Chapter: 101. The Manifestation of BE
“Damn it, why now of all times—”
Nagi clenched her teeth, her figure darting like a meteor toward the center of the sky ignited by black flames.
According to the original plan, she should have headed straight for the location of the “target,” questioning him about the “β system” before he could fully escape the city, and killing him if necessary to gain the trust of “Nia.”
—This was the highest-priority option for the current mission.
But all of that was completely disrupted the moment the sky caught fire.
That was—
The fantasy manifestation of the Star-Eclipsed Beast.
A well-known scene from the original game of “Star Draw 2,” fundamentally categorized as a bad end Easter egg event in the game.
This scene first came to the attention of players thanks to a live streamer who uploaded a gameplay video titled: “I seem to have unlocked Star Draw 2 in a strange way.”
To understand the significance of this clip, one must first grasp—
Although the “Star Draw” series is primarily a galgame, it features an extremely complex growth and battle system.
However, despite this, it maintains the principle of “easy operation with a single mouse,” and its battle system follows a traditional turn-based process.
Yet in that video, the entire battle system was suddenly altered.
A player controlled a jet-black beast that, within the 2D screen, tore, executed, and devoured one enemy after another in real-time action game style, completely lacking any UI, turn prompts, or background music—only chilling roars and wails remained—
As if the original “Star Draw 2” had been played as a 2D action game.
It was precisely this bizarrely extraordinary performance that made the scene rapidly popular among players, leading to extensive discussions, analyses, and studies.
As the video title suggested, if it weren’t for the jet-black beast labeled as the “Star-Eclipsed Beast,” no one would have associated this game footage with “Star Draw 2.” Many even speculated that it was either a fan-made creation or a fabricated video.
Moreover, the player who published the report attempted several times afterward and could never recreate the outcome in a live stream.
This led many to conclude that it was simply a “marketing gimmick.”
But for players still struggling to conquer “Star Draw 2” and striving for a true GE ending, there was no way they would relax their grip on such game information. They continually attempted to unlock this ending while relentlessly emailing the company demanding an official response regarding the video’s authenticity.
It is unclear if it was the players’ obsession that moved the official team or if the game company was simply overwhelmed by the inquiries, but one day, they finally responded on their official social media: “This is indeed an Easter egg ending present in the game.”
With the official acknowledgment, the entire player community erupted, and everyone began researching how to unlock this Easter egg plot.
In the end, several high-intensity players, after days of effort, finally compiled the “trigger conditions”:
First, the male protagonist “Tsuki Misumi” must be chosen to play, and during the game, the player must not enter any of the female protagonists’ personal routes; second, Tsuki Misumi must undergo the second awakening plot; third, after progressing the plot, the second awakening abilities must have never been used; fourth, the player must lose in a battle where the enemy is overwhelmingly stronger.
If all the above conditions are met, there is a 25% chance to trigger the hidden ending—
“The Star-Eclipsed Beast: Fantasy Manifestation.”
Once the player enters this Easter egg plot, they are no longer constrained by the original turn-based system but instead control the entirely uncontrollable “Tsuki Misumi,” or rather, the “Star-Eclipsed Beast,” unleashing overwhelming slaughter on the battlefield.
In this state, the “Star-Eclipsed Beast” is unfettered by established “rules” and “frameworks,” even able to completely ignore the impact of enemies or allies’ “authorities,” launching continuous attacks during battle.
Because of this, the Easter egg became a well-known scene among players—
“The dullness of the game made the characters unable to watch anymore; the ‘Star-Eclipsed Beast’ personally comes down to teach you how to play the game.”
However, although it was superficially treated as a teasing hidden ending by players, the “Star-Eclipsed Beast” portrayed in this Easter egg is likely the strongest unit in the entire game, except for the true ending’s “one and only.”
Not only can it “immune” itself to all authority effects, but its “real-time combat” mechanism also provides theoretical infinite attack turns and evasion capabilities. Even all of Tsuki Misumi’s second awakening abilities can be freely used in this form, achieving 100% effectiveness.
In short—
This seems to manifest the BE of the original “Star Draw 2,” embodying a force capable of inducing despair.
Therefore, Nagi could no longer afford to hesitate.
She had to stop Tsuki’s rampage immediately, completely preventing this bad ending from occurring.
Moreover, Nagi had to mentally prepare for the worst—
In all of Tokyo right now, the only one who could stop Tsuki from losing control was her alone.
The “Star-Eclipsed Beast,” born from the BE, almost represented the total combat power of Tsuki Misumi at this current stage.
Even if this form could not use “rewrite,” just relying on the “real-time combat” mechanism itself was enough to crush this world that still adhered to “turn-based” rules.
Nagi clearly understood that no one else could match it.
What they could do was only to delay time with their lives before the “Star-Eclipsed Beast” tore the world apart—
Until she arrived at that very moment.
—————–
On another side.
At the site where the Star-Eclipsed Beast was born—
Under the oppressive fear emerging from their instincts, the hunters present stood frozen in place as if under a paralysis spell, not daring to make a sound.
Like frogs before a serpent, their minds were alert, but their bodies couldn’t move.
No one had ever seen such an entity—
Neither an ability user nor a conventional fantasy creature.
No one knew what would happen if they made any moves at this moment.
But—
The beast birthed from despair evidently had no intention of continuing to play the “statue” game with them.
It slowly raised its right arm, the arm that once belonged to a human had fully beastified, with sharp claw-like bone blades emerging.
At that moment, the previously silent air suddenly filled with a suffocating murderous intent.
Several hunters with poor composure were the first to break down—
They were the lowest-ranked “Gold Hunters” on site, only equivalent to “B level” in the special ring SEMA and the ability systems of the three major schools.
Faced with this seemingly marrow-piercing threat of death, their bodies instinctively reacted.
One of them suddenly turned around, gripping his long gun, mana bursting forth in a blazing light from his pupils, pouring into the gun body.
In the next moment, the thrown long gun split into several, tearing through the air toward the black shadow—
Just when everyone thought this hunter was certain to die.
The Star-Eclipsed Beast did not counterattack.
With a light push of its toes, it gracefully leapt backward, evading all the incoming long guns.
And at the spot where it had just stood, an explosion instantly caused a brilliant flash and shockwave, shattering the surrounding puddles and debris.
Yet, the black shadow lightly landed on a nearby broken and tilted telephone pole like a dragonfly landing on water, completely unscathed.
This sudden “dodge” momentarily weakened the prevailing silence and chill in the scene.
It was precisely this evasive action of the Star-Eclipsed Beast that allowed the present hunters to finally catch their breath.
They looked at the fantasy creature standing on the telephone pole with incredulity.
It had clearly just raised its claws, yet in the first moment, it chose to evade rather than attack.
This unexpected action subtly diminished its “threat” in the eyes of the hunters.
Because in nature—
When a beast opts to retreat or evade in the face of a threat, instincts lead observers to mistakenly believe it is the weaker party, i.e., “prey.”
This judgment was obviously unfounded.
A moment of calm analysis reveals: the leap just now displayed no hesitation, no superfluous movements—precise, elegant, and even relaxed.
It was not a retreat born of fear but a skillful “avoidance.”
Yet, even so, the hunters unconsciously overlooked this point, silently accepting the erroneous judgment—
This beast might not be as terrifying as they imagined.
In the blink of an eye—
They became the true “prey.”
As the ancient adage in the hunter’s circle states:
A true hunter often appears in the guise of prey.
