Chapter 1

Ye Han found himself being moved in his sleep. It was neither the place where he had fallen asleep nor the position he had been in, and even his favorite Hedy Lamarr pillow was not in his arms.

This is... on a high-speed train?

No, that's not right. It's not a high-speed train; it's an airplane.

The windows were clearly much smaller, and he was wearing a seatbelt. There were many differences in the details.

Judging from the seat width and space configuration, it should be a business class or even a low-end first-class cabin. The width was sufficient for a fat man weighing over 200 pounds to sit comfortably, and he could easily cross his legs. There was also a 12.8-inch display screen on the back of the seat in front.

He was in the window seat on the left side, but he couldn't see outside.

On his right was a young woman with a great figure, fashionable attire, and... an indescribable face. On the other side of the aisle were two more people: a young, unkempt man and a middle-aged, stern man.

There were four people in a row, and not a single seat was empty.

As Ye Han observed his surroundings, the others also woke up and looked around, exchanging glances. There were men, women, old, young, rich, and poor.

Many people tried to get up but found the seatbelts strangely impossible to unfasten.

"What's going on? Why are we on a high-speed train?" someone asked while struggling, "I still have a deal worth billions to negotiate!"

"This doesn't seem to be a high-speed train; it's an airplane..." someone corrected.

"An airplane? Oh no, save me! I have acrophobia, claustrophobia, turbulence phobia, and sky phobia... How could I be on an airplane? This must be a dream!"

"Slap!"

"What the hell, why did you hit me?"

"Does it hurt? Looks like it's not a dream."

Amid the chaos, everyone continued to be confused and disoriented.

Suddenly, the unkempt, scruffy young man on the other side of the aisle screamed, "Su, Su, Su Xingmou? How... Wow, what a great day, everyone, let's..."

He was extremely surprised, almost drunk with admiration, and exaggeratedly tried to shake hands with Ye Han, but then he suddenly realized something was off.

With his scream, everyone's attention instantly focused on him.

In the same instant, Su Xingmou's beautiful face, which had been very surprised, switched to a knowing smile, revealing eight gleaming white teeth, just like the smile she used in commercials—polite, sweet, and full of confidence.

"Hi, everyone, I'm Su Xingmou. Can someone tell me what program this is? Can someone give me the script? Where are the staff? Staff!"

If Ye Han hadn't been close enough to see it, he wouldn't have believed how quickly a person's expression could change.

Is this Su Xingmou? Ye Han pushed up his glasses and took a closer look at the woman.

He had heard of her name.

Actually, more than just heard!

The young, unkempt man next to him was looking at her with burning eyes, like a lab dog that had just been given a treat or a programmer who had just been told he could take a day off.

Su Xingmou, who started her career at the age of three in commercials, became a national sweetheart at eight due to a sitcom, and then had a string of hit TV dramas. As she grew older, she won a major award for her performance in a film, effortlessly shedding the labels of child star and comedy actress.

There was no tragedy of growing up; she was cute as a child and remained beautiful with long legs as an adult.

At just 21, she had starred in seven or eight hit TV series, won several acting awards, and had box office earnings exceeding 10 billion. Her latest sci-fi film grossed over 6 billion, breaking almost all records for domestic films and even entering Hollywood...

Her popularity was explosive, her influence immense, with her commercials flooding TV and the internet, and her image plastered on streets and in malls. She was a true idol and a powerhouse!

She had progressed so quickly that it was hard to even feel jealous.

In all of China, from the elderly to the young, there were few who didn't know her or recognize her... At least Ye Han had heard of her.

However...

Su Xingmou's standard smile gradually faded.

Because after the passengers in the cabin glanced at her, they quickly turned away.

"Su Xingmou? Who's that? Acting like a big star..."

"Never heard of her. She is pretty, though."

"Tsk, what a waste of time!"

Out of the hundred or so passengers in the cabin, only the scruffy young man on the other side of the aisle was a fan, and the middle-aged man with a stern face seemed to know her, but no one else did...

Could it be that her millions of followers on Weibo were all fake? Could it be that the crowds at her events were all paid by the company? Could it be that the millions of retweets on her Weibo posts were all automated?

Or was this the effect the show was going for...

Even after eighteen years in the industry, at this moment, Su Xingmou felt a bit disheartened...

Ye Han, however,敏锐地发现事情有点不对劲。

Even if he was deep in his laboratory, even in foreign laboratories, he would occasionally hear the name Su Xingmou. In a cabin of a hundred people, all of whom were young adults, the probability that none of them knew Su Xingmou should be...

Instinctively, he started to calculate the probability using Bayes' formula, while the others continued to discuss—

"What's going on?"

"The seatbelt won't come off. Are we... kidnapped?"

"If it was just kidnapping, that would be better. Don't you think it's very unscientific that we ended up on this plane and that the seatbelt can't be opened? It reminds me of a web novel..."

As they whispered, the screen in front of them flickered, and text appeared—

ヾ（*′▽『*）?

Okay, first a string of large emoticons, then the text.

【Hello, welcome to the Fiber Arena!】

【Well, you guessed it right. The setting here is indeed like the web novels you're thinking of.】

【Here, you will hear the roar of the universe at its inception echoing in the abyss, see the gods die like helpless children, witness the birth and destruction of worlds... You will face the greatest mystery of life—death!】

【Once you see this scenery, there's no going back!】

（??????）?

"Semper Crescis Aut Descrescis,

Vita Detestalilis,

Nunc Obdurat Et Nunc Curat Ludomenis Aiem..."

As the subtitles appeared and disappeared like in a Star Wars movie, a grand and stirring background music played.

"These subtitles and the BGM... What the hell?" the passengers felt uneasy.

The subtitles continued—

【Alright, no more talk. It won't help anyway. Just get through the first trial! Then you'll have the right to know the truth!】

【Background: You are on an airplane. Four people in a row form a team, with a total of twenty-five teams, one hundred people, and each person has a parachute. Soon, the plane will arrive at a special island, and you will survive, fight, and avoid various unknown dangers, competing for the shrinking safe zone...】

【Sound familiar?】

【That's right, your trial is—Battle Royale!】

【Surprised? Unexpected? Exciting? Schrödinger's players!】

φ（≧ω≦*）?

Suddenly, the plane jolted, "buzzing" and started moving.

It seemed to have been suspended in mid-air, as if time had stopped, and only now resumed flying.

Schrödinger had been very busy lately, with his cat, his maid, his single life, and his pickup techniques... all the buzz. So, after a moment of thought, everyone understood what "Schrödinger's players" meant.

Basically, in this game, whether the players survive or die is entirely in a state of probability...

In short, is this the endless horror game where the winner lives and the loser dies?

And the so-called trial is a competition of one hundred people, with only the last four survivors winning?

This difficulty is way too extreme!

Of course, there were those who rarely read web novels, like Ye Han, or those who rarely played games like Battle Royale or Stimulating Battlefield, like Ye Han, who were completely baffled by the prompt.

But there was no one to ask, and even if they did, they couldn't hear the answers.

Because in an instant, the cabin was filled with complaints, protests, and sighs, even drowning out the roar of the engines.

The system continued to display messages—

【You can find the map and route on the pad in front of you. The jump command can also be found on the main screen of the pad.】

【So, I wish you all good luck, tonight, no, tomorrow, in the chicken dinner!】

【Good luck!】

（???_??）?

After displaying the last emoticon, the pad in front of the seat turned into a stream of light, flew into everyone's eyes, and became an AR interface that could be operated and selected in their field of vision.

A prominent line of large text appeared in the center of everyone's field of vision, like a 3D movie subtitle—

【Trial mission activated. Main mission: Survive to the end! Reward: You'll know when the time comes.】

This is not the technology that currently exists on Earth!

Is this really an endless horror game?

The protests abruptly stopped.

If before, everyone still had some doubts, suspecting it was a malicious prank, and maybe there were hidden cameras, at this moment, they were truly and completely resigned.

Is protesting to the main god useful?

"The map seems to be four times larger, 32x32 kilometers? The scenes are completely different."

"Check the map and the route first! Choosing the right landing spot is crucial!"

"Who has played the game? Who knows a little? Who has never touched it? Speak up."

"Also, age, occupation, skills... especially gun use? Who has really fired a gun? Who has played real-life CS? Speak up quickly..."

After a brief silence, the cabin once again boiled with activity.