[ T / N: Chapter 317 [311] is updated now~
This is after the chapter Honkai: Star Rail Version of Pokemon Go? ]
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It really is infuriating to compare people to people!
Furina pouted, even just raising two ordinary pets took her quite some effort.
But March 7th was different, she directly went all in like gambling, and succeeded twice!
Compared to her own antimatter legion bond, these two Trotters were obviously much cuter.
Although she was envious, Furina was truly still interested in her own antimatter army.
After all, it was a choice she made back then.
"Alright, alright, let's get started then!"
"Furina! I believe in you!"
March 7th took out her phone, opened Furina's friend slot, and then sent two Trotters over.
After receiving the Trotters, Furina regained her courage and tried to capture the Doomsday Beast again.
This time, with little March by her side as a strategist, Furina clearly felt much more at ease.
After pairing the Voidranger: Distorter with two Trotters, the team composition looked much stronger.
The Guardian Trotter applied thirty layers of shields to the entire team at the start.
And the Doomsday Beast's single-target attack could only remove one layer at a time!
"Yes! That's it!"
"Use the Distorter's attack to chip away at its toughness little by little!"
Under March's guidance.
For the first time, the Doomsday Beast's toughness was broken, though the damage was low.
But after the toughness was broken, physical attacks would inflict a physical DOT, deducting HP each turn based on a percentage of the Doomsday Beast's health.
At least its health bar was visibly dropping.
And half of the Trotter's shield remained, enough to break its toughness three more times, and the Healing Trotter hadn't even started yet.
There's hope, there's hope!
Furina became excited.
At this moment, the Doomsday Beast's HP on the screen was still at over 90%, but there was already progress.
Next, it was time to gamble!
...
Meanwhile.
Elsewhere, many people were gathered, battling each other while also studying their pet lineups.
On the lawn, Stelle sat alone, scrolling through the pets on her phone.
From time to time, she let out a weird "hehe" laugh.
Just then, Aventurine walked over: "Stelle, let's exchange three monsters."
Stelle scratched her head: "Since when did you get interested in games? I didn't see you guys catching pets before?"
"This game has great potential, and I asked Silver Wolf, she said this is an open beta with no data wipe."
Aventurine replied with a smile.
Stelle didn't really understand what a non-wipe beta meant.
But to Aventurine, and to the other two, playing Aetherium Wars wasn't simply about catching pets and battling.
They saw very interesting investment potential in it.
Initially, after playing for a while, they stopped because they were discussing the commercial potential of this game.
Undoubtedly, the game had outstanding qualities and potential.
First of all, as future game operators, Jade and Aventurine were convinced that this game would become a big hit.
On that basis, one special rule caught their attention.
That is, pets can be traded.
With that rule, in Aventurine's eyes, pets weren't just pets, but potential assets.
Not that he lacked money, after working at MiHoYo, his life had already improved.
But since the game had tradable assets, it meant there could be transactions, appreciation, depreciation, and even gameplay Silver Wolf hadn't imagined.
It was even filled with gambling excitement.
For Aventurine, this kind of play naturally attracted him even more.
Like now Aventurine had already started his first bet.
Even though he didn't have Silver Wolf's complete monster index, he had gathered all the known monster info through conversations with others.
Then carefully analyzed and selected monsters with high potential.
Interestingly, many of those monsters were just ordinary ones, not elites.
"Trade, trade …"
"Mm, alright!" Stelle thought for a moment.
Her luck was pretty good, after an afternoon of effort, she had already caught ten monsters, but they were scattered and couldn't form strong bonds.
Trading with Aventurine for monsters to form bonds might be a good option.
"Pick anything you like, don't be polite."
Objective achieved, Aventurine smiled slightly, with calculations already running in his mind.
"Your monster index … is really messy."
Stelle glanced at it and smacked her lips.
Aventurine had six monsters but couldn't even form one basic bond.
These six monsters were:
From the Jarilo faction, the Automaton·Spider
From the Antimatter Legion, the Voidranger: Distorter.
From the Luofu Ten-Lords Commission, the Wraith Warden.
From the Propagation, the extremely rare Giant Sting.
From the IPC, a basic employee.
From Penacony, the Bubble Hound from Dreamjolt Troupe.
Six small monsters, completely from different factions.
Stelle didn't think too much, treating it as normal randomness.
But she did have her eye on one of them.
That was the Wraith Wardens from the Ten-Lords Commission.
"I still have an elite monster, the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy, if I get the Wraith Warden, I can form the Ten-Lords Commission bond."
Stelle considered the pros and cons in her heart.
The Ten-Lords Commission combo is a special bond that activates fully with just two units.
Pets from the Ten-Lords Commission apply an Arrest Preparation state on their first attack, and when any pets from the Ten-Lords Commission attacks an enemy with Arrest Preparation, it causes stun and extra damage.
In this beta test, many functions weren't enabled due to lack of resources.
For example, as the tuner's level increases, the pets can strengthen the stun and extra damage.
Stelle also noticed this detail.
This means that in future battles, there may not only be one bond on the field, but even multiple bonds can be combined to produce different effects.
And the bond of the Ten-Lords Commission, where just two pets can get all the effects, and the effects are particularly powerful.
It is definitely a universal, all-purpose bond.
"Then I'll take this Wraith Warden card." Stelle quickly made up her mind.
At this moment, Stelle's brain was still turning, and her analysis was completely correct.
"Oh, that's quite good."
Aventurine praised Stelle's choice and then unceremoniously said: "According to the rules, it's my turn now, right?"
"You pick, anyway, you can pick any ordinary monster you want."
Having gotten the monster she wanted, Stelle grinned from ear to ear and waved her hand casually.
"Then I won't be polite."
Aventurine took the phone and, without even looking at Stelle's monster index, directly tapped on a cute little mechanical creature.
"I want this one."
"Okay, then let's add each other as friends and start the trade." Stelle nodded cheerfully.
After some operations, both of them got what they wanted.
Aventurine looked at the Belobog's monster on his phone and showed a satisfied smile.
Automaton·Beetle: Each time it attacks, it adds a shield to itself. The shield has no upper limit and disappears after taking any hit.
It looked like a very weak ordinary monster.
But in Aventurine's eyes, it was as valuable as gold.
"The current drop rate has been adjusted by Silver Wolf. If it is officially opened for fans to play, "
"The drop rate definitely won't be like it is now."
"And because the number of players will definitely exceed expectations, with this drop rate, there won't be enough monsters."
"Some powerful ordinary monsters will become extremely valuable."
Aventurine left with satisfaction, playing with the coin in his hand and humming a tune.
The Beetle monster was just one he believed would increase in value.
The Wanderer Settlement's Vagrant, a pet that can give teammates speed boosts and attack buffs, was also his target.
There was also the Abundance's Ebony Deer, which, after death, immediately allowed teammates to deal an attack and damage, a monster with a afterdeath effect.
These special abilities were very unique, and because their drop rates were not high, they were key to Aventurine's trading game.
He used all of his daily tuning attempts on two types of monsters:
One type was monsters he believed would appreciate in value in the future.
The other type was trade-chip monsters used to exchange for value-appreciating monsters.
As for monsters that seemed powerful but did not meet Aventurine's criteria, he would catch them and trade them with others.
In short, Aventurine's current behavior, in gaming terms, was called: hoarding.
When the servers officially opened, it would either rot in his hands and amount to nothing, or he would make a huge profit and sell for high prices.
Everything, or nothing.
"Games should be played fairly."
...
By evening, with the first closed beta test ending, Silver Wolf also sent out an announcement.
Everyone emerged from various places in the Mihoyo campus and returned to the main hall.
Because it was the first time experiencing such a game, everyone was very curious.
Not just the young people.
Even Himeko and Welt, and even Acheron, found fun in the game.
Himeko was obsessed with raising pets, not interested in battles or rare pet indexes; as long as it was a baby, she loved it.
Acheron, meanwhile, got lost, wandering the entire MiHoYo campus, and accidentally caught the only legendary pet so far:
Starcrusher Swarm King: Skaracabaz, A Emanator Replica and also a Legendary Monster.
As for Welt, he went absolutely crazy.
It's hard to describe what it's like for a middle-aged man to suddenly have the hot-blooded spirit of a shonen manga character.
But that was Welt; within the first hour of playing Aetherium Wars, he bid farewell to everyone, his face saying he was ready to go solo for ultimate mastery.
Actually, he explored every corner of MiHoYo.
Bushes, toilets, engine rooms.
As long as it could trigger a special area, Welt had almost climbed through them all.
When he came back, he was already covered in dust.
"Welt, why are you…"
At the first sight of Welt in the hall, Himeko was shocked.
Welt's face was full of dust, and his hair was covered with leaves and twigs.
"Ahem."
"I accidentally fell on the way back."
Welt blushed and coughed expressionlessly.
...
"Huh?"
"Uncle Yang, have you gotten this old already?" March 7thth said dumbfoundedly from the side.
She was walking shoulder to shoulder with Furina, and their relationship had greatly improved after successfully capturing the Doomsday Beast earlier.
"No, not that bad."
Welt quickly waved his hands, coughed, and deliberately added: "Actually, I also had a very fruitful harvest this afternoon."
"Aetherium Wars?"
Stelle interrupted, holding her phone and giggling at the Wraith Warden and the Aurumaton Spectral Envoy.
"That's right."
Welt returned to his calm and steady demeanor, but the pride in his tone was impossible to hide.
Himeko understood immediately after seeing this. She slapped her forehead, realizing that Welt's youthful enthusiasm had finally gotten the better of him.
"I already caught…"
"Huh??"
Just as Welt was about to boast about his stylish and domineering mecha-themed Blazing Wanderer, his eyes suddenly caught sight of the Doomsday Beast on Furina's phone.
As an epic monster, the Doomsday Beast was one of the rarest entries in the index.
When Furina had previously failed to capture it, she had angrily called it ugly and evil.
But after it appeared on her phone, her eyes were now sparkling like stars.
"The Doomsday Beast is so cool!"
"What kind of monster is this? An epic one?!"
Welt adjusted his glasses and leaned in to take a closer look.
"That's right, captured with March's help, hmph~"
The feeling of being envied gave Furina great satisfaction, and even the little tuft of hair on her head was sticking straight up in pride.
"Uncle Yang, what's wrong with you?" March 7thth suddenly noticed that Welt's aura seemed to dim a little.
"It's fine, you all keep talking."
Welt adjusted his glasses and turned to Himeko: "Himeko, let me tell you, I actually…"
"Sigh…" Himeko sighed and helplessly raised her phone.
"Cocolia?!!"
"What?!"
Welt was completely stunned.
He looked down at the Wanderer he had worked so hard to capture and suddenly felt it wasn't so great anymore.
"I… I'll just go be alone for a bit."
"Go ahead."
Himeko waved her hand.
Welt walked over to a chair, collapsed into it, and held his forehead with one hand.
The first time playing Aetherium Wars was fun.
The first time failing to catch a rare pet was also fun.
It should have been double the happiness, so why did it feel like this?
March 7thth looked at Welt worriedly.
She even felt like all the color had drained from him, leaving him emptier than the Underworld itself.
"R-really, are you okay, Himeko?"
"Uncle Yang looks like he's turned to stone!"
Himeko gave a bitter smile and shook her head: "Don't worry about him, he's a grown man… honestly…"
And at this moment, as the demo ended, Xia Wen and Silver Wolf had already arrived at the hall.