, a man leaned against the trunk with a cool, stoic expression. He held a teal spear in his arms, looking completely detached from the world.
[Dan Heng (4-Star, The Hunt) has joined the party.]
"Wait, what?" Guinaifen's eyes widened in disbelief. "Does this mean they just gave us Dan Heng for free too?"
She opened the party menu. Sure enough, there was a "New" tag on her character list. The game was indeed giving players yet another high-quality character for free. The tutorial then prompted her to level up the newly acquired Dan Heng.
"No way! They're really giving him away?"
"That's three characters now! Given the track record of the others, I bet Dan Heng's Ultimate is going to be insanely cool!"
"Other games do everything they can to milk us dry, but this game has already handed out three characters!"
"Is the dev team running a charity? I'm seriously worried they're going to go bankrupt!"
"Stop giving things away! Let me spend some money!"
Guinaifen was equally stunned by the generosity of the developers. A character this well-crafted could easily have been sold, yet they gave him away. Even without her saying a word, the viewers were already losing their minds. No one could figure out how this game was supposed to make a profit!
After meeting Arlan, March 7th remembered that the key to unlocking the elevator was actually on her person. As they passed through a room, they "picked up" a Light Cone. After reading the tutorial, Guinaifen understood.
"...So Light Cones are basically the weapons for characters of different Paths. The designers really knew how to tie it all together; these look like rare items we could never afford in real life. In the game, they're ranked from three to five stars. We don't know how to get others yet."
After equipping the protagonist with this 3-star Light Cone, they arrived at the elevator entrance. The enemy waiting for them appeared much stronger than the previous ones a centaur-like monster. Even among the Voidrangers, this was clearly an elite.
"If I met this thing in real life, I'd have to turn and run. But since this is a game..." Guinaifen gritted her teeth with a fierce expression. "I'm going to test out Dan Heng's new Ultimate!"
She tapped the button for Dan Heng's finisher.
[Ethereal Dream]
"Between life and death... a mere thought."
Dan Heng held his spear horizontally. At the tip of the spear sat a perfect orb of black and white. Wisps of white smoke began to swirl around the bead. True to the name of the skill, it felt like an ethereal vision.
As a maple leaf drifted across the camera, the space around Dan Heng transformed into a sprawling ink wash painting. Only the crimson maple leaves stood out against the black ink strokes. Dan Heng opened his eyes, poised for the strike.
"Break!"
At his command, he instantly vanished, reappearing behind the Voidranger: Trampler as ink-like blood splattered from his spear tip.
[Battle Ended]
"Oh my god! That was way too cool!"
"What?! How can an ink wash art style feel so full of killing intent?"
"The atmosphere and effects are just unbeatable!"
"This is the style of our Xianzhou! The developer must be one of our own!"
"They're giving characters like this away for free? Now I have to download it."
"Free March 7th and Dan Heng at the start? I'm making a killing here!"
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