Chapter 13: A Power Walkthrough

As the credit on Seeker's side rose to 4260, people started to join in the bet. It was just too huge of a gamble for Seeker. The reward of those who participated was a shocking amount.

"Meryl, put a paywall for those joining the room. Set it to 20 credits." Seeker ordered. This stopped the constant flow of viewers. But later on, the number of viewers started to increase.

"Alright, guys. The Den is closed! Now let's see who will win! As you can see, I'm all in." Seeker gave another arrogant laugh. Meryl immediately closed the Den at Seeker's queue.

Seeker immediately went in to face the boss. A cutscene initiated as Seeker's avatar went into a warehouse.

Inside the warehouse stood several soldiers with what appeared to be specialized gear. The team immediately started flying using a jet propelling backpack. The game continued, and the battle then initiated.

Seeker controlled his avatar to perform in deadly maneuvers of evasion. The viewers were at awe at what they were seeing. Seeker utilized the environment well to hide from the bullets that rained down on the avatar. But when he dove into the open field, he carefully evaded each enemy attack. He would occasionally make attacks of his own.

The main character in Piercing: Bullet was equipped with a long rifle, which he used as a pole in close range. Seeker utilized both close and ranged combat to inflict damage on the several soldiers zooming around the warehouse.

As Seeker promised, no blocks were used. He evaded every single attack and managed to already kill 5 of the 9 flying soldiers. The chatroom was filled with berserk comments of rage, amazement, and curses.

"He must be pro! He's definitely pro!" a viewer chatted.

"I don't think he's pro. I don't know him or recognize his voice."

"This is definitely a hack! He's cheating!"

"Cheating? Right. With everything Zeek did to prove that he's not? Don't be a cry baby, you loser." Meryl haughtily countered.

The Gambling Den was affiliated with various gaming companies. It would even utilize intense security protocols to ensure that no hackers would win in scenarios such as this. As such, their credibility when a bet involving their systems was at the highest level. No one questioned a bet if it was held in Gambling Den.

The battle ended just as Meryl and Lynd had expected. Seeker won the bet as he defeated the boss without receiving even a single hit. No one could make any complaints. Various viewers who lost in the bet already reported the game to Gambling Den. However, no actions were made to Seeker's account.

After the defeat of the boss, Seeker continued with the walkthrough. Several viewers were hooked at the many secrets that Seeker showed them. Seeker would occasionally bribe others for donations, and this allowed him to receive more credits.

Various viewers would suddenly challenge him to a no-hit challenge or a no-block bet hoping to catch Seeker of the guard. Whenever a challenge would be made, Seeker would immediately agree. Seeker acted reserved by placing only a third of all his credits, causing others to think he wasn't confident. Of course, Seeker continued to win more using these tricks.

People grumbled at Seeker's shameless money-grabbing behavior. He already had over 10,000 credits due to his gambling spree and another 1440 from the entry fee's, but he would still ask for donations.

Soon, Seeker finally decided to end the stream.

"Alright, guys. I'll leave a poll behind which would decide the future direction of the stream. I could continue with this game and complete it at around 47 hours. I assure you that this is the fastest full walkthrough out there. But as you can see, I am just about 4 hours in. So I'll be making a poll. Should I continue in this full walkthrough, or do something else? Something no one could confidently create now. A power walkthrough. With this, I can complete the game in 19 hours at most. The choice is yours." Seeker smiled.

The chat room went wild. Nineteen hours was a record-breaking time! The world record for the fastest completion time for Piercing: Edge was 22 hours. Seeker claimed he could manage a completion time, which was 3 hours earlier for a game just released. Several viewers who had lost a lot of credits in the bet naturally felt an inclination to believe Seeker when he claimed he could challenge a world record.

"Please share this video, and let's make history together! My future streams will require a 50 credit buy-in. This is because I will be revealing how to form the strongest weapons early on in the game, and how to exploit boss fights. Even if you are new to this game, it will save you about 10-15 hours' worth of gameplay. Not to mention, you can also take part in the bets and could even dare me any challenges along the way. For tomorrow's game, I will start an All-In rule, meaning I will dump all my credits for whatever bets you challenge me. Provided it is within reason, of course."

The chats continued to discuss further. Everyone wanted to see a power walkthrough. Especially when the one playing has yet to receive any damage since he started.

"So that's all for tonight, guys. Good night!"

Without even waiting for any signal from Seeker, Meryl immediately closed the stream.

"That was amazing, Zeek! We have about 16,000 credits now! That's enough for a roundtrip all-expense-paid the trip to another country!" Meryl excitedly calculated.

"Zeek, you should check online. We caused quite a sensation! Even Precept Gaming has released a statement in which they were monitoring your gameplay!" Lynd excitedly reported.

"Things are going as planned." Seeker grinned.

"Anyways, we should hurry and go home. We have a busy day tomorrow. More important than the stream is that you rest your sore muscles. Put some ice in it or something. Oh, and don't forget to tell your parents that you'd be going home late starting tomorrow." Seeker started packing.

"Do we have to do the workout?" Meryl complained.

Lynd simply stared at Seeker with a pleading look.

Seeker frowned and look at them irritably.

"We have to guys. You know…" Seeker was about to say something, but he stopped.

"What?" Meryl asked.

"Never mind. Now's not the right time to convince you." Seeker grumbled.

"Convince us? With what? We believe you! You don't have to convince us of anything!"

"Never mind. Let's talk again tomorrow." The trio later started packing and later left for home.

Seeker arrived home and immediately dashed into his parents' bedroom and hugged his parents tightly.

Chris and Grace were surprised at how their son started acting more intimately towards them. Grace simply smiled and looked dotingly upon her only son. Seeker smiled and talked casually with them, saying that he was hooked in the new Piercing game.

Seeker gave an excuse and went to his room. Upon entering, Seeker started calling Charles.

"Seeker! I've seen the stream! I heard you earned a lot of Credits!" Charles exclaimed as he picked up the phone. Earning 16,000 credits was something he could only earn if he performed surgeries. Yet Seeker managed to earn in a very unconventional way.

"Yeah. Things are going great. Listen, I recalled that you're a collector of weapons. Do you have some now?"

"Oh. So it means this crazy collection of mine managed to reach the future! That's relieving. Yes. I already served in different tours across enemy countries. I tend to buy whatever swords, axes, and other weapons that are explicit on these nations."

"Are these weapons sturdy?"

"If you're asking me whether or not these weapons can kill a man, then yes." Charles seriously answered. He never thought that these weapons would be used for assassinations.

Seeker laughed.

"Don't worry. I'm not planning to kill people with that. Let's just say it's going to be part of the training I have in store for all of you."

"Oh? Don't take this the wrong way Seeker, you may be faster than me, but in terms of raw strength, I'm definitely better than you. I don't think I need training on that matter. I have my own routine."

"It's not just a physical training session, Charles. It's more of handling weapons."

"Then, it that case, I'll join." The crazed weapon collector immediately agreed.

"Great. I'll tell you when to join us. Right now, I need to do a crash course physical workout for the guys and for myself. The weapon training will require us to do some extreme and intense routines. So I need to prepare our muscles."

"Zeek, are you sure it's the right thing to bring those two in all of this?"

There was silence on the other line. Charles waited for Seeker to respond. But then he realized something.

"Still too soon to call you by your nickname, huh?" Charles complained.

"Anyways, I don't think it was wise to get your two friends involved. They're not mature enough for these kinds of things. They're still kids. I feel that they're not serious about this."

"I noticed. But don't worry, Charles, I'll handle that. Talk to you later." Seeker ended the call. He dove back to bed and enjoyed a good night's sleep.

The next day, Seeker was standing at the entrance of the school, waiting for his friends to arrive. Meryl arrived first.

"Looks like you overstrained yourself." Seeker laughed.

Meryl stared angrily at Seeker as she was slowly dragged her legs. She couldn't walk properly with the intense one-hour workout she experienced.

"We shouldn't do anymore later, Zeek! Can't you see that I'm a girl? Look at what I got because you treated me like some macho soldier boy!" Meryl was practically angry at Seeker. It was very hard for her to commute to the school as people would be rushing while she would be crawling.

Soon the two spotted a tall teen walking like he was a zombie on his lower half. His pace was extremely slow.

Meryl and Seeker laughed at the sight of Lynd.

"Zeek, I don't think we should do another workout later. My body is too tired and too sore." Lynd had a pleading look.

Seeker laughed again. Lynd was one of the tallest students in the school. His pleading eyes didn't suit his large stature.

"Don't worry, guys. Our workout later will focus on the upper body." Seeker grinned.

Meryl and Lynd shivered at what Seeker said.

"Can't you give us a rest day? We can't freakin block the pain as you can, you know!" Meryl angrily chastised. Her timid look was naturally unseen at this moment.

"Hey, little kiddies!" A malicious laughing and almost mocking voice sounded.

Seeker and the two turned to witness one of the most feared delinquents in school.

Cliff Fangwood was the leader of a delinquent group that was rumored to be involved in many shady activities.

"Hey there, Baby Giant!" Cliff teased Lynd with a mocking tone.

Though he was not as tall as Lynd, he was still feared by the students in the school. His pitch-black hair and his rebel image undoubtedly caused many teen girls to fall in attraction. He had a well-built frame that he would showcase to the girls around the school and used it to intimidate others. And of course, there were the brass knuckles that he would always wear. This brass knuckles had tasted the blood of a number of students. No one would dare fight this menace.

"A little birdy told me that you earned a lot of Credits last night!" His smile terrified Lynd and Meryl.

Seeker, however, looked angry.