[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-player-reboot":3,"chapter-player-reboot-player-reboot-chapter-42":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Player Reboot",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2272007,4438,"Chapter 42: Chosen One","player-reboot-chapter-42",42,"\u003Cp>As Yuan Zhixia had anticipated, within minutes, a group of men in crisp black suits arrived at the scene alongside police officers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officers efficiently set up crime scene tape and evacuated the crowd under the pretense of a natural gas leak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several of the black-suited men vanished into thin air, as if entering the Shadow Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they reappeared, they carried a pile of cocoon-like human forms and placed the unconscious individuals onto stretchers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you even hire child labor?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Zhixia sat in a chair, arms folded across her chest, observing everything with calm detachment and remarking casually.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing beside the stretchers was a boy of about eleven or twelve, also dressed in a black suit; with his bandaged, faintly glowing palms, he swept them over the patients’ faces, and their complexions immediately improved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His name is Su Jie. He’s a contracted medical specialist for the Special Affairs Bureau—not child labor.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man in a suit smiled bitterly. “Let me introduce myself—I’m Xu Yongyan, captain of the second squad under the third mobile task force of the Yin City Special Affairs Bureau.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood, Captain Xu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Zhixia nodded. “Since you’ve seen what’s inside the Shadow Realm, you know we’re not the bad guys among the crowd. Even at great personal risk, we helped prevent an anomaly from erupting and protected innocent civilians.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We know that,” Xu Yongyan said. “Don’t worry—the Special Affairs Bureau is an official organization with complete laws, regulations, and procedures. We won’t let a guilty person go unpunished, nor will we wrong an innocent one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In any case, someone will clean up the mall. This isn’t the place to talk—please get in the vehicle. I’ll take you to the Yin City Special Affairs Bureau. Someone wants to meet you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Special Affairs Bureau’s Sky Eye system—more precisely, Sky Eye itself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>————\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Origin Connection System fully debugged. System template officially online. Chosen Ones may now query basic information.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the Shadow Realm, Li Cheng, riding a ride-share toward school, heard the voice again—directly inside his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, diverting part of his attention to monitor the vehicle’s direction and switch rides, while silently asking the voice in his thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is a Chosen One?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Current permissions insufficient. Unable to query related data.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is the Killing Ground? Who created it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Current permissions insufficient. Unable to query related data.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even this question can’t be answered?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng frowned slightly. Online player forums already had clear Q&A compilations answering many questions, yet the Killing Ground system itself was evasive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either this is a half-finished product, or it’s hiding critical information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought for a moment and rephrased his question: “How do I raise my permissions?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Upgrade Chosen One level to maximum. Current maximum attainable level is LV40.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Current? That means LV40 isn’t the end—levels can be raised further in the future? Wait, did previous versions also have level caps? Like LV20 or LV30? Like a major game update giving latecomers a chance to catch up?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Current permissions insufficient. Unable to query related data.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again. Li Cheng’s eye twitched. He asked bluntly: “Tell me all currently accessible basic information.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Chosen Ones may now open the system interface. The interface consists of eight modules: Player Information, Attributes, Items, Equipment, Skills, Inventory, Quest Log, and Marketplace.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Chosen Ones may use the system interface to log into the physical Killing Ground. First login defaults to a safe zone.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Log in?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Yes\u002FNo】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holographic-like text appeared before Li Cheng’s eyes—visible even when he shifted his gaze, blurred his vision, or closed his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if directly projected into his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s thought, Li Cheng focused his awareness and clicked “No,” closing the text before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The newly launched Chosen One system couldn’t be understood in a short time—first, get through the immediate situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He maintained the Shadow Realm and raced back to school at breakneck speed; as he stepped onto campus, the bell for afternoon class rang just in time. Fortunately, he wasn’t late by much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tidied his attire, brushed his hair to cover the wound on his forehead, and stepped out of the administrative building’s restroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Earlier during lunch, he’d washed the blood from his nose in this restroom—it was far superior to the ones in the classroom buildings: spacious, tiled with patterned porcelain, no overhead lighting, and equipped with premium hotel-grade air fresheners and hand soap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, students often came to the administrative building just to use the restroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He returned to class. The first afternoon lesson was Chinese, taught by homeroom teacher Yang Hui. Ye Jiaying’s desk partner raised his hand. “Teacher, Ye Jiaying hasn’t arrived.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, I know. She just called home—she’s feeling unwell and went home early.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Hui spoke casually, opened her textbook, and began the lesson.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng inwardly thought, “As expected,” and felt slightly reassured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Earlier at Longheng Mall, after the Ink Spider died, the Shadow Realm it maintained began to collapse. Li Cheng continued sustaining the Shadow Realm, absorbing all small spider monsters into it, and “kicked out” Ye Jiaying, Yuan Zhixia, and Yang Ling—achieving their removal from the Shadow Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once they returned to the real world, they would inevitably be discovered by the Special Affairs Bureau. And since they objectively helped kill the Ink Spider and resolved an anomaly, the Bureau wouldn’t trouble them—they’d even help conceal their absence from school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether Yang Ling could return to human form and resume normal life now depended on the Special Affairs Bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Chinese lesson ended, Yang Hui gathered her teaching materials and called out Li Cheng’s name alone: “Li Cheng, come to my office.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, alright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the sympathetic glances from Han Letian and Mu Yulu—“Bro, you’re in trouble now”—Li Cheng left the classroom and followed Yang Hui to the homeroom office, standing quietly beside her desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve changed desk partners recently. Has it affected you?” Yang Hui asked gently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is that all? Li Cheng answered honestly: “No effect at all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, his previous desk partner, Han Letian, sat behind him anyway, and they still joked around during breaks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good,” Yang Hui nodded, speaking earnestly. “Your recent test scores have dropped. Pay attention. You’re in second year of high school—college entrance exams aren’t far off. Now’s the time to push hard and improve your grades.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing his homeroom teacher’s earnest advice, Li Cheng nodded vigorously, his peripheral vision accidentally lingering on a photo on her desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The photo, framed, showed Yang Hui from several years ago, holding Yang Ling—who had pigtails—smiling joyfully in front of Disneyland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that time, Yang Hui’s husband was still alive; this photo was likely taken by him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She placed this single-person photo on her desk instead of a family portrait, probably because seeing a full family picture would remind her of her husband and bring her sorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Hui noticed Li Cheng’s gaze and looked at the photo herself—in her view, Yang Ling was invisible; only she stood alone in the picture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Hui looked puzzled. She couldn’t recall why she’d placed a solo photo on her desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever. Forget it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She waved her hand, telling Li Cheng to return to class. Then she picked up the frame, about to toss it into the bottom drawer—but paused inexplicably, and instead placed the photo back on the desk. It looked better there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1224,"2026-06-19T22:31:22.154Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","ffb12e42746ed9e5dd4643cecadb81f0be3a4fea465197cb19f7914dd0c3e2df","player-reboot-chapter-43","player-reboot-chapter-41",612,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fplayer-reboot-cover.jpg"]