Absolute Death Game

After a few minutes, Xiao Buli felt that the thing must have left. When he entered the living room again, the strange chill had already dissipated. Xia Zuowei lay on the ground, his chest soaked with blood seeping from his military coat, dyeing it bright red. His helmet was still on his head, but inside, his brain had turned into a mushy pulp.

The air was filled with a stench of blood mixed with feces and urine, reminding him that this wasn't just a game.

"Poor fellow." He gazed at the body on the floor, silently pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and putting it in his mouth. His fingers trembled slightly as he tried to light it several times before finally getting the cigarette to ignite. For the first time, Xiao Buli felt fear toward this game.

This could perhaps be how my own end comes about, he thought to himself but promptly suppressed the thought—fear never leads to anything good.

Looking at the corpse on the floor, he fell into deep thought. It seemed that physical defense was utterly meaningless—whether it was a pot lid, a military coat, or a motorcycle helmet, none offered any protection against that unknown entity's attacks. But why did the Ethereal Armor prove effective?

He suspected it might be because the spell itself also originated from within the game, or perhaps simply because the Ethereal Armor was a spell—meaning, to counter such intangible forces, one must also use powers that exist in the game, and it had to be a spell; offensive skills were useless against something invisible and intangible.

But it might not necessarily be the case, Xiao Buli reflected. Clearly, the adversary used a power of a rule-like nature. If real-world weapons and ordinary physical attacks constituted the lowest tier of such rules, then spell-based skills represented a higher tier, and that invisible entity would stand at the pinnacle of these rules.

Unless one could surpass the entity in terms of rules, there was simply no alternative to death.

Oh, right, the Soul Absorption Pearl! He finally remembered. Yet, when he took out the pearl, he hesitated: How was he supposed to use it?

In the game, all one had to do was to double-click the mouse near the target's dead body, but what about in reality?

He placed the pearl beside the body and waited, but nothing happened.

(Maybe I need to chant some sort of spell) He thought and then recited, "Soul, heed my call, come forth with urgency like an imperial edict!"

Still no response. It seemed the self-invented spell didn't always work. It couldn't have dissipated so soon, could it?

He placed the pearl on Xia Zuowei's body and shouted, "Hurry up, buddy! If you don't want to die, get into the pearl quickly. If you don't come in now, your soul will scatter."

This time the pearl finally reacted, flashing brightly. Xiao Buli quickly picked up the pearl, only to find a ghostly figure resembling Xia Zuowei inside.

Finally done, Xiao Buli breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the ghostly image in the pearl, muttering to himself, "As for whether you can be revived, that's up to your fate."

As he pondered this, he put the pearl back into his pocket and meticulously cleaned up any traces he had left in the room. He took all the cash, ensuring the scene didn't look like a robbery and murder, then left the vacant house without any regrets.

When Gu Shaobang entered his own room, he felt no different from any other day; life was becoming increasingly dull. Bars, women, affluent families, plenty of time—at face value, he should be enjoying every day. But why did he feel more and more bored?

Gu Shaobang sat up on the sofa, reflecting that he wasn't the kind of guy obsessed with gaming.

Since leaving the guild, he had hardly played games at all, but he had been engrossed in that feeling when a group of people worked hard together, basking in the joy of struggle—a sensation that was obviously hard to experience in real life, especially with his family's wealth, getting anything he wanted was just a matter of reaching out his hand.

He casually switched on the television, and a large screen began broadcasting a news item.

According to reports: A robbery and murder occurred yesterday during the daytime near Green Dragon Mountain Park in the suburbs. The assailant used a weapon with brutal methods. The victim, Mr. Xia, was a sophomore at B University. The case is currently under further investigation.

The public is urged to pay attention to this matter, and if there are any suspicious clues, please contact the police immediately.

(B City seems to be a little disturbed lately; just a few days ago, there was a commotion in the city center. I heard quite a few people died. What's going on recently?) Gu Shaobang pondered. Just as he was about to turn off the TV, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Good evening, Mr. Bang, long time no see."

Gu Shaobang jumped in fright. He valued his privacy, so few people visited his room, especially not in the middle of the night—plus, he had just been watching a report on a robbery and murder, which startled him all the more. He whirled around and sprang to his feet only to find Xiao Buli seated at the liquor cabinet's high stool, savoring a glass of brandy with relish.

"Boss, when did you get here?" he asked in surprise, advancing towards the bar. Upon seeing a bottle on the counter, his expression changed, "Damn it, you brought out the '84! I only had one bottle of the '84 brandy left! Why didn't you take the '85 one instead?"

Xiao Buli ignored Gu Shaobang's rambling, lifted his glass to observe the amber liquid within, and finished it in one gulp. He then turned and poured another drink.

Gu Shaobang was irritated yet amused by Xiao Buli's actions, "Heh, that doesn't seem quite the attitude of someone in debt. Don't tell me you've come to repay me?"

Xiao Buli smiled, "Let's talk about money later. I have something more important to discuss with you." In reality, both of them knew that money was hardly the issue.

Gu Shaobang saw that the alcohol was almost finished and decided to go for it, pouring himself a drink, he sat down next to Xiao Buli. 'How did you get in here? Those guys, really, they let you in without even telling me."

"That's because they don't know I'm here—no one knows I'm here, and I'm very glad about that."

As he spoke, Xiao Buli set down his glass and walked to the door to listen for a while.

"What's the matter?" Gu Shaobang asked, puzzled.

Xiao Buli shook his head and returned to the bar, "I've found it—the game."

Gu Shaobang was quite pleased, "Really? That's excellent. We can finally play to our heart's content."

Xiao Buli, however, shook his head, looking very serious. "No, this game is not for playing. This time, we're dealing with the real thing."

"The real thing? Weren't we serious before?"

"Previously all we did was conquer games, just games. But this time, if we are not careful, people could die. However, if we handle it well, the benefits we reap can't be measured in money."

Xiao Buli's solemn expression made Gu Shaobang hesitate. "Boss, you're not joking, are you?"

"I never joke about games and matters of life," Xiao Buli said. "As for what the truth is, I'll tell you tomorrow when everyone arrives. Right now, what you need to do is gather all our brothers, use your name—I'm not in a position to show up right now and don't mention me at all."

After finishing without giving Gu Shaobang a chance to ask questions, he continued, "Do you have a safe secret place we could use?"

Gu Shaobang thought for a moment, "There's an old manor belonging to my family on Li Mountain, but it has been abandoned, the infrastructure is a bit rundown, and it's quite remote. However, it's absolutely safe."

Xiao Buli nodded, "Let's go there, then. Gather everyone there. I'll join you at noon tomorrow. This is very important, don't let anyone know about it other than the few of them, especially do not mention me, got it?"

Gu Shaobang was a bit dazed by Xiao Buli's tense and severe attitude, "What's really going on, boss?"

"You'll know tomorrow." Xiao Buli checked his watch. "I have to go now. See you tomorrow." With that, he downed the liquid in his glass, hopped off the stool, and left.

Gu Shaobang hurriedly went to open the door, saying as he did, "Are you in such a rush? Won't you stay a bit longer?" But when he turned around, he was shocked to find that Xiao Buli had already disappeared without a trace, the room quiet as if no one had ever been there.

He glanced at the bar—had there not been two glasses there, he might have believed that Xiao Buli had been just a figment of his imagination.

What the FUCK! (What the hell is going on?)

He stood there stunned for a moment, then slapped himself hard and poured another drink to calm his nerves. 'The boss hasn't become a ghost, has he? But even if he is a ghost, he's still the boss.'

He never doubted Xiao Buli's words, and this time was no different. Even though his mind was full of questions, he still pulled out his phone and dialed a few numbers he hadn't used in quite some time.

"Hey, is this Old Sun? I'm throwing a swimsuit party tomorrow with a few models for entertainment. Interested in joining? What do I want from you? We're brothers who have struggled together, who else would I invite to such an event but you? Great, it's settled then.

Meet at the bar at nine tomorrow..."

He made call after call, and before long, he had contacted every core member of the Qingyang Studio. Things went smoothly because the gang he knew were either unemployed or had flexible jobs; none were the nine-to-five type. Plus, the allure of the legendary swimsuit models helped, so it was easy to arrange. Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

After hanging up, Gu Shaobang felt excited. Benefits that can't be measured in money? What could that possibly be? But one thing he was sure of was that the Qingyang Empire was on the rise once again. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at qidian.com.

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