A World Where Only the Protagonist Was Useless

In the real world, as the first two episodes of "Stellaris Prequel: Embers" finished airing,

its exceptional production quality and massive promotional budget sparked quite a stir on Station 13.

Thanks to his years of groundwork and near-perfect performance in the first two episodes, Tiandao won the favor of many Station 13 viewers.

He successfully turned some site fans into dedicated character fans.

Topics such as "Tiandao Siming: Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic," "Sweets Can Heal Everything," and "Stellaris Prequel: True Protagonist" began to emerge.

His popularity visibly soared.

This also drew the attention of passersby who had known nothing about "Stellaris Prequel: Embers." Spurred by the heat of those topics, they noticed this brand-new anime and, after looking into it, joined the ranks of viewers following the show.

This further expanded the fanbase of "Stellaris Prequel: Embers."

And when episodes three and four of "Stellaris Prequel: Embers" officially aired on Sunday, that momentum was pushed even higher.

The third episode opened with Tiandao and the others arriving at the central arena to take part in the Final Assessment.

To emphasize just how difficult this Final Assessment was,

the production team gave the Rank 2 Star Beast, the Earth Dragon Lizard, an oppressive close-up when it appeared.

Every rocky scale on the Rank 2 Star Beast gleamed with a cold metallic sheen. When its claws landed on the arena, the entire image on Station 13's screens trembled.

Even through the screen, viewers could clearly feel the overwhelming pressure radiating from the Earth Dragon Lizard.

And unlike yesterday, when they had only a hazy understanding of the Stellaris World,

after two episodes of introduction,

most viewers had already learned some of the Stellaris World's setting.

For instance, although Tiandao and the other children were special, in the vast Stellaris World,

they were merely half-stars without even a Star Source.

Their strength was far inferior to that of Rank 1 Star Envoys who possessed Star Sources.

Yet these children, who were weaker even than Rank 1 Star Envoys, now had to face a Rank 2 Star Beast that even Rank 1 Star Envoys found difficult to match.

The difficulty of this Final Assessment was plain to see.

'Good lord, what exactly is this so-called Final Assessment? Starting straight at Hell difficulty?'

'Stats Designer, come out and take a beating! How are we supposed to fight this BOSS?'

'The one above, I suggest renaming this "Newbie Stumbles into Max-Level Dungeon."'

Staring at the immensely powerful Earth Dragon Lizard, the viewers all became curious about where the plot would go next.

After all, following the usual anime formula,

the more invincible an opponent appeared, the more likely they were to become the stepping stone for the protagonist's rise.

With that in mind, the viewers immediately began watching closely.

But things went differently from what they had imagined.

After seeing the terrifyingly powerful Earth Dragon Lizard, Chen Kong, the protagonist, did not first try to find a way to defeat it.

Instead, he timidly tried to cling to Tiandao's thigh!

"B-Brother Tian Dao."

"There's no helping it, Little Kong. This assessment is a bit troublesome. With you in tow, I can't guarantee I'll be able to handle this thing."

"Besides..." Tiandao turned to Chen Xing and said with a smile, "...compared to me, isn't there someone over there who's obviously a better partner for you?"

"Useless. Don't hold me back later."

"Oh, o-okay, Sis."

Watching the protagonist Chen Kong get rejected by Tiandao and scorned by his sister Chen Xing on screen,

the comments erupted in unanimous mockery.

'Tiandao: Little Kong, this assessment is a bit troublesome. (This is a high-tier match—you're too weak, I can't carry you.)'

'Honestly, if not for characters like Tiandao and Caroline, who would want to watch such a frustrating protagonist as Chen Kong?'

'Chen Xing: It's only because you're my brother that I'd bring an accessory into a peak-ranked match.'

Although Chen Kong's reaction left the viewers deeply dissatisfied, they did not waste much emotion on him.

Because Chen Xing's tsundere act of being sharp-tongued but soft-hearted made many viewers who had initially thought she was too "harsh" change their minds about her.

And the discussion completely overwhelmed the complaints about the protagonist, Chen Kong.

'Looks like her sharp tongue is just Chen Xing's way of being angry that her little brother won't improve, not because she truly hates him that much.'

'Yeah, yeah. I originally thought Chen Xing was a little too cold, but now it seems she's only cold on the outside and warm at heart.'

'Tsundere queen x scheming prince—Tian Xing CP is locked in!'

'Huh? How is it Tian Xing CP? Tian Ca CP is obviously sweeter, okay? Don't play matchmaker blindly!'

'Mechanoid Catgirl is the true way!'

'Tian Ca is the official pairing! They're already living together! (Meaning they appear together every time.)'

With the arrival of the pairing fans,

the direction of the comments instantly shifted from discussing Chen Xing's characterization to which characters were better suited to form a couple.

Interestingly, because of Chen Kong's terrible performance so far,

no matter how fiercely the pairing fans argued, Chen Kong was always excluded. No one wanted to pair him with any of the female characters introduced so far.

After all, in an anime world where looks were justice,

Chen Kong, with his utterly ordinary appearance and timid personality, really was not very likable.

And at that moment, Tiandao on screen seemed to have heard the voices of the viewers beyond the screen and directly became their mouthpiece.

"Hey, Caroline, don't you think Chen Xing has some hidden trait or something?"

"Otherwise, why does she clearly care so much about Little Kong, yet every time they meet, they act like enemies? It's as if she wants Little Kong to vanish from this world on the spot."

But in the face of Tiandao's complaint, Caroline, who was focused on analyzing the Earth Dragon Lizard's data, not only showed no reaction, but even gave him the cold violence treatment and ignored him outright.

The comments instantly burst into laughter at the sight.

'"My Boyfriend Is Less Attractive Than Data"'

'Cat being cold.jpg'

'Who says cold violence isn't violence?'

'Tiandao: So I'm the third wheel.'

Amid the cheerful atmosphere in the comments, the plot moved on to Tiandao approaching Jing Liuli among the crowd.

Jing Liuli, who stood apart from the crowd and could even lie down and fall asleep during the Final Assessment, immediately struck a chord with many viewers.

After all, cute and perpetually muddleheaded characters like her had always been popular.

So when Tiandao used his trump card, Chen Xing, to forcibly wake Jing Liuli from her nap,

the viewers naturally accepted this new character, who had only officially appeared in the third episode.

At the same time, to give viewers a more intuitive understanding of why Tiandao had approached Jing Liuli,

the production team specifically displayed her basic information when she first appeared.

Name: Jing Liuli

Student Ranking: NO.003

Star Core: Eternal Night Phantom Butterfly

Seeing that Jing Liuli, this little mascot, was actually ranked third among the students—second only to Tiandao and Chen Xing—

the comments froze.

Because no matter how they looked at her, Jing Liuli had nothing to do with being powerful.

Especially after Tiandao teased her, prompting her to childishly write "Liar Tiandao and dogs prohibited from approaching" on her beloved pillow with a marker, the viewers naturally regarded her as the group's cherished darling.

They did not think she could play much of a role on Tiandao's team.

But now, it seemed they had been wrong.

Jing Liuli, who looked useless on the outside, was not actually useless.

A Stellaris World where only the protagonist Chen Kong was useless had been achieved!

PS: I got a bit stuck on the writing today, so I'll only update one chapter for now. I'll make it up with three updates tomorrow. Sorry.