Black★Rock Shooter (Punishing: Gray Raven Character)

Black★Rock Shooter is a playable character in Punishing: Gray Raven. She was obtainable in the game's Chinese server between August 24 and September 22 2023.

Profile
"A mysterious girl with a large cannon and a blue flame on her left eye. Has left her mark in countless worlds."

- In-game bio

Info

 * 1) The ★Rock Cannon's rate of fire is 20 shots per second.
 * 2) The flame on her left eye appears to change in response to emotions.
 * 3) She looks externally like any other humans, but can exert extraordinary strength.
 * 4) Nobody knows where she comes from.
 * 5) Excels at long range combat, but won't lose in close combat either.
 * 6) No matter how her identity and appearance change, she is always the unique BLACK★ ROCK SHOOTER.

Secrets

 * 1) Doesn't show her emotions easily.
 * 2) Fought a wide variety of very different enemies.
 * 3) Has been to many different places.
 * 4) Has a very deep connection with DEAD MASTER.
 * 5) Has made new "friends" and "enemies" in this encounter.

History
Alpha was chased and attacked by a girl donned in black coat in an unnamed city, and had to fight back when the motorcycle broke down. Their duel was interrupted by the appearance of Hetero-Creatures, After joining force and eliminating the Hetero-Creatures, the girl in black coat introduced herself as Black★Rock Shooter. Alpha determined that Black★Rock Shooter was neither a Construct nor an Ascendant, but the former assailant did not understand the terms that she brought up. Black★Rock Shooter then explained to Alpha that the latter was in a world called Corridor, where its environment could be shaped by thoughts and consciousness. She also pointed at a castle in a distance, stating that the structure appeared in this world not long before Alpha's arrival, which might be tied to elements of Alpha's original world. Alpha then reluctantly followed Black★Rock Shooter to meet the Artisan in search for more answers and to repair her motorcycle, but she was later left on her own to investigate other places; the Corridor's denizens, known as Simulacra, feared Black★Rock Shooter's existence.

Black★Rock Shooter delivered Alpha's repaired motorcycle back to its owner. Her presence caused a Simulacrum named Feida, whom Alpha saved, to tremble, because Feida once witnessed Black★Rock Shooter killing numerous fellow Simulacra, which earned the latter nicknames such as "black demon" or "moving catastrophe". Black★Rock Shooter remembered Feida from previous encounter, and while she was not hostile towards her, she reminded the Simulacrum that they were still enemies, but she welcomed Feida's challenges for the sake of vengeance. When asked why she joined Alpha, the Artisan, and Feida on their march to the castle, Black★Rock Shooter simply replied that she did not want to stop fighting. The four then encountered Gray Raven Team's Commander and Lucia, and after initial clashes between Alpha and Lucia, the six decided to join force against the same cause. Black★Rock Shooter learned from the Gray Raven Team that Dead Master was also in the Corridor.

Upon arriving at the castle, the castle's "King", who resembled Alpha's sister Luna, initiated a board game, with the arriving party representing the black side's chess pieces racing and fighting against the King's white counterparts on a chess board. The exception were the Gray Raven Team's Commander, who had to compete directly with the King as a player, and Alpha, who represented the rook but was removed from play from the start. Black★Rock Shooter became the black side's queen. She then met Dead Master, who was representing the white side's queen piece. The two dueled when they landed on the same square, with Black★Rock Shooter emerging as the victor as she managed to snatch a die from Dead Master, but the latter was not out of the game yet.

When the goal was in sight, Black★Rock Shooter landed on an event square that led her to relive her past battles against Simulacra over and over again, which slowly wore her down over time. Eventually Dead Master caught up to her on the same square, but not wanting to see her rival to lose to other enemies before they could duel again, the two teamed up to overcome the odds - an act that made Black★Rock Shooter considered Dead Master as a "friend" as well as an "enemy". After battle, Dead Master dueled Black★Rock Shooter again and emerged as the victor as she snatched the latter's last playable die. This caused Black★Rock Shooter to be ejected from the game, but she said to Dead Master that it was not over yet before fading away.

Knowing the game rules as well as the King's intention, Alpha deduced that the whole game was a setup to remove Black★Rock Shooter from the game, as her existence was a hindrance from the King's plan to create an utopia of her own image in the Corridor free from conflict. On his final move, Gray Raven Team's Commander used a golden die that Black★Rock Shooter earned from the event square to "revive" the rook, thereby allowing Alpha to fight her way across the game board. She rescued Feida, who represented the pawn, and took her to the goal for a promotion. This allowed Black★Rock Shooter to return to the game in place of Feida and confront Dead Master in the throne room, now transformed to resemble her realm, one more time for the game's conclusion.

After a prolonged fight, Dead Master admitted defeat, and the throne room returned to its original appearance. However, despite the game's conclusion as well as Alpha taking out the King, the castle remained intact without its source. The winning party as well as Dead Master determined that they had to rid of themselves in order to return to their original worlds, and so with the exception of Feida, a native to the Corridor, and the Artisan, who disappeared without saying a word, the outsiders of the Corridor decided to fight each other to their own satisfaction.

Back in Alpha's and Gray Raven Team's world, staff members from Babylon's various departments were reviewing a machine called Hamlet from the Golden Age for possible future commercialization. One of them mentioned seeing a girl with black twin tails and a blue flame, but as the machine was only loaded with scenery assets, such appearance was speculated to be a possible bug. They then suggested to have the Gray Raven Team's Commander to test the machine. Meanwhile during a patrol with Lucia, the Commander suspected seeing a flash of a blue flame while looking up at a ruined building, but chose not to investigate the matter. Both commented experiencing a dream that felt very long, yet occurred in an instant.

As Lucia and the Commander resumed patrol, Black★Rock Shooter stood at the edge of a girder on a building's roof, looking over a ruined city and observing the two walking away from her. She commented that her fight would continue regardless of opponents or locations, and that she had fun fighting with those in the Corridor back then, before jumping off the building and disappearing.

Some time later, Gray Raven Team's Commander was invited to playtest the Hamlet. A conspicuous avatar named "BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER" caught his attention, and Leonie, a technical expert from the Art Association, conceded that the anomaly appeared on the interface without any explanations. Instead of deleting the mysterious avatar, Leonie added more animations and effects for her, and recommended the Commander to pick her for testing. On the last day of testing, the "BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER" avatar vanished from the database, devastating Leonie as she had dedicated much time and effort working on her.

External link

 * BRS on Punishing: Gray Raven Wiki