9: Chapter 9 Plot-Driven Viewers

Just as PD shattered a sea of monsters with a single 'Excalibur,' sending shockwaves through the entire gaming circle with FGO's hardcore mechanics and god-tier art...

Another entirely different storm was quietly brewing among the story-focused players.

In the livestream of 'A-Dai,' a well-known beauty streamer in the ACG section of Shark Platform.

Unlike a whale like PD, who shouted and screamed while pursuing overwhelming combat power, A-Dai was a typical 'immersion-seeker.'

She progressed through games extremely slowly, reading every single word of NPC dialogue without skipping a beat.

At this moment, A-Dai had already been struggling through [Burning Fuyuki City] for a full three hours.

Although she was a klutz when it came to combat, barely scraping by by borrowing a friend's 'Cu Chulainn,' her heart had long since been captured by the vivid and distinct characters in the game.

In the VR perspective, A-Dai was following behind two young girls, walking down a ruined street covered in ash.

Walking in front was Director Olga Marie, with her silver hair and red eyes, arms crossed as she incessantly complained about the surroundings.

Walking beside her was the pink-haired underclassman, Mash, holding a heavy cross shield and remaining constantly vigilant of the surrounding dangers.

"Even though this Director has a bit of a sharp tongue and an arrogant personality, she's actually a soft-hearted tsundere."

A-Dai watched Olga Marie, who was calling her a 'useless Master' while subconsciously shielding her whenever a monster appeared, an 'auntie smile' spreading across her face.

"Brothers, I declare that besides my wife Mash, the Director is also my favorite!"

"Once I finish this prologue, I'm definitely taking the Director back to Chaldea for coffee!"

A-Dai spoke with absolute certainty to the viewers in her livestream.

The bullet chat was also full of cheer:

"True, a tsundere white-haired young lady—this character design really hits the spot!"

"The writing in this game is incredible; every character is fleshed out. It's ten thousand times better than those standing NPCs that only exist to give out quests!"

"Happy ending guaranteed! Hurry to the center point and shut down the Singularity!"

In the inherent perception of Blue Star players, game plots were nothing more than the classic trope of 'the protagonist's party fights monsters to level up, eventually defeats the demon king, saves the world, and everyone celebrates together.'

No one realized that what they were facing was a cruel abyss named 'Type-Moon.'

The story continued to advance.

After defeating the monsters guarding the Greater Grail in Fuyuki City, A-Dai, Mash, and the Director finally arrived at the deepest part of the Great Underground Cavern.

"Look! Someone's ahead!"

A-Dai shouted in surprise.

In front of the cavern stood a man wearing a green suit and a top hat.

It was none other than Professor Lev Lainur, who had been in charge of the Sheba observation system before the explosion at Chaldea!

"Lev! Great, you're still alive!"

Seeing a familiar face, Olga Marie's tense nerves instantly relaxed.

Her eyes reddened, and like a wronged girl who had finally found her pillar of support, she ran quickly toward Lev.

"Lev, how is Chaldea? Take us back quickly!"

A-Dai also breathed a sigh of relief: "So there was backup. It looks like this prologue story is about to end happily. This Uncle Lev seems pretty reliable."

However, the Lev on the VR screen did not reach out to embrace the Director as she ran over.

He slowly turned around, and on that originally gentle face, there was now a smile so eerie and distorted it made one's skin crawl.

"Go back? Go back where, Olga Marie?"

Lev's voice became incredibly cold and arrogant. He looked down at the Director who had run up to him as if he were looking at a pathetic insect.

"Lev... you, what are you saying?"

Olga Marie froze and stopped in her tracks.

"The explosion at Chaldea—those were bombs I set with my own hands!"

Lev spread his arms and began to laugh maniacally:

"Filthy creatures like humans have no value in continuing to exist! And you, Olga Marie, your mission has ended."

Boom!

It was as if a bolt of lightning had exploded in the minds of A-Dai and the millions of viewers in the livestream.

"Holy crap? An inside job?!"

"This NPC is a villain?! Damn, he blew up his own base right at the start?"

"This plot twist is a bit sudden!"

A-Dai was also stunned, but she was still comforting herself and the audience:

"It's fine, it's fine, it's for the plot. Villains make it fun. We have protagonist armor; we'll definitely defeat him and save the Director!"

But the plot that followed completely shattered the psychological defenses of all the players from this other world.

Lev looked at the incredulous Olga Marie, his lips curling into a cruel arc:

"Do you think that as long as you complete the mission, you can return to your body in Chaldea?"

"How pathetic. Olga Marie, don't you understand yet?"

"The moment the Central Command Room at Chaldea exploded, your body had already turned completely into chunks of meat and ash!"

Lev's words were like a cold, sharp knife, stabbing deep into everyone's hearts.

"The only reason you can exist here is because the magical energy of this Singularity is sustaining your soul, which hasn't dissipated yet. Once the Singularity is fixed, you will instantly vanish into thin air!"

"No... Impossible! You're lying to me!"

Olga Marie's face turned deathly pale. She backed away in despair, her legs giving out as she slumped to the ground.

She desperately covered her ears, tears bursting forth like a broken dam.

"Don't believe me? Then I'll give you one final gift..."

"Go into the thing you were most proud of and feel eternal agony!"

Lev sneered and snapped his fingers.

An irresistible magnetic field instantly enveloped Olga Marie.

Under the horrified gazes of A-Dai and Mash, the Director's body floated into the air, out of her control.

Above her head, space rippled like water, and the phantom of a miniature Earth model (chaldeas) burning with black-red flames slowly emerged.

"That's... chaldeas! Its interior is at a temperature of tens of thousands of degrees!"

In the communication channel, Dr. Roman's terrified voice came through.

"No! No! Let me go!"

In mid-air, Olga Marie struggled frantically. The once-arrogant young lady was now crying like a helpless child.

She reached out in despair toward A-Dai and Mash.

"Save me! Someone, please save me!"

"I don't want to die! I clearly didn't do anything wrong!"

"Why... why has no one ever praised me once?!!!"

Under the extremely realistic and bone-chilling VR environment rendering, those tragic cries, each one sounding like it was wept in blood, struck directly at the soul!

"Let her go! You bastard!"

A-Dai's eyes were red in VR as she desperately manipulated the joystick, wanting to rush over and save her, but the forced constraints of the plot left her standing there, able only to watch.

Mash charged with her shield, but she was violently blown away by a storm of magical energy from a casual wave of Lev's hand, crashing heavily against the wall.

The next second.

Under the horrified, pained, and angry gazes of everyone...

Olga Marie's petite body was ruthlessly sucked into that miniature Earth burning with tens of thousands of degrees of karmic fire!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH——!!!"

Accompanied by one last, shrill-to-the-extreme scream, the girl's body was instantly decomposed in the extreme heat, completely turning into nothingness. Not even a trace of ash was left behind.

A deathly silence enveloped the entire Great Cavern.

A-Dai stood there blankly, unable to believe her eyes.

That white-haired tsundere young lady who had accompanied them all the way, who was foul-mouthed but always stood in front.

The Director who kept saying she would give them a piece of her mind when they got back. Just like that...

Without even leaving a corpse, she was burned alive?

The bullet chat in the livestream, after a full minute of stagnation, completely erupted!

“???????”

"F*ck you!!! Sh*tty developers, come out here right now!!!"

"Why! Why write the story like this! Why kill the Director!!!"

"What kind of hellish dark plot is this! My tears are actually falling! Lev, you animal, give the Director back to me!"

"I can't accept this! I really can't! Isn't this supposed to be a fun game about fighting monsters and leveling up? Why suddenly send out knives!"

"Give me back my emotions! I'm going to send razor blades to this crappy game's office!"

The entire Blue Star gaming circle, players accustomed to 'justice and light' and 'happy endings,' were stabbed right in the heart by this sudden, bloody 'Type-Moon style tragedy'!

And in the game, while A-Dai and the livestream audience were still weeping for the Director's death and swearing to tear Lev into ten thousand pieces...

Lev merely glanced at the angry group with a smile and said calmly:

"Don't look at me with those eyes. You'd better think about how to survive under the sword of 'that King' first."

With that, Lev's figure turned into a burst of black mist and disappeared from the spot.

"BOOM——!!!"

Almost the instant Lev disappeared, the entire Great Underground Cavern began to shake violently!

A tangible, bone-chilling killing intent swept out from the darkness of the deepest part of the cavern like a tsunami.

Accompanied by the sound of heavy, cold metal combat boots treading on the ground, amidst endless black flames and storms...

A petite figure holding a pitch-black holy sword, wearing pitch-black heavy armor, and with a cold mask on her face, slowly walked out from the darkness.

When that figure was completely exposed under the light, A-Dai's pupils suddenly contracted.

That familiar golden ahoge, that familiar face.

But the originally clear emerald eyes had now turned into an emotionless, dark gold burning with karmic fire.

The golden sword that originally symbolized holiness and salvation was now wreathed in a black light that devoured everything.

[Singularity F Final Boss]

[Saber Alter (Artoria Pendragon Alter)]

"This... how is this possible..."

A-Dai looked at this Altered Knight King before her, who exuded a suffocating pressure of despair, her voice trembling.

"Isn't this... the strongest five-star invincible powerhouse that PD just used to clear the screen?!"

"Why... is she the final Boss?!!!"

True despair descended at this moment!