139: 13th day night!

The moment this announcement popped up, the bullet chat in PD's stream froze for a second before exploding like a volcanic eruption!

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!! The trailer just came out a while ago, and the servers are already live today?!"

"Seven Magi, seven Heroic Spirits?! Is this the truth of the 'Holy Grail War' mentioned in the prologue?!"

"Only one can survive?! How does this setting sound even more cruel and dark than fighting the Demon God King!"

"Brothers, stop mourning the Doctor! To hell with the dead period, let's go!!!"

PD's eyes, which were still red, instantly widened like copper bells as he slapped his thigh hard.

"I'll be damned! Old Thief Gu, you're truly my dear father! Just as I was nodding off, you sent me a pillow!"

PD was so excited he even threw away his e-cigarette, immediately locking onto the newly appeared entrance in the Chaldea lobby that was emitting a dark red glow.

"Brothers! Watch closely. Today, I'm going to see what exactly this so-called 'Source of All Cause and Effect' is all about!"

PD clicked to enter without hesitation.

Accompanied by a flash of light, a mode selection interface popped up before him.

On the left was [Story Mode], glowing with an eerie blue light.

On the right was the multiplayer PvP mode [Holy Grail War], burning with dark red flames.

"Brothers, how can a story be as satisfying as a fight? Is there even a choice? I'm going to walk tall in Fuyuki City!"

As a hardcore PvP enthusiast, PD didn't even glance at the left side. Rubbing his hands together, he excitedly clicked on the multiplayer mode on the right.

However, the system mercilessly popped up a red prompt box: [Warning: Current mode is not unlocked.]

[Multiplayer mode can only be unlocked after the Master completes the 'Prologue' experience in the single-player Story Mode.]

"Damn it! Old Thief Gu is pulling that forced-sale crap again, forcing me to watch the story first, huh?"

PD curled his lips. Although he had just confidently declared he would go on a rampage, he could only helplessly compromise in the face of the system's restrictive setting.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll watch the story then. I'll have to fight sooner or later anyway."

PD sighed, obediently returned to the previous menu, and clicked on [Story Mode] on the left.

Accompanied by a slight sense of dizziness, PD found his perspective focused on a high school student named "Shirou Emiya."

As an immersive single-player Visual Novel, the akashic engine rendered Fuyuki City's undercurrent of tension and its oppressive, horrifying atmosphere to the extreme.

However, the game didn't immediately throw the player into a death match. Instead, it patiently laid the groundwork with a long but abnormally peaceful "daily life" segment.

From a first-person perspective, PD experienced the mundane life of the ordinary high schooler, Shirou Emiya:

Being woken up every morning by his gentle and quiet junior, Sakura Matou, who prepared a sumptuous breakfast;

Competing for food at the dining table with his noisy but warm-hearted homeroom teacher, Taiga Fujimura;

And staying behind at the Student Council after school every day like a good samaritan to help repair various broken appliances.

"Isn't this just a regular dating sim? Sakura-chan is so sweet! Where is the battle royale Old Thief Gu mentioned in the trailer?"

PD chuckled foolishly in the stream while letting his guard down.

But he didn't notice that within this seemingly heartwarming daily life, there were unsettling and eerie foreshadowings everywhere:

The "Fuyuki City serial gas leaks and mysterious murder cases" constantly scrolling on the news; the nightmare of the Fuyuki fire ten years ago that Shirou dreamt of every night; and his almost pathological psychological trauma of "wanting to become a Hero of Justice" even if it meant working himself to death to help others...

Until the game time progressed to the late night of the third day.

That forcibly painted-on peace was finally completely torn apart.

At this moment, PD was controlling Shirou Emiya, following the story's guidance to stay in the empty Student Council office late at night to clean up and repair a broken heater.

"This daily life story is quite immersive, but why does this school feel so creepy in the middle of the night?"

PD muttered while tightening a screw.

Suddenly, a deafening sound of clashing metal erupted from the playground outside without warning!

"Boom! Clang—!"

That was simply not a sound a human could make.

Every dull echo of the weapons clashing was accompanied by visible sparks and a violent shockwave that tore through the air, even causing the windows of the school building to vibrate violently!

Curious, PD controlled Shirou to lean toward the window and look down, his pupils instantly shrinking.

On the playground in the dead of night, two afterimages—one red and one blue—were clashing frantically at a terrifying speed that defied physical common sense!

Every time their blades met, they plowed deep furrows into the level ground of the playground. The dust and magical storms filled the air, tearing the entire playground to shreds.

"Holy crap! Is that... Archer and Wang-chan?!"

The viewers in the stream and PD immediately recognized these two familiar faces who had shone brightly in FGO.

But in the current FSN story, observing this inhuman battle from a first-person perspective, the pressure and destructive power they displayed were a hundred times more shocking than the monotonous stationary performances in the tower defense mode!

Just as PD was staring dumbfounded and even wanted to take a screenshot with his phone...

The blue figure on the playground holding a crimson spear suddenly stopped his movements.

He slowly turned his head. Those eyes, gleaming with a beast-like bloodlust, accurately locked onto Shirou Emiya, who was peeking out from the school building window, across a distance of over a hundred meters through the thick night!

[Warning: You have been discovered by an enemy Servant!]

[The First Iron Law of the Holy Grail War: To maintain mystery, all ordinary people who witness magecraft must be eliminated!]

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Dog-bro is looking over! He's coming to kill me to silence the witness!"

PD was scared out of his wits, his adrenaline instantly skyrocketing.

He spun around abruptly, frantically pushing the VR joystick to control the unarmed Shirou Emiya as he ran for his life through the dark school corridors.

There were no grand slogans about saving the world here, nor was there any voice support from the Chaldea logistics team.

There was only his own heavy breathing in the deathly silent corridor and the approaching footsteps behind him, sounding like the tread of the Grim Reaper.

A thick, nauseating smell of blood began to permeate the air.

"Help! How the hell did this game turn into a horror survival game?!"

PD scurried around the corridor trembling, his heart thumping violently in his chest, not even having the courage to look back.

Suddenly, a hair-raising sound of something slicing through the air came from behind!

"Yo, kid, good evening."

A crimson demonic spear pierced through the darkness as silently as a venomous snake.

The one holding the spear was that man in the blue bodysuit with a bloodthirsty smile—Lancer, Cu Chulainn.

But in the FSN Story Mode, appearing as an enemy Servant, Cu Chulainn showed none of the warmth of a "good bro."

The suffocating killing intent and pressure emanating from him even caused PD to break into a cold sweat inside the VR pod!

"Pfft!" The long spear mercilessly transfixed Shirou Emiya. That extremely realistic, albeit weakened, pain feedback made PD scream, and he scrambled back to the storehouse at his home.

Despair, powerlessness, and the shadow of death tightly enveloped the player.

Until that moment...