Carl and Donut enter the holographic set of Death Watch Extreme Dungeon Mayhem while the real room rocks like a boat. Once the holo stabilizes, Carl sees that the audience is made up almost entirely of cruel preteen and early-teen boys chanting for death. The host, the Maestro, appears as a large, boar-like orc who revels in humiliating crawlers for his viewers.

Two other crawlers, Li Jun and Zhang, appear beside Carl and Donut. The Maestro shows that the men have been pulled from a frozen death trap where their party is cornered between troglodyte bashers and hatching Brindled Vespas. Li Jun’s sister Li Na and their injured manager remain in the frozen scene, and the Maestro forces Li Jun and Zhang to play a game predicting whether other crawlers live or die in order to earn teleport points to save people.

Li Jun and Zhang end with only two points, not enough to save everyone. When the Maestro demands a choice, Li Jun refuses to abandon anyone and says they will die together, while Zhang briefly tries to save Li Jun and Li Na. Carl, disgusted, tries to leave the show; the holo drops, and the production crew and Administrator Mukta threaten consequences, including acceleration, unless Carl participates.

Carl returns to the set on the condition that he can speak without punishment so long as he does not attack the dungeon administrators. Once brought on early with Donut, Carl refuses the expected banter and demands to join the Death Watch game. Carl argues that Li Jun and Zhang’s two points should be usable to teleport Carl and Donut into the trap instead, deliberately turning the audience against the Maestro’s control of the segment.

While provoking the Maestro, Carl realizes the show likely paid heavily for Carl and Donut and cannot casually risk them. Carl uses that leverage to disrupt the Maestro’s cruel narrative, then quietly tells Li Jun and Zhang to grab Li Na and the injured manager, abandon the sword, and run through the troglodytes because the lizards are slow and distracted. Enraged, the Maestro sends Li Jun and Zhang back into the trap rather than accept Carl’s challenge.

When time resumes, Zhang grabs the injured manager and Li Jun pulls Li Na away from the fallen sword. The party runs toward the troglodytes, and the Brindled Vespas spit acid at the lizards, causing the two monster groups to fight each other instead of the humans. Li Jun, Zhang, Li Na, and the manager escape into a safe room, where Zhang gives the injured man a healing potion, leaving Carl to openly mock the Maestro on live television.