Looking down at his character, who had once again plunged to the very bottom of the tower, Louis felt his inner peace completely disintegrate. He took deep, exaggerated breaths, desperately trying to keep his soaring anger in check.
Was this really just a regular platformer? How could a game have zero checkpoints? And why on earth did the jump mechanics feel like trying to grab hold of thin air? Taking a quick breather, he glanced sideways at his stream's chat monitor. The barrage of comments was scrolling twice as fast as before, and the viewer count in his room was hitting record highs.
"Ah, old friend, welcome back!"
"I'm wheezing! I literally cannot breathe right now, fully dying of laughter!"
"Short jump, medium jump, high jump, the infamous COSCO jump... and back to square one we go!"
"Hang in there, Brother Louis! You're the absolute best!"
A sea of gloating viewers and subtle sarcasm washed across the live chat.
Although every bone in his body begged him to rage-quit immediately, the streaming performance of this game was undeniable; it was blowing up. He had a reputation as a literal god in platforming games; there was no way he could just log off after an hour and call it quits.
"Alright, let's recalibrate the mindset and start fresh!" Louis slapped his cheeks to snap out of it and planted his hands firmly back onto the keyboard. "Old man, I'm coming for you again! A scrub like you is stuck at the bottom for life; just sit tight and watch me leave you in the dust! Keep it cool, stay grounded. You can't play a game like this with a tilted mind!"
Be precise. Be cautious. Take it one single step at a time. Having grasped the general rhythm of the mechanics, Louis quickly maneuvered his character back up to the second map. While a drop here was still possible, the starting platform on this level was considerably wider.
Witnessing this small victory, Louis couldn't help but exhale a sigh of relief. "This might be a tiny leap for the game, but it's a massive leap for me."
"Okay, the terrain is getting tricky again. There's clearly a medium-to-large jump ahead. Gotta be careful not to clip the wall, or I'll slide all the way down that ramp. Slides aren't fun at all, they make you look like a total idiot!" Navigating through the sewer-themed level, Louis maintained a steady stream of commentary with his chat while his hands carefully executed every jump on the controller.
"Right here... jump!"
"Spot on!"
"Three tiny consecutive hops here. Keep the trajectory smooth, not too high, not too low!"
"Deep breaths, stay cool, don't get nervous!"
"NICE! Hahahaha! The king has arrived!"
"Can't lose focus now. Brand new map, brand new horizon..."
"Short jump! Big jump!"
Scaling his way up to yet another fresh environment, he found himself perched near what looked like a narrow chimney pipe. Surrounding it was vast, empty space, with only a tiny, precarious ledge acting as a foothold.
"It's wide open, definitely bad news at first glance. But this spot calls for a COSCO jump. We've practiced this dozens of times! Have a little faith in..." Louis's narration turned into a gasp mid-sentence.
Pressing the keys, he watched in utter horror as his character overshot the target platform. Louis's mouth hung wide open, his eyes glued to the screen in disbelief. His hands instinctively tore away from the keyboard to clutch his head in agony.
On screen, a unique falling animation triggered, one he had never seen before. The pixelated assassin character he was controlling spread his arms wide. A piercing eagle cry echoed through the speakers as the assassin plummeted toward the abyss. Simultaneously, the background shifted at breakneck speed: from a candlelit kitchen, through a pitch-black restroom, and finally landing right back in the damp sewers below.
Was this supposed to be the glorious 'Leap of Faith' experience from Assassin's Creed in this game? Why on earth didn't he feel a single shred of joy? Louis sat completely frozen in front of his rig, staring blankly at the monitor.
Suddenly, the image of President Yang's cheerful face on his own stream flashed through his mind. President John, does your conscience not ache even a little bit? Is this really what you meant by the 'joy' of a leap of faith?!
Meanwhile, Louis's chat room erupted into absolute bedlam as viewers nearly choked on their laughter.
"HE'S BACK! HE ACTUALLY FELL ALL THE WAY BACK DOWN!"
"I'm so sorry, man! I know you're suffering, but I physically can't stop laughing! HAHAHA!"
"My heart hurts for you, Brother Louis! Maybe it's time to swap games?!"
"Ah, so THIS is the 'joy' Mr. John was talking about!"
"Honestly, thank goodness the linkage event for 'Resident Evil Resistance' only requires idling for a bit rather than actual completion. As for the 'Jump King' title after beating it? If we don't want it, we don't need it, right?!"
"Not today! I am going to war with this game!" Louis pounded his chest, glaring at the endless barrage of comments; his competitive pride flared to the absolute limit. There was no way he was backing down! This game would be conquered!
Six agonizing hours later, Louis, who had somehow clawed his way up to the seventh level, vigorously pumped his fist in the air.
"Judging by the level prompt on the side, it looks like there are only 11 levels in total. Just 4 more to go! White Palace? Path of Pain?" Louis drew a deep breath, staring at the final ledge required to reach the eighth level before making his final decision.
He would jump up to the eighth level, call it a night, and resume tomorrow. He was genuinely running on empty today.
And then... The backdrop instantly inverted from crisp white to deep black as his character plummeted straight from the seventh level all the way down to the fifth. The familiar leap of faith, the agonizingly familiar sound of falling... This time, Louis didn't even scream. He was completely numb; this wasn't even his worst drop of the day.
"It's fine, it's fine. Minor setback! We can jump right back up. Mindset is everything, gotta stay positive..." Trying to comfort himself while eyeing the hyperactive chat, Louis balled his fists, wiped his palms, and placed his hands back onto the keys.
Holding down the spacebar, his relaxed expression suddenly contorted; he had miscalculated the duration.
"Wait, no... Oh, thank goodness!" Louis gasped. Looking at his character, who had only fallen down a single step, a relieved, ecstatic grin washed over his face.
"Could this be the grace of the Goddess of Destiny?" The previously stone-faced streamer was now beaming with pure joy.
"Goddess of Destiny, hear my call!" Grasping for divine favor, he slammed the jump key once more. Then, under the watchful gaze of tens of thousands of viewers, the tiny character struck the wall mid-air and bounced backward into freefall.
One second... two seconds... The fall lasted an agonizing twelve seconds. The character slipped perfectly through the narrow gaps of five full levels, landing right back in the sewer of level two.
The grin on Louis's face froze solid. His eyes stared straight through the monitor into the void. Silently, he manipulated the character to walk off the edge of the platform down to the bottom of the valley, arriving right beside the familiar old man.
"Oh? You're back again?" the old man's in-game dialogue line popped up.
Hearing those words and recalling every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears he had poured in today, Louis lifted his hands off the keyboard and buried his face in his hands. "I want to go home! I just want to go home! Turn off the stream, I'm done!"
The chat exploded into an absolute frenzy. Stream gifts and comments rained down like a tropical storm, blinding the screen entirely.
"I can't breathe! This is peak comedy!"
"I genuinely feel bad for him, but why is this so hilarious?!"
"Dropping straight from Level 7 back to Level 2 is utterly ruthless!"
"I was planning to hop on and challenge this game after work, but I am officially tossing that idea in the trash."
As the chat spammed relentlessly, Louis gradually pulled himself together. He quietly opened the official game launcher, brought up the store page, and clicked on the review section. He smashed the thumbs-up button to leave a positive review, typing out a single sentence: This game is incredibly fun. I am an idiot.
"In a game like this, your absolute greatest enemy is yourself. You can't let your mind break!" Looking into the camera at his chat, Louis declared with fierce determination, "I'm not giving up. I refuse to take this loss sitting down! Tomorrow, we recalibrate and conquer!"
Not only was the entertainment value for the stream off the charts, but more importantly, his pride simply wouldn't allow him to walk away. Six or seven hours of progress erased in twelve agonizing seconds; if he didn't beat this game, he would never sleep peacefully again!
"That being said, a game this amazing shouldn't be enjoyed alone. We need to spread the love to other streamers so they can experience this delight too!" Switching gears with a sly smirk, Louis opened his chat app right in front of his audience and began firing off game recommendations to his fellow creator friends.