Cheng Tian had originally guessed that the Red Demon's skills would be nothing more than basic enhancements like spitting fireballs, increased agility, or double jumps. At best, there might be the Red Demon's petrification ability, whose strengths and weaknesses were both painfully obvious.
Although the Red Demon had been elevated to the status of a spin-off protagonist due to her popularity, and was countless times stronger than the weakest Netherworld penguin, the "Prinnies," from that Disgaea spin-off, a Red Demon was still a Red Demon. Her foundation was there; no matter how strong she became, she could never reach the level of her top-ranking superiors.
Yet Cheng Tian had never expected the Red Demon template for his random skill to be the special Red Demon unit that appeared as a hidden boss in the fighting game SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos.
Strictly speaking, it had directly turned the Red Demon's kill Easter egg into a skill.
In that fighting game, the vast majority of opponents defeated by the Red Demon were forcibly transformed into Western demons or Japanese yokai.
For example, Mai Shiranui, after being defeated by the Red Demon, would become Aoonagabi from the ranks of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons—a yokai with an exceptionally outstanding figure, a mouthful of "noble" blackened teeth, and an overwhelming desire to get married... which fit perfectly with her setting of chasing Andy around and forcing him to marry her.
Chun-Li, meanwhile, would turn into a Qing dynasty hopping zombie with an iron-blue complexion, talismans plastered to her forehead, and both arms held straight out in front of her. Combined with Chun-Li's own bun hairstyle and kung fu girl image, it was a perfect display of Japanese stereotypes about China.
As for Iori Yagami, who hated violence the most... he would become a skeletal turret with Iori Yagami's distinctive pompadour hairstyle, no limbs, and only a spine and skull. He would probably fit right into Castlevania without the slightest sense of incongruity.
And just as the Additional Evaluation mentioned, aside from the Red Demon, there were two other beings in that game capable of changing other people's appearances.
Those killed by Athena would become animals embodying stereotypes associated with their original selves.
Using Mai Shiranui as an example again, she would become a voluptuous... dairy cow.
However, it was worth noting that this Athena, dressed in a bikini and wielding a sword and shield, was not Athena Asamiya, the popular singer from The King of Fighters. She was the playable protagonist from the arcade game Athena, released as early as 1986—a genuine counterpart of the Victory Goddess.
According to SNK's supplementary setting, Athena and Athena Asamiya had a relationship like that of ancestor and descendant. In fact, in later King of Fighters games, some of Athena Asamiya's ultimate moves briefly made her take on the appearance of her ancestor.
Demitri, the vampire from Darkstalkers, possessed a special ability that forcibly turned any living creature into a woman for a short period, then sucked dry all of their bodily fluids.
If there were no women around, he would turn men into women first and then forcibly suck them dry. He truly had no qualms about anything.
But this character's greatest contribution was probably that his gender-swapping skill made SNK design corresponding female character settings and models for nearly every male and nonhuman character. The most famous among them was Goenitz, who had been gynified after taking the gender-swapping ultimate.
Her ascetic nun-like appearance after the gender swap became so popular that it even spawned fan creations from the "Storm Girl" player community.
Cheng Tian even suspected that the official All-Female Combat game released by SNK in 2018, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, had likely originated from Demitri's gender-swapping ability.
Terry, the legendary wolf and leading man of Fatal Fury, had been directly transformed into Terryl, with her long legs and bouncy jelly. Her excellent character model could even occasionally be found in the 3D section... all Cheng Tian could say was that the game's developers definitely knew how to indulge themselves.
At this moment, Cheng Tian could neither turn people into animals nor gender-swap them, but he could turn people into things from the Western demon and Night Parade of a Hundred Demons variety. The entertainment value was truly through the roof.
Thinking of this, Cheng Tian was practically itching to meet the Cyclops at the end of this stage!
What? What if Night Parade of a Hundred Demons failed its check?
Wouldn't it be even more fun if Cheng Tian transformed himself?
Completely ignoring the two college students watching him with cautious looks, Cheng Tian continued fiddling with his panel.
As Night Parade of a Hundred Demons officially joined his skill bar, the panel also provided Cheng Tian with the information he most needed to know.
He still had three Blank Skill Slots remaining.
Sure enough, a Novice Player's maximum skill slots was only four, which was within expectations.
Although the practical combat effect of Night Parade of a Hundred Demons could only be said to have potential for the future, it was not a useless skill after all. It was still worth looking forward to.
After dealing with his skill, Cheng Tian immediately dumped every last Free Attribute Point he had barely had time to warm into the Strength Attribute.
In short, increasing his HP first could never be wrong.
Including the 2 Agility points granted by the First Kill of Red Demon achievement, Cheng Tian's base attributes had become Strength 14, Agility 12, Spirit 12, and Charisma 9.
He had not yet felt any tangible improvement from Agility, but his Max HP rising from 100 to 140 was a real change. A 1.4-fold increase in health really gave him a sense of security.
Since he was still wearing the Knight Armor, Cheng Tian did not notice the changes to his physique. But if he stripped naked right now, he would discover that his slightly pudgy stomach had become a solid chocolate-bar six-pack, square and sharply defined.
Moreover, while there were no visible changes in muscle size, Cheng Tian could clearly feel that the armor on his body seemed much lighter.
He casually picked up the War Hammer beside him. Since he now met the equipment's basic requirements, holding and swinging it had become effortless.
The difference between 10 Strength and 14 Strength was truly substantial.
Cheng Tian glanced at the remaining time for the main quest. There were less than seven hours left, but considering that the most threatening Red Demon had already been dealt with, the stage's overall time limit should still be fairly generous.
Also, the 10 HP Cheng Tian had lost earlier by deliberately taking a zombie's slap had already fully recovered.
Cheng Tian did not know about other races for the time being, but he had more or less figured out his own recovery rate.
For an adult male of the Earth Human Race, the recovery rate was roughly 1 HP per minute. Converted out, each point of Strength corresponded to 0.1 HP recovered per minute, and that was only while out of combat and with expendable energy available to the body.
Cheng Tian was very hungry and thirsty right now. The food he had stuffed himself with at home earlier had nearly been consumed by his natural HP regeneration.
As the saying went, sharpening the knife did not delay the chopping of wood. Having already overcome the major threat of the Red Demon, Cheng Tian prepared to rest for a while and take care of his physiological needs.
The two college students, who had kept their distance ever since the Red Demon battle began, could only watch helplessly as Cheng Tian stripped back down until he was wearing nothing but Strawberry Underwear, then openly began relieving himself toward the bushes without a trace of embarrassment.
They had only one evaluation of that--
What incredible water pressure!
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