125: Chapter 125 Sorcerer Recruitment Ticket · Sorcerer Recruitment Ticket · Sorcerer Recruitment Ticket

After a second of silence, the live stream's bullet chat instantly erupted into a sea of joy:

"Hahahaha! Dumbfounded now, aren't you, Boss P! You didn't listen to a single word your brother, the Count, just said!"

"Old Thief Gu: On my turf, if you're a dragon, you'd better coil up; if you're a tycoon, you'd better play the beggar for me!"

"This is killing me! He was acting so arrogant in the lobby, and now he's just as pathetic after having his Servants confiscated!"

Facing the ruthless mockery of the bullet chat, PD, his chubby face flushed red, cursed as he closed the formation interface: "That snake! He actually sealed my main account! Fine, so what if I have to start from scratch? With my IQ for tower defense games, I'll still slaughter everything!"

He glanced at the resources on the interface and quickly figured out the rules.

The pulsing deep-blue heart in the upper left corner represented the defensive line's tolerance, [Sanity: 5/5]. Each leaked monster would deduct one point; once it hit zero, the Master's mental defense would collapse.

In the upper right corner was a resource called [hope], which perfectly matched The Count of Monte Cristo's catchphrase, used to recruit new Servants during the run.

Below that was a currency very familiar to Chaldea's Masters—[Mana Prism: 0] (commonly known as Green Cubes), used to buy collectibles in the black market deep within the dream.

The next second, right in the center of the stone table, a parchment scroll emitting a faint blue light slowly materialized. On it, in an ancient font, was written: [Initial Servant Recruitment].

"Come on, let me see what cards I can draw from this initial recruitment."

PD reached out and clicked on the glowing parchment scroll.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

Three cards representing classes flipped over: [Caster Recruitment Voucher], [Caster Recruitment Voucher], [Caster Recruitment Voucher].

The fat on PD's face twitched violently.

"Wait... where's my DPS? Where's my melee tank?"

He stared wide-eyed at the three green cards, his voice cracking, "They didn't give me any melee classes like the Three Knights (Saber, Archer, Lancer) at the start? They gave me three Casters who can only throw fireballs and apply buffs? How am I supposed to fight? Go up and whack them with a staff?!"

"Hahahaha! The dealer's malice!"

"Starting with a full Caster lineup, is this the legendary melee mage formation?!"

"Don't cry, Boss P! Use your 'money power' to bribe the dealer!"

PD frantically searched the UI, wishing he could poke a hole through the screen, only to discover in despair that this Roguelike mode was a completely closed system. There were no buttons to buy refresh vouchers or any other in-game resources.

"You're cruel, Old Thief Gu."

After fuming in impotent rage for a while, PD could only accept his fate. Gritting his teeth, he reopened the recruitment interface.

As he focused on the detailed rules of the recruitment system, PD's brain, seasoned by the grueling high-difficulty stages of FGO, began to whir at high speed.

"These [hope] points are extremely limited; I only have 6 to start. Recruiting a five-star top-tier Caster like Zhuge Liang or Merlin costs 6 hope points directly. Four-stars cost 3, three-stars cost 2, and two-stars or below are free at 0 points."

PD stroked his chin and analyzed seriously for the stream: "Brothers, if I dump all 6 hope points into one five-star support now, I'll have absolutely no points left to grab strong melee units or DPS later."

"In tower defense games, you have to be frugal in the early game! Since this start gave me nothing but Casters, I'll just have to be a 'Grandet' and leech off the low-star units for free!"

Accustomed to being wealthy and generous, PD became uncharacteristically stingy.

Suppressing his discomfort, he carefully selected two representative two-star Casters from the free low-star pool—Andersen and William Shakespeare—and spent 2 hope points to recruit a three-star Caster who could deal some damage, Medea (Auntie C).

"Even though they're all ranged units, at least Andersen can heal, and William Shakespeare and Medea can add some magic damage. It should be enough to scrape through the first stage!"

Leading this "ragtag" budget team of a fairy tale author, a Master playwright, and a witch, PD pushed open the door to the first floor's battle, the [Shallow Nightmare], with a dark face.

The scene was a narrow bluestone corridor. From the enemy spawn point, three Skeleton Soldiers carrying rusted iron swords wobbled out.

"Damn it, these bags of bones look weak. Beat them up for me!"

Although PD was shouting loudly, he could only obediently deploy the three fragile Casters—Andersen, William Shakespeare, and Medea—on the high platforms on either side of the corridor. After all, the team didn't have a single melee unit that could stand on the ground to block enemies.

The literary giants and the witch on the platforms raised their staves and books, slowly conjuring a few weak magic orbs that bonked the Skeleton Soldiers on their skulls.

However, the Skeleton Soldiers' health bars only dropped by a pitiful sliver. They didn't even spare a glance at the "scratch-damage Masters" on the platforms. With a swaggering gait, they ignored the completely unobstructed ground defense and strolled right through, plunging into the blue gate behind PD.

"Beep-beep—"

The screen flashed red, and a corner of the heart in the upper left shattered.

[Current Sanity: 4/5].

PD was struck dumb, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit a lightbulb.

"I... I just got soloed by a basic Skeleton Soldier?!"

"Hahahahahaha! A massive Caster car crash scene!"

"Three Casters doing zero damage. Skeleton Soldier: This massage is decent, I'll come back next time."

"Shocking! The internet's number one tycoon humiliated by a mere minion!"

"Too real. Is this what a tycoon looks like without his 'money power'? Love it, love it."

"I'll 'monkey' you! A mistake! It was a total mistake!"

PD's old face turned beet red. Relying on Medea's high-frequency Noble Phantasm, he scrambled and struggled, barely surviving the first stage.

The settlement interface popped up, dropping 5 Mana Prisms and a brand-new [Lancer Recruitment Voucher].

"Whew... finally a melee unit that can tank." PD wiped his sweat in relief. "I still have 4 hope points left. Time to get a God of War!"

He quickly clicked the recruitment voucher, spent 2 hope points, and grabbed the three-star Lancer known as the "F2P God of War"—Cu Chulainn.

"With a melee unit, this run is in the bag!" PD regained his confidence and turned his gaze back to the holographic panel.

With the first stage cleared, a complex [Dream Roadmap], resembling a network of neurons, slowly unfolded in the center of the system.

The map consisted of icon nodes emitting various lights. According to the system prompts, players could only choose one connected branch to advance and could not turn back.

This was the core charm of the Roguelike mode—path planning!

At this moment, PD was faced with two branching options.

On the left was a common node emitting a dim white light, [Shallow Nightmare], labeled with low risk and standard drops.

On the right was a skull node burning with crimson flames—[Abyssal Deathmatch]!

"Brothers, the stage on the left is safe, but the drops will definitely be stingy. When we play games, we want excitement!"

PD's gambler's instinct instantly kicked in. He ignored the frantic warnings of "Run!" and "Don't seek death!" from veteran players in the bullet chat. Pointing at the crimson node, he boastfully declared:

"Look at the description. Although this [Abyssal Deathmatch] has a higher difficulty, it's guaranteed to drop a 'Rare Collectible' upon completion! We have a F2P God of War like Big Dog now, what is there to fear? Let's go for the big rewards despite the risk!"

With that, he reached out without hesitation and slammed his finger onto the crimson skull node.