With the appearance of Tendo and Caroline, the hostile atmosphere in the bullet comments section of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers" completely changed.
People's discussions shifted from whether a good-for-nothing like Chen Kong was qualified to be the protagonist to why a character like Tendo wasn't the protagonist.
Amidst this pleasant atmosphere of bullet comments, the first episode of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers" finally drew to a close.
"If you ate double servings of sweets every day like me, you might just awaken your Star Core immediately!"
"R-really?"
"Idiot, he's lying to you."
"S-sister..."
On screen, Chen Xing walked out from the crowd, looking at the protagonist, Chen Kong, with a gaze as if he were trash.
Although Chen Xing's behavior at this moment was similar to those who had bullied the protagonist Chen Kong earlier, as the saying goes, beauty is justice.
When Chen Xing's exquisite features were paired with her signature 'disgusted' expression, her appearance, as Tendo had expected, attracted the attention of countless fans.
'Slurp, I'm licking, licking, licking~'
'Hiss, spot on, absolutely spot on, this is exactly the kind of disgusted look, as if looking at trash, that I want.'
'A genius sister and a good-for-nothing brother? Interesting.'
'Sister, I'm your dog!'
'Mommy!'
'The junior upstairs, hold it in.'
Watching the collective frenzy of bullet comments, Tendo, in the Star Origin world, clasped his hands beneath his chin, his sunglasses reflecting a cold light unique to a 'villain'.
"As expected, Chen Xing is my biggest competitor on the path to becoming the most popular character."
Although Chen Xing only appeared briefly at the end of the first episode, with limited screentime, the 'director's' editing techniques ensured that despite her late appearance, she still left a profound impression on the audience.
Furthermore, Chen Xing was a female character, which meant that if Tendo wanted to surpass her in popularity, he would need to put in more effort. After all, female characters could gain massive popularity just by wearing black stockings, while male characters had too many factors to consider.
As the premiere of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers" was a two-episode broadcast, many viewers, after finishing the first episode, instinctively continued watching.
The plot of the second episode picked up directly from Chen Xing's appearance in the previous episode.
"Tendo, are you trying to trick people again with your flawed sweet-food theory?"
"How can you call it tricking people?"
"Science proves that sugar not only promotes brain activity, but also..."
"Shut up!"
"Do you think everyone is a severe sweet tooth like you?"
On screen, as Tendo and Chen Xing suddenly became confrontational, Tendo no longer indulged her. He directly relied on his Star Energy value, which far surpassed Chen Xing's, to purely suppress her with sheer power.
And perhaps to more concretely demonstrate Tendo's 'might', in the animated episode, Tendo's 'aura' was actually materialized by the production team into an invisible black tide, effortlessly engulfing the 'tiny' Chen Xing and plunging her into boundless darkness.
This terrifying oppressive feeling brought by the confined space, coupled with the materialized 'Azure Eyes' at the end of the darkness, made the audience feel Tendo's power even through the screen.
Instantly, the bullet comments exploded.
'The special effects budget is burning!'
'Holy cow, this oppressive feeling! My legs are weak just watching through the screen.'
'Sister Chen Xing, run! This man is not right!'
'No way, if his aura is this terrifying, isn't Tendo the strongest of all the characters who've appeared so far?'
'Definitely, look at all the characters currently, he's the only one wearing sunglasses. This kind of distinctive behavior is clearly a privilege of the strong.'
'Such a strong presence, could Tendo turn dark later? I always feel like the production team has ill intentions, after all, with my years of anime-watching experience, the stronger and kinder a character is in the early stages, the more intensely they blacken later on.'
'Damn, don't say it, I feel something's off too.'
And perhaps feeling that this alone wasn't enough to deepen Tendo's image as an inherently strong character in the audience's eyes, the production team unexpectedly inserted a memory fragment of Tendo when he was eight years old.
The appearance of this fragment was something even Tendo himself hadn't anticipated.
Because in the original plot, this scene simply didn't exist.
It was a complete 'accident'.
...
In the memory scene, a silver-haired boy sat alone amidst the corpses of three wolf beasts.
A blood-stained fruit knife was stuck beside him, his left hand limp, clumsily unwrapping a dirty candy with only his right hand.
Just as the silver-haired boy was half-way through unwrapping the candy, a figure suddenly approached.
"You did all this by yourself?"
"Mm."
Facing Yun Meng's question, Tendo didn't even lift his head, continuing to unwrap the candy.
The camera focused on Tendo's drooping left hand; five deep, bone-visible claw marks were seeping blood, and his dust-covered sleeve was already soaked brown with blood.
After receiving Tendo's affirmative reply, Yun Meng was silent for a long time.
A moment later, she extended an invitation to Tendo.
"How about it, do you want to join our organization?"
"Whatever."
Tendo's reply was casual, as if to him at that moment, it didn't matter where he went.
And it was only after his reply that the candy in his hand was finally unwrapped.
He contentedly put the low-quality candy into his mouth, revealing a joyful expression.
Only at this moment did Tendo finally display a characteristic befitting a child.
"You really like sweets?"
"Mm."
"Why?"
Tendo was silent for a moment, then gave his answer.
"Because Mom said, as long as I eat more candy... life... won't be bitter anymore."
"Is that so..."
Yun Meng lowered her head, gazing at Tendo's perpetually drooping left hand.
It was obvious that although Tendo had defeated those three low-level exotic beasts without even Star Cores, he had also paid a considerable price.
However, because Tendo had remained utterly calm throughout, Yun Meng hadn't noticed this earlier.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
Tendo calmly said, "It's fine, it hurt a lot before, but after eating candy... it doesn't hurt anymore."
"Here."
Tendo looked at the exquisitely packaged chocolate Yun Meng offered, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Is it very expensive?"
Yun Meng smiled, "It's not expensive to me."
Even though Yun Meng said so, the young Tendo still chose not to accept the expensive chocolate.
He clearly had his own principles, mature to a heartbreaking degree.
Seeing this, Yun Meng simply forced it into Tendo's arms.
"Take it, consider it a welcoming gift for joining us."
".....Thank you."
"Oh, by the way, little one, what's your name?"
"Tendo, Tendo Simei."
"Tendo Simei? That's a truly good name."
At this point, the memory fragment ended.
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