Central, Hong Kong, late at night.
In a minimalist bedroom, private investigator Chen Xu finally had time for his hobby after organizing the evidence he had collected and uploading it to his client.
In just two hours, he effortlessly broke the speedrunning world record for the famous video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
With the side quests skipped, the ending was hard to accept: Ciri sacrificed herself, and the lone wolf survived alone.
Viewers hurled abuse beneath the speedrun video he uploaded:
"Why the hell would you speedrun a story-driven game?"
"Got nothing better to do?"
Occasionally, a few looks-obsessed fans chimed in: "My husband is so handsome! Stop insulting my husband!"
"What does it matter? It's just virtual data." Unconcerned, Chen Xu switched to another game.
He simply enjoyed breaking other people's records and was good at it.
Yet, right after that remark, the space behind him unexpectedly began to warp. Reality tore open into a gaping maw that swallowed him instantly.
The sudden weightlessness and dazzling sunlight made him shut his eyes involuntarily. When he finally adjusted to the light, he found himself lying face down on a muddy riverbank.
Tch, did I drop dead?
He climbed to his feet, soaking wet, and looked around. A rural landscape surrounded him.
Rows of wooden, thatched-roof houses stood before him. Crude cattle pens bordered a lush forest, and at the end of the road lay golden wheat fields washed in morning light, dotted with pure white blossoms on trees;
Even the air, tinged with cow dung, was several times fresher than in the city.
This pastoral scene looked nothing like hell. It looked more like... White Orchard?
He was very familiar with this map from the beginning of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
[[Interstellar Common] equipped]
A flood of information poured into his mind alongside a cool female voice. He instantly mastered an unfamiliar language, practically experiencing a real-life screening of The Matrix.
Amid his shock, he also felt some regret:
I shouldn't have run my mouth.
He began to wonder whether his remark about "just virtual data" had offended some unknown super AI.
Although this was a wondrous world of swords and magic, ordinary people were merely resources for monsters and the ruling class; worse still, he had arrived during the Third Northern War launched by the Nilfgaardian Empire;
With his puny physique... staying alive would probably be difficult.
As he wavered between hope and fear, the cool notification voice sounded in his mind again:
[All Chosen have arrived on the battlefield. Arrival identities will now be assigned according to points spent: Monster, king, city lord, witcher, soldier, civilian; killing Chosen of different identities awards corresponding points. Current main quest: Find the Lady of Space and Time, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon Base rewards: EXP ×1,000, points ×2,000 Early return costs 100 points. World activation countdown: 60 seconds. Please prepare.]
"Another one?" A tall woman in a coarse shirt bent over, her skin extremely pale and her features distinctly Eastern European. Her alluring eyes met Chen Xu's;
One finely shaped eyebrow rose:
"First time?"
[Penny Bones cast Detection on you]
As the cool notification sounded in his mind, the strange sensation of being scanned swept through his entire body.
The woman seemed slightly disappointed. Turning around, she called to seven or eight farmers gathered together:
"Another newbie!"
"Bring him over for the meeting first." A gaunt-faced, pointed-eared man with long, dark green hair beckoned from the group.
His sharply defined features and proportions somehow made his shabby, coarse clothes look rather fashionable.
He looked very much like an elf native to the Witcher world, and Chen Xu could not resist taking a couple of extra looks.
The woman pulled him into the group. Everyone formed a circle, and the pointed-eared man spoke clearly:
"Sethis. Perhaps you've heard my name?
"Since we all have the same identity, we'll most likely be in the same faction later. So, for the team's sake, I'd like to ask first: does anyone know anything about this sort of world?"
Everyone shook their heads. Chen Xu was not foolish enough to stick his neck out and likewise put on a bewildered expression.
He had analyzed over a hundred combinations of human microexpressions, and this Sethis was also a humanoid.
A slightly crooked mouth and drooping eyelids indicated disdain for the people before him.
Probably lying... or at least not being sincere.
Sethis looked somewhat disappointed. "Probably another legend dug up from some primitive planet."
A primitive planet?
An unknown language that did not belong to Blue Star had just been poured into Chen Xu's brain. Taking the meeting's content into account, he felt somewhat surprised:
These are aliens? They don't look all that different from people on Blue Star.
Still, it was not too far-fetched. Homo sapiens had risen above every other species on Blue Star; that in itself was an excellent evolutionary direction.
"Since we're all broke, getting involved in the main quest will be difficult. We might as well keep an eye out for possible side quests and earn enough points to leave this world safely first."
Sethis looked unreal, but his words were practical. At the end, he specifically instructed Chen Xu and another newcomer with very dark skin:
"You newbies can bring up your panels to get acquainted with things. On your first battlefield, understanding the rules and making it out alive counts as a victory."
The Chosen agreed, all wearing expressions that said they had been through the same thing.
Chen Xu nodded, directing a faint impulse of thought:
Panel.
A minimalist white screen popped up in his vision:
-------- Chosen: Chen Xu Race: Blue Star Homo sapiens Main class: None Secondary class: Detective Lv. 2. Each level increases constitution ×1, reaction ×1, free attribute points ×1. Class skill: Tracking EXP: 0/150 Attributes: Constitution 3, strength 2, reaction 4, soul quality 1, spirit 1, will 0 Dark energy: 0 Talent: [Flesh Difference Engine] Mathematical thinking, enhanced spatial perception and mechanical memory, destroyed will (reaction +50%, current bonus 1.5; will -80%, current reduction 1.6) Specialties: None Skills: Tracking Lv. 2 Rank: Mortal Tier Lower Stage Talent or curse? Finding your own path is urgently needed. --------
The panel also depicted [Identity Memories] unique to each Chosen, something like the lingering echoes of a personality.
Although extracting information from them required deliberate sorting, the advantage was obvious:
There was no risk of developing a split personality.
Chen Xu skimmed through them. His assigned identity was Pro Gram, a farmer from White Orchard village.
Several other functions lay below, but he had no time to examine them, because his surroundings suddenly grew noisy:
Merchants hawking their wares, splashing water on the river, the clank of soldiers' armor...
The world seemed to come alive all at once.
"What are you all huddled here for? Itching for a beating? Get your asses to work!"
A fully armored soldier waved his whip and dispersed them. The golden sun emblazoned on his black breastplate gleamed.
At that moment, a separate patch of golden wheat lit up in each Chosen's vision.
[You have triggered the normal quest [Harvest]: Deliver ten sacks of wheat to the Nilfgaard garrison commander within five days. Base rewards: EXP ×100, points ×10 Quest failure: 10 lashes under Nilfgaard military law, with 5 additional lashes for every 20% shortfall in quest progress.]
"Still fucking standing around?"
As everyone headed toward their assigned areas, Heipi, the newcomer, hesitated for just a moment, only to receive a lash across his back!
That blow seemed to wake him up. Howling in pain, he ran toward his own wheat field.
Blood immediately seeped through the white linen on Heipi's back. Chen Xu's eyelids twitched in fright:
That whip almost landed on me.
"My scrawny ass probably couldn't take that."
Obediently, he picked up the sickle beside the field and began harvesting wheat. Yet the moment he made his first cut, his brain swelled with heat:
---------- Specialty module loading... Current implement: Dexterous short-handled, single-edged farming tool [Saber Technique] compatibility: 73%; latest database supports advancement to minor accomplishment proficiency... ----------
The lifelong learning of countless past masters of the blade became a montage of crucial insights and experience, force-fed into his mind.
This was even more complex than a minority language. Had his thinking not been unusual, the sheer volume of information would probably have knocked him unconscious.
Every swing, every kill... his palms remained as soft as ever, but his heart had already grown calluses!
As he steadily absorbed the experienced memories in his mind, a notification sounded:
[You have comprehended the specialty [Saber Technique: Beginner]. Attack speed +10%, precision adjustment +25%!]
The sickle now felt like an extension of his body. Chen Xu glanced at his panel, and sure enough, "Saber Technique: Beginner" had appeared under specialties.
He looked around. Nobody else was behaving unusually;
Was I the only one who experienced something this strange?
Noticing the supervising soldier looking over, he hurriedly lowered his head and resumed working.
With the saber technique's enhancement, his harvesting efficiency rose by nearly 30%, yet he only barely outperformed the other Chosen.
Although their movements were clumsy, their physical capabilities clearly exceeded his by a considerable margin. They harvested wheat more like they were wrenching and yanking it out, using brute force to erase the gap in technique.
After nearly an hour of work, Chen Xu's lower back was already aching and half-useless.
Even that was thanks to years of running around tailing targets as a detective. Someone softer and flabbier would practically have had no choice but to wait for death.
Unable to help himself, he straightened up to relax his spine, his bones creaking;
Turning his head, he saw that everyone had made roughly the same progress.
Not bad. At least nobody's grinding everyone else into the ground... except Heipi, the other newbie.
The man really worked hard. Nearly a quarter of his field had been cleared, and it was only approaching midday. With a little more effort, he could easily finish in a day or two.
What could he say? A born wage-slave sacred physique.
Of course, there was still threshing and bagging afterward. Completing the task within five days would be a challenge for everyone.
These guys crossed worlds just to work? Chen Xu instantly felt the so-called Chosen had lost every shred of prestige.
Without soldiers watching, he would not have foolishly stayed here doing hard labor.
Although he could not match Heipi, his efficiency already exceeded most of the others. To avoid standing out, he actually began slacking off.
"Dismissed! Back to work this afternoon!" The sun was nearing its zenith, and even the supervising soldiers were struggling with the heat. Besides, the terrifying Wraiths appeared at midday.
He gave each Chosen fifteen copper coins for food, then sent them away.
In the original game, these soldiers had hardly been so conscientious. Civilians simply played happily, while officers simply handed out lashings.
The world filled in by the gods was far crueler.
Having finally gotten a chance to stop and catch their breath, the workers actually gathered for another meeting.
Penny, the tall woman who had previously cast [Detection] on Chen Xu, complained quietly:
"I can't take this anymore. It's a complete waste of time! I have a firearm carried over from the last battlefield. Let's rob the barracks and run!"
A rich woman. Chen Xu glanced at her empty waist, suspecting she had storage equipment.
The shop sold such high-end goods: 200 points per slot, each holding roughly 1.27 cubic meters.
"How many rounds do you have? Don't act rashly." The elflike Sethis soothed her gently. As a veteran Chosen, he still retained his reason:
"I used Detection on these soldiers. Their usual setup is Lv. 5 [Soldier] plus Lv. 1 [Heavy Cavalry].
"Although their attributes are lower than ours, their equipment is far better. Without firearms, even fighting two head-on would be difficult;
"And they have mounts. If a clash breaks out, even escaping will be hard."
The analysis was reasonably fair, and Chen Xu agreed.
He had been studying the panel throughout his work. It had a full range of functions: a world briefing, a points shop, rankings, and everything else.
[Detection] was also a built-in panel ability. It obtained information based on the user's [Reaction] or [Will] attribute, essentially making it a Chosen skill.
When those attributes were lower than the target's, Detection was easily noticed and provided incomplete information. The larger the gap, the more pronounced the effect;
Since Sethis could freely inspect these soldiers' attributes without being noticed, he was most likely higher-level.
Because of access restrictions, the points shop displayed little: a few attribute-enhancing potions and class qualification books.
The prices were steep. Even completing the current main quest would not let him buy much.
He also found Sethis's name on the level leaderboard, in ninety-eighth place.
"Then what do you suggest?" Penny had only been running her mouth; she clearly understood the stakes as well.
Sethis stroked his smooth chin. After a long while, he looked earnestly at Chen Xu and Heipi:
"You two were particularly efficient this morning. If you're willing to help Penny and me look after our fields this afternoon, we civilians will have a chance to explore the world;
"Don't worry. We'll share any quests and information we discover with you. You won't lose out."
He was fairly tactful, but Penny was much more direct:
"For newbies like you, working quickly is pretty much your only advantage;
"But keeping veteran Chosen like us here wasting our time is a complete waste. Cooperation is our best option right now."
Heipi, the newcomer, nodded earnestly, feeling that the other man did indeed have a point.
Making up for each other's weaknesses and cooperating for mutual benefit sounded wonderful, in line with his principles.
"Excellent. Here's to a happy partnership!" The corners of Sethis's mouth curled up.
He was very pleased that the newcomer knew what was good for him.
This was only natural; subconsciously, he had even assumed that Chen Xu had agreed as well.
"Sorry, my constitution is too weak. I already strained my muscles this morning." Chen Xu shook his limp arms, shattering the other man's fantasy.
[You have learned the skill [Deception] Lv.1]
It was only a minor excuse, yet in an instant, countless experiences of successful and failed deceptions flooded his mind, encompassing every variation in gaze and bearing, the angle of a lie, and the ratio of truth to falsehood.
Chen Xu felt that everything he had accumulated over more than twenty years of life fell short of the understanding of human nature he gained in this one moment.
To deceive your enemy, first deceive yourself.
His curled ring finger brushed across his palm, puncturing the blisters rubbed into it. He showed everyone his "bloody" right hand, his expression one of flawless "regret," as though he had practiced it in a mirror thousands of times:
"I'm afraid I can't help you."
Make up for each other's weaknesses? Once they've taken your strengths, whether they make up for your weaknesses is up to them.
Besides, knowing the plot's pacing, how could I possibly waste my time with this bunch of Muggles?
I quit my job and started my own business because I couldn't stand my supervisor's nasty face. I could put up with working for NPCs here-after all, that was how games had always been played.
But who the hell did these two think they were?
Sethis's smile immediately stiffened. Seeing that Heipi's attitude also seemed to be wavering, he hurried to reassure him while secretly signaling Penny with his eyes.
"Look around. Whose hands here are still intact? You can't endure even this little hardship, yet you expect to survive on the God-Chosen Battlefield?"
Penny clenched her small hands tightly and hid them behind her back, sneering:
"Think carefully before you answer. We're the highest-ranked people here, and plenty of people want to work with us. If we weren't trying to look after newcomers, do you think you'd get a turn?"