Stella held her breath, staring unblinkingly at the gacha interface that only she could see.
Ten streaks of light, like runaway horses trailing flames, streaked past one by one, then slowed down and froze...
[First pull, grey light...]
"..."
Stella's heart skipped a beat.
[1-star material: adventure logs x1]
"A bad start..."
She muttered softly.
[Second pull, green light...]
[2-star material: Travelers Guide x1]
"...Fine, at least it's better than grey."
She comforted herself.
The next few pulls seemed to fall into a cycle:
[Third pull, grey, adventure logs]
[Fourth pull, green, Travelers Guide]
[Fifth pull, grey, adventure logs]
[Sixth pull, green, Travelers Guide]
Stella's expression went from anticipation to tension, then to numbness, and finally to despair.
"No way... consecutive pity materials? Was my luck sucked dry by those Aeons just now?"
She could almost see her future self gnawing on "adventure logs" (can this thing even be eaten?) to level up.
Just as she was about to give up hope—
[Seventh pull, blue light!]
"Blue light!"
Stella's spirits lifted! Blue meant a 3-star character!
The light stabilized, revealing the image of a light purple-haired girl with dragon-like features and a lock hanging from her Tail.
[3-star character: Bailu (Lv.1/70)]
"Bailu? I remember she's a healer!"
Stella's eyes lit up; although she was only 3-star, she was a new character and a healer at that!
For her team of glass-cannon DPS, it was like rain after a long drought!
"Good, good, good! This is great!"
The flames of hope were rekindled as she looked at the next pull.
[Eighth pull, green light...]
"Another material... Hmm?"
The green light condensed, but what appeared was a familiar, vibrant chibi avatar of a pink-haired girl.
[2-star character: March 7th (Duplicate character, automatically converted to 'stellar jade' x1)]
"Eh? Another March 7th?"
Stella was stunned, looking at the diamond-shaped crystal (stellar jade) floating in the air, emitting a faint pink glow.
"Duplicate characters turn into this? What is this for?"
With doubt, she opened the character archive and found March 7th's avatar.
Sure enough, in the corner of the upgrade interface, a small golden exclamation mark had appeared.
Clicking it revealed a brand-new [stellar jade Injection] slot, along with a brief description: [Inject a duplicate character's stellar jade to directly increase the character's level and some basic attributes, ignoring materials.]
"That's possible?!"
Stella was both surprised and delighted; this was a shortcut tailor-made for a "material-poor" person like her! She immediately dragged that [stellar jade] into the injection slot.
Vroom—!
Pink light surged from the stellar jade, quickly enveloping March 7th's avatar in the archive.
A pleasant level-up sound effect rang in her mind, and March 7th's level numbers began to jump rapidly: Lv.1 → Lv.2 → Lv.3...
Finally, it stopped at [Lv.11]!
"It jumped ten levels directly!"
Stella was overjoyed, seeing this rocket-like improvement.
Now March 7th had suddenly become the highest-level character in her team (though level 11 was still a small fry in the universe, it was better than level 1!).
She could feel that if she summoned March 7th now, her ice arrows would definitely be colder and her shield would be sturdier!
[Ninth pull, grey, adventure logs]
[Tenth pull, green, Travelers Guide]
The last two pulls unsurprisingly returned to their "trash pile" nature, but Stella didn't care anymore.
In one ten-pull, she got a much-needed 3-star healer, Bailu, and boosted March 7th by ten levels. This was definitely worth it!
She satisfiedly closed the gacha interface and began to review her current [Team Setup].
The four slots were: Stelle (4-star, LV1), Dan Heng(3-star, LV1), Clara (3-star, LV8), and Herta Puppet(3-star, LV1).
"Stelle definitely can't be moved; she's the only 4-star, a potential powerhouse."
Stella calculated.
"Clara has Svarog, she can fight and tank (?), so she can't be replaced either. The Herta Puppet... although it's only level 1, it's brand new, and maybe it can unlock some high-tech stuff later? I'll keep it for observation."
Her gaze fell on Dan Heng's avatar.
"Teacher Dan Heng..."
Stella pursed her lips apologetically.
"Even though your spear technique is cool, the team already has DPS (referring to the leveled-up Clara) and control/support (referring to Stelle's four Paths). What's missing is someone who can heal at critical moments!"
Thinking of the feeling of helplessness when watching Phainon burn out and fall in the Simulated Universe (though Stelle caught him later), and the many dangers they might face in the future, Stellahardened her resolve.
"Sorry, Teacher Dan Heng! For the overall survival rate of the team, I have to ask you to rest on the 'bench' for a while!"
She operated with her mind, moving Dan Heng out of the current team and placing the freshly pulled Bailu, whose avatar still had a "New!" tag, into the slot.
"Perfect! DPS, Tank (pseudo), Support, Healer... even if the levels are a bit low, the team framework finally looks like something!"
Stella looked at the new team setup, her heart filled with a sense of security.
Just as she was happily planning whether to grind for some experience or find another way to get more stellar jade—
"Ring ring~!"
A cheerful phone ringtone suddenly sounded in the quiet storage room, startling Stella.
She hurriedly pulled her phone from her pocket. The screen lit up, showing a message from March 7th:
[March 7th: Stella!!! Which corner did you run off to?!]
[March 7th: We're leaving! The Astral Express is about to depart for the next location! Pom-Pom is already rushing us!]
[March 7th: Were you swallowed by some weird Curio? Answer me quickly! Or we're going to broadcast a missing person's announcement!]
[March 7th: Attached (an emoji of Pom-Pomstomping their feet in a huff)]
Stella saw it and immediately panicked.
"Oh no! I was so busy pulling and adjusting the team that I forgot the time!"
She quickly tapped the screen to reply:
[Stella: Roger, roger! I'm on my way! I was just... um, familiarizing myself with the Space Station's layout! I wasn't eaten by a Curio! (Pom-Pom sweating emoji)]
The moment the message was sent, she immediately put away her phone and, like a cannonball, "whoosh," she dashed out of the storage room. She oriented herself and sprinted with all her might toward the Docking Port where the Astral Express was parked!
"Wait for me—! My ticket hasn't expired yet!!"
The small figure kicked up a gust of wind in the Space Station's corridors, leaving behind only a slightly anxious shout.