"Make you fly!" Ah Xian's eyes sparkled as she couldn't help but gush.
"So cool! But he really doesn't use his wings to speed up."
"Why are you so fixated on Leon's wings?"
"Can you imagine a lovestruck girl lying in her beloved's arms, being carried into the sky to soar freely?"
"So romantic~~"
"And a man with wings is just so alluring, plus it gives a special sense of security."
[Tch, I think Ah Xian's the one about to fly—flying high on excitement.]
"Thanks to the red font in primary school… Thanks for the superchat, you've got great taste."
Ah Xian's lips curved into a calm smile. "How about I end the stream now to work on my draft? I can't wait to get cozy with my husband in the world of words…"
[Let's not do that.]
[If you go offline, who's gonna fill the spiritual void for the bros today?]
"No more chit-chat, back to business. I noticed a problem."
"I can't unlock the key Trace for Leon to apply debuffs yet, so I can't trigger his follow-up attacks."
"Whatever, let's check out his ultimate first."
Soon, she filled Leon's energy bar. "Here it comes, here it comes~"
However, this ultimate animation left everyone slightly disappointed. Not because it wasn't cool or eye-catching—it was the same field-support move they'd seen in the Doomsday Beast boss fight.
The only difference was that you could now see the process of him taking off from the ground. But the audience's disappointment lasted less than a second. What Leon did next made everyone's eyes widen involuntarily.
"The way of nature."
After finishing his ultimate and landing back on the ground, without warning, Leon pulled out two guns…
Handguns! Hot weapons, yo! He rapidly fired five shots at the enemies, muttering to himself.
It was— Completely unexpected, absurd, and dripping with comedic flair. Who could've imagined that a character with perfectly normal and cool animations for his basic attack, skill, and ultimate would have this for his follow-up attack?
But then again, Leon's gun-slinging follow-up was also undeniably stylish. He didn't just stand there pulling the trigger; his whole body moved, his actions sharp and suave.
One shot was even a no-look backward blind fire. The final flourish—spinning the guns and blowing the smoke—was as flashy as it gets.
Ah Xian was stunned, and the live stream audience burst out laughing.
[Oh my gosh, this is what he meant by 'the way of nature'?]
[What, the way of the bullet is also a way!]
[So cool, a turn-based game with such slick action animations.]
[No wonder he's a doctor—those bullets must be poisoned; how else could a follow-up apply debuffs?]
[At least for now, Leon hasn't poisoned his bullets.]
[The key talent needs weekly boss materials to unlock, lol.]
[The Dreamscape state from his ultimate counts as a debuff too—what a strong mechanic synergy.]
"Now I get why his follow-up is a bounce type. This flashy random shooting is just too cool, no explanation needed~"
"All about doing whatever he wants, shooting whoever he feels like."
"I so want my husband Leon to shoot at my heart with that gun…"
[?]
[Don't get too wild—really shooting at your heart?]
[You know, Ah Xian's got two hearts—one up top, and the other, well, you know where.]
[You snake!]
Ah Xian opened the battle info panel, and sure enough, all characters gained a fixed 8 Speed boost.
After finishing this Simulated Universe run, she didn't hesitate and opened the warp interface.
[What're you doing? Didn't you already max Seele?]
"No other reason—maxing Leon's Eidolons means enjoying him sooner."
And so, another 200 pulls went down. Good news: Leon's last two Eidolon materials were secured.
Bad news: She got 4 Seeles, which, since Seele was already maxed, turned into Stellar Jade.
Using her luck in the wrong place was, in its own way, a delightful spectacle.
The stream's entertainment value shot through the roof.
Soon enough, clips of "8K sis, with a maxed Seele, still diving into the pool for her beloved Leon and pulling gold after gold without missing" would spread like wildfire.
Speaking of spreading, news about the new character Leon was already circulating rapidly in the player community.
This included his Path, attributes, and how to get him for free.
Many players turned the process into guide videos.
Countless players who hadn't jumped into the game right at launch would, as long as they were part of online communities, learn how to obtain Leon.
Katiya's high praise and hype for Leon were a key factor in boosting his popularity. His support save in the Doomsday Beast boss fight was cool and flashy.
Cliché? Sure, but like the timeless hero-saves-the-damsel trope, plenty of people eat it up. He's a new member of the Astral Express crew, someone you'd see all the time, with a fairly likable personality.
Strength and looks combined. Even male players, unless they'd suffered some specific psychological trauma, generally wouldn't hold any malice toward a normally handsome male character.
So, despite the game just launching, a good number of players were already smitten with Leon.
…
Being liked by players naturally leads to building a fanbase.
For Leon himself, doesn't that mean faith collection has begun? Too bad the progress is completely invisible.
Just a string of numbers showing faith increasing by hundreds or thousands.
Even if it reaches a million, what's the point if you don't know the total progress? For example, his faith value in this life is currently around 14,000, slowly rising.
All he could say to that was: What a scam system. Thankfully, this time he didn't need to be a world-saving, hardship-enduring traveler.
Just take care of the Astral Express crew, and everyone else depends on his mood. In some big moments, he might even be willing but unable.
The power he possesses in each life vanishes when that life ends. What remains is only the power from his very first life. It's also a legacy power unique to him in the entire universe.
As his strength grows, his mastery of this power deepens, allowing him to unleash greater combat prowess.
What he told Welt about recovering less than 30% of his power wasn't a lie. In reality, he's not even close to 10%. After all… that's the entirety of a fallen Path's legacy.
Without an Aeon's status, it's like a one-year-old infant trying to lift something weighing thousands of tons. Trying to force it would only lead to one outcome: being crushed to pieces.
How to grow stronger? Simple—the more faith he collects in this life, the stronger he becomes.
For Leon, the path ahead is clear and straightforward. In the players' eyes, the protagonist is Stelle or Caelus.
He just needs to be good to the protagonist, maintain his persona, and that's enough. The players' sense of immersion must not be broken.
"System?"
[Your kid's here, Daddy, what's up?]
"Can you create some rewards, like Stellar Jades or special tickets, game resources like that?"
[Sure, but it'll cost faith points from this life to exchange. Check the list.]
A dazzling array of game resources popped up.
"You rebellious child, you dare take a cut?" A special ticket worth 160 Stellar Jades costs 1,000 faith points?!
[Wronged, dear Dad! Your kid can't generate resources out of thin air without a cost…]