On Saturday, August 8, at 8:30 PM, the special preview broadcast for 'E-Hwan' Version 1.3, 'Starlight Beyond the Mist,' was held on the official YouTube channel. The broadcast unveiled new S-rank characters Zanhong and Rinko, a brand-new open area called the Twilight Zone, and various new summer-themed content. Version 1.3 will run for approximately six weeks, from Wednesday, August 19, to Wednesday, September 30, with the first and second halves each lasting three weeks.

1.3 The main story for this version is Chapter 6, Mist Nest Game. The narrative, which had jumped to Chapter 7 in Version 1.2, returns to Chapter 6 in this update, concluding the Scarlet Letter incident that began in Version 1.1, Corridor of Dreams. This version will reveal the full extent of what the Scarlet Letter organization planned to do with the items they had stolen.

Rinko and Nisha join as new major characters, and a new area, the Mist Nest, will be added alongside the story.

The Twilight Zone, located northwest of Hetero City, is now open. This area had been under construction since the Appraiser first arrived in Hetero and features an atmosphere completely distinct from existing regions.

Its most striking feature is its massive scale. It is so large that a single lap around the road circuit takes over 10 minutes, and Oracle Stones are placed to be discovered naturally during travel, eliminating the need to search for them. New rally courses and racing challenges set in village fields, mountain paths, and various circuits will also be held. Each course requires driving skill due to varying curve combinations, road conditions, and inclines, and players can record their driving times using Tracking Mode.

1.3 Zanhong, the star of the first-half pickup, is a Main-attribute damage dealer. Her ability, Eyes of the Crimson Orchid, allows her to see the flames of a person's soul, enabling her to read and manipulate others' emotions to create illusions.

Combat alternates between reality and illusion states. In reality, she maintains a Hunt buff that increases damage during continuous attacks with her katana and enters the illusion state via the By-Rail skill Crimson Afterimage. In the illusion state, she gains a Delusion buff that increases critical damage from damage-over-time effects, and all attacks are treated as additional attacks. Returning to reality with Fractured Soul at the right moment—when the skill icon glows—triggers the high-power, wide-area technique Extinguish and enhances her Ultimate. In a party, she also plays a role in stacking Scorch through her own cycle effects. In the open world, she can use stealth to avoid detection by enemies.

Interaction content is unique. After the Scarlet Letter incident concludes, Zanhong loses her freedom and is absent from Hetero; instead, an illusion of Zanhong that only the Appraiser can see appears. Consequently, the Meeting event and City Stroll are unavailable in Version 1.3. Instead, players can increase her Obsession level through gifts to unlock features like riding together, duels, and moving into a house. Once a certain Obsession level is reached, players can challenge the illusion to a direct duel.

1.3 Rinko, appearing in the second-half pickup, is a Spirit-attribute wide-area sub-damage dealer. Her ability is telepathy, allowing her to sense people, anomalies, and even the radio waves of objects, and synchronize her own waves to the target's frequency.

The core of her combat is Synchronized Co-op. It is triggered by summoning anomaly allies like Sada or other party characters; damage dealt is treated as an additional attack, and the attribute follows the character who triggered the co-op. Players build Resonance with normal attacks and consume it with By-Rail skills to enhance co-op attacks. A time-stop effect is applied when the wheel menu for selecting co-op targets opens. Empty party slots are filled by Sada, and the more slots Sada occupies, the higher the co-op damage. Her Ultimate, Overload Resonance, deploys a resonance field to synchronize with up to three allies, dealing wide-area explosion damage to enemies within the field upon expiration.

Unlocking the passive Weakness Detection enhances Hex effects within the party, while Precision Frequency Tuning lowers the target's resistance to the attribute of the teammate who triggered the co-op. In city life, she can synchronize with Sada to use Ghost Swing via ghost waves.

1.3 The first half features Zanhong's limited board, Shadow of Delusion, and Nanari's rerun board, Invitation, Head of the House No. 1, from the Version 1.3 update until September 9, 06:59. The second half features Rinko's limited board, Frequency Roaming!, and Hotori's rerun board, A Cup of Moonlight, from after the September 9 maintenance until September 30, 06:59.

All limited boards share the S-rank character guarantee stack, point gift count, and board transformation count. However, skin perk event counts are applied independently per board, and event counts for the same board are maintained.

In the Arc Research Recruitment plan, Allure Special and Tiger Special will be held in the first half, while Sound of All Things Special and Bright Moon Special will be held in the second half, aligned with each board's opening period. Note that the pull counts and pity systems for each special are shared.

Zanhong arrives with various costumes. Dream Stained by Darkness can be purchased in the mall. Autumn Leisure is obtained by reaching the cumulative skin perk dice count, and Rest Under the Moonlight is obtained by reaching Affinity Level 10.

Rinko has three costumes. Late Spring Day is available in the mall, Space Travel is obtained via cumulative skin perk dice count, and Standby Mode is obtained at Affinity Level 10.

Summer swimsuit costumes have also been revealed. The Appraiser's (Male/Female) Midsummer Blue, Mint's Sea Salt Star Candy, and Nanari's Sunshine Surfing can be obtained through the Blind Box event. Zanhong's Purple Flame and Chaos' Wave Leading the Way can be purchased in the mall.

Volleyball Star is a 2v2 PvE mode set at a beach volleyball tournament in Hetero City. Players form a team with one character they control and one AI partner to compete against opponents. The first team to reach 7 points with a lead of at least 2 points wins. The AI partner automatically covers the opposite court based on the Appraiser's position.

Each player has six stats—Serve, Spike, Receive, Pass, Blocking, and Dig—so choosing the right player for the situation is the start of the match. Characters grow through level-ups, and the item Talent Bread can be used to break limits on specific stats. Talent Bread is obtained by placing 1st in the Weekly League, another mode consisting of 5 matches where a single loss results in immediate elimination. Volleyball Star will be integrated into city life content after the event ends.

Shipwreck Treasure Hunt is an event where players ride a jet ski to designated areas and use a harpoon to catch floating debris. There is a fuel limit, so players must return to shore before it runs out to settle their points. Recovered parts can be used to upgrade the jet ski's harpoon range, speed, and maximum capacity.

In Wave-Cutting Sprint, players challenge new water tracks across Hetero. Unlike car racing, multiple teams compete simultaneously, and each track features three difficulty levels with three challenge missions each.

The second half features the Breeze Riding invitation event using a tandem bicycle, where players transport characters in need to their destinations.

Echoes Beyond the Orbit is a survival event where players face endless waves of monsters in an anomalous space. Since common skills trigger automatically, the Appraiser focuses on movement and evasion, building combat power by selecting enhancement cards that appear upon leveling up. Combinations vary each round, ranging from basic stat cards to skill cards that grant new attack methods and special cards that adjust skill range and frequency. It is divided into a Simulation Training mode, cleared by defending for a set time, and an Infinite mode, where players survive to their limit.

Peaceful Construction Site Today is added as permanent city life content. New construction missions appear daily, and the Appraiser directly operates heavy equipment like excavators, road rollers, and forklifts to perform loading, material transport, ground leveling, and excavation.

New challenges open on the Warren Continent. Trial of the True Dragon, added to the Red Dragon's Castle, is a floor-based challenge consisting of 99 standard floors that must be cleared sequentially and an infinite floor mode.

Additionally, Version 1.2's Meow Breaking News, Bang Bang Bang, and Close Call Hide-and-Seek are all converted to permanent content. A new scratch-off coupon is added to Meow Breaking News; Ponz obtained from these coupons do not count toward Tycoon level or Pink Asset rankings.

E-Hwan's first water vehicle, the jet ski Tide, is released in a Blind Box format. It can be pulled using Ponz or Phantastones, with the required resources increasing per pull; all rewards in the box can be obtained within a maximum of 15 pulls. Some of the aforementioned summer swimsuit costumes are also included in this Blind Box.

The quad bike Heatwave can be purchased directly with Ponz, and the two-person bicycle Old Times, which allows riding with a character, will be revealed in the second half. It is designed for leisurely pedaling through scenery rather than racing, and connects to the aforementioned bicycle escort event.

The new property, Field Villa, is a detached house located in the Miguel district that can be purchased with Ponz. It is situated in a quiet location away from the city center and includes a small garden where players can plant seeds and harvest them after a certain time.

1.3 Players who log in for 7 days after the update can receive up to 10 Dice of Truth as a seasonal gift. Additionally, Appraisers at Hunter Level 11 or higher will receive 56k Like Jams via mail as a bagel supply.

Various events will run sequentially throughout the version. The Trial Banquet adds Mammon and Mophix challenge stages, and the Lotus Technique Training title reward now includes a display effect based on cumulative event points. Events to increase resource acquisition include Vitality Charger (2x Vitality consumption rewards in city life content), Gold Rush Operation (2x Ponz rewards for Rob the Pink Purse), Pixel Release (2x Origin Pixel consumption rewards in designated content), and Ponz Rush (2x Ponz rewards for city vitality consumption). Ring of Light Beyond the Orbit will also be held.

1.3 Character rendering has been improved to enhance light and shadow expression, allowing characters to blend more naturally into the background.

A Random Costume feature is added to the costume system. When enabled for a specific character, the game will randomly equip costumes from the inventory upon login or scene transitions as long as that character is in the party. Costumes appropriate for the situation are automatically applied when passing through specific locations like the Academy or home, or while swimming; unwanted costumes can be excluded from the rotation in user settings.

Numerous other convenience improvements are applied. Glasses parts are added to Nanari's Academy Star skin, allowing players to toggle them. A furniture and interior category is added to the bagel system. A secondary confirmation step is added when gifting A Handwritten Letter to prevent accidental gifting to the wrong character. A sweep tracking function is added to open-world multiplayer, and a shortcut to hide the UI with one touch is added to the main screen.

Numerical adjustments are also made. The city vitality consumption increase when upgrading City Tycoon to level 16 is raised from 100% to 200%, and produce grown at the Field Villa can be sold for Ponz by consuming city vitality. Close Call Hide-and-Seek now consumes city vitality and rewards Ponz upon play, and a mini-map function is added to Rob the Pink Purse. Furthermore, the 1M Ponz profit previously obtainable per round in Rob the Pink Purse is renamed Tycoon Project Subsidy, and the idle profits from Volleyball Star's Weekly League and the Bang Bang Bang collection display also consume this subsidy limit.

News of an offline event was also shared. E-Hwan announced they are preparing a cooling space for Appraisers exhausted by the ongoing heatwave. Related news will be released in August, and specific details and schedules will be provided later.

At the end of the broadcast, brief information about Version 1.4 was revealed. The amusement park map, which many Appraisers have been waiting for, is scheduled to be released in Version 1.4.

E-Hwan 1.3 Starlight Beyond the Mist will be updated on Wednesday, August 19, and further details can be found in the upcoming detailed notice.