Chapter 40: The Climax of the Bet

The game was paused. Seeker just used the first strike of a four-hit-combo basic attack using Edge's handgun.

"Alright. Now a little question and answer. In this game, these doors are Piercing-proof and the only way to damage it is to use weapons that deal True Piercing damage. Now, Bullet has no way of doing that but Edge's weapon can."

Seeker then unpaused the game and did another slash and paused it again. Seeker then smiled and looked back to the camera.

"When does the True Piercing damage of Edge's weapon occur when it is used?" Seeker asked.

The more knowledgeable players started typing. But the first to give the answer was Arthur.

"The first strike. However, that weapon's True Piercing capabilities is too weak. At this point, it is impossible to destroy that door no matter how hard you try."

"You're wrong again Arthur." Seeker mocked. He unpaused the game and did another strike and paused it again.

"The truth is, it was made with that intention, but this specific game version of Piercing: Bullet has a flaw." Seeker did his routine of unpausing, striking and pausing. Seeker then pointed at the at an enemy Pierce soldier nearby. The soldier was dressed in its trademark blue uniform but had a thicker set of armor. Veterans of the game knew this was an Anti-Piercing armor.

"What most don't know that the way these doors are set up is that it has its own set of hit points. Of course, we never get to see it in-game. So we assume that the way to break this is by using Edge's upgraded handgun which we get later in the game. However, the truth is it is similar to the other enemies in this base."

Seeker unpaused the game and did a quick evade from the enemy soldiers attack while attacking the door and paused the game once more.

"The hint we get is from the other enemies or turrets that this base has. I don't have the time to show you but the reason why it would be impossible to destroy this base right now is that the True Piercing damage of my current weapon cannot match the regen of the enemies hit points."

Seeker paused the game once more and did another strike and evaded some attacks from the surrounding enemies and then paused it.

"The problem is that the hit points of these doors regenerate at a fast speed. Arthur, how do you propose I destroy it?" Seeker smirked.

Arthurs response immediately was displayed.

"It's impossible. The True Piercing attack on that handgun only happens on the first attack. You need to stop attacking for about three seconds in order to do another first attack or it will combo. By the time you finish a set of attacks or wait for three seconds, the door would return to full health."

"Very precise. As expected of Precision." Seeker did his regular pausing routine.

"But you made one miscalculation. The truth is, the True Piercing attack doesn't happen on the first attack. But it has a cooldown of three seconds. It's just a coincidence that the four-hit combo, as well as the wait time, is three seconds." Seeker smiled and did his pausing, unpausing routine.

Arthur and Kristine were the first to realize it. But it was Cronus who managed to say it.

"A BUG!" Cronus typed. The viewers were confused.

"That's right. You finally caught on. This release version has a bug. The cooldown of three seconds applies even when the game is paused." Seeker did his last attack and the door broke open.

Immediately a cut scene occurred.

Bullet was using Edge's handgun and was about to break the door open when a large blade protruded out of the door. Bullet barely dodged it as the attack nearly took out Bullet's eyes. The hangar was sliced opened as Hollow appeared with his trademark scythe.

"Bullet! I'm here to get the gun back!"

"You mean this gun?" Bullet held the gun and switched it to its ranged form and started shooting. The game continued.

Seeker kept dodging the attacks of Hollow. Worst still was how the surrounding soldiers continued to attack Seeker.

"This game is full of bugs. But that's exactly how I'll win this bet, Arthur." Seeker laughed.

Seeker didn't attack Hollow but attacked the nearest soldier. Surprisingly the first combo immediately inflicted damage equal to a quarter of the soldiers' life!

"WHAT!?" Arthur screamed in surprise.

Seeker continued to attack the soldiers and finally killed one. The experience points of killing this enemy caused Seeker's level to increase by ten!

"Confused? Think. The last cutscene showed how Bullet used the handgun of Edge. If you were careful to notice, it wasn't the old handgun. You see, at this point of the game, you must have the upgraded handgun to open up this area. That's how the game is supposed to work. So what happens if I don't have that weapon but a cutscene requires Bullet to force equip that weapon?"

Seeker then continued on attacking with ranged attacks. Even the range attacks did tremendous damage to the soldier.

"He got an upgrade! It really is a bug!" A viewer typed out. instantly, an avalanche of comments followed.

Seeker did another kill and managed several level ups immediately. Seeker continued to avoid Hollow but used his weapons to inflict damage on the surrounding soldiers. After 10 minutes of this soldier-killing-spree, Seeker finally focused on attacking Hollow.

As Seeker had already presented an almost impossible array of skills, the battle didn't impress its viewers. People were just waiting for Seeker to kill the boss and move on. Seeker's damage was relatively small. People finally understood why Seeker did a quick power-leveling training.

The boss died and Seeker managed to unlock newer weapon upgrades and ammunition. Seeker immediately left the base. The exit was faster than the entrance as the turrets were all destroyed.

"Now that we have this weapon, I now can destroy the main hangar. That should catapult me into somewhere late-game now." Seeker smiled.

Everyone was shocked at Seeker's casual mention.

"HE CAN DO IT GUYS! A RECORD OF EIGHT FREAKIN HOURS BY CASUAL CARLEAN!" A crazed fan was the first one to announce.

With Seeker's new weapon, he now can kill enemies and inflict damage to bosses. As Seeker said, by destroying the main hangar, Seeker advance in the storyline skipping ten or so hours of gameplay. Seeker had just spent barely three hours of gameplay and he was already at late-game stage.

Suddenly, the angry gamblers who realized that they picked on the wrong side of the bet started complaining. Seeker ignored the argument and continued to press forward. Since Arthur wasn't complaining, he didn't care.

Seeker's progression continued at a fast pace. However, every boss fight was a chore. As Seeker's skill proficiency was so low, the attack speed was slow and the damage wasn't very huge. Since Seeker skipped through a lot of the story's parts, he had limited unlocked skills and his rifle was next to useless. Most of the succeeding bosses took nearly an hour of fighting before Seeker would manage to defeat it.

Soon over six hours has passed and Seeker was approaching the area where the last boss was.

Seeker's head was throbbing. Throughout the game, also had been eating a lot of food and would take some pain relievers to minimize the throbbing pain of his head. He knew he had somehow overused his Unlocking when he attacked the base.

Seeker suddenly paused the game.

"Um. Lynd. Could you like give me a message? My head hurts." Seeker shyly asked.

Lynd gave Seeker a peculiar look. He didn't move or make any indication that he planned to follow Seeker's orders.

Seeker then turned to Meryl.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, Meryl. I am. I have been spending the last seven hours playing this game and it required a bit of concentration. So will you massage my head?" Seeker spoke with a sarcastic tone.

Meryl scoffed and hurriedly positioned herself behind Seeker and started to do the massage. Thankfully, the three of them would habitually massage each other and due to that, the three knew a little bit about massaging. Meryl started to massage and Seeker continued the game.

Seeker controlled Bullet to enter the final room and a cutscene occurred.

"Nope. I don't think I can. I overstressed my brain. Instant Calculation and Millisecond Reaction really put a number on you. Lynd, could you take over?" Seeker held the controllers straight at Lynd.

Lynd was dumbfounded.

"Look, Lynd, If I play, then I'm dead. You know of my condition. I really can't. You have to play on my behalf. Don't worry I'll tutor you." Seeker stood up and allowed Lynd to seat down at his location.

Meryl was tongue-tied. They were losing time and now Seeker wanted Lynd to take over.

"Seeker!" Meryl cried.

"I'm serious Meryl. I still need you to give me a massage. Lynd, take over. We are running out of time. Just do what I do." Seeker arranged his seat and sat down with his seat inclined backward.

Lynd took the controller. It was clear that his hands were shaking.

The game continued with Lynd controlling Bullet. The cutscene ended just in time and the battle began.

The final boss was a small frail man who looked like a teen. He had a very bored expression. Surrounding him were several floating orbs which would either shoot out laser beams or created a force field similar to the brawny man with the bracelets.

Lynd immediately panicked and started evading.

"Evade to the left. Run off the side. Now continuously jump and dash towards the furthest orb on the left and attack it. Good. Now, stop attacking. Oh. Be careful. One hit and half of your life would be gone. We are severely under-leveled." Seeker was casually instructing Lynd as he received a massage from Meryl who would occasionally shriek in terror.

"Relax Lynd. The gamble didn't include a no-hit clause. You can get hit. Of course, you'd probably die in two or three strikes." Seeker smiled.

"Oh, that was close. Back off a bit. You're getting to a bad position. Keep evading and return to the original spot you were when the fight started."

Lynd was paling in fright. It was almost a miracle that he could control Bullet correctly.

"Relax Lynd. We've been playing Piercing for so long. And you were even better than me at one point. Just follow my directions ok? Meryl, apply more pressure."

Meryl was angry. She looked like she could just yank Seeker's head off. It was one thing for him to ask her for a massage during one of the biggest gambles the world has ever seen, but now, handling the controllers over to Lynd.

"Alright. Let's start again. Try to keep up with my instructions. We're a little pressed with time here and we could still lose." Seeker smiled.

Lynd's palm was sweating like crazy now.

Seeker gave a series of instructions, which Lynd continued to follow. He managed to avoid getting hit a single time.

Meanwhile, the chants and messages seen on the chat rooms were from those who placed their bets against Seeker. They knew if Seeker won this gamble, then people will definitely offer Seeker money double of Arthur's pay. The only choice was for Seeker to lose this gamble so he can never play again.

Seeing the prayers of curses and ridicule, Seeker laughed.

"Alright. Lynd, I think you got the basic. Just do what I would do. I'll stop instructing you. How about a last gamble? Since I'm betting everything onto Lynd, I bet that Lynd can defeat this boss without getting a single hit. I'm betting 100,000 credits for this." Seeker smiled. He walked over to the computer and opened the Gambling Den once more.

There it was, a Den with 100,000 credits wagered. Without skipping a beat all of those who gambled against Seeker poured in their money. Seeker placed it on a 500 credit buy-in. There were even some who were loyal to Seeker who placed their bets. After all, they didn't know who this Lynd was.

Meryl looked worried. She looked at Lynd who also looked worried. But strangely enough, Lynd felt calm despite this strange situation.

"Wake me up once you beat it, Lynd. Meryl, please continue with the massage." Seeker sat back down and continued to enjoy Meryl's massage without any care for the world.