Brand New Year

* Splash art
* Logo

## Sources

TwitterOfficial website

**Brand New Year** is the 4th story event of *Goddess of Victory: Nikke*, as well as the new year event for 2023.

Brand New Year is set in the Admire, a naval ship owned by the Aegis squad. It follows the story of Helm who offers a New Year party to the commander to celebrate a brand new year.

## Story

The new year has come to the Ark, and the protagonist is invited by Helm to a party aboard the Admire. What follows is a peek into the dreams of Nikkes, and perhaps even a brief glimpse of a cherished friend...

### New Year's Preparations

Helm visits the protagonist to give him an invitation. She's planning to hold a party on the Admire to ring in the new year. Though she says it's not an obligation, the protagonist agrees, and the two exchange new year pleasantries before she leaves.

### New Year, New Boat Party

The party in the Admire is beginning, and all the guests are dressed quite formally. While Sugar is fooling around with her motorcycle and Julia is playing her violin badly in the corner, the protagonist and Helm have a chat, the latter affirming her new year's resolution to retake the surface and have the Admire take to the seas. As they discuss that dream and how nice the Admire looks, they decide to go try out some of the food arranged for this event.

As the two head to the food table, the protagonist spies Julia in the corner playing her violin. Helm invited her to play as part of the entertainment, but despite a good start, it seems Julia can't stop hitting sour notes that screech in the ears of listeners. Despite some doubts, Helm is confident Julia will do fine since right now is simply rehearsal.

After sampling some hors d'oeuvres, Helm and the protagonist discuss ideas for the main course before Mast and Anchor hop into the conversation. It turns out Burningum wants to talk with Helm. The leader of Aegis takes her leave after inviting her subordinates to have some food themselves, though she cautions Mast to take it easy on the alcohol.

### New Year, New Coffee

A while later, and despite having a good time, Mast got a bit drunk and rowdy, necessitating Anchor carrying her away and leaving the protagonist by himself. As he ponders how to entertain himself, he overhears Sugar asking one of the guests what kind of coffee they think suits a party. The guest answers milk and cream coffee, much to Sugar's annoyance. The protagonist approaches Sugar, who asks him what kind of drink he thinks suits a formal event, and he answers. The two then talk about how the party has been, leading the protagonist to wonder why Milk and Frima aren't here. It turns out Cafe Sweety only got one invitation, which Sugar snuck out with while the other two were arguing over who would go.

Sugar herself sees the party as a good chance to network with potential clients, and even if there are more takers than she can handle, Milk and Frima can pick up the slack. As the two converse and compliment each other's outfits, the protagonist's praise make Sugar wonder if they'll kiss, which he immediately denies. They wind down the talk and decide to try some coffee at a barista they saw.

At the café, the two order some coffee. Sugar initially praises the potion size, but while the protagonist considers it one of the best drinks he's had, Sugar finds it awful compared to sugar coffee. The protagonist (who may or may not have been coerced) agrees that sugar coffee is better, to which Sugar offers to give him unlimited refills of the beverage next time he stops by the café. He'll still have to pay for them, though. Sugar herself is considering adding more sugar and having a talk with the barista while the protagonist takes his leave.

### New Year, New Performance

Meanwhile, Julia is still playing her violin badly. The protagonist suggests tuning it, but it turns out Julia's hit a bit of creator's block since yesterday, having failed to find musical inspiration aboard the Admire. The protagonist suggests that Julia simply needs to let the music flow through her, and after a brief delay, her music comes out clear and perfect. The protagonist compliments her performance, to which she admits that before, she wanted to try all sorts of musical styles to wow her audience, but perhaps doing so made her connection with the music shallow. Julia thanks the protagonist for helping her inspiration, and leaves to prepare for the next performance.

Julia's music flows through the theatre she's performing in, to the admiration of the audience. After the performance ends, the protagonist compliments her music and asks about her New Year's resolution. Her answer is to connect more meaningfully with music as she wanders the surface. Her wanderings are not aimless, though. Julia wishes to find any sheet music left behind when humanity fled the surface, believing it to be the key to deepening her connection to music. The two wish each other to enjoy the party and part ways.

After an unspecified amount of time, despite the party hitting full swing, the protagonist is about ready to go home. Helm rushes over to him, and after briefly chiding him for flirting, notifies him that Deputy Chief Burningum would like to have a word.

### New Year, New Operation

Turns out that "word" Burningum wanted was to send the protagonist on a mission. The Central Government intended to send some supplies up to the surface as a gesture of New Year goodwill, but one item was mistakenly included in the shipment. The item in question happen to be a limited-edition figurine of Ark Ranger, which Burningum planned to gift to his daughter. He's given the coordinates to Helm, and asks the protagonist for his assistance, to which he agrees.

Later, Helm is apologizing for forcing the protagonist to work even on New Year's, and is willing to accompany him up to the surface. He accepts, then ponders on who should join them on their operation. Helm tries to suggest Mast and Anchor when the protagonist spots Sugar coercing a barista and Julia once again playing terribly. He proposes taking those two, if only so they'd stop causing a ruckus, to which Helm is in agreement.

### New Year, New Excursion

Sugar and Julia are more than happy to go up to the surface, the former for wide open space to drive her motorcycle and the latter for finding musical inspiration. Helm reminds them that this is an official mission with no room for detours or side trips, making them less willing. At the protagonist's behest, and Sugar complaining about how they have to work during a New Year's party, Helm concedes that they can take the scenic route or briefly stop if anyone finds something interesting. Julia briefly mentions the wind and waves, which reminds Helm and the protagonist that they might get a chance to see the ocean if they go to the surface. With Helm wishing to see the sea and Sugar eager to find roads for her Black Typhoon, the squad heads out.

On the surface, the squad (still in their party attire because reasons) finds a long straight road on their way to their destination. Sugar wastes no time taking Black Typhoon for a spin, and the others note how excited the Cafe Sweety Nikke seems to be. Helm remarks that perhaps she'd be excited too if she saw the ocean, which the protagonist assures they will.

A while later, Sugar returns. After coming down from her joy, she tells Helm she saw a set of boxes near the road as she drove down, likely the ones they're looking for. Helm urges everyone forward, hoping they can finish this mission before it gets dark.

### New Year, New Mission Accomplished

En route to the coordinates, the protagonist's strength begins to flag. The squad agrees to take a break, wherein Julia start making weird noises that turn out to be her taking in the wintry air. As the Nikkes discuss how the winter air feels, Julia gets a burst of inspiration, and at the protagonist's consent, begins to play. The soothing melody washes over the others, and as the piece ends, Julia thanks the squad for taking her to where she could find inspiration. The protagonist is reinvigorated by Julia's music, encouraging her to play more, but the next few sounds are...unpleasant, to say the least. What follows is a few rounds of Julia taking deep breaths of air, then playing well before she suddenly turns bad again.

A while later, the squad finally finds the packages they were tasked with retrieving. After a brief search, Helm finds the Ark Ranger figurine Burningum requested and prepares to head back, but the protagonist interjects, saying they have yet to see the ocean. Helm reminds him that they have a mission to carry out, and now that it's done, they can't afford any detours. The protagonist is saddened to quasi-tears, but Helm remains steadfast and the squad readies to go back to the Ark.

### New Year, New Sea

It would seem at some point the squad got turned around, as despite retracing their steps, they somehow got lost and night has fallen. Sugar takes Black Typhoon out to see if there's someplace they can wait out the cold. The protagonist is concerned about Sugar going by herself, but when she tries to solicit a kiss from him, he decides not to accompany her and she drives off.

An unspecified amount of time later, Sugar is yet to return. Before Helm can set off to look for her, a motorcycle's rumbling is heard. Sugar reports that she found the road, turns out the squad was heading in the wrong direction this whole time. Helm tries to direct the squad to the road, but Sugar interrupts, saying she found the sea. The others, especially Helm and the protagonist, are taken by surprise. Sugar comments that it's not too far of a detour, they could stop by on the way to the road.

Traversing a grassy field as Sugar mentioned, the squad sees the ocean slowly come into view. It's an impressive sight, but none are more awestruck than Helm, seeing the endgoal of her crew in front of her. The squad watches the sea until they notice the sun peeking over the horizon. The Nikkes remark on how this is the first time they've seen a sunrise on the surface, and how beautiful it is. Sugar notices the protagonist doing something, to which he responds he's making a wish. The Nikkes decide to do the same.

After a while, everyone shares their wishes with each other. The protagonist's is to be happy and healthy in the coming days. Helm's is to one day set sail on the seas she just witnessed. Julia's is to find more musical inspiration. And Sugar's wish is to...get more coffee orders than Milk and Frima. The squad ends the conversation and decides to silently watch the sunrise.

A while later, the protagonist notices something in his peripheral vision and turns, seeing a figure floating in the air. It's too far away to make out clearly, but for a moment, he can almost see Marian. He blinks and rubs his eyes, but when he opens them again, there's nothing there. He ponders if he imagined it, but then a noise is heard as a bandage falls at his feet...

### Hard Mode Epilogue: Brand New Year

With dawn having passed, and the ocean having been seen, Helm and the others decide to return to the Ark. Conveniently, it's also the last day of the party. Sugar and Julia are happy with how this operation was a good start to the year, though Helm admits she wishes Mast and Anchor could see the ocean with her. The protagonist promises to bring them along next time as the squad heads back.

Back at the Ark, Burningum commends the protagonist for retrieving the figurine, and tells Helm to see to the guests for the rest of the festivities. Burningum wishes the protagonist a happy new year as he dismisses him, to which he returns the sentiment.

Helm and the protagonist leave Burningum's office, popping sounds echoing in the distance as a fireworks show is held off the side of the Admire. Sugar urges the two to join her and Julia in watching, and as the fireworks explode in the night sky, the squad wishes each other a happy new year.

## Stages

This event features a Normal mode and a Hard mode, with Hard mode unlocked after a few days and clearing Normal Mode. Event tokens (Party Invitations) are used to play stages for event currency (Chandelier Brooch), which are traded in at the shop for rewards including Recruitment Tickets. More tokens can be purchased for Gems.

### List of Bonus Nikkes

Complete event stages using the following Nikkes for a chance to get 50 extra Chandelier Brooches upon stage clear. Total bonus caps at 100%.

## New Addition: Modernia

From 00:00:00, Jan 1, 2023 to 23:59:59, Jan 11, 2023 (UTC+9), SSR Nikke Modernia will be on temporary rate-up in the Special Recruit, with her Molds also being purchasable in the Mileage Shop for 200 Gold Mileage Tickets. After the promotion period, Modernia will be added to the standard and mold recruitment pools EXCEPT for the Tutorial 10-roll and the New Player 10-roll

## Sunrise Pass

Similar to the Miracle Snow pass, this is a mission pass that's distinct from the standard game's mission pass, with its own premium track, missions, and rewards, including Special Recruitment Tickets and a cosmetic for Helm.

## Trivia

* The soundtrack in the main menu is "Goodbye for Now."