Bugs, the Sacred Relics That Keep ChillyRoom Running

"What?!"

The group froze for a moment before immediately putting it to the test.

Fourth Brother was the most excited. He immediately activated a skill: "[Otherworldly Vortex]"

A blood-red black hole appeared and remained there even after several minutes.

"Holy crap! It really didn't disappear!"

Fourth Brother was ecstatic. With a thought, the swarm of blood-red flying swords he had summoned earlier did not vanish. Instead, they circled him like loyal servants.

He tried controlling them to lift him up. After some awkward swaying, they actually carried him into the air, lifting him unsteadily off the ground.

"Hahaha! I can fly!"

Third Brother pondered this and muttered softly,

"Does that mean I can keep summoning them?"

He tried using his second skill again. As energy surged, another batch of massive vines began gathering around him.

"No... It's very faint, but I can feel my stamina being depleted." Second Sister calmed down and carefully sensed her condition.

"It seems our skills have become innate abilities of our bodies, so they no longer have the rigid cooldown restrictions they had in the game."

"But using them most likely consumes the energy or stamina within our bodies."

She pointed at Fourth Brother floating in the air. "Like Fourth Brother right now. Maintaining those bats... uh, flying swords must be continuously consuming something."

"That's still insanely strong!" Fourth Brother slowly descended, still thrilled.

"If we have enough mana potions... or enough stamina, wouldn't Third Brother alone be able to raise an entire army?"

"In theory..." Second Sister looked at Third Brother and pressed on.

"Third Brother, can your summons stack? Can you summon the same type more than once?"

Third Brother sensed it for a moment, then shook his enormous deer head.

"It seems the summons from my first and third skills can only have one active at a time. But the vines from my second skill... there doesn't seem to be a limit, as long as I have enough stamina."

"I remember your vines can fire energy waves for ranged attacks too, right?" Second Sister confirmed.

After Third Brother nodded in affirmation, Second Sister's expression finally relaxed, with a hint of amazement.

With her arms folded, she looked at the forest of vines that nearly filled the hall and clicked her tongue in wonder.

"Enormous size, theoretically unlimited numbers, ranged energy attacks, and they leave behind a toxic zone after dying... Plus the all-around enhancement and ice-and-fire enchantment from your first skill..."

She summed it up with a teasing yet genuinely impressed tone.

"Damn... So Third Brother actually turned out to be our strongest fighter?"

"M-me?"

Third Brother raised a claw to point at himself, then awkwardly scratched his enormous antlers. His voice remained tiny.

"But I don't want to fight..."

Eldest Brother shook his head. "You don't need to fight personally. Besides, it wouldn't be good if Third Brother's abilities were exposed at this stage."

"But this gives us much more confidence in facing this world."

Eldest Brother looked around at his siblings: himself, able to transform into a Flame Demon; the mysterious necromancer; the versatile vampire; and the druid with terrifying potential.

The strength contained within this team had already far exceeded his initial expectations.

As he watched his siblings continuously test their skills, Eldest Brother began thinking as well.

Skill combinations... What can my skills do?

Eldest Brother's body stiffened slightly. Even the lava on his face seemed to wrinkle.

Fourth Brother noticed something was wrong. Eldest Brother's lava-made face had practically twisted into a knot.

"Eldest Brother?" Fourth Brother lightly poked him with the handle of his scythe.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you jealous of us?"

Eldest Brother came back to himself. He raised his head, his voice filled with excitement.

"I was thinking... Since our skills no longer have cooldown limits... could I... exploit a bug?"

"A bug?!" The moment he heard the word, Fourth Brother's eyes lit up. He slid in front of Eldest Brother and struck an exaggerated salesman's pose.

"A bug! That's the sacred relic that keeps ChillyRoom running! Honorable Mr. Flame Demon, please share your brilliant idea!"

Eldest Brother ignored Fourth Brother's usual craziness. He turned to Third Brother, who was still utterly confused, and spoke in an unquestionable tone.

"Third Brother, use your summons to attack me!"

"???"

Third Brother's head was full of question marks, his eyes filled with confusion and panic.

"Huh? Attack Eldest Brother? No, no!"

Fourth Brother rubbed his arms and moved farther away from Eldest Brother, looking disgusted.

"I misjudged you, Eldest Brother! I never thought you were that kind of person. No matter how desperate you are, you can't make a move on your own brother!"

Second Sister froze for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up. She instantly understood Eldest Brother's intention and exclaimed excitedly,

"Could it be that you want to...?!"

"That's right!" Eldest Brother confirmed, a curve appearing at the corner of his lava mouth.

Watching the two speak in riddles, Fourth Brother pointed at Third Brother and shouted unhappily.

"Hey! What kind of encrypted conversation are you two having? Could you spare a thought for teammates whose brains occasionally go offline?"

Third Brother: "?"

Suppressing her excitement, Second Sister rapidly asked, "What is the effect of Eldest Brother's first skill, [Energy Shield]?"

Fourth Brother answered instinctively, "Activate the shield, absorb all damage, and convert the absorbed damage into ener—"

His voice abruptly cut off, and his eyes widened.

"In other words..." Eldest Brother folded his arms and continued, his voice filled with certainty.

"As long as I keep Energy Shield active and continue taking damage, then theoretically, not only will I not consume energy, I'll continuously convert the damage I take into energy and store it!"

He paused, looking around at his siblings, all stunned by the idea, before continuing.

"And because there's no cooldown... as long as the attacks don't stop, my Energy Shield can remain active indefinitely, and my energy can keep growing!"

"This energy can be used to cast other skills, or... simply keep me at my peak state with infinite energy!"

"H-holy crap!" Fourth Brother's mouth fell open.

"Oh! Eldest Brother, you're a genius! This bug is downright shameless!"

Second Sister nodded forcefully. "If this idea works, Eldest Brother will enter an invincible state. Unless some deus ex machina shows up, he'll be able to bulldoze his way through almost anything."

Fourth Brother said, "Come on, Eldest Brother can bulldoze his way through anything even without that skill. After all, he doesn't have legs."

Third Brother finally understood. He looked at his ferocious summons, then at Eldest Brother.

"So if I attack Eldest Brother, he won't get hurt?"

Eldest Brother looked at Third Brother again, his gaze full of encouragement and anticipation.

"That's right! Third Brother, don't hold back. Attack me to your heart's content!"

This time, Third Brother did not hesitate. He controlled the enhanced flesh-and-blood vines and lashed them at Eldest Brother.

"Pfft!"

Under the group's blank stares, Eldest Brother was sent flying backward.

Fourth Brother said, "Holy crap! Eldest Brother hasn't even activated his skill yet! Third Brother, what are you doing?!"

Third Brother said, "I don't know!"

"Cough, cough! I'm fine..." The lava domain spread out as Eldest Brother hurried back toward them, the wounds on his body rapidly healing.

"It'll be fine once I activate my skill. Let's try again!"

"O-okay."

Third Brother cautiously lashed out again, and Eldest Brother immediately felt energy clearly flow into his body.

"It works!" Eldest Brother roared, his voice full of joy.

"Harder!"

Encouraged, Third Brother increased his force. More vines joined in, whipping Eldest Brother.

Watching the bizarre scene before him, Fourth Brother opened his mouth, then stopped himself.

A Wendigo was whipping a Flame Demon... How could I be having a dream like this?

On the other side, Eldest Brother could feel energy pouring in at an even faster rate.

Maintaining his domain, he felt the power within him gradually swell. He tried channeling some of that energy into the giant lava arm behind him, and the flames on it immediately burned more fiercely.

"It worked! It really worked!" Second Sister recorded the results excitedly.

Fourth Brother was already dancing around in excitement. "Hahaha! Invincible! An energy perpetual-motion machine plus an invincible state... Damn it! If I'd known, I would've played a Paladin too."

As Third Brother controlled more enhanced vines to join the charging effort, Fourth Brother enthusiastically began attacking with his little blood-red bottles as well.

The energy gathering around Eldest Brother became increasingly astonishing. Scorching flames burst from the cracks in his lava body, making him look like a walking miniature sun.

"Holy crap! Eldest Brother, you've turned into a flashbang! I'm going blind, I'm going blind!"

Fourth Brother used his cloak to shield his eyes, though this vampire might not actually have feared bright light.

Second Sister ignored Fourth Brother's antics and spoke with a hint of concern.

"Eldest Brother, the energy is gathering too quickly! Can your body handle it? Do you feel like you're reaching a limit?"

Eldest Brother fell silent for a moment, carefully sensing the state of his body. Then he spoke in an even stranger tone.

"I think... I found another bug."

"?" x3

Fourth Brother said in horror, "There's more?! Eldest Brother, have you been possessed by the God of Bugs today?!"

"Mm," Eldest Brother's voice carried a note of disbelief.

"My skill converts the damage I take into energy. Now there's too much energy, and my body is about to burst... But this state seems to be considered a form of damage too..."

He paused, then voiced the conclusion that left everyone dumbfounded.

"So, energy makes me burst → it counts as damage → the damage gets converted → it produces new energy → which keeps making me burst... It seems... to have formed a loop."

Fourth Brother's mouth hung open as he muttered, "Damn... So the law of conservation of energy is just toilet paper to you, huh? What kind of stepping on your own left foot to fly in place perpetual-motion machine is this..."

Even the usually composed Second Sister's eyes flickered at this, but Third Brother raised a question.

"But Eldest Brother, if all that energy just piles up inside you and can't be effectively used, then it seems... kind of useless, doesn't it? It might even be dangerous."

"No..."

Second Sister immediately denied it, her voice trembling slightly with excitement as she abruptly turned to Eldest Brother.

"We can use that, can't we, Eldest Brother!"

Eldest Brother looked back at her with blazing eyes. It was as if volcanoes were erupting within his lava-like pupils.

"You mean... that?!"

"That's right!" Second Sister nodded forcefully, her tone decisive. "That!"

Watching the two enter encrypted-conversation mode again, Fourth Brother waved his scythe in protest.

"Hey! Even by Terra's racial standards, I'm a freaking Blood Demon! I'm not a Liberi, so why are you always talking to me in riddles?!"

Eldest Brother turned to Fourth Brother and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Then watch closely! My transformation!"