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ArabicGenshin Impacti: This Priest is Cringe, But She's Also Unbeatable — Chapter 9
Chapter 9: The Debut of “Overtones”
As the light swirled around her, Celeste’s entire attire transformed in a flash.
The plain, loose-fitting priest robe she wore was consumed and reconstructed by surging streams of black light. In its place, a smart, tailored uniform materialized out of thin air—a crisp black base accented with large patches of pure white on the chest and back, elegantly embellished with blue ribbons and metallic accessories.
A distinctive black beret now sat perched on her head.
A pair of rimless glasses appeared on the bridge of her nose, instantly lending an air of sharp intellect to her otherwise heroic and formidable features.
This was, unmistakably, the uniform of Pela, the Intelligence Officer of the Silvermane Guards from Honkai: Star Rail.
The entire ensemble was comically out of place amidst the blood-pumping, life-or-death atmosphere of the arena.
To make matters worse, she was still clutching that garishly pink, girlishly charming staff in her right hand.
A cool, analytical power, one of extreme perception, flooded her senses.
[“Overtones” triggered! BGM: “Embers” (Honkai: Star Rail – Belobog).]
[Transformation Character: Pela.]
[Obtained Buff: Insight into Weakness (Duration: 30 seconds). During this period, you can keenly perceive weak points in the enemy’s defense. Your attacks will ignore 30% of the target’s DEF.]
The system prompts flashed past, and Celeste froze solid.
Her heart was instantly drowned in a tidal wave of pure, unadulterated shame.
‘No—!”Abort! Abort mission! Stop this right now!”I would rather lose this match fair and square than win through this kind of public execution!’
She roared silently in her mind, fighting the overwhelming urge to cancel the damn skill, even if it meant forfeiting the match on the spot.
Dressing up as Pela in front of the entire student body and faculty?
This was ten thousand times more humiliating than simply admitting defeat!
Was the price of victory really her dignity? Was this a literal deal with the devil for social death?!
But the power of “Insight into Weakness” coursing through her was obvious.
Her entire perception of the world had shifted.
Xu Bingbing’s magic was surging, the fragments of the shattered Ice Armor rapidly reassembling, attempting to reconstruct her defense. But now, in Celeste’s vision, several shimmering nodes of energy appeared on the reforming armor with absolute clarity.
Those were the most fragile points in the armor’s magical circulation—its fatal flaws.
Just as Celeste was on the verge of fainting from sheer mortification, her body moved on its own.
Her right index and middle fingers came together, performing an elegant, practiced gesture of pushing up the glasses on her nose.
A calm, intellectual voice, completely alien to her, issued clearly from her own mouth.
“Enemy data acquisition complete. Deploying network suppression marker. Commencing counter-offensive.”
Celeste: ‘!!!”Wait! Who told you to talk?! And to say something so goddamn chuuni?!’
She screamed internally, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
Below the stage, a second of dead silence was followed by an explosive uproar from the crowd.
“She… she changed her clothes? What kind of skill is that? An instant transformation?!”
“What’s with that look… a civil servant wearing glasses? Why would you suddenly change into a uniform in the middle of a fight? This is just bizarre!”
“The music is so hype! But the stylistic whiplash is insane! And that pink staff with that outfit is just… it’s visual poison!”
“Sis—! W-what is happening to you?!”
Selene shot up from her seat, her eyes wide with shock. She rubbed them furiously, convinced she was hallucinating.
The next second, acting on pure instinct, she whipped out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen to open the camera app.
It would be a betrayal of their sisterly bond not to record such a once-in-a-lifetime moment of utter humiliation.
“Wait, wait, wait!” she muttered, fumbling to focus the lens, a laugh already bubbling up in her throat. “This uniform, these glasses, that beret… Sis, are you cosplaying? In the arena?! Oh my god, this is going straight into my private collection!”
Through the phone’s lens, Celeste stood on the stage, looking like a clerical worker who had taken a very wrong turn. Her heroic face was a mask of numb despair.
Selene fought back a full-blown cackle, her finger held steady on the record button as her mind raced. ‘I’ve struck gold! This is premium-grade blackmail material! I can laugh at this for a whole year! After the exams, I’m making her buy me ice cream for a month straight!’
Her opponent, Xu Bingbing, was just as stunned by the sudden transformation.
Her magical channeling stuttered, the reconstruction of her armor slowing by half a beat as she stared at the drastically changed Celeste with suspicion and confusion. This bizarre outfit was completely outside her frame of reference, making her hesitate.
Celeste was so ashamed her toes were about to curl through the soles of her boots.
However, just as she was on the verge of giving up, a thought stronger than her mortification struck her like a bolt of lightning.
‘Wait a damn minute…”I’ve already hit this level of social death—the clothes are on, the glasses are on, the BGM is blasting, the cringey voice line has been spoken, and that little demon Selene is filming the whole thing!”If, after all this… I still lose…”Won’t I become the biggest joke in the entire venue?! Social death plus failure? A double-humiliation, buy-one-get-one-free special?!’A surge of inexplicable grief, indignation, and the sheer ruthlessness of someone with nothing left to lose instantly crushed her sense of shame.’No! Absolutely not!”I will not suffer social death for nothing!”Since my dignity is already six feet under, this victory has to be mine! If I can’t even win with an armor-piercing buff I paid for with my reputation, I might as well find a block of tofu and bash my brains out!’
The moment her thoughts cleared, Celeste’s gaze sharpened, turning fierce. It was a look that promised to channel all her shame and rage into a physical fire to unleash upon her opponent.
She gripped the staff, forcing herself to ignore the epic BGM in her ears and the annoying glasses on her nose. Whatever the cost, this sudden “Insight into Weakness” and the “Ignore 30% DEF” buff were the keys to a one-hit victory.
‘This social death… will not be in vain!’
Gritting her teeth, she took advantage of Xu Bingbing’s momentary daze and exploded off the ground.
The arena floor sank slightly under the force of her launch as her figure shot forward like a bullet.
The slowing effect of the lingering Blizzard was still present, but her charge tore a violent, invisible path straight through it.
The pink staff became a blur in her hand, its tip aimed squarely at the brightest energy node on the half-reconstructed Ice Armor.
This single strike condensed all her strength, the essence of the Thousand Rocks Spearmanship, and the overwhelming power of the “Ignore 30% DEF” effect.
It was impossibly fast.
It was terrifyingly accurate.
“Crack—!”
The crisp sound of shattering was even more piercing than before.
The Ice Armor, which had only just managed to reform halfway, didn’t just crumble this time—it detonated. The very magic Xu Bingbing was pouring into it became fuel for its own destruction the moment the staff made contact.
“What?!”
Xu Bingbing’s pupils trembled, her face a canvas of horror.
She felt the connection between herself and her magic being forcibly severed by a tyrannical force. The armor’s explosion sent a shockwave through her mind, causing her concentration on the continuous Blizzard spell to collapse instantly.
Celeste’s staff didn’t stop. Its momentum carried it forward in a wide arc, the body of the staff sweeping across and slamming squarely into Xu Bingbing’s wide-open flank.
Bang!
Xu Bingbing was sent flying, tumbling out of the arena. She struggled for a few moments to get back on her feet but ultimately collapsed.
The entire venue fell into a dead silence.
Everyone was dumbfounded by the incredibly dramatic reversal.
The referee stood frozen for several seconds before finally snapping out of it and announcing loudly, “The winner is… Celeste!”
Celeste remained frozen on the stage. The glasses felt awkward and foreign on her face, the fabric of the uniform strange and conspicuous against her skin.
Countless gazes—curious, shocked, and filled with poorly suppressed laughter—were fixed on her, making her wish she could dig a hole and bury herself in it.
‘It’s over,’she wailed internally.’Tomorrow’s school headline is definitely going to be: “Martial Exam Spectacle! Priestess Transforms into Office Lady, Defeats Ice Mage with Pink Staff!”‘
Just then, the system’s prompt rang out, practically gloating.
[Ding! A joy event has been created (dramatic mid-battle transformation). Elation Coins +188! Please keep up the good work, Host!]
Celeste stared at the words “keep up the good work” in her mind, then glanced at the audience, many of whom were now openly roaring with laughter. A giant sense of despair was all that remained.
‘Keep up what good work?! Who wants to win matches by transforming into a cosplayer?! Can this crappy skill please not trigger at a time like this!”If I keep this up, I might as well just debut as an idol. I’ve even thought of the group name—the Social Death Damsels!’