Chapter 67

The lively scene on the forum, which had been ongoing for two days, showed no signs of waning. Many who had been posting and engaging in heated arguments had developed a sense of emotion, though this emotion was hatred...

What kind of people are most likely to bear grudges and transform them into long-term hatred? Petty people, of course.

Thus, even before the public beta test began, many petty individuals had already made arrangements to battle on the forum, preparing to engage in a life-or-death struggle in the "Slaughter Game" mode to determine who was superior. Of course, the prerequisite was that they must first reach level 15 to enter this mode. Moreover, both parties had to believe they had a sure chance of winning for the confrontation to begin.

Petty people fear losing face the most, for their inner character is not something to be proud of.

Losing would make them lose face, but if they won, they would not leave any room for the other party to save face, which is why they are petty.

If petty people lose, they will come up with all sorts of excuses, such as "You've played the game longer," "Your level is higher," "Your equipment is better," and the two most cutting reasons: "I didn't have the right feel" and "No explanation."

It's easy to win against a gentleman, but to win against a petty person, you need the ability to dismantle a Gundam with your bare hands and find dozens of witnesses to testify, preferably filming the entire process. Only then would the petty person admit defeat and harbor a grudge against you for life...

For two days, Feng Jue did not pay much attention to the game. He spent his days writing, finishing the month's manuscript. Additionally, Assas finally understood that the sandbox was a toilet.

On Tuesday morning, the Thrilling Park server reopened, this time for the public beta test.

Feng Jue did not log in immediately. Clearly, the server opening time coincided with his sleep schedule. He had just adjusted his biological clock and did not want to disrupt it again. After all, waking up at noon and sleeping at 4 AM could save him a meal...

At 1:30 PM, Feng Jue filled Assas's bowl with cat food, cleaned the sandbox, and took care of this little master before lying down in the game pod.

A series of system prompts are not detailed here. Upon entering the login space, Feng Jue did not notice any significant changes.

He tapped the touchscreen and checked his friend list, where all four names were in a gray offline state.

"Ah... I'm really idle..." Feng Jue said to himself in a lazy tone.

The operation interface did not add anything new, but the new interface looked more complete and aesthetically pleasing. The game instructions were also more comprehensive. The issue Feng Jue had raised about "which items do not show up in the settlement after being taken out of the script" could now be found in the FAQ.

Seeing this, Feng Jue decided to organize his inventory.

The current inventory capacity was 7/10, containing: Mario's pipe wrench, Eye of Enmity, Western kitchen knife, baseball bat, M1911A1 pistol, Echo Armor, and a bag of garlic.

The Z-virus antitoxin serum, which could not be taken out of the script, was discarded by Feng Jue on the way back to the gun shop from the Elbow Building in the previous script. At that time, both he and Xiao Tan had already injected the serum, and the two GMs indicated they had passive skills to resist all viruses in low-level scripts, so it was no longer useful.

His flashlight was lost and destroyed when he was surrounded by zombies in the basketball gym. Fortunately, he still had one stored in the space, which he could use to replace it. As for the bag of garlic, Feng Jue felt he would not need it again, and it was not a difficult item to obtain, so he destroyed it in the game menu. He gave the Winchester and its corresponding bullets to Xiao Tan; the M1911A1 pistol was fully loaded but had no spare ammunition. After destroying the garlic and taking out the flashlight from the storage space, the inventory still occupied seven slots.

After organizing his inventory, Feng Jue turned around, intending to go to the adjacent metal room to claim the additional reward for his fear rating, but he suddenly heard a system prompt:

[Now, you can choose the area you wish to go to.]

After the voice prompt, a data stream formed a light flow next to the elevator door, creating a rectangular operation area. The image solidified, and five buttons the size of fists appeared, each with text:

[Storage Room] [Meeting Room] [Mall] [Scare Box] [Do Not Press This]

Feng Jue's gaze was naturally drawn to the last button.

"Hey... What does 'Do Not Press This' mean..." His expression was subtle: "If you don't want people to press it, don't make it... Writing 'Do Not Press' makes people want to press it even more..."

He hesitated for a few seconds and couldn't resist pressing it. The button's light flashed for a second when pressed, and then... nothing happened.

Feng Jue waited for thirty seconds, looked around, and saw no abnormalities, saying, "What is this... a cold joke?"

"Hehehe... You pressed it, didn't you?" A very lecherous laugh accompanied the words, coming from behind Feng Jue.

He turned around and saw a person standing in a corner that had been empty a moment ago, a few steps away from him.

This was a white man in his twenties, dressed in a black suit, with a slender build, pale skin, short hair, and glasses with a layer of white light on the lenses. Although his demeanor was lecherous, objectively speaking, he was very handsome.

"Hey... Brother, how did you get in?" Feng Jue asked.

"Hehe..." The man snapped his fingers, and the button labeled [Do Not Press This] disappeared into a data stream. "Isn't it just moving within a game space? It's very simple, hehehe..." He seemed to enjoy letting out a few lecherous laughs from his throat, which were extremely lecherous.

"Are you... an NPC? An administrator?" Feng Jue asked, puzzled: "Wait... You can't be an NPC, I'm not in a script..." He paused: "Hmm... After the public beta, will each player's login space be equipped with an AI assistant? No, that doesn't make sense! Shouldn't such NPCs be sexy, well-endowed women?"

"You're overthinking it." The man laughed: "Hehehe... Just consider me an administrator, but you probably won't find any information about me from the official side. They might tell you that no such person exists."

Feng Jue's expression changed slightly, and he said in a serious tone: "Are you a derivative?"

"Hahahaha..." The man laughed loudly, shaking his head: "Hehe... Derivatives, they are at least two dimensions lower than me." He pushed his glasses up and continued: "You can call me Woody, W-O-O-D-Y..."

"Wait a minute." Feng Jue interrupted: "Who are you exactly? What do you want from me? Was that button a prank?"

"Hehe... That button was just a harmless joke." Woody replied: "I came to ask you some questions."

"Let me get this straight... Are you asking on behalf of the game company, or out of personal interest?" Feng Jue felt there was something odd about this person.

The fact that this guy could appear in his login space and make adjustments to the environment suggested he was likely an administrator from the game company, but his words were problematic. What did he mean by "just consider me an administrator" and "they are at least two dimensions lower"? How did he calculate that?

"I come from hell and need to confirm some issues with you for work." Woody's glasses always had a layer of white light, making it impossible to see his expression.

"You guys are all late-stage middle school syndrome..." Feng Jue immediately thought of Pan Feng and Hua Xiong.

"As a person with mental abnormalities, are you talking to me about middle school syndrome?" Woody replied.

Feng Jue thought: Indeed... The game company already knows, right? It makes sense... All the scripts I've passed so far have had a fear rating of 0, which has been flagged as abnormal data. So... Is this guy's job to handle players suspected of cheating?

"Hehe... You can think that way if you want." Woody laughed lecherously.

"Huh?" Feng Jue was taken aback: "What?" He thought: Impossible... Does he know what I'm thinking?

Woody didn't respond, just laughed it off: "Hehehe... First, I want to ask if you believe in Christianity?"

Feng Jue was familiar with mind-reading tricks, so he didn't delve into Woody's previous words, assuming it was a trick. He replied to Woody's question: "I believe more in science."

"Hehehe... Very good." Woody smiled, "I'm done asking."

"Hey... Brother, what's going on? Is this a prank show? Is the system filming?" Feng Jue asked.

"Images and sounds already in your memory, I don't need you to tell me, I've already processed them in the last minute." Woody said: "I just needed to confirm this."

Feng Jue looked at Woody askance, took two steps back, and said: "Mr. Woody, where did you say you came from..."

"Where I come from, you will go, hehehe..." Woody still had a lecherous smile: "I'm leaving. I think when we meet again, you'll be very angry, but life is like that, anger is better than despair, isn't it?"

"Wait, you..." Feng Jue was completely baffled by this guy, who was utterly incomprehensible.

"Human, you are excellent and interesting, a suitable candidate. I plan to place a bet on you... hmm... I'll put Judas's bag of gold on you, it's a big bet, hehehe... Don't disappoint me." Woody shrugged and laughed, then turned and walked into the mirrored wall of the elevator.

After entering the mirror, Woody's form suddenly distorted, transforming into a black shadow that defied description. If eyes are the windows to the soul, the shadow had broken through the window in an instant, directly tearing into the spiritual world.

At that moment, Feng Jue felt an emotion that should not exist—fear.

This feeling, which he could no longer physiologically experience, now emerged as clearly as a brand on his heart. Undoubtedly, it was fear, a deep, indelible terror.

Staring at the formless, sourceless shadow, it was as if his soul was firmly held by a giant hand, ready to be ripped out of his body and annihilated.

After an unknown amount of time, Feng Jue came to his senses, still shaken. He instinctively looked at the time on the wall, realizing that only a few seconds had passed since he last looked away. He struggled to calm down, asking himself: What was all that just now? Reality or illusion? Could it be... the shadow in my brain has spread, causing new symptoms?