"Whoa! Bam!"

[The streamer has ended the broadcast.]

Staring at the frozen screen, Hannah couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. On the monitor, a man engulfed in flames thrust a railroad spike into a goblin's neck. Above that scene, a notification indicated the end of the broadcast.

[Viewers: 150]

Just this morning, there were only 12 viewers, including Hannah herself. Now, he had reached an astonishing peak of 150 viewers. Achieving such a number within two days of starting the broadcast was nearly impossible for someone who wasn't famous. This man was not a celebrity, so all the viewers here had gathered purely to watch his gameplay.

"This is insane, seriously."

As she waited for responses from other departments while compiling inspection data for the upcoming 10th-anniversary update, Hannah had turned on 'Streaming Today' to kill time and watch her favorite streamer's broadcast. Initially, she intended to watch the broadcast of Matthew Leicester, a mage ranked 5th in the leaderboards.

However, she stumbled upon a good-looking streamer while scanning through the list, and out of curiosity, she decided to watch his broadcast.

It was only meant to be a casual face-viewing session, but then she noticed that he was attempting a tutorial that no one else had done lately, and he was on the 3rd floor of the tutorial. Curiosity got the better of her, and she watched the stream with a somewhat indifferent mindset.

"Wait, what's with this energized atmosphere?"

Throughout the series of encounters with goblins, she felt an incredible sense of immersion. The reason was simple.

[Streamer's Immersion Rate: 100%]

Displayed in small letters at the bottom left corner of the video, the Immersion Rate was something that was automatically shown in the game, whether the streamer wanted it or not, due to internal regulations.

"How on earth did he endure it!"

He allowed the goblin's attacks several times. A sword stuck in his back, and an arrow pierced through his thigh. Any ordinary human would have screamed in pain and lost all their strength, but this guy, known as the Unique God, retaliated without blinking an eye.

Okay, let's say he endured that far. But after that, an arrow hit him directly in the thigh. Anyone else would be immobilized and sitting down, groaning in agony. Well, any regular human would do that. However, the player continued walking toward the remaining goblins without so much as a single whimper.

"His Immersion Rate is a hundred percent, really!"

If his Immersion Rate was zero, people would have laughed and said, "Wow, he's charging in without even realizing his health is being drained!"

Even if he had set it to just 10 percent, people would still be amazed and say, "Wow, what a brave guy!" People would have reacted with admiration and fascination. "Wow, seriously..."

Okay, let's accept that he endured the pain of being stabbed and shot. But how did he manage the burning sensation? Can a human endure real-time pain as their body burns?

The most intense pain a human can feel is nothing other than a burning sensation. Would others feel the same as he did?

Ten minutes had passed since the broadcast ended, yet the viewers stayed as if possessed by ghosts. Hannah wanted to communicate with others about her impressions of this mind-blowing broadcast, but she couldn't.

[The streamer has not activated the chat feature.]

The chat window was blocked, just like the donation feature.

"If only there were an option enabled, either sending a donation amount or a voice message to the streamer, would be great," Hannah sighed. "I wonder when he'll do another broadcast."

She leaned forward, staring at the screen while nervously biting her fingernails. She hoped the chat window would open the next time he streamed. Maybe he didn't know how to enable the feature? Oh, she really hoped that wasn't the case.

Saturdays were incredibly peaceful, especially for Ethan, a civil servant. The government guaranteed a strict five-day workweek unless there was a sudden disaster or an urgent task. Though the salary was modest, with careful management, it was enough to support a family of two.

He neatly chopped the green onions on the cutting board and prepared chicken stew for dinner – his daughter Lily's favorite side dish. The stew bubbled away, and she checked the potatoes in the broth to see if they were cooked enough, then added the sliced chicken and secret seasonings.

Closing the lid, he knew that in about 20 minutes, the delicious chicken stew would be ready. Imagining how much Lily would enjoy it, Ethan couldn't help but smile.

"She should be out by seven..."

As he wiped his wet hands on his apron, Ethan turned around and saw the door opening. Out came Lily, interrupting her game of Heroes Saga even though it wasn't 7 pm yet. Ethan was slightly taken aback.

Lily emerged from her room, sniffing the air, and quickly ran to the kitchen.

"Is tonight's dinner chicken stew? Chicken stew?"

"Yes."

"Since it's finally the weekend, it's nice to treat ourselves to something delicious."

"I'll set the table!"

Humming a tune, Lily cheerfully arranged the utensils, plates, and bowls carefully on the dining table. Who would have thought that chicken stew could make her usually calm daughter so lively? No, even if it was delicious, had Lily ever been this excited about a dish before?

"Dad, did you play Heroes Saga today?"

"I played in the VR room this morning with Maxwell."

"Oh, really! How was it? How far did you get in the tutorial?"

"I reached the 4th floor."

"······What?"

Lily's eyes widened. "You cleared the 4th floor?"

"Yes, barely cleared it. Games are still difficult, as expected."

As Ethan separated the used chicken wrap and vegetable scraps for recycling in the kitchen, he casually chatted with Lily, but Lily seemed quite flabbergasted.

Her reaction was natural. Anyone who had played even a bit of Heroes Saga knew how implausible that achievement was. Clearing the 4th floor of the tutorial as a complete beginner with no stats, skills, or equipment was like facing an opponent head-on with only a bare sword.

It was common knowledge that Ethan was a sword genius who had won the World Fencing Championship, but in Heroes Saga, "character advantage" mattered more than combat sense.

"How on earth... Oh, maybe."

In Heroes Saga, there were three main ways for characters to become stronger:

1. Distributing stat points through level-up.

2. Upgrading equipment specs.

3. Skill Book Acquisition

In addition, there were other secondary rewards, such as quest rewards and pets, but the major improvements came from the three mentioned methods. Another less-used method was increasing the Sensory Fusion Rate, which naturally granted abilities, stats, or passive skills.

However, this method was not very efficient when compared to the pain and risk it involved and was generally abandoned. Moreover, experience points couldn't be obtained in the tutorial, and leveling up was naturally impossible. There were no quest rewards or skill books, or equipment drops.

Since the tutorial was meant to be a solo experience, receiving help from other players or engaging in trades was out of the question. Then, what was the reason behind her Dad's ability to clear the 4th floor of the tutorial...?

"No way!

Slamming her palm on the table, Lily stood up from her seat.

"Father, what percentage did you set the Sensory Fusion Rate to...?"

"I set it to 100%."

"Aaah! Are you insane?!"

"······."

"At 10%, it's already extremely risky, but you set it to 100%?! Didn't you see the warning message when starting the game? With that level of intensity, it could cause pain-induced trauma (PTSD) and even lead to fatal heart failure! Please, lower it immediately!"

Lily paced back and forth, clearly distressed. From her perspective as a daughter, her reaction was entirely reasonable. Who wouldn't be worried when their father was potentially risking disability or death? Moreover, for Lily, Ethan was her one and only family in this world. Losing him would mean being left all alone.

"Lily, thank you for your concern. Your point is very valid and reasonable, but..."

"Enough with those formal answers; just lower it!"

"I don't want to see you collapsing and dying before me! If you don't listen, then I'll start fasting today. Seriously!"

Thud!

The mention of fasting made Ethan's heart sink.

[Ethan took 100 damage!]

...But still, Ethan didn't want to lower the Sensory Fusion Rate.

Of course, he experienced hellish pain while playing the game today, but in return, he didn't want to give up the thrill of growing stronger and the satisfaction of defeating powerful enemies. It was the pleasure of experiencing the growth and triumph that couldn't be felt in real life, taking down strong opponents and becoming stronger. He didn't want to give up that feeling of swinging his sword and experiencing the same sensations as in real life.

However, he knew sharing these feelings with Lily wouldn't make a difference. He had to come up with a rational response that assured her he would be fine.

"Let's get to the point. I didn't feel any pain while playing the game today."

"What are you even saying? Do you honestly believe that makes any sense? Evading every single goblin attack without feeling any pain is absolutely impossible. Even if it somehow happened once, do you really think it's something you can repeat in the future?!"

Her words poured out like a rapid-fire rapper.

[Ethan took 50 damage!]

"No, I couldn't avoid all of them. I got injured in the back and thigh, and at the end, the goblin's fire magic engulfed my whole body."

"What?! We need to go to the hospital right now! You should get checked! Even if it's just once, those are serious injuries!"

"Lily, listen."

"Oh, come on!"

"Look at me. Do I seem like someone who almost suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder or could have died from heart failure due to my injuries?"

"······."

" I'm telling you the truth—I didn't feel any pain," Ethan insisted.

"Is that, is that even possible?"

Actually, it was really tough. But he couldn't go into the details. "Um... then, can you show me some evidence?"

"Evidence?"

"Yeah, I need to see something that proves you really didn't feel any pain. Seeing it for myself would put my mind at ease."

He had no evidence...

Besides, it wasn't even true, so how could there be any evidence? Just then, his phone chimed with a notification. Ethan saw it as an opportunity to change the subject. "Oh, I got a message. Let me check it quickly."

"No, talking with you right now is much more important."

Chime!

Chime!

Ding!

"Oh, really!"

The constant notifications made Lily nervously check her phone. It was messages from guild members they played the game with.

- "A crazy guy appeared in the tutorial."

- [Link] [Heroes Saga Inven - (HOT!)] Who the heck is this guy?"

_

Author's Note Hey there, wonderful readers. I'm thrilled to announce that you can now read the next chapters right now on Toodat! You can click the external link below ~ writing/detail/ZYK4w9aAnzbvMRnB