Weird, my gaming life

A burly player walked up to a shop with a "Tavern" sign.

Looking at the wooden door carved with strange patterns, he chuckled and kicked it.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the wooden door remained completely still.

A look of pain crossed the burly man's face as he hopped around, clutching his foot, yelling, "Damn! It really hurts!"

The people around burst into laughter.

On the streets, only the players' barely suppressed excited screams and shouts remained.

Wang Hao did not act immediately; he was looking down at the black stone ground beneath his feet.

The stone slabs fit together perfectly, their surfaces bearing a rough texture that has weathered the elements, and you can even smell a faint, earthy odor emanating from the cracks in the stones, similar to that of soil after rain.

That's so true.

It was so real that it made him a little flustered.

This is supposed to be a horror game, isn't it a little scary to make people scare them to death?

"Hey! Brother, what are you standing there for?" The green-hatted youth familiarly put his arm around Wang Hao.

"I see you don't have any companions, how about we team up and go see the beautiful female ghost together?"

Wang Hao nodded subconsciously, and then the two of them followed the flow of people, wandering aimlessly through the streets.

"Dude, look at that building, it has a sign that says 'Martial Arts School' on it."

Green Hair pointed to a three-story ancient building with two ferocious stone lions crouching at the entrance.

"Seriously, isn't this supposed to be a horror game? Why is there a martial arts school here?"

Wang Hao's eyes lit up. "Maybe this world is about fighting against those monsters with martial arts. Quick, shall we go in and take a look? Maybe we can be the first to get a profession."

After speaking, the two walked forward, and the vermilion gate of the martial arts school remained tightly closed. Above the gate, a line of small characters was carved in a flamboyant style:

Those whose bodies are weak or frail should not enter.

"Damn, there are conditions?" Green Hair didn't believe it and reached out to push the door.

The door didn't move at all.

"What does this mean? You want strength points?" A passing player came over to watch the commotion.

"No, this feels more like a certification."

Wang Hao stroked his chin, feeling that there was something strange about this game.

They walked a few hundred meters further and saw taverns, medicine shops, weapon shops... without exception, all of them were tightly closed.

"What the hell? They won't let us in here, they won't let us in there, what's the point of playing?" Green Hair scratched his head angrily.

Just then, a commotion arose not far away.

Wang Hao looked in the direction of the sound and saw a player with seven or eight followers surrounding a figure standing on a street corner.

It was a strange man wearing a suit.

He stood ramrod straight, but his smile was eerie. He didn't move or say anything as the players gathered around him; he just kept grinning like an idiot.

"Hey, NPC, give me a quest."

The leader of the players spoke in an extremely arrogant tone, his chin held high.

"Don't play dumb, I know NPCs like you have guided quests. Hurry up, I don't have time to waste with you."

The man in the suit was still smiling and did not answer the player's question.

He stared blankly ahead, as if the group of people in front of him were just a wisp of air.

This complete disregard thoroughly enraged the leading player.

"You're asking for it, aren't you?" A sinister smile flashed across his face. "Brothers, let's show him the power of the Fourth Calamity!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than one of the players following behind him stepped forward and excitedly punched the man in the suit.

The surrounding players gathered around, eager to see what would happen.

Attacking NPCs is a common trope in any game.

It would simply mean losing favorability or being arrested by the guards. They also wanted to see how this game, which claimed to be "100% realistic," would react.

Wang Hao's heart skipped a beat for no reason.

A strange chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

"Don't--"

He instinctively tried to shout, but it was too late.

Just as the player's fist was about to touch the man in the suit, the man's smile suddenly stretched to his ears.

The next moment, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The man in the suit remained motionless.

However, the shadow beneath the feet of the player who threw the punch suddenly began to wriggle as if it had come to life.

The shadow stretched and thinned suddenly at an angle that defied the laws of physics, like a black venomous snake, instantly coiling around the player's ankle.

"What the hell?!" The player looked down and his expression changed instantly.

A cold, slippery sensation so real entered his mind that it sent shivers down his spine.

He tried to struggle, but the shadow unleashed a terrifying power, pinning him firmly to the spot.

And with the continuous contraction, cracking sounds rang out, and a sharp pain as if bones were splitting rapidly stimulated his nerves.

"what!"

A piercing scream rang out, startling the players watching the spectacle.

The next moment, before they could even ask what was going on, they saw a shadow begin to spread towards the player who had initially provoked them.

Gradually, it covered his calves, thighs, waist and abdomen... Wherever it passed, the player's body withered away at a visible speed.

His flesh, moisture, and vitality seemed to have been greedily devoured by that shadow.

"Ah...help...hoarse..."

The player opened his mouth wide, but could only manage a hoarse, bellows-like roar, his face contorted with extreme fear and utter contortion.

In just two or three seconds, a living person was turned into a wrinkled, dried-up corpse.

"Clatter".

The dried corpse fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

The eerie shadow, as if it had eaten and drunk its fill, slowly shrank back.

He transformed back into the player's original shadow, lying quietly on the ground, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

From beginning to end, the man in the suit didn't move a single finger, but the player's black shadow on the ground remained.

The surrounding noise abruptly ceased.

All the players seemed to be frozen in place, their excitement and curiosity replaced by horror and blankness.

The leader of the players was as white as a sheet of paper.

He was standing at the very front, so his experience was the most authentic.

Looking at the shattered remains on the ground that could no longer be called a "corpse," he trembled like a leaf.

"Dead...dead?"

Green Hair's voice rang out beside Wang Hao, trembling with a hint of fear.

Does this game have to be this realistic? Don't they know how to censor things?

Wang Hao did not answer.

He stared intently at the few pieces of dried corpse, his stomach churning violently.

A chilling, bone-deep fear gripped his heart, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

This is not a game.

This is absolutely not a fucking game!