On the rooftop of a grand building.
Kafka sat on the railing, overlooking the bustling city below.
A gentle breeze stirred her coat and hair, giving her a lazy, carefree aura.
If only she had a glass of wine in hand, the scene would be perfect.
Kafka thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Silver Wolf's situation was completely different.
She was furiously tapping away at the screen in front of her.
Her eyes hadn't blinked for a long time.
Finally.
Silver Wolf's lips curled into a smile.
A smile of success.
"It's done!"
She pointed at a graffiti pattern on the screen, showing it off to Kafka.
"Remember this? It's the digital graffiti I left at [Herta] Space Station. It can serve as a backdoor program to hack into the station."
"Just now, I succeeded."
Silver Wolf pulled down the goggles on her forehead.
Kafka smiled faintly.
"So, what will you do next?"
"Of course, I'll get my hands on the [Punklorde] game cartridge."
Silver Wolf answered without hesitation.
"Lately, there haven't been any fun new games. I'm bored to death. Only this can pique my interest a little."
"Well then, good luck."
Kafka raised her hand, mimicking a toast.
Then.
She continued to enjoy this rare moment of peace.
Beside her, Silver Wolf, though physically present, had already shifted her perspective to the distant [Herta] Space Station.
...
"Everyone! Just as I thought!"
"I guessed earlier that Kafka and Silver Wolf were just here for us to try them out. They wouldn't give us such heavyweight characters to use right from the start."
"They came in with such style, wiping out the Voidrangers with a single ultimate!"
"If that were the case, wouldn't our protagonist seem like trash in comparison?"
"Powerful characters like Kafka and Silver Wolf will definitely cost money to obtain later."
"But that's understandable. They put so much effort into creating such stunning ultimate skills. It's only fair we spend a bit to support them."
Guinaifen continued the story while actively sharing her thoughts.
Now that the perspective had shifted to the protagonist, the pacing of the story finally slowed down.
The protagonist, March 7th, and Dan Heng introduced themselves to each other.
Next.
March 7th led the protagonist to the main control sector.
Dan Heng went to find Arlan from the defense department.
The chat was buzzing with activity.
...
[Chat]
"I think we should wait and see if there are other characters later."
"No matter how Kafka is released, I'm getting her!"
"Youth doesn't know the value of Silver Wolf, mistaking the protagonist for a treasure."
"I want them all! I've already set aside a month's salary. Hurry up and release these two characters!"
"Does the developer know what's up? Drop the link!"
...
Guinaifen glanced at the chat while following the prompts to open the character interface.
The team now had two characters.
The protagonist, Trailblazer, and March 7th.
"Anyway, I'm definitely pulling for the Stellaron Hunters when they come out!"
"Not just because of their ultimate skills, but because they're just so cool!"
"These two characters in the interface are probably our starting characters…"
"Besides the protagonist, there's March 7th, a member of the Express crew!"
The stats in the character interface were easy to understand.
Health, attack, crit rate, crit damage, and so on.
These were common settings in many games.
Guinaifen didn't need to explain them.
"But what's unique about this game is—"
"Each character has different attributes and paths."
"Look at Stelle, our protagonist. She's a Physical attribute, Destruction path character!"
"As for March 7th, a member of the Express crew, she's naturally an Ice attribute, Preservation path character~"
Guinaifen explained her understanding while controlling the protagonist to pick up a baseball bat as a temporary weapon.
Soon, they encountered a group of roaming Antimatter Legion soldiers.
This was the first battle for the protagonist and March 7th.
"Let's take a look at their skills."
"Honestly, I'm not expecting much. I just hope they're half as good as Kafka and Silver Wolf."
"After all, our protagonist is wielding a baseball bat, and March 7th doesn't seem like a combat specialist."
Soon.
Energy was fully charged.
Guinaifen tapped March 7th's ultimate skill first.
"Swish!"
March 7th's energetic illustration flashed on the screen.
[Frozen Time: Arrow Rain] activated.
"Guess it's time to get serious."
She lightly traced the edge of her skirt, and an ice arrow materialized in her hand.
"Let me show you what I've got!"
March 7th, looking smug, nocked the arrow on her bowstring, then leaped into the air, charging up a shot.
The ice arrow split into numerous Pom-Pom plushies mid-air, raining down indiscriminate bombardment on the enemies.
Guinaifen's eyes lit up.
"She even has a dedicated close-up shot, just like Kafka and Silver Wolf!"
"Wow, this skill effect is pretty good too!"
"I love cheerful girls like March 7th. She's as cute as me!"
...
[Chat]
"This is a bit surprising! Does every character have their own close-up shot?"
"Even though we don't have Kafka and Silver Wolf, getting March 7th at the start is pretty generous."
"In other games, a character this well-made would cost at least 100,000 credits, right?"
"This game doesn't even have a recharge option yet. I'm moved to tears!"
To be continued…