The Broken Mirror Squad Were Just Rebels
After the system finished speaking, no one in the conference room moved for a moment.
Yu Xing glanced at the lottery tube in front of her. The tube was painted red, and a strange dark gold symbol was facing Yu Xing, but its meaning was unclear.
The wooden sticks in the lottery tube had a slightly yellowish tinge, and just by looking at them, they appeared completely blank.
"What are we going to draw?" Qu Xuanqing picked up the lottery tube with one hand, squinted at it, and even fiddled with the lots inside. The fact that they were being asked to draw lots at this time clearly meant that the result was related to the divination, but they didn't even know what they would draw, so they were always at a loss.
"The slips in the tube indicate the roles you can play in this simulation. Shake off three slips, meaning you draw three roles and choose one. This role will be closely related to your simulation."
This time, the radio system seemed to have an interactive function, and it immediately answered Qu Xuanqing's question.
"It seems we all need an identity in this so-called neutral world." Zhao Mou twirled the lottery tube, his gaze behind his glasses meeting the speaker on the radio. "Opportunities to communicate with the system are really rare. So, three questions."
His tone was calm and composed, showing no sign of being caught off guard by this sudden turn of events. "Will this identity lead to us being targeted by certain forces during the simulation? Will it allow others to know our identities? Will our different identities lead to different storylines, resulting in conflicting stances and forced opposition?"
The system received Zhao Mou's question, and the radio crackled twice before replying:
"Different identities present different levels of survival difficulty. The higher the survival difficulty, the easier it is to regain one's abilities. Those with lower survival difficulty can also choose to participate in the plot to increase the survival difficulty in order to find clues."
"Only the teams bound within the same session know the identities of their members. Once you enter the simulation, you can choose to reveal your identities or conceal them. At the starting point, factors such as your clothing will reveal your identities to some extent, but this is not absolute. You can conceal your identities through conversation and lies. The consequences of revealing your identities can be good or bad; please decide for yourself."
"The twenty participants will not be forced into conflict or opposition based on any particular identity."
Upon hearing the system's reply, Yu Xing's eyes lit up with interest. This was the first time he had encountered such a setting, and things are always more interesting the more novel they are.
The questions had been answered, but the group still hadn't drawn lots. The system calmly warned, "You have five minutes left. If you don't complete the drawing and identity selection within five minutes, the system will randomly select an identity from all available options and automatically assign one. You won't have time to hear the subsequent rules."
That would be terrible!
As previously announced, there will be no system in the neutral world, and their missions will be issued in other ways. They will need to find clues on their own to figure out how to leave the simulation. If they can't even hear some of the rules now, they'll be completely lost as soon as they enter the simulation.
The Breakthrough Squad chickened out quickly.
Suddenly, the conference room was filled with the sound of layers of shaking sticks; the wooden sticks swayed and rustled inside the tubes.
Yu Xing gripped the divination stick container with both hands and shook it. Because he was quite strong, a wooden stick quickly flew out of his container and almost hit Qu Xuanqing, who was sitting diagonally opposite him, in the face.
Qu Xuanqing: "..."
Speechless, she grabbed the fortune slip and handed it back to Yu Xing without even glancing at it. She then asked the system, "His fortune slip ended up on my end. If I return it to him, is it his or mine?"
"It's his turn," the system said. "The person who drew the lot only considers the one who drew it; even if someone else touches the lot, it won't affect the result."
Qu Xuanqing was finally relieved.
Yu Xing smiled lightly at Qu Xuanqing, then looked at the words on the slip of paper.
The wooden sticks were blank when they were in the tube, but now that they've been shaken out, several characters appear at the top of the sticks.
[Doctor: Low difficulty]
Yu Xing had no interest in the profession or the level of difficulty, put the lottery ticket aside and continued shaking it.
The second slip landed smoothly in front of him. He picked it up and looked at it.
[Doctor. with a beak: High difficulty level (high mortality rate)]
"?" Is he at odds with the Doctor?
However, Yu Xing could barely accept the bird-beak Doctor's suggestion; the higher difficulty should make the Yugi more enjoyable. With only one slip left, he shook it out with great hope.
[A-level pollutant: Extremely difficult to handle (high mortality rate, not recommended)]
Yu Xing's eyes lit up.
Both signs noted a high mortality rate, and only the third sign said it wasn't recommended, so of course I chose that one!
The contaminant clearly didn't look like anything good, but he was happy with it.
"Keep the identity you wish to choose from, and return the other two to the drawing tube. That completes the selection." The system notification reads, "In this simulation, no two of the forty players will have the same identity, whether on our side or the enemy side."
Ten seconds later, the five people laid out their chosen lots on the table, leaving the unused lot-drawing bucket aside.
After seeing their choices, the system seemed to fall silent for a moment.
"Didn't you say time was tight? Just tell me what we need to do next." Yu Xing was probably the one among the mourning-level deducers who had the least respect for the system. He glanced at his teammates' identity cards and chuckled knowingly.
The system reluctantly announced, "You have respectively selected the following challenges: High-Difficulty A-level pollutant, High-Difficulty Heretic, High-Difficulty Model, High-Difficulty Hospital Survivor, and High-Difficulty Shadow Wizard."
The order is: captain, vice-captain, and then ranked by rank. That is to say, apart from Yu Xing's signature, the heretic is Zhao Mou, the model is Qu Xuanqing, the hospital escapee is Carlos, and the shadow wizard is Zhao Yijiu.
Listen closely, and you'll hear one extremely difficult question and four highly difficult ones, highlighting the arrogance of these humans.
Moreover, apart from the models, none of them seem to be respectable individuals.
Oh, maybe models are just as unconventional, after all, you can't really see what's so special about a model that warrants a high-difficulty choreography.
The system's silence could be a sign of shock or helplessness, since most of these slips were clearly marked as not recommended, yet they completely ignored the warnings, demonstrating remarkable rebellion.
"As an extra reminder, it's not appropriate to reveal the identities of any of you five to others." The system seemed to have resigned itself to its fate, even its voice, which sounded like a mobile phone assistant, showed a slight fluctuation. "Identities recorded, storyline loaded, rule reminders to follow."
"This simulation will use a 'Ghost Notification' format. Near the starting point, you will find a notebook by searching. This notebook will be used to record the ghosts you encounter and simulate along the way. All the contents of the notebook require your active exploration, and the final contents will be included in the decision-making process."
There are four winning conditions for this simulation. Achieving any one of them will result in victory and immediate completion of the level.
"The first task is to unravel the biggest mystery of Dead Silent Island and decipher its worldview."
"Secondly, destroy Dead Silent Island."
"Thirdly, all players in the Tester faction die."
Article 4: The Ghost Notification Form records all information about ghosts.
"Points two and three are the conditions for all players to pass the game. Points one and four only apply to the player who deciphers the worldview. If that player shares their conclusion with others, those others can also pass the game."
"A special reminder regarding the second point: If you intend to destroy Dead Silent Island, any player who fails to find a safe way to survive at the moment of destruction will perish along with Dead Silent Island. Please consider this carefully and try your best to find ways to save your life during the simulation."
"A special reminder for the fourth point: if the player does not find the notebook at the initial location, they will automatically lose the qualification to pass the fourth point and can only pass the point through the first three methods."
The system seems to be in a hurry, since its users are going to be competing against other systems this time. So it can't afford to mess with the users at this time and can only do its best to help.
Seeing that Yu Xing and his four teammates were listening attentively, the system felt slightly relieved. "This simulation is extremely difficult, with an extremely high mortality rate and an extremely long duration. I hope that everyone can complete the mission while preserving their own lives as much as possible."
"The native NPCs on Dead Silent Island are extremely dangerous. Please do not trust them, and do not develop any relationships with them beyond what you can use. Due to your different identities, there may be different storyline branches. Please carefully weigh the pros and cons to avoid losing more than you gain."
Yu Xing's inner voice curled into a sneer. Listen to how touching the system's words are—doesn't it sound like a nagging old mother about her child going on a long journey?
Unfortunately, none of the children knew what this elderly mother was thinking.
"Time's up. You are about to depart for the Dead Silent Island dimension instance. All the deducers' starting locations are together. Good luck." After the system finished speaking, the incandescent lights in the conference room flickered as if they had lost power, and then went completely dark.
A sudden gust of cold wind filled the small space, and the air instantly became very damp and cold. In the darkness, several vague shadows seemed to flicker before their eyes.
Everyone could sense that they were currently in a spatial transition phase. The negative effects of this spatial transition were exceptionally pronounced. Even Yu Xing frowned slightly, suppressing the churning in his stomach and the urge to vomit.
The feeling was like motion sickness, needle phobia, or blood sickness. Colorful and white specks, like snowflakes, began to explode before their eyes. Their five senses were not suppressed. Yu Xing could vaguely hear some kind of crying and the sound of teeth clashing together at a high frequency coming from the corner of the room.
The five of them were gathered around the table in the center of the room; the one in the corner obviously couldn't be one of the group members.
"Waaaaah..."
The crying grew louder, the ground beneath their feet began to shake, and the table, which was not fixed in place, moved back and forth, making a piercing noise. Qu Xuanqing, pressed it down with one hand and nailed it firmly to the ground.
But the tape recorder on the table fell to the ground due to inertia, cracking into pieces.
The lottery tube rolled down, scattering wooden sticks all over the ground.
"This feeling is disgusting." Qu Xuanqing seemed to cover her mouth with her other hand. "I've never felt so dizzy before."
It wasn't just physical dizziness; I also felt mentally disoriented, with my head buzzing.
"Just bear with it. This isn't a space the Absurdity System is familiar with. Sending us to Dead Silent Island will likely cause a strong rejection reaction and friction." Zhao Mou had clearly studied this aspect, which made him appear very knowledgeable. "This process shouldn't last long. Just hold on to this table and don't get hurt."
Another violent jolt followed. Zhao Mou, who hadn't really practiced his lower body, lost his balance and almost fell backward. Zhao Yijiu and Qu Xuanqing on either side of him reached out at the same time. In the end, Zhao Yijiu was faster and pulled Zhao Mou into her arms to protect him.
The younger brother's well-trained arms and chest immediately gave Zhao Mou a sense of security from the "macho man". Although Zhao Yijiu, who mainly trained speed and agility, had well-proportioned muscles that were not large, Zhao Mou did feel less shaky after being pulled by Zhao Yijiu.
But he sighed softly and whispered in Zhao Yijiu's ear, in the lowest voice he could manage, "Next time something like this happens, could you give the opportunity to the lady? I think the ladies on our team are capable of protecting me."
Zhao Yijiu: "..."
Faced with his older brother who was still thinking about this and that at a time like this, the cold-blooded man, feeling rejected, loosened his grip. "I'm letting you go right now, and you can get out of here."
"No!" Zhao Mou immediately grabbed him, only to realize that Zhao Yijiu hadn't really let go; she had just moved her arm slightly outward, making him mistakenly believe that he was about to fall outside.
Under Zhao Yijiu's protection, Zhao Mou straightened his crooked glasses and sneered inwardly.
Okay, very well, this younger brother still enjoys hurting his honest, weak, gentle, and easily bullied older brother.
Gradually, the quiet air became restless, and greater humidity surged in from all directions, giving the air a salty smell. Yu Xing heard Carlos ask weakly in a low voice, "Have we arrived on a ship?"
Indeed, they felt as if they were on a ship, a ship that had suffered a shipwreck and was about to capsize.
Yu Xing immediately recalled that the brief three-line description of Dead Silent Island also mentioned a shipwreck, and the role-player was to play a survivor who had drifted to Dead Silent Island because of the shipwreck.
"Probably. Once the boat capsizes, we'll be able to drift to Dead Silent Island." Yu Xing smelled an increasingly strong, humid scent of the ocean, so intense that it would probably suffocate the other four people besides him.
He's alright, after all, because of his past as the Water Ghost Shiwei, he has absolutely no fear of water.
"Damn, are we going to capsize again? I'm not a very good swimmer." Carlos groped around and touched Yu Xing's arm. "Captain, can you swim? Can you help me later?"
Seeing the Magician in such a sorry state, Yu Xing immediately gloated. "Captain, if something's wrong, then Yu Xing?"
"The captain is right, I'm just that shameless, please take me with you!" Carlos, on the other hand, stubbornly demonstrated what true shamelessness is, and carried it through to the end.