LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 291: Chen Miao: 70k points.
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In this secret realm, there is absolutely no death.
This is the first rule.
But now he even began to doubt whether this rule was still effective, because the scene before him was a bit too horrifying.
"That..."
A glint of confusion passed through the Black Doctor's eyes, "Though it's said that there is absolutely no death in this secret realm, 'death' isn't clearly defined. Is it that the body won't die, or does that include the brain not dying as well?"
"What's happening to this guy right now feels like his body might be continuously recovering from injuries, but his brain is already dead."
"In other words,"
"Once this guy comes out of the secret realm, he'll be a vegetable."
Shaking his head with a sigh, Hungry Monkey uttered, "If that's really the case, I wouldn't be surprised at all. It makes perfect sense, especially because... wait a second!"
Just as Hungry Monkey was about to say something!
The scene before them suddenly rendered everyone in the hall speechless and stunned!
The scoreboard above Crushed-Egg didn't show +1000 after the iron ball smashed down again, instead, it became +900!
Everyone patiently waited for a few minutes.
They noticed that every subsequent score increment was +900!
What this means is...
Not only did Crushed-Egg not suffer brain death, but he even seemed to adapt to the pain, because the value of pain decreased, resulting in a lower score gain.
"Awesome!"
The Black Doctor was thoroughly convinced, his face full of shock as he gave a thumbs-up, "I've only respected a few people in my life, and Crushed-Egg is definitely one of them. From now on, aside from my master and Miao, Crushed-Egg is the man I admire the most!"
No exaggeration at all!
No matter how much money you give me, I wouldn't be able to replicate what this man is doing.
He has transcended the boundaries of normal humans.
Gradually, the hall emptied quite a bit; many people went home to eat and sleep. The secret realm was going to last for 12 hours, after all. It would be better to come back when the secret realm was about to end; one couldn't just keep waiting.
And then, in the fourth hour of the secret realm.
Crushed-Egg finally stopped, lying on the ground motionless with lifeless eyes, and his score had halted at 150,000!
A full 100,000 points ahead of the second-place Childbearing Sis.
Perhaps because the lead was too substantial, Crushed-Egg planned to rest a while, choosing not to push himself too hard. But soon, for some unknown reason, without taking any damage, Crushed-Egg, who had only been lying down for a short time, suddenly let out a pained and hideous roar.
Quickly—
The Crushed-Egg Machine started up again, and intense pain struck once more. However, this time Crushed-Egg's expression appeared much more relieved.
...
"What's going on?"
Confused, Hungry Monkey looked at the scene, "It can't be that kid has developed an M tendency, right? Without any damage, he acts like he's in extreme pain. But when the Crushed-Egg Machine starts, his face looks a lot more relieved?"
"I think I understand," said the Black Doctor with a complex gaze at the man, "It's like he's developed some kind of psychological disorder. Let me explain, if you take certain drugs for a long time, you'd struggle to differentiate reality from hallucinations."
"Similarly!"
"The constant cycle of this man using points to heal his injuries and then suffering from severe pain and sudden recovery has caused him to not know the difference between reality and hallucination. Just now, he felt pain because his subconscious told him he should be feeling intense pain, but nothing happened."
"The strong disparity between reality and what his mind telling him leads to extreme suffering, like ants crawling all over his skin."
"Such a feeling of pain can even make him want to die."
"Now he only has two ways to deal with this, one is to keep the Crushed-Egg Machine running, letting his body feel the intense pain again to restore a sense of balance."
"The second method is to endure, as long as he can withstand the difference and the internal itching sensation of ants crawling over him, his body will gradually adapt to the current situation and slowly get back to normal."
"I see," Hungry Monkey said thoughtfully, "With what you've said, I think I kind of understand. But then, why didn't he choose the second option? It seems easier, and since he's not in a rush and he has a sizable lead, it would be nice to rest for a while, right?"
"It won't work,"
The Black Doctor shook his head, "If he used the second method, once he rested well, a huge backlash would come. This backlash would be both physical and psychological and would make him never want to Crushed Egg again."
"That's how he would lose his lead."
"Human nature is such that no matter how painful it is, as long as you force yourself to do it, you can keep going. But once you stop midway, the longer you've been doing it, the larger the backlash, and that backlash would make you do anything not to continue. At that point, the mind thinks in an extremely one-sided way and it's uncontrollable."
"As the duration of bearing pain becomes longer, and the break lasts longer, the backlash becomes greater."
"This man knows very well that if he rests now, the resulting backlash would be something very difficult to withstand with willpower alone. Moreover, he really needs that 10 million, so to ensure his victory, there's only one way to go, and that's to not stop for an instant."
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"Until the secret realm ends."
"Nonstop, huh..." Hungry Monkey shivered uncontrollably and murmured softly, "Black Doctor, you're a medic, tell us, if that thing really keeps going nonstop till the end, what will happen to this man after the secret realm is over?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Black Doctor finally said softly, "If the secret realm doesn't define brain death as death, then this man will almost certainly become brain dead, turning into a deep vegetative state with a blank stare and drooling, essentially rendered completely useless."
"If the secret realm does define brain death as death, the realm might protect this man from ever becoming brain dead, then he will become mentally ill, a severe mental patient, with auditory and visual hallucinations as the least of his problems. He might even develop a warped memory and so on, the consequences will be dire either way."
"It's obvious this man really needs the money, and he's going all out for it."
"But unless there's a surprise, this man probably won't get to see how this money is spent. No matter the outcome, he's in a very tragic situation, close to certain death. Even if alive, it's a fate worse than death."
"What a shame." Hungry Monkey shook his head with some regret, "Miao dealt with Zhang Wanlin too cleanly, otherwise stuffing him in this secret realm and smashing his eggs eighty-eight thousand times, I believe he'd be reborn as a better person."
...
Finally—
The secret realm had passed 11 hours and 57 minutes, only 3 minutes were left until its end. Countless people gathered in the hall, looking at the live broadcast on the TV screen, eagerly anticipating what would come next.
Firstly, third place should be secure.
Miao.
This was one of the rare instances where Chen Miao hadn't taken first place, an interesting experience in itself.
Player Name: Chen Miao: 70,000 points.
A very high score indeed.
Black Doctor sincerely nodded and praised, "In the past, the highest record for this secret realm was only 14,000 points. Miao has broken the record by a lot."
Second place, Childbearing Sis.
Score: 80,000 points.
It seemed to be only 10,000 points higher than Miao, not much really, but in reality, it was because Childbearing Sis had given up halfway. Otherwise, her score would have been at least three times higher than Miao's. The reason Childbearing Sis elected to give up had nothing to do with Miao catching up too closely. Continue your story on empire
It was...
That Crushed-Egg, leaving no hope for anyone to surpass!
Just then!
The countdown for the secret realm reached its final moments, and on the settlement panel of the realm displayed on the big screen, everyone held their breath as they gazed at the row of golden text!
'Rank 1, Wang Mang, 660,000 points!'
...
"Damn impressive..."
Black Doctor stood stunned in place, murmuring in shock, "I never imagined someone could score 660,000 points in this secret realm, is this guy really that desperate for 10 million?"
"Is 10 million really worth this?"
He was certain that this man must be brain dead. After all, when this man had reached 300,000 points, first place was definitely secured since even Childbearing Sis had given up, and Miao was far behind, surely unable to catch up.
Yet, the man didn't stop, lying there half brain dead, his gaze vacant as he quietly endured the agony.
Under these circumstances, one could be pretty sure he was brain dead.
"What a waste."
Black Doctor looked at the settlement panel on the screen with some regret, "What a shame for such a tough guy, he was a real hard man."
And as he had guessed, the outcome was definite. It was certainly one of the two scenarios he had imagined: either a severe mental illness or brain death.
"Um... Black Doctor."
Just then, Hungry Monkey looked at a semi-transparent panel in front of him with a complicated expression, "I think there might be another possibility beyond your two guesses."
"What possibility?"
"I heard about it from someone else. Why don't you have a look at the historical leaderboard of this secret realm? At the top is this name, Wang Mang."
"So what?"
Black Doctor looked puzzledly at the realm's past leaderboards; getting first place with 660,000 points should have been easy, what was so surprising about that? But the next moment, his face went expressionless as he was staggered.
'Player Name': Wang Mang.
'Occupation': Ascetic Monk (Limited Hidden Rare Occupation) (Acquired 1/10).
'ps': Hidden Occupation acquisition condition—obtain a score of 660,000 or above in a D-level secret realm 'Brave's Game'.
And then—
As the vortex reappeared in the middle of the hall, a middle-aged man slowly stepped out from it.