The first match was still ongoing.
After some time, Dorothy had basically adapted to the game's overall control logic.
She also noticed that she could use her pickaxe to smash nearby houses, cars, road signs, and other objects.
Those objects would then turn into building materials, which could be used to construct defensive structures.
That surprised her a little—she hadn't expected the game to include a building mechanic.
So that meant she could potentially build herself a fortress, then defeat incoming enemies from the safety of solid defenses?
Dorothy felt like she had just grasped the core of the game.
So next, she began experimenting with the building system.
The building mechanics were extremely simple.
There were three types of materials: wood, brick, and metal.
Each material could be used to construct different kinds of walls.
And the walls themselves could take different shapes—slanted, vertical, or gently angled.
Everything felt just right.
More than 99% of players could understand the gameplay in the shortest possible time.
Soon, Dorothy successfully built a defensive wall.
Not long after that, her wall came under attack.
"Watch out, Dorothy! Someone's attacking your wall!"
At this moment, the viewers acted as early-warning scouts.
Of course, that kind of warning didn't help much, since livestream footage was often delayed by ten or more seconds.
That delay wasn't a big deal for non-gaming streams, but for gaming streams, it meant feedback was rarely timely.
In any case, Dorothy didn't have time to read the chat right now.
All she could think about was the fact that she was under attack—and she needed to fight back.
At the same time, she felt lucky she had built a wall earlier.
It gave her a brief window to breathe and observe where the gunfire was coming from.
Just before the wall was destroyed, she finally pinpointed the shooter's position.
She decisively pulled out the rare weapon she had just acquired and fired in that direction.
Dorothy had already gone through several skirmishes.
During those fights, she had picked up the best gear in the area, which allowed her to handle sudden threats with much more composure.
She quickly eliminated the enemy who had launched the surprise attack.
That feeling—turning the tables while at a disadvantage—was exhilarating.
Dorothy was getting a little carried away.
She found herself starting to like that counter-kill sensation.
Or rather, she was starting to enjoy eliminating other players in this game.
Now she wanted to move on and take out even more opponents.
At this moment, the large map's restricted zone began its countdown.
Outside the safe zone, players would take continuous damage.
Only by moving quickly toward the safe area could they survive.
In a certain American city, a streamer with hundreds of thousands of followers stared at his screen in frustration.
"What the hell? Why did that person suddenly have so many walls around them? If it weren't for those walls, I definitely would've killed them!"
This streamer was the one Dorothy had just eliminated.
His luck had been terrible.
Throughout his exploration, he hadn't found any good equipment—no defensive potions either.
That left him with just a single health bar to fight enemies.
Dorothy, on the other hand, was fully geared up.
With that comparison, the outcome was obvious.
"You're kinda bad, streamer. Didn't you pay attention to the in-game tutorial prompts? Even I noticed them. The game kept telling you that you could use items to build defenses."
Annoyed, the streamer snapped back at the chat:
"I just messed up, that's all. Of course I noticed the building mechanic—I just didn't realize it could be used like that. Come on, let's queue up again!"
The eliminated streamer clicked the matchmaking option again and entered his second match.
The first match continued.
Dorothy's grasp of the game mechanics was excellent, and her luck was also outstanding.
She had obtained powerful weapons and resources, making her combat ability top-tier in the match.
Now, she was practically mowing people down.
Relying purely on her superior gear, she could crush almost anyone.
She also noticed that the more players she eliminated, the better her equipment became.
She was growing increasingly fond of this cycle:
Eliminate players → loot their high-quality resources → get even stronger.
She didn't even need to gather much herself anymore.
All she had to do was wait for other players to collect resources for her—and then take them.
"Damn, I didn't expect Dorothy to have this side to her. I always thought she was a quiet, socially anxious girl who just liked dancing."
"Hey, who cares about personality when gaming? I actually like this version of Dorothy."
"Dorothy's pretty good at games. Hey, what was this game called again? I kinda want to try it."
At this point, Dorothy's livestream audience had quietly grown to over a hundred viewers.
Many of them were viewers from other streamers who had already been eliminated in the first match.
Those viewers came out of curiosity—to see who had taken down their streamer.
Now that Dorothy was tearing through the match, having eliminated more than a dozen streamers, curious viewers naturally flocked in.
And then they realized—
It was a girl.
The streamer they had been watching earlier had been eliminated by a girl.
To many viewers, it felt like discovering a new world.
If a girl could eliminate well-known streamers…
Then maybe I could too?
Many male viewers subconsciously began projecting themselves into the game.
From their god's-eye perspective as spectators, confidence came easily.
But Dorothy wasn't invincible.
Her strength lay in her quick understanding of the game early on.
That alone couldn't guarantee her safety until the end.
As the safe zone continued to shrink, the number of remaining players dropped rapidly.
Now, only nine players were left.
"Huff… huff…"
Famous streamer Porsccer stared wide-eyed at the screen, his breathing heavy and his face slightly flushed.
At this moment, he was controlling his character, hiding inside a room within the safe zone, afraid to step outside.
His luck had been pretty good.
Throughout the entire match, his area had remained within the safe zone.
He had been able to hide safely in the attic on the second floor of a building.
During that time, he had quietly taken out two or three intruders who entered the house.
But as the safe zone continued shrinking, his tension kept rising.
He was too famous—over ten million followers.
If someone eliminated him, they'd instantly become the center of attention.
Because of that, he had become extremely cautious.
Of course, part of it was also deliberate.
He was playing it up for entertainment value.
Right now, his stream had hit a peak viewership, with countless people watching to see when he'd finally be eliminated.
"Porsccer is insanely lucky. He's still inside the safe zone."
"Big streamers really do have some kind of mysterious talent."