I Want to See Terryl in the 3D Zone Immediately!

Cheng Tian's initial guess about the Red Devil's skills involved basic enhancements like fireballs, increased agility, and double jumps. Even better, he thought, would be the Red Devil's signature shapeshifting ability, which had very obvious pros and cons.

Although the Red Devil had been elevated to the status of a side-story protagonist due to its popularity, and its strength far surpassed that of the "Prinny," the weakest demon in the Netherworld from the Disgaea spin-off, it was still the Red Devil. Its foundation was set, and no matter how strong it became, it couldn't reach the level of its superiors.

But Cheng Tian never expected that the Red Devil blueprint for his random skill would actually be a special Red Devil unit that appeared as a hidden BOSS in the fighting game SNK vs. Capcom: The Millennium 2000.

Moreover, strictly speaking, this was directly turning the Red Devil's kill-screen into a skill.

In that fighting game, most opponents defeated by the Red Devil would be forcibly transformed into Western demons or Japanese yokai.

For example, Mai Shiranui, after being defeated by the Red Devil, would transform into the "Aoonagabi," a yokai with an outstanding figure who was part of the Hyakki Yagyō procession. She would have "noble" black teeth and an intense desire to get married, which fit her character's pursuit of Andy to force him to marry her.

Chun-Li, on the other hand, would transform into a Qing Dynasty zombie with an ashen complexion, a talisman on its head, and its hands held out, hopping around. Combined with Chun-Li's original "buns" hairstyle and her martial arts, it perfectly embodied the stereotype the Japanese had of China.

As for Iori Yagami, who hated violence the most... he would be transformed into a skeletal turret with Iori Yagami's unique pompadour hairstyle, no limbs, only a spine and skull. It would likely fit right into Castlevania without any sense of incongruity.

Furthermore, as mentioned in the additional evaluation, besides the Red Devil, there were two other beings in this game that could change the appearance of others.

The targets killed by Athena would transform into animals bearing the stereotype of their original selves.

Using Mai Shiranui as an example again, she would be transformed into a voluptuous... cow.

However, it's worth noting that this Athena, clad in a bikini and wielding a sword and shield, was not the popular singer Athena Asamiya from The King of Fighters, but the playable protagonist from the arcade game Athena released back in 1986. She was a genuine counterpart to the Victory Goddess.

According to SNK's additional lore, Athena and Athena Asamiya were related like an ancestor and descendant. In later King of Fighters installments, some of Athena Asamiya's special moves would even cause her to briefly resemble her ancestor.

And Demitri, the vampire from Darkstalkers, possessed a special ability to forcibly transform any living being into a female for a short period and then drain all of their bodily fluids.

If there were no females, he would transform males into females and then drain them, highlighting his indiscriminate nature.

But perhaps the character's greatest contribution was his gender-bending skill, which led SNK to design corresponding female personas and models for almost all male and non-human characters. The most famous among them was the "Goenitz" who was transformed into a female form after being hit by the gender-bending ultimate move.

Due to the popularity of his ascetic nun-like appearance after gender-bending, it even spawned fan-created content within the "Stormy" player community.

Cheng Tian even believed that the official all-female fighting game SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, released by SNK itself in 2018, might have originated from Demitri's gender-bending ability.

"Wolf of the Wilderness" Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury was directly transformed into Terryl, who had slender legs and bouncy jelly-like proportions. Her excellent character model was even occasionally seen in 3D communities... It could only be said that the game's developers must have indulged quite a bit.

At this moment, although Cheng Tian couldn't turn people into animals, nor could he gender-bend humans into females, he possessed the ability to turn people into things from the Western demon or Hyakki Yagyō bestiaries. This was truly full of fun.

Thinking of this, Cheng Tian was even a little eager to meet the Cyclops at the end of this level!

What if the Hyakki Yagyō transformation failed?

Wouldn't it be even more fun if Cheng Tian transformed himself!

Completely ignoring the two university students staring at him with cautious eyes, Cheng Tian continued to fiddle with his status panel.

As "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons" was officially added to the skill slots, the panel also provided Cheng Tian with the most crucial information.

He had 3 remaining Blank Skill Slots.

As expected, Novice Players only had a maximum of 4 skill slots, which was within the expected range.

Although the practical combat effect of "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons" could only be described as promising for the future, it wasn't a useless skill after all, and he was quite looking forward to it.

After dealing with the skills, Cheng Tian immediately poured all the Free Attribute Points he had just gotten his hands on into the Strength Attribute.

In short, bolstering his HP was the right move.

Including the 2 points of Agility from the First Kill of Red Demon achievement, Cheng Tian's base stats were now Strength 14, Agility 12, Spirit 12, and Charm 9.

He didn't feel any practical improvement from the Agility yet, but the Max HP increasing from 100 to 140 was a tangible change. A 1.4x HP increase indeed provided a great sense of security.

Since he was still wearing the Knight Armor, Cheng Tian didn't notice any changes in his physique. However, if he were to strip now, he would discover that his slightly flabby stomach had transformed into a chiseled six-pack, with distinct lines and perfect squares.

Furthermore, while there were no visible changes in muscle mass, Cheng Tian could clearly feel that his armor was much lighter.

He casually picked up the War Hammer placed beside him. Since he met the basic equipment requirements, holding and swinging it felt effortless.

The change from 10 Strength to 14 Strength was significant.

Cheng Tian glanced at the remaining time for the Main Quest, which was less than 7 hours. However, considering the most threatening enemy, the Red Demon, had already been dealt with, the overall quest time for this stage should be ample.

Incidentally, Cheng Tian's HP, which had dropped by 10 points earlier from deliberately taking a zombie's slap, had now fully recovered.

Cheng Tian was unsure about other races, but he had a good grasp of his own HP regeneration rate.

The HP regeneration rate for an adult male Earth Human Race was about 1 HP per minute. This translated to 0.1 HP per minute per point of Strength, and this was in a non-combat state with sufficient consumable energy.

Cheng Tian was very hungry and thirsty right now. The food he had devoured at home earlier had been mostly used up by his self-healing.

As the saying goes, "Sharpening the axe does not delay the chopping of wood." Having overcome the major threat of the Red Demon, Cheng Tian decided to take a short break to attend to his physiological needs.

Two University Students, who had maintained their distance since the Red Demon battle began, watched in stunned silence as Cheng Tian stripped down to just his Strawberry Underwear and unreservedly began to relieve himself in the bushes.

Their only comment on the matter was—

"That's some serious water pressure!"

Thanks to "A Night of Rain on a Small Building" for the 5,000 coin tip!!!

Thanks to "Crazy White Tiger" for the tip!