God and Demon Game

God and Demon Game

"Looking for Tathagata isn't to have him save me; what if this guy is the one who caused all this?" Tang Luo said.

Tathagata, the professional scapegoat.

Everything is Tathagata's fault; his various corrupted incarnations, if added together, could circle the Earth.

"Heh, interesting thought. Are you a monk?"

The owner of the raspy voice looked at Tang Luo, who had already stood up, and asked.

Having a shaved head doesn't necessarily make one a monk; it could just be a miserable bald guy.

There were no ordination scars on Tang Luo's head.

However, in this modern society, it is quite normal for a monk to lack ordination scars, which is why the question was asked.

"Yes."

Tang Luo turned around.

The owner of the raspy voice was a truly unremarkable middle-aged man, neither tall nor short, somewhat stocky, and possessing the beer belly that many middle-aged men cannot escape.

Now that he had stood up, Tang Luo could see the full view of the carriage.

Compared to the original carriage, the current one was significantly shorter.

Besides Tang Luo and the middle-aged man who had spoken, there were five other people.

Three men and two women.

Among everyone, the oldest was that middle-aged man.

The youngest was a high school boy wearing a school uniform with faint dark fuzz on his upper lip.

The rest were all young people who looked to be in their twenties—Tang Luo included.

The conversation between Tang Luo and the middle-aged man had clearly attracted the attention of the others.

Some stood up, while others craned their necks to look.

Everyone was watching the two of them.

The middle-aged man did not continue questioning Tang Luo, but instead clapped his hands, shifting everyone's attention from the two of them onto himself.

"It seems you are all newcomers. Let me briefly introduce the situation," the middle-aged man said.

"Gantz, Main God Space, Reincarnation World?" someone raised a hand, posing their question.

The three terms caused some people to show expressions of sudden realization, while others became even more confused.

In this era of information explosion, there will always be people who have learned about such concepts.

Even if they didn't fully understand what was happening, at least there were no outbursts like, "I don't believe any of this, it's all fake! Come out, cameraman!", "My father is XX, how dare you kidnap me?", or "I'll give you any amount of money, just send me home."

Everyone was watching to see how things would develop.

In the jargon—the quality of these newcomers was relatively high.

Facing a group of high-quality, or "newbie," recruits, the middle-aged man nodded and said, "More or less. Simply put, we have been selected to enter a special place to complete missions."

"However—"

The middle-aged man paused and said, "It is not some Reincarnation World. Most people prefer to call it the God and Demon Game. We are a group of 'players' who enter instances and risk our lives to complete missions."

"And then we earn reward points to exchange for becoming stronger?"

The man who had asked earlier, wearing glasses and looking like a college student, continued to ask.

As he spoke, he pushed up his glasses.

He gave off the vibe of a calm intellectual.

Of course, that was assuming one ignored his adorable pink teddy bear-patterned pajamas and slippers.

The overflowing girlish heart made people cast sideways glances.

The middle-aged man shook his head slightly: "No, there are no points. You only receive a 'reward' after completing a mission. If you want to become stronger, you either gain benefits during the process of completing the mission in the 'instance,' or you receive a reward after finishing it. At least, that is what I have gathered."

He did not mind the bespectacled man asking questions; in fact, he was quite happy to explain the situation to everyone through this Q&A format.

They were all grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

Providing known information to help newcomers get up to speed faster was a small effort that Zhou Zhenguo did not mind making.

Some people might like to play games with this information.

But Zhou Zhenguo would not.

"What kind of rewards are there?"

"Skills. Skills are the main focus, which is why it is called a 'game'," Zhou Zhenguo said.

"What is the penalty for failing a mission? Is it direct erasure? Since there are no points to deduct, that is."

"That should be the case, though I have heard some people say it is not erasure, but 'disappearance'."

"Disappearance?"

"Yes, that's right, they just vanish—mysteriously disappear—because there's no way to prove if they're truly dead. But don't worry too much; you won't disappear just because you fail a single mission. It takes about three to five times. I've failed a few missions myself and I'm still living just fine."

"Alright." The man in the pink shirt and glasses nodded.

Zhou Zhenguo asked, "Are there any other questions? I'll tell you everything I know—"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the train, which had been moving, began to decelerate, coming to a complete stop a few seconds later.

The only carriage door slowly slid open.

The world outside the carriage was pitch black.

The light from inside the carriage, filtering through the open door, could only illuminate a range of less than a meter.

Beyond that meter, everything was darkness.

The windows, coated in a layer of dust, clearly offered no view of the outside world either.

Even without the dust, one would only see their own reflection from inside the carriage.

Zhou Zhenguo glanced at the pitch-black world outside the door, let out a breath, and said, "Let's go. We can talk as we walk."

With that, he stepped directly toward the carriage door.

The man in glasses didn't hesitate and followed immediately.

The other two men followed as well, while the two women, who seemed to know each other, stayed close together and only followed after a moment of hesitation.

Just as Zhou Zhenguo was leading the charge and about to leave the dirty yet bright carriage, Tang Luo spoke up.

"Benefactors, please stay your steps."

Zhou Zhenguo stopped and turned back, frowning slightly. "Monk, what questions do you have? Let's talk as we walk."

"You misunderstand, Benefactor."

Tang Luo shook his head, holding one hand upright before his chest, instantly radiating a sense of calm and peace.

It made people feel well-disposed toward him, willing to listen to what he had to say.

After all, he was someone who had been canonized as a Buddha; the Victorious Fighting Buddha was still a Buddha, was he not?

"This poor monk's dharma name is Xuanzang."

Tang Luo said, "I am a direct disciple of the Buddhist school and possess some knowledge of subduing demons and eliminating monsters. If you benefactors encounter danger, you may come toward this poor monk; I can ensure your safety."

In Tang Luo's eyes, these people were not just players risking their lives to complete missions.

They were "walking Merit," each one bearing ominous signs and the star of death hovering above their heads.

Since they were "playing" with their lives, there would naturally be times when things went wrong.

Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.

Just as he was in need of Merit to heal his wounds, this sudden change in circumstances perfectly met Tang Luo's needs.

It was like being handed a pillow just as one was falling asleep.

Fate is truly wondrous.

"Is that for real?" After hearing Tang Luo's words, the group couldn't help but be stunned, unsure of how to react.

Xuanzang?

Why didn't you just say your dharma name was Xingzhe?

"A monk does not tell lies." Everything Tang Luo said was the absolute truth.

"Master, do you know light-body techniques?"

The man in glasses, struck by a sudden inspiration, asked with a hint of mockery.

"I do not."

Tang Luo shook his head.

It wasn't a pretentious "I don't know light-body techniques, but I know divine arts far superior to them."

He truly did not know them.

He was an extremely lopsided cultivator who followed the path of "breaking all laws with a single force."

Mysterious techniques and divine powers? He knew none of them.

When he needed them, he relied entirely on the assistance of the Merit Jade Lotus.

"...So you don't know them." The man in glasses gave a dry laugh.

The others turned back around, intending to leave the carriage.

Tang Luo didn't care whether they believed him or not.

It was enough to leave this impression in their minds.

When the critical moment arrived, they would naturally reach for this last straw of hope.

And when that time came, Tang Luo would save them.

If they truly did not believe him, Tang Luo would not force the issue.

As a Buddha, how could he be anything but "Buddha-like" and laid-back?

Zhou Zhenguo led the way out of the carriage, with Tang Luo being the last to step out; the moment he emerged, his gaze shifted slightly.

The Origin Energy here was significantly denser than on Earth.

It would be of some help to his recovery.

The group whispered among themselves while exploring their surroundings.

Outside the carriage was an abandoned subway platform, extremely cramped.

It was almost as if a cage were wrapped around the carriage.

It was worth noting that the carriage Tang Luo and the others had been in was truly just a single carriage, with no engine or rear car.

The tracks they had arrived on had vanished once they stepped out, leaving only a wall in sight.

The only way out was a sealed, openwork iron gate on the platform.

Behind the iron gate were stairs leading upward.

It was pitch black, yet gusts of chilling wind blew from unknown origins, raising goosebumps on everyone's skin.

After their eyes adjusted to the darkness and they could barely make out their surroundings, Zhou Zhenguo reached out to fumble with the iron gate, pulling on it with force.

"Step back a bit." Failing to open the gate, he spoke, signaling the group gathered behind him to move back a certain distance.

He then launched a flying kick, and a loud bang echoed throughout the platform.

Zhou Zhenguo let out a muffled grunt and crouched down.

"What's wrong, Uncle Zhou?" the bespectacled man asked.

Everyone had already exchanged basic information like names and occupations earlier.

However, Zhou Zhenguo had suggested that there was no need to use real names, and that using codenames would suffice.

He had referred to himself as Old Zhou.

The others respectfully called him Uncle Zhou, as this was clearly a "thigh" worth clinging to tightly.

The others followed suit, offering surnames that no one knew were real or fake.

It was full of "Little X" this and "Little Y" that, as if they were out on a company team-building retreat.

"It's nothing, I stubbed my toe..." the "thigh" Zhou Zhenguo said.

"..."

Better to rely on oneself; relying on heaven or earth is not as good as relying on one's own strength.

Although he had stubbed his toe, Zhou Zhenguo's kick had still been effective.

The iron gate was soon forced open, and the group walked along the upward stairs.

The previously stagnant air became slightly fresher.

Before long, a faint light appeared before them, followed by another iron gate.

This time, Zhou Zhenguo aimed precisely, and with one kick, the iron gate collapsed with a crash.

The group arrived in a small room even narrower than the underground station, with stone walls on both sides.

There was only a passage in the middle, barely wide enough for two people to stand side by side.

Moonlight shone into the room through a half-open door at the other end of the passage.

"It's actually a tomb chamber!" someone recognized the style of the room.

This was a Western-style tomb.

It was the kind with small houses resembling coffins.

The "stone walls" on either side of the passage were actually "coffins," usually engraved with names and the dates of birth and death.

Some even had brief biographies.

No one liked staying in a tomb, so everyone quickened their pace to leave.

As for Tang Luo, who was walking at the very back, the moment he stepped out of the tomb, a gust of wind from an unknown source slammed the door behind him shut.

At the same time, the moon, which had been half-hidden in the sky, was completely obscured by dark clouds blown in by the wind.

The once bright moonlight vanished, and for that instant, everyone was plunged into total darkness.

Tang Luo turned to look at the tomb behind him, a strange and thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

Soon, however, he returned to his calm, unruffled state.