At The Reverie Hotel.
Stelle sighed inwardly.
Who would have thought.
Aventurine, who initially seemed like a villain in the storyline...
Actually had such a turbulent backstory!
His love for family...
His unwavering heart of Preservation...
It left a significant impact on Stelle's heart.
If she were to face Aventurine again in reality, she might not be able to bring herself to strike!
Stelle's emotions were complicated.
She was about to vent to March 7th.
But she saw March 7th next to her, holding her phone, on the warp interface, her finger about to tap the[Warp 10 Times]option.
"March!"
"What are you doing!"
"Didn't we agree to save our pity for Miss Robin?!"
March 7th immediately looked like a student called out in class.
She chuckled sheepishly.
"Ha... well..."
"After watching the storyline, I suddenly wanted to pull Aventurine..."
Stelle immediately put her hands on her hips and scolded sternly: "Didn't you say Aventurine looked like a bad guy, and if he was in the pool, you'd never pull for him?!"
"I remember you even made a special post on the forum back then, didn't you?"
March 7th showed a look of realization. "I almost forgot about that~"
She glanced at the warp interface.
For now, she suppressed the urge to pull for Aventurine.
She switched to the Honkai: Star Rail game forum.
March 7th had indeed made a post.
[If Aventurine enters the gacha pool, are you guys planning to pull for him?]
It was a survey post.
It was posted at the beginning of the version.
By then, Aventurine had already made his appearance.
He performed a magic trick in Stelle's room where chips disappeared and reappeared...
First, there was March 7th's own statement.
[I feel like this company envoy, Aventurine, has some serious issues! Always acting one way in public and another in private, and even barging into Stelle's room! I hate people with no sense of boundaries!!!]
[If Aventurine enters the gacha pool, I absolutely won't pull for him!]
[Not even a single Special Pass will I spend!]
Player replies below:
[Aventurine? Isn't he just a profit-driven scammer?]
[Agree with OP! I won't pull for anyone from the company except Topaz! I hate profit-driven Merchants... Aventurine is practically the poster child for that image.]
[Not pulling, waiting for Acheron]
[I dislike frivolous people]
[What a peacock, he's kind of a clown, right?]
[Pull rate statistics: 14%]
Looking at the comment dates, March 7th suddenly realized something!
She clicked refresh.
A flood of fresh comments immediately poured in!
[It's Saturday, came back specifically to check this post]
[The above comments represent my feelings before watching the story, here to correct that... I've been deeply captivated by this man, I feel like I've been living in his shadow...]
[I said I wouldn't pull for Aventurine before, but now I think I was just putting on airs!]
[The story interpretation this time was amazing!]
[What Aventurine! That's clearly my brother who's had a tough Path!]
[Before the story: wanted to see Aventurine break down. After the story: ended up breaking down myself]
[OP still here? I've already pulled him at 2+1 [sunglasses]]
[Pull rate statistics: 74%]
Further down.
Many players even started showing off their gacha records!
[This is the true Preservation]
March 7th clicked on the image.
It was a screenshot of a double 5-star in a 10-pull.
It happened to be [Gepard] and [Aventurine].
March 7th replied: "You're not allowed to play Honkai: Star Rail!"
[Gamblers! Sometimes you need to cheat a little, like saving up for a guaranteed pity]
[Attached image: [Aventurine (new)]]
"You got me there!"
She continued scrolling.
March 7th muttered to herself: "No way, no way..."
"You guys didn't all get him, did you?"
"The drop rate is that high this time?"
Soon.
March 7th saw what she wanted to see.
[I've got nothing left, friends.]
[Attached image: Star Rail Special Pass 0, Stellar Jade: 3]
[The Aventurine banner has no Aventurine, I'm going to fight all of you who have him!]
[Only by abandoning rationality can you truly gamble! Attached image: Yanqing (4 Eidolons)]
[Strong cards, slow play. Putting on airs. Attached image: Welt (5 Eidolons)]
[Me, who used up all my passes and still didn't get him: Goodbye, Kakavasha.]
[May we meet again under the aurora of the rerun.]
...
As she browsed through the comments, March 7th couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.
While some players had indeed managed to pull Aventurine as they wished, most people were, after all, not Aventurine himself. In the end, the results were a complete mess!
"Alright... I can already picture us losing the 50/50 on the soft pity, then getting carried away and spending money recklessly."
"And then, as soon as Acheron's banner drops, we'll blow through this month's allowance again!"
"No, no, absolutely not!"
"I've calmed down now..."
"Let's wait and see for a bit. We'll check how strong Acheron is before deciding which banner to pull on."
Stelle nodded in agreement, secretly relieved. Thank goodness March 7th had held back! If March 7th had decided to pull, she would've definitely been tempted to follow suit. And the result would've been both of them losing the 50/50. This game really preys on its loyal players! When you're desperate to pull and only have the soft pity, the chance of getting an off-banner character is a whopping 99.99%!
Suddenly, Stelle had a bold idea. She poked March 7th.
"What if..."
"Look at Aventurine over there."
"We could have him pull for us!"
March 7th was stunned for a moment, then her face lit up with excitement.
"Wow!"
"You're a genius!"
"Let's tell Mr. Yang and find a way to get over there!"
...
In the hotel's screening room, even players who had previously been critical of the company were now pulling for Aventurine without hesitation. Let alone the employees of the Strategic Investment Department! They were filled with both emotion and pride, almost ready to pour their entire year's performance bonuses into pulling for him.
In the front row, Topaz's gaze lingered on Aventurine's skill preview screen.
She sighed, "Aventurine's skills... They're perfectly suited and harmonious for a survival role in a follow-up team."
"It seems Dr. Ratio and I can strengthen our team again."
"Our company's people are pretty good at follow-ups, huh? Haha..."
She glanced at Jade, thinking that, given Jade's style, she'd probably go all out for a 6+5 Aventurine right away.
However, to her surprise, Jade wasn't opening her game to pull on Aventurine's banner. Instead, she was browsing the backend prices of various products on the Interstellar Peace Trading website!
"Wow, Ms. Jade, you're so dedicated!"
"Still working at a time like this?"
Jade smiled softly and clicked on one of the product listings, showing it to Topaz.
"This is a batch of aventurine stones I stockpiled earlier..."
"Of course, it's not the Cornerstone held by Aventurine, but the most common aventurine stones circulating in the market."
"With Aventurine's popularity skyrocketing, the sales of aventurine stones in the real world are bound to increase significantly, even to the point of severe price inflation."
"So I took action."
"I bought them at a low price in advance and had them processed."
"I believe this will be a profitable venture."
Topaz was stunned! While the rest of them were busy pulling for characters, Ms. Jade had already started planning and stockpiling aventurine stones?
And just as Jade had predicted, the market price of aventurine stones in the product backend began to rise at a visible speed! The red numbers kept changing, like a flame gradually igniting, ready to spread like wildfire!
High! So high! As expected of Ms. Jade! She still had a long way to go in learning from her...