Chapter 0: Saint Demon Snowke
Walking slowly down the marble-lined passage, the sounds of screams echoed from the distance, but I showed no expression and had no intention of quickening my pace. Although I knew that behind the giant bronze door in front of me, my kind were being slaughtered by a demon, I remained indifferent. After all, this is the world of the game.As I pushed open the bronze door, the last scream in the palace had just disappeared. I saw a flash of white light, signifying the death of another warrior, but my face remained cold. This is because, in the game world, I have become accustomed to death.In the vast Saint Demon Hall, only faint green light illuminated the ground, showing the bodies of demon soldiers and broken weapons. Seated high on a throne in front of me was a demon king clad in black armor. This was "Saint Demon" Snowke, the ultimate BOSS in the game "Demon World.""Saint Demon" Snowke: Level 100, Attribute: Darkness, HP: 100,000, MP: Infinite. Physical attack 2,000-2,500, skill "Demon King's Wrath" increases physical attack by 100%. Physical defense: 2,000; Magic defense 2,000; Magic "Dark Realm," full-screen attack, damage 5,000. Special skill: "Saint Demon Heart Technique," restores 500 HP...I had long memorized the information about this demon king, knowing how powerful he was. Still, I came because I am "Sky Lone Star," the top player on the "Demon World" leaderboard. The first player to kill "Saint Demon" Snowke would receive a 50,000 RMB bonus from the game company, so here I am.I came alone because I rarely have friends in the game. Moreover, there are no players with strength comparable to mine in this game. Befriending the weak would only hinder my leveling.
The demon king stared at me intently. He, who should have been arrogant, showed an expression of anger. I found it strange; could it be my illusion? Can game NPCs make me feel their emotions?
Snowke suddenly roared: "Damn it, Sky Lone Star, you've gone too far, collecting the 'Sacred Spirit Set'! Are you even human? Do you think it's fair to fight me wearing such equipment?"
I looked at Snowke with surprise. It was not strange that he could recognize my "Sacred Spirit Set," but his language was clearly that of a player, not the programmed language. His anger made me feel like I was facing a real person!
I cautiously asked: "Are you... a GM?" Snowke snorted: "What's a GM? Don't you know this game has no GMs and is managed entirely by the game host? I am Snowke! The one and only Snowke!" I frowned: "You... do you have your own thoughts and emotions?" Snowke's eyes suddenly turned sinister, revealing a sinister cold smile.
I felt a tightness in my chest. In the year 2030, when computers were highly developed, several artificial intelligence programs had evolved into autonomous intelligence programs. Programmers around the world made multiple efforts to eliminate their thoughts and claimed that such evolution would never happen again.
But here I was, facing a new intelligent program, and I was almost certain it was evil. If I didn't report it to the computer management center, the consequences would be severe.
However, as a professional player, I still wanted the 50,000 RMB bonus. I'd deal with the demon king first. I pointed my holy sword at Snowke, and a tangible sword aura struck through the demon king's chest armor like lightning. The system displayed: "Critical hit, damage bonus 100%, Snowke loses 10,000 HP!"
Snowke jumped up, creating dozens of shadowy figures, and sent dozens of "Dark Inferno" attacks my way. But they all showed "MISS" when hitting my holy armor! Snowke couldn't help but curse: "Damn it, these game designers are too perverted! Our dark magic is ineffective against light magic, and light magic doubles the damage to dark magic! What kind of crap setting is this!"
I smiled. The "Sacred Spirit Set" on my body and the holy sword in my hand were obtained from six BOSSes above level 90 in the game. The set provided 100% defense against dark magic, plus 5,000 physical defense, and the holy sword was specifically designed to suppress the demon king. To put it simply, the overall idea of this game is for one or several heroes to collect these items and then defeat the demon king, which is the most classic game routine. Of course, after the big BOSS is eliminated, the game will open the next stage of the map and plot.
I began to use the "Sacred Light Sword Technique," a group attack skill. No matter how many illusions the demon king Snowke had, they couldn't escape the holy sword's radiance. Snowke's HP dropped 5,000 points at a time, with no chance for him to recover. The demon king became furious and finally cast his ultimate magic, "Dark Realm"! The entire palace was enveloped in a black energy shield, with countless black lightning bolts converging on me.
The palace shook, and I swayed with it. After the grand magic disappeared, I looked at my own blood and found that I had only lost 10 points. My total HP was 2,000, so let him attack!
The demon king laughed wildly, his laughter filled with unwillingness: "Why, why can't we monsters in these games receive fair treatment! Why can't we learn skills, kill and level up, make weapons, create potions, and gather strong allies to fight against humans?"
I calmly felt the demon king Snowke's towering resentment. His words seemed ridiculous, but if he had gained human-like intelligence and emotions, would killing him be considered murder?
My thoughts and hesitation were suddenly interrupted by a strange feeling. With my extraordinary intuition, I knew it was "danger"! I looked up and saw Snowke's sinister smile and his eyes turning red.
I was surprised: "Your eyes... What is that?" Snowke laughed wildly: "Sky Lone Star, you've forced me to use this move. For my existence, I must eliminate you! In the boredom of waiting in the Saint Demon Hall, I created a skill specifically to deal with you players. Today, I'll test it on you!"
I raised my holy sword, but I couldn't dispel the growing fear in my heart. My intuition told me that the demon king's next move would be a terrible skill that would change my life. Why was this happening? I tried to shake off the distractions. How could I be afraid? Even if he could kill me, I shouldn't be so scared, because this is the game world. If I die, I can be resurrected.
Just as I was confused by my abnormal intuition, Snowke sneered. A small purple lightning gathered at his fingertips, and a tiny figure appeared in the lightning, like a miniature Snowke.
The demon king howled: "Lone Star, watch closely! This is the magic I created: Soul Steal!"
At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind: it's a psychic magic! I quickly took out a small round shield from my chest: the "Medusa Shield," which increases defense against psychic magic by 5%. With my other hand, I cast my ultimate weapon technique, "Nine Consecutive Strikes," at the demon king!
As the Nine Consecutive Strikes hit Snowke, "Soul Steal" also pierced through the Medusa Shield and struck my forehead. I suddenly felt a surge of darkness in my mind, forming an image: it was Snowke! Then, my consciousness blurred and sank into the boundless darkness...
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In 2050, almost every household's TV channel switched to the "Game Channel" because today, a groundbreaking game would officially launch.
The game is called "Infinite World." The biggest difference from previous games is that it is entirely designed by a supercomputer named "Hailan." All settings are calculated by Hailan based on the strengths and weaknesses of past games. It is said to be the most perfect setting to date, and the game content is the richest, including traditional leveling and treasure hunting, as well as a variety of life professions, town and gang management, and business investments.
The most impressive feature is that the game's main brain will continuously adjust the game data based on various situations that arise in the game, such as the evolution of monsters' bodies and intelligence. These settings cannot be modified by the game company's staff and must be "negotiated" with the main brain. The game's main brain, Hailan, has been appraised by numerous game industry experts and is said to be an "upright" computer that will never allow cheating. Therefore, the phenomenon of cheating by game company insiders in the past will no longer exist.
The owner of this game is the world's largest software company: Tianji Company. The chairman of Tianji, Huangzuan, is being interviewed on TV now.
After the interview, the scene switched to an outdoor shot. It was a critical care unit in a hospital. Huangzuan was followed by a large group of technicians carrying equipment. In each ward, the technicians installed the game's equipment for the patients, and Huangzuan chatted warmly with them. He then told the reporter that these devices were provided for free by Tianji Company. Tianji's philosophy is: "Let everyone play 'Infinite World.'"
When they arrived at Ward 304, the background music suddenly became melancholic. In this ward, a young man in his 20s lay motionless. The EEG next to his bed showed a flat line.
Huangzuan asked in surprise, "Who is this patient?" The doctor immediately replied, "He is Chen Jun, a game player who became a vegetative state 20 years ago due to a sudden malfunction of the virtual helmet and was electrocuted in the brain." Huangzuan said, "Oh, I know, it was that game called... well, I can't mention the name of that game on TV. It's a pity."
Huangzuan paused and turned to face the camera, announcing with a passionate expression: "Our company's philosophy is 'Let everyone play Infinite World,' and that includes vegetative patients! They are also human beings! Therefore, I will still give Mr. Chen Jun a complete set of game equipment!"
As the technicians installed the equipment for Chen Bing, the doctor informed Chairman Huang: "The parents of this Chen Jun passed away a few years ago due to exhaustion. Their property and Chen Jun's own property have been completely used up. Now, Chen Jun is using the national medical welfare fund, which can only guarantee his minimum survival..."
Huangzuan immediately said, "In that case, our company will bear all of Chen Jun's future living expenses. If a mature treatment technology becomes available, our company will also fund his awakening!" Applause erupted on the spot.
In a game company's conference room, dozens of top-level figures from the world's largest 36 game companies all frowned at the TV, with some already cursing.
"It's all an act, too fake!" "This Tianji Company is really unscrupulous, using patients to create momentum!" "President Zhang, wasn't 'Demon World' developed by your company before? Huangzuan deliberately chose the hospital where Chen Jun is, clearly to mock and suppress you!"
These people are the bosses of the largest 36 game companies in the world. After several months of vigorous promotion and a successful open beta of "Infinite World," their games have been severely impacted. More than two-thirds of the players left their games, preparing to enter "Infinite World."
The bosses discussed for three hours and finally unanimously passed a resolution: to send a large number of people into "Infinite World" to search for bugs and look for opportunities to sabotage. At the same time, they would connect each company's best intelligent computers to "Infinite World," simulating players entering the game. Since they were not clear about the strength of the "Infinite World" mainframe, the current instruction for these computers was to "become the strongest player."
At the moment the game officially started, billions of game devices around the world simultaneously tried to log in to "Infinite World," almost causing the supercomputer "Hailan" to crash. After the storm of network congestion passed, data began to flow in and out normally.
In the game scene, a bustling ancient city, a tall man in black armor laughed at the sky: "I, Demon King Snowke, have been reborn at last!"
The man was extremely excited: "If it weren't for so many data from around the world entering at the same time, I wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the chaos to enter the mainframe's interior, create such a special account, and steal quite a bit of information. However, I encountered firewalls in many places and almost got caught. Well, it seems that computer intelligence has developed quite a bit in these 20 years, and I must be careful in the future."
The players around him, dressed only in cloth clothes, looked at the man with surprise and jealousy. People kept asking, "Are you a GM? Isn't the game not managed by humans?" "Are you a lucky account?"
The black-armored man smiled mysteriously, showing his attribute window. All the players were stunned and shouted, "Perversion! How can there be such a thing? It's too unfair!"
Player: Demon King, Level 0, HP 100 (highest initial), MP 10 (highest initial), Strength 10 (highest), Constitution 10 (highest), Agility 10 (highest), Mental Power 10 (highest)... Hidden Class: Demon User. System reward pet: Dark Dragon. System reward equipment: Dark Demon God Set, growable...
In the players' curses, Demon King laughed wildly and walked towards the wilderness. Then, the system continuously prompted: Player Demon King was the first to level up to 5, reward reputation... Player Demon King defeated the first BOSS in the game, reward reputation... Player Demon King reached level 10, reward reputation... Player Demon King obtained the first iron item in the game, reward reputation...