Chapter 195: The First Game

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Protagonist:

Jiang Xuan

"Thud!"

A La Ya crawled up from the snow-white floor, propped up the fallen broken wooden chair, touched his aching buttocks, and eagerly looked up at the ceiling of his own space, where a signed photo was pasted.

There were no entertainment facilities in this lonely space, or rather there were, but as someone who had just inexplicably transmigrated into this trial game not long ago, he had not unlocked any entertainment facilities; the photo could help him find some memories, so his soul would not be buried by the despair and loneliness of endless days and nights.

A La Ya did not know he had not transmigrated, but had simply had his life activated as a supplement to the player population, and was still fantasizing about one day returning to find familiar people, unaware that the universe he knew in the distant past had already been completely changed.

He had already participated in two games, although they contained much blood and terror, but he had ultimately survived, and obtained supernatural power and some material rewards, filling him with hope for the future.

"Please prepare; in five minutes you will enter the next game!"

While he was thinking, the system's ruthless prompt sounded in A La Ya's ears, and a blood-red countdown appeared in the lower left corner of his vision.

"I only rested for two days! This time it's so fast!" A La Ya muttered in a low voice, but did not dare stop and began packing the items he wanted to bring into the game.

Among them was a bloody eyeball, which he had dug out from someone who wanted to kill him, and it could reveal an extra clue in the game.

A small dagger, a one-time item that could provide invisibility, and the next attack would carry the power of time with a hundred percent hit.

Several mint leaves, which when used in panic could briefly suppress mental fluctuations and allow for more rational judgment.

Besides these three items, the first two games also gave him a body of strength!

His current fleshly body could withstand a cannon without dying, although it was not very useful against monsters in the game carrying special patterns, but it could make his physical abilities in all aspects more excellent.

……

In another equally bright space, the space was much larger than A La Ya's, but there were no decorations at all, only a middle-aged man named Geng Fan with stubble on his face, his eyes holding only absolute dead silence, lying on the bed like a corpse, staring straight at the ceiling without blinking.

Just then, the voice of that damned system came from his ears:

"The next game in five minutes!"

Geng Fan's dead-silent eyes vaguely flashed with a glint of light, and like a zombie he sat up stiffly, sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for this transmission.

……

Five minutes was neither long nor short; when the notification time arrived, the eight people imprisoned in their spaces disappeared from their own spaces, leaving only the spaces waiting for their masters to return.

Of course, if their masters could no longer return, the space would naturally dissipate, and newcomers would continue to be added.

The light faded away, and an enlarged version of a courtyard house appeared beneath the eight people's feet!

Completely bright colors; looking up they could see the sun hanging high in the sky, casting warm sunlight they had not seen in a long time.

Beneath their feet was a not very large courtyard, with only one huge red wooden gate that could leave the courtyard; otherwise the courtyard was in a completely isolated state.

Several people were busy in the courtyard; these were all NPCs in the game.

The reason it was said to be beneath their feet was because they were now standing in the sky, observing everything here like gods.

Withdrawing their gazes, the eight people began to observe the other seven people beside them.

The vast majority had already endured four or five games, at least A La Ya had participated in two games, so they all knew the theme of the game was confrontation and inexplicable danger.

Although they did not know why this game started by hanging them all in the sky, this was undoubtedly the best time to observe the opponents.

Geng Fan swept his gaze over everyone and lowered his head, his body relaxing slightly; the people he met this time were mostly small sprouts, posing no danger to him.

Just then, the figure of a young man suddenly appeared among the crowd.

No dangerous aura could be felt from him, but there was a noble and ethereal feeling; his handsome face could make a large group of star-chasers unable to move.

Jiang Xuan sized up the eight people around him—three women and five men—and he could clearly feel the strength of all of them; the strongest was also the one whose mood fluctuated the least after entering.

After seeing the sun, others raised their heads to feel the sunlight for a moment, but he only glanced at the seven people around him and made no extra movements; his strength had reached the peak of the Four Extremes Secret Realm, and the strength of his four limbs was even more surging and explosive.

While Jiang Xuan was sizing up these people, the eight players were also sizing up the referee appearing before their eyes.

It was not uncommon for games to have referees or explainers, but it was almost unheard of for one to appear before them in human form; or rather, most of them had never seen one.

The ones who previously explained the rules were mostly mutated female demons in blood-red robes, or ethereal and strange illusory figures, all to accentuate the game's terrifying atmosphere—they had never seen a human!

"Welcome to my game!" Jiang Xuan spread his arms in an embrace.

Seeing that no one was willing to cater to his strange desire to show off, he was not embarrassed, but simply sped up the pace: "Then I should introduce the rules of this game!"

"My game is called: Hope"

"To make up for your regrets, the game will bring you a new life; all you have to do is enjoy this new life well! Of course! Most importantly, you can only live within this courtyard!"

"Confrontation ranking: the number of family members at settlement!"

"Clearance condition: a minimum of one family member is enough to clear!"

After finishing the explanation of the rules, Jiang Xuan smiled and looked at the eight people around him:

"Relax, everyone; my game is a game of enjoyment! No need for killing; even if you just enjoy a good life, you can clear it, right?"

After listening to the handsome referee before them finish explaining the rules, the rules of this game officially appeared on their own panels, exactly the same as what Jiang Xuan had narrated.

Even the indifferent Geng Fan had a flicker of fluctuation in his eyes at this moment.

He had already played seventeen games, wandering among blood and fear, his spirit almost in a state of complete numbness, but who did not yearn for a good life?

The game's rules were certified by the system, indicating that the opponent, as a referee, had not told a single lie, which also brought him some inexplicable expectation.

Seeing that the moods of the eight people had been lifted, Jiang Xuan looked deeply at the eight people, sighed lightly, and disappeared into the void.

Immediately, the space of the courtyard house below began to accelerate instantly, figures flickered quickly, like a single ant busily moving about aimlessly!

And before the eight people's eyes everything went black at the same time; their bodies remained in the void, while their souls were sent into the courtyard, almost opening their eyes at the same time.

Before their eyes were the appearances of their parents, looking at the child who had just opened his eyes with joy and expectation.

"Eyes open! Eyes are open!"

A voice full of affection and joy reached his ears, and Geng Fan discovered his body had turned into a child's; before him stood a husband and wife with concerned gazes, careful and tentative, afraid that too loud a sound or movement would make the child cry.

"Is this a plot stage? Then the current danger level shouldn't surpass the Mortal stage — could this really be a world for enjoyment?" Geng Fan felt an inexplicable wavering in his heart.

Generally, only plot stages that don't exceed the Mortal stage can strip them of their own strength and Equipment; only after the plot finishes or a certain Limit is triggered will their power be returned at the same time.

That bearded father looked at his child with doubt: "Have you noticed our child's eyes carry a kind of indifference? It's got me a bit scared!"

The mother gave the father a sidelong glance and snorted softly: "What would a child know about emotions! You can't see shit! Do you dislike your own child?"

"No, no!" The father straightened up and hurriedly denied it, then leaned in close to seriously examine the infant in his arms.

Geng Fan's heart stirred; involuntarily he reined in his inner indifference and forced on a trace of a bewildered expression.

The father leaned in and looked carefully; indeed he couldn't see anything wrong with the eyes, so he carefully kissed the child, still afraid his beard would prick the child and hurt him.

Feeling those two gazes full of love, an inexplicable thought rose in Geng Fan's mind: "Perhaps experiencing a familiar life like this isn't bad either!"

……

Jiang Xuan sat cross-legged in the Void, quietly watching the game field below, his mind filled with myriad thoughts.

Designing this game cost him only three Realm Stones; even adding the Rewards for the many players afterward wouldn't exceed four Realm Stones, but the time consumed in building it was not short!

Of course it wasn't a boring, tasteless construction either; through building the game, his Understanding of world construction deepened further, and it would let him better control his Micro World in the future.

But it was precisely his bit-by-bit construction that now plunged him into a kind of fear.

He controls the fate of some ignorant ones, yet simultaneously the creator of this world controls the fate of the "gods" who come here!

Although he can freely enter and exit this Space, free from the creator's control, why is he able to freely enter and exit this Space? Because of the Hongmeng Treasure Mirror!

Who gave him the Hongmeng Treasure Mirror? Isn't he himself grasped by an unknowable Existence controlling his fate? Perhaps an invisible giant hand is manipulating him east and west, sending him from world to world to grow stronger?

He doesn't understand! But just like those people in universes that no longer exist yet haven't given up hope, who still insist on living — he has walked farther on the road of survival than they have, so how could he give up?

A youth fears not plucking stars from dreams, dares draw the mulberry bow to shoot the jade balance.

The courtyard below has entered the time-acceleration phase; each of them will possess a perfect childhood and youth!

A La Ya has fully adapted to this reward stage; perhaps because he was abandoned from a young age and raised by his grandmother, this makes him cherish all the more this warmth he has never felt before!

"A La Ya! You can't eat any more candy! Did you forget two days ago your tooth hurt so much you couldn't sleep?"

A mother's scolding voice came from beside his ear; A La Ya nodded vigorously, yet secretly slipped two candies into his pocket.

Seven or eight years have passed; he has already integrated into this illusory family, even his actions carry a touch of childishness.

Before, he acted childish only to keep his parents from worrying their child was a freak, so he deliberately put on some childishness.

But now he can do these actions casually and freely; hearing his parents' scolding and occasional doting can make him happy for a long time!

"Perhaps living out this life and then dying isn't a bad choice either?" Geng Fan lowered his head and murmured.

At this moment he was sitting cross-legged beside a table and chair, looking at a "Five Years of Mock Exams" textbook.

He who had never even seen sixth-grade science before now studies tirelessly because of his parents' praise — is this not a transformation?

The other six rooms are the same; except they are restricted by their families to their rooms and cannot go out, the love and the stories beyond the courtyard are not one bit lacking.

But calm is only occasional; fluctuation is the norm!

Past age ten, they were finally allowed to walk out of their rooms, and their families even equipped them with dedicated phones and invited special teachers to teach them together.

Only now did the eight of them finally meet face to face again; although their parents are all different, because of the Setting they are not surprised by the coincidence of eight children being born in one courtyard at the same time, even greeting each other and leaving through the Gate to go to work.

The eight saw the courtyard Gate open for the first time; outside lay a street bustling with car traffic, and they could even hear car horns honking, vendors hawking secondhand goods, children playing and running past.

Standing in the courtyard looking at each other, their gazes differed, but all were extremely restrained!

They looked at each other for a long time, then one by one returned to their own family's rooms.

After that brief exchange, they temporarily reached a consensus: Stability!

No one wants to destroy the current Environment, and they have no power — proving this is still a plot stage!

The only thing that made them irritable at this meeting was that it made their minds clear-headed again, no longer immersed in the family's gentleness, realizing this is only a false game, not real life!

This undoubtedly shattered their illusions completely!

Or rather, they originally knew the truth, but kept deceiving themselves so they could enjoy a little longer!

But this meeting between players tore open the psychological defenses they had built for themselves, letting them see clearly!

This is just a game!

With phones in hand, the three were no longer bored reading books, but possessed a flood of social and entertainment information!

For these people who possess Memories, this is even more effortless; games and socializing become their only means to relieve loneliness in this courtyard.

As time passed, they welcomed this game's eighteenth year; they came of age!

In the Void, the eight physical bodies beside Jiang Xuan vanished instantly, replacing the eight vibrant young people in the courtyard!

Relative to the Jiang Xuan in the Void, only ten minutes have passed, and this game has only just officially begun! (Chapter End)