Chapter 158: Reactions from All Sectors (Part 1)

If PD's livestream room was a microcosm of emotional collapse, then the game's story discussion communities were a scene of total frenzy and "confession."

Just a few hours ago, Charles, who had just cleared the grand finale, sat alone in his messy room. He stared blankly at his computer screen at a ten-thousand-word viral post he had previously written, confidently analyzing why "Dr. Roman is definitely a traitor."

After a while, without any warning, he suddenly gave himself two loud, hard slaps across the face.

"I... I'm a... I'm a..."

Charles clutched his hair tightly, a massive sense of guilt and indescribable shame nearly drowning him completely.

He had prided himself on being the server's top lore researcher, using a magnifying glass to scrutinize every word for flaws left by Oriole, smugly "exposing" Roman's disguise in front of millions.

But the truth was that he had used the most malicious conspiracy theories to speculate about the most selfless and greatest soul.

Carrying this unbearable shame, Charles's eyes reddened, and his hands trembled as he pressed the "Delete Post" button.

Then, while tears streamed down his face, he began typing frantically on his keyboard, writing a brand-new work of atonement.

Two hours later, a post titled "To the King We Misunderstood for Ten Years—The Biggest Clown on the Internet Was Myself" rose with unstoppable momentum to the number one spot on the trending searches.

In this post, Charles not only expressed his deepest apologies to Dr. Roman but also used an extremely professional tone to meticulously analyze how Oriole had perfectly stitched together the foreshadowing, mechanics, and plot throughout the entirety of FGO Part 1.

This article, which should have been filled with rigorous logic and rational deduction, was instead soaked through every line with the bitterness of the author typing through tears in the middle of the night.

"Hello everyone, I am Charles. Here, I must offer my deepest apologies to Oriole, and also to the man I have constantly called a 'traitor.'"

As a lore researcher, I once wrote tens of thousands of words in analysis, arguing with certainty that Dr. Roman was the mastermind behind Chaldea. I listed the suspicious loss of his Clairvoyance, his unexplainable mystery, and even his perpetually exhausted dark circles... I thought I had glimpsed the truth behind FGO's suspenseful design.

But when the truth was revealed upon The Throne, accompanied by that phrase 'Ars Nova (The Time of Parting has Come),' I realized that my so-called rational research was nothing more than a clown seeking attention in the face of this god-tier tragic foreshadowing.

It turns out those ten years of dark circles weren't some villainous depth, but the despair of a man who had finally gained a human body, only to see a future where humanity was destroyed at the very last second, and spent every day and night trying his hardest to save us.

He clearly possessed supreme wisdom, yet was willing to disguise himself as a useless medic; he was clearly the most afraid of pain, yet at the final moment, he voluntarily stripped himself of his final right to be resurrected from the Throne of Heroes, turning into an eternal 'nothingness.'

Oriole used a whole year of main story updates and the laughter and tears of seven Singularities to set up an epic-level, peerless reversal for us.

He didn't just use game mechanics to deliver a dimensional strike against all online games; he also gave all the players on Blue Star a harsh lesson in storytelling.

What is a hero? It's not maxed-out stats, nor a world-destroying Noble Phantasm, but a... coward who knows he will die, knows all traces of him will be lost, yet still stands before you with a smile.

Doctor, I'm sorry!

Truly, truly, I am so sorry..."

Once the post was published, the replies exceeded five digits in just a few minutes!

Countless players who had been influenced by Charles and doubted Dr. Roman were now lining up to "kowtow digitally" under the post.

"I'm sorry, Doctor! I'll never complain about you being annoying again, please come back, waaaaah..."

"Old Thief Kirito's scripting ability is a total dimensional strike! This method of perfectly blending settings and emotions, then ending with a 'total wipeout' like the removal from the Throne of Heroes, is unprecedented!"

"We won the game, but we lost the whole world!"

...

Meanwhile.

On this sleepless night, it wasn't just the battle-hardened veteran players; this emotional storm called "FGO" began to spread outside the community in an incredibly exaggerated manner.

In a high-end apartment in Magic City.

Lina, a rising hardcore film commentator on B-Site with nearly a million followers, was wearing fluffy pink pajamas and sitting at her computer editing a classic suspense movie commentary.

"Waaaaah—Old Thief Kirito, I'll hate you for the rest of my life!!!"

Suddenly, a piercing wail that sounded like the sky was falling came from the master bedroom next door, nearly making the mouse in Lina's hand fly out.

Immediately after, her best friend and roommate, Chen Jiajia, rushed into the study with eyes as red and swollen as walnuts. She grabbed Lina's leg, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

"Jiajia? What's wrong?! Did you break up or get fired by your boss?" Lina patted her friend's back with a bewildered expression.

"It's way worse than that... ugh... Oriole isn't human! He has no heart! He took the gentlest person in the world away from me! Waaaaah..."

Chen Jiajia was hiccuping from crying, and her tears soaked a large patch of Lina's pink pajamas.

Lina finally realized that her roommate was a heavy 2D-culture and gaming nerd who had been staying up late every night recently to grind that tower defense game called FGO.

"It's just a game, right? Is it worth crying like this? Did your favorite 2D husband or wife get written off?"

Lina pulled out a tissue and handed it over with a slight chuckle. "Tell me, what happened? Who died?"

"Waaaaah... Old Thief Kirito has no heart! How could he be so cruel!!"

Chen Jiajia didn't listen to Lina's question at all. She just used the tissue to frantically blow her nose, sobbing uncontrollably as she grabbed Lina's wrist with red eyes.

"Lulu, believe me! Don't you complain every day that modern movie scripts are like a pile of trash? Go play FGO! This is the true ninth art! Waaaaah... but the price is just too painful..."

Before Lina could ask who died, Chen Jiajia broke down again, covered her face, and ran back to her room, collapsing onto her bed to continue wailing, leaving Lina standing there in a daze.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Lina curled her lip.

She usually only did deep analyses of classic movies and high-rated masterpiece anime. She had never been very interested in video games, let alone a 2D game focused on gacha and tower defense.

What kind of broken game could be sadder than Titanic? And the ninth art?

Out of professional curiosity and a hint of defiance, Lina opened the holographic VR pod's app store, typed the three letters "FGO" into the search bar, and clicked download.

"I want to see for myself just what level of script can stab Jiajia into this pathetic state..."

She was completely unaware of what price this reckless move would make her pay in the future...

------------------------

Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later

"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"