Chapter 46 : Rule – What is Broken (5)

Zeronix stood with his arms crossed, while Frost sat in front of him.

The two administrators of Pixel War paid no mind to the flurry of activity from the other streamers.

Their focus was solely on one person.

They were fixated on Silver Hair’s personal screen.

If it had been any other streamer doing something like this, they would’ve brushed it off, calling it foolish.

But since it was Silver Hair, there was a small spark of hope—maybe it’s different this time?

Frost didn’t bother hiding that sentiment, and even Zeronix found himself subconsciously intrigued.

Even though he currently held the heavy responsibility of an operator,At his core, he was still a streamer.

He didn’t want to miss a good show.

“Hyung, shouldn’t we be monitoring the others too?”

“Well, yeah, but… I kinda wanted to check out the Kraken Greatsword’s performance.”

Zeronix made a weak excuse in response to Frost’s joking comment.

After all, Silver Hair had just pulled the Kraken Greatsword.

They had to check its stats.

Couldn’t risk the balance being broken.

That’s what he told himself to justify it, awkwardly clearing his throat.

Inside the ancient ruins—where you could gather materials for bombs.

The moment she entered, a randomly generated monster attacked.

A Gargoyle.

A monster known for its tough defense.

“Unlucky.”

“Of all things, it had to be one of the tough ones.”

The two of them clicked their tongues.

The Gargoyle didn’t have high health, but its defense was like solid rock.

Because it flew through the air, it was hard to shake its aggro.

It ignored terrain and kept clinging to you.

Crack—!

“Huh?”

But Silver Hair sliced it down in a single strike.

Zeronix thought maybe he saw it wrong, but in an instant, the Gargoyle had turned into rubble.

Zeronix furrowed his brow.

“Isn’t this a balance issue? That attack’s way too strong.”

The Kraken Greatsword definitely had high attack power,But its real strength was in its lifesteal ability.

A weapon meant for grinding down monsters with relentless life-draining hits.

If it had that much lifesteal and could one-shot a Gargoyle, then wasn’t the attack power set way too high?

“Let’s check out CritZone too.”

Frost brought up CritZone’s screen.

CritZone also had the Kraken Greatsword.

Maybe there was a difference?

“Uwooooh! N-no, not there!”

“Boss Crit! I’m coming to help— Aaaagh!”

On screen, CritZone and his clanmates were locked in a desperate struggle inside an underwater cave, swarmed by fish-type monsters.

Covered in sticky slime, they were fighting tooth and nail.

He was swinging the same Kraken Greatsword, but his attacks looked terribly weak.

Sure, thanks to the overwhelming lifesteal, he wasn’t dying and was barely hanging on,

But compared to Silver Hair massacring the Gargoyle, it was downright embarrassing.

“Turn it off. My eyes are rotting.”

“Okay.”

The two of them grimaced and turned off CritZone’s screen.

Watching the two grown men act like that was giving him a headache.

“Anyway, looks like there’s no balance issue.”

“So it’s just that Silver used the weapon well?”

“Yes. I think she hit the Gargoyle’s weak point exactly.”

After seeing something they couldn’t unsee for a moment, the two turned their attention back to Silver Hair.

Before they knew it, she had already gathered all the materials and was crafting an Unstable Mana Core Bomb.

‘What the heck is she planning to do with that?’

While Zeronix furrowed his brows in confusion,Silver Hair gently hugged the completed bomb and started moving somewhere.

With light, quick steps,She was heading toward… the Altar of Stars.

She didn’t even glance at Elderin, the key NPC for quest material collection.

She just went straight for her destination.

“…Ah, such a waste.”

A quiet sigh escaped Zeronix’s lips.

Frost beside him nodded with a face full of regret.

And for good reason.

“If she had just made proper use of the Mask of Deceit…”

Zeronix clicked his tongue.

By using the hidden piece, the Mask of Deceit, to approach a certain NPC,You could negotiate and easily secure 2 out of 10 rare materials compared to others.

“If Silver had taken advantage of the mask’s effect and quickly formed an alliance with other streamers… she could’ve gone toe-to-toe with CritZone.”

But Silver Hair had completely rejected the path they’d designed.

Instead, for some reason, she was heading toward the altar with just a single bomb in her arms.

“No way… is she actually thinking of smashing the golem with that bomb?”

Frost muttered in disbelief.

The odds were zero.

No—closer to negative.

“Impossible.”

Zeronix scoffed, confidently dismissing the idea.

The ancient golem guarding the altar.

The Aegis Golem was a specially designed device the dev team had created just for this event.

“The Aegis Golem isn’t even a regular monster. It’s more like a special NPC object. Attacking it? Doesn’t work at all. It doesn’t even have a health bar. It’s coded to be completely invincible.”

Zeronix continued.

“And on top of that, that bomb barely even does any damage. No matter how good Silver’s control is, she can’t break an invincibility flag.”

The gate was perfectly guarded.

Without a pass, there was no way past that golem.

Sure, Silver Hair’s physical skill and reflexes were almost beyond human, practically awe-inspiring.

But this was a different matter entirely.

It was a clear misjudgment, born from a lack of understanding of the game’s core systems.

“Silver… she underestimated the game. You could call it her Pixel Wars experience level? It’s still way too low.”

In the end, there was only one real way.

The proper method—gathering all ten materials the hard way to earn the key.

Even if someone tried to cheese it, the dev team had already blocked all the shortcuts.

While she was wasting valuable time in front of the altar like that,

Her competitors—other streamers—were probably pulling far ahead.

It was a shame, but there was no helping it.

Meanwhile, Silver Silver and Rydel arrived at their destination.

‘Altar of Stars.’

The grand-looking altar wasn’t far from the town.

From the start, there was a confidence that even if players showed up, they couldn’t get through—because the golems were guarding it.

Sure enough, the entrance where the ‘Demon of the Stars’ was sealed was completely filled with golems.

The Aegis Golems firmly blocked the entrance.

There wasn’t a single gap.

There was simply no physical way to pass through.

Without a pass, the golems wouldn’t react.

After hesitating for a moment, Silver Silver drew the Kraken greatsword and began slashing wildly at the golems.

Naturally, they didn’t get scratched in the slightest.

‘She must be aiming for something else.’

Silver Silver surely knew the golems had invincibility status.

It was written in the quest guide, after all.

If that’s the case, then the only reason for such behavior must be to draw aggro.

But the golems, made from pure white magic stones—Silently held their ground, unaffected even by aggro.

“We figured someone might try that, so we made sure they don’t even react to aggro. Their sensitivity is set to the absolute minimum.”

Invincible golems that couldn’t even be baited.

And with them physically blocking the entrance, there was just no way around it.

“…Wait a second.”

It was at that moment.

“No way…”

Something clicked in his mind like a circuit lighting up.

Zeronix quickly locked eyes with Frost.

Frost’s pupils were shaking as well.

They had the same thought.

‘Sure, we set the golems’ sensitivity to the lowest possible level… but that bomb’s aggro level was tuned to the max.’

And then it happened.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Silver Silver casually placed the ‘Unstable Magic Core Bomb’ on the ground near the altar entrance.

Then, with a swift motion, she threw her small body backward, retreating in an instant.

KABOOOOOM—!

A massive blast erupted with a deafening roar.

The damage was negligible, but the explosion’s visual effects were quite dramatic.

And before the smoke from the blast had even cleared—An unbelievable sight unfolded.

WUUUUUUUUUUUNG—!

The two massive Aegis Golems, which hadn’t moved a muscle until now.

Their cold, blue eyes suddenly flared with a brilliant flash!

A clear signal—they had entered hostile state!

Their gaze locked directly onto Silver Silver, who stood at a distance, waving ever so slightly after setting off the bomb.

“…What the hell. The aggro actually worked?”

Zeronix clenched his fist without realizing it.

This was completely unexpected.

A chill ran down his spine.

“Whoa, dude! If this keeps up, she might actually break through!”

Frost’s voice rose in surprise.

He hadn’t seen this coming either.

The Aegis Golems, eyes glowing blue, had awakened.

KUUUUUUUUNG—!

As the massive golem took a single heavy step, the entire altar shook.

Thinking it had worked, Silver Silver dropped her weapon and bolted.

As the golem began to move after her,The front gate of the altar, which had been completely blocked, was finally revealed!

“Ah, Rydel!”

The moment the gap opened, Rydel—who had been hiding somewhere—rushed out in a flash.

Then, she picked up Kraken’s greatsword, which Silver Silver had seemingly discarded.

“So that’s what it was all for.”

Zeronix let out a hollow laugh.

Drawing the golem’s aggro with the bomb to pull them away from the door,And having a hidden ally open the gate while they were distracted.

It was such a bold plan, he almost wanted to applaud.

If only it wasn’t happening to him.

“Let’s gooo!”

With a loud battle cry, Rydel swung toward the gate.

She gripped the Kraken’s greatsword and unleashed a full-power swing using a skill as well.

KABOOOOOOM—!

A tremendous crash shook the very earth.

However—Not a single scratch appeared on the door.

“…Well, that was within expectations too.”

Just like the golems, the altar’s gate was a “non-destructible” object.

The devs had hard-coded it to be absolutely unbreakable.

It was unlikely, but even if the golem were to leave its post, the system had been designed so that no one could pass through.

Rydel, with a bewildered expression, continued to attack the door, but—The door remained untouched.

It was completely futile.

“And now, Silver Silver is in danger too.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a bright blue laser was fired from one of the golem’s eyes.

PSSHHH—!

The destructive power of the laser was enough to melt the solid rocks around the altar in an instant.

“Golem attacks are all instant kill. Even a graze will be fatal.”

The golem had infinite health and infinite attack power.

Even if the aggro was pulled, it was impossible to defeat them.

SHHAAACK!

But Silver Silver.

As if reading the trajectory in advance, she narrowly dodged the laser with a movement that was so smooth it seemed almost natural.

She avoided it by the slimmest margin, with a slight sense of ease.

“…As expected, her control is truly monstrous.”

Zeronix briefly marveled, though he still believed the odds of winning were slim.

Such impossible dodges couldn’t continue forever.

No, even if she could keep dodging, it wouldn’t matter.

After all, the door couldn’t be broken, and the golem couldn’t be destroyed.

As Zeronix had said, despite their massive size, the golems began to chase Silver Silver with incredible speed.

The giant stone fists slammed down relentlessly onto the ground, and their stomping feet caused shockwaves across the entire area.

The lasers fired in rapid succession turned the plaza in front of the altar into a battlefield in an instant.

Silver Silver.

Using the pillars around the altar as cover, she skillfully weaved through them, at times even manipulating the golems into attacking each other.

“Wow.”

Frost, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but quietly marvel.

There were no words to describe how awe-inspiring it was.

However, it was ultimately meaningless.

Even if the golems attacked each other, they couldn’t inflict any damage due to their invincibility.

No trick would work.

“By the way, she’s holding out pretty well. If she can escape to the village like this, she might survive…”

Screeeech.

The golems, which had been relentlessly chasing Silver Silver, suddenly halted their movements.

“…What’s going on? Could it be a bug?”

Frost muttered, unsure of what was happening.

Zeronix, equally puzzled, stared at the screen, trying to figure it out.

What’s this?

There was no reason for the aggro to suddenly drop.

And then, right at that moment.

Silver Silver, who had stopped dodging, appeared calmly in front of them.

And then.

Kwoooom!

The Aegis Golems, which had been charging to kill just moments ago, all knelt in front of Silver Silver.