Chapter 16: Defiance and the Gauntlet of Games

As Chajingyuan mentally rehearsed how she would later utter the phrase ‘Master-sama’—cleverly, without a hint of shame, and certainly without allowing the trashy stream comments to swell with pride—she anxiously watched the fluctuating vote counts for Stepan Chizaki’s ‘What Shall We Play Today?’ poll.

Ordinarily, Chajingyuan found immense delight in competitive games of all stripes, a thrill derived from clashing with the heavens, the earth, other players, and even those who dared to cheat.

Yet, regarding the four games presented in the poll, she had truly never laid a finger on any of them; her proficiency was not merely zero, but she lacked even the slightest mental preparation.

One fact, however, resonated with undeniable clarity: every single one of these four games, according to their notorious reputations, was an exceptionally difficult title crafted solely for the purpose of player torment.

Cuphead, a side-scrolling action game boasting a distinct Disney-esque art style, had famously severed half of Mickey Mouse’s head—ostensibly to circumvent copyright issues—and repurposed the resulting character as its protagonist, cleverly dubbing them ‘Cuphead.’

The game earned its notorious reputation through its clunky dodge maneuvers and notoriously expansive hitboxes; even its normal mode had already driven countless streamers to widespread despair, making the prospect of its expert mode utterly daunting.

Sekiro, of course, required no introduction: it was Hidetaka Miyazaki’s acclaimed Japanese-style masterpiece, a creation from the era’s most notorious ‘brutal’ game director.

Its bosses’ deranged aggression, the notoriously difficult parrying system, and the malicious ‘first-encounter kills’ each provoked endless cries of frustration from players.

While the experience in Sekiro felt comparatively smoother than the infamous ‘Souls’ series, offering more player-friendly tactics—or ‘cheese’ strategies—and thus wasn’t *exceptionally* challenging, tackling ‘New Game+ with the charm’ presented an entirely different, far more formidable, ordeal.

Considering Chajingyuan hadn’t even completed a single playthrough, how exactly was she meant to conquer a New Game+ run? Perhaps she would have to trouble Mai for a save file.

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, quite naturally, warranted even less of an introduction.

Pot Man, Digging for Ascension, Snake Adventure, Bang’s Second Half—the sheer number of its nicknames unequivocally attested to its widespread notoriety.

A crippled player character armed with only a hammer, a nauseatingly terrible physics engine, terrain meticulously designed to ensnare you until inevitable demise, and a global level structure that, from its very inception, seemed determined to deny you any respite,

frequently sending you plummeting ‘back to where the dream began’, all conspired to make this title arguably the game that had driven more streamers to the brink of madness than any other on the internet in recent years.

While this game boasted a comparatively shorter playthrough and perhaps lacked the sheer terrifying difficulty of the preceding two titles, Chajingyuan, from the standpoint of safeguarding her own mental well-being—

especially considering her already fragile disposition—would likely have wished to avoid this particular game above all others.

The final contender was Celeste.

Chajingyuan’s knowledge of this game was comparatively limited; she understood it to be a side-scrolling, pixel-art platformer notorious for inflicting dozens, if not hundreds, of deaths upon players.

Many streamers had endured significant torment from Celeste, yet it offered two minor consolations: first, it lacked the frenzied combat found in the other titles, and second, Mai’s specified option was merely ‘first playthrough main story.’

Such a fundamental requirement sounded considerably more approachable than the other selections, which immediately escalated in intensity.

Naturally, with her understanding being somewhat limited, Chajingyuan refrained from making any premature judgments.

“Hoo… ha, hoo~~~~”

As she watched the four options relentlessly vying for dominance, each chasing and catching up to the others, Chajingyuan nervously drew deep breaths, her heart a tumultuous flutter within her chest.

Concurrently, her embarrassing ‘moe’ voice rehearsals continued without pause.

”Goshujin-sama~,” she murmured to herself. ‘How about that? No, no, that won’t do. I need to try another.’

”Go~shujin-sama~~” … Ugh! That’s even more sickeningly sweet!’

”Goshu-jin…’ … cough cough! ‘Goshujin-sama’ … Wuwuwu! It’s utterly humiliating! How could I possibly utter such an otaku-pandering phrase to that gaggle of stinky idiots!!’

***

In the adjacent room, Chahuayuan, having overheard the entire ordeal through the wall, twisted open her brother’s door with a knowing, almost aunt-like smile, and quietly offered a suggestion.

“Big Bro, if you find it too pandering regardless of how you say it, why not ditch the Japanese altogether and just say ‘主人大人’—’Master-sama’—in Chinese?”

“Absolutely not! You, you, you, you get out of here this instant!!”

Chajingyuan, her face burning crimson, flailed her arms wildly, practically herding Chahuayuan, who clearly relished the spectacle, out of the room.

The latter, utterly unperturbed, merely let out a bored ‘Ma.’ To Chahuayuan, offering well-intentioned advice was simply a gesture of sisterly affection; whether it was accepted or not held little consequence.

Chahuayuan, after a parting “Then keep up the good work” quietly closed the door and retreated to her own room.

There, with an air of complete entitlement, she resumed savoring the subsequent sounds of ‘Goshujin~,’ delighting in the blend of cuteness and struggle, and, quite naturally, relishing her private amusement to the point of quivering with suppressed glee.

Chajingyuan, left alone, proceeded to experiment with over twenty more variations of ‘Goshujin-sama.’

She finally settled on a vocal tone that was softer and more subdued, one that successfully avoided sounding overly suggestive or pandering—thus sparing her the ignominy of utter shame—while still retaining a modicum of cuteness.

With the stream time drawing near, Chajingyuan repeated the chosen phrase three times to the empty room, considering it her final practice, before—

”——Uwaaaaah! I truly cannot bring myself to accept this!!”

Chajingyuan buried her face in her hands and let out a mournful wail; the mere thought of the impending onslaught of mocking comments from the stream instantly rendered all her preceding practice and mental preparation completely futile.

That’s it! I don’t care anymore!

Chajingyuan secretly hardened her resolve: she would fight these idiotic viewers to the very bitter end.

Master, my foot! Trash would forever remain trash! She would simply start the stream, and she would absolutely confront those trashy viewers head-on!!

Opening her streaming room, she initiated the pre-stream animation featuring a small polar bear traversing a river.

Even before the stream officially began, the concurrent viewership had already soared to 1200, a staggering fourfold increase from the previous day.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the live audience was projected to swell to somewhere between 5000 and 6000.

While this figure represented a dramatic cliff-edge drop compared to yesterday’s unexpected explosion of popularity, for a newcomer like Chajingyuan, maintaining a stable audience of this magnitude would still be considered remarkably impactful.

An incessant cascade of comments, all repeating ‘Call them Master,’ filled the screen. To Chajingyuan, they appeared as nothing less than a ravenous pack of drooling huskies, and the sight alone was enough to make her hair stand on end.

‘ …You are all trash, every single one of you is trash, nothing but trash…’

After several minutes spent steeling her emotions, Chajingyuan repeated the phrase three times in her mind, a final burst of courage, before pushing the stream live, activating her camera and microphone.

She cleared her throat, then plunged headlong into the broadcast.

‘Cough!’

The small girl with white twin-tails, adorned with a polar bear hood, swiftly spun into view on the screen.

”Good evening, everyone, good evening.

Hehehe… A very good evening to all you trashy people: trashy brothers, trashy sisters, trashy shut-ins, trashy normies, trashy jobless folk, trashy workers who kowtow to their bosses, trashy people stuffed to the gills, and trashy people with nothing to eat~~, a good evening to you all~”

Predictably, the instant such an impertinent opening salvo was unleashed, the comment section and highlighted message area were immediately deluged by an overwhelming tide of ‘??’.

Evidently, the vast majority of comments anticipated Chajingyuan tearfully acknowledging them as ‘Master.’

Instead, to their utter surprise, she immediately unleashed another barrage of ‘trash’ insults right after commencing the stream, prompting them to flood the chat with question marks, a collective outpouring of their profound displeasure.

”Hmph, utter nonsense.”

What had truly vanquished Chajingyuan yesterday was not genuine skill, but rather pure provocation, cunning wordplay, and the brazen cheating of tech-savvy dogs.

Against such opponents, anyone who dared to surrender was undeniably the true trash.

Chajingyuan’s resolve was now unshakable: she would absolutely not utter the word ‘Master.’ She would confront them to the very bitter end!