Xianzhou, Jinren Alley.
After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Tatsuke rented a room near the hotel.
The room was clean and tidy, with all the necessary amenities.
Tatsuke sat by the window, sipping on the specialty wine provided by the hotel, and opened the system interface.
[Popularity: 20,000+]
[In-Game Purchases: 0]
[Current Total Points: 20,000]
[Congratulations, host, for reaching the first milestone. Rewards: 5,000 points and one small promotional opportunity.]
"Promotional opportunity?"
Seeing this reward, Tatsuke couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
Hadn't he already used Guinaifen's livestream to promote the game? What was this system-given promotional opportunity about?
Clicking on the corresponding description, Tatsuke quickly understood its purpose.
"Unconditionally place advertisements within a certain range?"
"This…"
[Recommended Placement Locations: Herta Space Station / Penacony]
Tatsuke thought for a moment.
He initially wanted to place the ads in Penacony, as it was a hub of dreams with a large flow of people. The game would definitely attract more attention there.
But after checking the map.
He couldn't help but complain, "The range is way too small!"
"Placing it in Penacony wouldn't even cover a single landmark!"
"Placing it in the space station would cover most of it, though."
"Fine, let's go with the space station for now."
As Tatsuke activated the promotion, all the advertising screens in the main control sector of the space station instantly changed.
Ads for things like lost item locators and Cali White were all replaced.
[New Mobile Game – Honkai: Star Rail. Log in now and get three Astral Express crew members for free! Plus, [Asta] and [Herta], all free!]
[What are you waiting for? Get ahead of the curve and start your Trailblazing journey today!]
The ad's cover featured silhouettes of March 7th, Dan Heng, and Stelle, with the most prominent being the illustrations of Asta and Herta.
This ad copy was specifically tailored by the system for the space station's context.
To say the least, this straightforward and bold approach was highly effective for the space station's staff, who were used to monotonous, repetitive ads.
Seeing such an interesting ad suddenly pop up, anyone would stop and take a look.
"Honkai: Star Rail? Never heard of this mobile game before."
"A free game? And they're giving away characters just for logging in? That's so generous!"
"What does it mean by [Asta] and [Herta]? Did they turn Station Manager Asta and Lady Herta into game characters?"
"If that's the case, I have to play this!"
"Ad, you better deliver! If I don't get those characters when I log in, I'm reporting you immediately!"
The staff who saw the ads stopped in their tracks.
Pulling out their phones, they started downloading Honkai: Star Rail from the app store.
The space station wasn't that big.
News spread quickly.
Soon, it reached the meeting room where Asta was.
"Miss, this is the situation."
Arlan explained seriously,
"All the ad screens seem to have been hacked at the same time, and they're all displaying ads for… uh… Honkai: Star Rail."
"Should we cut the power to those ad screens?"
"No, no…"
Asta shook her head while looking at her phone,
"This game is actually quite interesting. I'm about to do a [Warp]."
"Warp?"
"Yeah, it's this thing where you can pull characters you know from real life, like March 7th, Himeko, and even… maybe Lady Herta!"
As she spoke, Asta tapped the [Warp Once] option.
A regular train ticket floated in space, and the Astral Express soon arrived.
With Conductor Pom-Pom making an appearance.
The rear door opened, and purple light spilled out.
Asta was excited. "Purple light… Hmm, I think I just pulled a 4-star character!"
From the light.
An illustration appeared of a girl sitting next to a giant telescope.
[Asta (New), Fire Attribute, 4-Star, Harmony]
Arlan was stunned.
Asta's mouth hung open in an "o" shape.
She pulled a character.
And it was herself?
Alan opened his mouth, struggling to find the words.
"Miss, you… are also a character in this game?"
"I… I don't know!"
Asta seemed flustered. It was the first time she'd encountered something like this in a game.
"But I did see myself in the game's story earlier."
"So that's how it is…"
Arlan lowered his head, deep in thought.
"Miss, I'll have my engineers check if any other programs in the space station have been hacked."
"Okay, go ahead."
Asta gradually calmed down.
Eagerly, she opened the character interface.
And started reading her skill descriptions.
"Skill [Meteor Shower]… Deals additional damage 4 times…"
"Ultimate [Stellar Blessing], increases the speed of all allies…"
"Wow… How does the developer know I love stars!?"
Meanwhile.
After leaving Asta, Arlan didn't immediately contact his engineers.
Instead, he returned to his quarters.
Pulled out his phone.
And with slightly trembling fingers, searched for Honkai: Star Rail.
Soon, the download was complete.
As he launched the game, he muttered to himself, "I… I want to pull Miss Asta too!"
"And I'll protect her."
"Even in the game, I won't let Miss Asta get hurt."
(T/N: Good, you should protect MC's women!)
To be continued…