One could only say that games, made for entertainment, had to sacrifice quite a bit of realism, take, for example, this Radiance Saintess modeled after Selina. Clearly, she wasn't Selina at all. Aside from the similar appearance, Winnie couldn't find a single resemblance. She was completely different from the Selina he knew.
“Whoa!” Clearly, Milian and Shikondell were seeing such an extravagant magic display for the first time, or perhaps, it was their first time witnessing magic phenomena being applied within a game. “I have to admit, you humans really do have quite the imagination when it comes to making games!”
“Then, following the order, Mirexia shall go first,” Aesphyra said, passing the dice to Mirexia.
“Winnie, what should I do?” Mirexia asked, holding the dice awkwardly.
The ever-busy princess, burdened daily with countless responsibilities, had never truly 'indulged' herself like this before. Completely unfamiliar with such entertainment, she had no idea what to do upon seeing the dice.
Ultimately, Mirexia had been too well-educated. Strict rules and regulations constantly remind her of what she should and shouldn't do, not daring to cross even a single line. This was exactly why she always seemed so rigid and formal.
“You roll the dice. The number you roll is how many spaces your character moves,” Winnie explained the rules.
“Is that so?” Mirexia tossed the dice in her hand. After several rotations, it landed on three.
Her character, a golden-haired man with dragon wings, immediately took flight, advancing three spaces across a cityscape of towering buildings and palaces.
“That's right! Exactly like that, Mirexia. You did great,” Winnie praised her. Although it was a trivial action, for someone as rule-bound as Mirexia, it was an incredibly difficult step forward.
Getting Mirexia to actively engage in such recreational games was already an enormous challenge.
But something felt off. Winnie couldn't help feeling that his words sounded like an adult coddling a child, or worse, an owner praising a pet dog.
Upon hearing Winnie's praise, Mirexia's face inexplicably flushed slightly. Who knew what thoughts had surfaced in her mind, but no one noticed.
'Virtue + 50.'
'Current Virtue: 6574.'
Seeing Mirexia receive praise from Winnie, Shikondell sitting across the table felt a strange regret, why wasn't she the one sitting beside Winnie?
And truly, Mirexia had done nothing special. She merely rolled the dice. Shikondell could've done that too.
Was this favoritism? No matter what Mirexia did, she always received praise from Winnie.
Well, of course. Mirexia was Winnie's childhood friend. They'd grown up together, best friends since youth.
At this thought, Shikondell's mood sank slightly.
'Virtue + 50.'
'Current: 6624.'
There it was again.
Winnie knew it all too well.
These past days had been far too peaceful, so much so that Winnie nearly forgot about the Virtue System altogether. Aside from the lack of major incidents, he figured the main reason was his reduced contact with Mirexia. If he spent more time with her, her passive ability would trigger, sitting idle, automatically generating Virtue.
See? It happened again. Simply by sitting next to Mirexia and doing nothing particularly noteworthy, Virtue started pouring in. She'd triggered it twice already.
Actually, only now did Winnie fully grasp the principle behind Mirexia's 'automatic Virtue gain' passive.
It wasn't due to a system malfunction or special favoritism toward Mirexia. It was because of her personality.
Perhaps due to constant pressure in daily life, or the suppression of natural impulses by her overly rigid lifestyle, Mirexia's inner monologue was exceptionally rich. She often spontaneously imagined elaborate scenarios in her mind, which was what triggered her 'automatic Virtue increase' passive skill.
Then, a giant question mark box floated above Mirexia's location, from which emerged a symbol of a sword combined with a plus sign.
“Lucky! Mirexia drew an attack power increase~” Aesphyra remarked with a cheerful smile.
“Then, it's my turn next.”
“Hold on, everyone, what if we try an immersive experience this round?” Just as Winnie reached for the dice, Aesphyra suddenly suggested.
“Immersive experience? What do you mean?” Winnie asked, puzzled.
“Exactly what it sounds like. I just noticed that the 'Divine Mandate' in this residence is the latest version, meaning it includes a new immersive gameplay update from the developers, receiving rave reviews,” Aesphyra explained.
“Immersive gameplay? How does it work?” Winnie asked.
Everyone else remains silent.
“Well then, I'll take your silence as agreement?”
Without further explanation, Aesphyra pulled out something resembling an eye mask from the game box and handed one to each person present.
“Place this part of the mask onto the base of your respective game piece, then put on the mask,” Aesphyra stated.
She demonstrated, attaching the magnet with an identifier on the back to her piece's base, then putting on the mask and adjusting it.
Curious Milian immediately followed suit. The moment she put on the mask, she gasped in shock.
“Eh, eh?! Where am I?! What's going on?!” She quickly removed the mask, only to realize she was still in the room.
Winnie more or less understood what this device was. Honestly, upon seeing its design and the intricate magical patterns on it, he'd already guessed its function. The resemblance was just too strong.
Sure enough, after Winnie put on the mask, the world blurted momentarily before a new scene materialized before him, standing among towering skyscrapers.
What he saw was the in-game world, a true immersive experience, essentially like VR from his previous life.
Winnie looked around and spotted the others present.
No surprise there, Mirexia's avatar should appear as that golden-haired, dragon-winged, muscular man, since that was the piece's prototype.
But to Winnie's surprise, after entering the immersive mode, Mirexia appeared exactly as she normally did, only her clothes had changed into the outfit worn by the prototype piece.
Actually, Mirexia looked quite fitting in this attire. The prototype's clothing was already somewhat androgynous.
Then Winnie saw Milian, wielding a bow and dressed in golden elven royal hunting gear, and Shikondell, wearing moon elf ceremonial robes, her hair unusually styled into a long braid, something rare for her.
Hmm, so this was how Shikondell looked with her long hair braided? She looked every bit the princess.
Winnie even thought she might have dressed like this back in the Moon Elf territory.
Then there was Aesphyra, robed in imperial regalia, holding a scepter and wearing the crown of all kings, alongside Isatia wielding a greatsword.
“Whoa!” After seeing that everyone else retained their original appearances, only changing clothes, Winnie suddenly realized a serious problem, his own appearance.
Wouldn't his current form be identical to Selina's, wearing that saintess robe??
Damn it!
Winnie couldn't even bear to imagine how ridiculous he looked right now.
“Silver-haired nutball! You're screwing with me, aren't you? I knew you had no good intentions! How twisted can you be!” Winnie shouted, only to realize mid-yell that his voice had changed, into an unfamiliar, yet somewhat familiar, female tone.
“Eh? Huh?” Winnie finally looked at his current appearance. Seeing the long, cherry-colored hair cascading down, his face froze, instantly breaking into a cold sweat.
“Eh? Why isn't that blue-haired guy appearing as himself?” Milian stared at Winnie, asking curiously.
“.......” Winnie's face stiffened, lips trembling, speechless.
No way... could it be?
Did he accidentally hit some transformation shortcut key??
Wait, who the hell was so evil as to rebind his controls?!
But no, he never intended to transform into Vanessa. Why did this happen??
When Mirexia and Isatia noticed Winnie's appearance, both flashed a strange expression, their gazes growing increasingly puzzled as they looked at him.
'Virtue + 60.'
'Current Virtue: 6684.'
'Virtue + 100.'
'Current Virtue: 6784.'
Mirexia, being closest to Winnie, saw his appearance and seemed to understand something, a thoughtful look crossing her face.
“Oh my, Winnie, are you alright?” Aesphyra asked with a mischievous smile. “Forgot to tell you one thing, immersive mode lets you choose to appear as yourself, or simply use the prototype's appearance.”
“We all chose to appear as ourselves. Winnie, it seems you chose to use the prototype's appearance instead.”
“.......” After a long silence, Winnie finally caught his breath, inwardly letting out a huge sigh of relief.
Ah, right.
Although they looked extremely similar, there were still slight differences. For instance, Vanessa was taller than Selina. Selina was rather short, almost doll-like in stature.
Although, admittedly, still taller than Aesphyra, who stood at the absolute bottom of the height scale.
So, his current appearance was Selina's?
“No, that can't be right. Why can you all appear as yourselves, but I can't change? Why isn't there any prompt?” Winnie pressed.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, Winnie, no matter what, you can't use your own appearance. The 'Radiance Saintess' piece cannot change appearances. Anyone who enters will appear in this form~” Aesphyra said playfully, as if she'd just remembered.
“You did this on purpose, didn't you??”
“How can you blame me? It's not my fault you accidentally knocked and shattered all the other pieces. Why are you accusing me?” Aesphyra laughed.
“Tch!” Winnie had no refund.
“It's alright, Winnie. It's just a game,” Mirexia comforted him from the side.
“Yeah~ Winnie, this appearance really suits you!” Aesphyra teased. “It'd be perfect if you actually looked like this.”
“Shut up! My gender's wrong, you know?!” Winnie shot Aesphyra a glare.
Meanwhile, Mirexia and Isatia remained silent.
“Tch, as if he's that good-looking?” Milian said unconvinced.
“Ugh” Winnie instinctively brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, only to suddenly realize his action was inappropriate.
Damn it!
Had the change in perspective caused him to unconsciously embody Vanessa? Or perhaps the female mannerisms?
“Not bad at all, Winnie. You've got quite the 'Saintess’ aura. Do you often sneak around at home wearing girls' clothes~?” Aesphyra teased further.
Could she be hinting at the previous beauty contest?
“Tch, keep spouting nonsense. Just wait for your turn!” Winnie growled, picked up the dice and tossed it.
It landed on five. Thus, before everyone's eyes, the Saintess holding a staff shyly advanced five spaces.
“What about my random event?” Winnie stared at the floating question mark box in front of him, hoping for some item or stat boost. Instead, a cage emerged.
“Huh? What's this?” Winnie frowned. Then, a massive shadow appeared beneath him, and an iron cage dropped from above, trapping him inside.
“Eh?!” Winnie's eyes broadened.
“Pfft, oh my~ What terrible luck, Winnie. You drew the 'Suicide Card', the most troublesome one, the 'Iron Thorn Cage',” Aesphyra exclaimed.
“This isn't rigged, is it??” Winnie couldn't help but protest.
“So then, how do I get out?” From everyone's perspective, the cherry-haired girl grabbed the bars of the cage.
The thing was, both Mirexia and Isatia couldn't help but keep imagining Vanessa whenever they saw Winnie like this.
“Well, Winnie can only be freed when another player draws the key and chooses to rescue him,” Aesphyra said cheerfully. It was her turn to roll.
True to her title as the strongest bearer of fortune, Aesphyra rolled a six, immediately drawing a magnificently adorned legendary weapon.
“Oh my, a legendary weapon~ Sorry, everyone,” Aesphyra smiled even wider.
“Winnie, don't worry. I'll go boost my stats first, then come back to save you. Just rest here for now.”
“Then when you let me out, you'll slash me with that sword, right??” Winnie laughed bitterly.
“Winnie, don't worry! I'll draw the key and come save you right away!” At that moment, Shikondell proved her thoughtfulness. Seeing Winnie in trouble, even within the game, she immediately called out to him.