[Ding, Favorability Value settlement has been completed. In view of the previously dispersed acquisition of Favorability Value, the system has unified the settlement to avoid disturbances. Current settlement: 5,000 Favorability Value.]
"You've already disturbed me, you know that?"
Wende, currently in the middle of the Artisanship Commission tearing apart an out-of-control automaton with his bare hands, stared expressionlessly at the system panel before rubbing his sore shoulder.
He had been wondering why he hadn't received any Favorability Value during Kafka's interrogation. It turned out the system had been saving up a big batch for him.
He'd almost thought the players had lost interest in women. (sad)
As Wende's thoughts wandered, he shot another lightning needle from his hand toward an incoming automaton.
Swish!
The lightning needle struck a fish-headed automaton shaped like a lantern.
BOOM!!!
"Waah! Why do the people of the Artisanship Commission build this kind of stuff?!"
March jumped, startled by the explosion. She then hopped over to Stelle's side like a frightened rabbit and complained.
"Be careful, there's something wrong with these automatons," Welt warned.
"Sigh, to think that these lighting fixture automatons, originally built for illumination, would possess such terrifying power after being corrupted," Tingyun lamented once again.
"Yeah, now the automatons used for patrols and sounding the night watch can kill people," March griped, watching as more and more automatons were drawn in by the sound of the explosion.
"Let's finish this in one go. We still need to rescue people; we can't be delayed by these things."
Welt adjusted his grip on his cane, then planted it firmly in front of him, pressing down slightly.
The Simulated Black Hole appeared once more. Its gravitational pull forcibly sucked in the entire swarm of floating automatons…
And then.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Wow… setting off firecrackers… It's exactly like what we saw in Changle!"
The various types of automatons were pulled together, then crushed and devoured by the black hole. Some of the flammable and explosive ones instantly became Welt's helpful little assistants in cleaning up the mess.
[Dogzi, stop embarrassing yourself and just retreat already.]
[How do you manage to get wiped by every new elite monster you encounter?]
[If Wende hadn't been there to cleanse the debuff and heal, the whole team would have ascended to the heavens.]
[Thesis: Why Wende is a god.]
[So why did you bring Bailu along?]
[Answer: Because Wende is a single-target healer who draws a lot of aggro, Dogzi had a sudden stroke of genius and gave Wende… another healer.]
[Fire Trailblazer: ????]
[Get out of the critically ill section!]
[I think you should check yourself in!]
"What's the problem, what's the problem! We didn't die!"
Dogzi said stubbornly, looking at her team's health bars, which couldn't even be cobbled together to make one full bar.
[Welcome to the next episode of the hit drama series: Still Stubborn.]
[The only hard thing on her entire body is her mouth.]
[It's actually pretty soft, ya know.]
[?]
[Hey, Haihai, is it possible that next door, Sister Guoguo is already wrecking everything with Seele?]
Meanwhile, on another stream…
"Disappear among the sea of butterflies! Illusions of the past!"
"GO, SEELE!"
In front of her screen, Sister Guoguo held a cup of authentic Fermented Mung Bean Juice, cheering Seele on.
BOOMMM!
A massive damage number popped up over the head of the golden automaton, instantly blowing up the chat.
[Seele: I've cut my way from Belobog to the Xianzhou, and I've never had a worthy opponent!]
[You're right, disappear among the sea of butterflies!]
[I'm watching this with headphones on in the dark, and my roommate asked if I was playing CS:GO…]
[Never underestimate the power of a laser welder!]
[Mara-Struck Soldier: No matter how strong you are, you still have to hit me twice!]
[Pela: Hello there.]
[What kind of beastly lineup is this? Wende, Tingyun, Pela, and Seele. And you even spent so many credits on all that Fermented Mung Bean Soda!]
[Because that stuff increases attack power…]
[Newcomers, please see the Mung Bean Juice Challenge in the top-right corner of the stream.]
Sister Guoguo looked at the damage Seele had dealt with great satisfaction. According to the rules she'd set for her stream, every time Seele's damage surpassed a certain threshold, she had to chug the Mung Bean Juice in her hand!
"Alright, a toast to love and tomorrow! I'll do the honors! Bottoms up!"
Sister Guoguo steeled herself and, amidst a chorus of gasps from the chat, downed the entire cup of juice.
"HNGH! HNGH! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Collapses (soul leaves body)
[WTF! Call an ambulance! Dial 1-2-0, quick!!]
[HOLY SHIT! THE MUNG BEAN JUICE KILLED SOMEONE!!]
[The probability of being killed by mung bean juice may be low, but it's never zero.]
[The first streamer on the entire internet to pass out from the stench of mung bean juice…]
[So… why, though? Why are all the streamers doing the Mung Bean Juice Challenge now?!]
Indeed… why?
Ever since Stelle developed a taste for the stuff, the in-game Fermented Mung Bean Juice, which originally only provided an attack buff, had seemingly been given a brand-new effect.
In the version 1.0 patch for Honkai: Star Rail, the development team openly added a new line to the item's description. The original effect, [After use, increases the ATK of all allies by 5% and provides an additional 170 ATK in the next battle], was now appended with: [Restores 20% of Max HP to a single ally.]
So… as you can see, Fermented Mung Bean Juice had now become the most "beloved" beverage among Star Rail players.
The "gourmet" creations inspired by this included, but were not limited to: real-life Fermented Mung Bean Soda, Mung Bean Juice & Fried Dough Ring Coffee, Mung Bean Juice Ice Cream, Mung Bean Juice Hot Pot, Mung Bean Juice Dreg Cookies, and so on.
Thanks to this series of stunts, mung bean juice, already an "intangible cultural heritage," scored another major win. Its meme potential was now faintly on the verge of surpassing the current T0 of the meta: Surströmming.
Drawn by the traffic generated by the mung bean juice craze, many beverage companies that had been planning a collaboration with Star Rail began to consider whether they should add a mung bean juice-related product to their new lineups.
But after sacrificing a few employees, all the beverage IPs unanimously abandoned this dangerous idea.
"Hic…"
Seeing Stelle chug another bottle, as if a green number would pop up over her head if she drank it, March curiously walked up behind Wende. She reached out a small hand to feel the weight of his backpack.
"So, just how many bottles did you bring for Stelle?!"
March stared at Wende, who was carrying a backpack filled to the brim with Fermented Mung Bean Soda, and questioned him with a pout.
"…"
Wende said nothing. He just silently put down his backpack, took out a Xianren Happy Tea and some cookies, and handed them to March.
"Wow! …Err, I mean… thanks, Wende! You're the best!"
Welt looked at Wende's backpack with some amazement. Just how much stuff had he prepared…?