Above the crumbling ruins, a forest of grotesque tentacles lay twitching weakly. Their black and red spots shimmered under the fading light, each tip trembling for a final moment before falling still.
No more movement.
At the heart of the chaos, the principal lay in pieces—like a monstrous octopus, carved and scattered across the ground. Dark crimson blood gushed from his remains, pooling into the shattered center of what had once been the school.
Blue Kill stood frozen, her gaze locked on Lucas, who stood amidst the wreckage, bathed in blood. Her mind couldn't process the scene fast enough. None of the blood on Lucas's body belonged to him. Not a single drop.
"Who... who are you?" she whispered.
> [The player's Blue Kill mood is violently unstable. Mental value -1, mental value -1, mental value -1...]
Lucas glanced at the system panel, the digital timer counting down steadily:
> [0:1:59] [0:1:58]
"The timing is perfect..." he muttered, releasing a breath. He turned calmly to Blue Kill and answered, "Like you, I'm a player."
Blue Kill, clutching her bleeding abdomen, struggled to sit upright. Her expression twisted into one of fear and disbelief.
"Why did you wait so long to act?" she asked, voice brittle.
Lucas frowned and rubbed his temples as if the question gave him a headache. "Didn't you notice? This game's rules are broken."
> [System prompt: The instance will soon close. All surviving players will be teleported.] [0:0:58] [0:0:57]
A soft white glow shimmered beneath their feet as the system activated the teleportation countdown.
"The countdown never truly ends," Lucas said as he sheathed his bloodied kitchen knife.
He spoke with serene composure, completely at odds with the frenzied killer who had just dismembered the principal moments ago.
"This dungeon regenerates bosses stronger than the last. If you kill them too early, it just spawns a worse nightmare. The only way to stop it is to strike at exactly the right time."
Blue Kill blinked in stunned silence.
So that's why... he let me suffer through all that damage? That's why he delayed?
Her mouth opened to ask more—but then:
> Ding!
A chime echoed in every surviving player's ears.
> [The instance is now closed. Players are being transferred.] [We look forward to seeing you again.]
——
"Lucas, you crazy [beep—]!!!"
The dam burst in the live broadcast chat.
"Insane! Did you see that?! He butchered the principal like it was nothing!!"
"Supernova Blue Kill couldn't even touch the boss, and this guy took him down solo like it was Tuesday brunch!"
"Has the system reevaluated Lucas's stats yet? No way they're current. He just cleared a glitched dungeon like it was a stage demo."
"If Lucas doesn't become the number one ranked streamer after this, I'm uninstalling the game."
"Enough said—time to drop some rewards!"
Lucas's finishing move was more than just a kill. It was a masterpiece of controlled chaos.
Viewers couldn't take their eyes off it.
The live stats began climbing at a terrifying speed.
Every viewer. Every player. Every mod. Everyone stared.
The number ticked up... and up...
> [There are 609,916 viewers in Lucas's live stream. 563,219 have sent gifts. Total points: 563,219.]
> [Lucas's stream has hit number one for the current cycle and tops all other players in the same dungeon by a 130,000-point margin. Your performance is universally acclaimed.]
"Number one?! He's actually number one!!"
"Lucas is a beast!!"
—
Blue Kill exited the game in a daze.
She hadn't even turned off her stream yet. The moment she landed in the lobby, her finger moved instinctively to Lucas's live channel, now blazing with traffic.
His stream was pinned to the very top.
She tapped in immediately.
On screen, the chat exploded:
"Blew up the school, killed the teacher, broke the dungeon mechanics... it was him all along!!"
> [Player Blue Kill's mental stability is declining. Mental value -1, -1, -1...] [A permanent mental scar has formed. Maximum mental value reduced. New max: 79.]
Blue Kill barely registered the system prompts. She just stared, unable to speak, unable to move.
——
> [Comprehensive reward evaluation for Player Lucas]
[Main Quest 'Examination' Cleared – +3000 points] [Side Quest Completed – +1000 points] [Hidden Quest Completed – +1000 points] [Unlocked Full World Lore – +2500 points] [Awarded Title: 'Explosive Art'] [Overall Rating: SS] [Live broadcast data exceeded 600,000. The playthrough is now in the Premium Access section.] [Achievement unlocked: Top Streamer of the Cycle] [Top Trending Promotion Achieved] [Fastest Promotion Speed Ranking – 1st] [First player to receive 'Supernova' status after only 3 dungeons] [Highest-rated run of the 'Examination' instance] [First to complete its hidden quest, unlock full lore, and discover the NPCs 'Instructor' and 'Principal']
[...During the 'Examination' game, Lucas was bookmarked by 591,326 users and rewarded by 563,219. Peak viewers surpassed 600,000.]
> [Congratulations, Lucas! You've unlocked the Super God live broadcast promotion.]
> [Current game-wide ranking: 199th]
The screen faded briefly, then returned with a poetic postscript:
> "...Above the ruins, everything will be rebuilt. History is a cycle of tragedy repeated. The departed find freedom. The remaining? Endless reincarnation..."
——
Inside the Central Hall, in the grand Super God streaming arena, among the biggest names in the game—a new face flashed on the main screen.
"Wait, who is this rookie?"
"Isn't that Lucas? That freakishly good newcomer?"
"He only cleared three dungeons and still got SS?! What kind of cheat code is he using?!"
"And Blue Kill was in that same instance, right? Her rating was S-... but his was SS!"
"No way... if he joins the thriller competition, this year is going to be pure madness!"
——
> [System Message: New content drop detected. Would you like to pick it up?]
> [Cost: One simple sentence — 'The author is truly a genius.']
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