Real World
For the past while, the players' time on Punklorde had been quite enjoyable. Although the planet had only been open for a grand total of three days, the map's features and the various memes embedded in the quests were the kind that became hilarious upon a second thought. Add to that the decent number of chests and the abundance of trash cans, and all these elements combined to give the players a small but satisfying taste of exploration. The character art previews from the first two days had also whipped player enthusiasm into a frenzy.
But... the new enemies were an absolute pain. In an instant, Silver Wolf, the Destruction Trailblazer, and "Li Big-Pillow" became the optimal choices for map exploration, since the enemies were weak to Fire and Physical. As for the Fire element...
It just needed to try harder! It couldn't just be a follow-up attack playstyle!
Although the 5-star Wende existed, well... are you sure he's actually in the character pool?
The unluckiest whale to date had furiously dropped thirty thousand RMB just to pull a single copy of 5-star Wende. While this was an extreme case of bad luck, it also highlighted just how worrying Wende's drop rate was...
Therefore, the next version's Destruction Tingyun had players getting hard... their wallets, that is!
Truthfully, if one was just clearing map mobs, it was easy enough to just build a Physical character, or even bring out little Hook.
But that raised the question: since a new enemy type had appeared, would it only show up on the new map?
miHoYo's answer was... NO!
The new enemies in the Memory of Chaos! They have arrived! And in the Simulated Universe, they have, as expected, become the newest headache. Even though the Punklorde map wasn't fully unlocked yet, players could already foresee what other kinds of messed-up monsters would appear later.
And so...
[WTF! Isn't this just forcing us to whale?! miHoYo! You will die for this!]
[I have Top-Tier General Himeko and Topaz, plus the rich woman Asta, so I'm having a pretty comfy time!]
[Okay, okay... what do I do if I have no one except Asta?]
[The Physical element is in desperate need of a heavy hitter right now!]
[Soup King Clara: Help me! Mr. Svarog!]
[Hiss... even though there are more solutions than problems, what if I'm too lazy to use any of them?]
[5-Star Wende: Hello, come pull for me!]
[Wallet: DON'T YOU COME NEAR MEEEEEE!!!]
As it turned out, the great responsibility of reforging the glory of the Fire element... rested squarely on your shoulders, Miss Tingyun!
Soon, the Version 1.5 Special Program livestream would begin in the real world. For some reason, the system hadn't notified Wende about it this time. Even Wende himself was unaware that the 1.5 preview was about to start. But since the system didn't say anything... it probably had nothing to do with him, right?
---o---
"Achoo!"
Wende rubbed his nose, completely baffled. What was going on? Who was talking about him?
"Uh... little bro, you alright?"
Jack, who had just arrived at the frontline, looked at the pensive Wende and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm fine, thanks for your concern."
Wende shook his head.
"Hahaha, could it be that you're not used to the local environment? It's fine, you'll get used to it after a while. By the way, your companion here... isn't she a little weird?"
Jack slung an arm around Wende, looking uneasily at Stelle, who was on the side of the street, compelled to open the lid of every trash can she saw.
Why did this look so much like the old street administrators? They used to rummage through every single trash can, checking for trash inside, and then spouting some bullshit like "there can't be trash in the trash cans," before they all got tossed into the wastewater by the locals.
Even those "Scavengers" from the Scrapyard... weren't this obsessed, were they?
"Don't worry... it's just a small hobby of hers," Wende said helplessly, wiping away non-existent sweat from his forehead.
The trash cans on Punklorde... were there a few too many of them? He wanted to stop Stelle, but his usual paralysis technique was no longer effective. And from the looks of it, Stelle seemed to be enjoying it...
As expected, was this the adaptability of a Stellaron-being? Truly terrifying... Does that mean if she gets stabbed more, she'll become immune to piercing attacks? Don't get the wrong idea, I'm talking about the "family 'tradition' of being impaled."
Perhaps one day in the future, she'd be immune to most things in the universe. She'd take a sip of Himeko's coffee, find it not strong enough, and then add a bottle of Xianzhou's soda-infused mung bean milk or something.
"This hobby is certainly... thrifty and good at housekeeping."
Jack watched the energetic and excited Stelle, shaking his head for a long time before managing to squeeze a slightly more refined phrase out of his throat.
"In a sense, I suppose she is..." Wende said with his arms crossed, resigned.
"Sigh, if those Scavengers were like this, there'd probably be a lot less trash in this city."
"Huh? Wait! Stelle! Put the trash down! Don't stuff it in your pocket!"
Hearing Jack's words, Wende's eyes flew open, and he immediately ran towards Stelle.
"Uh... well, you'll get used to it."
March looked at the completely stunned Jack and gave an awkward laugh, promptly turning her head to the other side as if she didn't know those two.
"Ah, this... hahaha..."
Jack laughed just as awkwardly, wiping non-existent sweat from his forehead, just as Wende had done moments before.
Although the big boss Veyl had said the people from the Astral Express had unique personalities, he initially didn't think much of these three. But once they were all together...
Did your personalities need to be gathered to trigger some kind of "set bonus"?
Whatever. He should just take them back. The boss was waiting.
---o---
In Meryl's luxurious mansion, Meryl was swiping at her tablet, typing a message to Veyl.
[Sister Veyl, they're on their way here.]
"Mm, thank you for your trouble, Meryl."
Veyl nodded lightly, her eyes softening as she looked at Meryl.
[Our informant in the New District also sent news. That company director named 'Topaz' is conducting a value assessment. It seems just as you initially guessed, Sister. The Corporation definitely has big plans for Punklorde.]
"Mm, it's the Corporation, after all... That director named Topaz has quite the reputation, but..."
Veyl stood up from her chair and gazed out the window.
"The Corporation is counting its chickens far too early."