On the rooftop of a magnificent building, Kafka sat perched on the railing, gazing down at the bustling metropolis below. A gentle breeze tugged at her coat and hair, lending her an air of elegant lethliness.
It would be even more poetic if I had a glass of wine right now, Kafka thought to herself.
Beside her, Silver Wolf was in a completely different state. Her fingers blurred across the screen in front of her, her eyes fixed on the display without so much as a blink. Finally, a smirk played on her lips, blossoming into a triumphant smile.
"Done!"
She pointed at a graffiti pattern on the screen, showing it off to Kafka. "You remember this, right? The electronic graffiti I left on the Herta Space Station. It serves as a back door for hacking into the station's systems. I just finished breaking through."
As she spoke, Silver Wolf pulled her goggles down over her eyes.
Kafka offered a faint smile. "So, what's your next move?"
"Taking the Spirit of Punklorde game cartridge, obviously," Silver Wolf replied without hesitation. "There haven't been any fun new games lately, and I'm bored to death. This is the only thing that piques my interest right now."
"Well then, good luck." Kafka raised a hand in a mock toast, then returned to enjoying her rare moment of peace.
Silver Wolf remained physically present, but her consciousness had already surged across the cosmos to the far side of the universe to the Herta Space Station.
"Guys! I knew it!"
"I suspected Kafka and Silver Wolf were just trial characters for the prologue. There was no way they'd give us such heavyweight characters right out of the gate."
"They were so cool, slashing through everything and wiping out Voidrangers with one Ultimate! If they gave them to us now, our protagonist would look like total trash!"
"Powerful characters like Kafka and Silver Wolf will definitely be pay-to-play later on. But honestly, it's understandable. The developers put so much work into those stunning Ultimate animations; it's only fair we show some financial support."
Guinaifen continued through the story, actively sharing her thoughts with her viewers. Now that the perspective had officially shifted to the protagonist, the pace of the plot finally slowed down.
The protagonist was introduced to March 7th and Dan Heng. Following the introductions, March 7th began leading the protagonist toward the Master Control Zone, while Dan Heng went to locate Arlan from the Security Department.
The chat was becoming increasingly lively.
"I think we should wait and see if there are other characters coming up."
"I don't care how Kafka is released, she's mine!"
"Don't ignore Silver Wolf just because you're obsessed with the protagonist. You'll regret it!"
"I want them all! I've already set aside a month's salary. Devs, hurry up and release them!"
"Is the dev team listening? Just give us the purchase link already!"
Guinaifen glanced at the chat while following the tutorial to open the character interface. There were now two characters in her party: the protagonist, Stelle, and March 7th.
"Anyway, your girl Guinaifen is definitely pulling for those Stellaron Hunters as soon as they drop! Just for those flashy Ultimates alone!"
"The two characters on the screen now should be our starters... Aside from the protagonist, we have Miss March 7th, a member of the Astral Express Crew!"
The various stats on the character interface were easy enough to understand Health, Attack, Crit Rate, Crit Damage. These were standard settings in many games, so Guinaifen didn't feel the need to explain them in detail.
"But here's what's unique about this game every character is divided into different Types and Paths."
"Look, guys, the Stelle in my team our protagonist is a Physical Type character on the Path of The Destruction! And Miss March 7th from the Express is, naturally, an Ice Type character on the Path of The Preservation."
While explaining her understanding of the mechanics, Guinaifen controlled Stelle to pick up a baseball bat to use as a makeshift weapon. Soon, they encountered a roaming squad from the Antimatter Legion. This was the first battle for both Stelle and March 7th.
"Let's see what their skills look like. Honestly, I'm not expecting too much. I just hope they're at least half as cool as Kafka and Silver Wolf. After all, our protagonist is just swinging a bat, and Miss March 7th doesn't look like the combat-hardened type."
Soon, the energy meters were full. Guinaifen started by clicking March 7th's Ultimate.
Whoosh!
A vibrant, high-energy splash art of March 7th flashed across the screen. Glacial Cascade was activated.
"I guess I should get a little serious."
With a graceful motion near the hem of her skirt, an arrow forged of condensed frost appeared in March's hand.
"Check out this move!"
With a confident grin, she notched the arrow, leaped into the air, and loosed a powerful shot. In mid-air, the ice arrow splintered into numerous Pom-Pom dolls, raining down a chaotic bombardment on the enemies.
Guinaifen's eyes lit up instantly. "She actually has her own close-up cutscene just like Kafka! Wow, look at those skill effects! I love a high-energy girl like March 7th. She's almost as cute as me!"
"That was unexpected! Does every single character have a unique close-up?"
"Even without Kafka and Silver Wolf, getting March 7th for free at the start is incredibly generous. In any other game, a character this well-made would cost at least a hundred thousand Credits."
"The game doesn't even have a recharge portal yet. I'm literally crying!"
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