I'm Turning Into Gacha Characters?!

Chapter 526: Turned Into Gacha?! - 526

Even in this world, the gaming industry remained a highly developed and booming market.

In fact, it was precisely because this world was plagued by so many disasters and dangers that gaming found an even richer soil to grow in, enjoying a much higher level of acceptance among the public.

The Gaming Festival was a massive event held every six months in M-City. As mentioned before, many game developers viewed it as the ultimate stage to showcase their titles, pouring a staggering amount of resources into the event.

Naturally, securing an endorsement from an S-class hero whose popularity was currently skyrocketing was an unparalleled marketing strategy.

"Divine Domain Line" was an open-world MMORPG set in a fantasy alternative universe.

Although it wasn’t produced by some small indie studio, its overall production value wasn’t particularly outstanding either. It was essentially a low-budget project from a major corporation.

After all, the MMORPG genre simply didn’t hold the same massive appeal nowadays as it used to in the past.

Yet, just a few days before the festival was set to begin, this specific game suddenly became the center of a massive storm of discussion.

The reason was simple: the S-Class hero, the Hero Alice, was playing it.

How did the news leak out that Alice was playing the game? The sequence of events was actually quite straightforward.

It all came down to the fact that Alice and Piko had been playing for a considerable amount of time, and they had consistently remained among the top-tier players.

Even if the top-tier players didn’t know each other personally, they still shared a relatively tight-knit circle. But even within such circles, there would always be times when, for one reason or another, someone couldn’t find a group among their acquaintances.

In those moments, they had no choice but to rely on random matchmaking to clear dungeons.

As a result, Alice and Piko, who were highly active in random matchmaking queues, became incredibly conspicuous.

They always appeared together and never expanded their circle.

A melee healer-tank and a ranged mage—such a duo wasn’t inherently strange, but the problem lay in the fact that the healer-tank’s mechanical plays were simply absurd.

Flawless, script-like precision with zero mistakes was bound to catch everyone’s attention, whether they were clearing dungeons or fighting in the PVP arena.

Slowly but surely, rumors began to spread: That Paladin (the healer-tank) is definitely a script run by the mage.

Aside from your essential skills, you have a one-hundred-percent block and dodge rate. You’re not even trying to hide it anymore.

This sentiment reached a boiling point after a popular streamer was thoroughly crushed by the duo, causing him to rage-quit and rally a massive hate campaign against them.

Eventually, things naturally escalated to a full-blown public reporting frenzy.

Yet, these mass reports proved entirely useless. The official game developers would only repeat their generic response: "There is no evidence of cheating for this player."

When legitimate avenues failed, people naturally turned to extreme measures.

A technologically savvy player decided to dox them. After successfully digging up the phone numbers of both the Paladin and the Mage, he used that information to trace their actual identities.

"Holy crap! It’s Alice!"

The moment the player discovered this, he immediately hid his IP address and passed the information through multiple channels, eventually selling it to a tabloid marketing account.

The tabloid immediately leaked the news to a small circle to build suspense, and shortly after, published a full article on it.

[SHOCKING! The ’Cheating’ Player in Divine Domain Line is Actually HER!]

’Can’t even hate on this, those are literal script-level mechanics.’

’So it really was the Hero?! I ran a dungeon with her once before, and I thought her voice sounded super familiar at the time!’

’Just asking because I don’t know, but can an actual script even be as cracked as her?’

’She’s basically a human cheat code at this point...’

’Thank goodness she doesn’t play FPS games. Otherwise, who could ever beat her? Even the most aggressive aimbots wouldn’t be able to lock onto targets faster than she does.’

’Her aim might be perfect, but game sense is also really important. It’s not like two people just standing on opposite sides seeing who can pull the trigger faster. Health pools are limited, so getting the drop on someone is crucial.’

The massive wave of discussion quickly generated immense hype.

Naturally, the official team behind Divine Domain Line noticed the trending topic and immediately reached out to Alice’s manager, hoping to invite her to become the official spokesperson for the game.

Granted, no amount of marketing could ever be more effective than the celebrity herself actively playing at the top tier of the game. Offering her a contract was practically throwing free money at her.

But regardless of whether it was free money or not, gaining Alice’s goodwill and keeping her happily playing the game was what truly mattered.

In fact, the game’s balance designers were already brainstorming ways to buff the Paladin class.

Alice, of course, had no objections to the invitation. Her manager wasn’t about to let the game developers freely capitalize on Alice’s massive wave of publicity either.

Seeing them tactfully show up to deliver a paycheck finally appeased the manager’s irritated mood.

The three parties hit it off immediately.

Thus, Alice was brought onto the promotional stage during the Gaming Festival, where several players were randomly selected to join her for an exclusive sneak peek at the new expansion map and dungeons.

A beautiful girl who loved video games, who also happened to be a powerful S-class hero filled with a profound sense of justice—the combination of these traits drew an enormous crowd of players to the Divine Domain Line booth.

The sea of people wanting her autograph practically filled the entire line of sight.

Meanwhile, Saitama and Genos stood a short distance away, silently watching the spectacle.

"She really is popular, that kid."

Saitama took a sip of the bottled water provided for free by the exhibition.

Before Genos could reply, a few girls nearby noticed him. Thrilled by the discovery, they happily ran over to ask for his autograph.

"Yes. Alice’s fan club is one of the most active among all the heroes, and their numbers have rapidly climbed to the top tiers," Genos replied, casually signing his name as he spoke.

Even Genos has fans...

Saitama’s expression stiffened as he poured more water down his throat.

"Hmm?"

Just as he silently averted his eyes, feeling the stark contrast between their lives, his gaze suddenly locked onto a figure lurking nearby. The person looked incredibly shifty, moving with a heavy air of suspicion.

Coming here was definitely the right call after all. In crowded places like this, it was only natural for troublemakers to appear. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about meeting his active duty quota for the month.

Setting aside the melancholy and helplessness in his heart, Saitama kept his eyes locked on the target. Just to be safe, he called out to Genos. "Look over there at that guy. He gives off a really dangerous vibe."

"A dangerous individual? But I am not detecting any energy signatures from him." Genos followed Saitama’s gaze, but a quick scan revealed no hidden explosives or weapons.

Did that mean the crime wouldn’t be on a massive scale?

"That works out fine. It looks like Alice is going to be busy for a while longer. Let’s tail him first, and then we can catch him the exact moment he tries to make a move." Saitama quickly made up his mind.

"Genos, I’ll leave the recording to you."

"Wait a moment, Master..."

However, Genos stopped Saitama’s plan. After observing the figure more carefully, he spoke with a hint of hesitation.

"Regrettably, Master, he is not a suspicious individual. According to my analytical comparison, that man should be M-City’s S-class hero, the strongest man on Earth—King."

"Huh?" Saitama looked at Genos, then looked back at the ’strongest man on Earth.’ The initial enthusiasm on his face vanished instantly.

What a letdown. He really thought he could take this opportunity to fulfill his active duty quota.

"But... why would King be here? And why is he acting so suspiciously?" A doubt surfaced in Genos’s mind, and he voiced it aloud.

"Furthermore, his eyes keep darting between his watch and Alice. He appears to be in quite a hurry."

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T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL