Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 171 - 171: 169: Trophy, Why is it Silver?

Translator: 549690339

Lance was satisfied to see that his words had made the assassins across from him hesitant and uneasy.

This gave him a different kind of “thrill” than combat!

If the story had been annoying him before, with his impression of the script constantly dropping to -0.1, -0.2, -0.3…that intense battle had brought it all back up, restoring it to a perfect score.

And now, taunting his enemies was the cherry on top!

Out of 10, he gave it 100!

Taunting NPCs might be boring, but taunting virtual characters that looked like real people was exhilarating!

Firefox was the first to break the silence, turning to Sloan and asking, “Is what he said true?”

Instead of denying it, Sloan tossed documents to the assassins, just like in the original story.

“The names of everyone in this room have appeared on the Destiny Weaver. All of you have been declared dead by the apocalypse.”

“If I hadn’t done this, you’d all be dead already. I saved your lives!” Sloan even began a speech without changing his expression.

“Look at us now, stronger than ever! We act according to our own desires, changing everything! Choosing our own targets and reallocating power as we please—not following some so-called apocalypse!”

“Now, if anyone believes it’s necessary to follow the Alliance’s rules, raise your gun, put it in your mouth, and pull the trigger!”

“That’s what he wants.”

“Or, kill this bastard and let us lead the Alliance to a new future!”

“Choose.”

With that, Sloan tried to leave.

Too bad for him, watching this “cutscene” was the most respect Lance would pay to the game’s design. Want to escape? Don’t even dream about it!

He lifted his gun, activated his Assassin’s Bloodline, and pulled the trigger!

“Bang!”

A bullet fired, curved in an arc, and aimed straight for Sloan behind the bookshelf!

As the gunshot echoed, the Alliance members behind the bookshelf immediately took action, abandoning their long-held “principles” without thinking, and began to counterattack.

Except for one person.

Firefox.

She could never forget the cost of abandoning principles—losing her entire family.

But she didn’t try to persuade anyone. Instead, she simply smiled, swung her arm, and fired!

From just five meters away, Lance witnessed the top-level performance of [Curved Shot]: a bullet carving a perfect arc, precisely piercing through the unguarded heads hidden behind the bookshelf, who were focused on Lance, before finally returning to its origin and penetrating Firefox’s own skull.

Lance couldn’t see what was happening behind the bookshelf, but he saw the perfect circle and the sudden blossoming of blood from seemingly nowhere. He immediately understood what had happened—

Firefox had actually adhered to the Alliance’s centuries-old principles and followed the “apocalypse.”

Not only had she ended her own life, but she also killed everyone targeted by the “apocalypse” in the room, completing her last “assassination mission” in life.

As he looked at the fallen Firefox, Lance suddenly felt a great sense of regret and wished he’d had the chance to speak with her properly before.

So much so that after her astounding actions and departure from this world, he still knew almost nothing about her.

But he quickly collected himself, as Sloan was still alive!

The old man was too aged and slow, making it easy for Lance to catch up to him. He chased and fired at the leader of the Alliance like a dog.

Not only was Lance having a blast, but the audience in the live broadcast room was also finding it incredibly satisfying and exhilarating!

Lance chased him all the way to the room housing the Destiny Weaver, which was now a mess, with broken bricks and shattered tiles all over, the Weaver itself destroyed, and its pieces scattered everywhere.

Gasping for breath and clutching his injured arm, Sloan collapsed beside the broken weaver.

After activating his Assassin’s Bloodline several times, the frail man was out of breath from the chase, and with his right arm injured by a bullet, any chance of turning the tables was gone.

All he could do was try to plead with Lance: “You can’t…”

“Bang!”

Lance didn’t want to listen to him anymore, so he finished off Sloan with a single gunshot to the head.

From this moment on, the Assassins’ Alliance would be no more!

At the same time, the main storyline had reached its conclusion!

A magnificent blend of cello, orchestral music, and soaring arias began to play.

Beams of light came from all eight directions, slowly gathering in front of Lance to form the shape of a trophy, gradually solidifying.

Thus, Lance and the audience all knew—the first completion battle was finally over at this moment. Although it had been a bumpy ride, in the end, Lance succeeded in taking the lead!

Unable to suppress the joy and satisfaction that bubbled up from within, every ounce of Lance’s happiness was visible on his face.

The audience, driven by excitement, showered him with rewards and gifts. Comments flooded the screen like a waterfall, filling it with excited “OHHHH—” expressions so much that Lance’s game screen could hardly be seen.

But all of a sudden, everyone clearly heard Lance ask with a trembling voice,

“Why is this trophy…silver!?”

Full of doubt and disbelief, he questioned: “Shouldn’t the trophy be gold?”

The audience, unsure of what had happened, quickly disabled the comments to look at the trophy in Lance’s hand.

However, Lincoln, who was also watching the live stream, had already burst out laughing. Mavis, on the other hand, was zigzlinz non-stop throuzh the headphones.

Lance held the trophy up close to the camera and read the words engraved on the base, word for word—

“Congratulations on successfully clearing the main storyline of Assassins’

Alliance!”

Below this line, a small “2” was also engraved.

Lance lifted his head and stared straight into the lens, his eyes full of confusion and bewilderment.

The live broadcast room was stunned by this abrupt turn of events, with various reactions surfacing.

Some tried to comfort Lance:

“Second place is still amazing! You’re so cool!”

“Yeah! Millions of people play this game! This trophy is worth its weight in gold!”

“This trophy should be displayable in the virtual house, right? It’s so prestigious!”

Others asked who won first place:

“Did anyone see who got first place? In which live broadcast?”

“If you find it, share the link! Let’s go see the excitement!”

“I didn’t see it! I had the four fastest live streams open at the same time, and none were quicker than Lance!”

However, most people couldn’t stop laughing:

“Small eyes, big confusion.”

“Ahah, didn’t see that coming, right? Sniped!”

“I even redeemed my governor’s reward, only to find out it was a mistake!” “Boss, you’re at a loss! Ha ha ha!”

“Lance: It’s painful to lose first place, but scamming a governor’s reward isn’t a loss!”

Lincoln was also momentarily stunned by the twist, laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.

But he was also curious about who had obtained the first clear, so he directly asked Mavis through the headphones: “Mavis, who got first place?”

After finally stopping her laughter, Mavis replied through the headphones, “I know! It’s a recently retired professional gamer! His name is Roger! What’s even more amazing is that his actual online time was even shorter than

Lance’s!”

“Shorter than Lance?” Lincoln was surprised.

“Yeah, and he didn’t use Rat Bombs to lower the difficulty! He single-handedly fought through the final stage by himself!”

“That incredible?!” Lincoln was even more amazed, but soon he was puzzled again—

“If he’s so incredible, why did he retire?”