The Only Player in Infinite Terror

By 2030, with breakthroughs in AI, controlled nuclear fusion, and various new materials, virtual reality technology, which previously only existed in people's imaginations, will finally become a reality.

"Infinite Terror: Resurrected," a virtual reality game that is said to be entirely guided by Z, the original author of "Infinite Terror," and touted as being absolutely authentic, has suddenly appeared.

Ling Qi, an ordinary game enthusiast and a loyal reader of infinite flow novels, was very fortunate to obtain the qualification to test this game.

However, on the last day of the two-and-a-half-month closed beta test, Ling Qi encountered a small problem: he couldn't log out of the game.

Dear player, the closed beta test for "Infinite Terror Reborn" has been completed. Thank you for your help in improving the game. Please select up to 3 from the following options as your reward:

1. Watch GG resurrect: When you are near death for the first time in each cycle of the story world, you will watch a GG video and then obtain a soul-bound True Rebirth Cross (automatically resurrects you with full health upon death).

2. Everything is fate: You possess gene lock unlocking talent at the level of Zheng Zha, and gain the ability to view the script once at the beginning of each story world, but at the cost of being corrupted by fate. Minor trends can be changed, but major trends cannot.

3. Genetic Ascension: You will start the game with the fourth-tier gene lock unlocked.

4. Mind over matter: You will be born with the power of telekinesis, and at the start of the game, your telekinetic strength will be equivalent to CC level.

5. Cheater: You will unlock special exchanges and receive several special items at the start of the game.

Looking at the text options on the game system panel in front of him, Ling Qi, who had been waiting for a long time, couldn't help but fall into deep thought: "Is this game bugged? It seems like I can't exit the game unless I select something?"

"It can't be that Kayaba Akihiko infiltrated the game's development team, right? This is also recorded in Sword Art Online."

"Of these options, option 2 is obviously not a good choice. Choosing it would probably mean serving the invincible Alien Queen and the bio-engineered clone Zheng Zha as a filial son. Option 3 would mean starting with a level 4 gene lock and immediately entering the inner demon phase, guaranteeing death. So I choose 1, 4, and 5!"

After making his selection, Ling Qi made up his mind that once he exited the game, he would definitely find Tencent, the company that made the game, and have a serious argument with them to make them compensate him for his emotional distress.

However, after Ling Qi made his choice, what appeared in front of him was the game's starting interface options that were all too familiar.

Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to... truly live?

Yes or No

"Sigh, oh well, looks like there really is a bug. I can't exit the game for now. I'll just start another round. But the options this time are making me a little nervous..."

Even so, Ling Qi didn't hesitate and, just like countless times before, clicked on "Yes" to start the game.

Since we're just idling around anyway, we might as well play another round.

"To be honest, as a complete bystander, the quality of 'Infinite Terror Reborn' is indeed very high. I hereby declare that Tencent's horse is temporarily resurrected."

This was Ling Qi's last thought before losing consciousness.

Light, boundless light, completely enveloped his consciousness. He felt his consciousness becoming erratic, constantly falling "downward" until it landed in a small "box".

Ling Qi felt only emptiness and nothingness until the real touch pulled his consciousness back to reality.

Cold, shivering...

Feeling the familiar yet slightly unfamiliar touch of the carriage floor, Ling Qi rubbed his temples, slowly sat up, and opened his eyes to look around.

He was in a train carriage that was moving at high speed.

"Familiar time, familiar place, familiar people, and... familiar words."

"But is it just my imagination? I feel like the touch is much more realistic than before. Could it be that the game has been updated?" Ling Qi pondered.

"Not bad, you are the most well-mannered person among those who came this time."

The next second, as if to confirm Ling Qi's thoughts, a cold, hoarse male voice that sounded like it had a story to tell came from not far away into Ling Qi's ears.

Ling Qi looked in the direction of the sound and, sure enough, saw that strangely familiar face with several hideous and terrifying scars.

Zhang Jie, a black-haired youth, a semi-guide, a "game bug" in the Main God Space, and also a good person personally recognized by the original author Z.

He possesses AA-level telekinesis and A-level suggestive vision, and as a guide, he can unleash the full power of these enhanced abilities.

During this period, Zhang Jie, who has a guaranteed initial combat strength of at least Tier 4, even has a chance to compete for the title of "Strongest Player," which would be considered a strong player even in the final battle.

However, after being ambushed by Freddy during the captain selection process and becoming a semi-guide, Zhang Jie was forcibly given the mission of selecting the captain of the Central Continent Team by the Main God. The price was that once the captain was selected, he would disappear completely.

Zhang Jie didn't want to disappear, but he couldn't bring himself to deliberately kill his teammates. Torn between these feelings, he chose to disguise himself as a mediocre veteran player.

His enhancements were factored into the difficulty rating of the Central Continent Team by the main god. As a semi-guide, he couldn't exert much effort to deal with the enemy, making the early cycle worlds of the Central Continent Team a hellish difficulty.

What's worse is that because Zhang Jie boosted the team's rating, the rewards from the main god were greatly reduced, leaving most of the Zhongzhou team extremely poor, to the point that the Zhongzhou team was also called the Poor Zhongzhou team.

"Where is this place? Who are you? Why am I here?" Another male voice came from not far away, and it was speaking English.

Strangely enough, even though the voice was loud, the dozen or so foreigners not far away only glanced at the young man who looked like a white-collar worker before turning their heads away.

Zhang Jie took a deep drag on his cigarette, flicked off the ash, glanced at the white-collar-looking young man, and said calmly, "Think about it carefully, it should have already implanted all of this into your minds..."

Ling Qi was so familiar with this plot that he subconsciously called out to the panel, wanting to click the skip button to skip this part of the story.

But he was quickly stunned, because although the familiar game system panel appeared in his field of vision, the panel was full of garbled text.

"What the hell? Is there really a bug in the game?" Ling Qi muttered to himself subconsciously.

"Didn't your teacher teach you to keep quiet when others are talking about serious matters? It's basic social etiquette." The dark muzzle of the gun was pressed directly against Ling Qi's forehead.

Despite having a gun pointed at his head, Ling Qi remained calm, because he knew very well that Zhang Jie's character could neither actively kill his teammates; this was a rule imposed on him by the main god, or rather, a so-called setting.

Moreover, if Zhang Jie really wanted to kill himself, he wouldn't need that Desert Eagle with unlimited ammo.

For a fourth-tier psychic powerhouse, even a gun capable of killing an African elephant with a single shot is not much better than a toy.

It's like a little Easter egg in the game. The player character in "Infinite Terror Reappears" replaces the chubby guy from the original work, because the chubby guy creatively proposed that the God Space is a game.

That's why player characters, just like the chubby kid in the original story, are always used as "chickens" by Zhang Jie, this "veteran," to make an example of them, and they can't help but be held at gunpoint by Zhang Jie.