31: Chapter 31 Burping Cat

Only three days had passed since the release of "The Binding of Isaac," a game mocked by the entire internet for having an art style "like crap" and being "shoddily made."

On the major gaming forums of Youxing Network, the tone had completely shifted.

The paid trolls from big companies, who had been shouting things like "whoever buys this trash game is a dog" and "Chaldea is at its wit's end," were now drowned in a vast ocean of "survival instinct" and "meme-making madness."

"Brothers, I feel like my liver doesn't belong to me anymore. I planned to go to sleep after just one run last night, but when I looked up, it was dawn!"

"This game is definitely toxic! I've freaking died over three hundred times in the Basement! Every time I die, I'm so mad I want to smash my helmet, but as soon as I'm back at the main menu, my hand uncontrollably clicks that restart button!"

"Do you understand the value of [Brimstone] plus [Spoon Bender]! If I can just roll into that god-tier item combo once, I could level this entire Basement!"

"My stamina in FGO has been full for ages, and my wife Jeanne d'Arc is waiting for me in Chaldea, but right now I just want to beat that boss called 'Mom's Leg' to death!"

There were no pay-to-win elements, no overwhelming stats.

"The Binding of Isaac" used the purest Roguelike randomness, extremely high death penalties, and the "ultimate lawn-mowing pleasure" of getting top-tier item synergies to repeatedly grind the nerves of players in this other world—nerves that had been kept far too comfortable by the protection of big developers—against the floor of the Basement!

Chaldea Studio had once again, in an almost absurd fashion, given the entire Blue Star gaming circle a public lecture titled "Gameplay Above All."

In the Shark Stream Room.

PD, sporting two massive dark circles under his eyes, was staring blankly at the holographic screen.

"Brothers... this is the three hundred and twenty-fifth run." PD's voice was a bit raspy, but his eyes held a sickly feverish glow. "Today, even if I drop dead in this gaming chair, I'm going to roll a god-like combo that can one-shot heaven and earth!"

Controlling a base Isaac, he skillfully dodged the flies on the first floor and walked into the spiked door of a [Cursed Room].

In this game, entering and exiting a Cursed Room costs health, making it a classic high-risk area.

PD tanked half a heart of damage and walked inside.

In the center of the room sat three red demonic treasure chests, exuding an ominous aura.

"Jade Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva, please bless me, give me a Brimstone!"

PD rubbed his hands together and controlled Isaac to open the middle red chest.

*Click.* The chest opened. Inside lay a bizarre, almost nauseating black-and-white cat's head, with bloodstains still visible where the neck had been severed.

[Item Drop: Dead Cat]

[Effect: Gain 9 extra lives. However, as a cost, your maximum health will be forced to 1 red heart!]

"Hiss—" Seeing this description, the viewers in the stream room collectively gasped.

"Holy crap! 9 revives?! Isn't this a god-tier item! In a game where dying resets everything, this is literally 9 extra lives!"

"God-tier my ass! Didn't you see the second half? Max health forced to 1 heart!"

"Damn, 1 HP? Doesn't that mean getting touched by a fly or pricked by a floor spike results in instant death?!"

"The cost is too high! The margin for error drops to zero; it's a total glass cannon!"

"P-Boss, don't pick it up! With your level of micro-management, even 90 lives wouldn't be enough to keep you from dying with 1 HP!"

The bullet comments were frantically trying to dissuade him. In this Basement filled with projectiles and monsters, a 1-HP margin for error was like walking a tightrope.

But PD stared intently at that Dead Cat, a reckless smile suddenly curling at the corner of his mouth.

"What do you guys know? In this Basement, the bold feast while the timid starve!"

"Trading for items in the Devil Room costs max health. If my max health is already only 1 heart, doesn't that mean... I have nothing left to lose?!"

Amidst a flurry of "Holy crap, he's crazy" bullet comments, PD picked up the Dead Cat without hesitation.

In the upper right corner of the screen, his original three red hearts instantly shattered, leaving only a solitary one!

Over the next half hour, PD perfectly demonstrated to the entire internet the meaning of "dying and coming back to life."

Because he had only 1 HP, a slight slip in positioning or being touched by a minor mob resulted in instant death.

"Meow~" The screen went black, and Isaac respawned at the room's entrance in a puff of black smoke. The life counter in the upper right changed to [x8].

"Again!" PD rushed back in with bloodshot eyes.

Killed by floor spikes. Respawn, [x7].

Crushed by Monstro. Respawn, [x6].

After paying the price of five lives, PD's micro-management was forced to its absolute limit. Like an assassin dancing on a knife's edge, he finally cleared the first two floors hitless and stumbled into the [Devil Room] on the third floor.

Inside the Devil Room sat two items radiating dark energy.

One of them was a fuzzy cat tail.

[Item Drop: Guppy's Tail]

[Effect: Significantly increases the drop rate of various chests, but also increases the chance of nothing dropping at all.]

Since PD's max health was already only 1 heart, in the Devil's judgment, he only had to pay a minimal price to trade for this item.

"A cat tail? Another cat part? Is this game obsessed with cats or something?"

PD gritted his teeth and traded for the cat tail immediately.

Now, a black cat tail grew from behind Isaac.

With the boost from the cat tail, nearly every wave of monsters cleared in the following rooms dropped a chest.

Although he lacked keys to open gold chests, the various free normal and red chests left PD's pockets overflowing.

Finally, after finishing the fourth-floor Boss Room, PD saw an extremely familiar item among the dropped loot.

A cat's head with wide, somewhat terrifying eyes.

[Active Item: Guppy's Head]

[Effect: Upon use, spawns several 'Blue Flies' with homing abilities to fight for you.]

"Another cat? Nine-lived Dead Cat, cat tail, cat head... have I gathered a full set of cat-abuse equipment?"

PD muttered as he picked up the active item.

The moment he picked up the cat head!

The originally bald, tearful Isaac underwent a world-shaking mutation in a flash of white light!

His body was covered in black fur, and cat whiskers and ears grew on his face.

Most absurdly, a pair of black demonic wings sprouted from his back!

"Holy crap?!!!" PD was so startled by the sudden transformation that he nearly flipped over in his chair.

The tens of millions of viewers in the stream room were also completely stunned.

"He... he transformed?! This game actually has a set system?!"

"Collecting three cat parts mutates you from a human into a flying black cat?!"

"Damn, this look is so freaking cool! A black cat with demon wings! The style is off the charts!"

"He's flying! P-Boss, you don't have to dodge floor spikes anymore! You can freaking fly!"

Indeed, after transforming into Guppy, Isaac gained the extremely precious [Flight] ability, allowing him to ignore all traps, floor spikes, and chasms on the ground!

But this was merely the most insignificant incidental function of the "Guppy Set."