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Chapter 123: The Challenge Begins!
🕑 Added 2025-09-16 14:46:02 +0000 UTCLooking at the rapidly refreshing chat messages in front of him, honestly, Kairos felt genuinely puzzled.
At least ninety percent of the people in the chat were demanding he play Emerald. It seemed the game's popularity had really taken off lately.
Kairos couldn't help but think that if he played Emerald now, it would undoubtedly be a chance to boost his stream's visibility.
But why had his stream suddenly attracted so many people?
Just as he was about to ask the chat to figure this out, a string of answers actually refreshed right before his eyes.
[Streamer! Your Battle Road video where you dominated the whale teams with zero cash got turned into a highlight reel by Bill! It's super popular!]
[Bill's latest 'Hardcore Moments' episode is all about you, haha! The view count has already exploded.]
[Streamer, when you're walking down the street, don't you feel like people are talking behind your back? Your underhanded tactics have left so many people stunned.]
Bill?
Kairos was suddenly startled and searched through his memory.
He did remember that someone claiming to be a video creator had contacted him before, wanting authorization for some of his Battle Road gameplay footage. He hadn't thought much about it and agreed since it sounded like a good thing.
He never expected that person to actually be Bill!
That top researcher from the original Pokémon world had become a content creator in this world?
Honestly, this was pretty surreal.
But hearing this, Kairos finally understood why his stream had so many viewers now.
He spoke softly into the microphone.
"Well then, welcome to all the new viewers. Today's stream content will be a fresh playthrough of Pokémon Emerald from scratch."
His mouse pointer moved across the desktop, decisively clicking on the icon that gleamed with emerald green light: Pokémon Emerald.
[Here we go! The delightfully predictable suffering segment!]
[Good luck, streamer! Try to survive Route 101!]
[Taking bets! How long before the Youngster wipes out the streamer!]
[Which starter will you pick? If you're brave, choose the hardest one—Treecko! Hahaha!]
Kairos ignored the chat messages waiting for him to crash and burn, quickly creating a new save file and entering "Passerby" as the player name. The Pokémon Emerald logo began appearing before him as the opening cutscene played.
Looking at the familiar scene, Kairos felt somewhat nostalgic. It had been who knows how long since he'd first played this game, and he never expected to experience it again like this—especially with the Emerald version he'd personally created.
But just as Kairos was lost in thought...
BOOM!
The entire stream screen was suddenly flooded with an incredibly dazzling golden light! A massive, ornately designed virtual crown accompanied by stunning system sound effects descended from above, filling the center of the stream!
A string of golden text suddenly appeared.
[User 'Bug-Type Enthusiast' has gifted streamer 'Decent Person' 'Sinnoh Crown' x 10!]
Ten times in a row! A full ten of the platform's highest-tier gifts, each "Sinnoh Crown" worth 100,000 Pokédollars!
The stream chat fell into an eerie silence, as if this sudden astronomical gift had stunned everyone. Then came a chat explosion even more intense than when the stream started.
[Holy crap?!]
[Ten Sinnoh Crowns? That's a million Pokédollars??]
[Are you insane? Which whale sent those?]
[Damn, a golden crown user—first time I've ever seen one in my life!]
[Worship the whale! Streamer! Thank them quickly!]
At the same time, due to the sudden appearance of this million-Pokédollar gift, the streaming platform's recommendation system naturally kicked into gear. The viewer count surged again at a terrifying pace, instantly jumping from the original 100,000 to a high of 150,000.
Kairos was also slightly stunned by this scene.
To be honest, after Emerald's sales took off, a million Pokédollars wasn't really much to him now—it couldn't even make his heart skip a beat. What surprised him was why someone would suddenly burst in and send such high-value gifts.
The next moment, he saw a conspicuous chat message with a special golden border slowly drift by, from that "Bug-Type Enthusiast":
[Streamer, nice skills. Watching you play Battle Road was exciting. Since you're playing Emerald now, dare to add some difficulty? It'll be more challenging and make for better stream content. Don't worry, I won't let you work for free.]
A million Pokédollars just to make a request?
Kairos suddenly felt this was unexpected. Rich people's happiness might just be this simple and straightforward.
"What do you have in mind?"
The golden highlighted message appeared again, brief but igniting the entire stream once more.
[Since I particularly love Bug-type Pokémon, I want to see you clear the entire game using only Bug-type Pokémon.]
Before Kairos could react, the viewers in the stream went crazy.
[What? Only Bug-types?]
[Whale, you're not joking, right? Actually Bug-types?]
[Bug-types??? Those things are famously fragile, have tons of weaknesses, and fall off late game, even in real life, right???]
[Hahaha, boss, you're trying to kill the streamer.]
No wonder their reactions were so intense—after all, as that middle comment said, Bug-type Pokémon in the real world were known for their various flaws and would never be a top trainer's first choice.
And in Pokémon Emerald, it was even worse! The game's difficulty had been thoroughly proven through Cynthia and Iono's previous gameplay. Even when players could freely catch various Pokémon for help, the difficulty was quite high. If limited to only Bug-types, this would be completely unplayable!
But just then, that "Bug-Type Enthusiast's" golden message appeared again, carrying the confidence that only the wealthy possess:
[Streamer, have you decided? If you accept the challenge and reach the game's current latest progress using only Bug-type Pokémon within one week, I'll gift you another 'Sinnoh Tower'! If you complete it, I'll send another one.]
[But if you can't do it, or use any non-Bug-type Pokémon midway, you'll have to return the previous ten crowns and the promised two towers intact. If you don't think you can do it, I'm going to find entertainment in other streams right now.]
Two Sinnoh Towers?!
At that moment, the chat completely lost it.
The platform's most expensive gift, "Sinnoh Tower," represented one million Pokédollars each! Two towers meant two million! Plus the previous million in tips—a total of three million!
All this money just to watch an all-Bug-type completion challenge?
Countless messages flew through the stream:
[Two... two towers???]
[Whale daddy! Do you need any leg accessories??]
[Three million to watch the streamer play games? My worldview has collapsed!]
[Ugh, I hate rich people.]
Beyond the shock, the stream chat split into two camps.
One side was here for the drama, while the other calmly advised Kairos to abandon this challenge.
[Streamer, stay calm! This money's too hot to handle!]
[Yeah! What if you accept and can't do it? You'd have to refund the money and lose face big time!]
[Don't be impulsive, streamer! Bug-types are genuinely weak!]
[Can't wait to see the streamer get trolled by Bug-types until he questions life itself! Maximum entertainment value!]
[Streamer! Accept it! Take the gamble!]
[Gamble what? This is obviously a losing bet! How could Bug-types complete the game?]
[Exactly, even Cynthia wouldn't dare accept this! The challenge level is maxed out!]
At this moment, all the pressure in the stream seemed to converge on Kairos. Countless eyes stared at him, waiting for his decision.
Kairos looked at the golden challenge declaration on screen without even raising an eyebrow.
All-Bug-type completion?
Challenging?
Where's the challenge?
Cynthia and the others found Emerald difficult because they were essentially facing a strange and complex world.
For him, this was more like revisiting familiar territory with specific rules.
One week to reach Mt. Chimney was more than generous time-wise.
He'd expected this mysterious whale to propose something beyond conventional limits and hard to control, but instead it was this interesting challenge.
This suited him perfectly—it would complete the system's streaming popularity mission while bringing highly topical content to both the stream and the game. Although viewers wanted to see him suffer with a Bug-type team, what he'd deliver would definitely be something else entirely.
So, amid the storm of "don't accept," "run away," "money-crazed," and "waiting for the crash" messages, Kairos spoke two clear words into the microphone.
"I accept."
These two words exploded like thunder in the stream!
[Holy crap!!! He actually accepted!!!]
[He's lost it! The streamer's definitely lost it!]
[Three million! Streamer, you're confused! Is this money that easy to take?]
[Haha, nice! That's courage! Just for that guts, I'm following!]
[Why don't you trust the streamer? He dominated whales and pros with a zero-cash team in Battle Road!]
[Wake up! How is this the same? Even Cynthia would get stuck using a regular Pokémon team, and the streamer dares use all Bug-types? Big Sis Cynthia would give him a thumbs up for that.]
[Front row seats ready with popcorn.]
[Don't scare the streamer, haha! I'm still waiting for the show.]
The chat completely descended into chaos mixed with celebration and doubt—no one expected Kairos to actually dare accept such a challenge.
And that "Bug-Type Enthusiast" seemed satisfied with Kairos's decisiveness, leaving a golden [Looking forward to your performance] message before going silent, quietly waiting for Kairos's display.
Before Kairos, Emerald's opening cutscene had finished playing.
This meant that now, the all-Bug-type completion challenge had begun!
He smiled slightly, looking at the familiar interface before him, controlling his character as he stepped out of the moving truck.
