Chapter 74

Su Peng stared blankly at the palm print on his chest. The palm print was about the size of an ordinary person's hand, slightly black, and imprinted right in the center of his chest.

Almost immediately, Su Peng recognized that this palm print was the same one that the black-robed player in the game had struck him with, the size and shape were exactly the same!

Su Peng stood in front of the mirror, shook his head vigorously, and then wiped the mirror with his hand, confirming that he had not seen it wrong... He lowered his head and looked at his chest, where the black palm print, like the imprint of a ghost's hand, was clearly visible on his chest!

Suddenly, Su Peng felt a wave of dizziness in his head. He forced himself to endure the dizziness, turned off the shower, wiped his body, put on a bathrobe, and walked to the bedroom. He sat on the bed, lowered his head, and stared blankly at the palm print on his chest.

At that moment, the tragic deaths of Xiao Lin, who was killed by the mysterious force, and Fu Kang, whose head was pierced by an arrow, flashed before his eyes.

He rubbed his forehead, forcing himself to calm down and think about the sequence of events.

"Just now... right after I turned on the hot water, I suddenly felt a heavy blow to my chest. After that, I experienced intense pain, a feeling of blockage, and was unable to breathe... Then I seemed to faint on the ground. When I woke up, there was this palm print on my chest... I can confirm that before I fainted, there was no such mark on my chest."

Su Peng sat on the bed, forcing himself to think. He looked at the time, which was around 2 a.m.

"2 a.m.... I started my shower at 1:30, so the palm print must have appeared on my body within the last half hour."

Thinking about this, Su Peng pressed his chest and found it painful. This made him feel a bit more relaxed because he realized that the black palm print was largely due to bruising. It seemed that his chest had been hit hard, and the palm print was a bruise... If it was just a bruise, it would make him feel better.

"Probably for about 15 to 20 minutes, I lost consciousness. The palm print likely appeared during that time. When I woke up, I felt a sweet taste in my throat, as if my chest had been hit by a sledgehammer. I immediately coughed up a lot of blood clots and blood threads... From this, it's clear that I must have been hit hard."

"Now, the key is whether the mark on my chest appeared suddenly or if I was hit while I was unconscious."

Su Peng thought about this, then stood up and walked to the bathroom, looking at where he had been lying.

"When I woke up, my face was against the waterproof tiles on the ground, and my body's position didn't seem to have been moved." After a brief recollection, Su Peng checked the door and thought, "All the doors in the company are magnetic card doors, which can only be opened with a special magnetic card. Besides myself, only Shi Qianjun has a spare card to open my room's door... The door doesn't show any signs of being broken, and it's unlikely that Shi Qianjun would suddenly come to my bathroom and hit me while I was unconscious. So, the palm print on my chest must have appeared on its own."

Thinking about this, Su Peng pressed his chest again, and the intense pain made him wince.

"The force of the blow to my chest is probably equivalent to a police battering ram hitting my chest... If my body hadn't somehow become stronger, my ribs would have been fractured. This kind of force would normally make me faint."

Su Peng thought to himself, "The most critical point is that the mark on my chest is identical to the one I received in the game. Is this just a coincidence?"

After saying this, Su Peng's mind raced, listing possibilities.

Possibility 1: The injury is unrelated to the game and is a different mysterious accident.

Possibility 2: The injury is related to the game and is a direct manifestation of the injury in the game. But if this is the case, how did it happen?

Su Peng quickly ruled out the first possibility. The position of the palm print was too precise, making it hard to think of any other explanation besides the one from the game.

So, it seemed that the second possibility was more likely, but new questions arose...

Question 1: If the injury on my chest is related to the game, how did it happen? Is it due to some mysterious force? What is this mysterious force?

Question 2: If such a mysterious force exists, it's not the first time I've been injured in the game. Why did this one manifest?

Question 3: Is this mysterious reaction a random event or a necessary one? Is it unique to me, or do all players experience it?

Question 4: Are the deaths of Xiao Lin and Fu Kang related to this? Does the company know about this?

Finally, what are the consequences of this event? What can I do about it?

The first possibility that came to Su Peng's mind was hypnosis.

Su Peng's mind was extremely active, and he kept making connections.

"If this reaction is a feedback that all players experience, then the mysterious deaths of Xiao Lin and Fu Kang can be explained..."

The scenes in the game and the various signals were too realistic... If someone told Su Peng that injuries in the game would also affect the body, he would believe it to a large extent.

But this leads to Question 2: It's not the first time I've been injured in the game. Why didn't the previous injuries manifest?

Moreover, there were two pieces of evidence that contradicted this hypothesis. One was that Aunt Zeng Na had told him that this level of hypnosis was difficult to achieve.

The other piece of evidence was a connection that flashed through Su Peng's mind. He suddenly thought about Xiao Lin's death, which he had witnessed. Xiao Lin was lifted into the air and pressed against the wall by a mysterious force. Su Peng didn't think that hypnosis could affect the laws of physics.

Perhaps, it was a mysterious force?

Shaking his head, Su Peng put a question mark on this hypothesis and set it aside for now. If it was a mysterious force, it was something he couldn't resist, and thinking about it wouldn't help.

He began to consider why he hadn't been injured before.

He quickly came to a conclusion.

"Time... and recovery. The first few times I was injured, I immediately treated the injuries. Although the game is realistic, the recovery speed is much faster than in real life. This might be why my previous injuries didn't manifest in my body."

"This time, it's been about 48 hours since I was injured in the game. Time might be a key factor."

"To determine if this is a random reaction, I need to conduct an experiment to see if injuries in the game will manifest in real life." Su Peng's mind gradually calmed down as he thought about this.

At the same time, Su Peng thought that if this wasn't a random event, most of the old employees in the company should have noticed... After all, if injuries from 48 hours ago that weren't treated would manifest in real life, there would be many opportunities for the company to notice something was wrong. But from the current situation, it doesn't seem to be the case.

As for the consequences...

The most severe consequence would be death, but the injury I received in the game didn't kill me. If the mark on my chest is related to the game, I won't die so quickly in real life.

If I can heal my injuries in the game, the injuries in real life will likely disappear as well.

Thinking this through, Su Peng felt a bit more relaxed.

"Thinking about it won't help. I need to conduct an experiment in the game or find a way to treat the injury in the game." Su Peng thought about how to deal with the situation, and his mind gradually calmed down.

It was already late, and Su Peng looked at the palm print on his chest, which was not immediately life-threatening. He had calmed down and lay down to sleep...

...

Not long after, Su Peng woke up and looked at his chest. The palm print had faded significantly, just like a few hours after being hit in the game.

"If the palm print gets darker tonight, it will confirm that it's a reaction to the injury in the game." Su Peng thought. He went to the bathroom, washed his face, and spent an hour organizing recent events before heading to the dining hall.

It was around 5 a.m., and some people in the company had already woken up. After breakfast, he went to the new employee room.

Lei Ming was sitting at the desk in the room. Seeing Su Peng, he nodded and said, "Good morning. You came just in time. I have some forms for you to fill out."

Su Peng nodded and walked over, finding that it was a character survey form. He needed to fill in the attributes, equipment, skills, current status, and completed tasks of his game character.

Su Peng filled in the attributes truthfully but changed the name of the "Shenxing Baihuan" skill to "Shenxing Shu" and set the level to Silver Tier 3. For the half-sword technique, he wrote "Unnamed Sword Technique" with an unknown level. He didn't fill in the "Rongyan Jinghu Xinfa" and only wrote "Huayu Gong" at Tier 4. He also wrote "Ordinary Long Sword" for the Wufeng Sword and concealed many items in the Qiankun Bag.

For the other information, Su Peng filled it out truthfully but didn't mention his identity as a disciple of the Purple Mist Sect.

After filling out the forms, which took more than half an hour, Lei Ming nodded and collected Su Peng's character information. "Today is the last day of the month. After the other two fill out their forms, I'll give them to Minister Shi. By the end of the day, you'll know which group you've been assigned to."

Su Peng nodded and smiled, "Maybe I'll be assigned to the Tiger Group. I hope you'll take care of me, Leader Lei."

"Hehe, of course. You're very flexible and play the game well. I have high hopes for you," Lei Ming said with a smile.

After a few more pleasantries with Lei Ming, Sun Shijia and Ji Ming also arrived and filled out their forms.

Su Peng then logged into the game.

In the game world, Su Peng appeared in his cabin on the Fuchuan, which was about to arrive at Jiangning County in the afternoon.

The first thing Su Peng did after logging in was to open his shirt and look at his chest.

Sure enough, the black palm print on his chest hadn't disappeared and seemed to be darker. Su Peng also felt a sense of blockage in his chest, with a faint sweet taste in his throat.

"I hope to reach Jiangning County soon and find Doctor Han. His medical skills might be able to treat this," Su Peng thought.

...

For the entire morning, Su Peng couldn't practice his internal skills, so he chatted with Ouyang Qing and Ling Xiaoyu on the ship, finally making it to the afternoon.

"Look, Brother Su, we've arrived at the Jiangning County dock!"

On the Fuchuan, Ling Xiaoyu stood at the bow and turned to Su Peng.

Su Peng looked and saw a large dock not far ahead, with a grand city behind it.

"Finally back..." Su Peng looked at the Jiangning County dock, feeling a sense of nostalgia.

The Fuchuan slowed down and entered the dock, mooring in the bay. People on the dock set up a gangplank.

"Ha, Little Brother Su, you're home. I still have six or seven days of travel ahead of me. Let's part ways here," Ouyang Qing said, bowing at the stern.

"Thank you for your care, Brother Ouyang. I won't be leaving Jiangning for a while. If you need anything, just contact me through the post station," Su Peng also bowed and said to Ouyang Qing.

"Understood. My destination is the northwest desert. I might not be back for a while. If it's convenient, I'll write down my experiences and send them to you. Just don't laugh at my poor handwriting, hahaha! Well, we're people of the world, no need for formalities. Let's part ways here."

"Alright, I wish you success in your journey to the desert. I'll take my leave now." Su Peng bowed and then walked down the ship with Ling Xiaoyu.

"Hey, why are there so many soldiers at the dock?" Ling Xiaoyu said, looking around. Su Peng looked around and indeed saw many Blackwater Army soldiers.

At that moment, three Blackwater Army soldiers approached Su Peng and Ling Xiaoyu. The leader looked at Su Peng, nodded slightly, and said, "Please show us your travel permits. We need to check them. We hope for your cooperation."

Su Peng and Ling Xiaoyu nodded and showed their travel permits. Su Peng's was the Blackwater Army travel permit given to him by Han Tuo. After showing it, Su Peng asked the soldier, "What's happening in Jiangning County? Why are the checks so strict?"

"There is indeed something happening... Hmm? You're Su Peng? From the Blackwater Army in Jiangning County? Is this your travel permit?" The soldier looked at Su Peng's travel permit and suddenly looked up at Su Peng.

"Yes, it's mine. Is there a problem?" Su Peng saw the soldier's expression change and asked him.

"Since you are Su Peng and from Jiangning County... that's it... Men! The criminal Su Peng is here! Help me capture him!" The soldier suddenly drew his long sword and shouted loudly.

Su Peng was shocked. He saw that there were about a hundred Blackwater Army soldiers on the dock, all drawing their weapons and rushing towards him like a flood!

~~~

Yesterday, I was writing at around 10 p.m. when the power suddenly went out and stayed out all night. The power came back on at 10 a.m. today, but it went out again an hour later. I couldn't even cook dinner, so I had to buy food outside.

But my seasickness hasn't improved. It turned out to be chronic pharyngitis. The food I ate was slightly spicy, and after eating, I vomited everything. I took Huoxiang Zhengqi Capsules and lay down until 8 p.m. to write this chapter.

Today, my body is really not up to it, so I can only guarantee two updates. I'll make up for the missed update from yesterday with three updates over the weekend.

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