Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Tackling a Tough Challenge with Miss Toto

San Andino City, in the Pope’s Country, was the hometown of the Bishop of Twin Tower City.

It was also the city with the most supporters for the Bishop’s faction.

Rows of white houses with red-tiled roofs, resembling rows of mushrooms, stretched across the hillside.

It was not a very large city. Its primary industry was hand-weaving.

When the entire traditional textile industry was hit by steam-powered looms, this region was one of the few that transitioned smoothly to handmade custom goods.

Its second major industry was brewing.

The wine produced here was in constant high demand. It was said that the best was offered to the Goddess, while the next best was sold to the public.

Every day, ships loaded with oak barrels departed, leaving behind the much-beloved Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins.

The nations of the Continent all used similar monetary systems, with only slight variations in design.

The lay believers did not have to follow such strict precepts, so drinking and brewing alcohol was naturally considered reasonable.

However, the ones who could brew the best "fermented wheat juice" and "fermented grape juice" were the clergymen in the monasteries.

All in all, San Andino City was a relatively prosperous city.

It wasn’t as wealthy as Twin Tower City, but no one had to share a rental in the remote suburbs and spend several hours commuting each day.

They didn’t have to cram into horse-drawn carts for work, sometimes falling asleep on their feet.

When people had spare money and some free time, their thoughts would turn to entertainment.

However, in the Pope’s Country, there had never been many entertainment options available to the common folk.

That was, until the Bishop who had traveled far to Twin Tower City sent back products from the Zog Group.

Toys and comics immediately became all the rage, and mahjong was especially well-received by everyone from eighteen to eighty.

You could always blame a loss on bad luck, which made the frustration of mahjong far less than that of traditional board games.

It was also more addictive.

Being one tile away from a Nine Gates hand only to have someone else win with a simple meld could make you wake up angry in the middle of the night for days afterward. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Novels over a million characters long, which had failed to sell in other cities, found an audience here.

Perhaps because believers were required to read scriptures, the literacy rate in the Pope’s Country was significantly higher than in other nations.

But of all the products, the most sought-after were undoubtedly the games.

Those who knew Magic could activate a Red Middle Rune and open the door to a new world.

As for those without a talent for Magic, they could only wait with longing to play on one of the few available game consoles.

All the game consoles in the city belonged to the Church. To ensure fairness, a few consoles were allocated to each neighborhood based on its population.

The opportunity to play was decided by a lottery.

If you didn’t win, then unfortunately, it meant you weren’t pious enough toward the Goddess, because the Goddess grants good fortune to Her most devout followers.

Residents had no choice but to use money to solve their luck problem, and a second-hand market for game tickets quickly emerged.

The small paper tickets were once scalped for exorbitant prices.

There were always rumors that the Church secretly controlled the market, but others refuted this, since the winners didn’t cover their faces when they went to claim their prize.

The prices for different game tickets varied greatly.

For example, for the game called *Holy Mountain Journey*, it took twenty of its tickets to trade for just one ticket for auto chess, and even then, the trade was hard to make.

Everyone believed that the game, by using the name of the Holy Mountain, was an insult to the Holy Land and that the Judgment Court should punish its creator.

Today, however, the bustling game ticket market was deserted. Everyone’s attention had been captured by something else.

Big news: a cargo ship full of Magic Vision Devices was about to arrive at the port.

At seven o’clock tonight, every community church would be holding a free Magic Vision screening.

They would be broadcasting a live stream of Priest Andrei’s game.

The whole city was in an uproar. Everyone was asking, "Who is Andrei?"

Someone immediately stepped up to claim a connection.

"Isn’t that so-and-so’s kid, little what’s-his-name? I used to hold him when he was a baby! Look at him now, he’s made it big, getting on Magic Vision..."

Of course, this kind of name-dropping didn’t always work.

"I know! He’s the designer of *Holy Mountain Journey*! I saw his name first in the credits when I beat the game!"

Someone in the crowd shouted.

The person who had just been boasting about Andrei’s glorious achievements immediately changed his tune.

Just a moment ago, it was all about how Andrei loved reading the scriptures since he was a child, and how he had taught the boy everything he didn’t know.

Now, it was that they weren’t actually that close, and that the boy insisted on pestering him with questions but could never learn a thing.

The others paid no mind to his theatrics. They were more shocked that someone had actually managed to beat that miserable game. What a glutton for punishment.

The person who beat the game forced a smile, savoring the crowd’s brief moment of awe.

Inwardly, though, his heart was bleeding.

When the *Holy Mountain Journey* game consoles first arrived, he had been certain that a game with such a name would be popular in the Pope’s Country.

So, he had hoarded a large number of game tickets at a price of 20 Copper Coins each. Now, he couldn’t even sell them for 1 Copper Coin a piece.

He had no choice but to play them himself. It was hard to even match with a teammate, so he ended up giving tickets away for free just to get people to party up with him. He eventually cleared all twelve parts of the game and still had several hundred tickets left.

Although no one was particularly interested in Priest Andrei’s creation, they were still curious to see the Magic Vision.

At seven in the evening, every community church was filled with people.

The larger churches were especially packed, as they had been allocated the 55-inch, high-spec Magic Vision Devices.

People were even squatting in the aisles, their heads tilted up toward the screen at the front of the church.

The seven o’clock bells rang, and the Magic Vision Device’s screen lit up right on time.

An image appeared. The main part was the Illusion generated by the game console. In a box in the bottom-left corner was a Priest, and in a box in the bottom-right was a Half-Elf, who appeared to be the one controlling the game.

At the top were two sets of numbers.

One was next to a heart-shaped icon, with a number fluctuating between 60 and 70.

The other was next to a Gold Coin icon, and it displayed a 0.

The audience stared at the screen, murmuring amongst themselves.

"Wow, are they trapped in that box? How terrifying! What kind of dark magic is this?"

"No way. There are so many Magic Vision Devices. You couldn’t fit two people in one of them."

"Soul Capturing Technique! It must be the Soul Capturing Technique!"

The church’s Priest gestured for everyone to be quiet as a voice came from the Magic Vision Device.

"Twin Tower City Magic Vision Station, Twin Tower City Magic Vision Station. We are now live with ’Overcoming Obstacles with Miss Toto.’ I am your commentator for this stream, Andrei, and on the other side is the one and only Miss Toto, whom you all know."

Priest Andrei took on the role of host and announcer.

"’Live’ means that what you all see before you on the Magic Vision Devices is happening right now, in real-time, in Twin Tower City. Anyone can matchmake at any time to play alongside Miss Toto.

"Let me explain the rules for this stream. If you match with Miss Toto and clear a difficult stage, both of you will be rewarded with one Gold Coin. The game ends if you return to the starting point.

"Additionally, every time Miss Toto’s heart rate exceeds 100, she hits the game console, or she uses indecent language, one Gold Coin will be deducted from her personal total as a penalty. Both numbers are displayed at the top of the screen."

The rules were very simple. Everyone understood.

"Is it really happening in Twin Tower City? That’s so far from here," someone said doubtfully.

"Has anyone here bought this game? Try activating the Rune and matchmaking."

"Who would buy that game? You’d have to be bored out of your mind."

"But you can win Gold Coins."

"It’s not that easy. I played for two hours with a ticket and went back to the start sixteen times. You’d have to be sick in the head to play this thing."

"But you get to play with Toto! Except for auto chess, where she hasn’t played enough matches, what game isn’t she number one in?"

"Yeah, I know, but you need two people to play this game."

Amid the chatter, the first matchmade player connected, and the game officially began.

Toto skillfully led her partner through the first two easy stages. She was controlling a character with arms but no legs and was now clinging to a cliff at the start of the third stage.

"Follow my lead. Swing left, then accelerate right, land on that platform over there, hold the jump button for one second, and get above me."

The other player lived up to everyone’s expectations.

Their charged jump fell short. They slammed into the side of the cliff and tumbled all the way down, the inertia dragging Toto down with them. Such a realistic physics system! Both of them were sent back to the start.

"Game over. Prize money: Two Gold Coins," Priest Andrei’s voice announced.

"Son of a bitch!"

Toto was a former Thief, after all. Old habits die hard.

"Indecent language. Minus 1 Gold Coin."

"Wait, ’son of a bitch’ counts?"

"Indecent language. Minus another 1 Gold Coin."

Toto’s temper flared.

"Heart rate over 100. Minus 1 Gold Coin."

An achievement popped up on the game screen at the perfect moment.

Welcome Home, tee-hee.

The accompanying image was a smug-looking yellow ball with a laughing face.

Toto finally snapped.

"BANG!"

She kicked the game console.

"Attacking the game console. Minus 1 Gold Coin."

"Doesn’t it have to be a fucking slap to count?"

"Indecent language. Minus 1 Gold Coin..."