Luo Hong had been in this Lord Game world for over a month and had mostly settled in. While it lacked digital entertainment, he never lacked for "fun," as the Valkyries surrounding him were the ultimate distraction. Despite being soulless NPCs, they were so lifelike in every way that he found himself blissfully lost in their company.
His only grievance was his current roster—only the initial set: Kiana, Raiden Mei, Bronya, Murata Himeko, and Theresa. To get more, he had to pull from the gacha. Even though he'd rigged it so a ten-pull always yielded a legendary result, the resource cost was still steep.
"Gacha is such a blight on civilization!" he lamented. If only he'd known he'd end up here, he would have used cheats to max out everything before transmigrating.
However, starting from scratch had its perks. He needed to "train" the Valkyries intensely to raise their levels. Thus, he had no choice but to push himself—and his Valkyries—to the limit. After a month of "combat preparation," his five Valkyries were now "battle-hardened."
Current Valkyrie Levels:
Kiana: Level 27
Raiden Mei: Level 24
Bronya: Level 31
Murata Himeko: Level 21
Theresa: Level 30
"With these levels, I could clear the first wave of attacks with my eyes closed," Luo Hong muttered to himself. He lay back with his hands behind his head, enjoying a massage from Bronya, who was currently dressed in a Homu mascot suit.
Honestly, he didn't know what would happen if he failed the Lord Game, but it didn't matter. With the cheats he'd given this account, failure was impossible. In a normal game progression, having a Level 10 character would make the first wave easy. At his current state, sending just one Valkyrie would result in a total massacre of the enemy.
Once this wave was cleared, he'd have enough resources to pull more characters—he'd tweaked that too. Normally, it took ten waves of resources for one ten-pull, but he'd adjusted it so that one wave = one new character.
If he hadn't been afraid of losing interest by having no goals, he would have just started with a max-level account. But looking back, since he installed this mod specifically for the "adult" content, he really should have just maxed it all out.
"So much regret!"
But things weren't too bad. The gacha was a bit slow, but he got to "train" his Valkyries in different ways every day. If he had everyone at once, he might get bored. Repetitive manual labor could get tedious, after all.
"I wonder who's next... It would be great if it were Seele," he mused with a playful smile, stretching his body as he watched Bronya sitting before him in a "duck sit" position.
Then, he paused. Wait... did Bronya just blink?
It's worth noting that while these Valkyries looked realistic, they were soulless dolls. They wouldn't even blink when in "danger" unless their programming dictated it. Sometimes it was actually a bit creepy, but Luo Hong was used to it. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him until he noticed something else.
[Bronya]Status: Online
An interface status he had been watching for a long time had suddenly flipped from a gray "Offline" to a vibrant green "Online."
Omoshiroi! (Interesting!)
Things were getting exciting. However, Luo Hong pretended not to notice. He continued "raising Bronya's level" as usual, murmuring, "I wonder how Seele is doing in the Sea of Quanta. I hope I can pull her out soon."
He felt Bronya's petite body quiver slightly. She was clearly drawn in by the topic. Despite her discomfort, she tried her best to remain still and continue playing the role of a doll.
I wonder how much the system explained to her? Luo Hong wondered.
He was right. Bronya was currently enduring the... "sensations" (which were actually starting to feel somewhat pleasant) while listening to a voice in her head explaining her situation. More than anything, she wanted to know one thing: How can I get Seele out of the Sea of Quanta?
That was why she was pretending to be an NPC. She wanted to gather more information. If she spoke up now, she wasn't sure if he would tell her the truth or what price she would have to pay.
But she was reaching her breaking point. She was paying a "heavy price" right now, yet this bastard... stopped talking?
You cliffhanger-baiting dog! Just die already! she screamed internally.
Just as she was about to snap and demand answers, Luo Hong spoke again. "Well, she should be fine until the plot officially begins. Even if she's not having the best time, her life isn't in danger."
Feeling a sudden "tightness," Luo Hong grinned with delight. He then added, as if an afterthought, "It's just a pity that when Bronya finally finds her, she's going to get backstabbed. Poor girl."
He intentionally kept the information vague, enjoying the varied reactions he was getting. Yep, real people are definitely more fun!
What?! Bronya gets backstabbed? Why would Seele do that? Countless thoughts raced through Bronya's mind. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.
"You... you knew Bronya was 'awake' all along, didn't you?"
She wasn't stupid; she was a child prodigy. If she didn't realize what Luo Hong was doing by now, she'd be as brainless as that "protozoan" Kiana.
"Good morning, Bronya!"
Seeing that the cat was out of the bag, Luo Hong stopped acting. He flashed a warm, gentle smile, looking like a kind older brother from next door. If only he wasn't... still "active," it might have been convincing. At that moment, he reached the "climax" of the greeting.
"You..."
Bronya's lips twitched. She instinctively rolled her eyes at the shameless Luo Hong and hissed through gritted teeth, "Can you... get off now?"
"Sure, no problem."
Luo Hong, now satisfied, was very easy to talk to. He snapped his fingers, resetting their appearances to a clean state, and said gallantly, "Welcome to my territory, my dear Bronya!"