Chapter 2 - The Character Card, a Choice of Abundance

Astral Express, Observation Car. Wende stared, completely dumbfounded, at the virtual screen floating before his eyes. After that voice had echoed in his mind, the entire train car had fallen into a deathly silence. March 7th was frozen mid-gaze, still looking out the window. The juice in Himeko's hand remained perfectly still, without the slightest ripple. Even the ever-reliable Welt was frozen on the sofa, his hand paused in the middle of pushing up his glasses. Time itself seemed to have been forcibly halted by some unknown power. And right now, the only one who could move was Wende. <One hour until players log into the game. Please finalize your character settings.> <Hint: The more attention your character receives from players, the more unexpected benefits you may receive.> While Wende was still reeling, the virtual screen before him instantly switched to a familiar interface. "This... isn't this the character screen from Honkai: Star Rail?" Wende looked at the all-too-familiar layout. In the center of the interface, a character model that looked exactly like him stood quietly. Besides the character's appearance and name, every other field related to his data was completely blank. "Don't tell me... I have to turn myself into a playable character?" An absurd thought popped into Wende's head, but judging by the current situation, it seemed this thought was actually the truth! Gulp... Looking at the selectable Paths and Elements on the interface above, Wende couldn't help but swallow nervously. ........... The Real World Ever since someone discovered it was possible to enter the game early, every player waiting for Honkai: Star Rail's launch had simultaneously fired up the game on their respective devices, all hoping to snag a good UID. However, the moment they opened the game client and saw the announcement that popped up, every single player who had been hoping to get a head start collectively cursed. "FUCK!" ×n [QQ Group Chat: Astral Express - African Division] [(Group Owner) Huffing March 7th's Sweaty Feet: WTF? How'd I get kicked out! I just saw my wife Kafka!] [(Admin) Any Evil Will Eventually Bury Me: You son of a bitch! The server isn't even open! You tricked us again! Just you wait! I'm gonna have to find you IRL and gank you!] [(Group Owner) Huffing March 7th's Sweaty Feet: No! You gotta believe me! I really got in just now! I even went through a part of the story!] [Kafka is My Forever Wife: FML! Get lost! Stop playing with my emotions!] While numerous QQ groups sighed and cursed their group owners for failing to exploit the launch, a new face quietly appeared in the character index on miHoYo's official community app, HoYoLAB. And the portrait for that character icon... was none other than Wende! Aboard the frozen Astral Express. Wende was still creating his character build. He had already accepted the fact that he was now a game character. He initially thought he had simply transmigrated into the game's world, but he never imagined he had literally transmigrated into the "game world" itself! But there was no point in overthinking it now. Time was limited. He had to create his character profile first. This would not only determine his chances of survival in this sea of stars but would also decide his entire future! He hadn't forgotten the system's earlier prompt: the more attention he received from players, the more unexpected benefits he would gain. Wende's expression turned serious. As a theorycrafter who had watched gameplay for a full year without ever getting into the beta, he had memorized the data of every single character, including optimal team compositions and the game's various mechanics. If he was going by what the system said, to win the affection of the majority of players... <Please select your Path.> Without a moment's hesitation, Wende selected the "Path of the Abundance" on the interface. It was a well-known fact that in the early stages of Honkai: Star Rail, there were only two healers. Most players would only have access to one: Natasha, the four-star character from Jarilo-VI and leader of Wildfire. The other was Bailu, the five-star "Healer Lady-Dragon" from the Xianzhou Luofu. As a five-star character from the standard banner, Bailu was naturally not easy to obtain. And in the early game, if one wanted to progress smoothly, having only a four-star Natasha was clearly not enough. At the very least, clearing the Forgotten Hall would be extremely difficult. Therefore, to win the players' favor right from the start, choosing the Path of Abundance was undoubtedly the correct move! Furthermore, Wende had also just noticed that his character's rarity had been locked by the system to four-star. Although the power level of a four-star character was debatable, it also meant he would be easier to acquire. As the ancient saying went: "DPS is fleeting, but supports are forever!" After choosing his Path came the choice of Element. Elements were also a crucial part of Honkai: Star Rail. Due to the enemy weakness-break mechanic, characters in a team needed corresponding elements to break through enemy defenses. So, choosing a good element was definitely the right call. After much deliberation, Wende finally chose the same Lightning element as the Healer Lady-Dragon. It wasn't for any other reason than the fact that a "human defibrillator" would have a massive presence! Although it might steal some of Bailu's thunder, he had no choice! Who asked him to be a tall guy instead of a cute loli! Next up was the most tedious part: setting his stats. This was the most critical aspect of a character besides their skills. Even the bonuses from Eidolons weren't as important as base stats! But as a four-star character, the system naturally placed many restrictions on Wende's stats, and his numbers could only be set within the range of a four-star. Wende then used Natasha's initial HP and Attack as a reference, constantly tweaking the numbers on the data panel. Time trickled away without him noticing. A dozen or so minutes later, Wende let out a long breath. Looking at the extreme stats on his panel, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. Ladies and gentlemen, you are now looking at the lowest initial attack and the highest base health in the history of Honkai: Star Rail. His defense was decent enough, but aside from being tanky, his damage output was the very definition of chip damage. But none of that mattered. Big heals and a fat health pool were king! As long as I don't die, I can definitely chip you to death! For the remaining time, Wende threw all his energy into designing his skill tree. After adding a little "specialty" on top of just healing, he managed to rush through his Eidolons in the last few minutes—all within the numerical limits allowed by the system, of course. As a "braindead" healer, the Eidolon effects Wende set were all focused on guaranteeing his healing output and survivability. His entire brand was built on massive healing throughput! For this, the system even forced him to take a shirtless photo for his Eidolon 6 art. He really didn't know if this system had some kind of weird fetish... oh, wait, he also liked looking at other characters' E6 art... never mind, then. After submitting his character stats, the system had Wende set up his Ascension Materials and other things. Most of these were fixed, with the sources for obtaining them being the same as everyone else's, so Wende just went along with the system's presets. <Character creation complete. Please wait patiently...> After submitting everything, the only thing left on Wende's light screen was a blinking ellipsis. And at the very instant the data was submitted, a gaze—one filled with loving-kindness and vitality, yet simultaneously laced with a heretical evil and a bizarre strangeness—was cast upon Wende...