OPTT: Chapter 86/87

Chapter 86: Game Unlocked

Just then, the system prompt suddenly sounded:

[Upgrade complete! New functions unlocking—]

Ron's attention snapped over instantly.

He put down the barbecue fork in his hand, his eyes flashing with anticipation.

He knew this system upgrade could bring about a whole new turning point.

A semi-transparent blue light screen reappeared in front of him. The progress bar had filled to 100%, and the system's voice rang out in his mind:

[Upgrade successful.]

[Congratulations to the host for unlocking a new entertainment app: Honor of Kings!]

Ron raised an eyebrow, staring at the system prompt for two seconds. "Honor of Kings?" He rubbed his chin subconsciously. "Is this the same one I know?"

He pulled out his work phone, and sure enough, next to the TikTok icon, a new app icon had appeared.

The icon design was quite aggressive—a silhouette of a Marine warship, with two crossed swords piercing a skull above it, looking especially fierce against a dark red background.

"Interesting..." Ron tapped the icon with a finger.

The screen dimmed, and a flashy CG animation began to play: Roger kneeling on the execution platform, his black hair blowing wildly in the sea breeze. "Want my treasure?"

With that classic line, the entire screen suddenly shattered into countless fragments, which then reformed into a full One Piece treasure map.

Immediately after, ten figures charged in from different directions, clashing violently over the treasure map. In the chaos, the map split into two halves, which transformed into two gleaming crystal towers, standing at opposite ends of a canyon.

The ten warriors split into two teams, forming a 5v5 battle lineup.

"Only by destroying the enemy crystal can you obtain the complete treasure map..." Ron read the guide softly, the corner of his mouth curving up. "This setting fits the Pirates world perfectly."

The One Piece world was all about endless conflict. Where there were interests, there was war. It broke out constantly, everywhere. This game matched that chaotic nature to a tee.

Ron couldn't wait to open the Hero Shop. As he looked at the dazzling array of characters, he let out a long sigh. "Thank goodness the system didn't make me design the heroes myself..."

Otherwise, just imagining creating hundreds of skill sets from scratch was enough to give him a headache.

"Start a match first?" His finger hovered over the "Start Match" button, but then he paused. The game had just launched—where would players come from?

Luckily, the system had already considered this and provided a Human vs AI mode.

Ron entered the backend settings interface and began adjusting the AI difficulty curve:

"Simple mode lets newcomers feel good..."

"Then suddenly throw in hard mode to smack them..."

"Then drop it back down so they feel confident again..."

"Then spike the difficulty so hard they start screaming..."

"And finally, ease them back in with simple mode again to keep them hooked..."

Ron stared with satisfaction at the rollercoaster-style difficulty curve he had designed. This kind of emotional rollercoaster would absolutely keep players coming back for more.

When they're happy, hit them with frustration. When they're on the verge of quitting, give them a sliver of hope. It was a perfect loop to keep them chasing that one more match.

"For now, I'll launch 5v5, 3v3, and 1v1 battle modes," he muttered while configuring. "We'll add Ranked and Casual modes after we build a player base..."

To lower the entry barrier, he directly linked the TikTok account system. No need for players to register or even choose a username.

Just as he finished the final setting, a notification popped up in the backend: A user has logged in.

Seeing the username, Ron's expression turned strange. "Kaido?" He rubbed his chin, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Perfect guinea pig to test emotional endurance..."

He swiftly switched to the admin interface and customized a 'Simple–Hard–Simple' difficulty curve just for Kaido.

"Let you taste sweetness first..." Ron grinned darkly as he hit the confirm button. "Once you're hooked, I'll let you experience five straight soul-crushing defeats..."

...

Inside the Onigashima main hall.

Kaido leaned lazily on his bronze throne, his thick fingers scrolling across the phone screen.

He had just finished watching a donkey hoof trimming video. The "scrape-scrape" sound was oddly satisfying, making his dragon-scale tattoos pulse gently with his breathing.

Gulp. He tilted his head back and downed a swig of liquor. The strong brew trickled down his beard and soaked into his massive chest muscles.

Just as he was about to power down the phone for a nap, a strange icon next to the TikTok app caught his eye.

It was a silhouette of a Marine warship, with two swords stabbed into a skull. Against the dark red backdrop, it looked especially menacing.

"Hmm?" Kaido's thick brows furrowed, his dragon-like pupils narrowing.

He extended one thick finger and cautiously tapped the mysterious icon. The screen dimmed, and with the sound of crashing waves, the scene of Roger being led to the execution platform appeared.

Kaido's expression instantly darkened, his fingers tightening unconsciously.

"Want my treasure?" Roger's voice echoed from the phone, and Kaido's breathing grew heavier.

He abruptly sat up straight, dragon scales rippling out from beneath his skin uncontrollably.

But what came next replaced his rage with pure shock. A complete One Piece treasure map actually appeared on screen!

The glowing golden map was a bit blurry—its details unreadable—but unmistakably real.

As ten figures fought over it, the map split in two, morphing into a pair of crystal towers.

"This... this is..." Kaido's breathing turned ragged, his claw-like fingers practically gouging the screen.

He had never imagined that a random app he tapped would actually contain clues about the Great Treasure!

A fiery fighting spirit blazed in Kaido's eyes. "If I destroy the enemy's crystal... I can get the full map!"

He muttered to himself, completely sucked in by the game's setup.

"Brat's little trick..." he grumbled, but his fingers obediently followed the tutorial step by step.

"Please select your hero."

A prompt popped up on the screen. Kaido frowned as he looked at the characters appearing one by one. "Kaizer? Fuzi? Arthur... Who the hell are these guys, calling themselves heroes?!"

His tone was full of disdain. To Kaido, the word "hero" carried a weight no random name could bear.

But as he skimmed the descriptions, the hand holding his sake gourd froze.

"Impossible!" He stared at their character bio, a flicker of doubt appearing in his eyes.

"Lived in ancient times? What, 800 years ago? Or even before the Void Century?"

Kaido's mind buzzed. How had he never heard of these so-called heroic figures?

(To be continued.)

Chapter 87: 0-12-3

However, it wasn't until he saw Arthur that Kaido finally calmed down—a human had finally appeared.

"But this human is no ordinary man... He's a king from ancient times!"

Kaido muttered under his breath, his tone tinged with doubt.

He stared at Arthur's profile, a flicker of complex emotion passing through his eyes.

He hadn't expected to encounter so many unfamiliar names in this game, but the stories behind them stirred his curiosity.

"Alright, I'll choose Arthur," Kaido finally decided, though his voice held a trace of helplessness. Still, there was a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

"Born of the sword, died by the sword? A great swordsman, then?" Kaido took a sip of sake. If these stories were true, perhaps these figures really deserved the title of 'hero'.

Comparing himself to them, he suddenly felt a pang of shame.

"Hmph! What the hell have I been doing all these years? I haven't even become Pirate King yet—how disgraceful," he muttered, his tone laced with self-mockery.

Kaido narrowed his dragon eyes, staring at the hero selection screen. He was having a hard time deciding.

All the colorful avatars looked the same to him.

"I'll just pick one at random!" he grumbled, closing his eyes and jabbing his thick finger at the screen.

When he opened his eyes, a voluptuous woman with fox ears and skimpy clothes appeared on screen—Daji!



Kaido's dragon face immediately darkened. Two streams of white mist shot out of his nostrils. "What... what the hell is this?!"

He was about to reselect, but his eyes caught the skill descriptions.

"Hmm... Charm... Burst damage..." Kaido's dragon whiskers twitched, and a trace of interest flashed in his eyes. "Could be fun."

With a system prompt of "All troops, attack!", he controlled the hero—so drastically different from himself—and swaggered toward the mid-lane.

"A mere defense tower..." Kaido snorted disdainfully at the golden glow under the enemy turret.

His mind was entirely focused on the supposed clues to the Great Treasure. Without hesitation, he controlled Daji and charged straight under the tower.

Before he could even touch the turret, he was blasted into a scurrying mess. His screen turned gray on the spot.

"What?!" Kaido suddenly sprang up from his throne, knocking over his sake gourd.

He glared at the revive countdown. His dragon scales were flaring with rage. "I roam free across the New World, and in this busted game, I got killed by a tower?!"

After reviving, Kaido finally got the hint. He carefully cleared minion waves, gathered gold, and followed the system's prompts to buy equipment.

When he took down his first defense tower, he triumphantly raised his gourd for a drink. "Ugh-gah-gah-gah! Now we're talkin'!"

But the good times didn't last long.

Just as he was attacking the second tower, three enemy heroes suddenly leapt from the bushes and surrounded him.

"BASTARDS!" Kaido frantically mashed skills, but Da Ji's petite body couldn't withstand the burst. She was chopped down in seconds. His screen turned gray again, and the respawn timer was even longer.

"I'M FURIOUS!!!" Kaido's roar echoed through the great hall, shaking the walls and knocking dust loose from the ceiling.

He shouted at his phone, "You four idiots! Come help me!" But his four AI teammates continued to wander around aimlessly, completely ignoring his cries.

After a grueling battle, when the big word "Victory" finally appeared on the screen, Kaido let out a long breath and slumped back into his throne.

That thrill of victory even dulled his obsession with the Great Treasure for a moment.

He wiped sweat from his forehead and mumbled as he stared at the post-game screen, "One more round... I'm getting MVP this time for sure."

Time flew, and before he realized it, it was already late at night.

Inside the great hall of Onigashima, Kaido was fully immersed in the world of Honor of Kings, ignoring the food his subordinates had brought in.

His massive body was curled up on the throne, eyes glued to the screen, his thick fingers clumsily swiping at the phone, yet full of determination.

"Hahahaha! Three wins in a row!" Kaido suddenly burst out laughing, his whole body trembling with excitement.

The golden "MVP" emblem on the screen made him puff with pride. "Bunch of useless teammates. It was all me carrying the game!"

Still unsatisfied, he started another match.

This time, he chose the stately Arthur, feeling that this hero finally matched his status.

As the game began, he casually hummed a little tune while leisurely clearing waves in the clash lane. His dragon tail even swayed in rhythm.

Suddenly—

Four enemy heroes jumped out from the brush, their skills raining down like a thunderstorm.

Before Kaido could react, his screen had already turned gray.

"WHAT?!" Kaido's dragon eyes bulged, two streams of white smoke blasting from his nostrils.

He stared at the kill replay, watching his Arthur get swarmed and ganked. His dragon scales stood on end, bristling with fury.

The rest of the match spiraled into chaos. Kaido forgot all about turrets, lane pushing, or victory conditions.

He scoured the map for those four ambushers, attacking anyone he came across.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" he bellowed at the phone, furiously tapping the screen with his claws.

Unfortunately, this reckless rampage caused him to fall farther and farther behind in economy.

By the time the enemy destroyed his crystal, Kaido's score had become a tragic 0–12–3.

As the giant red word "Defeat" flashed on screen, Kaido completely lost it.

"YOU SCUMS!!!" He hurled his phone to the ground with such force that the floor cracked in a spiderweb pattern.

But the damn phone was completely intact. The screen still glowed, displaying the "Play Again" button.

Kaido grabbed his kanabo and started hammering the phone into the ground.

Clang! Clang! The hall echoed with the sound of metal smashing the floor. Sparks flew, but the phone didn't even get scratched.

"Ugh-gah-gah-gah... Very good!" Kaido laughed through gritted teeth, veins bulging. His entire body turned scaly.

With a roar, he transformed into a massive blue dragon. His tail flicked the phone high into the air, and he opened his jaws wide.

"Heat Breath!!!"

The blazing dragon fire lit up the entire sky above Onigashima like daylight.

The phone spiraled through the flames, tumbling up and down in the inferno... yet somehow remained completely unharmed.

After venting, Kaido shifted back into human form and landed heavily on the ground, panting.

He walked over and picked up the phone that had rolled to his feet, finding it perfectly intact. Full battery. No damage.

For some reason, that actually calmed him down. He even began to admire the thing's durability.

"Hmph. I'll deal with you all tomorrow..." he muttered, tucking the phone into his belt and staggering toward the wine cellar.

Outside the great hall, King and Queen exchanged glances, completely baffled by tonight's spectacle.

Standing in the shadows, they watched as Kaido's fire-breathing tantrum lit up the night sky, their faces filled with confusion.

"King... what's wrong with the boss?" Queen asked in a low voice, scratching his head.

"I don't know. He's been on his phone all day. No idea what's so great about those videos," King replied flatly.

He'd been busy all day and hadn't checked his phone. He wasn't interested in flashy videos or pretty women anyway, so he hadn't paid it any attention.

(To be continued.)