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Neverness to Everness · Hidden Anomaly · New Herland

Kindness Hard to Refuse — Cardboard Castle

The easiest A-Rank Arc handout in the game — if you can find the trigger. Walk behind a convenience store, touch a circle on the ground, win a fight against a boss that does not move, and walk out with Call of the Twisted City for any Liquid healer in your roster.

Overview

Commission nameKindness Hard to Refuse
Boss / EntityCardboard Castle (a.k.a. Expired Invitation)
RegionNew Herland District — courtyard north of Kyllene Promenade
TypeClass III hidden anomaly (ground-pattern trigger)
Difficulty★★☆☆☆ — stationary boss, only ground AoE to dodge
Arc rewardCall of the Twisted City (A-Rank · Liquid)
Repeat dropsArc has a 20% drop chance on re-runs
Alt sourceArc Exchange shop · U-00NE ×100 (limit 99)

TL;DR — 5 Steps

  1. Teleport to Kyllene PromenadeUse the Phone Booth fast-travel point in the New Herland District.
  2. Walk north past the Convenience StoreHead into the courtyard marketplace. The trigger is behind the Convenience Store.
  3. Touch the pattern on the groundA circular pattern on the pavement is the hidden trigger. Interact to spawn the Cardboard Castle.
  4. Dodge ground AoE, attack on cooldownThe boss never moves. The only threat is the marked explosive zones — keep walking and you cannot die.
  5. Collect Call of the Twisted CityGuaranteed Arc drop on first clear. Re-run for refinement copies (20% drop rate).

How to Find the Trigger

The Kindness Hard to Refuse anomaly does not place a marker on the world map until you've physically activated the trigger. Touch the ground pattern once and the commission auto-registers in your Anomagram. The setup:

  1. Open the world map and fast-travel to the Phone Booth at Kyllene Promenade (New Herland District).
  2. Exit the booth and face north. The courtyard marketplace opens up ahead of you.
  3. Walk straight past the Convenience Store sign — the trigger zone sits in the open square behind the storefront.
  4. Look at the pavement. A circular interactive pattern (similar to other Class III anomaly seals) glows faintly on the ground.
  5. Approach and interact. The world dims, the Cardboard Castle materialises at the centre of the courtyard, and the encounter timer starts.
  6. There is no door or animation gate — you can simply walk away during the spawn animation if you brought the wrong team.

Boss: Cardboard Castle

Internal name: Expired Invitation. A stationary anomaly construct shaped like a cardboard fortress. It never relocates, so the entire encounter is a positioning and dodge check. Burst damage windows are nearly free — the only loss of DPS comes from misreading the ground AoE markers.

Detonator zones

Walk out

Tell: Square or circular indicators paint the floor around the player position.

Indicators have a fixed wind-up — about 1 s after the marker locks. Walk perpendicular and keep firing. The boss can stack multiple zones at once, so don't stop moving after the first dodge.

Ring detonation

Dodge inward

Tell: A wide ring marker forms with the boss at its centre.

Sprint toward the boss to leave the ring. Easy if you're already in melee range — Liquid healers in the back have more ground to cover.

Tracking line

Dodge sideways

Tell: A thin line follows the player for ~0.5 s, then locks and detonates.

Wait for the line to commit before dodging. Early rolls let the boss re-aim during your i-frames.

The Reward — Call of the Twisted City

A-RankLiquid
Base ATK286 (lv 20) → 395 (lv 80 max)
Base HP+15% (lv 20) → +37.5% (lv 80 max)
Passive — Cardboard CastleIncreases Healing Bonus by 12% for 10 s after the wearer casts a Redirect Skill.
RefinementSingle mixing level — no refinement scaling beyond the base passive. Extra copies are only useful for level-up materials, not stat improvements.

Best Users

  • EdgarEdgarCosmos / Liquid healer
  • DaffodillDaffodillLiquid support
  • LacrimosaLacrimosaChaos / Liquid hybrid
  • MintMintLiquid utility

Solid baseline Arc for any Liquid character whose value comes from heals/shields rather than raw damage. Best slotted on Edgar where the Redirect Skill cadence sustains the Healing Bonus uptime almost permanently. Skip if you only run damage carries.

Rewards

Call of the Twisted City ArcGuaranteed on first clear · 20% drop chance on re-runs
Annulith×20
Anomaly Material Selection Box I×3
U-00NE×15
Beetle Coin×4,000
Fons×8,000
Bronze Carrota×80

Pro Tips & Common Pitfalls

  • The trigger pattern is easy to miss — the marketplace is busy with NPCs and lighting. If you can't find it, run a full lap behind the Convenience Store rather than searching by camera angle.
  • You do NOT need a Liquid team to clear this. Any composition works — the boss has no element weakness gate. Bring whoever you're levelling.
  • If you only need refinement copies of the Arc, the Arc Exchange shop sells it directly for U-00NE ×100 (limit 99 copies). For a single Edgar build that's overkill, but it's worth knowing the shop exists if drop RNG goes south.
  • Stationary bosses reward positional discipline — stand at the boss's flank to avoid the ring detonation in a single side-step rather than a full reposition.
  • Bring a ranged sub-DPS if you have one. Melee characters lose more uptime to ground AoE than a Cosmos/Lakshana ranged kit does.
  • Class III anomalies do not contribute to Peril Hunt Medal progression — clear it once for the Arc and the materials, then return only if you specifically want to farm Anomaly Material Selection Box I.

Video Guides

Community videos for the Cardboard Castle anomaly. The hidden ground pattern is easy to miss on a written description — these clips show the exact trigger area behind the Convenience Store.

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