"What are you holding?" Su Ming'an asked.
"It's an antibody. This family used to work in a pharmaceutical company, and they still had some stock left from before the apocalypse," Xiao Han replied with a smile. "Let's go, Doctor."
Just as Su Ming'an turned to follow her, a sudden whoosh of air rushed up behind him.
A bright red number popped up above his head as a metal pipe slammed into the back of his skull.
[HP-300! (Weak Point Hit, Full Power Strike!)]
His body staggered forward uncontrollably, his vision narrowed, and he blacked out.
…
[The World Forums]
Today was the first day of the World Game.
Those who were eliminated had returned to their personal space. All they could do now was watch livestreams or make forum posts. Since there weren't that many dead players, the World Forums remained chaotic.
They made all sorts of posts—emotional breakdowns, angry rants, confused questions—debating whether the organizers were higher-dimensional beings and speculating about the true goals of these 'aliens'.
No one knew who moderated the forums, but the meaningful posts were automatically pinned while spam disappeared quickly.
At the top was a featured post, calling for all players to unite against the organizers. The wording was passionate and uplifting:
"These higher-dimensional beings want to reduce us to animals ruled by brute force. But we are intelligent, rational lifeforms!
—We must never bow, never let them control us!"
Beneath it were hundreds of thousands of replies.
Since it was only the first day, those who died had mostly been kind, ordinary people. Hope still burned bright within them.
"That's right. Complaining does nothing. We have to stay strong!"
"OP's right! I was so scared earlier. I didn't know what to do and couldn't even contact my family. Now at least I have a goal. I'm gonna hold on until we win!"
"Damn those organizers. I wish I could kick their asses!"
"You know, maybe this is also an opportunity for humanity to evolve. A spark of insight through collision with higher-dimensional thought."
"Every leap in human history has faced the unknown. Maybe this is the same."
"I'm not brave enough to face those monsters. But I'll cheer on and support the brave players who do!"
"Can the players see the World Forums? Or do they only get access after a world ends?"
"I've tried. They won't let us leak any game info through the chat."
"Let's build up our knowledge base, write guides, and wait for players to finish and read them!"
"Yeah! We'll analyze the game's mechanics and act as the intel support team!"
…
Among the crowd was Su Shi, just one of many ordinary people. She had been an arts student at a university in China. But unlike the others, she didn't hate the World Game.
Because just before being pulled into the game, a stalker's rope had just tightened around her neck.
She was yanked into the game at the last second, saving her life.
But she still died. Killed by a raider gang. Killed by her fellow humans.
When her awareness returned, she found herself floating in the pre-game lobby, her personal room. A glowing orb hovered in front of her, allowing her to watch other people's games as a spectator.
Watching the livestreams wasn't like sitting in front of a screen. She could choose between first-person, third-person, or even the streamer's perspective, making it feel like she was still part of the adventure, only without the danger.
Perhaps in time, people would grow addicted to this kind of format, imagining themselves as powerful players, yet becoming increasingly unwilling to step into the game themselves.
She saw a forum post.
—
[(Featured) Brief Analysis on How Players Can Save Themselves]
"Thanks for clicking in. I'm just a regular person who has some thoughts to share.
Will the World Game truly mark the end of human history?
To be honest, humanity has always repeated the same mistake of being ignorant of the bigger picture.
We consider ourselves the pinnacle of evolution, the rulers of planet Earth. So much so that we've only ever compared ourselves to each other and thought little of anything else.
But games, by nature, arise from material abundance and spiritual boredom. Even cephalopods in the late Cambrian played with rocks and shells for fun.
So what if… these higher-dimensional beings or aliens also need games?
I believe we players must establish rules of our own, even in this chaotic mess.
Number 1: All players should participate in the game. From what I've observed, writing guides or watching streams yields far fewer points than actually adventuring. Fewer points being obtained means fewer points being counted towards the collective score.
Number 2: If you truly can't play, at least respect those who can. They are the real warriors. They shouldn't be blamed or morally coerced.
They're going through things we can't even begin to imagine. So even if they act out of selfishness or desire, it's completely understandable.
(For example, if a player's mission is to kill another player, you can dislike them for killing someone you liked, but you can't morally condemn them for doing what the game required.)
Number 3: Don't get addicted to watching their streams. Adventure players aren't contestants in some reality TV show made for entertainment.
If you gain useful info, come back here and share it. Cheer them on. We need more people helping from the backlines.
Number 4: This is a competitive game. The rankings haven't been released yet, but they probably will be soon.
When that happens, please respect the players at the top. Don't turn on them for petty reasons if you catch a 'bad moment' on stream. They might be the ones who carry humanity to the end.
Number 5: I agree with what the number one player said during the opening ceremony. A lot of people are criticizing what they said, stating that this kind of game shouldn't be enjoyed. But honestly, if you think about it more deeply, they are right.
I don't know who the number one player is, but I do believe they'll go far.
Thank you for reading."
—
Below the post were countless replies.
A clash of countless ideas, each blooming vividly amid the chaos of this new world.
—
[World Game · Current Surviving Players: 999,536,685]