"Ding-dong—"
"Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong—!!!"
As PD displayed his friend code (UID) on the live stream's public screen, the system notification sounds in his sci-fi-themed Chaldea hall instantly rang out in unison, sounding as piercing as an air raid siren.
In just a dozen seconds, PD's friend request list was blown wide open, displaying a full [99+].
Upon opening it, he saw they were all F2P players, and every single one of them had 1-3 star Servants in their support slots—the very ones previously looked down upon by the whales.
"Holy smokes, this is even more active than the bullet chat when I'm giving out ten thousand yuan in red envelopes!"
PD wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and began carefully selecting from the list.
Soon, he spotted a viewer with the ID 'Just Playing It Real.' In this brother's support slot, there was a Cu Chulainn that had been fed all the way to max level (Lv. 20).
"I choose you, good brother!"
PD clicked 'Accept Request' without hesitation and waved his hand grandly in the stream. "Mod, give this brother 'Just Playing It Real' a VIP status. Once I finish this stage, a Super Rocket is on the way!"
The stream erupted again. Countless F2P players who weren't chosen were heartbroken, as if they had missed out on a hundred million.
A free-to-play 3-star card could actually be traded for a whale's Super Rocket? This world is crazy!
Having secured the max-level Cu Chulainn support, PD regained his confidence as a pro player.
He re-entered the [Formation] interface.
He had learned his lesson this time. Instead of stubbornly stuffing the team with five-star cards, he obediently placed the borrowed Level 20 Cu Chulainn in the starting Vanguard position.
He followed up with the junior Mash, as well as two very low-cost 2-star units: a Healer and a Defender.
Finally, he solemnly placed his Level 40 Artoria, whom he had poured all his effort into, into the team's final anchor slot.
"Brothers, watch me redeem myself with this play!"
After the familiar sense of vertigo, PD descended once again into [Burning Fuyuki City].
The sea of fire and ruins remained. Ahead, Level 1 Dragon Tooth Soldiers wobbled toward him.
Initial Mana: 10 points.
"Cu-bro, go get 'em!" PD didn't hesitate. He grabbed Cu Chulainn's card and slammed it onto the chokepoint in front of the base.
"It's just a job I picked up along the way, but since I've been summoned, yours truly will see it through to the end!"
Accompanied by his wild deployment line, the max-level Cu Chulainn crashed onto the field.
The Level 20 stat boosts made him completely different from the Level 1 glass cannon from before; he exuded a chilling, murderous aura that warned others to stay away.
Facing three charging skeleton soldiers, Cu Chulainn advanced instead of retreating, the crimson demonic spear in his hand turning into a bolt of red lightning!
Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!
Without the slightest hesitation, he struck three times in succession, each thrust a one-hit kill!
Three red [Cost+1] symbols jumped cheerfully from above Cu Chulainn's head.
"Holy crap! So fierce!"
PD's eyes widened suddenly.
He watched as his originally empty mana bar, under the dual boost of the system's natural recovery and Cu Chulainn's 'Kill-to-Gain Cost,' shot up like a rocket!
15... 18... 22...
By the time the first wave of mobs was completely cleared, PD's mana had reached a very plentiful 25 points!
This was the pleasure of early-game management!
"Nice! This is so damn satisfying! No wonder that guy White Night played so smoothly!"
PD was flushed with excitement. He finally experienced the core charm of this modified tower defense—it wasn't mindless stat-stomping, but the sense of achievement from building an indestructible defense from nothing through reasonable resource allocation!
Soon, the second wave of the assault arrived.
This time, the enemy spawn point not only poured out a large number of Dragon Tooth Soldiers but also mixed in two massive elite skeleton monsters.
Even though Cu Chulainn was max level, as a Vanguard, his block count was only 1. Facing so many monsters, his health bar began to struggle.
"Mash! Georgios! Get up there!"
With abundant resources, PD was no longer strapped for cash like before.
With a wave of his hand, he immediately spent 20 mana points to deploy the two defensive Servants firmly behind Cu Chulainn.
Two heavy greatshields slammed into the ground like a Wall of Sighs, firmly blocking all the monsters that leaked through!
"Andersen, keep them healed!" He spent another 9 mana to place the Healer on the high ground.
At this point, a near-perfect defensive line was fully formed.
No matter how many monsters surged forward, they were blocked by the Defender and then poked relentlessly by the Vanguard. Under the protection of the Healer, the ground Servants were as steady as Mount Tai, and the base's blue gate remained rock solid.
Under this perfect cycle of pressure-holding, the [Current Mana] bar in the bottom right corner of PD's screen finally jumped to the number he had been dreaming of—
[26] points!
"Hahaha! I've saved enough! Finally saved enough!"
PD was so excited that his fat was trembling. He stared intently at the card in his hand, which radiated a brilliant golden light—the highest rarity card he had poured all his heart into.
"I've been suppressed for so long; it's time to show you what a real dimensional strike looks like!"