Chapter 100: Private Streams! The Open Door

Faust shuddered as he returned to his cold body. A sharp breath escaped him like it was the first he had taken in a long time. The trembling feeling of cold numbness in his muscles passed quickly.

He flexed his fingers and looked around. He was back in the real world.

Or at least the digital world of the Origin Server.

Smoke still lingered in the air and night was still upon them, but the fires were gone. Most of the buildings had fully regenerated and people left the massive town square for more private meetings.

Their groups were sheltered on the edges of the square between two regenerated buildings. Faust seemed to be the first to finish his trial.

Spider glanced at him and nodded. She didn’t say anything, but she barely ever did to him. Her brown hair was stained by soot and monster blood. Her white jacket and shirt had been ripped up in their many battles.

Now she just wore black shirt and trousers. The basic clothing they got from the system naturally repaired itself, so most people just wore that.

Faust turned to Nirvana first and found her shivering and crying.

Almost silently, she whispered, "Not again, don’t make me do it again..."

Faust grimaced and held her softly. Slowly she relaxed and stopped whispering, but she still shook like she had been thrown under icy waters. Her pale skin and blue hair look doll-like. Her crimson eyes were consumed by the white glow from the memory.

Faust felt his heartrate quicken. She looked dead. Or dying at least.

All around them the other members of the party were undergoing similar tribulation. Greg’s hands twitched left and right in a pattern, Thalia wept silently and whispered prayers, Zen was still, but stared into space with a knowing gaze.

They were all facing trials that forced them to look for different answers. Who knew how long it might take. Faust spent days undergoing loops to refine his fighting style and find the answer.

"How much time do we have before the fifth?" Faust asked Spider.

She glanced at her friends and Faust caught the worry hidden in her eyes. "Still almost an hour. Rewards came early, so the system is activating personal streams now. I was talking to my mom."

Faust stiffened. "We can talk to them from here?"

She nodded. "I have a lot of viewers, but I set her as a moderator, so we can talk in the moderator chat. You’re rank one so you should be activated."

Faust navigated through the screens quickly and turned on his stream. Immediately viewers began to trickle in.

Viewers: 20

Viewers: 1789

Viewers: 37,513

Viewers: 763,891

Faust got up and told Spider he’d be right back. Thinking back on it, he realised now that he was pulled towards that place.

He walked without thinking, watching people talk. The chat was on fire in seconds. Viewers were separated based on worlds, but could enter the general chat if they wanted.

It was overstimulating because Faust saw them all.

"He’s just staring at the screen lol."

"It must be weird."

"Use the shadow jumping skill."

"Use Fireball."

They must have thought this was a specific pet game, because they kept asking him to do things for no reason.

"How is the Memory quest going? You must have gotten at least ten fragments by now."

"The system is busy streaming the argument in Jason’s group on who uses the memory."

"I like that Timeless Trophy girl. Mind control is always so op."

"It’s more persuasion than mind control. But yeah she’s cool. I used five subscriptions to get her, Red God, Dumber and two other players that aren’t as famous but really fun."

Timeless Trophy is Jane, huh?

Next thing Faust saw was gifts coming in. His mouth watered. He had to thank them, especially since he definitely wanted more.

"Uh... thanks Fraizer for the healing potion. Gran T, thanks for the food. I’m really looking forward to that. Bell23, thanks for the iron."

The list was honestly daunting, around ten new items, thankfully they were stored in his stream storage for at least thirty days. Because spatial bags had a limit of around one hundred unique items.

He could store up to one hundred and twenty items of the same type in one space, so it was still huge.

But a lot of the gifts were unique scrolls for spells like protection, fireball and other things, sorting through them all and remembering what he had would be a nightmare.

He stopped at a certain name that had spent around a thousand stream points to get him a summon card. A single healing potion was a hundred points. From his estimates 90% of viewers barely had that.

He didn’t know what it took to get a thousand points, but spending them all on him was nice.

"Thanks, Blue Father... wait, dad?"

He caught the name immediately, beside the gift was a message from the gifter.

Bluefather: Faust! Finally. Why did it take so long for you to open your stream? Are you alright? Have you been eating? Don’t pour all your energy into trying to get killed. I’m not surprised you’re doing so well.

Faust was too stunned to speak. But the chatters were interested.

"Ohh, his dad? He’s a big gifter too. I thought the government was being strict on how we use our points?"

"Depends on the country."

"Make him a mod, so you guys can chat."

Fauat shook off his surprise and quickly did that. Mentally, it was just a command and a few screens opened and closed before a moderator chat appeared beside his interface.

Bluefather: I’m so glad you’re alive.

Red God: You thought I would die?

Bluefather: You know what I mean... where are you going now? What’s your plan for the fifth wave? Please stick with your friends. I rather you stay alive than be the mvp of this kidnap show.

He began to mentally type and answer before he looked up and realised he was standing in the town hall, which was still regenerating.

A beam of wood flew at his face as it returned to its former position. It was only a few inches from him, but he still was able to sidestep it easily.

Bluefather: Watch where you’re going! Why are you here?

He scanned the rebuilding reception with a confused gaze. "I don’t know."

Then he saw it.

The slight waxing of colors and light. Like reality was melting in a specific line. This was... the spatial rupture he made when he tried replicating Nirvana position. Back when he was looking for her, before the fourth wave even started.

Why is it still here?

Didn’t the system say it would be dealing with all Spatial distortions?