Chapter 1 Long-haired youth

A narrow space and a very bright light.

In the stuffy kitchen, the woman stood under the light, her golden curly hair casting a shadow on the ground, swaying like her wavering heart.

Countless people whose faces could not be seen were sitting in the shadows. In a trance, she seemed to see a young man with long hair standing beside her. The young man clasped his hands on the table. He was wearing a straight white shirt, revealing his thin wrists. "I still suggest you talk to your husband. Family harmony is the key to the healthy growth of children."

No.

Can't talk.

The woman subconsciously shook her wrists, trying to cover the scars of domestic violence with her sleeves.

"But if you feel embarrassed, you can also make an appointment to come to my place for consultation with him." As if he saw the woman's embarrassment, the young man changed the subject, lowered his eyes and straightened the ink bottle that he had knocked crooked, making it parallel to the notebook, and said with a curled lip, "I have taken in many families like this who are not good at expressing themselves. When facing problems, you should take the first step actively. I believe that you just lack some communication."

Be positive and take the first step?

A trace of panic flashed across the woman's eyes. She thought of countless nights with her fists reeking of alcohol and her daughter sobbing quietly under the quilt.

If that man knew that I was getting consultation from a free community psychologist, he would probably beat himself to death.

Under the pale ceiling light in the living room, green and brown wine bottles were piled up like a mountain, reflecting a psychedelic and weird light. The drunk man yelled obscene words, shouting that sooner or later he would get rid of the little bastard in the house who only wanted money.

The suppressed crying sounds and the heavy breathing of the man echoed in the house. The woman was overwhelmed by the heavy and desperate atmosphere. In the endless silence with only tears left, she suddenly remembered the newspaper news she saw on the newspaper rack outside the waiting room.

Last month, a fire case was solved. The suspect had been drinking and had serious violent tendencies for years. He accidentally killed his entire family during a drunken dispute. After he sobered up the next day, in order to destroy the evidence, he burned the entire house along with the bodies of his family members in a fire.

Yes, the woman looked at the drunk man in the living room in a trance, and stood up and walked towards the kitchen involuntarily.

Since he would kill her sooner or later, why didn't she take the initiative?

The drunk man, lying in a heap, was dazzled by the sudden light from the kitchen. He swore indistinctly, having no idea that danger was approaching.

Who would doubt or be wary of a woman who has been subjected to domestic violence for years and has no ability to fight back?

When faced with a problem, she should take the first step positively.

In the living room, the sound of wine bottles breaking was heard continuously. In a trance, she seemed to see the familiar long-haired young man in the door frame again.

He looked at the blade in his hand as if encouragingly and praisingly, his shirt was straight and his long hair was neatly arranged.

The long-haired young man was holding the newspaper that reported the results of the fire investigation. In this messy and dilapidated room, he was like an elegant painting that was placed here by mistake. He quietly watched the woman walk towards the living room.

Then, under the dim and hazy light, the woman opened and closed her eyes, raised her knife and slashed, and dark red blood spurted out.

At the moment when the blood splattered, the young man standing next to the door frame finally curled up the corners of his mouth silently as if he had seen something interesting.

For some reason, the surroundings were getting brighter and brighter. Everything he could see began to spin and twist. In the shadows, more people with unclear faces appeared. They approached step by step and surrounded him. The ambiguous light in the living room turned into blades, applause, and cheers, sweeping towards the young man in the middle.

Joy, happiness, a sense of accomplishment, amid the crisp clinking sounds of glass bottles colliding and rolling, the long-haired young man bowed and leaned back with his arms spread out lightly, throwing his body into the sharp edge.

"call--"

Then, Bai Jinshu woke up.

The room was pitch black. He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing a few times, trying to hold on to the vivid emotions in his dream.

This was the thirteenth time he had dreamed of this character since returning from the film festival, and the ninth time he had been sleep paralyzed.

In this dream, the crew members who were everywhere during the filming were blurred into unclear faces, and after the movie was released, the microphones and reports of countless reporters turned into sharp blades. They merged together, examined in the dark, stepped onto the screen aggressively, and peeled off and analyzed this soul born out of words.

This extremely twisted and dangerously charming villain has received rave reviews since its release. Not only has the box office soared, but he has also been nominated for Best Actor at an international film festival, and he has become extremely popular for a while.

As a newcomer with little experience and being nominated for the first time, Bai Jinshu naturally did not win the award. The Internet was filled with words of regret. Some even pointed out that the crew's intensive filming and editing in order to catch up with the film festival was used to prove that there was a problem with the production of the film, and that the lead actor did not win the award entirely because of the director's poor editing and lack of preparation.

Bai Jinshu didn't care.

It doesn’t matter whether he wins an award or not, he never cares what others think. He just likes to experience real emotions through acting.

Yes, emotion.

Bai Jinshu suffers from affective deficiency disorder and lacks the ability to perceive emotions. Only when he interprets other people's lives can he get a glimpse of the emotions of normal people.

Therefore, the more extreme and intense the emotions, the more he liked them. After a few years, he only took on extreme roles and almost became a professional villain in the entertainment industry. He experienced strong emotions that he had never experienced in the previous ten years of his life.

But there was a small problem during the shooting this time.

During the filming, he experienced the character's feelings more clearly than ever before.

In other words, he really seemed to have become the character.

The cunning Asian youth who is good at hiding in the crowd, an extreme genius and obsessive-compulsive disorder, a natural bad guy and manipulator. Life is like a puppet show with a high degree of freedom for him. He enjoys it with an approachable appearance. Most of the time, he is a puppeteer with a bad taste, and occasionally he also acts as an actor.

When Bai Jinshu realized this, it was already the fourth time he had dreamed of the long-haired young man.

The long-haired young man in the dream invited him to appreciate his latest art work together. At the same time that the man on the rooftop jumped down, Bai Jinshu suddenly woke up from his dream.

Then, with his heart beating wildly, he suddenly realized that what he had dreamed about this time was not the scene to be filmed the next day, but a plot that had never been written in the script.

The plot in the dream was so clear and terrifying that Bai Jinshu sat on the bed and played it out over and over again three or four times, but he couldn't find a single loophole.

With the mind of a madman, he conceived a perfect crime in his dream.

He brought a madman who only existed in words and appeared on the screen into his body and into the world.

But for someone with ADD, this is just... great.

Unfortunately, as the film was completed, the long-haired young man gradually faded out of his life. By the time of the film festival, the impact that this role had brought to him had almost disappeared. After a while, he would exit his dreams like the previous roles.

I don’t know if the next role will give me the same experience. How great it would be if I could always have these emotions…

【Binding successful.】

A screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

What?

As this thought came to his mind, a screen appeared in front of him, followed by an electronic voice that sounded exactly like the words on the screen: [Dear Pioneer, we are honored to inform you that you have met the requirements and have been qualified to join the Foundation's exploration team. You will soon become the 5418345th Pioneer. I am your logistics customer service.]

The sound was unexpectedly soft, and the mechanical sound skillfully stayed on the edge of the uncanny valley effect, making it both friendly and gentle without making people feel too human and uncomfortable.

As if knowing what Bai Jinshu was thinking, the electronic voice said very considerately: [You can click on unfamiliar words to get their definitions. ]

Bai Jinshu hesitated for a second and clicked on [Foundation] on the screen.

[Foundation: The Foundation is one of the most mature collection appraisal institutions at present, responsible for the early collection and appraisal, development, and sale of collections. ]

【Collectibles】

[In high dimensions, [planes] and [spaces] are tradable items. Unexplored spaces have many unknown survival rules and are not worth developing and utilizing. Therefore, after the Foundation collects unknown spaces, we will raise funds and send out explorer teams to explore. The unknown spaces that have completed the exploration and summarized the survival rules are called collectibles by us. ]

[Explorer Team]

[The Explorer Team is affiliated with the Foundation, and its members are pioneers with strong obsessions like you. The team's mission is to enter the unknown space that has not been identified, explore the survival rules in the space, and complete the report. ]

There is also the last line shining with golden light: [Employee Benefits].

[Employee benefits: Here, the foundation will provide you with the opportunity to make your dreams come true. As long as you explore the unknown space, get the support of sponsors in the real-time live report, accumulate points, and you can exchange for miracles to a certain extent. What you are obsessed with and unwilling to let go can be brought to an end here. ]

As this sentence ended, some redeemable content appeared on the tablet in front of him, which was very appropriate.

Bai Jinshu glanced at it a few times. At the top was a progress bar that was currently at 0. The note at the bottom read: [Ending the partnership, leaving the Explorer team 0/10000000]

Below this line of text is the miracle that can be exchanged. Extremely tempting and impactful words such as [Resurrection from the Dead] and [Go Back in Time] are placed at the top of the exchange page. There is also a string of countless zeros after the popularity value required for exchange.

Here are some of the more practical ones: [Language Proficiency], [Vehicle Proficiency], [Weapon Proficiency], and the prices for these are not low.

Then there are some more abstract things: [Ten seconds of luck], [A moment of mercy], [A comeback after a setback]...

As long as they are used in the right combination, most of the world's obsessions can indeed be solved by these miracles.

But Bai Jinshu was not interested in these.

Noticing that he had little interest in these things, the customer service immediately added a line: [Of course, it doesn't matter if the miracle exchange doesn't have the things you are obsessed with. Apart from these miracles, if you can become the first in the pioneer rankings, the foundation can unconditionally fulfill one of your wishes! ]

"Any wish?" Bai Jinshu stopped talking halfway and subconsciously asked this question to the words.

He has no desires, no demands, no interest or taste. In his world, any change is like a cup of boring water that will not stir up any emotions in him, so naturally he will not have a strong desire for anything.

It would have been like this…if he hadn’t experienced a depth of emotions playing those roles that he had never felt before.

[Any wish,] the mechanical voice softly affirmed, [as long as you can become the winner of the Explorer Team.]

"...How do I know that you didn't lie to me?" After a moment's silence, Bai Jinshu spoke carefully.

[This is very simple.] The mechanical voice paused for a moment, and there seemed to be a hint of smile in the words.

Then, white words began to appear line by line on the screen in front of him.

[Pioneer number: JS5418345]

[Pioneer's name: Bai Jinshu]

[Collectibles explored: 0]

[Loading... Obsession reading and judging]

As the white words continued to appear, Bai Jinshu, who was still immersed in his thoughts, suddenly felt a very familiar tremor and excitement.

Excitement, novelty, eagerness to try, countless emotions he had experienced and hadn't experienced yet rushed to fill his chest.

But these were not his emotions, or rather, he was not the one who had these emotions.

This emotion belonged to the last role he played.

Just after the last line of white words came out, he played the role again, no, he became the long-haired young man again.

This foundation seems very interesting, and this unknown space seems very interesting too!

I'm in! I'm in!

[Basic information has been obtained...]

[Obsession level: ???]

[Your obsession is: the characters in the play]

[Fixed attributes have been generated...]

[Your fixed attribute is: Sometimes, I will become another person. ]

*

[Loading into unknown space——]

【Unknown space loading completed】

[Unknown space scene: First Hospital]

[The Foundation predicts that the collection level: E]

[Initial sponsorship value: 20000]

[Explorer team personnel quota: 8 people]

[The longest time this unknown space can be explored: five days]

[The interface is well connected, and miracle redemption and use are open normally]

This is a hospital located in the city center.

Looking through the transparent glass door of the hall, everyone in the hall seemed to be paused, maintaining the movements and expressions they had made a second ago. In the busy consultation hall, the paper that the registration machine slowly spit out was stuck in the middle, and the number calling information that was constantly refreshed on the big screen stopped halfway. The patients queuing for medicine filled the entire hall, their faces full of anxiety and impatience.

With a crisp "ding" sound, the paused time began to flow again.

The noisy and complex sounds reverberated in the hall again. The frozen time began to flow. The sound of people talking, registration calls, and footsteps suddenly came alive in the hall.

At the same time, on the homepage of a certain foundation organization’s website, two lines of golden characters were scrolling across a large bulletin board that took up half of the screen: [The number of pioneers in the Foundation’s Explorer Team has now exceeded five million! ]

Current number of pioneers: 5,418,344

After half a second, the line of numbers suddenly jumped.

Current number of pioneers: 5,418,345

At the edge of the crowd outside the inpatient department lobby, a long-haired young man slowly opened his eyes.

The author has something to say:

The antigen finally turned negative, I'm going to start writing as promised! I hope everyone likes our Metal and his first identity card Xiaoao qwq

Every time 4k nutrient solution and Bailei are filled, I will celebrate and add an update. Every time 200 nutrient solution is added, I will celebrate and add an update.

The following is the pre-collected copy, if you like it, click to collect it

>>>《Being the God of Creation in Infinite Games》

Rong Zhaoshu is a veteran programmer. He has worked 996 for three years and revised requirements for five years. He is proficient in Java from entry level to advanced level, and knows data from deleting database to running away.

While working overtime in the middle of the night, he bent down to pick up an eraser and fell into the infinite flow game he was developing halfway.

When his life was in danger, Rong Zhaoshu looked at the phantom composed of 1s and 0s on the monster in front of him, and typed a loop on the keyboard in his hand with a fearless attitude.

"…You should have told me I had developer privileges!"

Since then, something even stranger than the semi-finished game in internal testing has appeared——

A programmer who gains developer privileges and continues to create bugs.

*

[Map Error] The volcano and the snowfield intersect and overlap, becoming a divine realm that no one in the world dares to set foot on.

Rong Zhaoshu: ...Forget it, there’s a distant view of an air wall anyway, so... no one should be able to get through?

[Insufficient Frames] Everything the gods say and do is an illusion, and no one knows their true appearance.

Rong Zhaoshu: ... Come on, as long as it can move, why does it require such high configuration?

[Character Penetration] Walking in the air and through walls, walking in a higher-dimensional plane, disregarding rules and looking at everything as an ant.

Rong Zhaoshu: ...It's numb, it's not a big deal. Whoever does the physical collision is a grandson.

[Character Conversion] Do not look directly at it or speak carelessly about it. It is so strange that it seems like a language that does not belong to this world. It seems to come from a higher universe.

Rong Zhaoshu: ...It's so annoying. Hey, why am I also garbled?

*

Rong Zhaoshu is weak and helpless, but very good at writing bugs.

My life motto is that when you see a program running, that's it, don't worry about why it runs or how it runs.

Salute to this new world where product managers don't force him to change requirements.

Product Manager Yu Lianyun: Please stop writing, please. Don’t you think the game is even weirder after you fixed the bug?

Rong Zhaoshu: ??? What’s so strange?

Isn't this great! Everything is running fine and no program is reporting an error!

——

You actually scrolled to the bottom to see how hot I am (///w///)

Then...then I'll kiss you!