Liam Crest had faced monsters, rival streamers, and even the occasional existential crisis, but nothing prepared him for the horror currently unfolding before him.
Rita, was furious, had Marcus by the ear, her voice shrill enough to shatter glass. "WHO ATE THE BREADFRUITS?"
Marcus, his spiky blonde hair now more disheveled than usual, yelped. "I don't even like breadfruit!"
Priya sighed and rubbed her temples. "We're literally in the apocalypse. Can we not do this right now?"
Aria, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, muttered, "I'd take another Hollow King over this."
Liam, meanwhile, was too busy staring at the notification blinking in his vision.
[Anonymous Viewer: "You're running out of time."]
Attached was a live feed—Rita, Marcus, and Priya, bound and gagged in a dimly lit room. The timestamp? Five minutes ago.
Liam's stomach dropped. "Uh. Guys?"
The real Rita scowled. "What?"
Liam pointed at the hologram. "That's you."
Aria's staff snapped to full length. "Illusion. Or a trap."
The bushes outside their makeshift hut rustled.
Everyone froze.
Then—
BOOM.
The wall exploded inward.
Liam hit the ground rolling, his drone—Eye of the Apocalypse—zipping into the air to capture the chaos. Through the dust and debris, figures emerged. Not monsters. Players. Their armor bore a familiar sigil—a serpent coiled around a tower.
[Hostile Faction Identified: Serpent's Fang]
[Objective: Survive. Again.]
Aria was already moving, her staff a silver blur as she cracked the jaw of the nearest attacker. "Liam! Camera on!"
Right. [Cameraman Never Dies] only worked if he was streaming.
He slapped the drone's activation switch.
[Livestream: ACTIVE]
[Viewers: 87,000 and climbing]
"Welcome back, folks!" Liam ducked a flying dagger, wincing as it embedded itself in the wall behind him. "Today's unplanned episode: Home Invasion – Apocalypse Edition!"
Aria kicked an attacker into a shelf, sending cans of (miraculously intact) peaches tumbling. "Less commentary, more not dying!"
Marcus grabbed a rolling peach can and flung it at an oncoming enemy. Direct hit to the forehead. The man crumpled.
"STRIKE!" Marcus cheered.
Priya, meanwhile, had pulled a scalpel from somewhere and was holding off two assailants with terrifying precision. "Liam! What's the plan?"
Liam's mind raced. They were outnumbered. Again. But this time, the Astrals were watching.
[Fan Gift Incoming: "Try this."]
A small orb materialized mid-air. Liam caught it without thinking.
[Skill Acquired: Echo Chamber (B-Rank)]
[Effect: Amplify the last sound heard into a concussive blast. One-time use.]
Liam blinked. Then grinned.
"EVERYONE, COVER YOUR EARS!"
Aria didn't question it. She grabbed Rita and Priya, dragging them behind an overturned table. Marcus, slower on the uptake, was still blinking when Liam cupped his hands around his mouth and—
"BOOM."
The world rippled.
The sound of the exploding wall—now amplified tenfold—slammed into the attackers like a tidal wave. Windows shattered. The remaining Serpent's Fang operatives dropped like puppets with cut strings, clutching their ears in agony.
Silence.
Then—
[Audience: 150,000]
[Fan Reactions: "LOL" "WHAT WAS THAT?" "MORE."]
Marcus, still on the ground, groaned. "I think I'm deaf."
Liam patted his shoulder. "Worth it."
Aria stood, dusting herself off. "They were scouts. The main force is coming."
Liam's grin faded. "How do you know?"
She held up a crumpled note from one of the fallen operatives.
"Bring the Level Zero to the Spire. The Tyrant wants him alive."
The Spire wasn't a building. It was a monument to Astral arrogance—a jagged tower of black stone, pulsing with veins of blue energy. It loomed over the ruins like a knife plunged into the earth.
Liam swallowed. "Yeah, that's definitely a trap."
Aria checked her weapons. "And we're walking into it."
Marcus cracked his knuckles. "Cool. I've always wanted to die in a dramatic last stand."
Priya sighed. "Can we not joke about dying?"
Rita pulled out four doughnuts from her apron sack. "Let's eat first. And die later. I literally thought I would never have a taste about seven minutes ago. This is my second chance."
Liam took the doughnut. "I love you all."
[Anonymous Viewer: "Sentimentality is boring. Fight."]
Liam flipped off the drone and all his three colleagues spoke with him at the exact same time. "Shut the hell up."
The ground trembled.
The Spire's gates groaned open.
The interior of the Spire was worse than Liam expected.
The walls breathed.
Pulsing, organic tendrils slithered across the stone, their surfaces studded with eyes that tracked their every move. The air smelled like copper and something sweet—like rotting fruit.
Aria's grip on her staff was white-knuckled. "This place is alive."
Marcus poked a tendril. It recoiled. "Huh. Ticklish."
Priya smacked his hand away. "Stop touching the nightmare fuel."
A voice echoed from above.
"Liam Crest."
The Tyrant stood atop a floating platform, his armor forged from the same black stone as the Spire. His face was hidden behind a mask of screaming faces—each one shifting, writhing, as if alive.
[Boss Identified: The Tyrant – Level 30]
[Title: The Iron Showman]
Liam forced a grin. "Hey, big fan of your work. Love what you've done with the place."
The Tyrant tilted his head. "You amuse me. That's why you're still breathing."
Aria stepped forward. "What do you want?"
"The same thing the Astrals do." The Tyrant spread his arms. "A show."
The ground beneath them shifted.
The walls peeled back, revealing an arena—a perfect circle of black stone, surrounded by floating Astral spectators. Their laughter echoed, distorted and hungry.
[Audience: 500,000]
[New Objective: Survive The Tyrant's Game]
Liam exhaled. "Well. This escalated."
The Tyrant raised a hand.
"Let the finale begin."
The first wave was easy.
Well. Easy-ish.
Monsters Liam had faced before—Tunnel Crawlers, Clawed Predators—flooded the arena. Aria and Marcus handled most of them while Liam provided color commentary.
"And another decapitation! Folks, that's Aria Thorn, making murder look effortless!"
Aria flipped Liam off mid-swing.
The Astrals loved it.
[Fan Gifts: +3 Healing Potions, +1 Explosive Charm]
But then the real challenge began.
The Tyrant snapped his fingers.
The ground split open.
And Kane climbed out.
But not the Kane they knew.
This Kane's eyes glowed blue. His skin was cracked, veins pulsing with Astral energy.
[Player Corrupted: Kane – Level 20 (Hollowed)]
[Status: Puppet of the Tyrant]
Liam's stomach twisted. "Oh, come on."
Kane grinned, his jaw unhinging like a snake's. "Miss me?"
Aria didn't hesitate. She lunged.
Kane moved. Faster than before. His fist connected with her ribs, sending her skidding across the arena.
Marcus roared, charging—only for Kane to grab his arm and twist.
The crack was audible.
Priya screamed.
Liam's blood ran cold.
[Audience: 1,000,000]
[Fan Reactions: "FINALLY!" "KILL HIM!" "BORING. DO SOMETHING."]
Liam's hands shook.
Then—
A gift materialized.
A single, glowing die.
[Gambler's Die (A-Rank)]
[Effect: Roll for a random skill. High risk, higher reward.]
Liam caught it.
He rolled.
The die tumbled through the air, faces flashing—
And landed on [SS].
[Skill Granted: Soulbind (SS-Rank)]
[Description: Fuse with a target's essence. Borrow their power. Lose a piece of yourself.\]
Liam didn't hesitate.
He activated it.
And became Kane.
The world shattered.
Liam was inside Kane's mind—a fractured wasteland of pain and Astral whispers. He saw Kane's memories: the betrayal that broke him, the Astrals' promises, the hunger to be seen.
And then—
Liam pushed back.
For a single, glorious second, he controlled Kane's body.
His fist slammed into the Tyrant's mask.
The crack echoed through the arena.
The Astrals roared in approval.
Then—
[Warning: Soul Corruption at 50%]
[Hollowing Imminent]
Liam gasped, collapsing to his knees as the connection snapped.
Kane staggered, his glowing eyes flickering. "You… used me."
Liam coughed blood. "Yeah. And you're way messier than I thought."
The Tyrant laughed.
"Bravo. But the show isn't over."
The Spire trembled.