Chapter 51: Pom-Pom's Metaphysical Victory!
Stelle babbled excitedly, her fingers flying across her virtual interface as she snapped a screenshot of her ten-pull haul and slammed the send button in the multiversal chat group.
[Astral Express · Stelle]: "(Item_Screenshot.jpg) See that? See that?! What do you call a god-tier lucky draw? What do you call a one-shot miracle? A Gourmet Tablecloth! Delicious Seasoning! And a blue-tier martial art, 'Fire Dance Whirlwind'! I ask you, are you convinced?! Wahahahaha!"
She followed it up with a custom animated GIF of herself laughing maniacally with her hands planted firmly on her hips, her chaotic trash-panda energy radiating through the screen.
The chat group instantly exploded into a flurry of activity.
[Genshin Impact · Paimon]: "Wow!!! Stelle! Did you really get a tablecloth that can just magically conjure food? Is there really such an amazing thing out there?! Paimon wants to pull too!"
Paimon's attention, as always, remained laser-focused on the absolute most important thing in the universe: her stomach.
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "Oh my god! Stelle, your luck is insane! A blue-tier martial art! And those items are actually so practical!"
[Genshin Impact · Lumine]: "Congratulations! 'Fire Dance Whirlwind'... sounds like a Pyro-element martial art? It suits your fighting style perfectly."
[Genshin Impact · Lumine]: "But is that Delicious Seasoning really that useful? It reminds me of a certain friend back in Inazuma who absolutely cannot cook. Whatever she makes would literally cause people to see their entire lives flash before their eyes."
[Genshin Impact · Paimon]: "Don't say it, don't say it! Paimon's terrible memories are about to come flooding back! We'll see if we can get a bottle of that seasoning for Ei later, but whatever you do, do not mention her cooking!"
Although the three members of the Astral Express crew had no idea who this 'Ei' was, seeing Paimon—a creature whose love for food eclipsed the stars themselves—show such visceral terror at the mere mention of her meals made the destructive power of this cooking abundantly clear.
[Astral Express · March 7th]: "How should I put it? Himeko's coffee is just... something completely beyond the limits of human language. It is secretly listed as a Class-A hazard in the Astral Express survival guide."
[Astral Express · March 7th]: "And Stelle actually chugged an entire cup of that coffee in one go after sprinkling that seasoning into it! Dan Heng and I were completely stunned. He was so shocked he almost logged the event into the Express's databank as a multiversal anomaly."
[Astral Express · Stelle]: "That's right, that seasoning is a lifesaver. At the very least, when I drank the coffee, it tasted like absolute heaven."
[Genshin Impact · Zhongli]: "In terms of universal reason, this harvest is exceptionally bountiful. The Gourmet Tablecloth possesses the marvel of creating something from nothing, and the Delicious Seasoning can harmonize the flavor profiles of all things. Such properties are already quite extraordinary."
[Genshin Impact · Zhongli]: "A blue-tier martial art is an even rarer opportunity. I trust you will make good use of it."
[Astral Express · March 7th]: "Ahhh! Stelle! You actually pulled such amazing stuff! I don't care anymore! I am pulling right now! Dan Heng! Quick! Let's try our luck too!"
Stelle's blatant bragging acted like a massive boulder crashing into a tranquil lake, instantly sending massive ripples of excitement throughout the chat.
The other group members, who had previously been observing from the sidelines with nervous hesitation, found their blood boiling at the sight of this ridiculous 'blue-tier martial art plus magical items' combination.
March 7th in particular refused to be left behind. Watching Stelle bask in the glory of her gacha victory ignited a fierce competitive spirit within the pink-haired archer.
"It's our turn, Dan Heng!" March 7th took a deep, steadying breath. Her small face scrunched up into an expression of absolute, do-or-die determination.
"Hey, Dan Heng! Stop researching the abnormal data of Stelle surviving that coffee! Hurry up and pull! My gacha senses are tingling! If we wait any longer, the metaphysical luck buff Pom-Pom gave me is going to expire!"
Squeezing her eyes shut, March 7th thrust her finger forward, aggressively jabbing the virtual 'Ten-Pull' button hovering in her holographic interface.
[Ding! 1280 points deducted.]
Ten brilliant streaks of light erupted before her closed eyelids. Even though she refused to peek, the system had already finalized her fate. A single, deep ray of deep blue pierced the air, flanked by two vibrant green glows. The remaining seven streaks settled into a dull, ordinary white.
The blinding illumination slowly receded, leaving a scattering of physical items hovering in the air.
March 7th's heart hammered against her ribs. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, her hands clasped together in desperate prayer as she muttered under her breath. "No white, no white, please no white... Give me blue! It has to be blue!"
Dan Heng, standing just a few paces away, maintained his usual stoic composure.
He wasted no movement on dramatic flair. His sharp eyes calmly tracked the holographic card-drawing interface as his index finger tapped the screen with calculated precision.
[Ding! 1280 points deducted.]
Ten streaks of light flared into existence in front of the archivist. Two modest green glows materialized, completely overwhelmed by a sea of eight dismal white lights.
As the glow faded into the ambient lighting of the Express car, Dan Heng stared blankly at the two green-tier items resting in his palms: a [Portable Water Purifier] and a [High-Strength Climbing Rope]. At his feet lay a depressing pile of white-tier junk—a few dusty books, some rusted tool parts, and a stack of completely ordinary clothing.
A heavy, suffocating silence descended upon him.
His brow furrowed. He slowly turned his gaze toward March 7th, who was currently curled into a tense, vibrating ball of anxiety. Then, he looked across the room at Stelle. The gray-haired trailblazer was still standing in her triumphant, hands-on-hips pose, looking so smug she might as well have had a physical tail wagging proudly toward the ceiling.
"...Could it be?" Dan Heng murmured under his breath. For the first time in a long while, his strictly logical mind experienced a severe glitch. "Does physically touching Conductor Pom-Pom actually trigger some sort of... statistically unexplainable, metaphysical luck-boosting effect?"
The very concept felt utterly absurd to his scientific sensibilities. Yet, the raw data presented right in front of him was impossible to ignore. Stelle and March 7th had both aggressively pet the Conductor before pulling, and both had secured high-tier rewards. He, on the other hand, had relied on pure probability and received absolute garbage. He was being forced to confront the existence of a mystical gacha ritual.
"Wow—!"
A sudden squeal shattered Dan Heng's existential crisis. March 7th had finally mustered the courage to peel her eyes open.
Resting in her palm was a smooth, octagonal stone. It radiated a faint, comforting warmth against her skin, its surface deeply engraved with the abstract, ancient pattern of a horned goat.
[Sheep Talisman].
Hovering right beside it were her two green-tier rewards. One was a tiny, metallic pill containing a miniature architectural model—a [Hoi-Poi Capsule (House Type)]. The other was a sleek, perfectly spherical device split into red and white halves, with a distinct 'M' stamped across the top—a [Master Ball].
She practically launched herself into the ceiling with pure joy.
"Yes! Yes! It's blue! It's actually blue!" she cheered, spinning around in a circle. "I knew it! How could my luck possibly be bad?!"
Bouncing on her heels, March 7th rushed over, shoving the glowing talisman right into Dan Heng and Stelle's faces like a child showing off a prized toy.
"Look, look! What do you think this is? It feels so magical!" she babbled, her words tumbling out in a rapid-fire rush. "And this capsule—the system instructions say it can literally transform into a fully furnished house! And this little ball thing... a Master Ball? Does that mean I can use it to catch super powerful alien pets?!"
Without missing a beat, she snapped a series of screenshots detailing her loot and flooded the chat group with them.
(Sheep_Talisman.jpg)
(Hoi-Poi_Capsule.jpg)
(Master_Ball.jpg)
[Astral Express · March 7th]: "Haha! This girl also pulled a blue-tier item! And two super fun green ones! Does anyone know what this talisman actually does? It feels incredibly powerful! The Hoi-Poi Capsule is going to be so convenient for camping! And the Master Ball... hehe, I'm definitely going to try using it the next time we run into a cute cosmic creature!"
She punctuated her message with a custom emoji of herself striking the exact same triumphant, hands-on-hips pose Stelle had used earlier.
The chat interface immediately lit up again, flooded with a fresh wave of congratulations and curious inquiries from the multiversal members.
[Genshin Impact · Paimon]: "Wow! March 7th is amazing too! That ordinary-looking stone is actually a blue-tier item? A sheep? Does it give you sheep-related powers? Wait... can it conjure unlimited roasted lamb legs?!"
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "Congratulations, March! That Hoi-Poi Capsule is literal magic! And that Master Ball... it sounds exactly like an overpowered item from one of those retro pet-catching video games at the arcade!"
[Astral Express · Stelle]: "Hmph. Not bad at all, March! Although I have to say, it's still just a tiny bit less cool than my 'Fire Dance Whirlwind.' Still a massive win, though! You need to test out that talisman right now!"
March 7th happily soaked in the shower of digital praise, her smile practically splitting her face.
It was only then, amidst her euphoric high, that she finally noticed the suffocating aura of silence radiating from Dan Heng beside her. She blinked, her gaze slowly dropping from his stoic, unreadable face down to the depressing pile of completely ordinary, rusted junk clutched in his hands.
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