Chapter 002
The dark corridor has a name: the Dark Space. It's an A-level dungeon, considered moderately difficult, yet it's a nightmare for many players. While the dungeon isn't difficult, the NPCs within are incredibly formidable. The NPCs in the Dark Space are invisible, making them invisible to players unless they use in-game items.
The live camera panned to the Dark Space. True to its name, the space was pitch black, practically pitch-black. Opposite the illuminated doorway stood a massive white platform. The two thousand trainees participating in the show had been transported in and stood on it.
[Bullet comment]: I have played this copy and was badly beaten by the NPC in it.
[Bullet screen]: Add one more, wow, the dark space is full of traps, I played it more than ten times before I finished this copy!
[Bullet comment]: The NPC's stealth function is too difficult to deal with. I wonder what kind of NPC I will be matched with in the dark space this time.
[Bullet comment]: I, I saw a scary ghost in this copy before, and I had nightmares for three days!
"Is it about to start? I'm a little excited."
"I've played the Dark Space dungeon before. It's not easy."
"Brother, are you a solo trainee or are you in a team?"
The production team didn't have a rule against talking, so the trainees were whispering on the stage, thinking about strategy. It was so hard to get into the competition, and no one wanted to be eliminated before even participating in the first elimination round.
Half of the 2,000 trainees are from their respective gaming companies and are trained by them, while the other half are individual trainees selected by the program team after they registered on their own.
Trainees from the same company all consciously formed teams. After all, the rules of this game were more suited to group play. A larger team meant a greater chance of success. Most trainees were aware of this, and individual trainees began searching for teammates.
[Bullet screen]: What the hell, what the hell, are we starting to form a group now?
[Bullet screen]: I feel that sticking together can also be dangerous. After all, we are not familiar with each other. What if someone stabs us in the back?
[Bullet screen]: Then the company's team trainees have more advantages than individual trainees. They knew each other before and trained together in the company. They can definitely cooperate with each other better than individual trainees who have just formed a team.
[Bullet screen]: Yes, this rule is so unfair to individual trainees.
Shijiu stood there.
For some reason, no trainees came to her to form a team.
This game instance didn't seem too difficult for her. Shijiu had no intention of actively looking for teammates. In fact, not all individual trainees wanted to form a team. Shijiu noticed that some of the individual trainees around her were just like her, indifferent and standing quietly.
One of them was a curly-haired girl she'd crossed paths with in the game lobby. She was incredibly beautiful, with her thick hair flowing down, like a doll. Many individual trainees had asked to team up with her, but she'd refused.
"Hello, I'm Jin Meng, a personal trainee."
A girl came over to Shijiu and spoke to him hesitantly in a low voice. Shijiu withdrew her gaze and looked at the girl beside her. The girl's features were not that stunning. She wore light makeup, her hair was tied into a simple bun, and she was petite, like the girl next door.
Shijiu smiled gently and said politely, "Personal trainee, warm Shijiu."
"Um, can I team up with you?" Jin Meng asked hesitantly. Although she was a little worried about being rejected, she still introduced herself. "It's like this, I'm a student. I haven't played this game much before. I'm really a complete newbie."
Jin Meng's voice got lower and lower as she spoke: "Actually, I was really scared during the preliminary selection. My performance was not good at all, and I don't know why the production team let me pass. I was just a little scared. But no one wanted to team up with me." She was almost crying as she spoke.
"Sure." Shi Jiu said with a smile, "It's okay, I'm not good at playing games, just don't look down on me."
Jin Meng immediately shook her head: "No, no."
In just over ten minutes, almost everyone had formed teams. The trainees gathered in small groups, watching each other intently. While they might know the level of their teammates, most of the other trainees had no idea of their opponents' levels. They didn't even know if their opponents were strong or weak, and they felt a bit unsure.
[Game system weapons have been randomly distributed. You can check them in your personal space.]
Everyone has their own in-game space, used to store supplies. After registering an account, players will have their own primary weapon. There are many different types of weapons, most of which are randomly assigned by the system. These primary weapons can be upgraded, requiring players to exchange them for a certain amount of in-game points. It can be said that the player's initial weapon determines whether they are suited for close combat or ranged combat.
After the weapons were distributed, some trainees had already taken them out of their space to test them out. Shijiu took a quick look around and realized that the production team must be treating trainees of different levels differently. The initial weapon levels were somewhat different, and those with higher-level weapons were probably trainees from Class A. By analogy, Shijiu could roughly guess their levels.
There were no new people in Shijiu's group, only her and Jin Meng. Jin Meng seemed to accept it, and her mood became a little better.
"What is your initial weapon?" Jin Meng asked in a low voice.
Shi Jiu opened her hand, and an ordinary wooden stick appeared in her palm.
The stick was about as long as an arm but only as thick as a thumb.
Jin Meng was stunned for a moment, "This, a weapon, what can it be used for?" The wooden stick was so thin that Jin Meng felt she could break it.
Shi Jiu: "Maybe, it can be used to hit people."
Jin Meng was amused by Shi Jiu, "Yeah, that's right."
"What's your weapon?" Shi Jiu asked.
"This is it." Jin Meng opened her hand, revealing a baby pacifier. The tips of Jin Meng's ears turned red. "It seems like this is even more useless."
"No, it will be upgraded. This weapon is a support weapon, and the nanny is very rare and sought-after in the game. It will be very powerful when it is upgraded in the future."
"Really?"
"real."
Shi Jiu's tone was serious. Even though he was lying to her, Jin Meng believed him. She smiled and asked, "So, am I lucky?"
"Yeah, very good."
Perhaps because she had found a similarly weak teammate, Jin Meng was noticeably less nervous than she had been a moment ago. Jin Meng was a slightly outgoing girl, restless and constantly chatting with Shi Jiu.
"Ajiu, look over there." Jin Meng leaned over to Shijiu and quietly pointed in a direction. Shijiu looked in the direction she pointed. There were several teams, both men and women. They weren't nervous at all about the upcoming competition, but rather had a sense of confidence that victory was within their grasp.
"Those teams are all trainees from top gaming companies. The team in the middle is made up of trainees from the top gaming company."
"You should know Chief Game Company, the company that made this game."
"I know." Shi Jiu nodded.
In fact, she didn't just know, she knew them very well. The president of the gaming company was her father. She wondered how her father and brother had fared during her five years away.
[Please prepare yourselves, trainees. The twenty-second countdown begins.]
The originally noisy platform suddenly became quiet. The host was counting down indifferently, and the trainees became nervous unconsciously.
[Bullet screen]: Ahhh, I don’t know why, but I got nervous too.
[Bullet screen]: Look at those trainees from gaming companies, they are so calm.
[Bullet screen]: Isn’t that necessary? They must have trained many times. These are all small scenes.
[…Three, two, one, test begins]
The game began, and the platform beneath the feet of the two thousand trainees suddenly vanished, leaving the surroundings in darkness, though the bracelets on their wrists emitted a faint light. Dark Space utilizes special gravity technology, requiring players to control their bodies and move back and forth within it. Special gravity technology is very common in holographic game dungeons, and most trainees who have played the game can easily master it.
But Jin Meng had never experienced this before. The moment the platform disappeared, she couldn't control her body and kept falling. She was almost scared to tears, but fortunately Shi Jiu was there to hold her back, saying, "Don't be nervous, relax, and imagine yourself as a feather."
With the help of Shijiu, Jin Meng was finally able to control her body. This feeling of floating around was somewhat magical.
"Follow me," Shijiu pulled Jinmeng along. Some teams had already started hunting, and their area wasn't safe. The hand on his wrist was in an exposed position, but in reality, there was no safe place in the entire dark space. The strong preyed on the weak, and that was true even in variety shows.
The test began, and the audience grew excited. The livestream camera was in night mode, so the scene the audience saw wasn't as dark as the trainees'. Through the livestream camera, the audience could even clearly see each trainee's expression... and even the NPCs hidden within the space.
[Bullet screen]: Damn, they are indeed a hunting team, they act so quickly.
【Bullet screen】: Ahh ...
[Bullet comment]: I just saw some teams hunt down several trainees.
[Bullet screen]: I think I saw an NPC! It's an NPC with tentacles! ! ! !
【Bullet screen】: I saw it too!
Hunting down trainees is simple: simply destroy their wristbands, and they'll be automatically eliminated. Most teams with larger numbers will choose to siege and hunt down lone trainees or smaller teams, using their numbers to bully the weak, which is quite useful in this test.
Jin Meng had no idea what was happening. All she could see were the bracelets lighting up, and she couldn't even see the trainees' faces. Shi Jiu pulled her sideways, dodging. All she could hear was the thud of weapons brushing past her.
But soon, Shijiu stopped.
"What's wrong?" Jin Meng asked.
Shi Jiu's tone did not change, there was no tension at all, as if he was explaining something insignificant.
"Oh, we're surrounded."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
