7 natural days remained until the player's scheduled death. Enter the game?
Ever since he had started seeing this strange box in front of his eyes,
Su Wen had thought that either there was something wrong with his eyes, or something wrong with his brain.
He chose to look it up on One Hundred and One Degrees.
In this era,
minor ailments were perfectly normal.
A guy in Binjiang New City had started breathing fire two days ago, but the fire-breathing itself was not the worst part.
He had crashed the wedding banquet of some business district big shot, then set the big shot's wig on fire while toasting him.
The whole wedding venue had gone up in flames too.
Well, that was that.
There was no need to visit the Mental Review Bureau anymore. He went straight into criminal proceedings, and his life immediately entered its second stage.
Su Wen did not want to get locked up for no reason just because his brain might be sick.
He casually set up a virtual IP and searched One Hundred and One Degrees for similar phenomena.
Wonderful.
Terminal illness was only the starting point; there was no upper limit.
Just as expected.
So he tentatively asked,
"I'm scared. Could you not make it holographic?"
Player selected: Operation Mode Switch—Mobile Terminal. Project to an intelligent terminal? (Helpful reminder: If you possess a Brain-Machine System, you may ignore the system prompt and connect independently.)
"What level of technology do I have? My graphics card is a secondhand 2070 I picked up after the crypto crash. Where am I supposed to find a brain-machine interface? Just connect me yourself."
Projected to the nearest operating device: an old antique computer.
In an instant,
the RGB lights on Su Wen's computer lit up, and the screen came alive.
It really did not waste a second.
All those annoying prompt boxes vanished from before his eyes and appeared on his computer screen instead:
The game "Time Travel" has started. Enter the beginner level?
"What happens if I don't play?"
With the eyesores gone, Su Wen was a normal person again. He still had to prepare tomorrow's little assignment for his course project.
Whoever was sick could play it.
The next second, a blinding red light flared across the screen, and a news anchor-like voice came from the computer speakers:
Latest Midday News Report, September 17: A young man surnamed Su was found dead from sudden cardiac arrest in an old residence in Binjiang Old Town. The Mental Review Bureau determined: (No illness present). Cause of death: Sudden cardiac arrest caused by prolonged excitement, excessive cardiac strain, and severe physical exhaustion. Terrifying, isn't it? Also, he had browsed inappropriate content for an extended period. We hope all viewers will take this as a warning.
The computer even thoughtfully displayed a censored image of him at the moment of his sudden death.
He glanced at the date marked below his computer screen—September 10. At that moment, Su Wen was truly terrified.
"Do I have to die if I can't beat the game?!"
"And how did someone as upright and honorable as me end up browsing inappropriate content? Trash news."
Calmly, he copied out the folder on his D drive named Study Materials.
Then he repeated the above monologue.
Suddenly, that string of bright red text appeared before his eyes again:
Countdown: 6 days, 11 hours, 59 minutes.
"I'll play.
I love playing games."
Su Wen immediately clicked on the beginner level.
"I'm only asking you not to appear in front of my eyes. You'll block my view. You don't want the game to fail either, right?"
Sprout Game Type: Beginner Tutorial Level Time Span: Three Thousand Years Game Difficulty: Extremely Low Game Reward: The player may search for it independently. Game Background: Three thousand years after the Origin Era, humanity successively conquered the Eridanus ε Star System, the Cetus uv Star System, and Centaurus α Star. Its footprints spread throughout the Galactic Star Cluster before advancing toward the Large Magellanic Companion Galaxy. The mother planet was gradually abandoned due to its dangerous environment, becoming a "criminal paradise" for those with low genetic sequences. Game Objectives: One Star: Rescue the scavenger Qin Xiaodie. Two Stars: Eliminate the threat of the Sixth-Order Ruler—Pollution Dissemination—Human Mother Star Life Forbidden Zone—Natural Will. Three Stars: Hidden objective. Note: Completing the minimum rating will prevent the player from dying in reality. The higher the evaluation, the greater the reward.
"The mother planet gets abandoned right from the start. Three thousand years... I probably won't even be able to find my tombstone in the game."
The moment he said it,
he suddenly realized he had made a bad joke.
After all, if he could not clear the game, he would most likely be lying in Su Family Cemetery seven days later.
And it would have to be in the most unwanted corner.
Game Player: Su Wen Physique: Frail (caused by prolonged gaming; exercise more to avoid sudden death) Cognitive Ability: Not a top-tier individual among civilization clusters (excellent creativity, strong adaptability) Awakened Ability: None, ordinary human Mental Pollution Level: Below negative one hundred billion, unable to retrieve Evolutionary Lineage: None, ordinary human Title: Chief Player (locked, unique) Trial Ability: Appraisal (valid for seven days) Congratulations. After a comprehensive assessment, your combat ability is inferior even to the old hen at the village entrance.
"I was forced into sudden death."
"Besides, it's perfectly normal for a modern person to lose to the village bully."
As for that Mental Pollution Level, which was so far below zero it practically broke through the heavens, Su Wen had no idea whether Time Travel was to blame.
Completely speechless, he clicked Start Game.
The scene used an overhead perspective. The ruins of enormous high-rises filled the entire screen, while gray-black vines wound between the buildings.
The once-prosperous city had been reduced to ruins.
But the most eye-catching sight was a giant tree taller than any future metropolis, as though it could touch the clouds floating at the edge of the sky.
After the opening CG,
the camera dropped back down.
The screen showed the back of the game's protagonist, standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper in a jacket.
"This protagonist is very handsome. I like him."
Su Wen gave this "entirely fair" assessment.
After all, the character had been created from a one-to-one data model of him.
The controls were simple: QWER, plus a trial version of Appraisal. There was nothing else.
He first cast Appraisal on the giant tree in the distance.
Appraisal Result: ??! Destruction Factor ?? [￥%#@ Data Error]?... Natural Will?
"So this is that Life Forbidden Zone? Looks like I can give up on the Two Stars objective right away."
Su Wen moved the mouse to adjust the view.
Only then did he see a ring of metal encircling the sky itself.
Megastructure: Human Mother Star Star Ring (Damaged) Kane Corporation was founded nine centuries ago. What you are currently viewing is the data monitoring station area. However, it is also equipped with a weapon system capable of firing concentrated energy beam cannons, specially allocated by Kane Corporation for researching the Singularization Phenomenon—the Life Forbidden Zone—the giant tree. Later struck by (??? S-03 Sealed Archive: Ash Breath), the outer star ring became completely paralyzed and was abandoned.
"Post-apocalyptic future style. Not bad."
But for the sake of his own life, he decided to rescue the scavenger Qin Xiaodie first. After all, this game's difficulty was extremely low.
For Su Wen, a master of Soulslike games who had defeated Malenia in Elden Ring without taking a single hit, it should not be too difficult.
"Normally, the game's spawn point and plot point won't be too far apart."
He made the judgment based on his experience.
Just as he was preparing to search the surroundings for information,
a long-haired beauty in a dust-colored, form-fitting scavenger biker suit ran onto the rooftop. Her curvy figure was impossible to miss.
The moment she saw him, she raised the gun in her hand.
"Were you planted here in advance by the Morton Brotherhood?"
"I'm not. Don't make things up."
Su Wen activated Appraisal.
Secret Cache Scavenger—Qin Xiaodie
He had not forgotten his objective. He hurriedly became more serious and prepared to proceed with the game's plot.
"Qin Xiaodie, I'm here to save you."
"There's no time. They've caught up."
The long-haired beauty remained wary. She did not trust him merely because he had revealed her real name.
But this was a rooftop. She was not wearing gliding wings, and she had nowhere left to retreat.
The next second,
before Su Wen could do anything,
a squad of armed personnel rushed up from the stairwell and surrounded them.
One armed member of the Morton Brotherhood reported through the communications channel.
"There's another accomplice. Kill him too?"
"We only need the secret cache information. Kill everyone else and withdraw quickly."
"Received."
Just before they could pull the trigger,
massive vines burst out from the ground and completely destroyed the entire building.
At the same time, in midair, Su Wen watched his game character turn directly into a pile of ash.
Contacted: ??! Destruction Factor ?? [￥ Decay Vitality declining. Health points reduced to zero. The player has died. Restart?
"What the hell am I supposed to play? This is extremely low difficulty?"
Before you continue