Daelan Ciro frowned slightly at the panel before him, resembling a shop interface.
"Wait, what's going on…?"
The slot for "Vision Holder" was still empty, and even the "Main Storyline Adaptation" option had turned gray, as if it couldn't be selected.
"Is it because this scene's plot… everything I could change has already been changed, and the main quest hasn't refreshed yet, so I can't edit it in advance?"
With that thought, Daelan shook his head lightly, sighing.
"As expected… anything directly tied to the main storyline is off-limits for me. Is this what it means to be the protagonist…?"
Daelan sighed again, lightly patting his cheeks to perk himself up before turning his gaze back to the panel.
Aside from the change to "Main Storyline Adaptation," a new option had appeared on the panel.
["Participate in Character Story Quests": 2000 Popularity Points]
[Currently Available Characters: Furina, Navia, Arlecchino, Neuvillette]
Below each character's name was their silhouette, flickering as if… they could be lit up.
"Participate in character story quests, huh…? That seems like a decent choice."
"But… I don't have enough Popularity Points to pick it right now. After all… Lyney's 'trial' plot is the key."
Nodding lightly to himself, Daelan closed the game-shop-like panel with a thought.
"Speaking of which… what's this 'Real-World Footage' thing? Did it record all the crazy chat messages from that livestream?"
"But… that kind of stuff probably doesn't matter, right? Even if they're wriggling in bed like maggots, I don't think it'd be…"
As if picturing something unspeakable, Daelan's muttering trailed off, his face darkening suddenly before he gave up continuing.
His silence and actions… already spoke volumes about his stance.
His hand, poised to click the "Real-World Footage" option, froze mid-air. He was genuinely torn now… Should he click it or not?
He felt like he was staring into an abyss, one step away from eternal doom.
With that thought, he slowly started to pull his hand back, but at that moment… another light screen appeared before him.
[Complete viewing of "Real-World Footage EP1" will grant additional Popularity Points rewards.]
Seeing this prompt, Daelan's hand, which was about to retreat, froze again.
"Additional Popularity Points rewards…?"
Daelan repeated the words, mentally reviewing the costs he was facing.
To be honest, he was quite curious about what his own story quest would look like.
Even setting aside curiosity, the upcoming tasks revolved around trials. If he wanted to keep his fate in his own hands… That meant he'd need more Popularity Points.
With that, the answer was clear.
His hand, frozen mid-air and ready to retreat, stretched forward like a resolute warrior, touching the somewhat embarrassing label.
As the light screen vanished, a new one, identical to the one from last night, unfolded before him.
Seeing this, Daelan leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief, his face a picture of… grim determination.
He watched the slowly loading progress bar, closed his eyes, and prayed inwardly, "Please don't let there be anything that'll kill me on the spot…"
After a short wait, a female voice snapped Daelan out of his prayer-induced mental spiral.
"Especially that advisor. His lines in the PV totally felt like he was throwing shade at the protagonists, like some kind of villain."
Hearing this, Daelan's lips twitched involuntarily, and he let out a long sigh.
"I knew it'd be like this… Good thing I set up a gentle persona early on, or the misunderstanding would've been huge."
Based on his understanding of the player community… plenty of people must've made negative assumptions about him after that PV dropped.
In his memory, there was a website called the Jingying Forum that often posted… utterly unhinged content.
This included, but wasn't limited to, claims like Venti kneeling to Raiden Shogun, no leaker info meaning a new map wasn't made, or video game releases affecting a nation's dragon veins—content so absurd it could make your head explode just reading it.
Naturally, new characters not mentioned in leaks were also branded as "parachute characters" and criticized.
Daelan shook his head lightly.
"I hope my existence hasn't sparked some gender war nonsense. That'd be no fun for me…"
"Wait, could that actually be a way to boost Popularity Points?"
Daelan fell into thought, until an even more unhinged comment and the emotionless synthetic voice of the chat bot crashed his brain entirely.
"Ah~ such a gentle smile, such considerate expressions and actions, he's so kind, I'm in love~"
"Attention, everyone, look at me! I've got an announcement! I'm Lord Advisor's dog!"
"Hehe… Daelan… my Daelan… hehehe…"
"This gentle smile reminds me of my great-grandma… ah~ that kind smile just killed me. Great-grandma… no, I mean, Lord Daelan! Take me away!"
"Lord Daelan, why did you leave? Why didn't you board the Aquabus with me? Lord Daelan! Lord Daelan! How am I supposed to live without you, waaah!"
"I'm inspired! The untold stories of Lord Advisor and Lord Chief Justice! I'm starting the draft now!"
"Hurry up and update! Platinum-tier potential, I won't sleep tonight!"
"I said I'm a face-con! I'm already in 2D land, so let me have this! Besides, he smiles so gently, just like Baizhu, who we misunderstood. Why can't he be a good guy?"
"What parachute character? Having a Vision makes him a parachute character? The game was made by leakers? Are you crazy, or am I?"
Hearing this, Daelan's expression gradually softened.
"Looks like there are still more normal people in the world…"
"But… why does it feel like everyone's a bit love-starved? Or is it because my persona satisfies their craving for a good character?"