Chapter 10 : A , dancing , shit – game genius (9)

“It’s just impossible patterns from start to finish, seriously…”

“Well, the final stage is supposed to be hard.”

“How does it make sense to have three obstacles at the same time?”

“What’s with those drone things? Pretty sure we’re dead if we get hit.”

[😱😱😱]

Even the usually playful and teasing chat had fallen into an unusually serious mood.

The final stage.

While obstacles were normally randomized, the final stage was an exception.

It was still technically random, but only from a pool of the hardest obstacles.

No easy ones would show up.

Since every other stage had a fully random selection of obstacles,this was the developers’ way of preventing players from getting an easy clear by sheer luck.

But even so…”Isn’t this a bit much…?”

Rydel frowned.

A massive rotating saw blade.

It was emerging unpredictably from the walls and the floor.

And that wasn’t all.

The stage floor was lined with speed booster pads that forcibly increased your movement speed.

As a bonus, red-glowing tracking drones hovered ominously in the air.

Rotating saw blades +speed boosters + tracking drones.

Three high-difficulty obstacles at once.

“…This is insane.”

“This is beyond unfair.”

“The devs basically made this stage so nobody could clear it.”

The chat’s reaction was completely justified.

There had been plenty of difficult sections up to this point,but this wasn’t just “difficult” — it looked physically impossible.

Let’s start with the rotating saw blades.

These huge spinning saws were the first thing that caught your eye.

They weren’t just coming from the floor — they jutted out of the walls too.

Their movements were entirely erratic, with no discernible pattern.

Most obstacles have some kind of rhythm you can learn,but here, there was no way to predict the timing.

On top of that, the blades moved at varying speeds.

Some came out slowly and only a little bit,while others suddenly sped up and shot out with no warning.

Sometimes, multiple saws would pop out at the same time.

“…Is it even possible to dodge that just by reacting?”

“You can’t even memorize the pattern — because there isn’t one.”

Most high-difficulty obstacles have at least some consistency.

Even if you’re not the fastest player, you can clear them by learning the pattern.

But these saws?

They offered no such mercy.

You had to dodge purely by reflex — and the saws moved so fast,even that didn’t seem possible.

Suddenly, the boulder stage and the arrow stage seemed like a walk in the park.

And then there were the speed boosters.

The floor was covered with booster pads at regular intervals.

Normally, they’d help you race through obstacles quickly —but in this situation, they were pure poison.

“If I suddenly speed up, there’s no way I can control my movement precisely enough.”

The only way to avoid those saw blades was through delicate, precise control.

But the boosters made that almost impossible.

And that wasn’t even counting the drones overhead.

The moment you stepped on the booster pad, you were forced to run at maximum speed.

Any hope for delicate control?

Gone.

With the scenery whipping by at a dizzying pace, you had to spot the saw blades — barely visible — and dodge them in an instant.

But if you didn’t step on the booster pad…The tracking drone.

A red light flashed ominously above.

Wiiiiiing…!

Black drones hovered menacingly in the air.

And at their fronts, blue sparks crackled dangerously.

“…Those things aren’t going to electrocute you, right?”

“If you get hit, it’s a 10-second stun.”

If you avoided the booster pads and slowed down,the tracking drones immediately fired off an electric attack.

Get shocked, and you were paralyzed for 10 full seconds.

10 seconds.

It might sound short — but not when you were surrounded by unpredictable saw blades.

The moment you lost control from the stun,those spinning blades would slice right into you.

Sure, this game didn’t have a proper “game over” screen.

But just like when you got hit by the arrows,your character would go flying.

“Of course, it had to be at the very end.”

And this was the final stage.

If you fell here… in the worst case, you’d have to start again from Stage 1.

They’d managed to reach Stage 10 in record time,all thanks to “Woke Up Silver-Haired” and their godlike gameplay.

But could they really pull off that miracle twice?

“…How do you even clear this?”

“Isn’t this basically a reset?”

“I’ve never seen all three obstacles appear at once before.”

“Is this even humanly possible?”

Even the viewers, who had seen all sorts of crazy situations,had never encountered a combination this brutal.

The saw blades appeared at random,making them incredibly hard to dodge.

The speed boosters made that even harder,sending you rocketing forward without any control.

But if you slowed down, the drones would stun you.

This wasn’t just a hard section —it was a section that felt designed to be impossible.

“Even Silver-Haired’s going to struggle here, right?”

“Just dodging the saws alone looks hard enough.”

“But then again… it’s Silver-Haired.”

“…You never know with them.”

Rydel.

The viewers.

And even the mostly-ignored “Delbung No. 3.”

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on one spot.

The character controlled by “Woke Up Silver-Haired” stood quietly,staring at the deadly maze ahead.

It was just a simple character model, made by a small indie studio —…but somehow, it felt intense.

Even the bald head seemed to shine with purpose.

Rydel bit their lip slightly.

Could Silver-Haired really do it?

Were they calculating everything right now —The saw blade speeds.

The booster pad placements.

The detection range of the drones.…Or were they just frozen in panic, same as Rydel?

“I feel like typing in chat would just…”Would just what?

It was silly, really — there was no reason to hesitate over a simple message.

And yet, after witnessing everything Silver-Haired had done so far,even sending a chat message felt like it would break something.

Like interrupting a master at work.

“Hey! Don’t distract the driver!”

“Let’s just stay quiet and enjoy the free carry, Delbung.”

“They seem like they’re planning something. Don’t interrupt.”

Even the chat seemed to agree.

So Rydel waited.…And waited.

“They’re not AFK, are they?”

They’d been standing still for five whole minutes now.

Had they left the game?

As a streamer, Rydel couldn’t just sit there in silence forever.

[Rydel: Silver-Haired, should we… get going soon?]

The question hung in the air.

And then —[Woke up Silver’s chat:]

[Woke up Silver: Ah, I was just…]

[Woke up Silver: Eating ramen;;]

[Woke up Silver: ;;]

[Woke up Silver: I was too hungry.]

LOL LOL LOL LOL

Chat:「Ah, well, ramen takes priority.」

「Human side confirmed LOL」

「Now I want ramen too.」

“Looks like they were having ramen,” Rydel said with a soft laugh, a bit deflated by the unexpected response.

[Rydel:]

[Take your time with your meal. We’ll wait for you.]

[Woke up Silver:]

[Nah, let’s just go.]

[It’s fine as long as I clear this before it gets cold.]

「Now that’s confidence LOL」

「I’ll clear this game before my ramen gets cold!」

「A true warrior LOL」

With that bold declaration, the next message popped up.

[Woke up Silver:]

[Alright, let’s get started.]

***

‘This final stage really is something else…’

Rydel pushed the half-eaten cup ramen aside on the desk.

Ideally, she’d finish her food first and then focus on the game, but she knew better than to keep her teammates waiting in a multiplayer game.

‘At least this stage shouldn’t take too long.’

The final stage was quite lengthy.

Without the speed boosters scattered across the map, just running from start to finish would take quite a while.

‘Guess those boosters are meant to help us clear it faster.’

The blue arrow-marked pads scattered on the ground were clearly there to increase speed the moment they were stepped on.

They could save time — but controlling movement at high speed would be another challenge entirely.

‘And those drones… probably stun you.’

Black drones hovered ominously in the air, sparks of blue electricity crackling around them.

They hadn’t moved yet, but the moment someone entered their range, they’d start pursuit.

And in games like this, electric-type enemies almost always inflicted stuns.

‘Not sure how long the stun lasts… but even a few seconds would be dangerous.’

Losing control, even for a moment, meant getting shredded by the unpredictable spinning saw blades.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Rydel didn’t want her ramen getting soggy.

Food was precious — especially when there wasn’t much left — and she wanted to enjoy it while it was still good.

[Woke up Silver:]

[Let’s get started then.]

[I’ll handle the controls, so…]

[Just stand still and hold down the forward key.]

It was a simple request — just hold down the up arrow key and let Woke up Silver take care of everything else.

Since their characters were physically linked by chains in-game, moving efficiently required coordination.

[Rydel:]

[Is there really nothing I should do?]

[I feel bad just sitting here and doing nothing;;]

Unlike the silent and obedient third teammate, Rydel seemed uncomfortable with the idea of just being carried through the stage.

‘But standing still is literally the best way to help right now…’

That was the honest truth.

But Woke up Silver didn’t want to sound dismissive.

Rydel didn’t seem like a bad person.

So instead.

[Woke up Silver:]

[No, no, don’t worry!]

[You’re absolutely crucial to clearing this stage.]

[There’s something really important only you can do.]

[Rydel:]

[Really?!] to

[Woke up Silver:]

[Yep, you’ll see soon enough.]