116: Chapter 116 Two Stars?!

Bidding farewell to the heart-fluttering Dr. Roman, Lin Lu walked with light steps toward Chaldea's Central Control Room.

The massive holographic globe, "chaldeas," emitted a faint blue glow. The scene, dripping with futuristic technology, made even this film critic—who was used to big-budget special effects—nod in silent approval.

"Look, everyone, this Professor Lev wearing the tall green hat speaks with such sincerity, and his eyes hold the unique determination of a scholar. In the classic structure of film and television, this kind of character usually plays the 'life mentor' who guides the protagonist's growth."

Standing before Lev, Lin Lu analyzed him for her livestream viewers in a professional tone. "I can say with certainty that in the upcoming plot, he will definitely be of great help to us, and might even sacrifice himself at a critical moment to protect the protagonist."

Hearing Lin Lu's confident "professional analysis," the veteran players in the livestream—who had just been emotionally wrecked by the Final Singularity—nearly spat their water all over their screens.

"Ah, right, right, right! Lulu is absolutely correct! Professor Lev is such a good man!"

"More than just a good man, he's practically the 'hottest' man in all of Chaldea—in the literal, physical sense!"

"Professor Lev really 'broke himself apart' for Chaldea. Lulu, make sure you don't blink in a moment!"

Looking at this group of "enthusiastic" veteran players, Lin Lu's lips curled into a smile as if everything was under her control. She was just about to continue with the story.

BOOM—!!!

Accompanied by a deafening, world-shaking explosion, the holographic field of vision was instantly engulfed by blinding fire and a shockwave! In an instant, the entire Central Control Room turned into a living hell as alarms blared through the sky.

"Ah—! What's going on?!"

Lin Lu was frightened out of her wits by the sudden VR physical vibration feedback. She collapsed onto the virtual ruins without a shred of dignity, her cool film critic persona shattering into pieces.

"Holy crap! Where's my mentor?! Where's my big, kind-hearted Mentor Lev?! He's just blown to bits?!"

Looking at the heavily wounded lying in pools of blood and the wailing everywhere, Lin Lu was completely stunned.

The bullet-chat area, meanwhile, was a sea of joy:

"Hahahahahahaha! Life mentor, my foot! That face-slap came at the speed of light!"

"Lev: Surprised? Unexpected? This is my meeting gift to you!"

"Don't cry, Lulu. This is Old Thief Gu's script. Isn't it thrilling?"

Before Lin Lu could recover from the shock of her "home base blowing up at the start," that quiet and fragile-looking junior, Mash, had already been pinned under a massive concrete slab.

To save Mash and herself, Lin Lu was forcibly pulled into a Rayshift.

After a bout of dizziness, she arrived at a burning city of ruins—Fuyuki City.

And the originally fragile junior, Mash, had now changed into a set of valiant pitch-black light armor. Holding a cross-shaped greatshield taller than herself, she stood before Lin Lu like a Valkyrie.

[Battle Tutorial Start]

"Oh? Is the actual gameplay finally starting? It's a so-called VR Tower Defense, right?"

Lin Lu patted her chest, forcing herself to regain some composure. Since the tutorial stage restricted her to using only one Servant, Mash, Lin Lu commanded her to raise her greatshield against the few skeletons wobbling toward them. Without any pressure, Mash smashed them into bone dust.

"Is that it? And here I thought this game was hardcore; it's nothing special." After successfully clearing the tutorial, Lin Lu clapped her hands easily and began boasting in the livestream.

The veteran players sneered in the bullet-chat:

"Yes, yes, yes. The tutorial stage only has the junior as an invincible shield, of course it's easy for you."

"Don't be in a hurry, Lulu. We'll let you know what 'the cruelty of the world' means in a moment."

Immediately after, upon entering the first stage of the Prologue, the real test officially began.

This time, facing a larger number of aggressive enemies, Lin Lu glanced at her "Servant Deployment Zone" at the bottom.

Besides the junior, Mash, the system had thoughtfully gifted a few low-star basic Servants after the tutorial. For example, the one-star Assassin [Sasaki Kojirou] and the two-star Caster [William Shakespeare].

"With just these few mobs, this Master will just steamroll right over you!"

"Go! All units, attack!"

With grand ambition, Lin Lu swiped her finger through the air, attempting to throw all her Servants onto the battlefield at once.

[Prompt: Insufficient Cost (Deployment Points)!]

"Eh? I can't deploy them?" Lin Lu was stunned.

"Deploying units in this game costs points, lady! Can you take a look at that Cost bar in the top right corner that slowly refills?!"

"Holy crap, Lulu, what are you doing?! The skeletons are about to reach your face! Hurry up and put Mash down to block them!"

"This is killing me. What kind of high-blood-pressure play is this? Watching this makes my toes curl so hard I could dig out a three-bedroom apartment in my shoes!"

Amidst the wails of the bullet-chat, Lin Lu finally scrambled to throw Mash—who had the lowest cost—onto the frontmost grid position.

THUD!

Mash raised her greatshield and successfully blocked the attacks of three skeletons.

"Phew... scared me to death. See, I blocked them."

Lin Lu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to fix her hair to act cool. However, because Mash's block count was full, a fourth skeleton strolled right past her and charged straight toward the blue gate at the end of Lin Lu's defense line!

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you blind?! You're not attacking such a big junior, so why are you rushing at me?!" Lin Lu let out a pig-slaughtering scream as she watched the skeleton raise its broken sword to hack at her.

"Deploy your DPS! Put that book-holding Caster on the high ground to hit him!"

The veteran players in the bullet-chat were so anxious they wanted to crawl through the internet cables to press the buttons for her.

"Oh, oh, oh! Mage! High ground!"

In her panic, Lin Lu's hand shook. Although she successfully slammed the Caster Servant onto the high ground, a dragging error in the VR controls caused Shakespeare to face the back wall!

"Hit him! Fire your fireballs! Why are you facing the wall and reflecting on your sins with your back to the enemy?!"

Looking at Shakespeare, who had his back to the battlefield as if admiring the scenery, Lin Lu let out a desperate shriek.

And that skeleton that slipped through the net just strolled past the high ground, heading straight for the blue gate where Lin Lu was!

With a "beep-beep," a blinding red light suddenly flashed across the screen.

"Ahhhh, why did my defense line leak a monster! This game is cursed!!!" Lin Lu flailed her arms and legs in the VR pod in a panic.

The entire livestream was filled with a joyful atmosphere:

"‘Professional Film Critic,’ ‘Tower Defense Genius,’ ‘All Units Attack,’ ‘Reflecting on Sins.’"

"If Old Thief Gu sees this high-blood-pressure recording, he'll probably wake up laughing."

"I can't take it, brothers. I was just depressed from the tragedy last night, but watching Lulu play today, my depression was literally laughed away!"

Subsequently, after a bout of extremely pathetic, scrambling, and chaotic operations, Lin Lu finally managed to clear the first stage by the skin of her teeth, relying on Mash's stubborn endurance and the system's mercy.

However, when the settlement screen popped up, there was no flashing golden light.

[Battle Victory!]

[Settlement Rating: ★★☆ (Two Stars)]

[First Perfect Clear Reward: saint quartz ×1 (Not obtained, requires Three-Star clear)]

Lin Lu looked at the empty loot bar and was dumbfounded. "Wait, I worked so hard for so long, and there's not even a reward? Is this game really this stingy?"