If this story unintentionally offends any handsome male readers, the author offers their own cursed gacha pulls in exchange for your ten-pulls all going full UP rate! Contains heavy male-audience narrative elements—female readers proceed with caution. You've been warned.
...
A flood of memories surged by in flashing glimpses, overwhelming and exhausting.
Stars flickered one by one across the sky.
This scene—Lingzhou had seen it countless times.
"System. If you're not dead, make a noise."
[Zzzt~]
…???
"That's it? Just one buzz?"
[…]
The daze in Lingzhou's eyes faded, replaced by numb irritation.
"Playing dead now, are we? I'm a decent, handsome, reliable young man—how the hell did I end up stuck with you, a busted half-functional wreck? Come on, how many Amber Eras has it been?"
"Two thousand? Or maybe one thousand nine hundred something?"
"Even if she's some high-and-mighty goddess, a simp worshipping her that long would've maxed the favor meter by now!"
"But you? Where the hell is your progress bar? Don't tell me you already got gobbled up as a midnight snack by Oroboros."
"Even faking a 99.99% just to keep my hopes up would be better than living and dying over and over like some forgotten saint, buried beneath a few lines on a stone tablet."
[Okay okay stop yelling—this really should be the last time. Just hang in there a little longer...]
"Should be the last time?"
Lingzhou narrowed his eyes, voice dripping with malice.
[I-I swear! One hundred percent the last time!]
The system's tone was leaking uncertainty from every direction.
"You've said that at least twenty times. I'd sooner trust Aha than believe you. I'm out. Screw this."
[N-Nooo—Host... Boss, boss!. Just trust your poor child one more time, please!]
[Just one more lifetime's worth of faith. That'll be enough to fill me up like sand in an hourglass!]
"Faith, huh? I swear—"
He bit back the rest of the profanity, sighing and suddenly smiling, strangely at peace.
What was the point of throwing a tantrum at a system? In the end, he still had to become someone new and start over in yet another "real" life.
"So. What am I supposed to be this time?"
[A game character.]
"…What?"
[In short: Host will become a game character in a certain parallel universe. You'll participate in the plot as it unfolds in that world.]
[If, during the game's story, you're able to stir players' emotions—make them like you, for example—that emotional investment counts as faith.]
Lingzhou mulled it over for a second, then replied lazily, unimpressed.
"Don't forget the dream you sold me: collect enough faith, and even Aeons are just ants."
[I wouldn't dare lie to you, Boss!]
"You'd better not. Now cut the crap and hand over the game data."
He curled a finger.
"If I'm going to become a game character, then I should get to decide the design myself, right?"
[You're brilliant, Boss! You can fully design your character—backstory, abilities, personality—very few limitations. Lemme explain real quick:]
[1. You can make multiple characters, but their backgrounds must be interconnected.]
[2. They can be strong, but not so broken they ruin the game balance...]
"That's it?"
[That's it~ Here's the game info. Have a look, Daddy~]
"You couldn't even hold it together long enough to—"
[Boss! Boss! I messed up, sorry! I'll punish myself with a fat critical hit!]
"No need to panic. I was gonna say Must Pull Design Master."
Lingzhou curled his lip in disdain.
As if he'd ever want such a dumb kid for a son.
He'd lived countless lives, played every profession under the stars.
Designing himself into a game character? Easy.
[No worries, Boss! Your devoted system-child will serve you with all my heart.]
"Scram."
[Yessir!]
Lingzhou activated quantum-speed reading and skimmed all the data the system sent over—then promptly cussed it out again.
The game was called Honkai: Star Rail.
Anime aesthetic. Turn-based combat. Story-rich. None of that mattered right now.
What mattered was: full launch in two hours. Maybe even soft launch sooner.
All that marketing material for the pre-launch? Wasted. This system really was trash.
For anime-style characters, first impressions are everything.
Sometimes a single dazzling moment in a trailer—just a dramatic glance back—was enough to net hordes of fans.
Of course, that only worked if the character was hot. Or, in game terms, had good modeling.
Lingzhou wasn't worried about his looks. Or his model.
From face to build, he scored a solid 99.
The missing point? That belonged to web novel readers.
1 point for raw stats.
1 for aura.
1 for luck.
1 for pure charisma.
Forget the promo trailers—they couldn't be counted on. His only shot was the opening storyline.
From the launch materials, Lingzhou quickly formed a deep understanding of the game's mechanics.
Turn-based meant no hand-skill multiplier. Only brain and stat multipliers.
Which meant base character stats mattered a lot—affecting usage rate, then fan art and remixes, which directly tied to popularity.
No matter how good the writing or design, in stat-based games, strength trumped all.
In plain words: strength is the best drug.
So first, his character had to be strong. Uniquely so. Something irreplaceable.
Also, everyone knew that power creep in gacha games meant later characters were stronger.
So: no need to debut as a five-star. Starting out as a four-star could be smart.
Just look at the Trailblazer crew in the game files—each one had "future SP character" written on their face.
He could do the same.
And to guarantee screen time in the story, there was no better option than joining the main cast.
Lingzhou snapped his fingers lightly and began crafting.
Crafting himself.
Excluding the protagonist, the Astral Express crew had four main Paths: Erudition, Hunt, Preservation, and Nihility.
Harmony and Abundance were rarer.
One was a support class, the other survival-based—core pillars in turn-based logic.
Both were viable.
All things considered, the average player needed a reliable, free survival unit.
As for Harmony—he could save that for a future limited release.
Decision made: Abundance.
Referring to the starting four-stars, Lingzhou tweaked and adjusted until he had a full design, from skillset to Eidolons.
Backstory? No need to invent one. His past lives would do just fine.
Need humor? He had it. Need knives? Oh, he had plenty.
Whether it all came into play would depend on the plot later. No need to stress for now.
Then came Light Cones, stat distributions, visual resources.
Visuals included: model, skill animations, combat icon, splash art, ID photo, Eidolon art, etc.
And most importantly: the signature flaw.
Everyone knew four-stars were never perfect. They always had a quirk.
Maybe a glass cannon with no defense. Maybe a support unit that clogged up your hand.
Lingzhou found a review system bug and gave himself a harmless flaw.
Something minor. Maybe even charming in its absurdity.
[Host, Eidolon art for level 6 didn't pass approval.]
"Which one?"
[E6. He's... needs to be shirtless...]
Lingzhou yanked off his shirt with a flourish, revealing a model-perfect physique.
He closed his eyes, tilted his chin, and caught a single falling tear in his palm—evoking a fragile, heartbreaking beauty.
One knife for the audience, right at E6.
[Approved. Early access granted. Game soft-launching now. Please choose your entry point into the story. Have fun~~]
Lingzhou: …Really?
All right, all right. So that's how you wanna play it, huh?