Chapter 3

"Breath... breath... breath... breath..."

He Ping clutched his throat, gasping for air as if he had nearly suffocated. In reality, it was almost the case. He had never even killed a chicken before, and suddenly he had killed a person. Not collapsing on the spot was a testament to his mental fortitude, but this time it was extremely dangerous. If the scene in front of him hadn't suddenly changed, drawing his attention away, he might have lost himself. Fortunately, his attention was now focused on the surroundings, and the matter of the killing was temporarily set aside.

"What... where is this?" He Ping was speechless. Strange things happen every year, but today there were especially many. He had just experienced a sudden穿越 (time travel), and before he could figure out the situation, he found himself in another unknown place. Could what happened just now have been a dream, an illusion? But it felt so real. Could the scene in front of him also be an illusion? He Ping pinched his arm. Hmm, it hurt a bit, so it must be real.

He Ping turned around and looked around. He saw a circle of tall walls surrounding him, the tops of which were hidden in a mist. Only a section not far from the ground was visible. From a general view, it seemed to be a cylindrical tower, and he was inside it. On the walls of the tower, there was a spiral staircase extending upwards, which could be climbed.

The walls of the tower looked like they were made of stone. Although there were no patterns, he could see a door at regular intervals along the spiral staircase. The staircase seemed to have no end, hidden in the mist like the upper part of the walls. It was unknown whether there were more doors in the mist. In the center of the tower, right next to where He Ping was standing, there was a stone table about the size of a double bed. Surprisingly, the surface of the stone table, which looked completely devoid of any modern elements, was actually a super-large display screen.

He Ping was speechless. What kind of combination was this? Stone frame with a super-large display screen? It even seemed to be an LCD. Was it that trendy? Could this be the latest fashion? He Ping walked around the display screen. Honestly, with his aesthetic sense, he couldn't see what was so fashionable about it. But thinking about how the fashion world is all about making ordinary people confused, He Ping felt relieved. Cutting-edge designers are indeed beyond the understanding of ordinary people.

At this point, He Ping realized he might have encountered something extraordinary. Based on his extensive reading of web novels, a situation like this could either be a great opportunity, where his long streak of bad luck finally turned around, or a dead end, where he would disappear like an extra in the river of history without the protagonist's aura.

Thinking about this, He Ping felt a bit melancholic. When he was young, he always thought he was the protagonist. But as he grew older, he gradually realized he was just a minor character who could be killed off at any time. Even his long-time rival, Jiang Xiaochong, was more dazzling than him. His brother-in-arms, Dong Xiaoniao, was no longer the timid and sleazy little fat guy. As for his first love... sigh, let's not think about it.

He Ping focused his attention on the display screen in front of him. Although the doors around him were also intriguing, the radius of the cylindrical tower was about fifty meters, and the display screen was right in front of him. Moreover, his usually unreliable sixth sense kept telling him that the display screen was the key to the tower. To understand what had happened to him, it was best to study this.

The screen was lit, but it was just a blank light. He Ping walked around the table but didn't see any buttons or switches. "Is it a touch screen?" With a try-it-out attitude, He Ping extended his short but strong finger and lightly tapped the screen.

"Whoosh!"

Like a stone thrown into water, the screen rippled from the point where He Ping's finger touched it. He immediately pulled his finger back, but the ripples continued to spread outward without stopping. Then, to his surprise, as the ripples spread across the entire screen, words appeared on the previously blank screen!

"Portable Arsenal (V1.0.11689_beta) is starting, please wait..."

"Sample Test Area loading..."

"Product Catalog loading..."

"Special Skill Experience Area loading..."

"General Skill Training Area loading..."

"Miscellaneous Room loading..."

"Guest Room loading..."

"Prison loading..."

"Reward List loading..."

"World Connection System loading..."

"All modules loaded, system startup complete, welcome to use."

Portable Arsenal? What is this? He Ping was confused, but then a thought flashed in his mind. Arsenal! Last night, when he and Dong Xiaoniao were drinking, they both got a bit drunk and went to an ice cream shop to cool off. Dong Xiaoniao drank a large bottle of iced cola, and He Ping ate an Ice Factory ice cream. He vaguely remembered that the ice cream stick had "Grand Prize" written on it. At the time, he didn't pay much attention, but now, thinking back, the last memory before he blacked out was eating the ice cream!

He Ping snapped back to reality and noticed that the words on the screen had changed from "All modules loaded, system startup complete, welcome to use" to a futuristic-looking operating system. Each colorful block on the screen had different words: System Status, Blacklist, Sample List, Product List, Skill List, and a few other blocks with suggestive titles.

He Ping scratched his head in frustration and muttered, "N.N.D, not even a help document or a beginner's guide. How am I supposed to use this? One wrong move and it might crash or restart, and what if this place collapses with it?"

He Ping thought for a moment and decided to leave the table. He couldn't take the risk. He would go check out other places first. As he thought this, he walked towards one of the doors at the bottom. He had been curious about these doors earlier, and now, as he approached, he noticed that each door had words written on it. The door he chose had "Main World" written in large letters, and a line of small text below it made He Ping's eyes widen.

May 19, 2000, 12:00:00 PM!

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