Chapter 113: Rating

From the reactions of the “players” in the Internet Cafe, some frowned tightly, bowed their heads to identify the keys, and clumsily handled the mouse… They probably had never played this type of game before… Just familiarizing themselves with these key positions was already a headache for them.

Some players had sneaky, pleased expressions, moving the mouse lightly and operating their fingers with lightning speed—they seemed to be experts in FPS games.

The tutorial task ended with completing a few jump boxes, walking across a winding narrow bridge, and shooting over a dozen stationary targets and three moving targets. For Lü Yang, it was very easy. After the training ended, Lü Yang received an ‘A’ rating.

The reason he didn’t get the highest rating was that Lü Yang got a bit distracted while thinking about something, causing him to miss one of the moving targets, which affected his final evaluation.

Some players were FPS game experts, highly skilled with the mouse and keyboard. They completed the tutorial task effortlessly, hitting all targets dead-center and ultimately achieving the highest ‘S’ rating. This made them look very proud, and they even took off their headphones to show off to other players around them.

Looking at the big ‘A’ on the screen, Lü Yang suddenly felt that something wasn’t right…

Just then, the Electronic Voice rang out again: “The first round of the game is about to begin officially. The game location is set in a certain neighborhood of Guishe City. Game rule: Each player will randomly appear at a certain spot in this neighborhood. At the start of the game, two players will be at least fifty meters apart. A player who successfully hunts down any other player can advance to the next round.”

“Communication is allowed during the game, but players must not leave their seats or peek at others’ screens. Otherwise, they will be immediately disqualified and forced to die!”

“The game ends in ten minutes. Players who haven’t completed the hunting task by the end will be thrown into a small, obstacle-free indoor arena to shoot at each other until the hunting task is completed!”

“The game will begin after a five-second countdown. Five, four, three, two, one… Start!”

“What happens if we’re killed by another player…” Some players who weren’t very good at games timidly asked into the air, but they received no reply from the Electronic Voice.

Lü Yang wasn’t exactly an FPS expert, but he had played this kind of game quite a bit before and wasn’t too bad at it. What he needed to do now was to get through this level safely and not foolishly throw away his life.

“Is this testing wisdom? Nonsense!” Lü Yang cursed inwardly. The Death Killer clearly said he brought Lü Yang into this Mysterious Domain to test his wisdom, but it turned into a test of gaming skills.

The game didn’t have a team system—you just had to hunt down any other player to advance to the next round—which meant this was a free-for-all. In a free-for-all, self-preservation was crucial, and you also had to hunt down another player as quickly as possible to secure your spot in the next round. Otherwise, the situation would become more chaotic later on.

Earlier, it was said that death in the game meant death in reality, so Lü Yang couldn’t help but worry: what if getting injured in the game also meant getting injured in reality? If that were the case, even if he successfully advanced to the next round, it would be very troublesome.

Therefore, hunting down another player was important, but making sure he didn’t get injured was also crucial. If this was supposed to test wisdom, that was probably the only place where wisdom would come into play.

…

The game began, and Lü Yang appeared right in the middle of a street. Sure enough, it was a street in Guishe City, and Lü Yang had even been here before. It was just strange to see it recreated in a computer game and appearing on the screen, giving Lü Yang an odd feeling.

Lü Yang quickly ran to the side of the street, planning to hide first and then think about his next tactics, but he soon discovered that all the doors and windows of the buildings along the street were closed and locked, and he couldn’t enter them at all.

So, he didn’t need to consider the shameless tactic of hiding inside a building to ambush passing players.

While observing the surrounding terrain, Lü Yang checked his equipment and weapons…

He only had one small Handgun and six bullets.

Gunshots were already erupting from all directions in his headphones; clearly, some players had bad luck with their spawn locations and were discovered by others soon after the game started, leading to fierce firefights.

The gunshots Lü Yang heard through the headphones surprised him, because some of them clearly sounded like Submachine Guns, and there were even… explosion sounds… Could it be that someone got a Hand Grenade or a Rocket Launcher?

It seemed that each player’s starting weapons and equipment in the game were different! And Lü Yang’s luck didn’t seem too good—he only got a small Handgun.

Could it be that there was a hidden trick in the tutorial task? Or maybe some sort of “hidden” rule? The higher your rating at the end of the task, the worse your weapon?

Damn! Testing wisdom—maybe that’s what it meant?

Lü Yang’s inference was correct. Right now, some expert players were even more distraught than Lü Yang—those who had received an ‘S’ rating now only had a pitiful little Dagger!

Some who performed poorly in the tutorial task, with ratings of ‘C’, ‘D’, or even ‘E’, received super powerful weapons like Sniper Rifles, Submachine Guns, and even Rocket Launchers!

After figuring this out, Lü Yang felt secretly relieved. Luckily, he had been distracted during the tutorial task and didn’t get an ‘S’ rating. Otherwise, if he didn’t even have a Handgun now, it would be truly devastating.

Being too smart or too alert might not be a good thing, especially since the Death Killer was likely hiding somewhere in the shadows, watching his performance. Acting a bit clumsier and making the Death Killer let his guard down a little probably wasn’t a bad idea.

…

A player holding an AK47 carefully walked around a street corner. Because his control skills were quite poor, he didn’t adjust his view in time while turning, and a player with a Dagger lying in wait at the corner caught him off guard.

The player with the Dagger didn’t hesitate—he aimed the crosshair at the AK47 player’s neck and pressed the mouse attack button…

The player sitting in front of the computer screen suddenly had a bloody gash appear on his neck out of nowhere. Blood spurted out, splattering onto the computer screen in front of him.

The view on the computer screen shook violently for a moment; the character in the game died and fell to the ground, the screen view finally locking on the ground. At the same time, the player’s head slammed heavily onto the keyboard in front of him.

Death in the game meant death in reality!

The player sitting next to him saw this scene and couldn’t help but feel a chill of terror, screaming repeatedly, but he immediately focused even more intently on the game. Otherwise, he would be the next one to suffer such a horrible fate.

Before long, another female player let out a loud, piercing scream. Her body kept twitching; at that moment, her chest was being repeatedly hit by gunfire. Blood stained her white shirt and even knocked over the chair she was sitting on. Soon, her corpse lay in a pool of blood on the Internet Cafe floor.

With a dull “thud,” a player two seats to Lü Yang’s right was shot in the head by a Sniper Rifle. His skull was completely torn off, and brain matter even splattered onto the back of Lü Yang’s hand holding the mouse…