Developing Games: To scare players all around the world! Chapter 102: Scarlet Demon Defeated

Tony did possess a sliver of mercy. He refrained from subjecting Natalie to the full, bone-jarring impact of hitting the cliff's base, an experience she would likely never recover from. He exercised a degree of control, recognizing that overly realistic simulations could overstimulate the brain, potentially leading to fatal consequences. Prudence dictated caution.

"What about resurrection?! Where's my resurrection?!" Natalie's heart throbbed violently as she cried out, "Why didn't I revive this time?"

"Revive your ass!" a viewer chimed in with a laugh. "You weren't just vanquished; you were hurled off a cliff! Your remains are likely splattered on the rocks below. Do you truly believe resurrection functions under such circumstances?"

"Honestly, the developer's logic holds up here."

"Still, being flung to one's death like that... it’s incredibly harsh. Natalie, you've truly drawn the short straw. I also clashed with this Scarlet Demon, and while he did toss me around like a plaything, he never sent me plummeting off a cliff. Hahahaha!"

"Damn it!" Natalie uttered a string of curses, her teeth grinding. "Had I known revival wasn't an option, I would have immediately deployed my escape technique and fled!"

This particular encounter was a complete failure, forcing her to firsthand experience the sheer terror of a cliffside plummet. Her viewers, naturally, erupted in laughter, reveling in her misfortune.

Upon respawning, Natalie re-engaged the Scarlet Demon, only to confront a grim reality: this formidable foe was not merely tough but astonishingly resilient. Its combat stance never faltered, its health bar appeared impenetrable, and damaging it felt akin to felling a massive tree with a butter knife. Even with flawless execution, it would take an eternity to deplete its vitality.

What's more, a single misstep would result in the demon ensnaring her and unleashing one of its numerous brutal finishing moves.

Within a mere twenty minutes, Natalie had unlocked a comprehensive collection of death animations.

The 'Tender Embrace': being ensnared in its colossal arms and squeezed until her bones audibly cracked.

The 'World's Strongest Slam': being hoisted aloft and violently slammed into the ground, reminiscent of Hulk's confrontation with Loki.

The 'Butt Bomb': the demon executing a soaring leap before crushing her flat with its immense posterior.

In essence: she perished repeatedly.

"This is simply too much! How can this possibly be classified as a mere mini-boss?!" Natalie wailed in utter despair after her umpteenth demise.

"Hahaha, take it easy, Natalie, you're only just beginning!"

"Don't fret, I'm also stuck here. Fighting this creature is an ordeal; I cannot even fathom how to overcome it."

"Same here. I tuned in hoping for guidance, only to discover you're just as inept as the rest of us."

"The developer is excessively cruel! What kind of monstrosity possesses such an unbalanced design?!"

"Consider this: if a solitary Scarlet Demon exhibits such overwhelming strength, and the Reed Soldiers command their colossal Taro brute, imagine the sheer terror posed by the Inner Government's actual military forces."

The chat was ablaze with discontent, while Natalie amassed deaths as if they were trophies. Eventually, she reached her breaking point.

"Folks, I need to step away for a moment!"

Employing a time-honored pretext, she muted her microphone, retreated from her screen, and promptly opened the substantial manual Tony had provided.

"Scarlet Demon, Scarlet Demon..." Natalie frantically perused the entries, soon locating the section detailing the Scarlet Demon's Weaknesses. Her pulse quickened with anticipation, but as she examined it more closely, her smile faltered.

Beneath the heading on the page, a solitary word was inscribed.

"Brief."

"Brief?! That's brief my foot!" She was on the verge of an explosion, pacing agitatedly. "Tony, you absolute charlatan! Is this some kind of twisted jest?!"

This was hardly a practice test, so why was the answer presented as merely 'abridged'?! In her academic days, encountering such abbreviated answers invariably evoked curses upon the author's very existence!

"Where's my knife? Where's my knife...?"

Her fury surged, but a glance at the camera compelled her to regain composure. She was currently broadcasting live. It was hardly an opportune moment to hunt down Tony and exact retribution.

Very well. Once the stream concluded, she would settle the score.

Just as she was about to slam the manual shut in exasperation, a detail caught her attention: minute text situated just below the word 'Brief'.

"Weak body, weak hair, weak fire. Heavy armor is weak, fat is weak, everything possesses a weakness. This is the fundamental principle for defeating foes in a soul-based game."

"It appears Tony hasn't entirely abandoned his integrity. At the very least, he's left a fundamental guideline." Natalie grumbled, scrutinizing the enigmatic sentence within the manual. "But why did he articulate it like some sort of cryptic equation...?"

She furrowed her brow. No matter how many times she reread it, the meaning remained stubbornly elusive.

"Enough of this. I've already squandered far too much time." After repeating the sentence multiple times to firmly imprint it in her memory, Natalie re-entered the virtual reality platform.

"Alright everyone, I've returned," she announced.

"We were starting to think you'd taken up permanent residence in the restroom!"

"Totally understandable. Natalie must live in a mansion with the game dev. Probably got lost on the way back."

"Yeah, the bathroom trip in a rich person’s house probably takes half an hour."

Natalie ignored the chat’s teasing and re-entered the game, retracing her previous route. Soon, she reached the same open ground.

Ahead, the two small fry soldiers still whispered to each other, while the terrifying Scarlet Demon roared and struggled in the middle of the clearing.

This time, Natalie didn’t rush down recklessly. Instead, she carefully recited the mysterious line from the manual.

"The body is weak, the hair is weak, the heavy armor is weak, the fat is weak, and everything is weak."

Though short, the line seemed to hint at the weakness of many Sekiro monsters.

She started running substitutions in her head. The Scarlet Demon was huge, sure, but no hair, so not a 'hair weakness.' No heavy armor, no fat belly either. That only left...

Natalie’s eyes suddenly lit up. The cliff.

Yes! There was a cliff right there. The same one she herself had fallen into!

Suddenly, everything made sense. Tony’s cryptic note wasn’t mocking her, it was the hint. The cliff wasn’t just her grave, it could be the his as well.

"I get it now..." Natalie muttered, a grin spreading across her face.

Acting quickly, she leapt from the roof, silently assassinating the two guards first. At the same time, the Scarlet Demon went berserk, struggling wildly to break free of his chains.

Instead of rushing him, Natalie sprinted straight toward the cliff’s edge.

"Natalie, what are you doing??"

"Why aren’t you cutting him before he breaks free?!"

"Yeah, if you don’t chip some health now, it’ll be hell later!"

The viewers was completely baffled.

The Scarlet Demon finally snapped his bonds, the chains shattering. He froze for a second, red eyes scanning, then locked onto Natalie’s figure by the cliff.

The earth trembled as the giant charged forward like a maddened beast.

Natalie didn’t even draw her blade. She just stood on the cliff’s edge, half her foot hanging off into the void.

"Rooaaar!!" The Scarlet Demon lunged, massive arms outstretched, aiming to crush her in a deadly hug.

"This is it!"

At the last second, Natalie took half a step back, then let herself fall straight down.

The Scarlet Demon’s momentum carried him forward. With no time to stop, the hulking monster barreled right over the edge.

Natalie’s hands shot out, grabbing onto the cliff’s edge just in time.

The Red Ogre wasn’t so lucky. With a furious, echoing bellow, his massive body plummeted into the depths below.

"WHAT?!"

"She actually baited the Scarlet Demon into jumping off a cliff?!"

"Holy crap, that’s genius!"

"Natalie is too smooth! This is the cleanest kill I’ve ever seen!"

"People spend hours getting smashed to pulp by this thing, and you solved it with a toilet break?!"

The chat went completely wild. Many of them had been stuck on this exact mini-boss for hours, some even longer than it took to beat the actual bosses. And yet Natalie had bypassed the fight entirely, with zero damage taken.

"Haha, it’s done guys!" Natalie clapped her hands after climbing back up. Her experience bar shot up, a skill point popped into her inventory, and she even received a gourd seed.

Even though the Scarlet Demon had been tricked into suicide, the system still rewarded her with full drops.

"Seriously, she’s a genius this time. I’m stealing that strat!"

"Thanks, Natalie, now I finally know how to get past this wall I’ve been stuck at for hours."

"That was actually so damn cool. I didn’t expect it at all!"

"Hey, hey, keep it low-key!" Natalie tried to act modest while clearly enjoying the praise. "I just had a sudden idea. Honestly, Sekiro is designed to be close to reality. You can’t only think about fighting head-on. Sometimes you have to use the environment, be flexible... that’s the real way to play."

"Makes sense! Makes sense!"

"Teacher Natalie, we’ve learned!"

"Indeed, I’m enlightened!"

If Tony had seen this, he would’ve definitely rolled his eyes, I gave you the strat, and now you’re pretending you came up with it yourself?!

Still, with the Scarlet Demon gone and her mood soaring, Natalie pressed forward.

Through several assassination routes and narrow escapes, she finally reached the outer grounds of Ashina Castle.