Xianzhou, Aurum Alley.
Having had his fill of food and drink, Lin Yu checked into a room near the hotel. The room was clean and tidy, equipped with every necessary facility. Lin Yu sat by the window, sipping on the hotel's signature local brew as he opened his system interface.
[Popularity Points: 20,000+]
[Top-ups: 0]
[Current Accumulated Points: 20,000]
[Congratulations, Host, on reaching your first Milestone. Reward: 5,000 Points and one Small Promotion Opportunity.]
"A promotion opportunity?" Lin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly at the reward. He had already used Guinaifen's livestream to generate a wave of publicity, so what was this system-granted opportunity?
He clicked on the description, and soon understood its purpose.
"I can place advertisements unconditionally within a certain range?"
[Recommended deployment locations: Herta Space Station, Penacony.]
Lin Yu thought about it. Initially, he wanted to place it in Penacony. After all, it was the land of dreams and had an enormous flow of people; the game would definitely get more attention there. But when he opened the map, he couldn't help but complain.
"The range is this small? If I put this in Penacony, it wouldn't even cover a single tourist attraction! It's just about enough to cover the space station, though. Forget it, let's just put it in the space station for now."
The moment Lin Yu activated the reward, every advertisement billboard in the Master Control Zone of the space station changed. Ads for things like Findie and Khaliv White were instantly replaced.
[The latest mobile game Honkai: Star Rail! Three Express crew members given upon login! Asta and Herta are also being handed out for free!]
[What are you waiting for? Be a step ahead and begin your Trailblaze journey now!]
On the advertisement cover, alongside the silhouettes of March 7th, Dan Heng, and Stelle, the most prominent figures were the splash art for Asta and Herta.
The system had specifically tailored the ad copy for the space station's environment. This kind of blunt, simple messaging was extremely effective for the researchers who lived repetitive lives. Used to programmatic advertisements, the sudden appearance of something so "interesting" forced everyone to take a second look.
"Honkai: Star Rail? Never heard of this mobile game."
"A free game? And they're giving out characters at launch? Is it really that generous?"
"What does the ad mean by 'Asta' and 'Herta'? Did they actually turn Station Master Asta and Madam Herta into game characters?"
"If that's the case, I have to play this!"
"You better be telling the truth, billboard. If they aren't free, I'm filing a complaint immediately!"
The researchers who saw the ads began to stop in their tracks, pulling out their phones to download the game from the store.
The space station wasn't that large to begin with, so the news spread like wildfire. Soon, it reached the meeting room where Asta was located.
"My Lady, that is the situation," Arlan explained with a serious expression. "All the billboards seem to have been hit by a coordinated hacker attack. They've all simultaneously started displaying ads for... uh, Honkai: Star Rail."
"Should I cut the power to the billboards?"
"No, no need..." Asta shook her head while staring at her phone. "This game is actually quite interesting. I'm just about to perform a Warp."
"A Warp?"
"Yes, it's the gacha system. You can pull many characters you recognize from reality, like March 7th or Himeko. Maybe I can even pull Madam Herta!"
As she spoke, Asta tapped the option to "Warp 1 time."
A standard ticket floated through the cosmos as the Astral Express roared into view. Accompanied by the appearance of Pom-Pom the conductor, the train doors opened, and a brilliant purple light spilled out.
Asta was excited. "A purple light... that means I pulled a 4-star character!"
From within the radiance, an illustration appeared: a young girl sitting beside a massive astronomical telescope.
[Asta (New), Fire Type, 4-star, The Harmony]
Arlan, standing nearby, froze in shock. Asta's mouth hung open in an 'O' shape.
She'd pulled a card... and it was herself?
Arlan opened his mouth, and it took a long while before he could squeeze out the question on his mind.
"My Lady... are you also one of the characters in this game?"
"I... I don't know!" Asta replied, looking flustered. It was her first time encountering a situation like this while gaming. "But I definitely saw myself in the story just now."
"So that's how it is..." Arlan lowered his head, sinking into thought. "My Lady, I will have the engineers investigate if any other systems on the station have been compromised by hackers."
"Oh, okay. Go ahead."
Asta slowly calmed her racing heart. Eager to see more, she opened the character interface to read her skill descriptions.
"Skill: Meteor Storm... deals 4 additional instances of damage..."
"Ultimate: Astral Blessing, increases the Speed of all allies..."
"Wait... how does this developer know that I like the stars so much?!"
Meanwhile, after leaving Asta's side, Arlan didn't immediately contact his engineers. Instead, he returned to his own breakroom.
He took out his phone, his fingers trembling slightly as he searched for Honkai: Star Rail.
The download finished quickly. As he launched the game, he whispered to himself, "I... I also have to pull My Lady Asta!"
"And I have to protect her. Even in a game, I won't let her come to any harm."
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access 400+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).