Anime Crossover: Post-Apocalyptic Survival, My Stand is the World

Su Chen looked at the two "guards" frozen in place and couldn't help but mutter a complaint in his mind.

"Using cheats here actually requires paying an extra 'cheat fee,' right?"

What a heartless GM!

Although he was inwardly complaining, he didn't stop what he was doing.

The world slowly emerged from behind Su Chen.

Since the consumption has increased, we need to finish this quickly!

"Mu Da! Mu Da!"

Two clean and powerful punches precisely shattered the cores of the two "guardians".

Su Chen quickly retreated to his original position and struck a JOJO pose.

"—Time begins to flow."

Time to restore.

The two powerful "guardian" demons didn't even know how they died before they exploded and turned into a sky full of black ash.

The whole process, in the eyes of the girls, remained as calm and serene as ever, seemingly illogical.

However, the girls silently complained about Su Chen's strange posture.

This man always strikes a strange pose at times like this; just how much does he enjoy it!

Su Chen rubbed his temples, which were slightly throbbing.

It seems this place is even more interesting than he imagined.

at this time.

Next to the street, there was that electronic sign that previously displayed "Rule Number One".

The pixelated text above suddenly started jumping around wildly, like static on a television screen.

After a while.

A brand new line of text slowly appeared, carrying a hint of warning.

"【Article Two】"

"【The use of 'unconventional' methods to skip procedures is prohibited…】"

Before anyone could understand the meaning of the words...

Suddenly, a piercing synthesized sound blared from loudspeakers hidden in the corners of the street. The voice was filled with obvious electrical noise, indistinguishable between male and female, and its tone was full of nasty amusement.

"Hey Hey hey--"

"Can you hear me? Can you hear me?"

"The player over there, yes, you, the handsome guy in the black casual clothes."

"Although I don't know exactly what you did, you definitely cheated! Don't 'cheat'!"

"Otherwise, this 'game' won't be fun."

"!"

The sudden sound made all the girls tense up instantly!

"The man behind it?"

An unprecedented wariness flashed in Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes.

Su Chen laughed.

Hmph, this is getting interesting!

However, even the Triple Rebirth and the Four Eggs are afraid of me. With these powers, I will forever stand at the peak!

What a foolish mastermind!

Let me, Su Chen, take charge of you!

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Invitation to the SEGA Building

The synthesized sound, accompanied by static, disappeared, but its lingering echoes, like a depth charge, created a massive wave in the otherwise silent street.

The mastermind behind it all!

"Player? Game?" Kasumigaoka Utaha twirled the end of her hair with her fingers, her beautiful wine-red eyes flashing with a dangerous yet excited light, the look of a top hunter who had spotted her prey.

"This guy... he's got some nerve. Does he think he's some kind of all-knowing god in visual novels?"

"Not only that." Yukino Yukinoshita pushed up her non-existent glasses, a habitual action she took when entering high-speed analysis mode (actually, she was suddenly having an episode).

"He must have been monitoring us the whole time. The scope of his surveillance must have covered at least the entire Akihabara."

"Moreover, he may already have a certain understanding of Su Chenjun's abilities, and may even be able to make a judgment such as 'cheating'."

"This person might also be a hardcore gamer who is very passionate about anime and manga culture."

The two genius girls, one after the other, quickly exposed the mastermind hiding behind the scenes, revealing his self-righteous and immature "pleasure criminal" persona.

"Then... what should we do?" Yui Yuigahama's face turned pale with fright, and she subconsciously grabbed Su Chen's clothes. "Being... being stared at by a perverted peeping tom... that's too scary!"

It must be said that although Tuanzi is not very bright, she can always use the simplest language to accurately summarize the essence of the problem.

Su Chen did not answer immediately.

He simply raised his head, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, and slowly swept over the towering, cold buildings around him.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the reinforced concrete, like the highest precision radar, searching in this steel jungle for where that chuunibyou-filled "GM" was hiding in some dark corner.

'interesting. '

A slight smile curved his lips.

'Your biggest mistake was showing off your pathetic GM privileges in front of a max-level player like me.'

It seems that in response to his silent exploration, or perhaps the "GM" was broken by Yukinoshita's accurate "character portrait" and decided to stop hiding.

The mutation happened again.

Zila——!

A loud siren suddenly rang out, as if the entire city's power grid had been activated instantly.

Not far in front of everyone, the tallest and most conspicuous arcade building with a huge blue "SEGA" logo on its roof suddenly came to life!

On its originally pitch-black glass curtain wall, all the neon tubes, billboards, and decorative light strips suddenly lit up at the same time without any warning!

"Wow!" Eriri, a seasoned otaku, couldn't help but exclaim.

That wasn't just random light, but a meticulously choreographed visual feast!

Countless blue dots of light converged into a ring, just like the constantly rotating golden ring in the game Sonic.

The red and white light strips flashed and intertwined, forming a classic fighting scene in Virtua Fighter;

Even the outline lights on the building's edges have started to simulate the trajectory of the protagonist's flight in "Space Harrier"!

A dazzling pixel storm instantly pierced the darkness of this desolate city, illuminating the entire street like a city that never sleeps, full of the cyberpunk feel of the peak of the bubble economy in the 1990s.

Su Chen even silently complained to himself, "At this rate, how much will the electricity bill be per month?"

Then, an even more shocking scene unfolded.

The huge electronic screen in the center of the building, which is over 100 square meters and large enough to be used to broadcast the World Cup final, also lit up!

A classic snowy noise flashed across the screen, followed by an incredibly familiar voice, etched into the DNA of a generation, that resonated throughout the entire street—

"SEGA—!"

The short, mesmerizing startup sound sent a shiver down the spines of Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha, former "gamer geeks," as if they were transported back to their carefree days of sneaking into arcades after school.

A moment later, on the screen, a huge red arrow made up of the oldest 8-bit pixels, accompanied by the "ding-ding-ding" sound of an RPG quest prompt, pointed to the closed, futuristic glass door of the SEGA Game Center!

Below the arrow, there is another line of blinking text in the same pixel style:

[Start Mission]

【leave】

This is no longer a hint.

Instead, it was a simple, crude, and provocative "invitation to a mandatory mission."

"..."

Faced with this bizarre scene filled with surrealism, even the bold Yukino and Utaha subconsciously held their breath.

However, more than fear, what they probably think deep down is—

Steamed Goose Hearts with Four Delicacies!

Just then, the synthesized sound, accompanied by electrical noise, rang out again from the speakers all around, this time filled with a laugh as if a prank had been successfully pulled.

"Hehehe... It seems you're quite satisfied with the opening animation I prepared."

"Since you're so eager to see me and so eager to know the 'strategy'—"

"Then come in."

"This building is the 'beginner level' I've carefully designed for you. It has seven floors, and I've prepared a few small 'retro games' for you. As long as you can clear each floor one by one and collect all seven 'achievement badges'," the voice paused, as if deliberately imitating a classic villain, "I'll be waiting for you in the 'Demon King's Chamber' on the top floor."

"So……"

"Have fun, brave players!"

The sound disappeared.

Only the brightly lit, neon-lit SEGA building remained, like a pixelated behemoth with its jaws wide open, silently awaiting the arrival of its prey.

That enormous arrow, at this moment, resembled the tongue of a giant beast, tempting people to fall into depravity.

"Play...play games?" Yui Yuigahama blinked innocently at the scene before her. "Is it like those claw machines and dance machines we used to play together at the arcade after school?"

“I’m afraid,” Yukino Yukinoshita said, looking at the building that was emitting an eerie light, calmly pouring cold water on her feelings, “—the price of losing would be ‘Game Over’.”

She paused, then added, "In a physical sense."

"..."

Yui's face turned pale instantly, as if she had heard the most terrifying ghost story in the world.

Utaha Kasumigaoka, unusually, didn't complain. She crossed her arms and frowned, saying, "A typical trap, luring us into his pre-arranged territory. Each floor has a so-called 'game,' who knows what kind of monsters and dangers are hidden inside."

The atmosphere suddenly became extremely solemn.

To go or not to go? This is a complex question facing everyone.

However, at that moment, an undisguised chuckle abruptly broke the oppressive atmosphere.

It's Su Chen.

Looking at the building in front of him, which exuded the aura of a "final boss level," he showed no nervousness whatsoever; instead, a smile full of anticipation appeared on his face.

His expression was like that of a bored hardcore gamer who had just seen the newly released "Black Myth: Wukong" and couldn't help but feel eager to try it out.

"rest assured."

He casually waved to the girls behind him who had "the end of the world" expressions, as if he wasn't going to venture into a den of thieves, but rather to the convenience store downstairs to buy a bottle of Coke.

"To deal with these self-righteous 'planners' who just hide behind their screens,"

"I have a hundred ways to make him delete his account and run away."

He paused, a sly, excited glint in his dark eyes—the kind of cunning glint a player would show when discovering a game bug.

“And he made a very basic mistake.” Su Chen held up one finger. “He treated us as ‘players,’ but forgot that there are differences between players.”

"There are ordinary players who follow the rules step by step, and naturally there are..."

His gaze swept across the building, as if searching for a bug that allowed him to walk through the walls.

"—A hardcore gamer who is well-versed in 'The Art of Game Design' and proficient in all kinds of 'unorthodox gameplay'."

"He wants us to progress through the levels according to his rules, one by one?" Su Chen laughed, a laugh as bright as a villain's. "But why should we listen to him?"

“Don’t forget,” he turned back to the somewhat stunned girls and gave them a mischievous smile, “— ‘As long as you’re not caught, it’s not considered cheating.’”