"Don't ... don't come over!"
The pitiable scream echoed in an empty, flat, white grid-like room, clearly laden with fear and trepidation.
However, the object of his fear evidently had no intention of stopping, quickly approaching with bouncy, light steps.
An old, blood-stained cleaver, now dark red with jagged edges from countless cuts, was raised high, dazzling the eyes with its glare.
Swish—
The knife fell, the head severed.
The figure of the last surviving player disappeared from the room.
Wu Liang casually tossed the cleaver onto the ground and closed his eyes to meditate.
Actually, his efficiency wasn't usually this high, as finding all the players in the whole city normally required some time.
But by a lucky coincidence, after sending out the Zodiac Rabbit, the next player he found happened to be the one who imagined this city map.
As Wu Liang had initially ridiculed, it was indeed Los Santos!
After eliminating him, the map vanished instantly.
Leaving behind only about twenty bewildered players appearing out of thin air in this vast, empty room.
Accompanied by a multitude of diverse NPC monsters.
Normally, avid gaming teens who came to internet cafes had played countless games.
In such scenarios of summoning NPC monsters through imagination, it really felt like an apocalypse, overwhelming everything.
Fortunately, after sending them all away, the NPC monsters disappeared too.
"[Survive and find fun in the game], huh? Then let's return to the original fun!"
Now, only Wu Liang remained, so the next game that appeared could only change based on what he meditated on now.
A moment later, Wu Liang abruptly opened his eyes.
Yet the empty room did not feature any NPC monsters, only an old Atari 2600 game console and a narrow screen in front of him.
He slowly walked up, picked up the game controller, and began pressing with familiar ease.
Click, click, click—
The sound of key presses echoed throughout the room.
As Wu Liang played halfway, he began talking to himself: "Everyone's fun in playing games is different. Some enjoy the joy of beating the game; others relish the process; some like the thrill of combat; some prefer casual relaxation."
"So the more people there are, the more unsolvable it is."
Clearly, these words were directed at the Supernatural Objects that constructed this game world.
And just as Wu Liang said, in a game world co-constructed by many players, it was entirely impossible for everyone to find fun.
But now there was only him left.
So as long as Wu Liang himself found fun, that was enough.
"For me, discovering the unknown and surprises is the greatest fun, so I got it!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the small block on the game screen entered a mysterious room.
There were no NPC monsters, no traps, only a line of flashing vertical text displaying a foreigner's name.
The game Wu Liang meditated on is—
"Magical Adventure"!
It's considered the world's first action-adventure game. Its creator, Warren Robinett, was also the first to introduce the "Easter egg" design that players now recognize into the gaming world.
The surprise Easter eggs hidden in this game don't require players to beat the game to win.
One only needs to control the character wandering aimlessly within the map, enjoying the game to find the secret room and see the flashing name Easter egg.
"This is my fun, you lose."
As Wu Liang found the Easter egg and let out an earnest smile, the entire room began to collapse.
A red and white game controller appeared and fell into Wu Liang's hand.
In the countless, dazzling games just now, he completed the Supernatural Object's set rule of [Survive and find fun in the game].
In an instant, everything in his eyes turned to nothingness, and his consciousness returned to his body.
The familiar internet cafe, filled with the familiar scent of cigarettes, made Wu Liang slowly open his eyes.
"What the hell is this?"
Upon waking up, he first noticed not the curious stares of others, but the six hemp ropes tied around him.
He then stood up, forcefully broke free, snapping the ropes in front of the stunned Worker Bee and several investigators, and began to twist his neck and move his muscles.
"Comrade Shadow, aren't you ... addicted?"
Worker Bee was about to stop Wu Liang but realized that he didn't rush towards the computer.
He didn't seem addicted or struggling like the other victims.
"Hmm, I've already settled this thing, the Supernatural Object's entity is right here."
With these words, Wu Liang opened his palm, revealing the small red and white controller inside.
At the same time, all the people tied to the pillars regained their senses, the madness in their eyes faded away, leaving only confusion.
"Huh? Why am I tied up?"
"I seem to have had a nightmare."
"Me too! At the end of the dream, there was a demon that ..."
Watching them start chattering, trying to figure out the situation, Worker Bee instinctively moved forward intending to explain.
Unexpectedly, it was Wu Liang who spoke first.
"Everyone, calm down! Cooperate with official work! You were just influenced by a Supernatural Object! Line up and go out one by one for a check!"
With his shout, everyone's eyes turned towards him.
Soon, nobody could help but tremble, with teeth chatteringly clattering.
This smiling face is something they probably won't forget for the rest of their lives.
The ultimate sense of reality and fear of death in the dream was brought by this demon before them!
Worker Bee was about to say something, but realized everyone obediently kept quiet and formed a queue to go out one by one after being untied.
"Huh? What did you do? Why do they listen to you?" Worker Bee asked, puzzled.
Wu Liang just smiled and said: "Nothing, just a good deed. I saved them, shouldn't they be grateful and listen to me?"
Worker Bee glanced at Wu Liang skeptically.
Then looked at the departing people, each with visible fear in their pupils.
Something felt off?
Yet he couldn't pinpoint it?
"By the way, I'll take this thing back as evidence, just make a record," Wu Liang said, raising the controller thoughtfully.
He had another thing he wanted to verify.
If this Supernatural Object can see through a living person's memory and create the games they played, then couldn't the memory deviation be displayed in the game world instead—
Reveal his other memories?
If it's possible, he might use it to retrieve those missing memories!
This could be a key tool!
"Oh, that's fine, but I'd better make the record later, you might have some trouble now, so I won't disturb you."
With that, Worker Bee moved quietly towards the door.
He then pointed behind Wu Liang with an apologetic expression and quickly fled the internet café.
Wu Liang was still a little confused, not understanding what the investigation team leader was talking about.
Didn't he just handle the Supernatural Object?
What trouble could there be?
Soon, he heard that little girl's angry, teeth-clenched voice:
"Shadow!"
"You bastard! Did you kill me!?"
Oh, so that's the trouble.
I'm so dead.
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