Hakushika Iori Beats Bills Must Be Paid, Then Watches Taxes Take Her Winnings

PHASE CONNECT — Hakushika Iori of Phase Connect cleared Bills Must Be Paid on her stream, defeating the game’s final boss about four hours and 26 minutes in. The game then presented one last bill, taxes, which took the money she had just made and left her with a net worth of $1. “At least I won and I defeated the game,” she said.

The game has players earn money by smashing piggies with a hammer and spend it on upgrades while paying bills on a countdown. Iori said she had played it on a previous stream and kept her permanent upgrades from that run. Early on she lost a double-or-nothing gamble and declared bankruptcy, then restarted with a stronger base, and she stopped taking chat’s advice for a stretch after another loss. A piggy shuffle bet around the one-hour mark paid off with a jackpot, and she picked the winner by calling the middle one.

“I defeated the game. I haven’t defeated a game in so long.” — Hakushika Iori, after the final boss

Her earnings climbed through the middle of the stream. Around the three-hour mark she had 1.39 million in a single round and, after chat urged her to double it, decided to hold on to it. By the time she realized she had no bills left to pay, she was making millions per round, and she let the final boss fight run with her hands off the mouse. After the win she thanked viewers for four Super Chats and for a raid that arrived late in the stream.

The stream opened with a long chat about real life. Iori said she had a public health bill to pay in person, in cash, and that she planned to go do it once the stream ended. She also described losing hours to scrolling Twitter the night before and said she would try to open the app less. In the closing minutes she said paying real bills makes her feel like a responsible adult, though the amounts are another matter.

Chat cheered the big gambles and followed the late run closely. “To think she was close to defeat earlier. Now she’s cruising,” one viewer wrote as the boss fight approached.