Jiawang Swimming Pool (I)
The sun is shining brightly outside the museum. It is a hot summer day and the cicadas are chirping so loudly that they seem to pierce one's eardrums.
A group of six people, with different expressions, were wandering in front of the wide-open entrance of Jiawang Swimming Pool.
Xu Wei secretly looked at the people traveling with him. Including himself, there were two women and four men in total: an auntie who looked nervous and shouted "Where is this?", two middle-aged men who were frowning and whispering, a man with glasses who wanted to join the conversation, and a young man who was silent.
My mind was a little confused, as if I had a dream of falling into eternal darkness, but I suddenly regained my memory and realized that I was just lying on the sofa at home playing with my phone.
Everyone said that they were in a familiar place the moment before and appeared here the next second.
The aunt yelled at her to be sent back because she was afraid that she would lose the job she had worked so hard to find if she missed work.
"Okay, okay," one of the middle-aged men who had just been talking patted the aunt's shoulder, asking her to calm down, then cleared his throat and said to everyone, "As you can see, all of this is not a dream or a prank."
From the mouth of a middle-aged man who called himself Brother Fan, all this unscientific stuff was explained in a way that was both sci-fi and absurd.
Alien civilization came to Earth and issued a judgment game law.
First, all life forms on Earth suspend time, and select some players to enter the trial game (with humans first).
Second, there are hidden laws, players are welcome to explore on their own.
Third, once the total value of clearing global copies reaches the set value, it will be considered as clearing the entire game. The current set value is: ∞.
Fourth, if all players die in the game before the set value is reached, the game will end automatically and the earth civilization will be destroyed.
Xu Wei had read similar infinite flow novels before, but when this situation actually appeared in her life, the first thing she felt was absurdity and doubt, followed by fear.
She is just an ordinary person, without a smart enough brain or good enough physical strength. Can she survive in such a world?
"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me. Come in and you'll know once you come in." Brother Fan waved his hand and walked straight into the door of Jiawang Swimming Pool.
While hesitating, the middle-aged man who was whispering with Brother Fan in front walked straight in. The moment he entered, his face became extremely surprised.
Now the man with glasses couldn't sit still anymore and walked in as well.
Xu Wei noticed that the two people who entered had a white bracelet on their hands, so he stopped hesitating and stepped in.
The air conditioning in the museum was turned on very high, and the cold air was rushing out. The power lines seemed to have poor contact and flickered a few times.
Touching the bracelet on her right hand, Xu Wei unfolded a light blue panel in front of her, displaying her basic information.
No.XW1018
Age: 24
Grade: E
Skills: None
"You have a novice gift pack, please draw your skills~" The sudden voice of a child in his mind startled Xu Wei. He looked around and saw that other people performed similarly to him. Then he turned back to look at the extra pink gift box on the panel.
He tapped the small gift box, and special effects of salutes and petals appeared. The child said in an envious and expectant tone: "Congratulations to player XW1018 for obtaining a new skill. Come and take a look~"
The skill column was updated, and Xu Wei quickly clicked on the detailed introduction of the skill.
[Skill]: Singer's Companion (LV1)
[Instructions]: This product is suitable for various emergencies and is helpful for the development of personal singing career. If the user does not intend to become a world-renowned singer, please call das23189 to return it.
Existing tracks:
1. The second set of global radio gymnastics: The stars are calling.
The melody of this song is cheerful and full of the rhythm of health and exercise. All students who hear this song will enthusiastically do morning exercises. Facing such enthusiastic audiences, as a singer, you also vow to try your best to present the best performance to everyone.
Of course, it won’t work without a leader~
Xu Wei was a little confused by the introduction of this skill. He always felt that the title of the song was suspected of plagiarizing a famous morning exercise song from junior high and high school, and was full of bad taste.
The last aunt who came in had a pair of yellow plastic gloves in her hand, which made her scream. Xu Wei came back to her senses and noticed that the man with glasses also had a pair of sneakers in his hand, the middle-aged man was holding a bottle of medicine, and the young man was like her, only with an extra bracelet.
Brother Fan nodded with satisfaction: "It seems that you all drew the novice gift packs and received your respective props and skills. Props are items that can enhance you, such as shoes that can speed up running."
"Players who can use props are called prop masters. The props that prop masters can master are infinite, as long as you can get it."
After saying this, he looked at the three people who received the props with an ambiguous look.
The man with glasses immediately kept a distance from the others in a vigilant manner.
Seeing the man with glasses' actions, Brother Fan sneered: "Don't worry, I'm not a prop master. Like these two, I'm an ability user. As the name suggests, it means someone who has obtained skills."
"People with special abilities cannot use items, but their abilities can be upgraded to become stronger and stronger."
At this point, it is meaningless to discuss whether to believe it or not. The bracelet, sound and information panel that appeared out of thin air have already proved the absurdity of everything.
After Brother Fan finished speaking, he nodded and motioned for them to look outside.
Outside the museum, the scorching sun suddenly dimmed, and a faint black gas hovered over all objects in the visible range, devouring anything that could be called material.
Within a few breaths, the black gas became so thick that it seemed to materialize, covering the sky and extinguishing all sunlight.
The strange thing was that although the door of the swimming pool was clearly open, the black air could not get in no matter what, even though it condensed its darkest and densest part and crowded in front of the door.
This made Xu Wei develop an inexplicable fondness for the swimming pool and he turned his attention away from the outside world.
"What...what is this?" the aunt asked with a trembling voice.
"Want to know? Go out and take a look?"
A voice that sounded like a man or a woman sounded seductively from behind the crowd.
Looking back, I saw that the room that was empty and painted white just now now had a large counter with various swimming supplies on it. Behind the counter stood a strangely shaped humanoid creature, and the sound came from there.
The reason why everyone was hesitating and unwilling to enter the swimming pool was because there was only an empty white room behind the door. It was a bit dizzying and weird after looking at it for a long time.
Suddenly, there were more unknown creatures, and everyone remained silent tacitly.
It was Brother Fan, who claimed to be a veteran, who spoke up: "Excuse me, how do I get into the swimming pool?"
The humanoid creature was fiddling with his slender arms on the counter. Hearing this, he raised his huge head and answered excitedly, "Of course only people who can swim can enter!"
Brother Fan explained to everyone: "These are the unknown creatures in the dungeon that we just mentioned. They will provide some relevant information."
Xu Wei looked down at his own clothes. He was wearing a loose sweater, jeans, and sneakers. The others were dressed for all seasons and did not look like people who were going to swim.
The humanoid creature said that only people who want to swim can enter. Does that mean we have to buy its swimming gear?
Obviously, Brother Fan also thought of this and asked, "How much is your swimsuit?"
"Swimsuit?" The humanoid creature opened two tiny slits on its big head, and the black eyeballs inside turned 360 degrees. It rubbed its hands excitedly and took out a piece of cardboard from under the counter. "Of course a swimsuit costs a lot of money!"
The crowd gathered around it, keeping a safe distance and reading what was on the cardboard.
【Beautiful prices, fair to all! 】
To warmly welcome all swimmers to visit Jiawang Store, we are offering discounted packages for purchasing swimming equipment.
Exchange one leg for a whole set of swimming gear.
One arm can be exchanged for a swimsuit and a pair of earplugs as a gift.
Exchange one eyeball for a pair of swimming goggles and a swimming cap as a gift.
Heart Exchange Clearance Gift Pack!!
Heart Exchange Clearance Gift Pack!!
Heart Exchange Clearance Gift Pack!!
Xu Wei shuddered as she looked at the words on the cardboard and couldn't help but look at the humanoid creature. The latter also looked up at her, a crack appeared on his head, and he let out a malicious smile.
Once you change your swimming gear, it means you have to go through the dungeon with missing limbs, which is something no one wants.
Brother Fan smiled awkwardly: "Are there any other ways to exchange?"
The humanoid slammed the counter hard: "If you don't want to buy, get out!"
Xu Wei was startled by the sound and trembled. He took a step back and accidentally bumped into the young man behind him.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly.
The young man glanced at her, nodded, then looked at the humanoid and asked, "Can I rent it?"
The young man had been silent from the beginning. Xu Wei only thought that he was good-looking, but his presence was not strong. But when he spoke at this time, his voice was quite pleasant.
"Rent?" The humanoid creature's voice changed. It tilted its head and looked at the young man for a while. "No, what if I break it?"
The auntie also trembled and said, "Please be kind and I promise not to damage your things."
Brother Fan continued her words: "Yes, there are so many of us, and the rent is also a considerable income. Can you be flexible..."
The humanoid creature slapped the counter again, and the pink goggles inside fell to the ground. Brother Fan was frightened by it and immediately shut his mouth.
Xu Wei has read several infinite flow novels, in which the protagonists often use unconventional thinking to break through.
Just now, when the young man proposed to rent it, the unknown creature did not answer "Do you want to rent it?" Instead, it asked "What if it breaks after renting it out?" This shows that this method of renting does exist, but for some purpose or malice towards humans, it is unwilling to rent it.
Then there must be other ways to make it agree.
Just when others didn't know what to do, Xu Wei plucked up the courage to speak.
"Jiawang..."
Noticing the humanoid looking at him, Xu Wei continued, "Is the goggles intact? Be careful if they get damaged. It will be wasted if no one wants them."
The humanoid looked at her, then squatted down, picked up the pink goggles, and stuffed them back into the counter. "What damage can there be? Do you want them or not?"
Hearing it acknowledge the name, Xu Wei breathed a sigh of relief, slowed down his tone, and continued to get closer: "You can't calculate it this way, you will lose money if you calculate it this way--"
"If the goggles are broken, other people who buy them will think that your product is of poor quality. Then they will come to cause trouble and may even have to pay a few more legs for it. It's not worth it..."
Xu Wei spoke earnestly, as if he had considered everything for him: "You have worked hard running this place, so why don't you rent a few sets from us first? Give me the broken goggles, and I'll help you try them out. After using them for a while, if you think the quality is good, you can buy them."
The humanoid creature didn't say anything. He rubbed his slender hands and stared at Xu Wei with his black eyes.
Xu Wei was a little scared by the stare, so he gritted his teeth and added, "Jiawang, you should have confidence in the quality of the swimming gear. The stuff sold here can't be made of shoddy materials."
The young man also added a sentence behind her at the right time: "If the quality is good, we will buy it directly. We have to try out these swimming products to test their quality."
"Besides, they are all inside the museum, so they won't run away."
Several other players reacted and said yes.
The humanoid creature tutted impatiently before answering, "Well, since you know me, I'll give you a favor and try it for a few days."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small, old and tattered blackboard from under the counter, on which were written the prices of swimming gear.
Swimsuit: 50 yuan
Swimming goggles: 20 yuan
Swimming cap: 10 yuan
Earplugs: 10 yuan
Sure enough, swimming gear can be rented with money, but if the player fails to persuade successfully, or does not even think of renting this method, he may have to pay a heavy price.
"As for a dungeon, there won't be a dead end. There must be an optimal solution. The difference is whether the players can find it or not. I think these two have adapted very well." Brother Fan expressed his experience as an experienced player and gave advice to those around him.
Xu Wei lowered his head and searched his pockets.
There was no dead end in the copy, but the copy clearly brought everyone into a dead end.
If it weren't for the sudden trial game, she would still be staying at home peacefully.
This strange place, the game designed by the so-called advanced civilization for human beings, seems to exist just for intimidation and has no other purpose.
Players play games to save the earth's civilization, which sounds grand.
If she had seen such a setting in a novel, Xu Wei would not have said anything, but such a thing clearly happened in her reality——
It feels very fragmented, as if opening a collection of novels with incomplete settings.
Xu Wei took out a folded hundred-yuan cash from his pocket.
Looking around, I found that other people had also found money in various ways. The location of the money seemed to be the default place where it was usually kept, such as the aunt who found it in her shoes.
Can even habits be read?
Xu Wei did not say anything. After exchanging the swimming gear, he held the remaining 10 yuan and, together with others, lifted the gray-yellow plastic curtain that suddenly appeared.
What will be inside the copy?
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