Masterpiece

System: Soul connection... connection successful...

System: Beginning integration of the Martial Transmission System...

System: Integration successful. Martial Transmission System officially activated.

One system prompt after another rang out in Lin Qi's mind, making him, slumped inside the dilapidated dojo, finally let out a deep breath.

System: Please set the initial connection fee for the game. This amount will be borne entirely by players.

System: The higher the fee, the closer players' initial physical condition will be to its natural state; the shorter their revival time after death; the higher the revival cost; the greater the integrity of their soul connection; and the higher the restoration of pain and all other sensations.

"A game? Of course, its value lies in being real. Set it to the maximum."

Hearing that the players would bear the entire cost, Lin Qi chose the maximum without almost any hesitation.

System: Please set a description for the game.

"A description?"

"It has to sound lofty and grand. Better yet, it should make players feel challenged. That way, they should be willing to click in."

After thinking for a moment, Lin Qi began writing the description on the system panel.

A war among a hundred nations, a struggle among ten thousand races. Evolve life, ascend to godhood—the legend of warriors will be written by you.

This game has 100% virtual realism. Because it is excessively real, please download and play with caution. It is unsuitable for players without a certain degree of strength.

System: Confirm this game description? It cannot be modified once confirmed.

"Confirm!"

After carefully reviewing it once and confirming there were no issues, Lin Qi directly pressed the confirm button on the system panel.

System: The game has been uploaded to the Blue Star network. It will launch in half an hour. Please wait.

Blue Star, 2325.

"Aim! Take a deep breath, then breathe again. Focus your mind and relax your entire body. The aiming reticle will shrink along with it."

"The calmer your mindset and heartbeat, the smaller the reticle's range will become."

"Don't rush at this moment. Wait until the reticle shrinks to its limit."

"Now!"

Inside a Virtual Game Pod, Fang Zhen, a man nearing thirty with a resolute face and a thick beard, like some dependable elder brother, explained how to aim to his livestream audience while piloting a massive mech.

With a bang, his shot struck a mechanical beast dodging amid the billowing yellow sands five kilometers away.

Beep.

The mechanical beast five kilometers away immediately lit up with a red marker, indicating it had died.

"One shot, one soul! Brother Zhen is awesome!"

"So this is professional-level skill?"

"Brother Zhen, with your level of control, are you really planning to retire from the team in half a year? Even players from teams that can reach the top sixteen in the Mecha Continent national tournament are only this good."

Watching Fang Zhen pull off that extreme-range snipe, the viewers in the livestream room could not help crying out in amazement and admiration.

Mecha Continent, the virtual game, had a virtual realism rating as high as 75%, and was one of Blue Star's hottest mech combat games in recent years.

For ordinary players, not to mention controlling a mech smoothly, even normally firing and hitting a target several hundred meters away generally required two or three months of practice.

Under conditions where visibility was severely obstructed, hitting a mechanical monster five kilometers away with a single shot was absolutely godlike.

"I'm getting old. My reactions and everything else definitely can't compare to when I was young. Besides, I'm already pretty old among professional players. Even if I don't retire this year, I'm afraid I won't be able to beat the rookies on the team next year." Fang Zhen sighed. "All right, enough of that. Today, let's see whether there are any fun new games."

No one in the livestream room doubted Fang Zhen's words.

That was simply how the virtual competitive scene was. Not only was the competition unimaginably fierce, but everyone was living off their youth. Being able to maintain one's peak until twenty-five was already quite good; thirty truly was old.

Thus, many professional players in the competitive scene chose to livestream or take up other side professions once they got a little older.

Fang Zhen had begun streaming five years ago. Now, in the Mecha Continent streaming circle, he could be considered somewhat well-known, with his popularity occasionally breaking into the top hundred of the game streaming charts.

As the viewers chatted away, a new game with an icon of five black dragons quickly entered Fang Zhen's sight on the game lobby page he had opened.

"Holy crap!"

"4,999? What kind of masterpiece is this?"

Fang Zhen rubbed his eyes, afraid he had counted one too many zeroes.

These days, thanks to the widespread availability of virtual game engines, even tiny workshops with just a few people could make virtual games. As a result, huge numbers of new games appeared on all major gaming platforms every day.

Most of them were priced below one hundred. Even AAA-class blockbusters would not cost more than five hundred.

Yet this new game called High Martial Descent was priced at ten times that amount. It was a game ordinary people simply could not afford to play.

At that moment, the livestream audience also exploded.

"This game actually claims to have 100% virtual realism!"

"100% virtual realism? That's definitely bragging. Even those world-class game giants can't make games with 80% virtual realism right now. I've never even heard of this developer called Reality Is Precious. How could it possibly make a 100% virtual game?"

"I've seen arrogant games, but I've never seen one this arrogant. It costs 4,999, and every time your character dies, revival costs another 648. If you don't revive within twenty-four hours, your account gets deleted outright. I'm not worthy."

"But this developer put on quite a convincing show. The first batch is actually limited to ten testing slots."

"This game is definitely fake. If a 100% virtual realism masterpiece really existed, even if it were still in development, it would make the news headlines. Never mind that it already has a trial version—the news would have spread all over the world by now. If this really is a 100% virtual realism masterpiece, I'll livestream myself eating noodles while doing spiral somersaults."

"Excessively real, unsuitable for anyone without enough strength? This developer really dares to brag. Brother Zhen, get it!"

As everyone looked over High Martial Descent's game description, discussion erupted. The heated debate caused Fang Zhen's livestream popularity to surge. In less than thirty seconds, it had tripled or quadrupled, rapidly catching up to those famous game streamers.

Seeing this, Fang Zhen felt it was an opportunity.

"Brothers, since everyone is curious about what kind of game this is, I'll test the waters for you." Gritting his teeth, Fang Zhen directly chose to pay 4,999. "Reality Is Precious—if it isn't real enough, brothers, we'll get a refund within two hours. Then we'll all report it together and let the developer know what real means!"

"Brother Zhen is mighty!"

"4,999! This developer really had the nerve to ask for that."

Everyone agreed wholeheartedly. After all, the streamer was paying, and they only needed to watch. The focus was on companionship; if they actually paid for this game, they would be the ones who lost.

"Excessively real? Then let me see just how real it is!"

Looking at his increasingly popular livestream room, Fang Zhen smiled and clicked the High Martial Descent game icon.

In a dim little room, a swaying light flickered on and off. From the corridor beyond the iron bars came the occasional howl of wind, leaving the newly awakened Fang Zhen somewhat dazed.

"What's going on? Where is this?"

"Wasn't I about to play High Martial Descent? How did I end up in a place like this?"

The fishy stench of something rotten, the cold metallic texture of the chains on his hands and feet, and the bone-piercing wind blowing in from somewhere inside the room made Fang Zhen shudder from head to toe. Then a thought rose naturally in his mind.

Kidnapping!

Have I been kidnapped?

"Name?"

Before Fang Zhen could recover from his panic, an icy, stern voice questioned him, making his ears prick up as he instinctively answered.

"Fang Zhen. Fang as in direction, Zhen as in vibration."

"Age?"

"Twenty-nine."

"At your age... you're a little old. Feels like you're no longer useful."

"No, I'm still young. I have quite a lot of savings. I can still—"

As the stern voice continued questioning him, Fang Zhen gradually regained his composure, and his vision became clear.

Beyond the iron bars sat a handsome young man in a pitch-black martial arts uniform, his face carrying a faint pallor. He sat quietly at an iron-framed desk, holding a pencil in one hand. As he looked up to ask questions, he recorded the answers in a small notebook.

"Am I in?" Looking at the handsome young man before him, Fang Zhen thought his clothes might be different, but that tone and manner could not be mistaken. He hurriedly explained, "Big brother, is there some mistake? I've never done anything illegal. I'm just a game streamer. There must be some mistake."

"Don't try to claim familiarity. I don't know you."

"Then... officer?"

"Be serious. Call me Dojo Master, or Lord Lin Qi."

"Dojo Master? Lord Lin Qi?"

After hearing that, Fang Zhen's thoughts tangled into a knot. He could no longer tell what sort of person the young man named Lin Qi before him was.

A kidnapper?

A cop?

A lunatic?

"Twenty-nine... twenty-nine..." Before Fang Zhen could react, Lin Qi glanced at his notebook again. The pencil in his hand spun constantly over his fingertips as he muttered to himself. Then he raised his head to look at Fang Zhen. "In that case, prove it. Two thousand squats, within two hours. You may begin."

"..." Fang Zhen was both baffled and afraid.

What the hell kind of proof was that for being twenty-nine?!

Two thousand squats in two hours? Were lunatics these days this good at playing around?

"Do you need my help?"

"No! I'll do it myself. I can do it, trust me."

Fang Zhen did not dare entertain any more thoughts when Lin Qi seemed about to rise. He hurriedly began doing squats, ignoring the chains on his hands and feet.

One... two... three...

"Mm, not bad. Your form is quite standard. Since you don't need help removing the chains, forget it." Watching Fang Zhen frantically perform squats, Lin Qi nodded slightly, then rose and left the dim underground room.