"You saw right through me."
Leon gave a cryptic smile.
"But we're companions, a unit. I won't just act on my own."
"Let's vote. If you think detouring with Seele is fine, there's no need to deal with these vagrants blocking the way for now."
Leon tossed the choice to his companions.
More precisely, to Stelle.
Even more precisely, to the countless gazes from parallel worlds.
He never forgot his identity in the players' eyes.
A member of the Astral Express crew.
A gacha character in a 2D game.
Both identities shared a common rule to follow.
Don't steal the spotlight and turn the protagonist into a clown.
On the contrary, respect the protagonist, support the protagonist, be good to the protagonist.
A gacha character should act like one.
Someone can be your stepping stone, but that someone absolutely cannot be the protagonist.
Playing a game is about having fun and feeling emotionally fulfilled.
Not all, but most players immerse themselves in the protagonist, basking in the feeling of being the center of attention.
Leon didn't want to be one of those niche characters.
The cold, aloof, independent types who don't care about the protagonist and even throw shade at them.
Sounds cool? More like posturing for no one. Those characters are landmines waiting to explode.
One wrong boom, and they're done for, maybe even dragging the whole game down with them.
Why not be a clichéd yet classic, classic yet clichéd Master-love type character?
Isn't that appealing?
The ultimate double standard is inherently self-serving.
Since he'd found his niche, Leon could embrace being a double-standard character.
As long as the good side of that double standard was reserved for his own people, that was enough.
Plenty of people eat that up.
It's a simple logic, with many similar sayings.
Like, you don't hit a smiling face.
Or, you're soft when you take someone's gifts or eat their food.
As long as you're good to the protagonist and sometimes defer to their opinion, players tend to overlook your flaws.
A perfect example was his earlier idea to use knockout drugs on the vagrants.
Based on the faith value curve, Leon could tell almost no players disliked him for it.
Of course, thanks to the "funny guy" label in his voice lines, many assumed he was joking.
That's why, even without Aha's influence, Leon didn't mind being tagged with that trait.
Words from a funny guy's mouth? You can't easily guess if they're true or not.
Easy to get fooled.
March 7th looked hesitant.
"Stelle and I are about the same—I'm not that tired… What do you think?"
She also looked at Stelle.
① "How confident are you, Leon?"
Leon: "Hard to say. Judging by those vagrants' facial muscle movements, maybe 70-80%?"
March 7th: "What do facial muscle movements have to do with it?"
Leon pondered, rubbing his chin as he analyzed.
"You can judge personality from expressions. Don't let their guns fool you.
Most of them are all bark, no bite, just making noise to seem tough.
They know robbing is one thing, occupying is another, and being unreasonable is fine.
But if they actually kill someone, their days are numbered.
It's all about who flips the table first. Psychologically outmaneuvering them isn't too hard."
After saying this, Leon noticed everyone staring at him silently.
"Did I say something wrong?"
① "Nope, we're counting on you, Dr. Leon."
② "Give us a cool way to handle these blockers."
③ "Let's just detour. One less problem is better."
At this point, viewers from other streamers who'd seen this part of the story sent pre-prepared warnings.
[Don't pick three! Three makes you detour!]
[Don't choose randomly—three's the dead-end route.]
Normal chat might go unnoticed, but Ah Xian was a big-name streamer.
Someone would send her a highlighted SC message.
Most streamers ban spoilers.
Ah Xian didn't—she'd played the closed beta and hadn't set that rule.
"No worries, guys. I wasn't gonna pick the detour anyway."
"Leon's looking out for his companions, stepping in for Stelle and me."
"Hubby's got us covered. Time to be a dainty little wife and watch him clear the obstacles."
"Give us a cool solution."
Choice made.
In the game, Leon smiled, bowed, and performed a perfect gentleman's courtesy.
"As you wish, my lady."
"Elegant, refined, noble…"
Ah Xian stared at Leon, smitten.
"I'm obsessed with this confident, reliable man. I want him to *make my legs shake from walking."
"Or hard-control me in bed like it's winter, lying there for days and nights…"
[You're turning a serious plot into a floodgate. Classic you.]
[Let's change 8K-sis's nickname to Floodgate-sis.]
[That's not quite right—she only opens the floodgates for Leon.]
Natasha: "Mr. Leon, if possible, try not to provoke those vagrants."
Leon: "I'll play it by ear."
With that, he walked toward the blocked entrance.
The vagrants had already noticed Leon approaching.
"Stop! This road's closed. No matter who you are, turn around and leave, or don't blame our guns for being merciless!"
As the words fell, several dark gun barrels pointed at Leon.
No one likes being aimed at.
But Leon didn't care.
If he wanted, any gun pointed at him would have its bullets curve away.
"Relax, I'm not forcing my way through."
Vagrant: "Then why aren't you leaving?"
Leon: "How about a game? Don't rush to say no. The game is: you shoot at me."
The vagrants froze, thinking they'd misheard.
"What? Say that again?"
"I said, let's play a game where you shoot at me."
Leon patiently repeated himself.
Several vagrants' hands shook, looking at him like he was insane.
"You want to die? You don't need that kind of excuse."
No one wanted to become a murderer lightly.
"Relax, I value my life. If you shoot at me and can't fire a single bullet,
you follow the game's rules and let us pass.
If someone shoots and kills or injures me, it's my fault. How's that?"
Many players' eyes widened.
Staring at Leon's smiling face, they didn't know what to say.
Worrying about him wasn't necessary.
It was just surprising he'd choose such a… shocking method.
Leon's performance in the story was reliable enough—he wouldn't say this without confidence.
The vagrants exchanged looks, unable to decide.
Leon wasn't in a rush.
There were plenty of ways to get through.
Reasoning with them was just to smoothly advance the plot, nothing more.
All to tug at players' heartstrings and collect faith.
"What, don't dare to shoot with no consequences? Or are you just too scared to play with me?"