Honkai, But I Have Too Many Mods

However, before that, some preparations were needed.

Liu Bai took out a stack of gacha coins from the box.

Ten coins—this was the so-called beginner's ten-pull.

Holding these ten gacha coins, Liu Bai walked up to the gacha machine.

Equipment Pool, Character Pool.

[Current featured items in Equipment Pool: Time-Stop Pocket Watch, Hypnosis Ring, Cursed Armor, Heavenly Fire Greatsword...]

[Designated featured characters in Character Pool: Black Swan, Sparkle, Ruan Mei, Kafka...]

They were all long lists of names. After a moment of thought, Liu Bai decisively chose the Character Pool.

—A ten-pull definitely couldn't be relied upon for a good outcome, so he could only maximize his gains as much as possible.

For him, he couldn't use most of the powerful items. Something like the Heavenly Fire Greatsword, he couldn't even lift it—of course, pocket watches and rings of that sort were another story.

As for the ten-pull in the Character Pool, although there wasn't a guaranteed character mechanism, what if he got a "four-star"?

They were all mixed-pool gachas. Gambling for a "four-star character" was much more reliable than gambling for a "four-star item."

Furthermore, his companions had innate favorability bonuses, so mutual hatred wouldn't be a problem...

Oh, right, what was Firefly's current favorability towards him?

Liu Bai opened the companion tab with curiosity and took a look.

[Companion: Firefly (Favorability 81)]

Chapter 5: Games and Reality Are Different

81... This favorability was already enough to be considered boyfriend-girlfriend, right?

In games, it seemed like you could directly start...

"Um... Mr. Liu Bai, is there something on my face?"

Sensing Liu Bai's gaze constantly on her, Firefly, who had already closed her eyes, shyly opened them and looked at Liu Bai.

"No, no, there's nothing at all."

Liu Bai looked at Firefly's pure expression and silently chastised himself.

Liu Bai, Liu Bai, how could you be so depraved.

—Wouldn't someone who wasn't depraved play mods like "Time Stop," "Hypnosis Ring," or "Cursed Armor"?

Alright, face reality. He was already a depraved adult.

There was nothing shameful about liking lewd things.

As long as he didn't corrupt others.

Liu Bai comforted himself in his mind as he inserted the ten gacha coins into the machine.

As for the banner... let's pick one that's relatively viable. If he got lucky, it would be a huge win.

Jingliu... or Acheron?

Hmm, Acheron.

Anyway, there was numerical balancing, so the power gap between five-star characters wouldn't be too large.

Characters who had appeared but weren't implemented yet always had an extra appeal.

After selecting the banner, Liu Bai silently turned the ten-pull button.

Ding-a-ling-dong-dong~~

Accompanied by a noisy and exaggerated musical fanfare, ten gacha balls rolled out from the machine's exit.

[Liyue Merchant Guild 50% Off Discount Coupon]

[Charm Garland]

[Killer Rabbit Plush Costume]

[USP45]

[Combat Skill Replication Card]

[Still-Warm Pure White Lingerie]

[Ripped Black Stockings]

...What in the world is all this?

After opening seven gacha balls, the first five were passable, but the last two...

"M-M-Mr. Liu Bai? You, you, you, you..." Firefly had somehow climbed out of bed again, her face bright red as she looked at the clothes in Liu Bai's hands. "I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!"

Firefly immediately covered her head with the blanket.

"That misunderstanding dialogue of yours is too classic! These came out of the gacha machine! It has nothing to do with me!"

"I'm sorry! I completely understand! A-after all, Mr. Liu Bai is an adult!"

Firefly had no intention of coming out from under the covers.

"She's not listening to me at all!"

Liu Bai muttered, then couldn't help but press his forehead.

Well, I can't blame anyone else. These items were all self-made mods. I have to accept the consequences of my own actions, even if it means crying.

There were three more. He continued to open them.

[Salted Fish]

[Light Cone: Abyssal]

[Companion Doll: Guinaifen]

"Um... can I eat it?"

Firefly cautiously poked her head out from the covers, looking at the salted fish in Liu Bai's hand.

"Uh... how should I put it." Liu Bai grabbed the fish tail and waved it. "This thing... although it looks like a salted fish and smells like a salted fish, it's actually a... katana."

"Eh?"

Firefly looked completely confused but still tried her best to understand.

"This... uh... a prank from the Aeon of Elation?"

What kind of decent sword is made to look like a salted fish!

"Why don't you lick it a couple of times to satisfy your craving?" Liu Bai thought for a moment and handed the salted fish knife over, deciding to let Firefly have a taste.

Some things are easier to accept once you've experienced them firsthand.

"Eh? Then, then I'll really lick it?"

As soon as she held it, Firefly realized from the feel that this salted fish really seemed to be a knife.

But emotionally... she just couldn't accept it.

Firefly brought the salted fish to her mouth and slowly extended her small tongue to lick the blade.

"...It's salty."

It really is a knife.

Firefly felt a mix of emotions.

[Light Cone: Abyssal]

[Once per day, increases abnormal status hit chance by 20%]

[Player maximum equipment limit is 10, companion equipment limit is 1]

This thing... I'm sorry, but Liu Bai's first thought was to use this item with a hypnosis item...

But I don't have anything like that on hand right now.

At this moment, Liu Bai looked at the last gacha item, [Companion Doll: Guinaifen].

[Companion Doll: Guinaifen]

[Pull the thread on the doll's back, and you will obtain the companion: Guinaifen]

It actually dropped...

Liu Bai flipped the palm-sized doll of the young girl over. Sure enough, he found a popped thread on the back.

He pulled.

Without much hesitation, Liu Bai directly pulled the thread.

With a pop, the doll instantly transformed into a red-haired, ponytail-wearing girl who was shorter than Liu Bai.

"Hi hi! My name is Guinaifen! Gui means..."

"Skip— cough, never mind." Liu Bai's player habits were a bit severe. "My name is Liu Bai, nice to meet you."

"Boss, wait for me to finish introducing myself! Gui means 'wood,' Nai means 'is,' and Fen means 'fragrant.' Boss, you can just call me Xiao Guizi. Although this is my first time working as a bodyguard, I'll do my best— so, which planet is this?"

Guinaifen had a lively smile on her face, acting like an old friend.

[Companion · Guinaifen Profile Unlocked]

[Guinaifen Initial Favorability: 40]

"This is..." Firefly was stunned.

What did she just see? A doll transforming into a lively girl?

"Mr. Liu Bai, this... could this be some kind of cosmic marvel? Or a new invention from the Genius Club?"

She had never known that such a thing existed in the universe!

"Boss? Is this your sister or your girlfriend?" Guinaifen tilted her head and looked at Firefly.

"Currently, we are just simple friends— none of that is important."

Liu Bai reached out and placed his hand on Guinaifen's shoulder.

"You're calling me the big boss?"

"Yeah, didn't you pay a large sum of money to hire me? I really didn't expect teleportation to be so instantaneous, though. So high-tech," Guinaifen said, smacking her lips in amazement.

This seemed to be a rationalized background for gacha pulls—after all, characters pulled in games didn't have free will.

"Since that's the case, I'll need your help later. There might be a fight."

"Huh? A fight? Me? O-Okay, bodyguard work inevitably involves fighting... Although I'm better at eating noodles upside down..."

To be honest, although Liu Bai was a veteran player, he wasn't really sure about Raven's specific combat style.

This is a joke, right? An unspeakable mod plus a Honkai compilation pack. Who would believe they came here to experience combat!

Combat was just a bonus, an appetizer.

The goal was to make the game less bland without resorting to violent modifications, and to trigger some special plotlines.

The normal progression should be working to earn money, exchanging money for gacha coins, gambling for hypnosis items, unlocking hypnosis skills, and then exploiting a bug to practice stealth skills.

Then, sneak into desired locations to start hypnotizing. If it failed, immediately use stealth, repeating this process until the hypnosis was successful.

...Anyway, Liu Bai didn't understand why, in the game, if you crouched in front of someone, they would instantly stop seeing you.

Chapter 6: Liu Bai, Become a Guinea Pig

"Hmm... is this thing really worth thousands of dollars?"

Raven, who had just changed into casual wear, sat on the bed examining the teapot in her hands.

"I can indeed feel a unique texture and aesthetic... Never mind, this thing should be considered a work of art, right? Anyway, I'm not the one paying the sucker tax."

Raven chose to trust Gray Serpent's judgment. If that guy said it was worth thousands, it was definitely worth thousands.

That guy's knowledge was so broad that even the Serpent Lord would be ashamed.