Chapter 66: Dead Player Mechanism, a Blessing and a Curse

The game forum, ’Chosen Group’.

Brother Cheng Takes Off: "My game mode really changed. The system already notified me."

Insomnia and Rain: "Hm? Can you explain in detail?"

Sweet Little Cookie: "Curious +1."

Brother Cheng Takes Off: "It’s fine to talk about it, but aren’t you guys playing the game? It should be server-on time right now, shouldn’t it? I saw that Brother Green Tea said before that he was going to go offline from the group chat when the server opened."

Insomnia and Rain: "It’s fine. I don’t need to use Consciousness Descent for now. After all, the area I’m in isn’t on the border, and there aren’t any wars. It’s relatively safe. My development might be slower, but at least I’m safe."

Sweet Little Cookie: "Haha, same here. I’m part of the Elf Race, you know! I’m in a great tree city deep within the Elf Empire. The Elders here are very nice to us little Elves. And the pace of life for Elves is so slow. Day to day, it feels almost like retirement. But lately, a lot of Elders in the city have been on the streets, preaching about the sins of the Human Race and stuff. I guess they’re preparing to mobilize the entire race for war."

Logical Genius: "I don’t get on the group chat much, but I have to say, you two ladies were really lucky with your starting situations. I’m doing okay too, but for the Sea Race... well, there are just too many tribes, clans, and kingdoms, which means a lot of friction. It doesn’t escalate to all-out brawls, but there are plenty of small skirmishes. So, I need to keep planning carefully. I have to make it through the next Inference Day, no matter what."

Brother Cheng Takes Off: "Ah, Brother Logic, you’re Sea Race too? Same as Brother Green Tea?"

Logical Genius: "Yeah, I’m Sea Race, but I’m different from that Tea Monarch. And we’re probably very far apart. Anyway, I’ve never heard of any Sea Lizard Clan. But enough about me. Tell us about your situation. I’m also quite curious about what your situation has become in the game, since you died."

Brother Cheng Takes Off: "Alright, since everyone wants to hear, I’ll go into detail about the system notification I received after the server opened."

"First, the system told me that because my player’s physical body died in reality, my consciousness has been temporarily taken over by my character in the Game World."

"Although there’s no immediate danger of true death right now, if my game character dies again, I will face real death. So, the game system specifically sent me this warning. The general meaning is pretty much what you’d all guess: the system is telling me I have to be extremely cautious from now on."

"The other thing is a more important change to my future gameplay."

"I was playing solo before, so I’ll continue playing solo. But here’s where things get different from you all. Since I can’t log out of the game anymore, my perception of time will be disconnected from real-world time during Inference Day. In other words, after the game server closes each time, I will have to rely on my own consciousness to control my character and live through the entire Inference Day. During Inference Day, my consciousness won’t fall asleep, and there won’t be any auto-play mode. Basically, it means I have to get through every Inference Day by actively controlling my character myself."

"Let me put it this way. When the game server closes in the real world, at midnight, the entire inference might already be complete in reality, and there might even be game videos out. But me? I’ll have completed the inference too, but for me, it will have been by actually living through four hundred days."

"So, a problem arises. From the moment the game server closes, I can no longer receive any advice or help from you all in the real world."

"Because at that moment, I’m completely disconnected from real-world time. So, during that period, if I post messages in the group, you guys might suddenly see hundreds or thousands of messages from me all at once. But in reality, those are messages I recorded each day in the game. By the time you can see my messages in the chat group, Inference Day will have already ended, and the flow of time for me in the game will have re-synced with real-world time."

"As for the Inference Day settlement rewards, they’re the same as everyone else’s, but on top of that, the game will give me an extra 25% on my settlement evaluation as compensation."

Insomnia and Rain: "I see. In that case, Ah Cheng, you could say it’s a blessing in disguise. But the situation could also become more complicated, troublesome, and difficult to handle."

Sweet Little Cookie: "Huh? How is that troublesome and difficult? How is that possible? Being able to control your character in-game at all times is obviously way better than having the character on auto-play! Your survival rate is bound to be way higher! Besides, the game is giving you an extra 25% on your settlement evaluation. That’s just awesome!"

Logical Genius: "Little Sweetie, your thinking is too simplistic. It’s true that controlling the character yourself seems like it would increase your survival rate. After all, a Player controlling their character directly is definitely more flexible when facing unexpected situations."

"But the risks involved are also huge. First of all, to get these benefits, a Player has to die in the real world first. Also, if you die in the game, you’re really dead. It’s the epitome of high-risk, high-reward."

"Besides, making someone actually live through four hundred days in a game... it might be manageable in a human society with other people, but the key is that he’s a Skeleton. Isn’t that worse than solitary confinement? Being in a high-stress, dark environment for a long time... wouldn’t that drive you insane? You could even develop mental problems. So, Ah Cheng’s situation might not be as good as you two think. It might even be worse than letting the game system handle it on auto-play."

"So, Insomnia and Rain probably guessed this, which is why she said it was troublesome, right?"

Insomnia and Rain: "Brother Logic has a good point. You certainly live up to your name. Spending too much time as a monster character, unable to interact with people... I’m worried your Spirit might have problems, Ah Cheng. You might even completely lose yourself one day."

Brother Cheng Takes Off: "Lose myself? Sister Yu, are you saying I’ll become a real Skeleton monster? In spirit and body? (Nervous)"

Insomnia and Rain: "Ah Cheng, don’t be nervous. That’s just my worst-case scenario. After all, we still don’t understand the game’s specific mechanics. In the end, it all really depends on you."

"..."

Halfway through the game, due to an unexpected event, Lince exited Consciousness Descent with mixed feelings of happiness and resignation.

As it turned out, when he woke up, he found it was already one in the afternoon. He immediately started preparing lunch, planning to get back in the game afterward.

So, when he entered the kitchen and started to prepare his meal, he saw the flood of messages in the group chat.

’Actually experiencing Inference Day for four hundred days, and as a Skeleton?’

Lince frowned as he chopped a green pepper.

’It’s not just four hundred days, it’s a full five hundred days!’

’Five hundred days of intense mental focus, while stuck in a dark Earth Realm full of dead bones?’

Just thinking about it made Lince shudder.

Insomnia and Rain and Logical Genius were right.

If it were only five hundred days, that might be one thing. The key was that as long as this Ah Cheng didn’t die, he might be stuck in that hellhole for even longer, until he was finally strong enough to walk out of that Land of Death.

So, if he stayed in a Land of Death for several years, or even decades, by the time he successfully walked out, would he still be himself?

After all, to grow strong quickly in a place like that, slaughter was unavoidable. And what’s more, this Ah Cheng would be personally carrying out every part of the killing process himself.

So, after a long time, would he still have normal human emotions? Or would he only be left with the dead’s indifferent thirst for slaughter?

Looking at the messages in the group, Lince could only offer a silent blessing to the guy.

Even though Lince was now Tier Five, he still wasn’t confident he could safely cross half a continent.

Therefore, Lince was powerless to help at this stage.

As for his own situation in the game...

Lince actually felt he was doing pretty well.

Because he had withdrawn from the game midway this time, although he hadn’t managed to kill that Tier Five Flying Eagle, just like with the Unihorned Demon Bear, he had gained another Contracted Demon Beast as a subordinate.

This Flying Eagle’s speed in surrendering was in no way inferior to the Unihorned Demon Bear’s before it.

While it was chasing and provoking the Unihorned Demon Bear, Lince had suddenly transformed into a Giant Dragon and burst out from the forest.

The moment the Flying Eagle saw Lince in his Giant Dragon form, it didn’t even dare to flee. It instinctively trembled, landed, and let out a long cry to show its submission.

How could Lince bring himself to kill a creature so sensible?

Besides, a Tier Five was decent combat power, and he just so happened to have an extra slot for a Blood Covenant.

’What is even happening anymore!’

Lince chopped the vegetables with a sense of resignation, then decided to finish making lunch as quickly as possible. He needed to get back online and find the heart blood of a suitable Middle Tier Magical Beast.

This time, he wouldn’t be soft-hearted again. After all, he was out of contract slots.

Besides, he only had three hours of game time left. There was no room for hesitation.