Chapter 42: Unexpected Surprise

Everyone secretly admired them wholeheartedly; these masters were playing dead so convincingly, their screams were incredibly realistic.

We all went through nine years of compulsory education, so why are they so exceptionally good? They must have been secretly taking extra lessons.

Meanwhile, after those players died and exited the game, they were drenched in sweat and took a while to recover from their convulsions before weakly logging onto the forum.

"You won't believe this," one posted. "I almost died playing a game... This game is too real! I just died, and the five senses were so vivid, like a second world. It truly felt like ancient torture; I wouldn't want to experience it again even if you killed me."

"Are you a masochist? Didn't they say you could adjust pain levels in this game?"

"The game has a bug, please fix it, tech support. I clearly lowered the pain setting when fighting the boss."

This post quickly sparked discussion. It was the first bug report, and it was surprising that such a realistic game finally had a flaw. Soon, other players who had died and logged out also reported the same issue: they had lowered the pain setting, but it was completely useless.

"What, you too?"

"Me too, I had the same experience."

After some communication, everyone finally realized.

Since everyone experienced this, it was clearly not a system bug. Could it be that every time you're killed by a boss in this game, the pain level is mandatorily raised to 50%?

As they reached this conclusion, everyone involuntarily gasped.

That's too hardcore!

It's simply inhumane!

A group of people began to voice their opinions.

"It's probably an in-game setting to prevent players from easily provoking bosses, a kind of death penalty mechanism."

Other onlookers found it interesting. This game is truly realistic! It's not like typical online games; this is a fully simulated second reality virtual world. In other online games, if your party wipes in a dungeon, that's the end of it. But who knew this one was different? If you're killed by a boss, you'll experience intense death sensations like spasms and convulsions in reality after dying.

This death penalty is incredible!

"As expected, the game's freedom is too high; we have to discover everything ourselves," they exclaimed. "Quickly notify the people inside! Death will cause agonizing cramps!"

"We can't notify them!" someone replied. "You can't access the forum while in the game!"

"Then what should we do?"

"We can only... let them experience the pain we suffered."

Countless people's expressions subtly changed. They seemed to have a premonition that the first day of the second beta test wouldn't be a celebration of defeating the boss. Instead, on that day, players would collectively face an extremely tragic event: widespread convulsions and spasms, a taste of the death experience.

On his chair, Xu Zhi remained calm.

He usually didn't bother with scheming against these players, simply letting them develop on their own. But now, sitting on a chair at the courtyard entrance, eating his meal while swatting bugs, was quite a leisurely activity.

This feeling was like eating a meal while watching TV.

*Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!*

People rushed forward one after another.

"Brothers, I'll show you what a true tough guy looks like!"

*Aaaah!*

A wave of horrifying, inhumane screams followed.

Xu Zhi patiently swatted each of the bug-like players to death.

For him, these days were very much like a typical rural routine. After all, in a rural courtyard, especially when sitting under a tree to cool off, insects often crawled onto one's body, and a single slap would kill them.

At this moment, while everyone was distracting Xu Zhi, Chen Wenshan, the 'Deathbringer Chicken,' had secretly crawled into Xu Zhi's lunchbox.

"Finally, we've reached this step. Watch me poison you to death."

Chen Wenshan chuckled, stealthily leading his dozen or so propagated populations as they wandered through the ocean of white rice grains, rolling around and trying to bury themselves deeper.

Seeing this scene, the players who had been frantically sacrificing themselves also stopped and no longer rushed forward.

"After countless sacrifices, we've finally reached this point!"

"He successfully entered the lunchbox!"

Countless people were moved to tears.

Although they knew the pioneers' wails were fake, each of them was a superb actor, making it incredibly convincing! The harrowing screams before death made them feel a sense of tragic grandeur.

There was no denying it; their screams were truly agonizing.

Even a pig being slaughtered wouldn't scream so miserably.

"Finally entered my lunchbox? Quite a sacrifice," Xu Zhi murmured, slightly surprised but unconcerned. He picked up his lunchbox and continued eating as usual.

Since he wants me to eat him, then I'll reluctantly eat him...

Bite after bite.

The bugs hiding in the chair's crevices had fiery gazes. "Eat it! Eat it fast! Eat it!" they thought. "He's about to get to the good part, about to eat the Deathbringer Chicken. Poison him to death!"

*Crunch, crunch.*

Xu Zhi continued to hold his lunchbox, taking bite after bite.

"Almost there."

They grew increasingly excited.

But the next second, just as he was about to eat the Deathbringer Chicken, Xu Zhi suddenly stopped, muttering, "I don't know why, but with so many bugs biting me today, my food's gone cold. I'll take it to the oven to warm it up."

Xu Zhi stood up from his chair.

Players: ????

"What's with you suddenly wanting to warm up your food?" Everyone had a look of utter frustration. "Is the boss so finicky? Are the NPC mechanisms so human-like? The food hadn't been sitting out for long; did he really have to warm it up before eating?"

"Eating this 'idiot' player raw feels a bit gross," Xu Zhi whispered to himself, ignoring their thoughts.

Although he knew it wasn't a big deal — he wasn't eating a human, but essentially a chicken-flavored bug raw — and people often ate sashimi or rare steak, he still felt a bit uneasy.

But Xu Zhi wasn't keen on such things; he preferred cooked food.

He had also asked the hive mind if he could cook it before eating, and the answer was yes. This was because the player's venom was uniquely potent and wouldn't be neutralized by cooking.

Eating it raw or cooked, the test for poison would be no different.

"Oh my god!! How malicious is this?!" thought Chen Wenshan, the little bug hiding in the lunchbox. "He's actually going to cook me?"

Chen Wenshan, the little bug hiding in the lunchbox, heard this and felt absolutely devastated. He was instantly incredibly frustrated, but he didn't dare show himself for fear of being discovered, so he could only silently await his cruel fate.

"It's fine!" he thought, trembling and frantically trying to reassure himself. "Even after I die, my corpse can still poison him. Besides, I lowered my pain setting, so what if he bakes me to death?"

Xu Zhi put the lunchbox inside, closed the oven, and set it to the highest temperature, 280 degrees.

Clearly, he still remembered the deep grudge he had with this fellow. Everyone else's deaths had been instantaneous – a quick end rather than prolonged suffering. But this one would face the horrifying fate of being slowly baked to death.

*Whirr!!*

The oven's fiery red light immediately lit up.

Inside the massive oven, it was like a world-destroying furnace, slowly heating up and growing hot. The entire rectangular world was turning red. Chen Wenshan, the little bug hiding in the giant lunchbox, couldn't help but tremble. Beads of hot sweat appeared under his crimson feathers, and his entire body gradually became uncomfortable.

"It's fine."

"I lowered my pain setting; I won't feel the heat," he kept reassuring himself. Yet he was sweating profusely, feeling increasingly agonizing and unbearable, as if his entire body was being roasted...

*Waaah!*

What do you mean it won't be hot?!

It's burning me to death!!

This is more terrifying than Laozi's alchemy furnace!

Soon, even more harrowing screams, far worse than those of the previous players, came from inside. They were simply indescribable.

Xu Zhi sat on the chair in the room, scratching his head. "My dear fellow," he murmured, "let's settle all our old and new scores. Let this be a harsh lesson for you, so you stop trying to mess with me all the time."

In his opinion, the 'Deathbringer Chicken' was certainly doomed.

Give them a lesson. They won't lose a limb after the pain anyway, so they'll stop trying to scheme against me, their creator, all the time. They even want to mess with me and poison my food. Don't you know you have to pay a steep price for that?

He was too lazy to bother with these people. He felt that after giving them a good beating, he could now end this boring farce with them. Then, while eating his bento, he could test the toxins of this new creature.

For them, it was an exciting boss fight. For him, it was merely eating dinner, idly playing with them, and testing the characteristics of a new species.

Who knew...

From within the scorching oven, a clear and melodious phoenix cry suddenly erupted.

A phoenix cry?

"It's been baking for seven or eight minutes already; that idiot player inside isn't dead yet?" Xu Zhi frowned slightly. "Could it be that, through survival of the fittest, he actually survived the oven's environment? Evolved?"

At this moment, the hive mind's sub-brain spoke for the first time, its voice filled with surprise.

"The first Zerg hero has actually been born."