Chapter 169: Pouring Liters of Gasoline on a Bonfire

Truth be told, if placed in a completely fair, equal-footing 1v1 scenario like a martial arts tournament, the gamer known as Pencilgon actually falls into the incredibly weak category.
It's by artificially bolstering that baseline with a mountain of external buffs, debuffs, and environmental hazards that she managed to stack up a score in Shangri-La Frontier worthy of the title Giant Killing. However, against Pencilgon's specific playstyle, there are two distinct types of natural enemies that can completely dismantle her outside of pure, raw skill gaps.

The first is the type that just unga-bunga brute-forces their way through using raw specs and violence, like Sunraku. At that point, it's less of a PvP match and more of a boss raid—the kind of opponent who just shatters established PvP theories using completely unpredictable, out-of-the-box methods.
This type is essentially a Poker player who eventually slams their entire hand down on the table all at once; if you try to hold anything back, you just get overwhelmed. The sheer rush-down speed of securing the kill the exact millisecond the win condition is met completely counters her.

The second is the type that uses logic, experience, and hyper-analytic behavioral prediction, like Katzo... Uomi Kei. Against this type, the more cards you reveal, the worse your disadvantage gets. Why? Because this type actively calculates your 'next' move based on the cards you've already played. They're the Daifugo[*1] type—the moment you play a 3, they instantly map out the other 7 cards left in your hand.
The counter-strategy against them is the exact opposite of the intuitive Poker type. You have to absolutely refuse to show your hand, hoarding your winning blade until the very last possible second to stab them in the back.

In short, the absolute optimal solution Clockfire... no, Pencilgon should choose for this 2nd round is an extremely delayed, highly theatrical suicide.

"Took you long enough to climb up here. Is the doctor bad with stairs?"

"Strangely enough... someone blew up the elevators so I couldn't use them...! But I've cornered you now."

"Cornered me? No, no, no! I invited you!"

The remaining HP ratio was roughly 7:1. The magnificent bomber's health was already a candle in the wind, but despite that, the mountain of information she had stockpiled and the dolls she had collected were feeding her—and only her—the premonition of ultimate victory.

"And now, the three-act play directed by Clockfire-chan is finally approaching its grand finale!"

Spinning around on the edge of the building like she was dancing or singing, she cast her gaze upward, sideways, straight down, and dead ahead—as if a mere comic book character had somehow realized exactly what lay beyond the fourth wall.

"To seamlessly transition into our climactic finale, yours truly will be taking her leave from the stage for now. So, see you in about a minute... Oh my, aren't we pushy?"

"Our little game of tag ends here...!!"

"Tooooo baaaaaad! Your fists aren't what's gonna kill me!"

"Are you serious...?!"

Clockfire aggressively stomped her heel down onto the cat doll she'd thrown against the floor. The fancy cat's face crumpled under her shoe before violently expanding from the inside out and detonating. The shockwave shoved Dr. Sandalphon's body backward, while the resulting inferno completely wiped out the very last pixel of Clockfire's health bar, signaling the end of the round.

"A suicide bomb...? Doesn't even feel like a win..."

A few seconds after a character is defeated, their model shatters and fades away. Watching the bomber plummet off the roof and scatter into pixels mid-fall, Lucas didn't even try to hide his bitter expression.
The situation was currently a 1-1 tie, a completely even playing field, yet the familiar taste of victory he had experienced countless times before was nowhere to be found.
It was exactly as she had said—as if this entire sequence of events was perfectly following someone else's script.

(No... Even if that's true, her playstyle is completely exposed now. Her trick plays aren't gonna work anymore.)

The strategy of turning NPCs into active bombs caught him off guard, but due to Clockfire's mechanical limitations, she absolutely had to be lurking nearby to trigger them, making the counterplay ridiculously easy. No matter how she approached, all he had to do was corner her before she could set up her traps. Her raw mechanical skill in a brawl wasn't actually that high; at the end of the day, she was just a scrub relying on a flashy knowledge check[*2] to steal rounds... That was the conclusion Lucas arrived at.

Yes. If she were actually just that kind of player.

The thirty seconds allocated. The climax should be loud, and exceptionally flashy.

"Hear me, those far away; come close and see, those near[*3]! The Clockfire Special Parade is about to begin...!"

The entirety of Rounds 1 and 2 were nothing more than preliminary scouting and groundwork for this exact 3rd round. While Chaos City generates a completely different layout every single match, there's always a certain degree of underlying logic to the RNG.
For example, the grid-like structure of the roads, the clustered placement of the skyscraper districts, or the shared architectural assets used inside the buildings themselves.

"Savings are completely useless unless you blow 'em all at once! Nfufu... Now, let's make a scene!!"

She was no longer lurking in the shadows observing the situation. Standing dead center in the middle of the main street on top of an abandoned taxi, Pencilgon openly waited for her enemy to arrive.

"Hey hey, a sudden style change?"

"I gave you a proper warning, didn't I? This is the climax. Let's make it a flashy party!"

As long as she was having fun, it was great. If everyone else was having fun, even better. Rather than sipping drinks quietly in a private booth, going absolutely feral in the middle of a public venue was much more her style. In that case, this exact moment was Pencilgon's grand stage. Maximize the results, maximize the casualties! Not a simple win, not a simple loss, but the absolute 'Best'!!

"Hiiii everyone! Haven't you all thought about it at least once?! Something you've always wanted to try but gave up on because it was impossible in the real world?!"

Psychic energy flared around Dr. Sandalphon's fists. The doctor in the white coat sprinted forward, aiming to stuff her approach before she could take any action.

"Well, good news for you! Here! Right here! If you're a Villain, you can do it without holding back!"

During Round 1, while harassing Lucas with NPCs and mapping out the area layout and civilian pathing, she preemptively destroyed a few specific load-bearing pillars inside the buildings.

During Round 2, she used bomb detonations to herd the fleeing NPCs in a very specific direction. Right now, they had all evacuated into the massive sports stadium up ahead.

And now, Round 3. The bombs planted on the weakened building from Round 1 were detonated by the red-eyed magician. That was exactly why she had broken off a chunk of a nearby building earlier—to secure a clear line of sight.

"Now, let's play some dominoes!!"

The explosions chained together, and the heavily damaged skyscraper slowly began to tilt. With half the 'legs' supporting the massive chunk of steel and concrete completely shattered, the building slumped over, slamming its immense mass directly into the adjacent skyscraper.

"You've... gotta be kidding me...!"

Lucas instinctively slammed the brakes, staring up in absolute disbelief as the building, unable to support the weight of the collapsed skyscraper Pencilgon had toppled, snapped in half and crashed into the next building. The exact same process repeated over and over, steadily flattening the entire cityscape.

"Un-freaking-believable..."

"Nfufu, you still haven't realized it yet, have you...? Even though my victory was effectively set in stone the exact second this started."

"...More of your signature mind games?"

"No, no, no. Just stating the facts."

They had run exhaustive, frame-by-frame tests as a four-man squad, including a certain someone who wasn't here today. Not figuring out how to fight, but thoroughly dissecting where they fought and the underlying mechanics governing it—that was the ultimate key to Pencilgon's victories, the trick that masked her weak fundamentals and fortified her gameplay.

"Now, let's begin this terribly unfair battle!"

Pencilgon, who had spent the entire match running, hiding, and only ever throwing out counterattacks, had suddenly initiated the aggression. The slight hesitation that caused in Lucas was immediately overwritten by his instincts as a pro gamer.
If Clockfire was going to come to him, it saved him the trouble of chasing her down. Readying his fists, he locked his eyes on the laughing magician, waiting to read her approach.

"If we're gonna do this, let's ride the hype! Wake up Clown!"

"Burning your gauge here?!"

In the comic "Hydro Hands", this was the massive bomb Clockfire used to completely blow up the fire station where the protagonist Hydro Hands worked.
It smiled, swelled up, and upon detonating, scattered a massive payload of miniature clown bombs hidden in its stomach, unleashing a Cluster Bomb that caused catastrophic widespread damage.
Due to how iconic it was in the source material, the expanding clown was implemented as Clockfire's Ultimate Art in Galaxia Heroes: Chaos, and it was currently lunging straight at Lucas.
The building demolition from earlier was likely just to farm the meter for this exact move. By Round 3, almost all the NPCs had evacuated and fled somewhere else. But even destroying an empty building guaranteed a decent chunk of meter generation.

"But I've already labbed out the frame data for the entire roster!"

Just as Pencilgon's crew had heavily tested the game, Star Rain had also thoroughly analyzed the specs of the playable roster and developed counter-strategies. Clockfire's Super, "Wake up Clown", boasted an insanely powerful, wide-area explosion, but there was one specific safe zone.

"I know the gimmick! The safe zone for this thing is directly 'above' it!"

Wake up Clown was stuffed full of doll bombs in its stomach. Because of the nature of the attack scattering outward in all directions, the space directly above its head took significantly less damage.
A Super was the ultimate strike a player unleashed when they completely abandoned the Chaos Cube alternate win condition. Taking a direct hit guaranteed a massive disadvantage. But the damage could be mitigated.
There were still a few seconds left before the clown detonated. Dr. Sandalphon had an EX move that, for a brief window, drastically enhanced his physical specs, including his jump height.

"Hah! You rushed the finish!"

The only response he got was a smile.

Ahhh, you rushed the finish.

Staring at the monitor, I watched Pencilgon flash the most wickedly radiant smile possible and felt a wave of genuine pity for Lucas. I mean, his logic wasn't wrong at all. If you can't completely iframe a Super, you mitigate the damage. Yes, that's absolutely the correct fighting game fundamental.

But why did she blow up the buildings like a row of dominoes instead of making them collapse straight down like Jenga? The fact that he failed to realize the answer to that question was the exact reason he lost.

"I mean, who the hell would even think of that... no, seriously, that's just pure evil!"

The giant display was primarily focused on the direct brawl between Pencilgon and Lucas. But how many people in this stadium actually understood the significance of the collapsed building in the corner of the screen perfectly splitting the sports stadium down the middle like a watermelon?
However, anyone could look at what was happening to Pencilgon as a result. Every single person in this venue, and every single person watching the broadcast at home, could easily understand it just by looking at Clockfire's Villainic Gauge. Even a monkey could figure it out.

『Is this a bug?! No Name's gauge... isn't dropping?!』

『No, rather than not dropping, the exact millisecond she spends it, it's refilling at a terrifying speed...!』

Are you watching, world? Are you watching, dev team? Sure, it's an unofficial tech exploit, but honestly, you guys should really patch this out.

"Let's call it a 'Gauge Burst'."

Fueling off the sheer despair of the NPCs, the laughing clowns multiplied infinitely.

Author's Afterword
Q. What the hell did that scumbag just do?
A. She slammed a skyscraper directly into a sports stadium packed full of refugees, and is currently actively expanding the catastrophic casualties in real-time.

Translator's Notes

• *[1] Daifugo: Also known as Tycoon. A Japanese shedding-type card game where players try to get rid of their cards fast. High-level play requires aggressively tracking the discard pile to perfectly predict the opponent's remaining hand.

• *[2] Knowledge Check: Raw text uses "Shoken Goroshi" (First-sight kill), a common fighting game term for a gimmick that absolutely destroys players who don't already know the specific counterplay for it.

• *[3] Hear me, those far away...: Raw text uses a classic samurai battle cry ("Nanori") historically used to announce oneself on the battlefield. "Tohto wa Oto ni Kike, Chikaku ba Yotte Me ni mo Miyo."