60: Chapter 60 Disgrace and Ruin

Honda was kneeling on the cold floor, his black mask hanging crookedly around his neck, revealing a face streaked with sweat and tears.

The monitor was still lit, lingering on the desktop wallpaper of sekiro, where the angle of Isshin Ashina looking down seemed to carry a silent mockery.

In his headphones, the sound from the livestream was still intermittently coming through, a robotic female voice emotionlessly reading the barrage.

"Where's the cheater? Speak up, cheater!"

"Suggest engraving 'Human reaction limit 0.001 seconds' onto the tombstone of Bushido Studio."

"Old Thief Ye predicted your prediction, so tell me, are you convinced?"

Honda ripped off his headphones and flung them away.

The headphones hit the wall and bounced to the floor.

He stared at the screen, his chest heaving violently.

He had lost.

He hadn't just lost the game; he had lost his last bit of capital for a comeback, and all his dignity in this industry.

"No... it's not my problem."

Honda suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse.

He crawled to the computer, his trembling hands putting the cheap headphones back on, and grabbed the voice-changer microphone on the desk.

"Listen up! Everyone watching this stream!"

His voice, processed, exploded in the livestream room of thirty million people, carrying a desperate sharpness.

"This isn't a technical issue at all! It's Ye Fei refusing to play fair!"

Honda's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the camera.

"The third phase Sword Saint in 'sekiro' simply doesn't have a parry window that humans can react to! He secretly changed the data! He pre-programmed a scripted death for cheaters! This is fraud! This is an insult to all high-level players!"

He gasped for air, trying to grasp at the last straw.

"Think about yourselves! You've been tortured by Genichiro, tortured by Lady Butterfly, tortured by Isshin! Do you really think this game is fair? Ye Fei is intentionally disgusting people, using this uncounterable mechanic to force you to admit you're noobs!"

He raised his voice, his tone cracking with excitement.

"Me cheating? I was forced to! It's Ye Fei who doesn't give normal players a way out!"

In the livestream, after a brief silence, the barrage erupted like a volcano.

"He's panicked, he's panicked, the cheater started babbling nonsense."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, the whole world is against you, only you are innocent."

"Secretly changed the data? Does Ye Fei need to change it secretly? He could beat you into a pulp even if he changed it openly."

"Hilarious, he says others are cheating when he can't win, and now that his cheating is exposed, he says others changed the data. Is this the ancestral craft of Bushido Studio?"

Brother Bao sat in his own livestream room, watching the rebroadcast, unable to help but laugh out loud.

He slapped the desk, laughing until tears came out.

"Brothers, witness history! The clown of the year is born! Smearing others when you're not as skilled, this skin is thicker than Isshin Ashina's armor!"

Honda couldn't see Brother Bao's mockery, but he could imagine the sky-filling ridicule.

A foul anger clogged his chest, and just as he was about to continue roaring...

In the bottom right corner of the screen, the StarNet Forum icon suddenly flashed frantically.

It was an official push notification.

Honda froze and instinctively clicked it.

On the homepage of StarNet Forum, a bolded, pinned announcement with a blood-red title instantly grabbed everyone's attention.

[Announcement: Detection Report and Handling Statement Regarding Abnormal Operation of the Account 'revenge of the asura']

Publisher: Silver Horn Studio official verified account.

Release Time: Just one minute ago.

The body of the announcement was chillingly concise:

"Regarding the recent questioning from some players about the fairness of the combat mechanics of the third phase Sword Saint 'Isshin Ashina' in 'sekiro: Shadows Die Twice', we are now releasing the backend operation logs (excerpt) of the 'revenge of the asura' account in challenge mode."

Below was a high-definition long image.

The background of the image was the underlying data flow interface of the 'sekiro' combat system.

At the very top was the account ID and login time of 'revenge of the asura'.

And below it were dense, highlighted red operation frame records.

One line, two lines, ten lines, fifty lines...

Each line clearly marked: [Parry command response time: 0.001 seconds]

The timestamps were accurate to the millisecond, fifty consecutive times, without exception, all were 0.001 seconds.

At the very bottom of the image, the system added a line of comments in striking red font:

"Human neural reflection limit: 0.1 seconds - 0.15 seconds. This account's response time is stably over 100 times beyond the physiological limit of the human body."

The final paragraph of the announcement:

"All operations of this account are not achievable by human effort. The Silver Horn Studio anti-cheat module 'Asura Punishment' has been automatically triggered. This is hereby declared."

"At the same time, a reminder: Article 7.3 of the Xinghai Steam Platform safety rules stipulates that using third-party illegal programs to interfere with game fairness will result in a permanent ban once verified."

The color drained from Honda's face at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The basement was deathly silent.

Only the computer radiator's fan was still buzzing tirelessly, as if mocking his final sophistry.

In the headphones, the sound from the livestream was completely boiling over.

"The official side has stepped in! It's confirmed! They even posted the logs!"

"Hahahaha, 0.001 seconds, Honda, did you install a quantum arm?"

"Ye Fei's move is too ruthless, public execution, not even giving a chance to explain."

"No, he gave it, he let you perform like a clown first."

"Bushido Studio is completely disgraced, an industry shame!"

Just then, Honda's private phone suddenly vibrated.

He snatched up the phone like a frightened bird.

It was the icon of an encrypted communication software flashing.

"Your account data has been reverse-traced by the Silver Horn backend. All IP jump servers are invalid. Good luck to yourself."

Below followed a red exclamation mark: "The other party has logged out."

The dialogue box instantly turned gray; that mysterious contact had disappeared.

Honda clutched the phone, his arm hanging limply.

The last glimmer of hope was severed.

He collapsed under the computer desk, his back against the cold wall, the phone sliding from his hand as the screen went dark.

The overhead light was blindingly white, shining on his ashen face.

At this moment, his computer screen flashed again.

It was an official pop-up from the Xinghai Steam Platform.

Two lines of small text below:

"Your account has been permanently banned."

"The associated IP address has been added to the platform blacklist."

...

The Capital.

Silver Horn Studio.

Top floor office.

Song Yan stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the brilliant lights of the city outside.

He had just finished scrolling through the StarNet Forum, his hands still trembling slightly.

"Brother Fei, this move of yours... is too ruthless."

Song Yan turned around, his tone full of gratification, "Honda is completely nailed to the pillar of shame this time. I estimate tomorrow's gaming media headlines will all be about this."

"He is not the first, nor will he be the last."

Ye Fei's voice was very calm, "There will always be more people than you imagine who want to use dirty tricks to break the rules."

"Today was just killing the chicken to scare the monkeys."

Ye Fei turned around and walked back to the desk, "Let everyone who wants to take shortcuts see clearly what the price of destroying fairness is."

Song Yan nodded vigorously, his blood boiling.

He felt that his boss was the embodiment of justice at this moment.

He pulled out a chair to sit down, his gaze sweeping over a data monitoring screen lit up on the desktop.

That was the real-time statistics backend of the 'sekiro' player survey, various chart curves changing slightly.

Song Yan said casually: "This 'Sword Saint slays the cheater' livestream has exploded in popularity across the internet, it's estimated it will attract more people to jump into the pit, and sales can surge again..."

Before he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly fixed on the screen.

His expression went from relaxed, to puzzled, to shocked, and finally froze in a kind of incredulous ecstasy.

He stood up abruptly, the chair sliding backward with a harsh sound.

"Brother Fei!"

Song Yan's voice rose sharply, changing tune due to extreme excitement, even trembling slightly.

Ye Fei had just picked up his coffee cup, and paused upon hearing this, looking at him.

Song Yan suddenly raised his head, his finger pointing fixedly at the data monitoring screen, his eyes wide, inside them was a light like a volcanic eruption.

"Brother Fei! Look quickly! Look at the survey data!"