Chapter 6 : A dancing , shit – game genius (5)

“…….”

Rydel’s mouth opened slightly as she stared at the monitor.

Just moments ago, Rydel, Delbung No. 3, and Silver-Haired Awakening had barely made it through the “Steel Marble Zone.”

A beat late, a gasp of disbelief escaped Rydel’s mouth.

“…Wow.”

The chat was equally overwhelmed with shock and awe.

「That was insane」

「They actually cleared it」

「Wow… is that even possible?」

「I’m getting chills at this point」

The “Steel Marble Stage” was infamous — one of the most notorious and unfair maps in the Chain Roller’s lineup.

Over 20 massive steel marbles rolled around unpredictably, crushing players in their path.

As if that weren’t hard enough, three cleverly hidden marbles attacked from blind spots, making even skilled players wonder if it was a bug.

And yet, just now, that very stage had been cleared — thanks to Silver-Haired Awakening dragging Rydel and Delbung No. 3 along to victory.

“I just pressed one direction key, and we cleared it.”

「That chain control was legendary」

「Didn’t even know that was physically possible」

The chain-grab feature was never meant for precise control.

It wasn’t even designed to allow delicate maneuvering in the first place.

But somehow, Silver-Haired Awakening managed to control other players with such finesse, it was as if they were directly using the other players’ keyboards.

This wasn’t just skill — this was artistry.

“Anyway… Silver-Haired Awakening? We really owe them one. We’d have been doomed without them.”

Rydel clapped softly, a stark contrast to the heavy sighs she’d been letting out earlier.

The game was already tough, and the ridiculous difficulty of that stage had pushed them to the edge.

She’d been considering just remaking the room out of sheer frustration.

But Silver-Haired Awakening’s skills had been far beyond what she expected.

They cleared what seemed impossible with what looked like a bug-level play.

Maybe… just maybe… this person was an angel sent to save them from this hell of a broken game.

“People will definitely say we got carried, but…”

It couldn’t be helped.

The real problem was that the Steel Marble Zone existed in the first place.

When the game throws you into such absurdly unfair stages, getting carried by a pro doesn’t seem so bad.

“Anyway, since we got through that nightmare course, the next obstacle should be easier, right?”

Even as she said it, Rydel felt uneasy.

“One mistake here and we’re doomed.”

The first obstacles just sent you back to the starting point if you failed.

No big deal — you could keep trying without much consequence.

But from this point on, that safety net was gone.

One wrong move could send them all the way back to the start…Back to the Steel Marble Zone.

Sure, Silver-Haired Awakening had carried them so far.

But the difficulty of the stage had been so extreme that it was hard to stay relaxed.

As those thoughts circled in her mind, they reached the next stage.

“…Wait, are there always this many traps?”

Rydel’s voice quivered slightly.

Her eyes darted around the screen, tracking the bizarre scene unfolding before her.

The ground shimmered with a strange blue glow, and a small sign read “Gravity Reversal Zone.”

“And… those are bows, right?”

As a bonus, countless bows lined the sides of the area.

Each one was auto-loaded, firing an endless stream of arrows.

Infinite ammo — there was no sign of them running out.

The sight alone was enough to make anyone dizzy.

A gravity-reversal zone.

And an endless barrage of arrows.

Either one on its own would have been hard enough.

But the two combined.

“This looks… really bad.”

From four hours of gameplay and several retries, one lesson had become clear:If a stage looks easy, it’s easy.

If a stage looks hard, it’s hard.

There were no surprise “easy” stages disguised as difficult ones in this game.

And this stage…It looked hard enough to make anyone’s head spin.

「Delbung! Get it together!」

“Here comes the nightmare stage LOLLLLLL”

“Delbung’s in tears”

“Man, their luck is terrible”

“What even is this?”

“Wow, two hell stages in a row”

“They’re just gonna float in the air and end up like a pincushion LOLLLLL”

The chat scrolled up at lightning speed.

Most of the comments were from viewers who had seen other streamers play Chain Roller.

“We’re doomed.”

As an experienced streamer, Rydel quickly sensed the insane difficulty of this stage at a glance.

“Alright… Let’s just take a look first.”

She swallowed hard, her eyes narrowing — a habit when she focused.

First, the glowing blue ground.

A few small orbs floated gently in the air.

They weren’t obstacles — they were markers indicating the “Gravity Reversal Zone.”

The gravity reversal mechanic itself was simple:Step into the zone, and you start floating.

When the anti-gravity gets stronger, you float higher.

When it weakens, you sink closer to the ground.

The small orbs’ movement showed the constant fluctuation of the anti-gravity’s strength.

It was obvious why the chat called this stage a nightmare.

Dealing with steady anti-gravity was already disorienting.

But this zone’s gravity changed unpredictably.

“There’s no avoiding it.”

The sides were sheer cliffs.

The entire path ahead was covered in that glowing blue zone.

Dodging it was impossible.

“I feel like I already know how this ends…”

Step into the blue zone — float into the air — get impaled by countless arrows from the sides — get launched off the map.

The game didn’t have “death” per se, but getting hit meant getting yeeted at ridiculous speed.

And eventually, you’d plummet right off the cliff and crash back at the starting point.

Repeat that about 30 times, rage quit, and uninstall the game.

The most miserable ending imaginable was already playing out in Rydel’s mind.

“No, there must be a pattern.”

As much of a sadistic, trollish game as Chain Roller was, no stage was literally impossible.

No matter how unfair it seemed, there was always a way through.

It was just ridiculously hard to figure out.

“The floating orbs…”

Those small orbs hovering above the blue zone were the clue.

They weren’t staying at a fixed height — they moved up and down depending on the changing gravity.

And the arrows, if you watched closely, also fired in a set rhythm.

“But… I can’t figure out the timing just by looking.”

There was definitely some kind of pattern.

But when exactly was the right moment to move?

She had no clue.

“Hurry up LOLLLLL”

“You’re overthinking it”

“Speedrun it already LOL”

“Huh?”

Among the usual chaos of chat, a flood of messages urging her to move faster kept popping up.

She hadn’t even been thinking that long — just a few moments.

But people were already getting impatient.

Rydel was used to these kinds of viewers.

But there was something strange about how many of them there were today.

“Don’t rush me, guys! If I get hit by those arrows, I’m 100% going back to the start! And this stream— wait, what?”

Then it hit her.

The chat was moving way faster than usual.

It felt like someone had turned the speed up to 2.5x.

Glancing down, Rydel’s eyes went wide.

“Holy,”

Her viewer count had shot past 5,000.

Considering her usual average was around 2,000, this was… unheard of.

Sure, the game was trending, so some boost in viewership was expected.

But this… was more than double her usual audience.

What Rydel didn’t know was that most of these viewers had flooded in thanks to a viral community post.

The perfect combination of hype:Chain Roller’s current popularity Silver-Haired Awakening’s insane skill, clearing the brutal Steel Marble Stage in one go Rydel’s absolute misfortune, getting hit with two unfairly difficult stages in a row.

The drama and skill had drawn everyone in like moths to a flame.

Unaware of the backstory behind the sudden influx, Rydel blinked at her chat.

“Huh. We’ve got a lot of new viewers today. I guess Chain Roller really does have a ton of hardcore fans, huh? Alright — let’s get moving!”

Despite her nerves, she started typing in-game.

[Rydel: Silver-Haired, have you done this course before?]

For all the rush in the chat, the demand for speed slowed down the moment Rydel typed.

After all, what viewers really wanted wasn’t just fast gameplay — they wanted the streamer to do something.

Even if that “something” was chatting, as long as it was connected to the game, it kept them engaged.

Rydel knew that well — and skillfully redirected their attention.

Sure enough, the calls to hurry up had almost disappeared.

‘No way they haven’t done this before.’

Silver-Haired Awakening.

Clearly a seasoned player — no, maybe not even seasoned anymore.

More like an ancient relic turned into fossilized gaming fuel.

There was no way a casual player could breeze through the brutal, ultra-rare Steel Marble Stage like it was nothing.

And if they were that good, surely they’d seen this course, which seemed more common than the Steel Marble Stage.

[Silver-Haired Awakening: First time seeing this stage, actually?]

[Silver-Haired Awakening: But looking at those floating orbs, seems like the gravity strength keeps changing.]

[Silver-Haired Awakening: Should be doable if we time it right?]

“…First time?”

Rydel blinked in confusion.

She couldn’t tell if they were joking or being serious.

[Rydel: Seriously, you’ve never done this stage before?]

[Silver-Haired Awakening: Nope ;;]

[Rydel: …………..]

[Rydel: I figured you were a hardcore veteran after that Steel Marble clear.]

[Rydel: How did you even dodge those marbles?]

[Silver-Haired Awakening: ;;]

[Silver-Haired Awakening: You just… dodge by watching them?]

“TEEEEEEEEE”

“Wait, you can dodge them just by watching?!”

“Even glancing at that stage gave me a headache!”

“Is this person a pro gamer or what LOL”

The chat exploded at Silver-Haired Awakening’s calm response.

Trying to keep her composure, Rydel cleared her throat.

“Well, I mean… I guess that’s possible. Silver-Haired, do you think you could… pull off the same magic this time?”

“This one’s gonna be tough, though.”

“If they dodged those steel marbles, anything’s possible!”

“The anti-gravity’s gonna lock them in mid-air, though.”

“Not even pros can dodge this stage!”

“This goes beyond physical skill.”

‘This… is going to be rough.’

Rydel scanned the hail of arrows filling the screen, feeling her stomach sink.

The Steel Marble Stage had been a physical challenge — pure reaction speed and precision.

But this course had an added twist.

Anti-gravity.

No matter how sharp your reflexes were, once you started floating, your movement options became severely limited.

Dodging was going to be nearly impossible.

As Rydel stared at the chaotic storm of arrows with a troubled expression.

[Silver-Haired Awakening: Shall we get going?]

Their calm message popped up in chat.