Chapter 23: Player Invasion

(Streamer got a weapon!)

(What happened to clearing the stage bare-handed?)

(So the streamer was lying all along.)

(Liar.)

(Liar.)

(Liar.)

(Liar.)

(Cheater.)

The Barrage is still going wild!

And as Xu Bei put on the Knuckle Duster, a new wave of hype swept through the Unfilial Son Livestream Room.

The Barrage loves nothing more than going with the flow, and right now, the most spammed words are cheater and liar.

No doubt about it, the Unfilial Son Livestream Room is always buzzing with drama! Nonstop excitement!

But the Streamer, Unfilial Son, is the same as ever—completely ignoring the chaos in the chat.

There are no moderators in the Unfilial Son Livestream Room; the main vibe is everyone going wild together.

His goal is a speedy clear, make a bit of money, and that’s it.

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

As soon as Xu Bei grabbed the Knuckle Duster and left the Little Black Room, a chorus of doors opening echoed down the hallway!

Several Jumping Corpse Female Factory Workers crawled out, completely blocking the corridor.

They bared their teeth and swung their steel pipes, charging at Xu Bei.

After reaching the second floor, the number of enemies increased sharply. Before, just three Jumping Corpse Female Factory Workers were tough enough for Xu Bei—now their numbers had doubled.

However, Xu Bei’s eyes were cold, and he didn’t think this would be all that difficult.

After all, this was a narrow hallway. No matter how many Jumping Corpses there were, they could only attack one after another. Unlike before, when he was surrounded three to one and got beaten senseless—this was ten times easier.

Xu Bei rubbed his nose and readied his signature Lightning Thrust Punch combo.

“Awwooo!” The Jumping Corpse Female Factory Workers in their thin vests shrieked as they swung their steel pipes.

But in Xu Bei’s eyes, their attacks were full of openings. He simply dodged back and countered with a Face-breaking Straight Punch.

“Bang!” His fist was so fast it left only a straight afterimage, smashing right into the face of a Jumping Corpse.

With that punch, a third of the Jumping Corpse Female Factory Worker’s health was gone, leaving even Xu Bei himself wide-eyed in shock.

Previously, it took him dozens of punches to kill just one Jumping Corpse Female Factory Worker—one punch would barely scratch their health. Now, a single punch took off a third?

In the next instant, Xu Bei unleashed a double Lightning Thrust Punch, landing precise headshots.

Three punches in total took out the first Jumping Corpse Female Factory Worker, dramatically boosting his kill efficiency.

Honestly, this made sense!

One of the defining features of Suffering Game is the high damage.

Enemies deal high damage—three hits and the Player is dead.

Players also deal high damage—three slashes and the small monsters are dead. Only the BOSS has a long health bar.

In an action-adventure Suffering Game, the main thrill is that victory or defeat is decided in a flash.

So it was never reasonable for Xu Bei to need dozens of punches just to kill a small monster. The only reason he suffered so much before was because he, the pig-nosed rookie, didn’t go to the Security Room to grab the Initial Three-piece Set.

Now, the Knuckle Duster Xu Bei had was a reward for defeating the BOSS.

However, Suffering Game has another trait: weapon mechanics are different from most games, and there are no tiered power spikes.

For example, in most online games, Players get a wooden sword in the beginner village and a holy sword in the late game, slaughtering everything.

But not in Suffering Game. Weapons you get in the mid-to-late game aren’t necessarily stronger than the Initial Three-piece Set.

Switching weapons just means swapping to a different attack module, letting Players pick their favorite weapon style.

Later weapons are definitely stronger than the Initial Three-piece Set, but not by much—there’s no massive stat leap.

For example, the Knuckle Duster Xu Bei has now isn’t necessarily much stronger than the Initial Three-piece Set.

The Initial Three-piece Set includes the Dagger, Police Baton, and Baseball Bat.

Even in real life, most people would agree those three are more dangerous than a Knuckle Duster, right?

The Knuckle Duster in Suffering Game is a weapon that demands extreme skill. Its shortest attack range means you have to get up close and personal with the monsters.

Usually, only the best of the best fighters use the Knuckle Duster, and very few top gamers ever choose it.

That’s why, in Suffering Game, the Knuckle Duster always ranks dead last in weapon usage—Players call it a useless “toy.”

But starting today, this weapon is about to reclaim its place in gaming history.

To make up for the Knuckle Duster’s ridiculously short attack range, the designers gave it a unique effect.

As long as the Player wears the Knuckle Duster, every part of their body becomes an attack hitbox.

Flying Kick, Knee Strike, Elbow Strike, Headbutt—even Iron Mountain Lean.

If you’re wearing the Knuckle Duster, all these martial arts techniques deal damage.

“Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!”

Unfortunately, newbie Xu Bei didn’t know about these hidden mechanics. He kept using Lightning Thrust Punch to crit the Jumping Corpses’ faces, making the viewers grind their teeth in frustration.

A flood of Barrage messages tried to teach the Streamer how to play!

But the Streamer never looked at the Barrage, and just kept punching his way through with the Knuckle Duster.

At this moment, the viewers finally realized just how powerful this New Streamer was.

Once he got a weapon and started playing the game properly, his speed was like a storm, his movement like a ghost, and his fists like lightning.

“Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!”

In no time, Xu Bei had smashed the faces of dozens of Jumping Corpse Female Factory Workers blocking the corridor, slaughtering them like a god of death descending.

The front section of the Abandoned Factory Second Floor is a kill zone for Players.

Because the game designers have packed this area with monsters, commonly known as: [Stacked Monsters].

The designers want to give Players who just beat the first BOSS and are feeling cocky a harsh reality check, crushing their confidence.

But in the face of an absolute powerhouse, such an ambush is meaningless!

(The Streamer’s face makes me sick!)

(Cheater acting tough.)

(Cheater.)

(Liar.)

(Morally bankrupt.)

(The Streamer is obviously still cheating.)

(The Streamer is on drugs.)

(Demanding a drug test.)

The Barrage kept on flaming, kept on attacking.

They had already decided this New Streamer must be using some despicable cheat.

Once a cheater, always a cheater.

And Unfilial Son is just a New Streamer, with no fans to defend him—basically, everyone is roasting him.

A powerful cyberbullying army had parachuted into the Unfilial Son Livestream Room, unleashing endless abuse.

But unfortunately, no matter how nasty the Barrage got, it had no real effect on the Streamer.

Words can be powerful—powerful enough to destroy a person’s mind—but that’s all they can do.

Nowhere near as direct and effective as stabbing you with a knife.

And then, at that very moment…

(Player [Knife’s Edge Bloodlicker] is invading your world.)

A line of flashing blood-red text appeared before Xu Bei’s eyes, forcing the newbie to stop his killing spree.

He had no idea what this meant, utterly confused.

But the Barrage in the Unfilial Son Livestream Room was the complete opposite—the viewers knew exactly what was happening.

(Justice from above!)

(Justice from above!)

(Justice from above!)

(Justice from above!)

For once, the Barrage was totally unified, everyone spamming the same phrase.

Because this is another unique mechanic of the action-adventure Suffering Game:

[Player Invasion]!