My players are too fierce!

Earth, Jiangnan Province, a car repair shop in a small county town.

The swordsman stretched, the sword moves of the dried-up corpse still flashing through his mind from time to time, and even the old injuries he had suffered in prison a few years ago were not very noticeable.

After playing games all night, I actually felt much more energetic than usual.

After washing up, I picked up the secondhand, no-name smartphone I'd bought online, sat in the rocking chair, and started climbing the stairs one by one.

Kashima Hatsuyuki (Administrator): "Family members, does anyone know what's going on?! That old bastard of a group admin actually made a virtual reality game!"

"If I'm lying, may the group admin do a handstand and have diarrhea! @All members."

This unexpected news immediately caused an uproar in the group chat.

David Day (Administrator): "So it's true?"

Colorful Toad: "So, you guys disappeared all night, secretly playing games together?"

"What does it mean?"

Kashima Hatsuyuki (Administrator): "It's the game that the group admin kept recommending last night."

David Day (Administrator): "Is this really true? Group members don't lie to each other, right?"

Unfortunately, I can't take a screenshot.

Words alone are not very convincing.

Colorful Frog: "Unreal Engine 99? Do you think a GTX 1060 can even handle it? (laughs)"

David Day (Administrator): "Which VR game can I play?"

Kashima Hatsuyuki (Administrator): "Why bother with VR? A smartphone is enough!"

"Just a few links, click them to make a reservation, lie down on the bed, and that's it! You don't need anything else! Oh, just make sure you have a blanket ready, in case you get too hot and catch a cold."

Today is Wednesday, and it's time to go to work.

I'm at my workstation, come chat with me!

The group chat became lively again, with the number of messages reaching 99+.

The swordsman actually understood their feelings very well.

Dreamlike virtual games are still too ahead of their time; they're even more fantastical than the mechanical ascension that Jack Ma came up with across the ocean.

To be one step ahead of one's time is to be a god.

Being two steps ahead of the times is most likely the work of a genius.

If he hadn't actually seen and eaten it, he would have thought that the group admin, that scoundrel, had stolen a group member's account to make fun of everyone.

Therefore, it's easy to imagine that Kashima Hatsuyuki single-handedly fought against half the group, filling the group with a joyful atmosphere.

Hakimed (Administrator): "Alright, alright, let me say a few words."

The group chat fell silent.

It wasn't his status as a top player in Hakimedes Canyon, a master of state evacuation, or a master of group strategy that made a difference.

Instead, he lifted a complete silence.

All eyes are on me!

"This game is real, completely virtual reality. I don't know how to take pictures, so I can't prove it. Believe it or not."

The administrator (Hakimed) lifted the ban on all users.

The group chat exploded with excitement.

Unlike the group admin who talks nonsense and whose reputation score is so low that he can't even afford a power bank, Hammed's words still carry weight.

Putting aside his status as a speedrunning expert on Tieba, the fact that he personally reviewed and judged the lists of masterpieces and terrible works in the group is enough to make everyone willing to listen to his opinions.

"Let's talk about the game's background first. The first map we see is a town in the style of a Cthulhu apocalypse, with a red moon and an abandoned church."

"Players rely on a spark as their home, and the main task is to find fuel to grow the spark."

"As closed beta testers, our first task was closely related to the 'fire seed'—exploring the map and collecting fuel."

"Based on the first NPC we encountered besides the village chief in the starting village, she claimed to be from a technologically advanced world, so it's possible that there will be other distinctly different areas and a storyline similar to an infinite flow."

"Speaking of NPCs, besides the absolutely immersive experience, the second thing that can be said to break the ceiling of Earth's technology is the intelligence of the NPCs."

"First of all, the monster AI has completely swept away the memorization-based gameplay. The boss we just killed was like a living, breathing creature! No two moves were the same! It made the basic attacks incredibly varied, chasing the swordsman like a dog!"

Rainy Night Swordsman (Administrator): "Did you do it on purpose or by accident?"

"Furthermore, regarding the friendly, or rather, neutral NPC, whom players can interact with, her behavior is practically indistinguishable from a real person, and in some aspects, she's even better than any of you here. Everyone knows Kashima; she's a college student who's been through the wringer of countless 'Qiao Biluo' stories online, practically mesmerized!"

"Of course, it's also possible that this NPC is a white-haired catgirl, which is exactly what Kashima likes."

Kashima First Snow (Administrator): "?"

"Then, the most incredible part of this game is its realism."

"Aside from the fact that the game's setting is neither science fiction nor realistic, making it impossible to determine the laws of physics, almost any action you can do in the game can be performed!"

"You can run, jump, and freely craft items. When monsters attack you, you will bleed and feel pain. Of course, you have pain protection. The more serious the injury, the lower the pain sensitivity. However, serious injuries will cause a debuff."

"In fact, the three of us are based on a human race, and even the internal anatomical structure of our models has been replicated one-to-one! Kashima can prove this!"

Kashima: "That's true."

Finally, regarding the death penalty, this game isn't too harsh.

"Besides deducting in-game currency, Ash Coins, there's an 18-hour resurrection cooldown and a certain amount of sanity."

"Sanity is the core of this game. It determines the amount of time a player can move around on the map and is also a prerequisite for binding equipment."

"We don't know what other uses sanity points will have afterward, but I have a feeling they'll be very useful."

The swordsman scrolled the chat box to the bottom and watched as Hachimedes continued to attack, and the group chat became increasingly lively. He felt as if he had become younger.

Clang, clang—

Someone was patting the roller shutter door of the auto repair shop.

"Brother Long! Brother Long! Are you there?!"

"Here it comes!"

The internet is the internet, but life still goes on.

The swordsman lazily opened the door and looked at the man outside.

He's from the same village, a long-distance driver, and a regular customer who comes here for maintenance.

He has shifty eyes and can't be considered honest.

"What are you doing here, kid? Trying to sell me business?"

The man chuckled awkwardly, stammering and refusing to say anything, as he tried to squeeze into the house.

"What exactly happened?!"

Although the swordsman had retired from the martial arts world for many years, he didn't really want to get involved in those trivial matters.

"Brother Long, you know, that development company in our village has leased a piece of land in the city and is planning to build a commercial district..."

"You guys fix your own things, why are you bothering me?"

The swordsman frowned and interrupted impatiently.

The man glanced around and whispered, "There are a few families who think the compensation for the demolition is too little and they're refusing to leave. We'd like to invite you tonight..."

Upon hearing this, the swordsman replied decisively, "Impossible, don't even think about it."

"The money is no problem, you still have several children to take care of..."

"Even if I'm desperate for money, I'm never touching this stuff again! If you're not here to get your car repaired, get out of here!"

The swordsman brandished a wrench and chased the man away.

He was joking; he was going to run a dungeon with his buddies tonight, so he couldn't care less about any of that.