Chapter 1 The Unexpected Encounter

Watching the two players before him turn into white light and vanish, Yan Guiren's expression changed slightly. Suddenly, he turned around, looking at the space behind him that should have been empty. Several meters away, a figure stood, having appeared there at some point.

This person wore a black suit, had brown hair, and a handsome face. His eyes were sharp, and an almost unbearable aura of arrogance radiated from him.

"The God of War from Hell, we meet again," Yan Guiren said.

Simon replied, "You shouldn't have appeared before them at all."

"Did you send them away?" Yan Guiren asked.

Simon didn't answer his question, only speaking his own mind: "Whether you did it intentionally or not, if I ever find you attempting to reveal anything they shouldn't know… then, more than just them will be leaving."

"Your true body is in a higher realm than the Celestial Realm, isn't it?" Yan Guiren turned his head, avoiding his gaze. "You, like them, are just a projection. Even like this, you would fight me?"

"A foolish question." Simon's attitude was perpetually condescending, with no one in his eyes. "My shadow, at the very least, is no weaker than that projection which descended by borrowing the Shengmo Yuantai (Holy Demon Embryo)."

"Is that so?" Yan Guiren showed no fear, turning around with his halberd in hand.

The tension between the two rose. A battle between the God of War of the Bitter Realm and the top fighter of Hell was about to erupt.

"Hee hee hee… gentlemen, cool it down." A lewd laugh suddenly cut in, and another man in a black suit instantly appeared between the two. Woody pushed up his glowing glasses and chuckled, "Brave Yan, you have to be understanding, hee hee hee… we're on official business."

Seeing Woody appear, Yan Guiren stopped speaking, simply turning and leaving, seemingly unwilling to say anything more to them.

After he left, Woody continued to laugh, "Simon, you're a referee, you can't just come here on a whim because you want to fight a strong opponent…"

"Did you let Feng Bujue come to this world at such a low level?" Simon interrupted him. "Or… is the 'System' you built becoming increasingly difficult to control?"

"Oh dear… hehe… it seems like everything is my fault." Woody's answer was essentially a non-answer.

"You want your chosen one to obtain a Lingneng Wuqi (Spiritual Energy Weapon) earlier than the one Vincent bet on, don't you?" Simon didn't need Woody's answer. He coldly snorted, "Hmph… always playing these petty tricks."

"Since you've seen through me, there's no need for me to explain anything further." Woody shrugged. "Thanks for coming all this way."

"If I ever find you making these little moves again, I'll get rid of you like I deal with any other small fry," Simon said, never one to joke…

"Hee hee hee… thank you for your mercy." Woody chuckled. "By the way, the little devil you're optimistic about… Tun Tian Guixiao (Devouring Sky Ghost Brave), is currently competing in a killing game with several experts. Although you're a referee and haven't placed a bet, hee hee… do you want to take a look?"

"No need." Simon glanced at Woody, not even turning his head. "This level of combat isn't even worth considering as cricket fighting."

…………

At the same time, in another killing game script.

In a city ruin, an intense battle had already begun. The combatants were among the strongest forces in Thriller Paradise.

One side, a 3v3, consisted of three of the "Gods" Four Heavenly Kings: [Vishnu], [Brahma], and [Yama], ranked third to fifth in the player combat power rankings.

The other side consisted of three members from the "Order" Studio: [Fearless], ranked eighth, [Dreaming Zen], ranked ninth, and [Tun Tian Guixiao (Devouring Sky Ghost Brave)], the top-ranked and strongest player.

The three from the Gods were all level twenty-six, wearing uniform-like outfits similar to military officers' uniforms, with the main colors being dark blue and dark gray. The "Gods" badge was displayed on the outside of their left arms. The symbol looked like a solar eclipse in progress, with the golden characters for "Gods" floating in front of the symbol.

Vishnu appeared as a man in his twenties, with short black hair, medium height, well-proportioned muscles, and handsome features. His title was [Nine-Faced Illusion Armor].

Brahma looked a few years older than the former, with long, flowing hair and stubble on his chin. His build was comparable to Long Aotian's. His title was [Grasping the Sun and Moon].

The player nicknamed Yama was a female player, about the same age as her teammates, with a graceful figure, medium-length hair reaching her neck, and a strand of blue bangs hanging down her forehead, covering half of her face. The exposed half was fair as jade, with delicate features. Her title was [Punishment Chains].

Looking at Order's side, their badge was a white scale on a sea-blue background. Their uniform was a white suit coat draped over their shoulders, while the rest of their clothing could be freely matched. This white coat was a rather special piece of clothing. When purchased, the traditional Chinese characters for "Justice" were written on the back by default. After purchase, players could change the characters once, up to a maximum of four characters. Furthermore, this piece of clothing did not occupy the "Upper Garment" slot but was counted as an "Accessory" because it could only be "draped" and not "worn."

Of course, such a piece of clothing was certainly very expensive, costing 500,000 game coins, which was almost the price of a set. However, it still sold well. Firstly, the Order guild provided one to each member, changing the "Justice" on the back to "Order" as a uniform. Secondly, there were many bored players (obviously all men) who, in order to show off, would wear a set of beginner clothes and still drape this white coat over their backs, changing the words to something like "I Am the Only One," making others laugh and cry.

Now, back to the three from Order…

Fearless wore a white suit and trousers under his coat, with a heroic appearance and neatly cropped short hair. His title was [Spear Hero]. Although he was the first player to reach level twenty during the internal beta test, the studio's assigned task for him during the public beta was not to level up. Therefore, his current level was the same as the three on the opposing side, which was twenty-six. It is also worth mentioning that… after one day of the public beta, his position on the combat power rankings had dropped from sixth to eighth.

Dreaming Zen was twenty-five years old, neither fat nor thin, with a simple and honest face and a messy, side-parted hairstyle. His level was twenty-one, and his title was [Cold-Faced Killer]. He was one of Order's main players who joined the game during the public beta. Jianghu Studio had "Dao Jian Xiao (Sword, Saber, and Laugh)," and Order had a similar group called "Zui Sheng Meng Si (Live Drunk, Dream of Death)." Dreaming Zen was one of them.

His level directly reflected the power of Order's information-based theory. With the triple support of equipment, financial resources, and information, Order's top players caught up with the forty-eight-hour gap from the internal beta test in almost only twenty-four hours of real time.

However, at the moment, besides the cloak issued by the guild, Dreaming Zen was only wearing the default beginner's clothes, giving the impression that… this guy was very short on game coins. But at the same time, he was holding some unnecessary consumables (similar to the potato chips Little Tan bought, merely for the players' enjoyment). He had a cigarette between his right fingers and a bottle of beer in his left hand.

Seeing this, everyone should understand that Dreaming Zen had three hobbies: smoking, drinking, and getting perms.

There's a song to prove it: To become an immortal, riding a crane to fly to the heavens, turning stone into gold, incredibly wonderful, getting perms, drinking, smoking~

Finally, let's talk about Tun Tian Guixiao (Devouring Sky Ghost Brave). He was the youngest star player since the establishment of Order and could be said to be a genius in combat.

In this world, everyone has something they are good at, but not everyone has the opportunity to use their strengths. This is a matter of timing. Take Feng Bujue as an example. If he had been born in the Republic of China era, he might have been able to get into the Ministry of Education or, at the very least, become a newspaper columnist. He could write cynical articles all day long, make shocking remarks in public, and criticize the authorities and the people like grandsons, yet still live a carefree life. Moreover, he would definitely be favored by literary-minded young women, and he would have at least two wives: one would be from a respectable family, and the other would be his student, ten years younger than him. Of course… these are just assumptions. Unfortunately, Feng Bujue was born in an era with sound legal systems, social harmony, and remarkable achievements in spiritual civilization, so he can only write novels and earn a meager income.

The same principle applies to Tun Tian Guixiao (Devouring Sky Ghost Brave). If he had been born in a world of swords and magic or a world of Taoism and Dou Qi (Battle Aura), he would definitely have become an unparalleled master with unlimited potential. Unfortunately, he was born on Earth and in a very peaceful era.

Therefore, let the fighting and killing be done in the virtual reality game.

At this moment, Guixiao was level twenty-two. Although the team leader ordered him to get off work on the second night of the internal beta test, the server was shut down the next morning, so he didn't actually lose much game time.

When the public beta was launched, he was level fifteen, and now, almost twenty hours of real time have passed, so reaching this level was to be expected. In fact, as a professional player and a star player of Order, Guixiao's leveling speed was already considered "passive neglect of duty." Even Dreaming Zen, who was only level one when the public beta was launched, was already level twenty-one, and he was only level twenty-two.

However… even though his level was four levels lower than the three on the opposing side, Guixiao still firmly occupied the first position in the player combat power rankings, which undoubtedly proved a lot of things.

He set his hairstyle in the game to be long, fiery-red hair. Underneath the white coat, he wore a black camouflage outfit. He was thin and not very tall. His physique was no different from that of a typical teenager under the age of twenty.

But, the system determined that in terms of pure combat strength, he was the strongest player and gave him an unforgettable title: [Fear Disseminator].