Just as the video of PD, who brought a full team of five-star units worth 100,000 yuan, getting "soloed" by a Dragon Tooth Soldier in the first stage of Fuyuki City, was going viral across the entire network and sparking widespread ridicule...
In an esports room of a high-end apartment on Blue Star.
"White Night" was sitting cross-legged on an esports chair, stuffing potato chips into his mouth while watching the video of PD's breakdown, laughing until he was doubled over.
As a small-time content creator on Global Network known for "hardcore strategies" and "minimalist clear runs," White Night had been incredibly bored lately.
The games in this world were too mindless; as long as you spent money to max out the stats, even a chicken pecking at a keyboard could clear the game. There was absolutely no thrill of actual gameplay.
"Spent 100,000 yuan to pull a bunch of the highest rarity cards, and you can't even beat the mobs in the first stage?"
White Night casually pressed the pause button on the video, freezing the frame at the moment "Insufficient Magic (Cost)" popped up on PD's screen.
As a veteran hardcore gamer, his gaze instinctively swept over the status bar in the bottom right corner of the screen.
"Starting Magic is 10 points, and it recovers 1 point per second."
"That five-star Saber in his hand requires 26 points of Magic to deploy."
White Night curled his lip and couldn't help but retort: "Isn't that obvious? You only have 10 points at the start, and you want to deploy a card that costs 26. Your defense is wide open during that 16-second gap. If you don't get overrun by mobs, who will?"
"But this game is actually kind of interesting..."
White Night sat up straight. "To actually dare to gatekeep pay-to-win players with underlying mechanics and restrict five-star cards from being deployed at the start... This producer has guts."
Having his curiosity piqued, White Night immediately put on his VR headset and downloaded "Fate/Grand Order".
Compared to PD's impatient "pay-to-win" experience, White Night was a typical "story-focused" player.
Once he entered the game, the cinematic "Earth on Fire" opening immediately grabbed his attention.
And the vivid, natural interaction between Mash and Fou made him thoroughly enjoy it.
When he entered the tutorial battle in the ruins, White Night immediately got into the zone.
He calmly raised the camera angle to observe the entire tactical grid and carefully read every prompt that popped up from the system.
"So that's how it is. There's a distinction between high ground and ground level; melee units stand on the ground, and ranged units stand on high ground."
"Mash's class is Shielder, [Block Count 3]..."
"In other words, this girl can only hold back a maximum of 3 monsters at a time. If a 4th one comes, it will leak right past her."
Seeing Mash deploy that massive wall of light to block a lethal blow, White Night excitedly slapped his thigh:
"Holy crap! The ultimate skill even has a 3D close-up animation? This presentation is just too damn cool! This is a real game!"
After completing the tutorial stage, White Night arrived at the Chaldea lobby.
Of course, he didn't spend any money.
As a hardcore free-to-play player, he skillfully found the [Friend Point Pool] and used the small amount of Friend Points gifted for clearing stages to do a few random pulls.
After a few dim white flashes, White Night pulled a bunch of low-rarity cards that even pay-to-win players wouldn't consider using as fodder:
[3-Star Lancer - Cu Chulainn]
[2-Star Rider - Georgios]
[2-Star Caster - Hans Christian Andersen]
Feeling no disappointment, White Night opened the formation interface and clicked on the detailed data panels of these low-rarity cards.
At a glance, his eyes instantly lit up.
"I knew it! This game definitely has a meta!"
White Night stared intently at Cu Chulainn's panel, muttering to himself:
"Lancer, deployment cost is only 10 Magic!"
"Trait: Upon retreating, fully refunds the deployment cost, and recovers 1 additional Magic for every enemy defeated... My god, this is a top-tier tool for 'generating cost' in the early game!"
He looked at the 2-star Rider, Georgios:
"Deployment cost is only 12, Block Count is also 3, and the skill is a forced taunt... An excellent F2P tank!"
As a seasoned gamer, White Night instantly pieced together the logic of this game's gameplay in his mind.
"I get it, I get it all now!"
"This game isn't about dumping all your five-star cards at once! Five-star Servants are nuclear weapons meant for clearing the screen in the late game. If you force them out when you don't have enough cost in the early game, you'll just get stuck!"
"The ones truly meant to stabilize the early game and manage costs are these cheap and effective low-rarity cards!"