Marvelous Game

Chapter 7 Escape from Redwood 1

It was weird.

Duke remembered that in novels and films he had seen, the main characters seemed very on edge when killing people.

But the moment he pressed the hilt with all his strength and felt the life drain from the body below him as the convulsions ceased, there was no feeling of tension in his heart..

His thoughts just went wild.

He may no longer be the loser who could only roll over and die and find solace in a game. That was all behind him.

He felt a little sad, but could not explain why.

Shit was dead.

The pain of being stabbed in the heart made him curl up, blood streaming beneath him. He died quietly.

No one cared about his pain and despair, just as he and Grasshopper never cared about the howling of the victims when they whipped them with whips soaked in saltwater.

Several players even got kind of psyched up.

"Did you see that? The spasm of death, the despair in his eyes, and his longing for life! It's amazingly vivid and detailed!"

"Err, this is too much for me..." Super Brennan turned his head slightly and felt bad about it.

"It's a game. It's not real," Cool a*s said, turning pale.

On the contrary, Lady Killer didn't take her eyes off the scene. "Who can accept this? But that's what makes it exciting! I got a strong sense in the role. Don't you think the Duke is sexy in this moment?"

That compliment went right over Dragon's Toenail's head. "Pretty woman, something's wrong with you."

"I told you to call me Lady Killer... Hey, Carsick Car, do you think Big Daddy's company hired real actors to play NPCs? I don't think it's an AI simulation."

Are they suspicious of me?

Duke pretended not to get what they were saying, calmly loosened the hilt of the knife and sat down on the ground to rest. He was in fact listening carefully to their conversation.

Carsick Car, who had been observing him silently, looked at him again and didn't find anything wrong.

He touched his nose. The old habit of holding his glasses died hard with him. "I don't think so. After all, the labor cost is too high. Since this kind of detail is shown in the test, the Big Daddy's company assumes that this kind of scene is normal in the game. After all, the game will eventually be marketed, could all NPCs be played by real people?"

Lady Killer nodded. "You've got a point. Well, do you think he understands us?"

The six players looked down at Duke, which took him by surprise. But he did nothing but glance up at them coldly.

"It looks like he can."

"Maybe only part of it," Carsick Car speculated, "there might be a filtering mechanism in the NPC conversation system to automatically filter out topics that involve reality, or give feedback in indigenous thought patterns, such as curiosity, doubt, fear, rejection etc. It's all about creating realism and telling the player that you've entered another world."

"Then why didn't he respond?" Lady Killer asked.

"Probably because it's in the testing phase!" Carsick Car guessed.

Dragon's Toenail, who was a little bit careless, said casually, "It's useless for us to guess here. If you have any questions, ask Big Daddy when you get out. He will certainly know what we don't."

Then Alfred, who was mindless in the fight, warned, "I think it best not to ask. Honestly, Big Daddy helped us get into this test. Companies with such development capabilities must have strong backing. If we ask too many questions, we might get Big Daddy in trouble, and we might get kicked off the testing. Do you really want to give up this rare opportunity?"

"s**t, Toenail almost got us into trouble. Alfred, you turned out to be the wisest!"

"f**k you!"

After hearing Alfred's words, they didn't dare think about it anymore, including Carsick Car, who was full of curiosity.

Well, they were adults, and they all knew what virtual reality was all about.

The value behind it was horrifying when they thought about it.

The publishing of this kind of technology can be regarded as subversive to the entertainment and lifestyle of modern society.

They got the opportunity to take part in the first round of testing, and for them, it may not seem life-changing in the short term. But in the future, this first-mover advantage will surely grant them unimaginable opportunities.

Only an i***t would give up!

Stormy waves of sentiment engulfed Duke as he listened to their conversation.

He had anticipated, though, that as they got more and more contacts, players would one day question everything, doubt themselves and the so-called "game".

But he did not expect it to come so soon.

Before that, he was surprised by Carsick Car's attitude and why he brought s**t to him. He didn't realize it was a test.

Fortunately, at the moment, there was not much confusion among these players.

But it reminded him of a more important point: players never follow the rules!

There is a famous saying in gaming circles: kill everything that's alive, even it's a god.

Players loved nothing more than destruction. They dared to rob cars in Los Santos on GTA, shoot innocent bystanders and fight police in the street. They'd kill the fire bearer with one blow at the Fire Sacrifice of the Dark Soul; They'd shoot the merchant in the Night City because of the way he talked and steal anything of value from the dead body...

This is a bunch of monsters who had rebellion written into their DNA.

Expect them to be as docile as lambs? Don't even think about it!  

It would be fine if it were a game, but only Duke knew that this world was f*****g real.

Now, there aren't many players and they are new to the world. Everything was new to them and there were plenty of directions to explore, so they hadn't been disruptive yet.

But what about the future?

He was dead on earth and will live in this world. In the foreseeable future, it was unlikely he'd only recruit just a few players to help him, not to mention the system factors.

The more players he recruited and the longer they stayed in the world, the more likely they were to become troublemakers.

"All of these have to be addressed, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. Fortunately, they have not yet begun to doubt the reality of the world and they remain in awe of the high-end technology of virtual reality... Then I'll try to keep them busy, and, I must not go soft on them."

Duke narrowed his eyes.

On the other hand, the six players in the discussion felt their hair stand on end as if something bad was about to happen.

Before they could continue their discussion, Duke coughed and prepared to play an NPC role according to Carsick Car's analysis. "No more blabbering, gentlemen," he said. "I'm well-rested. Now let's get out of here!"

The six players winked at Carsick Car and idolized him. Carsick Car smiled confidently.

Duke continued, "I'm injured and can't move. Super Brennan and Lady Killer, please help me walk. Alfred Loves Chicken and Dragon's Toenail. You're athletic, so your duty is to fight. Cool a*s, please watch the rear from the end of the line. As for Carsick Car..."

He looked at Carsick Car. "I don't understand what you were talking about, but I think you have an attitude problem, so you're going to be a scout and keep watch at the front of the line."

In other words, bullet bait!

Carsick Car looked at Duke's" expressionless face and then at his own thin frame. He was lost for words.