Infinite Weird Game

In the Ruins of Sunset, players gathered under the stone tablet of the World Tree, watching the name corresponding to the "Forbidden Scholar" column on the revelation fragment change rapidly, from "Asakura Yuko" to "Vedhais", and finally to a blank.

The four characters "Forbidden Scholar" gradually faded away as if being eroded by a file, and the seventeenth line of the twenty-two identity cards was completely empty.

The players who were watching the fun made eye contact with each other and started talking a lot.

"What's going on? Isn't it said that even if the holder dies, other people can pick up the ID card and rebind it? How come it just disappeared?"

"I don't know. Is there a limit on the number of people that can be bound to a single instance? If the owner is changed once, he or she will not be able to bind to another person in a short period of time?"

"Tsk, it seems that this [Forbidden Scholar] card is really 'forbidden'. Whoever is tied up will die. He is unworthy of the position and has become fat meat. How miserable."

"Haha, I used to envy those with ID cards, but now I think we should just stand by and watch those people fight until they get bloodied."

Being under the high pressure of weird games for a long time and watching live broadcasts filled with death and fear on a daily basis, a small number of people have become extremely psychologically distorted. After seeing the death of their own kind, they can always transfer part of the pressure to gloating, and talk about the abrupt end of others' fate with a certain sense of luck as survivors.

Soon, a new player joined the discussion. This person was a theorist, and he explained seriously, "According to our recent research at the Tingfeng Guild, after the Revelation Monument Fragments appear, players who have bound their identity cards will not be able to hold new identity cards - even if they are placed in their backpacks without being bound.

"Combining with previous research cases, after the holder of the identity card dies, even if no one actively picks it up, it will automatically select other players in the same dungeon and enter their item column. After the second holder of the [Forbidden Scholar] card died, no new holder appeared, which is enough to show that there is no player in the "Sacred City" dungeon who can bind the identity card.

"Then there is only one possibility: all players who did not have identity cards died in the dungeon, and the only ones who survived were the known identity card holders, namely Fu Jue and Si Qi."

As if to confirm his words, lines of text appeared on the recording stone slab opposite the side of the Revelation Monument.

[True End of the "Sacred City" dungeon - "Land without God" has been unlocked]

[Unlocked player: Fu Jue]

[The "Sacred City" instance has been permanently closed due to force majeure]

【Last player to clear the level: Fu Jue】

The players who were originally very excited suddenly became silent.

It was unusual that only Fu Jue cleared the level. Even Si Qi, who had gained fame recently, died in the dungeon. Could Fu Jue be behind this?

Even though Fu Jue has been caught up in public opinion storms recently, for most players he is still a "savior" or "hope of mankind". He is like a lighthouse in the vast ocean or a bonfire in the darkness. He is a safe haven that can make everyone feel at ease and relaxed.

Opponents will sneer and criticize him for not saving everyone, while supporters will verbally defend his authority based on his past efforts. The starting point of both is that he is an excellent leader who will do his best to protect everyone.

Players were used to considering it a kind of luck to be matched with Fu Jue in the same dungeon, as if seeing him would guarantee their survival. But in "Sacred City", the only dungeon where he did not broadcast live, he became the only survivor, and none of his twelve companions survived...

Was it a failure, or was it that the savior became disappointed with humanity and no longer wanted to provide protection, so he turned to the other extreme?
The players all felt a sense of horror, as if they had learned one day that the sun, which used to cast light and heat, would no longer rise, and that the survival and continuation of human civilization for thousands of years was just an accident...

The theoretical player from the Tingfeng Guild was the first to calm down. He tapped his chin with his folding fan and said, "It seems that after entering the countdown stage of the final dungeon, the difficulty of other dungeons in the strange game has also increased significantly. Even Fu Shen can only survive on his own.

"I suggest that everyone enter the dungeon as soon as possible before the final dungeon begins, and reset the seven-day countdown, so as to avoid being accidentally involved in the competition of identity card holders."

At this time, someone had already recognized him and called out in surprise, "President Yu, why are you here at Sunset Ruins?"

The other players then noticed that this young man with an ordinary face, looking mediocre and with an incredibly low sense of presence was the vice president of the Tingfeng Guild, which was ranked in the top three, the famous Yu Jinsheng.

Yu Jinsheng nodded slightly to the person who pointed out his identity, raised his wrist, habitually glanced at the non-existent watch, and said lightly: "It is now nine o'clock in the evening of May 5rd. There are still twenty-seven hours before the final dungeon is opened. Everyone should make preparations early. Those who need to enter the dungeon to refresh the deadline should enter the dungeon as soon as possible, and those who need to buy props should buy props.

"After May 5th, everyone should try not to enter the game again, and leave this dangerous stage to those who are unlucky enough to be chosen."

Although such an explanation still contains a hidden warning of the crisis, it at least proposes a clear solution.

The number of people in Sunset Ruins suddenly dropped by half, and many players hurried back to the game space, spending points to specify familiar copies and start matching.

Yu Jinsheng stood quietly under the World Tree from beginning to end. After the crowd dispersed, he cast his gaze toward the Tower of Babylon that reached into the sky behind the tree.

The black tower stood between the dim sky and earth, looking hideous and erect like a deliberately scarred wound. The sky, which was always the same color, faintly glowed with a golden luster, casting a layer of holy glaze on the surface of the tower that could swallow up all the light.

The young man stared for a long time, and there seemed to be something touching in his eyes, which then disappeared into his dark brown pupils. He lowered his head and sighed quietly: "In the past 22 years, countless people have come one after another, and we have lost too much...

“Will this dawn be the final victory after the storm, or will it be the omen of another loss?”

……

In the office of the Frog Hospital, at the Unnamed Guild's headquarters.

Lin Chen stared at the developments of Sunset Ruins displayed on the big screen without blinking. After seeing the names of players who had completed the "Holy City" dungeon, he seemed to hear a sharp tinnitus and his vision went dark.

He learned about the "Sacred City" copy through the retelling in the forum. As soon as he got the news, he hurriedly entered the game and clicked on Asakura Yuko's live broadcast. His original intention was to understand Fu Jue's movements, but he saw Qi Si's figure at a glance.

Unexpectedly, Qi Si only appeared in the live broadcast for a moment, and the entire live broadcast room was closed due to [pollution]. All he could do afterwards was to wait for the live broadcast to resume, and at the same time try to contact Qi Si through the soul leaf.

However, the black screen of the live broadcast room never came back on, and Qi Si did not reply to any of his messages. Lin Chen guessed that Qi Si might not want to be disturbed by others during the dungeon, and he must have his own reasons for entering the dungeon alone without telling him.

But he didn't expect that Qi Si would die in the dungeon, and Fu Jue would become the only survivor. How could Qi Si die? He was so amazing, with top-notch puzzle-solving skills and knowledge reserves. When he was in the novice pool, he was able to figure out the core mechanism of the dungeon. Later, when he became a formal player, he was able to solve all the puzzles with ease.

Even when he became the target of public criticism in the "Colosseum" copy and faced the malice of all players in the entire copy, he managed to survive to the end without any danger.

What kind of copy is "The Sacred City"? How could so many people die even with the presence of both Qi Si and Fu Jue?
Yes, this is a faction copy, and one faction is destined to fail. Fu Jue survived, but the others died. Could it be that Fu Jue killed Qi Si?

Lin Chen stood up and walked towards the door, feeling cold in his heart.

When he first entered the weird game, like many other well-intentioned players, he had admiration and a good impression of Fu Jue, the chief player, because of various promotions in the forum.

This goodwill gradually disappeared with the passage of time and the subtle influence of Qis, but it has not yet solidified into specific hostility. It is more of a rejection of a competitive opponent.

And at this moment, unreasonable hostility is fully formed.

Even though he knew that the faction game was an arrangement of a weird game and that the survivors could not be blamed no matter who lived or died, Lin Chen was extremely sure that if it was really Fu Jue who killed Qi Si, he would want Fu Jue to die.

"Lin Chen, are you free now? I'm going to tell you something next, and I hope you can listen carefully." A familiar voice sounded at the bottom of his mind. Lin Chen was stunned and retracted his foot that was about to cross the threshold.

He seemed to have just returned to the human world from the dead. It was not until he realized that the person was still there that he knew for sure that he was still alive. He was stunned for two seconds and asked in a hoarse voice: "Brother Qi, are you okay? I looked on the record slate and your name was not among the players who had passed the game..."

"I didn't enter the dungeon as a player, so how could my name be written on it?" Qi Si's tone sounded very natural and relaxed. "Besides, my name hasn't appeared in the records for the first time or twice. What's there to be surprised about?"

Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought Fu Jue had put you..."

"What are you thinking about?" Qi Si smiled. "My cooperation with him is quite pleasant. Even if it is not pleasant, with his current strength and considerations, he would not dare to rashly become my enemy - it would not look good if we both suffer losses and the other party gets the advantage."

"Uh...ah? Cooperation? Oh, I see..." Lin Chen remembered that Fu Jue seemed to have said before that he wanted to go to Qi Si to discuss cooperation. Now it sounds like the deal has been done?

He calmed down, carefully reviewed the current situation, and realized that Qi Si was right.

When the two forces sit down at the table in an equal manner, all previous disagreements, differences in concepts, and cognitive differences can be temporarily put aside. Interests are always the first thing - Fu Jue has no need to attack Qi Si.

He calmed down a little, and then he realized that he had a large piece of cold sweat on his back. At this moment, he felt weak all over, and a hint of embarrassment arose in his heart: just for a moment, he almost really wanted to fall out with Jiuzhou.

Qi Si continued, "Okay, I came to you this time to tell you a piece of news. The difficulty of the final dungeon will be higher than all the previous dungeons. If you still have points left, try to exchange them for life-saving items.

"If you can clear the final instance, then your wish will come true. If you can't, you won't live long enough to accumulate enough points."

This is not a pleasant thing to say, but it is true. Lin Chen nodded and immediately entered the mall interface to look for props. Then he heard Qi Si continue: "In addition, you may have heard of the existence of the ancestor god..."

……

Qis returned to the game space, unilaterally cut off contact with Lin Chen, and began to review the entire "Sacred City" copy.

The ancestor god revived, and neither he nor Fu Jue could do anything to him even when they joined forces. In the end, they had to kill all the believers and end the copy early, leaving in a very embarrassing way.

Although the temporary layout did not backfire and accelerated the process of the ancestor god's revival, they did not gain any benefits and even almost lost their lives in the copy.

If you don’t make any profit, you will lose money. This time, not only did you not make any profit, but you also wasted your energy. It was a huge loss.

The eyes of the ancestral gods hang high in the memory, lingering like a haunted ghost, accompanied by an immersive and dominated fear.

This was the first time that Qis had failed to achieve his goal since entering the weird game, so he had to think carefully about his next plan.

Every step he will take in the future will not be in Qi's past layout, but he will be involved in the game between gods as a god. There is no God's perspective, he can only try and make mistakes step by step, and... stay alive as much as possible.

But is living really something worth striving for? If even living requires striving, why not just die?
Qis still remembered that his original intention of entering the weird game was to find an interesting way to die; now this original intention has not changed, but when he thought that his death might make the ancestor god get his wish more smoothly, he felt that it would be better to live a little longer.

As for the existence of the "second him" that Lin Chen had told him about before, he already had some clues after going through a copy.

After Vader's death, the [Forbidden Scholar] identity card was directly recovered, which basically proved that the same person could not hold multiple identity cards; although the [Fool's Trickster] card in his backpack looked intact, its actual condition was still unknown.

Following his memory, Qi Si opened the backpack that he used to store miscellaneous items, lifted the towel and paper on the surface, and picked up the red and black card from the bottom with two fingers.

On the blood-red card, the magician wearing a clown mask and a black suit with intricate patterns bent down and bowed; but suddenly he took off his hat and threw the cards forward.

A long and narrow gully appears in the center of the picture, with countless cracks spreading to both sides, connecting with each other to form an irregular spider web, and more tiny traces extending between the grids.

With a "click" sound at the inspiration level, the card completely shattered into powder in Qis's hand, and golden spots of light scattered in the void, falling like a shower.

For a brief moment, Qis seemed to see himself in the "Grand Performance" copy, wearing a mask and a blood-stained white shirt. It was clearly not too long since then, but he just felt strange.

"The fool trickster, Zhou Ke?" He read out a name and laughed softly as if he heard a joke.

In the distant Jiangcheng, a sea of ​​roses raged and engulfed all living things and buildings, turning the world into a scarlet stage. (End of this chapter)