When Fellow Townsmen Meet, Three Shots in the Back
"This game?" Lu Li appeared in this virtual game world through the mark, frowning. He was surrounded by all sorts of people, who were probably all brought in through the same pop-up window.
The surrounding area was a barren expanse of yellow earth, which looked extremely flat without any potholes or unevenness. Looking around, the flat land stretched as far as the eye could see, and it did not seem to be naturally formed at all.
"Wait, is this a modified dream of some creature?" Lu Li quickly discovered the true nature of this virtual world. This virtual world was not the kind of data-driven world that Lu Li had imagined, but rather closer to Dreamlands.
"It's not actually the work of the pivot point, but rather seems to be the work of other players?" Lu Li carefully sensed the essence of this game, while the game itself began.
A majestic voice came from all directions, inspiring awe in all who heard it.
"Attention all trial participants, you will have three chances to cross the Trial Bridge. Only those who pass will be considered official trial participants; otherwise, you will lose your qualification for this trial. The time limit is three hours."
As the sound rang out, the entire earth began to tremble, and an extremely astonishing scene appeared before the trial participants. Before them, the earth suddenly split open perfectly, revealing a bottomless abyss with no end in sight on either side.
Above this abyss, which is about fifty meters deep, are dozens of log bridges. On the other side of the abyss, a staircase rises from the ground and extends into the sky. The idea is that one can reach that staircase by crossing these log bridges.
A multitude of people displayed the full spectrum of human nature here: some cried out for help, some simply didn't believe it and frantically pressed their phones even though there was no signal, some shouted at the sky, trying to get the person speaking to let them go back, and some tried to explore the abyss and the narrow bridge.
Lu Li was tracing the signal, the "network cable" of this virtual world, and discovered that the rules of this world were relatively complete. The mental signals of the Manipulation, and even the owner of this dream, were difficult to detect.
"Looks like we need to test it out a bit more!" Lu Li studied the yellow earth beneath his feet. Then, another exclamation came from the other side. It turned out that a man had just tried to walk on the log bridge and accidentally fell in. Then, a white light appeared on the bank, and the man's figure reappeared.
Everyone was smart enough to understand that there were three chances mentioned earlier, and they realized that crossing this narrow bridge meant three opportunities. Their fear lessened slightly. However, some people, whether clever or foolish, shouted and jumped into the abyss, "That voice only said we'd lose the trial's qualification. As long as we lose our three chances, we can go back!"
A flash of white light, and the guy reappeared, then jumped into the abyss again. He did this three times in quick succession, and then he was never seen again. It's unknown whether he regretted it or was relieved afterward.
Some people were persuaded by this guy's actions and followed him in jumping off the cliff three times. However, many more people focused on figuring out how to cross the log bridge, and some even sneered at those who jumped off the cliff.
Putting aside the question of whether to go back after losing three chances, and whether there will be any aftereffects, it's illogical for someone to just run away after others have gone to great lengths to bring them here. In fact, this person guessed correctly: those who quit after three deaths will have half of their spirit forcibly drained, and they will be mentally exhausted for at least six months afterward.
"Just seeing these scenes surpasses current technology. If we can pass the trial, we might gain unprecedented opportunities and rewards!" the man said with great confidence, then focused on watching the difficulties that people would encounter while walking on the log bridge.
The man suddenly paused, for there was someone casually walking across the log bridge. What was incredibly difficult for others seemed like an easy stroll for him. Could this person be an acrobat?
Lu Li lowered his head and looked down into the abyss, carefully sensing the changes in the rules of the bridge. The person who could be considered the mastermind behind the scenes had set up three obstacles on this fifty-meter-long log bridge. When you reached ten meters, a terrifying howling sound would come from the bottom of the abyss. When you reached thirty meters, a certain wind would blow. And in the last ten meters, there would even be some slight tremors.
However, as long as you are bold and not intimidated, it is quite easy to get through. The reason why Lu Li stopped on the bridge was because the other party imposed these three points, which caused a slight inconsistency in the rules of this world, and Lu Li seized the loophole.
Lu Li gradually pushed himself to a position of thirty-nine meters, then took a step forward, seized the slight inconsistency in the vibration, and jumped down. His entire body transformed into a spiritual imprint, following the signal, and transmitted to the location of the person behind the scenes.
It was still that dark, secret room. The person with glasses was looking at the images transmitted on the panel. A feeling of being superior to others, no, being a god among men, welled up from the bottom of his heart. He could arbitrarily control the lives of others and make them complete the game under his will. That feeling was addictive.
"I will definitely become a god in this world," the bespectacled man said with extreme confidence.
"Wait, who is that person? What does he want?" The man pushed up his glasses and asked in confusion. The other person could have easily crossed over, so why did he suddenly jump down? If nothing unexpected happened, he should have been the first to complete the trial, but he suddenly gave up like this.
"Police... sahjbkajsbfa(╯‵□′)╯┻━┻" A bunch of garbled characters suddenly appeared on the system panel, and a ball of light emitting a ghostly glow jumped out of the screen and rushed directly into the bespectacled man's body.
"Holy crap, what is that thing?!" After that thing entered his body, the bespectacled man felt himself involuntarily recalling his memories from childhood to adulthood. Some things that he had even forgotten were gradually remembered under the influence of that light.
Even on the night he obtained the system, the other party simulated the sensations in his body, the feeling of something drilling into his body and constantly modifying and spreading it. At this moment, the bespectacled man also felt that the way the system entered was a bit strange. Then he felt something wriggling inside his body, the light screen in front of him disappeared, and green tentacles burst out of his body.
"These green worms are the true form of the system..." This final thought flashed through his mind before the bespectacled man was completely torn apart by these green tentacles. The tentacles continued to absorb the bespectacled man's corpse, and finally the tentacles intersected, revealing an eye in the middle.
"Lu Li, you've ruined my plans again..."