One, two, one!
One, two, one!
Amidst the eerie, rhythmic shouts,
the woman in the bright red uniform was slowly hoisted up.
She looked like a silkworm cocoon hanging from a tree.
Her smooth, long hair dangled freely.
If there was a slight breeze, it would sway gently. The woman's somewhat vacant eyes looked at the man who was hoisting her up, and then at the vast number of strange beings, dressed in various clothes, who were also being hoisted.
Seeing this scene, the woman's long-unused brain began to operate with great difficulty.
She tried to analyze what was happening before her!
The woman was very confused about her past.
It was a blur; she couldn't remember anything.
For a long time, she had only acted according to her instincts!
Her daily job was to sell clothes in a clothing store and maintain the corresponding rules and order.
If she could hunt players, she would receive rewards from the gods. The entire city was an altar.
She was a part of the altar.
And the players who entered the game were sacrifices. The woman, hanging upside down, watched as the mysterious player hoisted up one strange being after another.
At a glance, all of them were strange beings hanging upside down.
One of the upside-down strong men let out a threatening growl.
He twisted his strong, muscular, and scarred body.
His crimson eyes stared intently at the mysterious player.
He looked as if he wanted to devour the other party alive.
But before he could growl a few more times, the mysterious player grabbed him.
With a sudden punch, he struck the strong man's head.
With a thud, the massive fist landed on the strong man's head. The loud sound was accompanied by the cracking of bones.
With one punch, his skull was probably shattered alive.
Fortunately, it was a strange being; if it were a living person, they would have died on the spot.
"Damn it, can you be quiet?" the mysterious player complained while punching. The sounds of bone cracking and flesh tearing echoed through the building.
Watching the mysterious player use the strong man as a punching bag, the strange creatures, including the woman, couldn't help but twitch their brows. The mysterious player's strength was too great; even strange creatures couldn't withstand his fists.
Each punch had at least twenty years of power; even strange creatures couldn't block it.
Under the gaze of many strange beings, the strong man's head was directly deformed.
His earlier angry growls turned into pleading moans. The many strange beings who had initially wanted to resist all fell into an eerie silence.
What the hell, who's the strange one here!
A player beating up a strange being, this script looks problematic no matter how you look at it!
"Behave yourself, if you dare to shout again, I'll kill you next time."
Seemingly tired from punching, the mysterious player stopped and sat down, breathing heavily.
Hearing these threatening words, the hearts of many strange beings went numb!
This plot isn't right!
Before, those players were always careful when they saw them.
Now this player dares to be so arrogant!
Unfortunately, they couldn't get an answer.
Even if they resisted, they couldn't beat the other party.
Even with the protection of rules, strange creatures were far stronger than ordinary people.
But in front of the other party, they were as weak as ants.
"How's the analysis coming along?" Litte moved his sore arm and asked the Imperial Auxiliary System in his mind.
He had undergone several imperial enhancements.
His stamina and various physical attributes had been greatly improved.
But this job was really exhausting him.
**Relevant data models have been established, and detectors have been activated. If nothing unexpected happens, we only need to wait for the other party to initiate the repair program to pinpoint the target's location.**
Receiving the reply, Litte looked at the interface displayed in his pupil. There was a large amount of information on it; the entire Twisted City was under his surveillance.
Even other game instances were being monitored.
Any movement from the enemy could not escape his eyes.
In order to find the mother body of the strange talk game instance,
Litte used the Imperial Player Auxiliary System to bypass the opponent's detection and captured many strange beings that did not belong to the novice level.
He planned to use these guys to enter the hidden place of the mastermind. These strange beings were distributed throughout the city, with different positions.
But they were all carefully calculated to maximize their impact on the city's operation.
Every community in the city,
every building had its own strange talk rules. The creatures within them, under the control of some force, maintained this city. They served as NPCs in the game.
Litte had studied these NPCs.
One NPC maintained several strange talk rule areas simultaneously.
Just like the strong man he had just beaten, the other party was a gym coach, maintaining the strange talk rules of the gym.
After getting off work, the strong man transformed into a passenger on a bus or subway, maintaining the strange talk rules of the bus and subway.
At the same time, he was also a resident of a certain community, maintaining the strange talk rules of the community. These NPCs formed complete chains, weaving into a huge network.
These chains intertwined, maintaining a strange modern city. The reason these strange creatures were muddled was because they were just a pile of drained soul fragments.
Like dregs of medicine.
After being completely consumed by the other party, they were then recycled and thrown here for use.
Most of the players who entered here would become the playthings and food of the mastermind. They would be drained like other creatures, then recycled. This was the essence of the Reincarnation game.
What it pursued was not the evolution of players, but the optimized captive breeding of poultry.
Capturing these strange beings would cause slight fluctuations in this world, triggering the repair program created by the masterminds. There are no perfect, unfixable, un-updatable programs in the multiverse.
Even the creators of strange tales had to leave behind backup means for repairing the strange worlds they created.
It's like a huge industrial machine.
You don't need to destroy its main core.
Just destroying a tiny screw can cause it to malfunction.
Litte used loopholes between rules to trap so many strange beings here. The city's repair program would naturally release an equal number of strange beings to fill the missing quantity.
Whether it was fluctuations caused by concepts like truth or destiny, Litte could observe them with his existing methods. The enemy naturally had nowhere to escape.
**An abnormal life form is approaching.**
A warning popped up, and Litte switched his attention to the data screen transmitted by another proton detector.
Proton detectors were infinitesimally small. They could also enter other dimensions for observation.
Even beings like the daemons, malevolent spirits, and strange creatures would not realize the existence of the proton detector, even if they realized they were being observed. The energy of the sub-space allowed these supernatural entities to twist the rules of the real universe.
But this did not mean they could change everything at will.
Rolling black mist swept towards the unfinished building under the cover of night.
It was vaguely mixed with various terrifying sounds and screams.
Filled with despair and pain.
As if countless vengeful spirits were imprisoned within it.
Estimating the opponent's speed, they would reach his unfinished building in about ten minutes.
"They're even delivering themselves!" Litte shook his head and walked towards the stairs.
He casually wrapped a blood-stained shroud around his hand, preparing to give the foolish person who came to trouble him a taste of human shock. The Imperium had conducted in-depth analyses of the instance worlds of the Reincarnation Game.
The Reincarnation Game was a large main engine program. The instance worlds were small programs created based on the main engine program. Those so-called gods were, in a sense, merely operators.
Players generated revenue for them. The only difference was that the revenue wasn't money, but souls, pure and evil emotions, and some recondite things. The reason Twisted City was made so realistic, making it seem like a normal world,
besides allowing players to have an immersive and engaging experience, there was another important reason: the symbolic meaning of the sub-space. The Holy Emperor and the Primarchs of the Imperium all had their own symbolic meanings.
The Lord of the Wild Wolves, who came to Universe 04, symbolized Fenris, the mythical god-slayer. The Lord of Angels, active in Universe 02, whose name contained power, symbolized salvation and hope.
The Holy Emperor symbolized the uncrowned king, and after attaining the position of Emperor, he transformed into the Lord of All Hearts, symbolizing the supreme supremacy of humanity.
His will determined the future of humanity. That is, the choice of path.
Symbolism was the most terrifying power in the sub-space.
In the real universe, a husband protecting his wife and children was nothing special.
But at the sub-space level, it represented guardianship and duty, possessing the power to expel and resist the Soulless, and even to change some illusory concepts like destiny.
Players needed to play various roles in the game. They played different roles depending on the instance.
Entering a modern setting, they would play roles like doctors, police officers, or workers.
Entering a medieval setting, they would become knights, farmers, and so on.
A knight drawing his sword against his lord meant betrayal; slaughtering peasants meant he was no longer a protector. These actions, reflected in the sub-space, had special meanings.
Mortals found it difficult to understand them.
Litte was a scholarly player, which was why he could understand the research of those 'oil guys'.
When civilization entered a higher-level interface, the scope of research was not limited to physical technology, but more so to the operating mechanisms of the multiverse.
Whether it was the real universe or the sub-space, there was an invisible but discernible line running through them.
Like the non-existent yet visible boundary between the yin and yang fish.
Litte dealt with these strange beings so easily because he cheated when he entered the game, using the Imperium's player auxiliary module.
He directly activated an SSSSS-level novice talent at the very beginning.
"**Eye of Truth, capable of seeing the essence of strange beings and their weaknesses.**"
This talent, combined with the novice protection rules, allowed Litte to punch strange beings and kick ominous entities. The reason he was able to beat and imprison hundreds of anomalies without incident was because he was operating just on the red line of the Twisted City dungeon.
He didn't violate any rules, so he naturally didn't attract the attention of the mastermind behind the scenes.
At most, they might sense something unusual, but they wouldn't realize it was an enemy invasion.
Walking down the stairs, a few more steps led to the entrance of the unfinished building.
Although the residential complex was not yet completed, with the blood-red moon and a few flickering streetlights, the road was barely visible.
It was just impossible to see the potholes and the dark, overgrown bushes.
Litte reached into his pocket and pulled out a very old-fashioned flashlight.
It was a "friendly support" from one of the anomalies he had hung up earlier. This old-fashioned flashlight had a thin tin casing and required two large batteries.
Litte flicked the switch, and the light emitted by the flashlight was a bit dazzling.
He slapped the flashlight a few times, and the beam stabilized.
At the uncompleted entrance of the residential complex, there was an old piece of paper stuck to the wall.
It was stained with various bloodstains. The content of the paper was about the various rules for this unfinished building project.
"Oriental Charm Project Safety Construction Rules"
"No matter who you are or where you come from, when you read this announcement, you will become a member of the project construction team."
"We will provide you with excellent wages and benefits. Please strictly adhere to the following rules."
"1: Please wear a work uniform with grey-purple stripes. It's on the first floor of the engineering department. The reflective strips on the uniform can ensure your safety at night and protect your life. No matter how worn out the uniform looks, please make sure to wear it."
"2: Do not leave the construction area casually. Once buyers realize that the construction of their purchased homes has stopped, they are very likely to be subjected to malicious attacks."
"3: The engineering department is a safe zone. It has a complete and powerful power supply system and will not experience any power outages. If a power outage occurs, please go to the security department immediately, where there are weapons that can protect you."
"4: The residential complex is not yet completed, and there will be no owners. If you encounter anyone claiming to be an owner, please immediately drive them away. If the other party is unwilling to leave, you can use the weapons from the security department to attack them."
"25: Please remember that purple is safe, red is violent, and black is evil."
Litte didn't pay attention to the safety rules.
Instead, he walked straight into the security booth next to the residential complex's entrance. The security booth was very old and had a putrid smell.
Litte turned on his flashlight. There was a security uniform there.
It was just stained with blood.
And it had a smell.
Litte put on the security uniform.
**Warning: Wearing this clothing carries a potential risk of sub-space contamination. The longer it is worn, the higher the likelihood of contamination erupting.**
Food and clothing in the Twisted City carried a potential risk of corruption and distortion.
Users were highly likely to experience mutation, mental disorientation, and ultimately the danger of assimilation.
Litte put on the security uniform, then walked to the locker and took out the weapons inside.
A piece of paper stuck to the locker fell off due to the vibration caused by his rough movements.
Litte instinctively scanned it with his flashlight.
"Construction Site Security Rules"
"Thank you for becoming a security personnel at this construction site. You will receive the highest salary and the best welfare benefits."
"1: Wear a security uniform with deep purple markings. It is usually hung on the clothes rack in the security booth. If it's not there, go find it yourself."
"2: There are weapons in the locker. If you encounter employees who do not comply with regulations or are disobedient, act immediately without any hesitation."
Litte withdrew his gaze, ignoring the paper.
After getting the weapons, he turned off the flashlight and stood in the darkness, looking out of the residential complex through the security booth's glass window. This abandoned residential complex was some distance from the main urban area.
Out in the wilderness, an abandoned building complex, a dark and windy night, and hundreds of unfortunate souls hanging there.
Litte, hidden in the shadows, held a stun baton in one hand and a blood-stained hammer in the other.
All these elements combined made for a real-life horror movie.
Litte felt like the villainous killer in a movie. The next second, he rejected that idea.
If he was the killer, then what were these anomalies??
A protagonist group overflowing with saintly compassion??
Anomalies are the protagonist group?
Am I the villain myself??
Before he could think further, the air suddenly grew cold, and eerie sounds drifted in from outside the residential complex. The streetlights on the dead-end road in front of the complex's main gate flickered a few times and then plunged into darkness.
Faintly, some crying could still be heard from the darkness.
Litte stared intently at the mist.
Five black-and-white figures, like those from old television sets, walked out from outside the complex. Their figures were blurry and flickering, as if the signal was unstable.
**Anomaly detected: Projectile life forms are approaching. Target is immune to pure physical attacks. Please proceed with caution.**
"Conceal." Litte issued the command to the Imperial Player Assistance System.
**Emotion stabilization module activated. Suppressing emotional hormone secretion. Concealing soul projection.**
For a moment, Litte felt like a saint after galloping on horseback, his mind as still as water, like an old monk who had meditated for ten years.
Creatures contaminated by sub-space beings possessed some strange abilities, but they were not omnipotent. They could remotely lock onto targets by relying on the target's emotional fluctuations or soul projection.
By hiding both of these, those non-corporeal sub-space beings became blind.
Even if you walked right in front of them, they would be oblivious. The black-and-white figures who had just walked outside the security booth froze. The player who had just emitted a soft glow suddenly vanished. They instantly lost sight of their target.
What happened??
The black-and-white figures exchanged glances, seeing the confusion in each other's eyes. They scanned the residential complex repeatedly but found no trace of the target. They did, however, see their hanging counterparts. Those counterparts appeared as different light points in their eyes.
Black, purple, red.
Of course, besides these three colors, there were other colors, but their numbers were relatively sparse. The walls and ground, on the other hand, were mottled in color. That is, a chaotic, undifferentiated appearance.
"Gone!" one of the black-and-white figures rasped, its pale, colorless face uncharacteristically showing a hint of human-like bewilderment.
Something felt off!!
Bang, sizzle!!
The black-and-white figure who had spoken suddenly vanished. This scene startled the other four black-and-white figures. They walked to where the vanished figure had stood.
How could a perfectly fine companion just disappear like that!!
It's haunted!!
The black-and-white figures instinctively had this thought.
But then they reconsidered and felt something wasn't quite right.
In a way, they were the ghosts in the eyes of mortals.
Were they, as ghosts, being haunted by ghosts??
The four black-and-white figures were bewildered for a moment, wanting to look around to see if the vanished black-and-white figure had been taken away by the strange tales of the abandoned building complex.
But the next second, a bang and sizzle sounded again.
One black-and-white figure was knocked to the ground by an unseen force, then grabbed by the foot and dragged away.
A few seconds later, it vanished.
Such a terrifying scene made the remaining three black-and-white figures feel a chill shoot up their spines.
What's going on??
How could this abandoned construction site be so eerie??
An instinct hidden deep in their souls made them instinctively turn and run out of the residential complex.
Oh my god, it's haunted.
Gotta run fast.
Bang, sizzle.
Bang, sizzle.
Bang, sizzle. The three black-and-white figures only felt a heavy hammer strike their heads, followed by an electric current, and then they felt nothing at all.
Everything they saw was black!!
"Knock off." Litte looked at the five black-and-white figures he had knocked down, then found some ropes in the security booth, tied them all up, searched them, and then hung four of them.
He left one tied up and thrown on the ground, to see if he could use it later.
If players like Nagase Taku saw this scene, their eyes would probably pop out!
We're all players, so why are we playing a survival horror game?? And you're playing a hack-and-slash game!!
There's foul play, it's unfair, it's unfair!!
Having done all that, Litte returned to the security booth and sat there, waiting for the Twisted City's repair program.
He waited until the middle of the night.
He was almost dozing off when he received the report from the proton detector monitoring the entire city. The chain gaps caused by the anomalies he had captured had been filled.
"A hotel, then!" Looking at the playback recording from the proton detector.
Litte discovered that all the anomalies filling the gaps had come from the hotel.
Clearly, the hotel was the backdoor program for this rule-based anomaly, used to repair any damage players might cause.
Excluding the folded anomalous space, the Twisted City spanned twenty-five kilometers.
How could a ten-player novice dungeon possibly use the entire city!!
In this Twisted City, there were actually six hundred players participating in the game simultaneously. There were D, C, and B-level players. Their activity areas were simply enclosed by invisible walls.
Novices couldn't get in, and they couldn't get out.
Some had survival missions like the novices, but with extremely high mortality rates.
Some had clear missions, requiring them to escape from a certain anomalous building.
And some had confrontation missions, seeking a chance to survive amidst shattered rules.
If there were no repair procedures, the Twisted City would probably be reduced to ruins after a few successful clearings.
Having learned the location of the backdoor left by the other party, Litte no longer delayed and headed straight for the hotel.