books44 Chapter 157 Preliminary Rounds (2)
Chapter 157 Preliminary Rounds (2)
"Who exactly are you people, and what is your purpose in coming to our world?"
"What is this ability to possess others? What are its limitations? How many accomplices do you have?"
......
The bigwigs personally interrogated these people, but they didn't get any useful information.
Just kidding, opening my mouth would be considered a violation, and anyway, the game is almost over.
If you can withstand the interrogation, you might even get a reputation for being steadfast and unyielding, which would earn you a higher score.
Fu Yichen lowered his head, remaining silent, lost in his own thoughts.
After the military took over these athletes, they have been discussing how to get them to talk.
Finally, someone suggested using torture.
The bigwig approved the suggestion: "Although torture is inhumane in modern society, these people aren't necessarily human either."
Over the next two days, the arrested contestants truly learned what it meant to be in dire straits.
Shi Qi and Gu Shijiu were both too embarrassed to go see.
Many people could not endure the punishment and confessed everything.
However, due to the restrictions of the rules, most of what they say is completely incomprehensible to people in the virtual world.
Three days is neither a long nor a short time, and it's coming to an end.
The contestants had never felt time pass so slowly, but thankfully the competition was finally nearing its end.
Sometimes the players would chat with each other, since the NPCs couldn't understand them anyway.
"This is terrifying. This competition is just the preliminary round, and it's already this difficult."
"Those torture instruments really hurt when they're used on you. Our class should at least be rated R."
"It was just a few hits. Luckily, it was set by AI, otherwise there might have been something even more shocking."
"The world before my ascension was constantly at war. Before I began cultivating, I was a low-ranking soldier in a country. These things are nothing."
"It's alright. The little world I visited before was much scarier; it was full of strange ghosts and monsters."
If you get entangled with those things, your body and mind will be polluted.
In comparison, the NPCs in this virtual world are much more docile.
"Why create so many terrifying storylines? Wouldn't it be better to just level up gently?"
“Cultivation is never a smooth journey; one must always experience some hardships.”
......
Fu Yichen did not join the conversation, and these contestants were unaware that they had been arrested by another contestant.
I really want to know their expressions when they find out, haha, it'll be very interesting.
Near the end of the competition, all players received a voice prompt.
"One hour remains until the end of the preliminary rounds. The virtual world is about to close. Please prepare to leave."
"Great, we're finally leaving. My goodness, this match was so tiring."
"I don't know how many points I can get, or whether I can advance to the next game."
"I think I did pretty well."
......
With half an hour left in the countdown, the contestants spotted several familiar faces.
Shi Qi, Gu Shijiu, and the big boss who's been tormenting them these past few days.
"What are these NPCs doing here again? Are they going to give us a big reward before the end?"
"There's nothing we can do about it, we'll just have to bear with it."
The big boss frowned as he looked at these people: "Su Ming, what do you think is going on with these people?"
Despite having received no training whatsoever, they show no fear of punishment, and not a single one of them has spoken up so far.
I locked them up together to hear how they made their connections, but apart from a few meaningless remarks, there was nothing else.
It's really strange; sometimes you can see their mouths moving, but you can't hear any sound.
Are they using a special method to transmit information?
Shi Qi agreed: "It's certainly not impossible."
"Many new pieces of equipment in the lab have been used on these people, but we haven't gotten any useful information."
The boss's tone was somewhat somber: "Although we've brought them under control, it doesn't seem to have made much of a difference."
Shi Qi quickly comforted him: "That's not necessarily true. At least the people have been caught, and they haven't been allowed to cause trouble outside."
Given time, we'll surely have a chance to get them to talk.
Fu Yichen watched Shi Qi put on airs and fell into deep thought.
For some reason, the actor's expression seemed a little too sincere.
It's as if... as if there really is such a world, and these contestants are here to cause trouble.
But he knew perfectly well that this was just a script-generated virtual world.
Those characters are all data, and even the storylines were created by the contestants themselves.
Why be so genuine and realistic, to the point that it's impossible to distinguish between NPCs and actual actors?
Fu Yichen was thinking; he saw a completely different way of performing.
This touched him deeply.
His mind is a mess right now; his long-standing systematic education and the performance in front of him are at odds with each other.
"One minute remains until the end of the preliminary round. The virtual world is about to close. Please prepare to leave."
The countdown reminder kept updating, and Shi Qi calculated the time in her mind.
"Do you think it's possible that these people aren't aliens, but rather—"
Everyone's attention was drawn to him.
10—9—8—7...... Now.
Shi Qi slowly spoke: "Is it possible that the reason they are not afraid is because what is coming is just a projection?"
Is it possible that our world isn't real?
......
Beep—the competition time is up, the live stream freezes, and all you can see is the expert listening attentively and the shocked looks on the contestants' faces.
Countless comments scrolled across the frozen live stream screen.
"Hahaha, these contestants must be terrified, thinking the NPCs guessed their identities."
"The big boss didn't hear anything; he's still waiting for 6187 to share his guess."
"How awful 6187 is! Why did you leave the story hanging here? Couldn't you have continued the story?"
"Ahhh, 6187 is so good at timing! The suspense at the end really increases the watchability of the plot."
"Is there a sequel? Or would it be nice if the matches continued?"
"It's a pity that these contestants were all eliminated, otherwise we would have kept our doubts until the end of the competition."
"Everyone, look at the trending topics! Wan Jin was surprisingly eliminated early in the preliminary rounds."
......
After the competition, Gu Shijiu and Shi Qi returned to the square where they could check their results.
"Shi Qi, you're amazing!" Number 6187 was ranked first in the preliminary round.
Gu Shijiu ranked second, and they were the only two to advance in this competition.
They will not be able to communicate with the outside world until all the matches are completed.
After a few days of rest, they will be directly put into the next game.
Therefore, the two were unaware that they had been trending on Weibo for several days because they eliminated the popular player Wan Jin.