They're Faking Their Deaths So Convincingly

This black book contained very little writing, but what they could see on its pages made them tremble all over. This game seemed to be far more than simple Sand Table evolution and species evolution through spores. Their exploration of the entire Sand Table game had apparently only uncovered the tip of the iceberg.

"This is freaking awesome! This game deserves endless praise!"

"At first, I thought that while this kind of Sand Table game was very free, its weakest point would be the background setting. But this game's setting is seriously insane!"

"Hurry, hurry, time's up! Close the book—the giant boss is back! If we can't figure it out, forget it. Kill the boss first!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

In the distance, a majestic Ten Thousand Feet Giant was slowly approaching.

Xu Zhi returned carrying his lunchbox.

Naturally, he had no idea that while he had rushed out, those Sand Sculpture Players had taken the opportunity to make trouble and secretly read his Experiment Diary.

They thought it was hidden story content and excitedly discussed it among themselves. They even imagined the game world's background setting and wildly filled in all sorts of details, already heaping endless praise on the game developers.

"Chen Xi's matter has been settled. I comforted her over her long-distance relationship. Now, it's time to test the new species—and settle my old score with that fellow Mount Akina Speed."

He returned to the Sand Table.

The miniature mountains and rivers everywhere were silent. The bizarre species that had once run wildly and screamed at the giant's appearance were nowhere to be seen.

Clearly, they had taken the opportunity to hide atop the chair, preparing to rebel against Xu Zhi.

Xu Zhi did not care. Following his usual routine, he slowly returned to the chair, opened his lunchbox, and began eating. He wanted to see exactly how they planned to deal with him.

"Let's see what's for dinner today." Xu Zhi sat on the chair and opened the lunchbox. As always, it was a delicious Vegetable Love Dinner: carrots, fried egg, and greens, all of it looking appetizing.

At that moment, his arm suddenly stung faintly.

A group of strange-looking bugs had viciously bitten his arm, the sensation like mosquito bites.

"So that's how it is? A diversion?"

Xu Zhi smiled, instantly understanding their plan. They would have the bugs bite him, then while he swatted at them, some highly venomous species would take the chance to sneak into his lunchbox and poison him to death.

"They lowered their pain sensitivity, then self-destructed, using their lives to draw my attention and buy time for Mount Akina Speed's venomous species to infiltrate my lunchbox." Xu Zhi laughed.

A good plan. As expected of a group of veteran players used to hardcore dungeon runs—they had instantly devised the optimal strategy to take down him, the giant boss.

A faintly devilish smile appeared on his face. "Insect Nest Sub-Brain, forcibly raise their five senses. Set their pain sensitivity to fifty percent."

At one hundred percent perception, they would experience the same sensations as in reality. If they died once in the game, they would feel the intense pain of that death in real life as well.

Making them experience a real death even once would be too harsh a punishment. After all, Xu Zhi was not some demon.

But even fifty percent of the sensation of death was enough to leave them numb with agony after dying once, wishing they were dead, haunted by the nightmare for the rest of their lives.

Smack! After forcibly raising their pain sensitivity, Xu Zhi casually swatted that bug to death.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!" The player was smashed into scarlet pulp, and agonizing pain instantly surged through him.

The pain was comparable to one of the ten great tortures of ancient times. He let out a pig-slaughtering scream so shrill that the surrounding players' scalps went numb.

"My five senses... didn't I set them to zero?"

After logging out and removing his VR Glasses, he broke out in sweat and gasped for air.

His clothes were soaked through, his muscles twitching wildly in severe spasms. The sensation and pain of dying in that game had been far too real, and he was practically collapsing from exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the other players in the game had no idea what had happened and silently gave him thumbs-ups.

"666! Brother, that was insanely realistic! That bug scream when you died had soul!"

"This big brother was so enthusiastic, charging in first. Then I'll heroically sacrifice myself too." One player laughed smugly. "Watch me! I'll bring my whole colony in. I'll scream even more miserably and make it even more realistic!"

"Big bro, we're counting on you."

"On the first day of the Second Beta Test, if we're running the Giant Chair Dungeon to kill the boss, we need a tank to risk his life and draw aggro."

The player received praise from those around him and became extremely pleased with himself. He quickly climbed down from the chair, specially set his pain sensitivity to zero, and led his colony stealthily onto Xu Zhi's arm, imitating the previous player as he prepared to take a vicious bite.

Smack! Before he could bite down, he was hit hard.

A colossal palm descended like the Five-Finger Mountain, blotting out the sky and moon.

With one slap, he was crushed into pulp.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

"It hurts so much!!"

That bug let out another heart-wrenching, frenzied scream.

His scream was indeed even more tragic than the previous player's. It sounded as if he had endured the most brutal pain of his life; just hearing it made goosebumps rise.

"666!"

"This brother's death looked so real!"

"He's faking it even more convincingly than the last guy! He screamed even worse too!!"

The people around them shouted in delight. They were having the time of their lives!

Look! What was an acting emperor?

This was one! This guy's performance was incredible—his death looked so damn real!

They could not help applauding. This guy was clearly acting with his soul. To take down the giant boss, he was truly giving it everything he had.

"Brothers, this time I'll draw the boss's aggro. Those two screamed after getting slapped to death, and their screams were way too exaggerated. That's too fake—the giant boss will notice something's off. This time, I'll play a tough-guy bug. I'll die heroically. Beat me to death, and I won't make a sound!"

Another bug quickly climbed down from the chair and slowly crawled onto Xu Zhi's arm, preparing to take a bite.

Smack! He was reduced to a mangled lump of flesh.

"WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

"It hurts so much!!"

He screamed even more miserably than the other two.

His wails echoed through the sky, so tragic they were enough to kill someone, as though someone had cruelly poured medicated oil over his wounds. The agony was beyond description.

"Bro, you're taking the wrong acting route here!"

"Didn't you say you were going for the tough-guy image? Why are you screaming so miserably too?"

"He's probably a goofball trying to create contrast in front of us."

Seeing this, everyone shook their heads. They suspected nothing and continued hiding in the corners of the chair, quickly discussing how to fight the boss and formulating strategies.

As those three bugs drew the monster and died gloriously, that "stupid" giant boss only focused on swatting bugs. He failed to notice Funeral Chicken secretly approaching and climbing up his pants, nearly reaching the lunchbox.

"I'll be the next one to draw his attention. I'm not like that goofball just now. Let me play a real tough-guy bug! When I die, no matter how badly I'm smashed or how torn apart I become, I definitely won't make a sound."

Smack! One slap killed him.

"WAAAH! WAAAHHHH!!!!! It hurts so much!!" In an instant, his heart-wrenching screams rang out.

This time, he screamed even more miserably. His hoarse shrieks tore through the sky, painful just to hear.

"Hmph, where's that tough-guy bug you promised? In the end... he couldn't resist! Still, his acting is so realistic. It's like he really was slapped into pulp and instantly suffered inhuman torture. We have to give him a like!"

"Like!"

"Like!"

Everyone whispered and discussed it animatedly.

At that moment, another player stepped forward. It was the five-armed bizarre species named "My Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand Wants to Evolve into a Kun." He was quite famous among the players. He merely shook his head calmly, his expression solemn. "Brothers, I, Deformed Little Prince, am different from them. Watch me perform as a real tough guy!"

This time, someone truly reliable had stepped up. Everyone felt slightly reassured.

The players had spent some time with him and knew that he had a steady personality. He was not like the previous goofballs and was very serious. He definitely would not deceive them. He would surely show them the image of a true tough guy.

"Watch me! The wind blows bleakly, the Yi River runs cold; once the brave man departs, he shall nev—"

Smack! Another slap.

"WAAAHHHH! AAAAAHHHH!!!! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!" He let out an even more miserable scream.

His deformed species was slapped into a bloody mess. Even its arms had been smashed off, and all five malformed arms had been crushed into purple, mushy eggplant-like paste mixed with disgusting black fluid. It was a sticky pool of blood and sludge, and its head could no longer be distinguished from its arms. The corpse alone looked miserable.

At the same time, his heart-rending screams were unbelievably tragic, making the strange insect players huddled in the corner feel their scalps tingle.

Players: "????"

This was a tough guy?

He screamed worse than anyone else. Did this big shot have some misunderstanding about what a tough guy was? The players were stunned and fell silent for more than ten seconds.

Then they suddenly looked at one another and broke into bright smiles. "Who would have thought that someone usually so serious would joke around with us too? These people are wasting their talent playing games. If they went into acting, they could all win Best Actor. What a waste."

"Yeah, yeah! They're faking their deaths so convincingly!"