Her smile widened as she jumped, anticipating a trap. She even pulled her character back mid-air to be cautious. However, as she did so, she accidentally hit an invisible block above her, and her character dropped straight into the pit.
Silver Wolf's expression froze once again.
Despite her pixelated appearance in the livestream, the audience couldn't help but be entertained by the expressions that Herta had thoughtfully allowed them to see.
"Definitely a trap, but the trap's not in the pit—it's above!"
"LMAO! And she's supposed to be a genius hacker? I could do this too!"
Silver Wolf: "I've figured out the pattern!"
As her character died again, Silver Wolf instinctively glanced upward, only to see the comments Herta had projected for her. Clenching her teeth, she muttered, "Thanks a lot."
Herta, with a sly grin, replied, "You're welcome, just doing my job."
Taking a deep breath, Silver Wolf acknowledged that her last death was unexpected but still within the realm of possibility. Refocusing on the game, she saw the lives left indicator. "That trap was a bit surprising, but no big deal—I've figured it out. It won't catch me again."
With renewed determination, Silver Wolf quickly made it back to the spot where she had previously fallen, taking only ten seconds this time. When she reached the hidden block, she confidently revealed it, feeling sure of herself again.
"This game isn't hard, just some mental traps. Watch me bree—"
Again, before she could finish her sentence, another block unexpectedly fell from above. Since she had let her guard down, her body reacted on instinct. Unfortunately, her instinct was wrong. She jumped to avoid the falling block, only to be smacked mid-air by a flying fish that was launched up from the pit at lightning speed.
With a glaring "-1 life" message on the screen, Silver Wolf fell silent, glancing up at the livestream comments.
"It's not hard!"
"Is that it?"
"I've got the pattern figured out!"
All the comments were just echoes of her own words from a few minutes ago. It hadn't even been five minutes since she'd said those things, and here she was, still stuck at the first pit. If Pei Guang had said there were eight stages in total, then completing this game could easily take her over an hour.
For Silver Wolf, this wasn't a problem. What was driving her crazy wasn't the difficulty itself—it was the fact that every time she made a confident remark, she died almost immediately afterward. It was like a slap in the face, over and over.
But she wasn't about to give up. As she continued playing, she encountered even more ridiculous ways to die.
She tried to grab three coins, only to have the ground collapse beneath her.
She moved forward confidently, but after jumping up to hit a block, she found herself trapped, with no way to escape but into a pit.
She tried a big jump, but the clouds were actually traps, not platforms!
But the most frustrating moment came when she finally reached what seemed like the end of the level. She had dodged all the traps, jumped onto the flagpole, and her little smug cat character was walking toward the victory room. Just as she started to relax, a slow-moving message scrolled across the screen: "You thought you won?"
In a normal game, any player could easily dodge such a slow-moving attack.
The problem? She was in the middle of the endgame sequence, unable to control the character. She could only watch as the smug little cat got hit and died, sending her all the way back to the start.
"I… AHHHH!!!"
"What the heck is this?!"
"Why are there message attacks?!"
Silver Wolf was on the verge of exploding, but she held it in. Her expression had gone from excited and eager to frustrated and furious, her face now twisted in concentration. At first, she had been playing the game with a smile, but now she was gritting her teeth, practically howling through each death.
She looked over at Pei Guang, who was happily snacking with March 7th, both casually watching something on their phones. Then she glanced at Stelle, sitting in the corner with a happy grin, occasionally laughing out loud as she played.
"Am I really that bad? Am I just too angry?"
Doubts began creeping into Silver Wolf's mind. She had briefly considered the possibility that Stelle was cheating, but watching how much fun Stelle seemed to be having, it really did look like she was just enjoying the game.
Taking a moment to calm down, Silver Wolf returned her focus to the screen. With a deep breath, she looked at the "-12 lives" counter and placed her hands back on the controller, ready to continue.
After cooling off a bit, she realized that, despite how punishing the game was, it really was well-designed. The traps, while brutal, were cleverly placed. It was frustrating to fall for them, but there was an undeniable sense of satisfaction that came from overcoming each one.
She could feel a twisted sense of accomplishment brewing inside her. Even if it was tough, she couldn't deny that it was a brilliant, albeit sadistic, game.
She then took a deep breath and declared, "Whatever it takes, I'm winning this!"
She dove back into the game, but barely a minute in, her frustrated voice filled the room.
"Who made this game?! What the heck is this?! This is pure evil!!!"
Every step of the game was a trap. Every move seemed like a trick, and even places she'd fallen for once still managed to catch her off guard again.
Playing on, Silver Wolf's irritation steadily grew.
"The person who designed this game must be a sadist!
"I swear, I'll track down the creator!"
"How is there another one here?!"
As her frustration mounted, she started gripping the controller as if she were trying to crush it. The more worked up she got, the more mistakes she made. By the time she reached the fourth stage, she was down to -46 lives.
Watching her repeatedly struggle, March 7th whispered, "Is she going to be okay? She won't snap and try to chop us up, will she?"
Pei Guang, remaining calm, reassured her, "Don't worry. She won't. Gamers only get angry while playing this kind of game, but once they quit, they always want to try again."
March 7th glanced at Silver Wolf, who was mumbling angrily while immediately restarting after each death. "It's so weird. Why would someone like a game that makes them this miserable?"