Chapter 301: An Unexpected Reward
[System Announcement: World Commission 'Confront the Abyss!' reward settlement has been completed. Related rewards have been distributed to everyone's accounts. Please check them promptly!]
The sudden chime of the system interface caused the lurking members of the multiversal Chat Group to pop up one after another, their digital avatars lighting up the holographic screen.
[Genshin Impact - Hu Tao]: "Oh? It's settled already? That's great! But wait, Stelle, is your news network really that well-informed? You actually predicted the Chat Group was about to issue our rewards? Do you have some secret inside channel?"
[Genshin Impact - Venti]: "That's right! Stelle, you're amazing! You're even faster than the Chat Group's own notifications!"
Stelle stared at the floating holographic panel, blinking at the sudden misunderstanding. Her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard as she quickly clarified the situation, eager to share the actual good news that the system chime had so rudely interrupted.
[Honkai: Star Rail - Stelle]: "No, no! It's purely a coincidence! The good news I actually wanted to tell you guys is about the jellyfish spirit, Little Moon, that March picked up. It can actually craft Light Cones all by itself! It's a massively powerful combat tool on our side of the universe!"
[Honkai: Star Rail - Stelle]: "It made three of them for us overnight, and they perfectly record our absolute best highlight moments back in Natlan! If we play our cards right, maybe we can get rich off this in the future and become the greatest arms dealers in the galaxy!"
She typed out her grand galactic business plan with a confident smirk, but her golden eyes immediately caught the flashing notification icon at the top of her screen. Her attention was instantly, irrevocably hijacked by the newly distributed loot.
[Honkai: Star Rail - Stelle]: "But let's put all that aside for now! Rewards! The Chat Group's rewards have finally been distributed! Points! My dearest, sweetest points! I'm coming for you!!!"
Watching her incoherent rambling and the whiplash-inducing shift in her attention, March 7th and Dan Heng, who were sitting comfortably on the plush sofa opposite her, exchanged knowing glances. Both sighed softly, faint smiles of helpless amusement tugging at their lips.
Just a second ago, the gray-haired Trailblazer had been practically vibrating with excitement over obtaining precious, custom-made Light Cones. The very next second, her soul had been completely reeled in by the allure of the Chat Group's point rewards. This breakneck speed of attention transfer was peak Stelle.
However, both of her companions completely understood her manic excitement.
After all, compared to Light Cones—which were undeniably precious but possessed relatively fixed, specific functions—the Chat Group's universal points held a far greater allure. Those points could be exchanged for a vast array of strange, infinitely adaptable tools and abilities. The sheer potential of the system's store naturally took a much higher priority in a Trailblazer's heart.
The three Astral Express crew members eagerly opened their respective reward lists.
The payout for this particular world commission was exceptionally generous. Beyond the basic point distribution—where each person received anywhere from several hundred to over a thousand points, carefully calculated based on their individual combat contributions and overall activity during the mission—there was also a scattering of green and white-tier synthesis materials and handy little gadgets.
But the most eye-catching item was a special, universal reward granted to every single participant.
Sitting quietly inside everyone's system inventory was a uniquely shaped item.
It looked exactly like a small, featureless doll. The item name floating above it read: [Oddity] (Miracle Doll).
At the same time, the Chat Group pushed an additional notification to their screens.
[Reward Description: The system has observed that the temporal and physical situations within some group members' native worlds are quite special. This has led to numerous inconveniences and potential risks when participating in cross-world commissions or traveling between universes.
To enhance group members'participation rates and guarantee absolute safety, an auxiliary tool, the'Oddity', is now specially issued to every group member who participated in the 'Confront the Abyss!' commission.]
[Function: The 'Oddity' can serve as a physical consciousness carrier. Group members can partially upload their consciousness into the Oddity, allowing them to control it remotely to participate in world commissions or execute highly dangerous tasks. Any physical or spiritual damage sustained by the Oddity will not directly affect the user's main body.]
[For detailed usage instructions and functional limitations, please refer to the attached 'Oddity User Manual'.]
Dan Heng's sharp gaze swept over the detailed description of the [Oddity] in the glowing prompt. His calm, analytical mind quickly dissected the text, capturing the core mechanical information hidden within the system's formal phrasing.
He nodded slightly, crossing his arms as he looked over at Stelle and March, who were currently practically vibrating with excitement over the free loot.
"It seems the appearance of this 'Oddity' is no mere coincidence," Dan Heng stated, his voice steady and measured. "This is clearly a tailored solution provided by the Chat Group to address situations exactly like ours. The unsynchronized time flow between our different universes frequently prevents us from participating in group activities normally and promptly."
He paused, his teal eyes narrowing slightly in thought as he further speculated. "also, judging from the fact that the system adopted the method of creating a 'consciousness carrier' rather than directly, forcefully anchoring or synchronizing the timeline of every connected world... the latter would likely impose an extremely massive energy consumption on the Chat Group itself. It wouldn't be sustainable for frequent use."
"That is why it took a much cleverer approach," he concluded. "It developed this specific tool—one with targeted functions that is clearly far more economical and practical for multiversal operations."
Stelle and March simply blinked at him, their eyes slightly glazed over as they listened to Dan Heng's thorough, logical breakdown.
In truth, neither of the girls cared even a little bit about the underlying multiversal principles or the system's energy consumption metrics. They were entirely focused on the shiny end result.
"Who cares what the reason is!" Stelle waved her hand dismissively, her face beaming with the radiant, shameless smile of a raccoon who had just hit the jackpot in a dumpster. "The main point here is that the Chat Group just handed out another high-tier tool for absolutely free! Although I haven't fully figured out what this 'Oddity' can do in a fight yet, getting something for nothing always feels incredibly good!"
March nodded vigorously, her pink hair bouncing in enthusiastic agreement. "Exactly! And every single person gets one! The Chat Group was super generous this time around!"
For the two of them, anything looted for free from the system was a victory worth celebrating.
Driven by burning curiosity, everyone materialized the special reward from their digital packages.
A soft flash of light deposited the [Oddity] directly into their hands. It took the form of a humanoid object, roughly the size of an adult's palm.
Its material was strange—neither cold metal nor porous wood. It felt surprisingly warm to the touch, presenting a simple, uniform gray-white tone across its entire surface.
It possessed clear human contours, complete with articulated limb structures, but its face was entirely blank. There were no eyes, no nose, no mouth—just a smooth surface, like an unshaped clay embryo waiting patiently for a sculptor's touch.
Overall, it gave off an aura of exquisite craftsmanship tinged with a heavy layer of mystery, as if some ancient, esoteric ritual was required to truly awaken it.
"It seems it needs to be formally acknowledged by a master before it will reveal its true face," Lumine murmured to herself, standing in another universe entirely as her golden eyes traced the smooth curves of the faceless doll in her palm. She had quickly reached a conclusion similar to many others across the chat network.
According to the simple instructions attached to the manual, the activation method was surprisingly straightforward. One only needed to drip a single drop of blood belonging to the Chat Group member directly onto the Oddity's glabella—the center of its forehead.
Faced with such a novel and potentially overpowered tool, almost all the group members who currently had no urgent matters at hand found themselves entirely unable to suppress their curiosity. They unanimously chose to test it out immediately.
In the dimly lit, incense-scented halls of Liyue's Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao giggled softly. She expertly pricked her fingertip with a sterilized silver needle, squeezing out a bright bead of crimson blood and letting it fall onto the Oddity's forehead.
Meanwhile, inside the cozy, poster-lined video store in New Eridu, Wise and Belle—who had both just been jolted awake by the loud group announcement—also curiously began the exact same operation, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
Across multiple universes, everyone performed this exact step almost simultaneously.
The very moment the blood made contact with the Oddity's glabella, it wasn't simply absorbed, nor did it slide off the smooth surface. Instead, like a single water droplet falling into a perfectly calm, glassy lake, it sent out a rippling, soft halo of light. This warm glow quickly diffused, washing over the Oddity's entire body.
Immediately after the light faded, a translucent virtual panel popped up in front of everyone's eyes.
[Detecting user identity information... Binding...]
[Oddity initialization starting...]
[Please load core ability modules for your Oddity (Current limit: 2 types). Please select two items from your own personal abilities, talents, or traits for replication and loading.]
There were actually ability choices?
Everyone stared at their screens, slightly taken aback by the prompt, before their expressions shifted into looks of serious contemplation.
This meant that the Oddity was not just a simple, empty replica. It was a highly adaptable clone that could be partially customized to suit their exact combat needs.
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