Chapter 41: This Dead Acting, So Real

This black book had very few words, but what was revealed in it made everyone tremble. This game seemed to be more than just a simple sandbox evolution or spore-based species development. They had only explored the tip of the iceberg of this sandbox game so far.

"This is amazing! This game is mind-blowing, absolutely mind-blowing!""At first, I thought this kind of sandbox game, despite its freedom, would have a weak background story. But this game's background setting is pretty awesome!""Quick, quick! Time's up! Close the book, the giant boss is back. Don't dwell on it, let's kill the boss first!" someone suddenly shouted.

In the distance, a tall, magnificent giant, thousands of feet high, was slowly approaching.

Xu Zhi returned, carrying his lunchbox. He naturally had no idea that his hurried departure had allowed those silly players to snoop around and secretly read his experimental diary. These players thought it was a hidden plot, excitedly discussing it, even imagining elaborate game world background settings and inventing all sorts of scenarios, already praising the game developers endlessly.

"Chen Xi's matter is settled, I've comforted her about the long-distance relationship. Now, it's time to test the new species, and settle the score with Autumn Mountain Speedster."

He returned to the sandbox. The miniature mountains and rivers were silent; there were no more strange creatures frantically running and screaming at the sight of the giant. Clearly, they had all taken the opportunity to hide on the chair, plotting against Xu Zhi. Xu Zhi didn't mind. Following his normal routine, he slowly returned to his chair, opened his bento box, and began to eat, curious to see what they would try.

"Let's see what's for dinner today." Xu Zhi sat down, opened his lunchbox, and found his usual delicious and appealing vegetable dinner: carrots, fried eggs, and green vegetables, all looking appetizing.

Just then, a slight pain shot through his arm. A group of strange-looking insects had bitten his arm fiercely, feeling like mosquito bites.

"So that's it? A feint?" Xu Zhi smiled, instantly understanding their plan: have the insects bite him, and while he was distracted swatting them, a highly toxic species would sneak into his lunchbox to poison him.

"They lowered their pain sensation, then self-destructed, using their lives to draw my attention and buy time for Autumn Mountain Speedster's toxic species to infiltrate the lunchbox." Xu Zhi chuckled.

A clever strategy. They were truly a group of seasoned players who frequently cleared difficult dungeons; they had devised the optimal tactic to take down him, the giant boss, in an instant.

He revealed a faint, devilish smile: "Hive sub-brain, forcibly raise their five sensory perceptions. Set the pain sensation to 50%."

One hundred percent sensation would mean a real-life feeling, experiencing intense pain of death in reality if they died in the game. Letting them experience true death once would be too severe a punishment; after all, Xu Zhi wasn't a demon. But even 50% of the sensation of death would be enough to leave them paralyzed, in excruciating pain, and with a lifelong nightmare impression after dying once.

After forcibly increasing the pain sensation, Xu Zhi naturally swatted the insect dead. That player was flattened into a scarlet pulp, and excruciating pain immediately struck them. The pain, comparable to the ten most brutal tortures of ancient times, made him scream like a pig being slaughtered, a piercing shriek that sent chills down the spines of the surrounding players.

"My five senses, didn't I set them to zero?"

When he exited the game and took off his VR headset, he was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. His clothes were soaked with sweat, his muscles twitching violently, in intense spasms, because the feeling and pain of death in the game had been so real that he was almost collapsed from exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the other players in the game, unaware of this, silently gave a thumbs-up.

"Awesome! This brother's acting to kill the boss is too realistic. That insect's scream when it died truly had soul!""This big brother was so enthusiastic to go first, so I'll also bravely sacrifice myself," one player said, laughing smugly. "Watch me! I'll go with my species; I'll scream even more terribly and realistically than him!""Big brother, we're counting on you.""On the first day of our second beta, taking on the 'Giant Chair Dungeon' to kill the boss, we absolutely need a tank to bravely draw aggro."

This player, basking in the praise of those around him, felt very pleased. He quickly crawled out from the chair, specifically lowering his pain sensation to zero. He led his species and stealthily made his way onto Xu Zhi's arm, intending to bite him fiercely, just like the previous one.

Before he could bite down, a powerful swat came. A massive hand, like the Five-Finger Mountain, blocked out the sky and moon, sweeping down. With one slap, it was squashed into a pulp.

"Agh!!" The insect let out another heartbreaking, desperate scream.

This sound was indeed more horrific than the last; it sounded as if he had experienced the most terrible pain in his life. Hearing that scream was enough to make one's skin crawl.

"This fellow died so realistically!""He really acted better than the last one, and screamed even more terribly!!"

The surrounding people, hearing this, cheered in delight! They were beyond thrilled! Look! What's an acting master? This is it! This guy's acting was truly superb; he died so incredibly realistically! They couldn't help but applaud, clearly putting their heart and soul into the performance, truly giving their all to take down the giant boss.

"Brothers, this time, I'll switch to drawing the boss's aggro. Those two screamed too theatrically after being swatted dead, that's too fake. The giant boss will also find it suspicious. This time, I'll act like a tough guy insect, sacrificing myself heroically. I won't utter a single sound even if I'm beaten to death!"

Swatted dead with one slap.

"Woah!""It hurts so much!!""I'm dying from the pain!!!"

He let out a shriek even more piercing than the previous two. The wail echoed across the entire sky, so utterly miserable it sounded like his very life force was being drained, as if his vital organs had been kicked hundreds of times, then cruelly doused with medicated oil—a pain too intense to describe.

"Brother, your acting style, it's all wrong!""Didn't you say you were going for a tough guy image? Why are you screaming so terribly?""He's probably a comedian, maybe trying to be ironically cute in front of us."

Seeing this scene, the people around them shook their heads, but didn't suspect anything amiss. They continued to huddle in the corner of the chair, quickly planning their strategy for fighting the boss. As those three insects drew aggro and sacrificed themselves heroically, the "foolish" giant boss was only focused on swatting insects, completely unaware of the Pallbearer Chicken that was stealthily approaching, climbing up his pant leg, and nearing the lunchbox.

"I'll be the next one to draw attention. I'm not that comedian from just now; let me play a true tough guy insect! When I die, no matter how mangled or dismembered I get, I won't utter a single sound."

Swatted dead with one slap.

"WAAAAAHHHH!!!!!"

Instantly, his heartbreaking scream pierced the air. This time, he screamed even more miserably, his hoarse, loud wail ripping through the sky; just hearing it made one feel pain.

"Heh heh, what happened to the 'tough guy insect' promise? Turns out he loved screaming after all! But his acting is so realistic, like he was truly squashed into pulp and instantly underwent inhumane torture. We have to give him a thumbs-up!""Thumbs up!""Thumbs up!"

The crowd whispered among themselves, discussing excitedly.

Just then, another player emerged. It was the five-armed strange creature, known as "My Primal Chaos Thunderbolt Hand Wants to Evolve into a Kun." He was quite famous among the players. He simply shook his head calmly, a serious expression on his face. "Brothers, I, the Deformed Little Prince, am different from them. Watch me perform as a true tough guy!"

This time, a truly reliable one was entering the fray! The others' minds settled slightly. They had interacted with this player for a while and knew his steady personality. He wasn't like the previous comedians; he was very serious and definitely wouldn't deceive them. He would likely deliver a true tough-guy performance.

"Watch me, 'The wind sighs, the Yi River is cold; a brave man departs, never to return—'"

Another slap.

"WAAAAAH!"

He let out an even more piercing, loud scream. His deformed species was smashed into a bloody mess, its arms torn off. Even its five deformed arms were crushed into a sticky purple eggplant-like pulp, oozing disgusting black fluid, a gooey pool of blood where its head and arms were indistinguishable. The sight of the corpse was horrific. At the same time, his heartbreaking scream was utterly dreadful, making the scalp of the strange-looking insect players huddled in the corner tingle.

Players: "????""This is a tough guy?""He screamed more miserably than anyone else. Has the 'big shot' misunderstood what a tough guy is?"

The players couldn't help but be stunned, falling silent for a full ten seconds. They suddenly looked at each other and burst into brilliant smiles. "Who knew this usually serious person would also joke with us? These people shouldn't be playing games; they could win acting awards if they pursued acting. It's truly a waste of their talent.""Right, right, their death scenes are so realistic!"