Hibiscus wasn't in a hurry to reply for now.
Although it might sound rude, the netizens were indeed all fun-seekers at heart. Everyone's willingness to offer advice was half out of goodwill and half to create even bigger excitement and watch the fun. Having figured this out by now, she naturally had to cater to their preferences.
Greetings weren't really greetings—the subtext was "where's your update?" So the best reply wasn't verbal.
She solemnly brought up the system interface and held a copy of "Basic Video Editing for Beginners," carefully selecting angles, timing, and composition. After all, Magical Girls had more time than ordinary people since they needed less sleep—might as well learn editing so as not to waste the footage. Don't look at the system's comprehensive recording as very advanced—it was actually more like a perceptual field of view, requiring considerable effort to transform into cinematic language.
After a full half day of work, Hibiscus finally uploaded her rookie creation.
Beep!
When the upload progress bar finished, the special followers also received notifications. Thanks to Hibiscus's "tireless role-playing," she had attracted quite a following.
Sure enough, video views continued climbing. The footage began with the airplane—as the opening act of an entire war, the flying Disaster Beast swarm greeted uninvited guests in the form of burning clouds. The first-person perspective of air disaster turbulence, dim lighting, and screaming passengers created an atmosphere rivaling movies of the same genre.
No acting, only genuine emotion.
Fortunately, Hibiscus defeated the burning clouds in time, otherwise there would probably have been only one survivor on the entire plane.
When she aimed at flying Disaster Beasts through the window with a gun gesture, the bullet comments were enthusiastic: "I have a feeling this will become an iconic scene," "Check-in record," "Photo op," "Nice scene, I can screenshot directly," "The miracle of the 11-second pause." No wonder—that segment was quite cinematically appealing.
In the footage, the girl's expression was resolute, her gaze like torches, resembling a hunter staring at prey while aiming. The gray, chaotic cabin didn't affect the brilliant meteoric magic power at all.
Boom!
Red light reflected on Hibiscus's face, adding a heroic air. Even she herself admired the good composition and angle.
It was just an appetizer—you don't need to get too excited.
The camera flashed through several scenes introducing her rest and return to battle. The school rescue episode was glossed over quickly, transitioning to the battlefield itself, where Disaster Beast swarms launched three-dimensional sea-air attacks while humans responded with artillery fire, smoke, and frequent thunderous echoes.
Hibiscus wasn't eager to cut to her own fighting. Instead, she used wide-angle overhead shots to capture the entire battlefield, like an eagle soaring high over the ocean:
In the footage, coastal artillery lined up densely, fortresses distributed thickly, the entire beach erected into an iron wall as solid as gold. Warships continuously sailed from the harbor, naval guns never ceasing fire, interwoven barrages like raindrops. Missiles whooshed and whistled, flying into enemy formations to explode in cloud clusters, pouring out almost regardless of cost. Fighter jets kept falling from the sky trailing thick smoke, but they continued charging forward to supplement fire suppression points. At this moment, humanity displayed unity and solidarity, this determination to defend civilization was enough to resonate—even watching it again made Hibiscus's heart surge.
Even such firepower couldn't stop the Abyssal White Whale's sweep. Defense lines collapsed one after another until landing was imminent.
——The decisive battle began.
With Commander Pasha seizing the opening for a desperate attack as the battle cry, even warships out of ammunition directly rammed Disaster Beasts. At this point, Hibiscus stopped being a bystander.
As soon as she intervened, the battlefield situation changed dramatically. The Boss Disaster Beast had to entangle with the time-controlling Magical Girl and couldn't break free, causing the leaderless Disaster Beast army to show signs of decline.
Facing the combined forces of Hibiscus and Pasha, the Abyssal White Whale gradually accumulated injuries but couldn't convert them into victory, even being caught in openings.
Unless one wielded miracles—and Sands of Time was a miracle.
From the camera's perspective, the time flow change suddenly brought calm winds and still waves, seagulls flew slowly, sea breeze froze, everything became sluggish and slow, trending toward stillness yet maintaining some inexplicable inertia. This scene could only be described as "divine miracle"—all things were imprisoned while only Hibiscus remained unaffected. She was the sole ruler in that fragment of time.
Crack!
The magic power blade decomposed the Disaster Beast. Even the massive Abyssal White Whale became sashimi.
The war was over. Humanity had once again defended their homeland. Cheers arose, and a spirit rose from the broken city—at least they hadn't lost hope.
Hibiscus didn't need excess cinematic language to say anything. The genuinely conveyed joy was incomparable. Now viewing it from another perspective, she admitted this war was indeed brutal. On the other hand, Sands of Time's second skill "relative flow rate" had more visual impact than imagined. After all, no one knew what specifically happened during time stop, but this move plainly displayed magical might before everyone's eyes.
【Perfect special effects, incomparable】
【Worth waiting so long for—as soon as you update, you pull off a technical showcase】
【Actually 10 minutes long. Clearly not long or short, but feels like it passed in a glance. Is this also time magic?】
【Some insincere war films don't even have this many big production shots total. You directly overview an entire naval battle, plus added fighter jets, monsters, and warships. Just ridiculous. Suggest all penny-pinching producers learn from this】
【Budget is burning】
【Time Priestess is too stunning. Although it's a live-action film, it doesn't break immersion at all—even elevates it. Yes, exactly, Sands of Time should have this kind of special effects】
【Abyssal White Whale clearly isn't something Hyacinth at her current level could defeat. The simulation world got a major buff—so now you're the protagonist, huh?】
【Slapped in the face, right? I believe in power scaling, but I believe more in the future Time Priestess】
【Reposted. Betting this special effects video will definitely go viral】
Hibiscus hadn't deliberately emphasized her screen time, but everyone's focus was obviously on the Magical Girl's abilities. Actually, the previous skeptical voices weren't wrong—they just didn't know she possessed system rewards.
Of course, there were also some people making shocking declarations about wanting to be Miss Pasha's dog—truly earth-shattering statements.
Though unexpected, the netizens' acceptance ability was otherworldly. They quickly acknowledged that current Hyacinth's strength far exceeded the original world line, with unlimited future potential. Perhaps she could surpass version T0 in the future and pioneer a "phantom god" tier. At the same time, everyone's discussion of combat power became increasingly heated.
【White Whale fought too poorly. Should have stayed submerged and not come out—what could you do to me? Or commanding more minions to charge would be more exciting】
【New version T3: Abyssal White Whale that doesn't need to breathe】
【Hyacinth won, strongest battle record, engraved in Tokyo】
【Laughcry.jpg】
【Set as villain, but actual plot status is protagonist, knows spatial slash. Done for—it's the Curse King】
【When will Hyacinth develop Sands of Time's output skills? I want to see how movie special effects express time slash, temporal fracture, and spacetime exile. Can't wait—ants crawling all over my body】
【Too conservative. Fast forward to stopping planetary motion and flinging the surface into space】
Looking at the many skills everyone described, Hibiscus was naturally tempted, but it was too hasty—even if you want to see it, I can't do it.