The Pinnacle of Greed, Wealth Sought in Death!

What sound did metal make as it slowly sawed through flesh?

The answer was: none. Before the saw encountered any real hard obstruction, it felt like leather rubbing together—like two sheets of cowhide being violently scraped against each other, determined to grind one of them to ruin.

Against the already crimson backdrop of the lava hell, that leg instantly became even redder.

The world seemed to fall silent for a moment, like a frozen frame from a black-and-white silent film. The only sound in the air was the sizzle of steak frying.

"AAAAAHHH!!!"

A piercing scream rang out, but it did not come from Lu Ce. It came from the woman hanging beside him.

Lu Ce had not even reacted yet, but she was already squealing like a pig being slaughtered.

"What are you doing?! Stay away from me!"

Having entered with the mindset that this was just a game, where had she ever seen anything like this? Could someone really just start sawing whenever they wanted?

Looking at the Masked Man beside her, she began struggling and thrashing wildly in midair, babbling incoherently. Fear had completely devoured her reason, and her mind was on the verge of collapse.

Chosen of Suffering, Suffering Points +3!

Chosen of Suffering, Suffering Points +2!

The Suffering Points kept coming in, and Lu Ce had been quietly pleased. Then the woman beside him started howling like a pig being slaughtered, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.

He looked at the woman speechlessly and complained, "I mean, why are you screaming? It's not your leg being sawed off."

"Besides, you'll still have to saw yours off later. Think of this as getting a feel for it in advance. It'll be good for you when the time comes, right?"

"What? Or do you want to give it a try now?"

As he spoke, Lu Ce extended the saw in her direction, almost as if he were inviting her.

Seeing that blood-soaked hand holding a saw, the woman stopped screaming altogether and went limp—she had fainted from fright.

She had been scared unconscious by the pervert's gameplay!

All she hoped now was that when she woke up, everything would turn out to have been a dream.

"Honestly... you could've at least prepared yourself mentally before coming in."

Having casually scared a bystander unconscious, Lu Ce continued sawing at his leg.

Sawing off one's own leg was not merely excruciatingly painful. More than that, it was a form of spiritual torture, a slow execution of the mind.

But the Sin Mask's Greed Mode left Lu Ce without even that bit of psychological pressure. As long as he watched his Suffering Points rise, as long as he got what he wanted, such a trivial, painless price could be completely ignored.

There was a saying that went: when profits reached 50%, people would take risks;

When profits reached 100%, people would dare trample upon every law in the world;

When profits reached 300%, people would dare risk their lives.

But for Lu Ce now, even a one-percent chance—even the possibility of some benefit—was enough to make him risk his life. Greed made him utterly enjoy the feeling of dancing on a knife's edge, seeking fortune amid danger.

That feeling was enough to drive one mad!

By now, the saw blade had sunk halfway in. Aside from the woman beside him, the other participants had gone pale as well.

Who would not be frightened by such an excessively graphic scene?

Especially with that masked pervert in front of them, sawing at himself without making a single pained sound, even chuckling from time to time.

It truly made them feel as though they had entered hell.

"Brother, you're incredible. We really overestimated ourselves by casually entering this game..."

On the other side, a pale-faced man spoke to Lu Ce. According to the viewers, he too had participated in and cleared a beginner's game.

"When it's time to make a decision, you make it. Choosing to cut off your leg first—impressive. Your rating and rank in your first game must have been pretty high, right?"

"But at least take a look! You're sawing your left leg!"

"Oh?" Lu Ce looked at his mangled left leg. "Is there a problem?"

"The iron chain is locked around your right foot! What's the point of sawing off your left leg?!"

"I wanted to saw it. Is that not allowed?" Lu Ce swayed back and forth, utterly self-righteous. Then he shouted into the air, "Who says I have to saw off my right leg?"

"I just want to saw off my left leg. Is that okay?!"

This time, Lu Ce was addressing that entity which had spoken to them before, something akin to the "game organizer."

But this time, the mechanical voice that had appeared several times before did not sound again.

Lu Ce did not care. His plan had always been a gamble anyway. Whether he won or lost, at least he still had Suffering Points increasing from time to time, didn't he?

The other players watching nearby all turned their heads away, despair in their eyes.

One person beside them had fainted from fright, while the other seemed to be a deranged pervert with something wrong with his brain. If they had a chance to survive, they would never dare participate in such a deadly game again.

Not only them—even the Chosen Ones currently acting as spectators all felt that their choice had been the right one.

:Is this what a Hell difficulty game is like? Good thing I didn't join...

:Terrifying. Are all the players who achieve a perfect clear this insane?

:In a game this extreme, I guess only psychopaths could stay that calm while sawing off their own leg.

:But it was useless anyway. He was ruthless enough, but his brain clearly wasn't working very well.

Most viewers watched Lu Ce, the "perfect clear" player, and the chilling scene before them, marveling at his courage without wisdom.

However, not everyone watching was merely a spectator. Some clever people were trying to gather intelligence and prepare for what came next, and they understood Lu Ce's intentions.

A Chosen One named "Blank," watching as a viewer, posted their own analysis in Lu Ce's livestream chat.

Blank:You don't seriously think that a player capable of a perfect clear could be stupid enough to saw off the wrong leg, do you?

Blank:If I'm right, he's playing a game against the rules of this game. Do you remember what he said earlier?

Blank:During the previous conversation, he asked what would happen if sawing off his leg didn't save him, and gave the example of falling down and accidentally landing straight in lava.

Blank:His goal was to ask about every possibility in which sawing off a leg would fail to save him, but he deliberately steered the discussion toward irrelevant details.

Blank:Then, at the end, he seemingly casually asked in that crazy manner whether sawing off a leg would definitely save him. But that was where he finally revealed his true aim—there were many ways to saw off a leg, including sawing off a leg that wasn't trapped.

Blank:But because the organizer had been misled earlier, they gave him an affirmative answer.

Blank:That was why he sawed off his left leg!

Blank:It was only a word game, yet he still carried it out without hesitation for a possible benefit... Players who achieve perfect clears really are monsters who maximize their gains. Pain, his own leg... none of it even entered his calculations.