“Pah!”

Lu Ce spat out the sand and blood in his mouth. Now that some of the strength had worn off, he finally regained the ability to spit.

He moved the stones off his body, blood seeping through his fingers, and pushed himself off the ground.

He patted himself down. Didn’t feel like any bones were broken—then everything was OK. Just act like nothing happened.

【Chosen of Agony, Pain Points +3!】

“Ah, I get it, second phase of the boss, huh.”

“Already triggered it? Doesn’t even feel like I took off that much HP, this game’s a bit half-baked.”

“Story and modeling are both kinda mid.”

Lu Ce rambled madly, saying things no one could understand, downing another bottle of Basic Healing Potion like a drugged-up warrior.

Looks like he’d be stuck with the nickname med-popped war god for a while longer. In this game, the most important resource for him might actually be medication. He went through it way too fast.

Might need to stock up more for the next game.

He casually blasted a few more rounds at Tom, shattering a good chunk of the metal debris the guy had pulled together. But Tom, now massive in size, had stopped dodging—he was tanking it all.

With too many layers stacked up, he couldn’t be blown away anymore.

At the point where the iron spike was embedded in his chest, a circular electric arc had formed. It glowed with strange light, generating a powerful magnetic field that pulled in everything nearby.

The iron spike Lu Ce had stabbed into Tom’s chest was rapidly oxidizing for some unknown reason—now already rusty and corroded.

Meanwhile, the energy around him continued to grow, warping the air and distorting the light.

On the outer exoskeletal armor, sizzling sounds rang out. Moisture in the air condensed, then evaporated, creating a mist around the now-giant figure.

“Flesh is weak... mechanical ascension!”

Inside the towering three-meter-tall robot, Tom’s mind seemed to be breaking down. He was muttering nonsense.

Lu Ce was honestly wondering if that spike earlier had nearly killed the guy—maybe it flipped some switch in his body and he’d totally lost control.

“Tch, this is gonna be a pain to deal with...”

“Looks like I didn’t eat enough.”

“You call this mechanical ascension? This is just brute force launching bricks. Tony, Stark—you’re way off.”

Bloody all over, Lu Ce sat on the ground to rest a bit, waiting for his internal organs to reset themselves. He turned his head and noticed the nearby cell door was open.

—He was the one who’d opened it earlier, when he ripped it off and hurled it at Tom.

Inside sat Long Wu, completely dazed, sitting on the floor, totally unaware of what had just happened outside.

Why hadn’t they given him food lately? Why no meds? A lunatic showed up in the prison, and now today’s commotion was off the charts.

Wait... why was that lunatic looking at me?!

Through the open door, Lu Ce looked at the familiar face inside. A gentle smile appeared beneath his Gluttony Mask. o(￣︶￣)o

“Hey? You eaten?”

Long Wu didn’t reply. He just closed his eyes, face full of hopelessness, clearly done with reality.

Lu Ce lifted the Hell Roar, aimed at him, and switched it to first gear.

Bang! Bang! Crack!

The chains snapped!

After a few shots, all the chains binding Long Wu shattered. For the first time in this prison, he was free.

He stared blankly at his own hands, totally lost.

“You’re free now, old man. Consider it payback for the meal.”

“I took your meds—feel any clearer in the head now?”

Lu Ce grinned wide, then stood up. His strength had mostly returned. He fired two shots to stir up more dust, then pulled the Sharpened Blade from his backpack.

He’d been using this blade all along, but now, holding it again, there was a strange sense of familiarity—as if he were some master swordsman.

Scholar’s Hand is pretty nuts, he said to himself in his head.

He tested the feel in his hand, did a few flashy spins, then spoke aloud in his mind:

“Chosen of Agony, allocate stat points for me!”

【Strength: 24 → 30!】

【Agility: 10 → 15!】

【Speed: 10 → 15!】

All three attributes increased together. Lu Ce was worried that if his Strength got too high without balance, he’d lose coordination.

Now, paired with the Sharpened Blade—3x Strength damage bonus on slashes!

He weighed the blade in his right hand and gave it a hard toss. It arced through the air, slicing through the layers of iron plating like paper, its cold gleam streaking straight for the iron-skin robot’s head.

The light of reason had already vanished from Tom’s eyes. But by instinct alone, he tilted his head and narrowly dodged the lethal blow.

Clang!

The blade stabbed into the side of Tom’s metal head. Dark red and yellowish gunk oozed from the wound—it looked sickening.

Lu Ce raised his arm, ready to finish him off while he was down—fired two shots at the injury. But just as he pulled the trigger, the prison floor rippled like waves and launched him into the air.

In the next moment, a series of crackling bangs echoed like firecrackers. Behind him, every iron door in the ring corridor—except the ones holding the Players—exploded open!

The iron doors flew toward Tom with howling wind, merging with his body as new parts, like some grotesque DIY toy.

By now, his massive form had already pressed against the ceiling. He’d grown to a terrifying five meters tall—a walking disaster god clad in ruin.

“Look at that! You could drop him into any Soulslike game as a mid-stage boss and no one would bat an eye.”

Lu Ce snarked, then prepared to switch Hell Roar to third gear.

But right then—howls echoed throughout the prison!

What the h*ll was that?

Lu Ce instinctively turned his head—and was shocked to see patients from nearly 90 wards had all charged out.

In the twisted, unrecognizable corridor, they screamed and bellowed like beasts.

Then, in eerie unison, they all turned their heads—over eighty pairs of eyes, completely drowned in bloodlust, locked straight onto Lu Ce.

AWOO!

A sudden howl—and the nearest patient leapt twenty meters in just a few steps, pouncing at Lu Ce like a wild animal.

His hands clawed into the flesh of Lu Ce’s arm, and then he opened wide to bite into Lu Ce’s neck!

Crunch!

A few teeth shattered—because a blazing red barrel was already shoved in his mouth.

Bang!

Yellow-white matter sprayed out the back of his head, splattering across the wall.

His extinguished, deranged eyes met Lu Ce’s cold gaze in their final moment.

【Life Reap! Energy +1%!】