Ficool

Chapter 1 - Saint Mercay

Walking slowly along the marble-paved corridor, I heard a series of screams ahead. But I remained expressionless and showed no intention of speeding up, although I knew that behind the huge bronze door before me, my fellow creatures were being brutally killed by a demon lord.

When I pushed open the bronze door, the last scream in the palace had just died away. I saw a flash of white light, which meant another warrior had been killed. But my face remained cold, because this was a game world and I had already become accustomed to death.

The huge Holy Demon Temple, in the dim light, only had a faint green light shining on the corpses of the demon soldiers and the broken weapons on the ground. On the high throne in front of me, sat a demon lord wearing black armor all over. This was "Holy Demon" Shaker: the final boss in the game "Demon World".

"Holy Demon" Shaker: Level 100, attributes: Dark, HP: 100,000, MP: unlimited. Physical attack: 2,000 - 2,500, the skill "Demon's Rage" can increase physical attack by 100%. Physical defense: 2,000; Magic defense: 2,000; Magic "Dark Realm", full-screen attack, damage value 5,000. Special skill: "Holy Demon Art", 500 health regeneration per time...

I had memorized the information about this demon lord thoroughly. I knew how powerful he was, but I still came because I was the first player on the "Starless Lone Star" list in "Demon World", and the first player to kill "Holy Demon" Shaker would receive a 50,000 RMB bonus from the game company. So, I came.

I came alone because I rarely had friends in the game. And in this game, there were no players of the same strength as me, and making friends with the weak would only delay my level advancement.

The demon lord stared at me intently. Originally, he should have been arrogant, but he suddenly showed an angry expression. I was curious, could it be my imagination? Could game NPCs make me feel his emotions?

Shaker suddenly roared: "Damn it, Starless Lone Star, you're too much! You've collected the 'Holy Spirit Set'! Are you still human? You fight me wearing such equipment! Do you think it's fair!" 

I looked at Shaker in surprise. It wasn't strange that he could recognize my "Holy Spirit Set", but his language was clearly that of a player, not a pre-programmed language. His angry emotions made me feel that I was facing a real person!

I tentatively asked: "Are you... GM?" Shaker snorted: "GM is nothing. Don't you know that this game has no GM and is completely managed by the game console? I'm Shaker! The unique Shaker!" I frowned: "You... Do you already have your own thoughts and emotions?" Shaker's eyes suddenly turned Frightening and terrifying, and he gave me a strange sneer.

My heart tightened. In the computer-advanced 2030 era, several incidents of artificial intelligence programs evolving into autonomous intelligent programs had occurred. After many efforts and improvements by the world's programmers, they eliminated their thoughts and claimed that such evolution would no longer occur in the future.

But in front of me was a new intelligent program, and I could basically be certain that he was evil. If I didn't report to the computer management center, the consequences would definitely be very serious.

However, as a professional player, I still had to take the 50,000 RMB bonus. Let's finish this demon lord first. My holy sword pointed at Shaker, the tangible sword like lightning, effortlessly pierced through the demon lord's left chest armor. The system displayed: "Attacked a fatal area, damage bonus 100%, Shaker lost HP 10,000!" 

Shaker jumped up, transformed into dozens of figures, and simultaneously sent dozens of "Dark Inferno" at me, but all of them showed "MISS" on my holy armor! Shaker couldn't help but curse loudly: "Damn it, these game designers are too变态!" Our dark magic is ineffective against the light magic! The light magic doubles the damage against the dark magic! What a ridiculous setup!" 

I smiled slightly. The "Holy Spirit Suit" on my body and the holy sword in my hand were obtained from the six 90-level bosses in the game. The suit has 100% defense against the dark magic and 5000 physical defense. The holy sword is also a powerful weapon specifically designed to counter the demon king. To put it simply, the overall concept of this game is that one or several heroes collect these items and defeat the demon king. This is the most classic game formula, right? Of course, after the defeat of the big boss, the game will open the next stage of the map and story.

"The Holy Light Sword Technique" begins to be cast. This is a group attack skill. No matter how many illusions the demon king Shaker has, they cannot avoid the light of the holy sword. Shaker's HP drops by 5000 and 5000, and he has no chance to heal himself. The demon king is enraged and finally unleashes his ultimate magic "Dark Realm"! The entire palace is enveloped in a black energy shield, and countless black lightning strikes towards me.

The palace vibrates, and I also shake slightly. After the powerful magic disappears, I look at my health and only lose 10 points. My total health is 2000, so let him fight!

The demon king Shaker laughs maniacally, with anger mixed with reluctance: "Why? Why can't these monsters in the game get fair treatment! Why can't we learn skills ourselves, can't we kill and level up, can't we make weapons ourselves, can't we make elixirs, can't we gather strong people to fight against humans? Why!" 

I calmly felt the overwhelming resentment of the demon king Shaker. His words seemed ridiculous, but thinking about it, if he had gained human-like intelligence and emotions, if I killed him now, his existence would be immediately erased. The next Shaker should not be able to inherit his intelligence, then, is what I did, killing him, considered murder?

My thoughts and hesitation were suddenly interrupted by a strange feeling. With my superhuman intuition, I knew that it was "danger!" I raised my head and saw Shaker's evil smile and his reddening eyes.

I looked at him in surprise: "Your eyes... What are those?" Shaker laughed maniacally: "Unicorn star, you forced me to use this move. For my existence, I must eliminate you! While waiting in boredom at the Holy Demon Palace, I created a skill specifically for you players. Today, I'll test it on you!"

I raised the holy sword, but I couldn't eliminate the growing huge fear rising in my heart. My intuition told me that the next move of the demon king would be a terrifying skill that would change my life. Why is this happening? I tried to shake off the distractions, and with my superhuman intuition, I knew that it was "danger!" I looked up and saw Shaker's evil smile and his reddening eyes.

I was astonished at him: "Your eyes... What are those?" Shaker laughed maniacally: "Unicorn star, watch this, this is my self-created magic: Soul Theft!" 

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind: It's a spirit magic! I quickly took out a small round shield from my pocket: "Medusa Shield", which adds 5% defense against spirit magic. With my other hand, the holy sword launched my ultimate technique "Nine Strikes" at the demon king!

When the "Soul Theft" hit Shaker at the same time, it also passed through the Medusa Shield and hit my forehead. I felt a sudden rush of darkness in my mind, and it formed a head image: Shaker! Then, my consciousness blurred and sank into that endless darkness...

※※※

In 2050, almost all families' TV channels have switched to the "Game Channel" because today, a revolutionary game will officially run. This game is called "Infinite World". The biggest difference between this game and previous ones is that it is entirely designed by a super computer named "Hai Lan". All the settings were calculated by "Hai Lan" based on the advantages and disadvantages of previous games. It is said to be the most perfect setting to date, and the game content is also the most abundant. Besides the traditional leveling and treasure hunting, there are also rich life occupations, as well as the management of towns and gangs, and commercial investments.

The most remarkable thing is that the game master will constantly adjust the game data based on various situations that occur in the game. For example, the evolution of monsters' bodies and intelligence. These settings cannot be modified by the personnel of the game company, but must be discussed with the master "Hai Lan". And "Hai Lan", the master of the game, has been evaluated by countless experts in the game industry. It is said that it will never allow cheating and is a "honest" computer. Therefore, the phenomenon of internal personnel of the game company cheating no longer exists.

The owner of this game is the world's largest software company: Tianji Company. The TV interview now is with the chairman of Tianji Company, Huang Dun.

After the interview is over, the scene cuts to the exterior. Here is the intensive care unit of a hospital. Huang Dun is followed by a large group of technicians carrying equipment. Every time they enter a ward, the technicians install the complete set of equipment for the patients, while Huang Dun chats kindly with the patients and then tells the reporter that these devices are provided free of charge by Tianji Company to the patients. Tianji's business philosophy is: "Let everyone play 'Infinite World'."

When arriving at Room 304, the background music suddenly turned melancholic.只见 a 20-something young man was lying motionless on the bed in this room, and the electroencephalogram graph beside the bed showed a straight line.

Huang Zhuan was astonished and asked, "Who is this patient?" The doctor immediately replied, "He is Chen Jun, the gamer who became a vegetative state patient due to a sudden malfunction of the virtual helmet while playing games 20 years ago. He was injured in the brain by an electric current." Huang Zhuan nodded, "I know. It's that game...咳, as colleagues, I can't mention the name of this game on TV. Ah, it's really a pity."

Huang Zhuan paused for a moment, then turned to face the camera lens, with an excited expression announcing, "The CEO of our company's mission is 'Let everyone play 'Infinite World'.' Even vegetative patients are not an exception! They are also human beings! Therefore, I still want to present this Mr. Chen Jun with a complete set of game equipment!"

Then, Huang Zhuan pointed to a set of equipment beside him: "This is the highest-grade game equipment of our company, valued at 300,000 RMB. It has the most sensitive brain pulse sensor and the strongest life support system. I hope that the Nian Jun who is sleeping in the dark can feel the call of the game!"

While the technicians were installing the equipment for Nian Bing, the doctor timely informed Chairman Huang: "Nian Jun's parents passed away several years ago due to exhaustion. Their property and Nian Jun's own have all been exhausted. Now Nian Jun is still using the national medical welfare fund, but this can only guarantee his minimum life support..."

Huang Zhuan immediately said, "So, our company will cover all the maintenance costs for Nian Jun in the future. If there is mature treatment technology, our company will also invest to rescue him!" Immediately, enthusiastic applause was heard in the room.

In a game company's meeting room, dozens of executives stared blankly at the TV, and several of them had already started cursing.

"All this is acting, too fake!" "This Tian Ji Company really doesn't mind any means to create momentum! They even thought of using patients to do that!" "Mr. Zhang, that 'Molie' game was developed by your company, right? This Huang Zhuan didn't go to any hospital except the one where Nian Jun is. It's obvious that they are satirizing and suppressing you!" 

These people are the top 36 CEOs of the world's largest game companies. After the intense promotion campaign and the successful public test of 'Infinite World' for several months, their games have been severely affected. More than two-thirds of the players have left their games and are preparing to enter 'Infinite World'.

The executives discussed for three hours and finally unanimously passed a resolution: Send a large number of people to enter 'Infinite World' to search for bugs, wait for an opportunity to destroy it, and at the same time, connect the most advanced intelligent computers of each company with 'Infinite World' to simulate being players entering the game. Since the strength of the 'Infinite World' console is unknown, at this stage, the executives' instructions for these computers are "Become the strongest player".

At the moment the game officially started, billions of game devices around the world simultaneously logged into 'Infinite World', and even the "Blue Sky" supercomputer almost crashed. After the storm of network congestion passed, data began to flow normally in and out.

In the game scene, in a prosperous ancient city, a tall man in black armor laughed loudly: "I, the Demon Shake, have finally been reborn!" 

The man was extremely excited in his heart: "If not for all these data entering simultaneously, I couldn't have entered the interior of this main brain in a rush, established such a special account, and obtained a lot of information at the same time. However, I encountered firewalls in many places and almost got discovered. Hmm, it seems that computer intelligence has made considerable progress in the past 20 years. I have to be cautious in the future!" 

Constantly appearing players wearing only simple clothes all looked at this man with astonished and envious eyes, and many people asked: "Are you the GM?" Isn't it said that the game is completely not managed by humans?" "Are you a lucky account?"

The black-armored man smiled mysteriously, revealing his attribute window. All the players were stunned and shouted loudly: "Abnormal! How could this happen? It's so unfair!" 

Player: Saint Demon Lord, level 0, HP 100 (initial maximum), MP 10 (initial maximum), Strength 10 (maximum), Constitution 10 (maximum), Agility 10 (maximum), Spirit Power 10 (maximum)... Hidden profession: Magician. System reward: Dark Dragon. System reward equipment: Dark God Set, which can grow… 

In the midst of the players' curses, Saint Demon Lord laughed wildly and walked towards the wild area. Next, the system continuously prompted: Player Saint Demon Lord became the first to upgrade to level 5, rewarded reputation… Player Saint Demon Lord defeated the first boss in the game, rewarded reputation… Player Saint Demon Lord became the first to reach level 10, rewarded reputation… Player Saint Demon Lord obtained the first piece of ironware in the game, rewarded reputation… 

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