4: Chapter 4 Movie-Level Special Effects

When the opening prologue, with its immense visual impact and desperate sense of oppression, came to an end, PD had his mouth hanging open involuntarily, and goosebumps covered his entire body.

The rich player who had been clamoring for a "skip cutscene" button just a moment ago was now frozen in place like a wooden statue.

The livestream chat fell into a silence that lasted for three whole seconds.

Then, it was instantly drowned out by a dense barrage of comments:

"Is this... really an opening that an indie developer could make?!"

"Going from daily life to apocalypse so suddenly? This twist is insane!"

"The moment the Earth caught fire, my legs went weak! This sense of oppression is practically a disaster blockbuster!"

"What about that pink-haired underclassman from earlier?! She didn't die right at the start, did she? You shitty developer, come out!"

...

When PD regained consciousness, his nasal passages were filled with the smell of scorched air.

[Prologue: Singularity F - Burning Fuyuki City]

[Current Objective: Survive and Establish a Defense Line]

He was lying in a patch of scorching ruins, surrounded by crumbling walls engulfed in flames, with black ash falling from the dark red sky.

"Damn... the immersion is unbeatable."

PD scrambled up from the ground, still shaken, but the disdain in his eyes had completely transformed into shock.

Just then, a "clacking" sound of bones rubbing together came from the sea of fire ahead.

Several pitch-black skeleton monsters (Dragon Tooth Soldiers), holding broken scraps of metal, were stumbling out from behind a wall of fire, their hollow eye sockets flickering with bloodthirsty red light as they closed in on him.

"Watch me hack you all to death!"

Accustomed to games where you can "kill everything in one hit," PD instinctively reached for his newbie wooden sword, only to find his hands empty.

A system notification rang out:

[Warning! The Master's physical body is extremely fragile; please do not engage in direct physical contact with hostile targets.]

"I don't even have a sword? Then what the hell am I supposed to play with!"

Just as one Dragon Tooth Soldier raised its rusted iron sword, a split second before it could strike PD's face—

"Senpai, please step back!"

Boom—!

Accompanied by a crisp female voice, a black metal shield, as huge and heavy as a cross, descended from the sky and slammed viciously into the ground in front of PD, kicking up a sky full of sparks!

The immense shockwave sent those few Dragon Tooth Soldiers flying.

As the dust settled, a young girl wearing a slightly tight black combat suit stood in front of PD, holding that shield, which was even larger than she was.

The girl turned her head, the breeze blowing through her short pink hair; although her cheeks were stained with ash, her eyes were exceptionally firm:

"Demi-Servant, Mash Kyrielight. Master, please issue your combat orders!"

"Mash?! You weren't... you didn't die?!"

PD recognized her, and a surge of immense surprise and a sense of security welled up in his heart.

The livestream chat was also completely boiling over:

"The underclassman didn't die! She changed into her combat gear to save me!"

"Wife! This is my one and only wife!"

Whoosh—!

The perspective in front of him zoomed out sharply.

PD realized his perspective had shifted from "first-person" to a "God's-eye commander view" high in the air.

The entire burning ruined street had turned into a 3D tactical sandbox covered in a pale blue grid!

A translucent prompt box full of magical and technological aesthetics popped up:

[Connected to Chaldea tactical command network.]

[As Master, your magical circuits will naturally generate 'Cost' over time. Current Cost: 15, regenerating 1 point per second.]

[Please expend Cost to summon and deploy 'Servant' to the Leyline nodes on the battlefield to establish a defense line and block the enemy.]

At the bottom of the screen, a card with Mash's portrait appeared, with a blue number written in the top right corner: [8].

"Expend 8 Cost to deploy?"

PD manipulated the VR controller, clicked on Mash's card, and dragged it to a grid in the center of the street.

"Mash, deploy!"

On screen, the pink-haired girl slammed into the designated position like a meteor, raising her giant shield.

The three Dragon Tooth Soldiers rushing at the front slammed fiercely into Mash's shield.

[Class role tutorial: Shielder (Heavy Armor/Shield Bearer)]

[Characteristic description: Mash possesses extremely high physical defense and has a block count of 3. Can intercept 3 enemies simultaneously.]

The three Dragon Tooth Soldiers waved their rusted weapons, attacking Mash frantically, but facing that heavy shield, the health bar above Mash's head dropped extremely slowly.

PD zoomed in, and he could even truly feel the vibration of the monsters hitting the shield, along with the particle effects of sparks flying everywhere!

"Senpai, high-energy reaction detected! Elite enemy unit appearing, requesting permission to release Noble Phantasm!"

Following Mash's delicate shout, a massive skeleton soldier, burning with black flames, lunged out from the sea of fire ahead, its heavy footsteps making the entire tactical sandbox tremble slightly!

At the same time, the system popped up a brand-new mechanic tutorial hint:

[Noble Phantasm System: When a Servant has accumulated full SP, their portrait will highlight.]

[Tactical Time Stop: The moment you click to release a Noble Phantasm, the passage of time across the entire battlefield will be significantly slowed down! You can use this to gain buffer time to think about the battle situation and launch a desperate counterattack!]

PD immediately looked to the bottom of the screen; the SP progress bar above Mash's portrait was indeed full, glowing with a brilliant golden light.

"Time stop to use an ultimate move? This setting is interesting! Smash it for me!"

PD didn't hesitate to press the confirmation button on the controller.

Hum—!

Accompanied by a strange magical humming sound, the bustling, noisy ruined battlefield instantly fell into absolute stillness!

The sparks falling in mid-air, the rusted iron sword halfway through a swing by the skeleton soldier—everything froze in mid-air.

Immediately after, the God's-eye commander view in front of PD dove sharply, seamlessly cutting into a cinematic 3D close-up shot!

Black cinema bars appeared at the bottom of the screen, and Mash's beautiful face filled the entire frame.

In this close-up, Mash slowly closed her eyes, her hands gripping the heavy cross-shaped giant shield tightly.

Visible pure blue magical energy, like a river of stars flowing in reverse, surged crazily toward the center of her shield, illuminating the surrounding ruins in a ghostly blue.

The next second, she snapped her eyes open; the once calm pupils now burned with unwavering determination and sacred radiance.

A crisp, ethereal, yet endlessly firm and epic-sounding chant echoed suddenly over the silent ruins:

"True Name, Pseudo-Deployment—"

With the first line of the chant, blinding white light erupted from the center of the shield, as if even the surrounding space was resonating violently.

Mash held the giant shield high, the fierce wind blowing through her pink hair, and her voice became increasingly passionate, carrying a power that made one's soul tremble:

"I stand upon the seat of calamity!"

"That is the hometown of us all, which heals all wounds and dissolves all grudges—"

"Manifest!!"

The moment the final line of the chant was shouted, Mash slammed the giant shield heavily onto the ground!

"Boom—!!!"

Even PD's VR perspective experienced incredibly realistic "screen shake" and "space shattering" effects!

[Pseudo-Noble Phantasm Deployment / Foundation of Humanity] (Lord Chaldeas)!!

With the forced release of this "Pseudo-Noble Phantasm" whose true name was yet unknown, a translucent blue fortress phantom, radiating endless brilliance like a sacred chalk wall, erupted from the ground around Mash's shield!

A magical wall so vast it seemed capable of blocking all calamity shot straight into the clouds!

Those ultimate particle effects, lighting rendering, and lens tension were as if the highest-spec theatrical film effects had been forcibly smashed into the player's retinas!

As the epic animation sequence ended, the close-up shot instantly pulled back to the God's-eye commander view, and the battlefield time resumed its flow!

[Noble Phantasm Effect Resolution: Defense of all allies within the defensive zone is significantly increased, with additional fixed damage reduction.]

The massive skeleton soldier's heavy, powerful slash slammed fiercely into the massive magical wall barrier Mash had deployed.

"Clang—!"

Amidst a deafening, dull metallic clash, the huge recoil force sent the giant skeleton soldier reeling back three steps, while above Mash's head, a damage number floated up lightly: "0"!

"Holy sh*t!!!!!"

PD was so excited he jumped right out of his chair, his scalp tingling, goosebumps standing up all over his body.

The livestream chat also exploded instantly like a breached dam:

"'I stand upon the seat of calamity'! Holy crap, who came up with this line? I had an instant climax right on the spot!"

"Wait, did you guys notice? She shouted 'Pseudo-Deployment' and 'Pseudo-Noble Phantasm'! Could it be that this isn't even her true power?!"

"The more I think about it, the scarier it gets! How strong would she be if the True Name was released?! The shitty developer hid the foreshadowing so deep!"

"I declare, from today on, Mash is my one and only wife!"

[Mission Clear!]

The short ten-plus minutes of newbie experience completely overturned the perceptions of PD and all the viewers.

From the heartwarming daily life to the roller-coaster plot of grand destruction, to the vivid and realistic NPC interactions, then to the 3D battlefield emphasizing [Spatial Positioning], and finally the [Noble Phantasm performance] that was extremely impactful and buried deep foreshadowing!

"Brothers... I take back what I said earlier; the immersion and combat expression of this game are just f*cking incredible!"

PD panted heavily, his eyes full of fanaticism.

As a hardcore rich player, he saw at a glance the game's era-crushing art and mechanics.

"However!" PD changed his tune, recovering his rich-person arrogance,

"It's fine to use a broken shield gifted by the system to beat these small fries, but if I encounter a boss, I'll definitely be blind. This game really has something to it, which is why I'm even more determined to use money to smash through its difficulty threshold!"

As the tutorial stage drew to a close, the screen gradually faded.

PD was finally teleported to the game's true "Main Interface"—[Chaldea Central Hall].

Due to the explosion just now, the hall was flashing with emergency red lights, but it still couldn't hide its sci-fi design; there were no tacky "first-purchase" or "VIP" pop-ups, and it was so clean it was refreshing.

Like an upstart inspecting his territory, PD headed straight for the gate at the end of the hall, the [Heroic Spirit Summoning System · Control Room], which was emitting a seven-colored shimmer.

"No matter how this tower defense plays, as long as I pull the highest rarity card, I'll max out the stats directly, line up an all-five-star lineup, and kill gods if gods block me, kill Buddhas if Buddhas block me!"