11: The live stream of coin keyboard smashing

Cheng Mo stuffed the unopened new pen back into the zippered compartment of his backpack, his fingertip swiping across his phone screen. The livestream platform's homepage popped up, the recommendation section as chaotic as a wet market, with various "Speedrun Challenges" and "Newbie Tutorials" crowded together. He scrolled down slowly, as if looking for something that shouldn't exist.

Until a livestream cover caught his eye: a streamer with a Shamatte hairstyle was roaring at the ceiling against a background of exploding pixel platforms. The title read—"I must beat the game today! Or I'll eat my keyboard on stream!!"

He clicked in.

The bullet chat was scrolling at a rate of fifty messages per second.

"Steel Coin, wake up!"

"This game is impossible to beat past the third level!"

"The developer is inherently malicious!"

"I suggest calling the police on this code monkey!"

On the screen, Steel Coin was pressing down hard on his keyboard with both hands, the veins on his forehead bulging as he muttered a strange rhythmic mantra: "Shift left three frames, jump at zero point two seconds, release the key early—AAAGH, dead again!!"

The screen went black, and the character plummeted from the edge of a high platform, shattering into a pixelated blood flower. A line of text slowly appeared on the loading screen: **Welcome to Hell.**

"Holy shit!!" Steel Coin suddenly stood up, his chair flipping over onto the floor. His voice made the microphone hum. "Is this a game for humans? This is an electronic torture device! Mental persecution! Anti-human design! You game makers, did you not have a childhood?! Did you?!"

He grabbed the mechanical keyboard next to him, raised it high above his head, and slammed it down onto the desk with all his might.

"Bang—!"

Keycaps flew everywhere, and the spacebar bounced in front of the camera, blocking half of his face. The bullet chat exploded instantly:

"He actually smashed it?!"

"That's the third one, bro, the third one!"

"Keyboard: I didn't provoke anyone..."

"Official devs, come look, you've driven the streamer crazy!"

Cheng Mo stared at the screen, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. He didn't laugh out loud, but his eyes were incredibly bright, as if he had found a working battery in a pile of ruins.

He pulled out his linked account and tapped.

[Gift Sent: Rocket × 1]

Full-screen effects exploded, with golden flames burning from the bottom up, swallowing all the bullet chat and visuals. A few seconds later, a message popped up in the chat box from the ID "Extreme Challenger 001":

**"Thanks for the test. Sending you a custom controller."**

The livestream room went quiet for a moment.

Steel Coin panted heavily, watching that message refresh repeatedly. His expression shifted from rage to bewilderment, then to a strange sort of daze. "Who? Which lunatic sent a rocket and left a thank-you message? What are you thanking me for? For helping you verify how disgusting the game is?"

He leaned into the camera, squinting to read the ID: "Extreme Challenger... 001? Why does this name sound like a developer's alt account?"

No one answered him. The audience was busy taking screenshots, recording clips, and forwarding them. The topic #Steel Coin Smashes Keyboard on Stream# hit the top ten trending searches within ten minutes, and the comment section automatically split into two factions: one shouting "Save the child," and the other frantically spamming "Requesting link for the same controller."

Cheng Mo didn't say anything else, nor did he leave the livestream room. He placed his phone flat on the desk, screen up, and turned the volume to maximum. The server fans were still humming, and the old wall clock's hands remained stuck in the counter-clockwise position, but he didn't care about any of that anymore.

He just stared at the livestream, watching Steel Coin sit back down, take three deep breaths, and click "Restart Level."

Failure.

Restart again.

Failure again.

The third attempt got stuck on the second jump; the perspective suddenly flipped, and the character flew out head-first into the abyss.

Steel Coin didn't smash anything this time. He leaned back against his chair, let out a long breath, and suddenly smiled: "Fine... you win. But this isn't the end; it's the start of a war."

He held up the broken keyboard frame to the camera: "Everyone, witness history—this livestream room is officially renamed 'Official Designated Suffering Site'! Next stream, I'm wearing a helmet to the battle!"

The bullet chat was a sea of "666." Someone commented "Screenshot taken and sent to a psychiatrist," while others asked "Will the custom controller really be sent?"

Cheng Mo checked the time: 2:17 AM.

He picked up his phone, opened the studio's procurement backend, and created a new order.

Item: Blank Programmable Controller × 1

Engraving Service: Laser engrave six words in the center of the buttons—"pain and joy"

Shipping Address: Douyu streamer "Steel Coin" officially verified linked address

Remarks Column: **"Test feedback qualified. Awarded to Holder No. 001."**

Order, pay, confirm.

The entire process took less than thirty seconds.

He put his phone back and continued watching the stream. Steel Coin had already started his fourth round of challenges. His tone wasn't as explosive as before; instead, he had a strange sense of earnestness, analyzing the frame data of the jump rhythm while operating and even pulling out a piece of scratch paper to draw a force diagram.

"No... this isn't random trolling," he muttered. "It's teaching you to adapt to pain—each failure lets you live 0.3 seconds longer than the last. This is fucking behavioral conditioning..."

Cheng Mo let out a soft breath and leaned back, his head resting against the chair. His dark circles were as thick as charcoal, but he wasn't sleepy at all. He knew that something was happening.

It wasn't a rise in data, nor was it a surge of positive ratings.

It was something more primal—anger being ignited, and then being caught.

The next day at 12:03 PM.

Steel Coin pushed open his front door, a takeout box tucked under his arm and his hair as messy as a bird's nest. He had streamed until 4:00 AM last night and had slept for less than five hours before being woken up by a fan's private message saying a mysterious package had been left at his door at 8:00 AM.

He didn't believe it at first, until he saw a black gift box on the coffee table. There was no sender information, only a small line of text printed on the label: "Feedback from Hell."

He set down the takeout and tore open the packaging.

Inside was an all-black controller with a matte texture and anti-slip grooves on the grips. He picked it up to examine it, his fingers pausing as they touched the main face buttons.

On the six common buttons, six words were clearly engraved: **pain and joy.**

He froze for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, doubling over and nearly tossing the controller away.

"Holy crap! They actually sent it?!" He laughed while grabbing his phone to start a stream. "Brothers, get in here! Can you believe this? They really sent me a 'pain and joy' controller! This isn't retaliation; this is an award ceremony!"

As the camera shook, he held the controller high, aiming it at the lens.

"See this? This is my trophy! Not only did the developers not delete my post, they even gave me an honorary certificate! I hereby officially announce—I am not a victim; I am the first officially certified Suffering Knight!"

The bullet chat exploded instantly:

"Real-name envy!"

"I want to smash my keyboard too!"

"When does the national smashing plan start?"

"I suggest establishing a 'Keyboard Burial Committee'."

Steel Coin sat back in his chair, plugged in the cable, and connected the new controller to the computer. The device was recognized successfully, the driver loaded automatically, and a prompt popped up on the screen: **"Special input device detected. Enabling Exclusive Feedback Mode."**

He blinked: "There are hidden features too?"

He clicked the game, and leap platform nightmare started. The loading screen was the same "Welcome to Hell," but this time, a line of small text appeared below the progress bar:

[Current Player: Steel Coin | Title Activated—"Key Smasher" | Achievement Unlocked: Triple Equipment Destroyer]

His mouth dropped open into an 'O' shape, unable to close for a long time.

"I... I've become an Easter egg?"

He took a deep breath, placed both hands on the new controller, and pressed the start button.

Level three, the platforms appeared again. The wind howled, and the pixel character stood on the edge, awaiting commands.

Steel Coin closed his eyes and slammed the jump button.

Failure.

The screen went black.

The death animation played, looping ten times.

He opened his eyes. He didn't curse; instead, he grinned: "Again."

His finger fell once more.

On the other side of the city, in the basement studio, Cheng Mo's phone vibrated.

He was sitting in the same spot, his posture unchanged, phone still in hand. The screen lit up with a delivery notification:

[Your order has been signed for.]

He glanced at it, didn't reply, and didn't move.

Only the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, as if waiting for the next sound of a breakdown to ring out.