Chapter 11: Chapter 11: The stab that breaks a Snake's Heart
"Heya, you look frustrated about something, Guess I'm pretty good at my job huh?"
"Hmm, that expression, thats the expression of someone who's died twice in a row~"
Although Mobius was indeed one of the Thirteen Flame Chasers and a MANTIS to boot, as a researcher, this kind of activity that relies on reaction speed isn't Mobius's strengths. Plus, Sans always attacks first, and Mobius's protagonist only has the option to evade.
Counterattacks are always dodged by Sans, and when Mobius checks the panel, all she can see is a frustrating description.
[Sans, Attack 1, Defense 1.]
[The simplest enemy, only capable of dealing 1 point of damage.]
"But that guy's attack interval is calculated according to the frame rate!"
After seeing this description, Mobius couldn't help but complain.
Then she was directly hit away by a series of attacks.
...
"Hmm, that expression, That is the expression of someone who's died five times in a row. Convenient huh? Thats one for each finger, but soon you'll need a mutated hand to count all your deaths"
"No, maybe I won't even need a mutant hand. In the next round, I will defeat you!"
It must be said that Mobius's memory is indeed very good. After a brief trial of five times, each time was closer to victory.
Last time, Sans kept saying he would use his last resort.
Unfortunately, before using the final move, Sans launched a long and fierce final attack, which Mobius could only evade through route memorization.
Luckily, Mobius remembered it completely.
The BGM for judging Sans was very cool, and during the battle, Mobius also looked at this lazybones with a bit of admiration.
[Lazy Tree Lover: At this moment, Sans is also a hero, taking the initiative to attack the protagonist also has the implication of treating the protagonist as a monster. In this underground world, whether it's Undyne or Metaton, they are all heroes.
Hypnotic Butterfly: Toriel was right in the end, she was protecting the underground residents, but unfortunately, she failed.
Miss Pink Elf: Mobius, your reaction has slowed down, you didn't win five times.]
The segment of fighting Sans wasn't too difficult for most of the sims.
But Mobius's five failures gave Elysia a chance to tease her.
Looking at Elysia's message, Mobius's blood pressure immediately rose.
"I'm not getting slower, it's just that the computer's reaction speed isn't enough! And who knew that Sans's mercy would actually mean completely killing the protagonist!"
Mobius did indeed die on Sans the fourth time. After seeing Sans show mercy to them, Mobius's curiosity was aroused.
Later, She realized that Sans knew the protagonist had the ability to rewind time, and the so-called mercy was to let the protagonist return to the beginning.
Returning to the beginning of the game, the only way was to load the file. That was Sans's judgment.
She understood it, but how could Mobius give up on this Genocide Route so easily?
"Are you ready? Survive this, and I'll show you my special attack."
Here it comes!
Sans's final, and longest attack!
Essentially, this game is indeed a turn-based game. Sans takes action for one round, and so does the protagonist.
Bullets flew densely, bones, dragon bone cannons, gravity, all the attack methods used before were all used in this round.
Just at the critical moment, with the protagonist controlled by Mobius at 1 HP, she survived till the end!
Sans waved his arms full of sweat, with each swing, gravity moved the heart closer to the edge of the battle box.
As Sans's arm swings slowed down more and more, the BGM gradually stopped.
"Alright. That's it. It's time to use my special attack."
"There's more?"
Mobius became nervous.
"Are you ready? Here goes nothing."
After saying that, Sans who was sweating profusely, closed his eyes and clasped his hands behind his back.
"What, what's going on?"
Controlling the heart, Mobius moved around the battle box randomly, prepared for the special attack that might come next.
But nothing happened.
Suddenly, Sans opened his eyes, and the heart was instantly teleported to the center of the battle box.
"Yep, that's right, its literally nothing and its not gonna be anything either.
Hehe, you get it? I know I can't beat you. Who knows, in one of your turns, your just gonna kill me.
So, um, I've decided, its not gonna be your turn, ever.
I'm just gonna keep having MY turn until you give up. Even if it means we have to stand here forever until the end of time."
Sans's explanation was very clear.
Essentially, the battle between the two sides was turn-based.
Sans attacks for one round, and the protagonist fights for one round.
But Sans cleverly used this game mechanism that broke the fourth wall and did not end his own turn. This way, he could keep the protagonist forever trapped in with him!
"Isn't this cheating?"
Mobius couldn't help but complain. What's the difference between this and cheating?
[Frozen Ice Cubes: Faced with such a power that can loop indefinitely, being able to trap the enemy using game mechanics is the best and most effective method he can do.
Lazy Tree Lover: If in the end, you could also use such a mechanism to solve the problem, maybe you would choose to do the same, right, Kevin?
Frozen Ice Cubes: Games are games, miracles like this can't happen in reality.]
But if Kevin really had this kind of ability, he would do it without hesitation.
However, the sims in the Elysian Realm didn't want to see Kevin behave like this.
So, what remained in the chat was silence.
"What do we do now? Is the Genocide Route going to end like this?"
Mobius was a bit anxious, she even starting to ask the others how to defeat Sans.
[Shining Melody: Do you remember when Papyrus said that Sans is actually a lazybones who always falls asleep at the most inapportune time? Maybe wait for him to fall asleep?"]
Eden gave a suggestion.
Although Mobius skipped through the text quickly, Eden had played this game personally and heard Papyrus mention it.
"Oh, I see... Then let's see when he falls asleep."
Mobius thought since the other party wasn't doing anything, they had plenty of time to wait.
Sure enough, not long after. The tired Sans started to doze off and gradually closed his eyes.
*ZZZZZ*
"This time, he's not pretending to sleep and then chanting Z's, right?"
Mobius was still a bit wary, but after tentatively moving themselves, Sans indeed didn't react anymore.
Just when Mobius was wondering what to do, she suddenly found that the red heart representing the protagonist could drag the battle box!
"It's... something I should have thought of earlier. The UI of the game can also become an interactive option. Before, Sans attacked me inside the options box. I have to admit, the creator of this game is really creative."
Mobius couldn't help but sigh, this game is truly amazing.
From the manipulation of player save files, the utilization of turn-based combat mechanisms, and the modification of the battle UI box.
Although Mobius rarely played games, in the leisure time of the previous era, Mobius would still touch on it a little bit.
It was precisely because no one in the previous civilization had done this that Mobius was amazed by it.
Dragging the battle box with the red heart, it struggled to reach the battle option.
Battle!
"Hehe, didja really think you would be able ..."
Another attack flew over, this was the action of another human soul that invaded the protagonist's body!
*-9999999*
This critical hit caused Sans to fall heavily to the ground.
"...
So...
Guess thats it huh?
Anyway...
Just don't say I didn't warn you."
Sans stood up, clutching his wound. He then went out of the screen fading away from it, Sans seemed unwilling to let the protagonist see his demise.
But at this moment, Mobius couldn't help but quip, "By the way, why would a skeleton bleed?"
But the next words caused her to freeze.
"Papyrus...Do you want something?"
In the very end, the words spoken by Sans who had left the screen, were like a sharp knife that ruthlessly pierced Mobius's heart.
"You... Me..."
Mobius couldn't help but be speechless. The battle screen closed, returning to the original golden corridor.
In that final sentence, Mobius was reminded once again of Papyrus, who had been consistently kind to the protagonist throughout.
A sense of guilt began to creep up Mobius's spine, though it was only a tiny bit.
"I've reached Level 20."
Truly just a tiny bit of guilt.
"Pink Flower: Are you crying?"
"No!"
Mobius hurriedly responded.
Since the livestream screen hadn't changed for a long time and to prove that she was still in control, Mobius manipulated the protagonist to return to the save point at the entrance of the judgment corridor and saved the game.
Continuing forward, Mobius no longer had control over what happened next.
She encountered the underground world's king, Asgore, but Mobius was still mercilessly with him, killing him in one blow.
Then, when she encountered Flowey again, It was slain on the spot!
This scene left Mobius feeling confused. How did the protagonist suddenly become so powerful?
The screen went completely black, then suddenly a child who looked identical to the protagonist but was wearing a green-and-yellow striped shirt appeared.
However, instead of having closed eyes like before, this child's eyes were open.
"Hello, I'm Chara."
"Hmm? Are you the first human to fall here?"
Was this unusual child now occupying the protagonist's body?
Mobius silently continued the plot.
"Thank you. Your power has awakened me from death. My 'human soul', My 'determination', they were not mine, but yours. With your guidance, I realize the purpose of my reincarnation. Together, we eradicated our enemies and become stronger. ATK, DEF, HP, GOLD, EXP, LVL. Everytime a number increases, thats feeling, thats me.. "Chara". Now, we have reached the absolute. There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world and move on to the next."
[Delete/Don't]
"Does this mean I should close the game and delete it?"
Mobius clicked "Don't" without hesitation.
It wasn't for any particular reason, just that she thought of wanting to play the Pacifist Route quietly after the Genocide Route ended, without livestreaming it to heal her battered soul.
Although Mobius had a weak sense of ethics and was ruthless when it came to experimenting on others and herself, she still had a normal girl's heart deep down.
Emotions existed, it's just that she usually didn't want to show them.
But this Genocide Route had truly left Mobius feeling numb, so she wanted to experience the warmth of the Pacifist Route.
"No'?... Hmm, how curious. You must have' misunderstood."
Suddenly, the child's eyes widened, looking very eerie.
"SINCE WHEN WHERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?"
The pure black background suddenly turned red, and the child named Chara's face turned into a demonic visage, filling the entire game screen!
Red flashes of light fell, and the screen was filled with 9s, indicating extreme damage.
Then the screen went black again, and the game closed abruptly.
"What's going on!?"
Although Mobius had anticipated that the game's creator might do something tricky, she never expected her game to crash like this!
Fortunately, the game was still there, and the shortcut on the desktop was still there.
Opening the game once again, she only found was the sound of a cold wind howling in the background, and a pitch-black screen.
Then the livestream was shut down directly.
Mobius was nowhere to be found.
...
At the same time, Miss Raven played through the game alone, reaching the final stages.
Just before the judgment corridor.
Sans was waiting behind that corridor.
Throughout the game, Miss Raven had only killed Toriel, so Sans only reminded her, "Don't make that old lady sad," before leaving the judgment corridor.
"Is this the end?"
However, Elysia noticed that there was no one watching the livestream anymore.
Indeed, such an excellent work, if they watched directly, how could one truly experience the beauty of this game?
Whether it was the Pacifist Route or the Genocide Route, these things only had meaning when experienced firsthand.
Many Flame Chasers naturally understood this, so after agreeing with this game in their hearts, they all began to delve deeper into the entire game.
For example, some hidden rooms that Miss Raven hadn't encountered, and the route of not killing Toriel.
So, when Elysia saw that there was only one person watching the livestream, and it was Bronnie, she smiled.
"How do you feel about this game?"
Elysia wanted to hear a heartfelt evaluation from Miss Raven, which she could then convey to Bronie.
Miss Raven just smiled faintly.
"It's been a long time since I've been this relaxed. I didn't expect a game to reach such a level. It's truly a rare and wonderful game."
"In that case, it couldn't be better!"
Elysia responded with a smile.
Because from Miss Raven's smile, she truly sensed a hint of relaxation and relief.
"I really hope Bronie could see Miss Crow like this..."
After the story, after the game, the ice that had frozen for decades was now melting.
Was this a miracle?
No, this should be the manifestation of sincerity exchanged for sincerity.
"What did you say?"
Just as she was shocked by the destruction of her own UI by Elysia and Asgore's hand, accidentally dying on the spot, Miss Raven suddenly heard Elysia seemingly muttering something softly.
"No, it's nothing! You enjoy playing here for a while, I have something to do, so I'll leave temporarily, okay?"