Chapter 9: Recognition from the Strongest Player

Chapter 9: Recognition from the Strongest Player

After Mei's urgent rescue—feeding Bronya with more than ten buns, three bowls of rice porridge, and a large cup of milk—Bronya successfully transitioned from being starving to being almost overfull. Thankfully, her modified body allowed her to lie down for a while and catch her breath, sparing her from the risk of overeating.

"Bronya," Mei scolded as she let Bronya rest her head on her lap, "how did you let yourself get into such a state? Didn't I leave you with food?"

"Even if you're playing games, remember to eat on time. If you don't eat properly, you won't grow tall."

Bronya gazed blankly at Mei's face—though, in fact, she couldn't see it due to the two round objects covering her vision, thanks to lying on Mei's lap. She tilted her head slightly.

Great, she could see her toes with just a glance. This was a perfect plain.

Bronya felt a little disappointed, her expression emotionless.

"Bronya, next time you'll eat properly."

"Not next time," Mei corrected, "every time, eat properly."

She sighed.

Kiana and Bronya, neither of them made things easy for Mei. One was a fool, and the other was a gaming addict. Being the only normal person at home put a lot of pressure on Mei.

"...I had prepared a big feast to celebrate Kiana passing the exam, but looking at this, Bronya, you won't be able to finish it."

"Huh?" Bronya slightly opened her mouth, a hint of surprise in her gray eyes.

"Bronya, is your auditory system malfunctioning? How could that idiot Kiana possibly pass the exam?!"

"Hey, who are you looking down on!" A certain white-haired girl stamped her foot in anger. "With such simple questions, as long as I want to, getting full marks is easy for me!"

...

Ignoring Kiana's protest, Mei and Bronya continued their conversation, which made Kiana even more frustrated.

"Bronya," Mei leaned closer to Bronya, her warm breath gently touching the girl's small face. She whispered, "Just tell me honestly, did you cheat for Kiana?"

"What are you two whispering about?" Kiana curiously interrupted their conversation.

Bronya shook her head in bewilderment.

How could she possibly help Kiana cheat? That fool always mocked her because of her body. Bronya wished nothing more than to see Kiana fail and be reprimanded.

"I see..." Mei averted her gaze. "Alright, Bronya, go rest now. Tomorrow, I'll make some stomach-soothing dishes for you. Don't play games like this again, okay?"

Bronya obediently nodded.

...

After dinner, while Mei was washing the dishes, Kiana sneaked into Bronya's room.

As she entered, she saw Bronya, who should have been resting on the bed, sitting in front of the computer, completely focused on the game.

The white-haired saintess was dodging left and right, avoiding attacks from giant pig-like monsters, and punching them when the opportunity arose, dealing significant damage.

When the health bar was almost depleted, she made a mistake, and the white-haired saintess was hit by a spinning pig-like monster, and her health instantly hit bottom.

"Cai" (Novice)

"...Failed." Bronya put down the controller without any expression but with some regret in her tone.

After watching for a while, Kiana couldn't help but be curious, "Bronya, what game is this? It looks challenging."

"'Kallen Fantasy VII'," Bronya replied, "a recently released game, still in the early access phase."

"Kallen? The legendary saintess?" Kiana became interested.

She reached out her hand, "Let this young lady try it! Watch me easily defeat this boss!"

"Sure."

Bronya was about to restart the game for Kiana and create a new save file for her, but Kiana's murmurs changed her mind.

"Silly Bronya, you even call yourself the 'strongest player,' yet you struggle to defeat a boss like this. Let me show you how it's done!"

Alright then.

Bronya set the character back to the starting point and handed the controller to Kiana.

"Hehe, watch this!" Kiana took the controller and rubbed against the chair. She pushed the petite Bronya to the edge, eager to play the game.

However, less than three minutes later, the pitiful Saintess Kallen met her end under Kiana's control, killed by the monsters.

"Cai" (Novice)

Kiana: "..."

Looking at her character being killed by the monsters in three hits, Kiana fell into contemplation.

"Well... it was just a mistake."

She encouraged herself, resurrected her character, and began to play with enthusiasm once again.

However, she soon noticed that the monster she had just defeated had respawned.

Kiana: "???"

"No, it's just to defeat it again, right? I'll definitely succeed this time!"

Facing Bronya's calm gaze, Kiana stubbornly declared.

"With my top-notch dynamic vision and supreme reflexes!"

Kiana remained silent as she embarked on a silent journey of trial, determined to make Bronya, who looked down on her, regret it!

"The boss's attacks are so fast! I died."

"Using numbers to overwhelm me, how despicable! So despicable!"

"Who is the real player here? Why is it more agile, faster, with a thicker health bar, and higher damage than me?"

"Wuwuwu..."

Watching Kiana struggle and complain, Bronya's lips curved.

'√'

Although this game's difficulty was somewhat high, for the strongest player, Bronya, it wasn't too difficult to overcome. Besides, while it was challenging, it wasn't unnecessarily frustrating. After dying, there was always a feeling that putting in a bit more effort would lead to success.

The combination of growth and difficulty was cleverly designed, and the exploration content was also very rich.

...In short, once you played it for a while, you couldn't help but get addicted to it.

If not for only having released two-fifths of the content, Bronya would call it the best game of the year.

The reason Kiana found it so tough was that Bronya was attempting the 'Starting from Scratch' challenge.

"Kallen Fantasy VII" didn't have a difficulty setting, but it offered several different starting scenarios, each with different equipment and attributes.

"Rich Heiress," "Delinquent Girl," "Top Student"... and the most challenging one, "Starting from Scratch."

In this scenario, there were no equipment and the attributes were quite poor.

To attack, you could only use your fists, and hitting the monsters felt like tickling them.

You could only obtain new equipment after completing the prologue.

Originally, Bronya intended to switch Kiana to the easiest "Delinquent Girl" starting scenario, but seeing her being so arrogant, she decided to let the fool suffer a bit.

Kiana died again and again, but this only ignited her competitive spirit. She no longer paid attention to Bronya beside her and focused solely on the screen, determined to defeat the annoying pig boss.

Bronya adjusted her position, using Kiana beside her as a makeshift cushion, then took out her phone, and after some contemplation, she posted an article on her blog.

"Kallen Fantasy VII, a New Era Game"