81… At this favor level, wouldn't that basically make them boyfriend and girlfriend already?
In-game, you could probably just go straight for it…
"Um… Liu Bai sir, is there something on my face?"
Sensing his gaze lingering, Firefly—who had just closed her eyes—shyly opened them again and looked toward him.
"No, nothing. Nothing at all."
Liu Bai stared at her innocent expression and silently berated himself inside.
Liu Bai, oh Liu Bai, how filthy can you get?
—But would anyone who wasn't filthy install mods like "Time Stop," "Hypnosis Ring," or "Cursed Armor"?
Fine. Face reality: he was already a filthy adult.
Liking spicy stuff wasn't something to be ashamed of.
As long as he didn't drag others into it.
While mentally soothing himself, Liu Bai dropped the ten gacha coins into the machine.
For the pool… pick someone relatively combat-viable. If lady luck smiled, jackpot.
Jingliu… or Acheron?
Yeah, Acheron.
With numerical balancing, the gap between five-stars wouldn't be massive anyway.
Unreleased-but-teased characters always carried extra allure.
Pool selected, Liu Bai quietly pressed the ten-pull button.
Ding-ling-dong~~
Accompanied by obnoxiously flashy music, ten capsules rolled out of the dispenser.
[Liyue Chamber 50% Off Coupon]
[Charm Garland]
[Murder Bunny Plush Outfit]
[USP45]
[Technique Replay Card]
[Still-Warm Pure White Underwear]
[Torn Black Stockings]
…What even is this garbage?
Seven pulls down: first five passable, last two…
"L-L-Liu Bai sir? Y-Y-You…" Firefly had somehow climbed back up from the bedding. Face blazing red, she stared at the garments in his hands. "I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!"
She yanked the blanket over her head.
"That misunderstanding line is way too classic! These came from the gacha machine! They've got nothing to do with me!"
"I'm sorry! I completely understand! A-After all, Liu Bai sir is an adult too!"
Firefly showed zero intention of emerging from her blanket cocoon.
"She's not even listening!"
Liu Bai rubbed his forehead after the outburst.
Fine, can't blame anyone. These were all mods he installed—his own sins, swallowed with tears.
Three left. Keep going.
[A Salted Fish]
[Light Cone: Abyss]
[Companion Doll: Guinaifen]
"Um… can we eat that?"
Firefly cautiously peeked out from the blanket, eyeing the salted fish in his hand.
"Uh… how to explain." Liu Bai gripped the tail and gave it two swings. "This thing… looks like a salted fish, smells like a salted fish, but is actually… a tachi."
"Huh?"
Firefly's face screamed total incomprehension, yet she tried valiantly to process it.
"This… um… prank from the Aeon of Elation?"
Who makes a proper blade look like a dried fish?!
"How about you lick it? Satisfy the craving?" Liu Bai considered, then offered the salted fish blade over. Best to let experience teach her.
"Eh? O-Okay, I'll really lick it?"
The moment it touched her palm, Firefly sensed from the weight and texture that yes—this was genuinely a blade.
Emotionally, though… impossible to accept.
She raised the fish to her lips, slowly extended her small tongue, and gave the blade a tentative lick.
"…Salty."
It really was a sword.
Firefly's expression grew complicated.
[Light Cone: Abyss]
[Once per day, increases Abnormal Status hit rate by 20%]
[Player max equip limit: 10. Companion max equip limit: 1]
This thing… sorry, but Liu Bai's first thought was equipping it then using hypnosis items…
Too bad he didn't have any yet.
His gaze shifted to the final capsule: [Companion Doll: Guinaifen]
[Companion Doll: Guinaifen]
[Pull the string on the doll's back to obtain companion: Guinaifen]
It actually dropped…
Liu Bai flipped the palm-sized girl doll over. Sure enough, a protruding string dangled from the back.
Pull.
No hesitation. He tugged.
Pop—
The doll instantly expanded into a red-haired ponytail girl a head shorter than him.
"Hi hi! I'm Guinaifen! Gui as in—"
"Skip—cough, never mind." Old player habits died hard. "I'm Liu Bai. Nice to meet you."
"Big boss, let me finish my intro! Gui for 'auspicious wood,' Nai meaning 'is,' Fen for 'fragrance'—just call me Little Guizi, boss! This is my first bodyguard gig, but I'll do my best—so which planet is this?"
Guinaifen flashed a bouncy grin, radiating instant familiarity.
[Companion: Guinaifen entry unlocked]
[Guinaifen Initial Favor: 40]
"This is…" Firefly stared, utterly stunned.
She had just witnessed… what? A doll turning into a lively girl?
"L-Liu Bai sir, is this… some cosmic curiosity? Or a Genius Society invention?"
She'd never heard of anything like it in the universe!
"Big boss? Is this your little sister or your girlfriend?" Guinaifen tilted her head toward Firefly.
"For now, just friends—none of that matters." Liu Bai placed a hand on Guinaifen's shoulder.
"You call me big boss?"
"Yeah! Didn't you pay a huge sum to hire me? Though I gotta say, the teleport was seriously 'whoosh'—super high-tech."
So this was the rationalized gacha backstory—game characters didn't come with self-awareness, after all.
"In that case, I'll need your help soon. Might involve fighting."
"Eh? Fighting? Me? O-Okay, bodyguard work does mean fights… though I'm way better at eating noodles upside-down…"
Truth be told, while Liu Bai was a veteran player, he genuinely didn't know Raven's exact combat style.
Come on—unspeakable mods plus Honkai mega-pack. Who'd believe he was here for the combat?
Fighting was just garnish. An appetizer at best.
Under non-violent tweaks, it kept the game from turning dull while unlocking special plots.
Normal start would be: grind jobs for cash, trade cash for gacha coins, pull for hypnosis gear, unlock hypnosis skill, then bug-abuse stealth practice.
Sneak into places, attempt hypnosis. Fail? Stealth out. Repeat-grind until success.
…Liu Bai still didn't get why, in-game, squatting right in someone's face made them instantly blind to you.