Kiana patted her chest as she spoke, wearing an expression so confident it looked like she had already won.
Shu looked at this girl, brimming with confidence, and fell silent for two seconds.
Then, he spoke, trying to be as tactful as possible: "Do you know what the gap between me and the first-place player is?"
"Of course I do!" Kiana nodded vigorously. "It's because his lineup is better than yours!"
She reached out and clicked on the character details page for [Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent].
"Look, you only have this at S-rank. You pulled the signature weapon, and the Stigmata set is complete, but the Affixes aren't maxed out yet, right?"
She then clicked on the first-place player's profile.
"The opponent is SSS-rank with a top-tier build. Fully maxed."
Kiana looked at Shu with a serious expression. "This is the reason he's bullying you!"
Shu opened his mouth blankly and nodded along with Kiana's words in a daze.
However, he reacted quickly, feeling a bit amused.
The opponent is indeed a rich player... if they've pulled a maxed-out character, they deserve first place... And how exactly are they bullying me? They didn't throw bombs at me, nor did they...
Shu blinked, then suddenly looked at the first-place player's name.
The name, which had been normal just a moment ago, had unexpectedly changed.
[Downstairs Kiana-chan Still Coping]
Shu fell silent.
Heh, he's provoking me!
Hm? No...
Kiana, he's provoking you!!
Kiana's gaze was drawn by Shu's stare. She looked back, and her small face instantly turned beet red.
"Wah! That guy! Damn it—"
Kiana shot up from her seat, pointing at the screen in a rage, looking like she wanted to jump inside and claw at the person.
But Kiana jumping into the screen to scratch someone wasn't really possible; that was an ability only the Herrscher of Corruption possessed.
"So what you're missing right now is character copies, right!"
Kiana's indignant voice interrupted Shu's thoughts.
Shu snapped back to reality and nodded.
"Right."
Kiana's eyes darted around, and then she suddenly pointed at the Crystal balance on the screen:
"Can I use these?"
Shu paused.
"Huh?"
"These Crystals." Kiana pointed at the number. "Can I pull?"
Shu looked at her, then nodded.
"...Sure."
I don't know what she's planning, but there's less than ten thousand Crystals anyway. If she spends them all, she spends them all.
Kiana's eyes instantly lit up.
She leaned in front of the computer, flexed her fingers, and licked her lips. Her expression seemed to say—
Watch this!
Before Shu could even react, she had already opened the Supply interface.
She selected [Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent].
Then—
Ten-pull.
Lights flashed across the screen.
Shu was watching casually.
Then his expression changed.
The first card was the purple icon of a Character Card, and then...
[Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent]
"Huh?" Shu let out a soft sound of surprise.
The second card—
[Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent]
Shu's eyes widened slightly.
The third card—
[Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent]
Shu's mouth fell slightly open.
The fourth card—
[Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent]
The fifth card—
[Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent]
The sixth card—
[Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent]
The light faded.
On the screen, six copies of [Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent] lay in neat rows.
Shu's expression had completely lost control. His facial features were all twisted together.
"Th... This..."
Kiana turned her head, chin slightly raised, her little nose tilted high, looking utterly triumphant.
She turned around expecting praise, but then she saw Shu's distorted expression.
Hm? What kind of creature is this?!
"Pfft—!"
Kiana swore she really tried to hold it in, but she couldn't. It wasn't her fault.
"Hahahaha—!"
She laughed so hard she rocked back and forth, tears nearly coming to her eyes.
"Shu! Your face right now is so funny! Hahahaha!"
Shu blushed at her laughter and hurriedly tried to compose his expression, attempting to return to his calm demeanor.
But it was useless.
The corners of his eyes were still twitching, the corners of his mouth were trembling; he couldn't recover anytime soon.
He hurriedly reached out, grabbed the mouse, opened the character interface, and counted the fragments for [Xentinel · Dawnbearing Crescent] three times.
Confirmed.
Six copies.
It was really six copies.
He turned his head and looked at Kiana.
He opened his mouth.
No words came out.
He opened his mouth again.
Still no words.
Kiana just looked at him like that, laughing even more joyfully.
"Say something!"
Shu held it in for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence—
"Holy... uh... I mean, you're amazing."
"Oh, come on! Just say 'Holy shit', I'm not some clueless idiot!" Kiana grinned and slapped Shu on the shoulder. Her playful demeanor left Shu in a daze.
His brain had completely stopped working.
Six copies.
One ten-pull, six copies.
What kind of concept was this?
Was this something a human could do?
While Shu was still in a daze, Kiana leaned forward, extended a finger, and pointed at herself.
"Praise me more."
Shu froze for two seconds.
Then a smile rose on the corners of his mouth.
"Holy shit!"
He shouted it with such force it felt like he was ripping his heart out to show her his sincerity.
He suddenly stood up and gave the seat to Kiana:
"You continue! You continue!"
Kiana finished laughing, sat back down at the computer, and rubbed her nose with her thumb—
Yeah, she was definitely super cool!
"Watch closely! This is just the beginning!"
Shu stood by her side, his eyes shining with a light bordering on worship.
In his eyes, the golden-glowing Kiana raised her noble hand once again and clicked for another ten-pull.
The light this time wasn't as exaggerated as before.
Only five copies of [Crescent Dawn].
Shu let out a silent screech of disbelief from the sidelines.
Kiana turned her head, her entire being practically sparkling.
"Is that enough?"
Shu nodded furiously.
"Enough, enough, enough!"
He pointed at the fragment count on the screen, his voice trembling:
"Eleven copies... the fragments have completely overflowed! It's more than enough to upgrade to SSS!"
Kiana nodded with satisfaction.
Then she suddenly asked:
"What about the Stigmata Affixes?"
Shu's movements paused.
He looked at the Stigmata interface.
Affixes...
They hadn't been rerolled to top tier yet.
He sucked in a breath of cold air.
Then he abruptly pulled up the Stigmata Reroll interface, turned his head, and stared at Kiana with burning eyes.
That look was written full of expectation.
Kiana felt incredibly gratified being looked at like that.
"Heheh~ Leave it to me!"
She took the mouse and glanced at the Affix pool—
No Wafer Stabilizers.
Pure RNG.
But she didn't care at all.
Her finger clicked lightly.
First line: Max Attack.
Second line: Max Elemental Damage.
...
A set of top-tier Affixes was rerolled just like that, effortlessly.
Shu watched from the side, his eyes straightening.
Kiana turned back and flashed him a brilliant smile:
"Hehe, just good luck."
Shu fell silent.
He had no way to repay this, save for one word.
"Holy—Shit—!"
Now, his character's stats were exactly the same as the first-place player's, potentially even better.
Shu took a deep breath.
He clicked open the Abyss interface, looked at the second-place spot, then looked at the first-place score.
Then he turned his head and looked at Kiana.
Kiana looked at him too.
The two locked eyes.
There was anticipation, nervousness, and an eagerness to try.
And a determination to win!
How could he lose?
On what grounds would he lose again?!
Shu reached out and placed his hand on the mouse.
Next to him, Kiana clenched both hands into fists.
"Ready?" she asked.
Shu nodded. "Ready."
Both of them took a deep breath at the same time, their eyes instantly becoming incredibly sharp.
Let's do this! This is our burning hot combo technique!