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Chapter 201 - Strange Game

The game announcement really was a good one—even the little troublemaker Senti couldn't help but raise both hands high in the air and cheer loudly,

"Nice!"

But she still had one complaint.

"Why is the free giveaway this time still that old timer? Are you bullying my old-timer? Let me tell you, She may not be useful, but they're absolutely valuable!"

She cast a sidelong glance at Luo Mo while casually lounging on the sofa, completely unconcerned about Fu Hua's expression beside her. She was a bit dissatisfied that they were once again giving away Fu Hua's armor, thinking it might make players feel the game was cheapening things.

"Could it be that Fu Hua is still extremely popular, so they chose her again?"

Luo Mo sighed as he returned swiftly to the villa and spoke to the gathered Valkyries there.

At the very least, all of them were still very concerned about the game's future.

"So, boss, do you have any sort of plan? That Herrscher of Corruption actually chose to corrode the game itself... Hmm, it's kind of a strange feeling. It's like waking up the Demon King only to have her punch an NPC."

Bronya, still half-asleep, had a lazy glint in her gray eyes and was idly holding a Homu plush puppet in her left hand, her expression blank as always. But judging by the strength with which she was squeezing the puppet, she was clearly feeling some unspoken anxiety about the current situation.

Theresa, Luna, and Bronya all shared a deep affection for that kind of puppet. Maybe it was because they still held a childlike mindset? But as Luna and Bronya gradually matured, perhaps Theresa would be the only one still clinging to that innocence...

It was somehow both funny and a little bittersweet.

"Popularity..."

Fu Hua fell silent for a while, then looked at Luo Mk and hesitated.

"So, Luo Mk... you really believe that completing those stages will be the key to defeating the Herrscher of Corruption?"

It was no wonder the usually composed and serene red Immortal was surprised—so were the many Valkyries gathered here. Even Kallen looked at Luo Mo as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

At the very beginning, the idea of using a game to resist the Honkai never included this part, did it? If she remembered correctly, it was about retrieving an item from inside the game...

Now they were really transitioning to literally fighting the Honkai within the game?

She felt a headache coming—not because of the conceptual shift, but because of her long-forgotten and rusty gaming skills.

From the online complaints she'd seen, there were many people saying the levels were too hard and impossible to beat, making it tough for players to stay motivated.

On the flip side, though—there was another group that was very excited.

"Aah! So just by playing, we can save the world?! I love this setup!"

Bronie had just wiped off her bedhead in frustration after waking up. But now, the fatigue from her all-nighter had vanished—she was practically glowing with excitement.

A world like this…

This kind of world is just too cool!

"But it's really a shame that this setup is happening in real life. And... if we fail, the price Captain will have to pay might be very high..."

Irene curled her right hand slightly, resting it at the corner of her mouth as she thought aloud, watching Luo Mo with worry in her eyes.

She was always the first to notice when Luo Mo was hiding something on his mind—even when Mobius couldn't sense it earlier... well, probably didn't notice it.

Luo Mo truly was feeling uneasy now. If the game were to disappear, and the system went quiet, he would suffer a serious loss. Even though he could still pass on intel to Kiana and the others as usual, just thinking about that kind of outcome made his heart ache.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly and nod in confirmation at Irene's words.

"I see..."

Bronya mumbled, no longer thinking too much about it. After all, this was a full-scale operation being carried out by a Herrscher. If it bore no results, it wouldn't make sense. The fact that none of them were hurt probably meant someone else had taken the blow for them.

"But honestly, when it comes to whether humans can beat a data entity with invincible stats… I'm not confident."

"If we follow the original development process, there should be a certain 'Old Friend' getting involved."

Luo Mo said helplessly.

In his heart, he naturally hoped that the one to step in would be the beloved one in white.

But whether she was truly paying attention to this world… he didn't know.

As for why it was called an "old acquaintance"—well, in Kallen's place there was an AI food assistant, and the first time he met this "person," he immediately bumped into them. The more he thought about it afterward, the more it didn't sit right. This world wasn't supposed to have the Hyperion warship… but that particular lunchbox still showed up...

"Old acquaintance...?" Kongming muttered as she played with her feather fan, quietly repeating the phrase, looking skeptically at Luo Mo. Clearly, she misunderstood what he meant by "old acquaintance."

"Um, probably... not exactly?" Luo Mo mumbled awkwardly. Honestly, he wasn't sure if that clumsy onboard AI was the same "person."

"Ah well, if it's uncertain like that, then we definitely shouldn't trust them," Bronie cut in, eyes glinting.

"Let's just beat the boss. It's just a cheating enemy anyway, and if it comes down to it—I'll cheat back!" Her tone was sharp and confident, every word ringing with challenge. This was her area of expertise. Even if the opponent was a Herrscher...

...

...

"Bullsh*t! That thing is way too OP—I can't beat it!" Bronie shouted.

"They seriously made Kiana fight in a form with no proper skill animations—how is that fair?! One hit and you're dead, and if you can't dodge it perfectly, you just get scraped to death! What kind of gameplay is that?!"

Fuming, she slammed her phone down onto the sofa. Even the corners of her eyes twitched in frustration. She looked like a small but vicious rabbit ready to bite.

"...If you can't take the heat, maybe don't play," Bronya said coldly, giving her a side-eye. "Talking big at the start, then rage-quitting after losing once?" She ignored Bronie, who was now furiously tapping on her screen again.

Naturally, not all the levels in the game were the same. Bronya's challenge wasn't as tough as Bronie's. She was currently fighting Seele—herself.

Bronya could feel the malicious intent in this stage. Seele was even standing beside her, watching curiously. And notably, this was Bronya's third level. It seemed like everyone's stages were random and varied in type—half cutscene, half battle. Bronya actually preferred pure combat.

She failed.

The big red "DEFEAT" flashed on the screen. That made three failures now. She thought she hadn't made any mistakes this time, but when Seele in the got close and asked her a question, it made her slip up and panic. Another failure.

She had no choice but to restart the game and go through the opening cutscene again.

(T/C: damn, that dirty~)

---

"Bronya, we meet again... my sister... and my weaker self."

The white Seele said with sorrow in her voice. Then, right in front of Bronya, she transformed into a flower, blooming silently, and began attacking with a scythe in hand.

The opponent seemed... full of twisted amusement.

But Bronya remained calm and focused. She dodged every attack with precise timing, then used the Herrscher of Reason's motorcycle to crush her enemy. Her character moved with fluid grace, like a perfectly timed melody. Her fingers danced across the screen while Seele's health bar dropped lower and lower.

"...Sister, as expected of you—you've never lost between the two of us."

"But... I still have one more trump card. Come, defeat her. Defeat the other me. Then... then I'll believe you can overcome the final enemy!"

White Seele clutched her chest. Despite her pale face, a smile appeared on her lips. A dark red aura surged around her as she changed into a new form.

A twisted grin spread across her pale face. Her eyes now burned with madness. Her scythe vanished, replaced with clawed gauntlets that glowed with a dangerous light.

"Well well... if it isn't my dear sister~" she said wickedly, putting a finger to her lips.

---

"...Eh?" Seele gasped, letting out a surprised breath. She had never seen this part of the story before. Was this caused by corrupted Herrscher data? How had the story suddenly turned into this? Had she missed something?

Bronya said nothing, only pressed her lips together as she skipped through the cutscene. Unfortunately...

It couldn't be skipped. Only the "Choice" button appeared.

"Sister, wouldn't you consider becoming my pet? That way, your problems—and mine—would all be solved, wouldn't they? All you have to do is please me a little..."

The blood-red Seele didn't seem in any rush to fight. Instead, she extended a hand and invited Bronya with a devilish grin.

"..."

Bronya had just lost at this exact point. Naturally, she chose "Refuse." But the opponent's form was extremely strong. She estimated that unless she played perfectly for the next ten minutes with zero mistakes, she wouldn't make it.

But… Bronya glanced at Seele in front of her—her face was flushed red. She must be feeling shy.

In fact, Bronya did want to try and see what would happen if she accepted.

"B-Bronya, I-I'll go back and continue strategizing now!" Seele quickly ran back to her spot, her heart pounding, her face red, looking like she'd just done something bad.

Even though she'd just seen her sister defeat the most difficult boss so far…

[Hey hey hey! That's slander! I didn't do anything like that!]

Inside her head, Black Seele's voice frantically defended her innocence. She definitely didn't want the other Seele to misunderstand in weird ways.

"Stop… don't say any more..." Seele's head practically started steaming with embarrassment.

After a moment of hesitation, Bronya awkwardly gave in to the opponent's lewd intimidation. Not because she wanted to watch—it was purely for saving time and speeding up the process.

All for the boss.

"Ah, you betrayed Seele… But I won't lose… mm…"

As Black Seele handed over a rope, the screen gradually faded to black.

[Congratulations. You've cleared this stage]

"…."

Bronya didn't say anything—just sighed in disappointment. Likely because she couldn't find a shortcut for speedrunning.

She looked over at the others' progress.

The levels set by the Herrscher of Corruption were like this: some had combat, some had story events, and others were mini-games. Though strange and chaotic, the difficulty was consistently high.

Defeating White Seele earlier had already been hard enough. Black Seele directly ramped up the difficulty.

Skipping it… might not have been a bad idea.

...

"Hah! You hack—I hack too! So what if you locked the Kiana character? I'm using my sign to break through your armor anyway! Himeko, Luna, oho! And even a mysterious unseen Kongming! Go!"

Bronie was locked in an intense fight—her screen flashing with lights nonstop.

Her luck had been bad. On the second stage, she encountered what was known online as the most torturous level. Fortunately, once one player cleared it, the rest didn't have to face it again—like securing a checkpoint.

Well… not sure if her "cheat" counted—just like Bronya's sneaky skip earlier.

Like mentioned before, this game at the moment was full of bugs.

But at least the two of them could now continue to the next stage. The real challenge was unlocking that checkpoint, which took a very long time.

Compared to their boss, Bronya and Bronie were progressing more smoothly with signs and scripting.

What Bronya sensed most clearly was that her signs could still "resist" because the enemy's Erosion Authority had been spread out. These viruses were multiplying inside the core data, and the most direct result was more and more levels appearing.

Her heart sank. This felt like an endless chase. But right now, the enemy held the advantage.

...

Over on Kiana's side, she relied on sheer luck to pass a quiz stage. Mei was being blocked by Elysia at the entrance to St. Freya Academy. And Seele was struggling to control her two dumb sisters as they aimlessly wandered around the character selection screen…

The situation was kind of falling apart.

Bronya suddenly stood up, pursed her lips, and walked over to Luo Mo. She tugged at his coat hem and looked up slightly:

"Boss, this isn't working. Even Bronya took forever to clear just one stage..."

Luo Mo let out a relieved sigh, looked down at Bronya beside him, and silently thanked the heavens for sending him a savior.

He was stuck in a galgame-style stage, choosing between Luna and Kongming. It wasn't hard—just time-consuming.

The problem was both girls had taken positions next to him. Even while playing their own games, they kept glancing at his screen.

If their eyes accidentally met, you could visibly see the hostile tension rise between them.

"Human, do you prefer the moon or the stars?"

"Mr. Assassin, do you prefer four-character nicknames or two-character ones?"

Four choices appeared on the screen—every one of them seemed like a dead end. He pondered hard, trying to find a way out, glancing at the expectant gaze of Luna and the annoyed pout of Kongming.

Eventually, he chose the two-character option.

"Two characters. Because… Luna and Kongming are both two-character names. Oh, and so are the Captain, Irene... lots of people on the ship have two-character names."

Sure enough, even among the "death" options, there was a glimmer of hope. Luo Mo quickly picked the correct answer, and the resulting storyline didn't disappoint.

But immediately afterward, even more difficult questions came up, making him break out in a cold sweat.

He'd tried rushing past them before, but the game wouldn't give a fail warning right away. Instead, you'd walk all the way to a dead end and then get slapped with a failure notice.

But now, all of that was about to change.

Bronya had pulled him back—thank goodness.

"...Even you couldn't clear it?"

Luo Mo paused for a moment and glanced at the erosion value on the game: 66.1%.

The corrosion had clearly decreased, but the situation hadn't improved.

"No. But playing solo is just too inefficient. Bronya plans to compile some strategies. Even if completed stages don't repeat, they could still be used as references. You need to come up with other methods too. Don't just look at the erosion value, because..."

Bronya frowned—a rare sight. But she still seemed unsure how to explain what she was feeling.

"Hmm?"

Luo Mo looked confused.

"Captain, I think I understand what Lady Bronya means."

Irene, who had been silently watching, suddenly spoke up. Though she didn't understand the gameplay, she had been observing changes throughout.

"Go on."

"That erosion value is just a reference. If too much of the system is corrupted, eventually players might not even be able to select their characters anymore.

It's not just a single percentage. The bar doesn't need to hit 100%—as long as the enemy can dominate the system by overwhelming it, it's already theirs."

Irene stared directly into Luo Mo's eyes as she explained seriously.

Bronya also nodded. If the usable modules were all taken over, then they'd have no way to fight back at all.

What she'd sensed while playing wasn't just the offbeat tone of the script. It was that the differences were too subtle—so subtle it made you think there was still plenty of time.

She couldn't help wondering…

Was that intentional?

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