127: Chapter 127 Another Billion-Dollar Game

With this bizarre build, PD stormed into the second floor of the adventure.

The scenes that followed left the hundreds of thousands of viewers in the stream completely stunned.

On the battlefield, the one-star [Sasaki Kojirou] stood at the very front of the defense line.

As an Assassin, his attack speed was already extremely fast.

Whenever a monster approached, the long sword in his hand would strike out repeatedly like a blur.

Immediately after, the [Broken Pocket Watch of the Mage Killer] triggered frantically, and the monsters' heads were densely packed with golden stars representing stun, locking them firmly in place so they couldn't take a single step!

Even more absurdly, due to triggering [Redundant Magic Circuits], Sasaki Kojirou's skill cooldowns were constantly reset, and his signature skill, "Tsubame Gaeshi," was unleashed like it was free, hitting the monsters on the forehead with a triple slash every few seconds!

"What the hell kind of insane attack speed is this?!"

"Skeleton Soldier: I just want to take one step forward, is that so hard?!"

"Help, this Sasaki Kojirou is doing infinite combos! He's playing this tower defense like a fighting game!"

"Hahahaha! See that! This is the true meaning of a roguelike!"

PD was laughing so hard his teeth felt like they were going to fall out. "I don't care how many waves of monsters there are, as long as I stack control fast enough, even God would have to stand in the corner at the intersection! Saber Alter, fire your cannon and wipe the floor!"

Accompanied by Saber Alter's unreasonable beam cannon bombardment from the back row, the monsters, which were locked firmly in place, were instantly wiped out.

With this heaven-defying "perpetual motion control build," PD charged forward with sparks and lightning, laughing wildly as he kicked open the door to the third-floor boss room.

"No matter what kind of deity is inside, today you're going to stand in the corner and behave!"

Accompanied by the sound of heavy chains, the fog dissipated.

Appearing at the end of the defense line was a terrifying giant the size of a mountain, with bulging muscles and holding a massive axe-sword—[Heracles] (Uncle B)!

"Yo? A big guy? No matter how buff you are, in front of my infinite stun-lock, you're just a living target!"

PD sneered and skillfully placed Sasaki Kojirou at the intersection, followed by Saber Alter, who was ready to unleash her ultimate skill at any moment.

The following scene was extremely ridiculous.

The great hero Heracles had barely taken his first step before he was stunned in place by a basic attack from Sasaki Kojirou.

Immediately after, the infinitely resetting Tsubame Gaeshi dance began, and the stun icon above Uncle B's head never disappeared.

His massive body looked like it was performing a glitchy breakdance, trembling wildly, yet he couldn't even raise his axe!

Meanwhile, in the back, Saber Alter's beam cannons pounded Uncle B one after another, causing him to lose lives repeatedly.

"Boss P has completely broken the game this run! 'Infinite Tsubame Gaeshi' paired with 'Basic Attack Stun'—did Old Thief Gu design this boss just for you to humiliate like this?!"

Seeing that Uncle B's health bar was down to his last life, victory was right before his eyes...

However, a sudden turn of events occurred.

The moment Uncle B revived for the last time, he triggered his berserk mechanic—[Remove all negative status effects and gain 10 seconds of control immunity]!

The giant let out an earth-shattering roar, and the golden stun stars instantly shattered.

Sasaki Kojirou's pride-and-joy pile-driving combo slashes, when struck against the berserk giant, were like scratching an elephant.

"Holy crap! He's immune to control! My control chain is broken!!" PD's scream cracked instantly.

He scrambled to place Cu Chulainn, whose cooldown had just finished, to block, but how could a three-star Servant with no defense bonuses be a match for Heracles?

"Splat!" Cu Chulainn didn't even have time to activate his dodge before he was one-shot by the berserk giant's axe.

Then, like a tank, Uncle B smashed through PD's last line of defense and swaggered into the blue gate.

[sanity: 0 / 5]

[Mental defense line collapsed, exploration failed.]

The blood-red words were smeared across PD's face once again.

The mocking voice of the The Count of Monte Cristo saying "Wait, and hope" sounded even more grating than a demon's at this moment.

"Screw you, you monkey!!!"

PD frantically pulled at his hair, his eyes widening until they were about to split: "This boss doesn't play by the rules! How can he be immune to control when he's at low health!! Old Thief Gu, come out, I promise I won't beat you to death!!"

The entire stream was instantly flooded with "hahahaha" and "God Hand teaches you a lesson" comments.

Just as PD was furious and exasperated, the results screen shifted again.

[Current exploration floor: Third floor. Rating: Slight Achievement.]

[Unlock permanent buff: Expansion. Effect: In the black market, two additional shelf slots will be provided.]

PD's hand, which was raised in mid-air, froze stiffly.

He stared fixedly at the "additional shelf slots" entry, his heavy breathing gradually becoming rapid.

In his eyes, the original rage was gradually replaced by a deeper, scarlet bloodshot look called "gambler."

If there had been two more slots in the black market just now, maybe he could have rolled that [Ignore Control Immunity] collection item!

As long as he could break the Boss's berserk mechanic, Uncle B would have had to stand obediently in the corner at the intersection when he revived!

"...Brothers."

"I was careless just now; I didn't account for that old guy having berserk control immunity. But this run, we've figured out the mechanics, and we have more shelf slots."

He moved his cursor with extreme smoothness, completely unchecked by any rational thought, toward that button burning with black flames.

"As long as I roll a few more collection items this run and assemble the ultimate build of 'Infinite Time Stop + Ignore Control Immunity,' I can absolutely tear this crappy prison down! Just one more run! I'm not going to sleep until I clear this!"

[Restart Dream]

...

Unknowingly, the hour hand quietly pointed to 3:00 AM, then slid to 4:00, 5:00...

On this night of the content drought, which should have felt empty due to the main story's conclusion.

Across the entire Blue Star, millions of players like PD, all with red eyes and dark circles, were immersed in the Chaldea lobby, pushing open that gate burning with black flames over and over again.

They bankrupted themselves trying to find that pink-haired female CEO in the black market to buy a core collection item, were ecstatic over assembling an absurd build, and then immediately had their blood pressure spike and crashed due to some unexpected BOSS mechanic.

"If I die, I'll just go again," "This run is definitely the one," "Just one last run before sleeping"...

This intense, continuous dopamine feedback providing positive and negative emotional swings was like the most addictive electronic drug, frantically draining their energy and sleep.

At the top floor of Chaldea Studio, Gu Yi leaned back in his boss chair, watching the [sanity] balance on the system panel skyrocketing geometrically, as well as the live streams of wealthy players like PD, who were furious with high blood pressure while simultaneously, and quite tsundere-ly, clicking "Restart" like crazy. A gentle smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Once you've entered my Prison of Grudges, not only is everyone equal, but you also have to obediently stay up late and work for me."