Chapter 4: Friend to hell (1)

“This is it.”

The all-in-one game platform, STEM.

A site that collected every kind of game—from indie developer titles to AAA blockbusters.

Among them, one stood out: a game called Chain Roller.

Perhaps thanks to its popularity among streamers, it was ranking high in the download charts.

I hit the purchase button and browsed a few other games while waiting for the download to finish.

‘Not a lot of PC games, huh.’

There weren’t many PC games in the popular section. Just a few classic titles sprinkled in here and there.

Instead, most of the rankings were filled with something called VR games.

‘So VR games are the mainstream now.’

It wasn’t just my body that had changed.

The world itself had subtly shifted when I switched bodies.

And the biggest difference? These VR games.

Unlike my original world, where PC games still dominated, this world was fully immersed in VR.

‘Did only this technology evolve?’

This wasn’t just waving around a sword in rhythm while wearing a headset.

If that were all, VR wouldn’t have been able to replace PC gaming entirely.

They said it was possible to enter a fully virtual reality and play inside it… but I hadn’t tried it yet, so I wasn’t sure how it worked.

As a result, games played with a monitor and keyboard were now—if you were being polite—called “classic.” And if you weren’t? They were treated like boomer games.

“I’d try it if the price wasn’t so steep.”

The cost of a VR capsule.

Prices varied depending on the model, but a new one usually cost as much as a compact car.

It made sense, given how cutting-edge the tech was… but there was no way I could afford that with my current bank balance.

Well, it wasn’t like I needed one right away.

My goal right now was to check my gaming skills.

‘For a skill check, a cauldron-style game like this… is actually perfect.’

There was a reason people called these types of games “streamer skill detectors.”

Unlike RPGs, where your stats depended on how much money you poured in, these games required pure player reflexes and mechanics.

[Download complete.]

Chain Roller had finished downloading.

When I hit launch, three bald men wearing roller skates appeared on screen.

After confirming the uncomfortable-looking bald man models, I checked the available play modes.

“Three-player mode… and there’s also a single-player mode, huh?”

If you wanted to test your own skill, the single-player mode was more appropriate. No external variables to interfere.

But I chose the three-player mode.

‘This game was designed as a three-player game, after all.’

Chain Roller was built around three-player mode as its foundation.

I mean, it’s in the name. And even the title screen shows three bald guys chained together.

The single-player mode was just added as a challenge option for players already familiar with the three-man setup.

So if you were going by the spirit of the game, starting with the three-player mode made more sense.

“Why are protagonists in these games always bald, anyway?”

Same with the OG of cyber torture games—the cauldron guy.

When I entered the three-player mode, a list of game lobbies appeared.

Surprisingly, despite all the buzz on ETube, there weren’t that many active rooms.

Well, that made sense. This game was more fun to watch than it was to play.

Most people playing right now were probably just casuals who saw streamers play it and came to “dip their toes in.”

“I really don’t want to match with someone who sucks.”

Since it’s a cooperative three-player game, one bad teammate could massively increase the difficulty. I wanted to match with at least somewhat competent players…

“Game Genius Raidel?”

One room name caught my eye.

Was it just a gimmick, or was this person really a veteran at this game?

Either way, if someone’s calling themselves a game genius, they must be pretty confident in their skills.

Without much thought, I joined the room named Game Genius Raidel.

---

“Waaaaaah! It changes every time you make a new room?!”

Raidel had restarted the game with new teammates: Delbung #3 and Silverhair Silverhair.

She looked up at the map and clutched her head.

It had changed.

The obstacles, the course they had to run—all of it was completely different from before.

The familiar early-stage course she had practiced for four hours had transformed into something she’d never seen before.

「LOLOLOLOLOL」

「Delbung! You fell for it again!」

「Legendary moment!」

「If you grind it for another 4 hours, you’ll get used to it?」

「Every time you remake the room, the map is randomly generated」

“You mean it all resets?!”

Raidel frantically opened a wiki page and searched for Chain Roller.

Just like the viewers had said, every time a new room was created, a brand new map was generated.

“Map generator using cutting-edge AI technology… Like why would you put AI in a game like this…?”

Raidel collapsed onto her desk.

Every time you played, the entire map and all the obstacles changed.

As with all cauldron-style games, Chain Roller’s developer had poured all their talent and passion into one goal: making the player suffer.

“You guys should’ve told me if you knew! You must’ve known, right?!”

In the name of authentic reactions, she had avoided guides and gameplay videos.

But her viewers—most of them had probably seen other streamers play already.

Of course they knew the map reset every time.

And yet—out of all the countless comments, not a single person had warned her about it.

「It’s no fun if we tell you ;」

「We had no choice」

「You said no spoilers」

「Still, mad respect for not playing ahead」

「This is why Raidel is the real deal」

If there was one thing her viewers had, it was unmatched teamwork when it came to messing with her.

The strength of their unbreakable bond nearly brought tears to Raidel’s eyes.

“Haah… well, can’t be helped. Caffeine’s recharged. Let’s do this…!”

She let out a deep sigh, then forced herself into high tension mode.

‘There’ve been worse RNG screwjobs than this.’

Sure, the map reset sucked. But full-time streamers had to just brush this kind of thing off.

If she got all mopey about it, it wouldn’t be fun for the viewers or for her either.

「So we’re really starting from scratch again lol」

「She’s gonna ragequit without clearing, isn’t she?」

「Is she staying up all night?」

「I was gonna watch the clear and go to bed, guess that’s out the window…」

「Looks like she won’t finish before my morning commute」

「Big upvote if you’re glad you’re unemployed」

“No, no. Thanks so much for letting me play more of this amazing game! I totally wanted to keep going. Thanks, devs.”

「You can hear her grinding her teeth…」

「Her forehead vein is popping out」

「If she gets mad, she might start banning people lol」

‘Anyway, how am I supposed to get past this part?’

The original course had pillars of fire shooting up from the ground.

At first, she’d bounced off them dozens of times, but after memorizing the pattern, it had become easy to pass.

But now that the room had been reset, that entire section was gone.

Floating steel balls hovered ahead—

There were at least twenty of them.

It was a completely new pattern, and she had no idea how to deal with it.

“Let’s just observe the pattern first since it’s the beginning. I’ll go ahead first, so you guys follow me—Silverhair?”

No sooner had Raidel spoken than Silverhair Silverhair suddenly dashed forward.

“Silverhair, wait up a sec. Listen to what I’m say—ugh, whatever. I’m going too!”

With Silverhair bursting ahead, Raidel and Delbung #3 hurried after her.

‘Is she… not one of my viewers? Or maybe she has the stream muted?’

Raidel had assumed both teammates were her viewers.

That’s why she was giving instructions through voice rather than chat.

Delbung #3 had an obvious viewer nickname, but Silverhair…

「That Silverhair person doesn’t seem like a viewer?」

「Probably just a random player. The game doesn’t let you set passwords」

「Who plays this kind of trash game without being a viewer lol」

「Are they here to troll?」

「Maybe they’re just a trash game fetishist」

‘Did a random player join because I couldn’t lock the room?’

As long as they weren’t trolling on purpose, that was the only possible explanation.

But really, Silverhair hadn’t done anything wrong.

She just joined a room to play, and it happened to be mine.

“Well, it’s fine even if they’re a rando. Let’s give it a shot—ack!”

Before she could finish, one of the giant steel balls slammed into Raidel.

Thud! Her bald character flew backwards.

“This pattern looks random…”

After a few more tries, Raidel’s mouth dropped open slightly.

More than 20 floating steel balls.

They weren’t following fixed paths—they buzzed unpredictably through the air, reacting to player movement and twisting their trajectories.

Some came at regular rhythm, some off-beat—it was total chaos.

“This is insane.”

Raidel grit her teeth.

Even for a cauldron-style game, this was a brutal first obstacle.

「The balls are chasing her down」

「She’s just unlucky, wow」

「This is legit unfair. Isn’t this a late-stage pattern?」

「Let’s just remake the room?」

‘Should I?’

Raidel thought it over.

Delbung #3 was getting smacked around by the balls too—didn’t seem all that skilled.

And Silverhair probably wasn’t even a viewer.

Rather than dragging this out, maybe it’d be better to just restart and end it quickly…

“Alright. One more try, and then we’ll remake the room.”

Determined to at least wrap things up cleanly, Raidel focused and dodged the obstacles.

“Wha—?!”

She had dodged all the visible balls, but then one suddenly flew in from a blind spot and slammed into her character.

Or… it should’ve slammed into her.

“Huh?”

The chain attached to her body went taut, and she was jerked forward in midair.

The ball barely grazed her scalp and flew past.

[Silverhair Silverhair: Oh, just noticed I can pull the chain;;]

[Silverhair Silverhair: I got you.]

All the viewers—and even Raidel herself—had been so focused on the balls, they’d forgotten.

Silverhair, who had sprinted out first, hadn’t been hit once.

“Wha…?”

While Raidel stood stunned, more steel balls flew her way.

She should’ve been hit again, but…

Silverhair pulled the chain, and Raidel’s character was yanked to the side.

Another perfect dodge. Raidel’s mouth hung open.

It felt like she was cheating. She wasn’t even doing anything, but her character kept dodging the balls flawlessly.

「What the heck??」

「Is that a bug?」

「You can pull the chain, right? People use it to troll sometimes」

「But pulling it to save someone during this? That’s insane」

「And Silverhair’s dodging everything too wtf」

[Silverhair Silverhair: Just keep pressing the forward key.]

[Silverhair Silverhair: I’ll carry.]

---

TL Notes:

• STEM is a fictional game distribution platform (like Steam).
• “Delbung” is a nickname combining Raidel’s name with a teasing suffix, often used to affectionately mock her when she messes up or gets flustered.