Cherreads

Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: You're Right, But I'm Just a Modern Person

"A Super Popular Character Assistance System?" Lumina's beautiful face creased with confusion. "What's it even for?"

[As the name suggests, its literal purpose is to assist the host in becoming a Super Popular Character.]

"A Super Popular Character..." Lumina lowered her head in thought, then looked up abruptly. "Have I become a game character?"

[The host is exceptionally clever! Reward: a big red flower.]

Lumina: ...

"Maybe I should just pass on this..." Lumina forced a weak smile as she stared at the screen before her.

As a former gamer, she knew all too well what fate awaited Super Popular Characters.

Their most common appearances, aside from the game itself, were on certain... doujinshi websites.

The mere thought of her likeness ending up on those sites, reduced to "material" for countless eyes, sent a shiver down Lumina's spine.

[I understand your concerns, Host. Rest assured, they can only depict your body, not your godly essence!]

"Isn't being able to draw my body bad enough..." Lumina muttered under her breath.

["..."]

"Ahem, I was just joking," Lumina said hastily, noticing the System's silence.

"Continue. What benefits will becoming a Super Popular Character bring me?"

[After the Host becomes a game character, they will earn Resonance Points based on the emotional connection players feel with their actions. These points are generated when players experience joy, anger, sorrow, or delight in response to the Host's behavior.]

[Resonance Points can be exchanged for exquisite Character Portraits, stunning Promotional Videos, animated shorts, and more.]

[You can even redeem them for a personalized version exclusively tailored to the Host.]

"Wow!" Lumina clapped with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"So, what exactly do I get?" Her excitement vanished instantly after the applause, replaced by a deadpan expression. "I'm already an Emanator. You'd better offer me something truly compelling."

[...]

The System's processors whirred frantically, as if desperately searching for a convincing justification.

"Never mind, I agree," Lumina sighed, relenting abruptly.

When you wear a mask for too long, it becomes impossible to remove. Even if Lumina refused to admit it, there was no doubt that her healing throughout the Amber Era had transformed her into a gentle person.

"However..." Lumina's tone shifted abruptly. "You had me loading for the entire Amber Era. Don't I deserve some compensation?"

[Due to the system's prolonged loading time, the host will be compensated with the opportunity to insert a segment into the HSR public beta preview special program.]

[This segment can include any video, audio, or other content the host wishes players to see during the special program.]

"The public beta preview..." Lumina nodded, accepting the compensation. This arrangement granted her far greater control over the situation.

"So, I need to evoke emotional resonance from the players, right?" Lumina confirmed with the system.

[Correct. Joy, anger, sorrow, delight—any emotion capable of resonating with the audience will do.]

"I understand now." With this confirmation, Lumina knew exactly what persona she needed to adopt. A ravishing smile curled her lips.

"No emotion resonates more deeply than the edge of a blade..."

"How am I supposed to write these skills, Light Cones, and Eidolons? Can I just make them up?"

Lumina stared at the character sheet before her, a frown creasing her brow in frustration.

[Just make it up, as long as a single basic attack doesn't deal millions of damage.]

"Alright," Lumina nodded, and swiftly filled out the form.

"Here, take a look. I toned it down a bit—should be roughly on par with a modern person's capabilities, right?"

[...]

The System fell silent as it reviewed Lumina's entries.

[By the Abundance Aeon!]

Character Name: Lumina (???)

Path: Abundance

Attribute: Imaginary

Faction: ???

Title: Cosmic Wanderer

Resurgence of Life

Basic Attack: Grants 1 Skill Point and restores 30 Energy. Deals Imaginary damage equal to 100% of Lumina's Attack to all enemies (this attack ignores Weakness for Toughness reduction) and restores 500 + 5% of each ally's Max HP (this healing effect is unaffected by any debuffs).

Resonance of Life

Skill: Consumes 1 Skill Point and restores 40 Energy. Fully restores the HP of all allies (this healing effect is unaffected by any debuffs) and applies the Life Mark debuff to all enemies. Units with Life Mark have their Defense reduced by 10% and take 50% less damage from their next attack, lasting for 1 turn.

When an ally is attacked by an enemy with Life Mark, there is a 40% chance for the ally to gain the Echo buff. Allies with Echo have their Max HP increased by 50% and are fully healed to their increased Max HP during their next action, lasting for 2 turns.

When a character has the Echo buff, their next attack deals extra Imaginary damage equal to 100% of their Max HP (this damage cannot crit). Additionally, it restores 10% Energy to the entire team (excluding Lumina). This effect can only trigger once per instance of the Echo buff.

Flawless Melody, Eternal Garden

Ultimate Skill: Consumes 240 Energy and restores 10 Energy.

Lumina expends 240 Energy to unleash Eternal Garden, blanketing the battlefield for one round. While Eternal Garden is active, Lumina's Energy gain is locked.

Under the influence of Eternal Garden, all enemy units gain a Weakness to all elements (an additional Weakness unaffected by Weakness Lock or any negative effects) and have their Speed reduced by 20%. Every enemy attack automatically applies Life Mark to the targeted ally and grants a 100% chance to apply Echo to that ally.

Under the influence of Eternal Garden, all allied units gain Reincarnation Mark, increasing their Speed by 20%, Weakness Break Efficiency by 20%, and overall damage dealt by 10%. Additionally, their attacks ignore 10% of the target's DEF.

When a character sustains lethal damage, they gain the Undying Mark. While under its effect, their HP remains at 1, and all damage dealt is reduced by 95%. After the Eternal Garden's effects end, units with the Undying Mark (except Lumina) will have all negative effects removed, their energy fully restored, and their HP restored to its maximum.

If Lumina gains the Undying Mark during the Eternal Garden, she will remove all negative effects and restore her HP to its maximum after the Eternal Garden's effects end.

Talent: Medical Practice

When an ally (excluding Lumina) sustains lethal damage, Lumina consumes 50% of her maximum energy to fully restore their HP and grant them Echo. (This talent cannot activate if Lumina has less than 50% of her maximum energy.)

When Lumina sustains lethal damage, her HP is fully restored, and the energy cost of her Ultimate Skill, Flawless Melody, Eternal Garden, is increased by 80. (This can only trigger twice per battle.)

Attack

When attacking enemies and entering combat, weaken the target's corresponding attribute resilience.

Technique: Wandering Physician

Upon entering battle, this technique applies a Life Mark to all enemies and grants 50 Energy.

Attribute Bonuses:

+24% HP +10 Weakness Break Efficiency +16% Effect Resistance

Additional Abilities:

Holiness: Effect Resistance +35% Selflessness: While under the influence of Eternal Garden, all allied units gain a 30% increase to their maximum HP. Merciful Heart: Lumina's Basic Attacks restore two Skill Points.

Eidelons:

1. [Seed]: Energy regeneration efficiency increased by 30%; Weakness Break Efficiency increased by 10%.

2. [Root]: Healing effects from Basic Attacks, Skills, and Ultimate Skills remove all negative status effects from the character. After Lumina uses a Skill, her next Basic Attack becomes an enhanced Basic Attack, unleashing an additional attack equal to 100% of her HP and reducing the Speed of all enemies by 10%. The Energy cost of Flawless Melody, Eternal Garden is reduced by 60.

3. [Sprout]: Skill level +2 (up to a maximum of 15); Basic Attack level +1 (up to a maximum of 10).

4. [Stem]: Critical Rate increased by 15%. All of Lumina's additional attacks can now critically hit.

5. [Leaf]: Ultimate Skill Level +2 (max 15); Talent Level +2 (max 15).

6. [Reality]: While under the influence of the Eternal Garden, Lumina's Crit Rate is increased by 50%, and her Crit Damage is increased by 300%. Every attack triggers the Echo effect, dealing additional damage that can critically hit. This attack ignores 20% of the enemy's Defense.

-

[These character skills... even appearing in Version 10.0 would make you a meta destroying-level entity. Releasing you in Version 1.0 or 2.0 is pure dimensional annihilation!]

The System finished reviewing Lumina's character profile and couldn't help but grumble inwardly. [ This is way too overpowered! ]

"Haven't you noticed?" Lumina said with an innocent shrug. "I have several humorous Eidolons and Talents. This is me restraining myself."

[Alright...]

The System didn't press the issue. The overall power level seemed reasonable, nothing excessively broken.

Just a tiny bit over the top. No big deal.

[What about your Light Cone?]

Lumina yawned languidly. "I want something dark and edgy for my Light Cone," she said slowly, "but I haven't decided on the specifics yet."

"So, I'll hold off on the Light Cones for now."

[Fine by me.]

"Speaking of which..." Lumina suddenly realized something. "How long until the public beta preview?"

[Let me check...]

[About a year.]

"A year? Well, I can slack off for a while longer."

With that, Lumina closed her eyes and promptly flopped down.

[???]

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