I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 662 - 207: Why do players enjoy being tortured? Do you have any clue?_2

Chapter 662: Chapter 207: Why do players enjoy being tortured? Do you have any clue?_2

This process was undoubtedly torturous.

What was even more torturous was this.

During the countless deaths → picking up Runes → killing monsters to obtain new Runes,

he had already amassed close to 12,000+ Runes.

Keep in mind, slaying an Omen yielded only about 12,000 Runes.

All these Runes were enough for him to level up twice more.

And right now, that money was lying quietly where he’d just met his demise... within that small, dark room.

To give up, he couldn’t bear to.

To get the money, he’d have to take a beating.

However, this time, as Czcu hesitated at the doorway to the dark room, a sudden idea struck him.

"Can I use that flame Invocation I just learned to pin him against the door and whittle down his health?"

Players, after going through a not-too-short newbie period at the beginning,

will gradually acquire simple moves from various factions.

Besides the most basic melee weapons like swords, spears, guns, and hammers,

there are bow-type weapons for precise long-range targeting,

and magic unleashed through Magic Wands,

as well as Invocation Series Magic that requires equipping a sigil.

The difference between Invocation and magic lies in this:

Magic tends to deliver direct damage,

whereas Invocations belong more to the skills of BUFF or elemental attacks.

The Invocation that Czcu had grasped was a minor one called "Throw Fire".

It allowed him to throw a smallish, slightly curved fireball.

The damage wasn’t high, but unlike direct arrow shots that would be blocked by the iron door,

a fireball with a slight arc seemed like a good choice.

Czcu tried releasing a fireball from the side of the door.

The results were pleasing.

It worked!

Although it only chipped away a small portion of the enemy’s health bar,

as long as it was effective, that was all that mattered!

"OK, enough talk."

"Begin Invocation!"

With a loud shout, Czcu began his relentless assault on the heavily armed Knight.

He discovered that this black Knight, clad head to toe in armor, really couldn’t break through the door.

He could only helplessly rage, slashing his weapon at the doorway, then helplessly watch as his health trickled down.

This almost bug-exploiting strategy immediately triggered a barrage of mockery in the comments.

"What, using the door glitch to fight?"

"Big body, weak at doors, huh?"

"Yes, it’s with such despicable and shameless tactics that I climbed to the throne of King of Elden—memoirs of a Fading One in his later years."

Of course, Czcu didn’t care about these comments.

All he wanted was to quickly beat down that damned Knight and get back his 12,000 Runes.

Soon, two minutes later,

as the Fading One’s mana ran out, a strike that took away the last sliver of the Knight’s health bar,

he finally succeeded in grinding him down to death!

It must be said, while the fight was tough, the rewards were indeed generous.

He received a full 3,000 Runes, even more than what the Stone-digging Mountain Demon before this stage had exploded into.

Besides that, the Knight also dropped the helmet he was wearing.

Czcu eagerly picked it up to check it out.

"Lost Knight Helmet"

It added a bit to the damage reduction rate, as well as resistances to various elements, including raising the height from which a character can fall to their death and the resilience bar, among other properties.

It was a helmet with fairly nice overall attributes.

And more importantly, it looked very cool!

The silver-black, shiny finish, faintly gleaming with silver light,

A completely enclosed metallic material, it could well protect the wearer’s head.

Engraved on the very top was a majestic dragon.

Without a second thought, he equipped it right away.

Meanwhile, he ran into the small, dark room to pick up the Runes.

After scouring the area once more,

he obtained a "Rusty Key"

and a "Curved Sword Amulet".

"Could this Rusty Key be used to open that door on the second floor we couldn’t before?" Czcu muttered to himself while also checking out the attributes of the "Curved Sword Amulet".

Although the Amulet’s name carried the word ’Curved Sword’, it was universally applicable to all melee weapons.

The effect was to enhance the damage done by defensive counters and reduction of the opponent’s resilience.

Delighted, he equipped it.

Then Czcu returned to sit at the Blessing Spot on the cliff’s edge for a moment.

And he spent all his Rune to instantly level up his Strength by 3 levels.

His attack increased by an additional 6 points.

He then went to try it out on the soldier he had encountered earlier on the wooden walkway.

Originally, these shield-bearing soldiers.

He couldn’t break their poise with a single counter.

Not breaking their poise meant he could only strike them once, but they could immediately react with their own moves.

Being surrounded by a few of them, taking one hit each, he couldn’t withstand it.

However, after equipping the "Curved Sword Amulet" and increasing his Strength.

A single counter was enough to break the soldiers’ poise!

He could follow up with an Execution Skill.

In two moves, he could directly slay a Stonewell City soldier!

And during the execution process, the character was in an invincible state.

Even if surrounded, there was no panic.

After the execution ended, he could push the surrounding soldiers back a few steps with a small area of effect.

This allowed players to choose whether to continue attacking or to defend with their shield.

This subtle level of improvement seemed small.

But the experience it brought in actual combat was entirely different!

After killing the soldiers on the wooden walkway more easily than before, Czcu couldn’t help but feel that the time spent in that little dark room wasn’t in vain.

At the same time, he used the key to open the tightly shut iron door on the second floor.

Upon opening the door, a long ladder appeared before him.

Climbing the ladder, he could reach the fourth floor which had been previously inaccessible due to a gap.

What surprised Czcu even more was.

He discovered.

Items along the way that seemed impossible to get before.

For example, on the second floor, there was a wall with a big hole broken in it, allowing him to directly see the outside world.

A shiny purple item was inside the damaged wall.

But players simply couldn’t jump high enough to reach it.

Now, having reached the fourth floor and walking out of the tower to the outer pathway.

Looking down, he could clearly see a platform that allowed for a jump to land on.

After several jumps down, the very bottom platform allowed him to walk horizontally into the hole in the damaged wall and pick up the item.

Although the item turned out to be rather useless.

The realization of ’Oh! So that’s how you get it!’ gave Czcu a feeling of refreshment.

After all, the purple light had been taunting him for a long time, and it was uncomfortable to not be able to get it.

"I don’t know why, but Designer Ke always seems to have a good grasp of the player’s psychological balance," he said.

"Just when you’re about to be so frustrated by the enemies that you want to quit, he always comes up with something new that makes you instantly forgive all the dirty tricks he’s pulled before."

"Whether it’s the Big Tree Guardian at the beginning, which gave us a taste of the open world."

"Or the agony we went through in the camp before the level, which gradually made us realize the special aspects of the looped combat."

"Or now, after having just been disgusted by the combination of the wooden walkway, exploding barrels, and dark room with the Lost Knight Helmet, and then immediately being rewarded with rich loot, not only unlocking the door to the fourth floor but also getting that long-coveted purple light item."

"What’s more critical is that this item didn’t really come with significant hints; it was purely because I just noticed there was a path that seemed walkable, a platform that looked jumpable... and then I got it."

"Getting it without guidance, the sense of achievement feels even more satisfying."

"I am really growing fonder of this game!"

Czcu enthusiastically shared his emotions, and the viewers also flooded the chat, expressing their agreement with Czcu’s thoughts.

And the viewers experienced even more than Czcu.

Czcu’s suffering journey was equally enjoyable to them.

Especially when they saw him rage and slam the table, his face twisted in frustration.

The viewers couldn’t stop laughing.

"Elden" seemed to have a kind of magic about it.

The more you play, the more painful it gets.

The more painful it gets, the more addictive it becomes.

Highlighting one hell of a fun time!

However.

Contrary to the increasingly lively atmosphere in Czcu’s live broadcast room,

the mood at Hope Flute, the game’s design company, was growing more and more tense.

Conna’s face looked so gloomy it was as if water could drip from it.

He had felt confident after listening to his director’s analysis.

Watching the streamers struggle painfully while assaulting Stonewell City seemed to reassure him.

He felt it was all going to be smooth sailing.

Thinking the top player didn’t know what he was doing!

But now, seeing the streamers suffering yet unable to tear themselves away, praising the game non-stop,

Conna was thoroughly baffled.

Wasn’t the Diorama supposed to maximize the players’ pain and drive them to quit in frustration?

Why were the players now all laughing and enjoying themselves?

Where the hell did things go wrong?