Bride · Sword Princess

In truth, when Yaxiu was robbing the rich to help the needy at Xilin's estate the previous night, he had already accumulated ample funds to pull cards. However, the situation back then was far too dangerous. He had also needed to purchase an adventurer set and investigate the exact location of Observation Point 53. Even taking care of large-scale metabolic needs required being ready to pinch it off at any second to make a quick getaway, so he naturally lacked the leisure to roll the gacha. Now, things were much simpler. Yaxiu no longer had to worry about his safety—because he wasn't safe at all anymore. It was the perfect time to pull cards. First, he checked in to collect the daily login bonus of origin crystals, then tapped on Supply Procurement. Yaxiu had 232 points, which was enough to purchase a Bag of Origin Crystals priced at 198 points. Purchase successful! Obtained 40 origin crystals! Then the first-time purchase bonus triggered, granting another 40 origin crystals! Adding that to his accumulated 15 origin crystals, Yaxiu now had a total of 95 origin crystals, enough for 31 pulls! When Yaxiu opened Operator Recruitment, however, he noticed that the interface had changed. "'Dance of Sword and Dragon' Limited Recruitment (Please launch this event as soon as possible three weeks after launch if expected monthly revenue targets are not met)" "Limited Operators 'Black and White Witch' and 'Bewitching Girl' Drop Rate UP ↑↑" "Limited Attire 'Bride · Sword Princess', 'Return from the Sea of Blood · Sword Princess', 'Doomsday Afternoon · Watcher', and 'Swimsuit · Watcher' Drop Rate UP ↑↑" "Ends on May 15 at 00:00" There were so many things to roast that Yaxiu stood dumbfounded for a moment. He had known his former employer was shady, but he had never imagined they were this shameless—launching a limited recruitment event the moment their monthly revenue looked to fall short just to bait players into spending. That was beyond scummy! Moreover, the sentence in parentheses was clearly meant for the company executives; leaving it in without deleting it was peak incompetence. A so-called limited recruitment meant that the featured attire and operators could only be obtained from this event banner. Once the event ended, players would have no chance of pulling them from the standard banner unless the event had a rerun in the future. Consequently, any player with even a mild collector's itch would whale as much as possible to secure the key rewards. If the limited operators were particularly strong, even free-to-play players would grit their teeth and swipe their cards. As for completionists, they would spend endlessly until the banner was completely emptied. Typically, limited events were rolled out during anniversaries or New Year celebrations. For one thing, players had a bit of spare cash then and were more easily swept up in the hype; for another, the festive mood made people less likely to resent the predatory nature of limited banners. Overall, however, limited events were practically synonymous with forced spending, completely unworthy of being called player perks. Launching a limited event less than a month after the server opened could only be described as unseemly greed. Still... Yaxiu tapped on "Bride · Sword Princess" in the event description, only to find that nothing popped up. While the interface contained the event text, it lacked even a thumbnail. Setting aside the absence of profiles for the new operators, it did not even provide full-body character art for the new attire—it was entirely a text-based lure for spending money. Evidently, the game system could function normally, but not completely normally—useless at everything, yet number one when it came to squeezing out money. Despite griping internally, Yaxiu did not hesitate for a second, choosing to exhaust his entire reserve of origin crystals on this limited banner. It had nothing to do with any bridal Sword Princess; he simply wanted to acquire new operators. Wait, there was one more ritual to perform before pulling... Yaxiu went over, washed his hands, and then crawled in front of Igola. "Rock-paper-scissors. Come on." His train of thought interrupted, Igola opened his mouth. His expression went from bewildered to displeased, and finally settled on resignation—a truly spectacular display of emotional management. In the end, he listlessly reached out, swiftly defeated Yaxiu in a best-two-out-of-three, and disgustedly told Yaxiu to scram. Yaxiu crawled back, lay down, and initiated the pulls! "Confirm the consumption of 93 origin crystals to conduct 31 recruitments?" "Confirm!" Eighteen white beams of light—energy potions, experience potions, Beginner Combat Cards, all pool-polluting junk. He would refine the potions with the extraction flask later. Nine purple beams of light—among them were three bottles of sorcery spirit delight potion, three bottles of Pure Spiritual Light Special Drink, one Intermediate Awakening Card, one new tool: "Aurora Autonomous Vehicle (Affordable Luxury Edition)," and one new item: "Training Gloves." And four gold beams of light! "Black and White Witch"! "Swimsuit · Watcher"! "Doomsday Afternoon · Watcher"! "Prince of Pleasure's Twenty-Sided Die"! *Thwack!* A sudden noise echoed through the room. Harvey and Igola glanced over and saw Yaxiu repeatedly slamming the back of his head against the padded wall. Harvey nodded thoughtfully, then followed suit, bumping the back of his own head against the padding. It felt rather effective; it really did make him feel more alert. Igola suddenly felt that, compared to the drowsiness of wanting to sleep but being unable to, being stuck with two individuals whose intellect matched that of an adult orc was far more detrimental to his physical and mental health. After venting viciously on the back of his head, Yaxiu turned his attention back to the game interface. People were strange sometimes; even when something was not their fault, they would subconsciously punish themselves—as if seeking to use a purer pain to resist fate's ravages, just like that. Yet when Yaxiu saw "Swimsuit · Watcher," he felt the urge to abuse the back of his head all over again. Are you kidding me? Not a single outfit for Sword Princess, but every single one for the Watcher came home?! If I wanted to see the Watcher's outfits, I could just buy them myself! Forget outfits, even women's clothing would work, and I can already watch the Watcher's bath CG every day for free—the question is, who would ever want to see that?! Forced spending! This is absolute, shameless bait! They definitely rigged the rates behind the scenes just to stop players from pulling "Bride · Sword Princess"! As expected of my old employer, their greed is even more revolting than I imagined! No wonder our salaries were so high—this is where the money came from! Despicable! The moment Yaxiu shifted his stance from employee to player, he wished he could publish an essay tearing into his former company's "Seven Deadly Sins," though that would accomplish nothing. After grumbling for a good while, Yaxiu finally calmed down and examined the newly acquired operator items: "Training Gloves": When equipped by an operator, EXP gained from fist and claw training is increased by 15%. "Intermediate Trial Card": Grants an operator a trial, awarding a moderate amount of EXP and slightly increasing operator bond. Can only be used once per week per operator. "Aurora Autonomous Vehicle (Affordable Luxury Edition)": A mode of transport usable on land within the Void Realm. Can be fitted with various functional accessories. Currently installed accessories: None. "Pure Spiritual Light Special Drink": When an intelligent soul dissipates, a trace of pure spiritual light escapes. Consuming pure spiritual light greatly accelerates soul recovery speed and increases the absorption rate of sorcery power in the Void Realm by 5% for seven days. Just what kind of person, and just what kind of place, could so easily bottle a Pure Spiritual Light Special Drink? The gloves went without saying, and Yaxiu had not drawn a trial card in a long time; he had not expected to pull an intermediate one right off the bat. The Pure Spiritual Light Special Drink brought a wave of delight to Yaxiu's heart. If Sword Princess's estimates were accurate, their soul injuries might have taken two more weeks to fully heal, but with this special drink, they might be able to shorten that window to two or three days. It was just that the final sentence of the item description gave Yaxiu an unsettling feeling, as though this drink were the stolen goods of some villain. But since it did not explicitly say so, Yaxiu chose to turn a blind eye. Now was hardly the time to be fastidious. As for the autonomous vehicle, it was undoubtedly a means of transport suited for the Time Continent. After all, the small boat could only be used in the Sea of Knowledge. Yaxiu had previously worried that after smuggling themselves onto the Time Continent, they would have to travel on foot. Now that they had a vehicle, they would be one step ahead when running for their lives. As for this "Affordable Luxury Edition" that currently offered only mobility without any functional accessories attached, it was blatantly just the bare-bones base model! Unlike the boat, a vehicle was inherently a heavy piece of steel machinery capable of dealing lethal damage. Yaxiu figured he might be able to pull weapon accessories for it in the future, such as heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, bulletproof glass, or a chassis-mounted chainsaw. There might even be vehicle skill cards that let it pull off flashy moves like the Cyclone Magnum Tornado... And finally, the new operator: "Black and White Witch"!