64: second
"Boom!"
Hearing this straightforward, offensive answer, Ereshkigal on the phantom throne felt as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
Her fair cheeks instantly turned red down to her neck at a visible speed; she stumbled back two steps, and the spear-blade in her hand almost slipped to the floor.
"Wh-wh-wh-what kind of dangerous nonsense are you talking about?!"
"Who... who wants you to stay here long-term?! This is the land of the dead! I am a cold and heartless Goddess of Death! Do you think you can please me with such frivolous words?!"
Though she shouted incoherently in a panic, anyone could see that an invisible little tail seemed to be wagging frantically behind her.
"Cough! A-anyway! Consider yourself passed! The guardian of the next gate is terrifying, so don't think your luck will last forever!"
Ereshkigal waved her hand flusteredly, and the first bronze gate rumbled open.
Immediately after, a system notification rang in A-Dai's ear:
[Successfully answered the question of the Mistress of the Underworld; Ereshkigal's favorability has increased!]
[Obtained special stage buff: In the battle of the Second Gate, the health-drain effect of the Cold of the Underworld is reduced by 20%, and all enemies' attack power is decreased by 10%!]
The Shark Stream Room fell into a deathly silence once again.
Half a second later, the screen was completely submerged by a volcanic eruption of bullet comments!
"Holy crap! She's a tsundere! She gave us a buff!"
"What the hell, enemy attack power down 10%?! Ereshkigal waifu, you're totally going easy on the enemy!"
"I get it! I totally get it now! This isn't some tower defense game; it's a hardcore romance dating sim disguised as a punishing tower defense!"
"As long as I'm smooth-talking enough, my waifu will help me turn the enemies into dust, right?! Go, go, go! For the next gate, I'm going to perform a three-thousand-word love confession without repeating a single word!"
All players felt like they had been given a super adrenaline shot at this moment. Players who were just posting on forums a second ago cursing the 'Cold of the Underworld' mechanic as disgusting and Old Thief Gu as subhuman were now rushing toward the even more difficult Second Gate with perverted smiles on their faces.
In the following time, the entire FGO player base fell into a strange cycle of 'pain and pleasure.'
The second gate, the third gate, the fourth gate... the difficulty of the stages skyrocketed geometrically.
From giant ghosts with innate magic resistance to Manticores that charged extremely fast and could stun Servants, to elite Bosses that required three medical Servants healing simultaneously just to barely withstand the damage.
Countless players were tormented to death in the stages, their defensive lines collapsing time and again, even being forced to use their extremely precious Command Spells to revive Servants.
But even so, the quit rate for the entire server was a staggering—0%!
No one was willing to quit.
Because every time they endured a stage in a desperate situation, they would see that tsundere, easily embarrassed, yet increasingly expectant blonde twin-tailed goddess before the bronze gate.
By answering questions, they peeled back her hard divine shell layer by layer, listening to her stammering excuses while watching her issue the strongest clear buffs while saying the harshest words.
This beautiful emotional feedback obtained after extreme suffering made all players as addicted as if they had inhaled catnip.
...
In the Shark Stream Room, the team led by A-Dai had already stumbled and bruised their way through the guardian of the sixth gate.
After exhausting the last Command Spell, the seventh gate leading to the deepest part of the underworld—which also imprisoned the soul of the Hero King Gilgamesh—finally opened slowly under the feverish gaze of players across the internet, as a frigid storm carrying the wails of billions of souls howled from behind it.
"F-family, we're about to enter the final Boss room."
A-Dai rubbed her arms, which were covered in goosebumps. "The previous six gates have already drained my Command Spells. I hope this stage's Boss isn't too insane..."
Stepping through the gate, the scene before them suddenly opened up.
This was no longer a narrow, cramped underground passage, but a vast and boundless dark hall.
Inverted black spires hung from the firmament, and in the very center of the hall stood a massive cage forged from bleached bones and underworld iron.
All players held their breath, staring intently at the cage, preparing to face the most terrifying despair.
However, when A-Dai saw the scene inside the cage clearly, she froze.
In that terrifying bone prison emitting a ghostly glow, the Hero King Gilgamesh, who was supposed to be enduring endless torment as a 'deceased,' was currently sitting cross-legged on a luxurious cushion he had gotten from who-knows-where.
With one hand propping up his chin and the other holding a Clay Tablet, he had even pulled out a golden goblet from somewhere and was leisurely savoring red wine.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, this ancient king didn't even lift his head, only snorting with a tone full of disdain:
"Too slow, mongrel. I have already re-checked the Uruk financial reports for the past three years here, yet you only just crawled here sluggishly. Did Chaldea learn its pace from a sewer turtle?"
A dead silence lasting five seconds.
The next second, the stream's bullet comments completely flooded the screen: "?????"
"Holy shit?! Is this what being in prison is supposed to look like?!"
"We're up there being chased and bitten by demonic beasts and down here being frozen into dogs by the Cold of the Underworld, while you're in a cage sipping wine and checking reports?!"
"Sorry to bother you, please go back to being dead, we're going back to the surface right now."
"Hey! That Gilgamesh guy, could you have a bit of self-awareness as a captive?!"
A-Dai was so annoyed by Gilgamesh's attitude that her teeth itched. "We risked our lives to come down and save you!"
"Save? Why would I need you to save me?"
Gilgamesh sneered disdainfully. "I was merely too physically exhausted and took the opportunity to let my soul come down to inspect the working environment of the Underworld. But since you mongrels have thick-facedly followed, I shall reluctantly allow you to witness..."
"Rumble—!!!"
Before Gilgamesh could finish his sentence, the entire Underworld hall suddenly shook violently.
The black spires in the sky began to collapse, and endless Nether Flames ignited frantically in all directions.
A massive figure radiating the pressure of an ancient god slowly descended amidst a soaring pillar of blue fire.
"Living beings who have trespassed into the depths of the Underworld, your farce ends here!"
It was Ereshkigal, showing her full divine form.
At this moment, she was no longer the tsundere girl sneezing on her throne, but the absolute Goddess of Death, clad in the laws of the Underworld and wielding a massive Red-and-black Spear-blade!