Absolute Death Game

Xiao Buli had already considered how to upgrade his Taoist Heart for quite some time. From the moment he had comprehended the Heart of Life and Death, he understood that evidently, the advancement of the Taoist Heart level required undergoing different life experiences and gaining various life revelations.

Since he could obtain the Heart of Life and Death between life and death, then other diverse life experiences should probably have similar effects.

For this reason, he even specifically started a thread online. Naturally, he didn't expose anything about this game but instead chose a rather obscure way to do so, claiming he wanted to write a cultivation novel and skillfully projecting his current situation into it, he collected opinions from netizens.

As a result, he naturally gathered quite a bit of information, with some suggestions looking rather reliable.

First was the death of a loved one, which might improve the level of the Taoist Heart.

Second was personally killing someone, which could also possibly enhance the Taoist Heart.

Or perhaps personally saving a life, or experiences like going through life's natural course of birth, aging, sickness and death, love and hatred, such events might also elevate the level of the Taoist Heart.

However, no matter which option, none seemed to be something he could attempt at the moment. He had no family or loved ones at present, and even friends were mostly just acquaintances. As for enemies, it seemed he didn't have anyone that could be called an enemy yet.

Killing was out of the question; the real world is not a game, and he was definitely not the kind of person who would casually take a life for the sake of gaining strength.

Helplessly, Xiao Buli could only pin his hopes on tonight's meditation attempt.

He always felt that Hua Yueying had no reason to deceive him, so he decided to simply stay up all night tonight, engaging in meditation throughout. He refused to believe that wouldn't result in a level up.

After having dinner, when everyone had free time, Xiao Buli prepared a large stash of coffee and snacks, and then he logged into the game back in the computer room.

As soon as he logged in, his character appeared outside the military camp. Although meditation could be carried out anytime, anywhere, it was generally best done in a safe, quiet area for optimal results.

Therefore, he chose to return to Thousand Pines Town, arriving at the plump aunt's house, who was currently having dinner with Niuniu.

Plump Aunt: "Young man, you're back. Join us for dinner."

Xiao Buli politely declined, "Thank you but I won't, I've already eaten."

After saying that, he went back to his room. The room, it turned out, was one he had cleaned during the day. He hadn't noticed at the time, but now he realized it was indeed very clean. Xiao Buli controlled his character to find a clean spot on the floor and then clicked meditation. Accompanied by the steady sound of breathing, his character sat down with legs crossed and began to meditate.

Taking out a bag of freshly popped popcorn, Xiao Buli munched on it while observing his character.

Meditation was a very boring affair, at least it had been in his few past experiences. Watching his character sit cross-legged on the screen, unable to leave or make any move, he couldn't find anything more boring than this.

(This is a safe area, how about hanging up here and going back to the dorm to watch a movie?) Such a thought popped into Xiao Buli's mind, but he immediately rejected it.

No, absolutely not! He admonished himself. His character signified his life, and even within a safe area it might not be absolutely secure. It was better not to take any chances.

As he pondered, he continued to meditate, munch on snacks, and drink coffee to stay awake. When the boredom became overwhelming, he had someone fetch him a novel, which he started reading in front of the computer.

One hour passed without any changes on the screen; his character remained stable. Two hours passed, still no changes. Xiao Buli yawned, glanced at his watch, and saw it was already past ten. Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and a portly lady walked in.

Seeing Xiao Buli, she shook her head with a sigh, then turned and walked out without closing the door behind her.

(Eh, what's going on here?) Xiao Buli wondered to himself with curiosity.

After a little while, the portly lady returned, this time with a blanket in her hand. She walked up to Xiao Buli's character, gently draped the blanket over him, then tiptoed away in silence, carefully closing the door.

Watching the retreating figure of the portly lady, Xiao Buli suddenly felt a warm sensation. For someone like him, who had been living alone from an early age, this kind of familial care was a first, despite having many friends who were even more obsessed with gaming than he was and never exhibited such behavior.

Who would have thought that he would find such care within a game? Wasn't that a bit ironic? He sighed inwardly and stared blankly at the screen, lost in thought.

As the night wore on, the people in the computer room gradually left, until only he and Bai Yunfei remained. Bai Yunfei still looked very energetic.

Stretching and checking the time, Bai Yunfei exclaimed, "Phew! Oh, it's this late already? Looks like I need to go to sleep too." While speaking, he got up, glanced at Xiao Buli, and asked, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

Xiao Buli shook his head, "You go ahead, I still need to play a bit longer."

"Alright, but don't overdo it, young man, take care of your health." Bai Yunfei said with a note of aged wisdom and then left.

Xiao Buli sighed. In the now empty computer room, this kind of situation seemed all too familiar. Looking at the time, it was already past two, indeed it was very late.

He poured himself another cup of coffee, his seventh cup of the night. The coffee was exceptionally aromatic; while the company might not be the most humane in other respects, the food and drink it provided were certainly top-notch. This coffee, freshly ground, was nothing like the instant coffee he had been used to.

However good the coffee might be, drowsiness was still creeping in irresistibly. As the screen showed no changes after several hours, Xiao Buli's eyelids began to droop.

(Damn it, just a little longer!)

(I can't go on, I'm too sleepy, just need to close my eyes for a brief moment.) He told himself as his eyelids closed then jerked open again, (Can't fall asleep!) he admonished himself, but his eyelids grew heavier and eventually closed once more, this time not reopening.

He didn't know how long it had been when Xiao Buli suddenly woke with a start. Something was off—the room was unbearably hot, making it hard to breathe. Could the air conditioning be broken?

He suddenly remembered that his character hadn't logged out of the game and quickly looked at the screen. Fortunately, he hadn't died, but something was off with the screen.

On the screen, his character lay in pitch-black darkness, continuously falling downward, and he heard a voice.

????:"Why won't you believe in me......"

????: "Why don't you believe me..."

????: "Why don't you believe me..."

The message kept repeating, and as the screen scrolled, it seemed to have appeared dozens of times.

Xiao Buli was baffled, what was going on? He moved the mouse, and an option appeared on the screen,

1. I believe you!

2. What can you give me?

After some thought, he chose the first option.

????: "No! You don't believe me! Otherwise, why didn't you call for me when you were confused? You don't trust me at all!"

The option appeared again, the same one as before.

Xiao Buli thought about it and selected the second one, "What can you give me?"

"I can tell you where to go next!" ????: replied.

The options appeared again:

1. Then, please guide me.

2. Where will I end up if I follow you?

Xiao Buli hesitated for a moment, the mouse wavering between the options, before he chose the second one.

????: "The end? You are talking about the end, correct? Do you hope to have an endpoint?"

Yet another set of options appeared.

1. Yes.

2. No.

What kind of question is this?

Xiao Buli suddenly grew tired of this riddle-like interaction, downed the cold cup of coffee that was on the table in one gulp to perk himself up, and quickly analyzed the situation before him. His gaze scanned across the interface, then suddenly stopped at the upper right-hand corner—the Ancient God Mark.

The icon originally displayed a closed eye from the DEBUFF, but now it had changed to an open eye, which he clicked with the mouse.

Ancient God Mark: An Ancient God is speaking with you.

Damn, it was this guy after all!

Xiao Buli closed the option box directly and clicked the ???? name, typing: "Are you the Ancient God?"

????: "Ha, finally caught on, have you?"

Xiao Buli: "Answer my question."

????: "Yes, and no."

Xiao Buli: "What do you mean?"

????: "That, I cannot tell you, but you can ask me other questions. Not to be overly modest, but I am all-knowing, you see."

Xiao Buli thought to himself that it might be some sort of query-based NPC in the game, or maybe a GM? With that thought, he got a bit excited—if it really was a GM, then they would definitely know the true nature of the game and many of its secrets.

Thinking it over, he typed: "How do I level up Taoist Heart?"

????: "How could I tell you something that would affect the fairness of the game?"

Xiao Buli: "Damn, then why did you let me ask?"

????: "I let you ask, but I didn't say I would definitely answer, try another question."

Xiao Buli scoffed: "Then tell me, do you know who created this game?"

????: "Many people have asked me that question, but the ones who found out the answer all died. Do you still want to know the answer?"

Yet again, a choice appeared on the screen.

1. Yes, I want to know the answer.

2. No, I don't want to know the answer.

As Xiao Buli stared at the question posed by the mysterious figure on the screen, he hesitated, not sure which option to choose. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)