When Fellow Townsmen Meet, Three Shots in the Back

"What kind of game is this?" Through the mark, Lu Li appeared in this virtual game world and frowned. All around him were noisy crowds of all kinds of people, presumably all dragged here by the same pop-up window.

The surrounding area was a barren stretch of yellow earth, astonishingly flat without a single bump or hollow. Looking into the distance, the level ground extended as far as the eye could see, clearly not something naturally formed.

"Wait, was this transformed from some creature's dream?" Lu Li quickly discovered the nature of this virtual world. It was not composed of data as he had imagined, but was instead closer to the Dreamlands.

"So it wasn't the work of the fulcrum, but another player?" Lu Li carefully sensed the true nature of the game as the game itself began over there.

An immensely majestic voice came from all directions, filling everyone with awe.

"All trial participants, take note. You will have three chances to cross the Bridge of Trials. Only those who pass will become official trial participants. Otherwise, you will lose your qualification for this trial. The time limit is three hours."

As the voice rang out, the entire earth began to tremble. Then, an astonishing sight appeared before the trial participants. The ground ahead split open in an impossibly smooth line, revealing a bottomless abyss roughly fifty meters across, its ends invisible in both directions.

Several dozen narrow log bridges stretched across the abyss. On the ground beyond it, a staircase rose into the sky. The meaning was clear: cross one of those log bridges and reach that staircase.

All manner of reactions emerged among the crowd. Some cried and screamed for help. Some refused to believe it, frantically pressing their phones despite having no signal. Some shouted at