Jian Lai didn't want to return to the game. At least, not right now. Yue Shi was there, and he didn't know how to face the true boss.
He sat down at his computer desk, pressed the power button, and entered the 《Deep Red Continent》 game forum.
The game's popularity was staggering. Since the open beta began, the number of players had skyrocketed, and the forum's activity had exploded in turn.
New posts appeared almost every second, and the homepage refreshed as fast as a stock ticker board.
He scrolled through a few pages and found that the feedback was almost universally positive.
One post made him stop for a long time. The title was: "I Can No Longer Distinguish Between the Game and Reality."
The post read: "After entering the game, I realized just how absurdly realistic it is. The first time I walked into a bar in the game, the NPC waitress greeted me and asked what I wanted to drink."
"After I sat down, she chatted with me. Her expressions, tone, and small gestures were no different from a real person's. I sat there talking to her for over ten minutes and gradually forgot I was playing a game."
"When I walked out of the bar later and watched the pedestrians coming and going on the street, I felt incredibly dazed for a moment. I didn't feel like I had entered a virtual reality game; I felt like I had transmigrated into another world."
Jian Lai scrolled to the next screen. Another highly upvoted post was titled: "The Secrets of the Liming City Library."
The poster claimed that after spending time in the Liming City library, they discovered that every single book had actual content. Each book was unique; they weren't just randomly generated text, but books that someone had seriously written and published.
Some books detailed historical events, while others were biographies of specific figures.
Reading the history books revealed that the world's history was continuous. A war that occurred thousands of years ago would affect the political landscape centuries later. The rise of one country would lead to the decline of another.
It followed the basic laws of social development perfectly, as if the NPCs of the Deep Red Continent had truly evolved over many years.
The post concluded: "It's hard to imagine that this is really just a game. More often than not, I think I've entered a real world where every NPC has flesh and blood."
Jian Lai felt conflicted as he read these posts. "It seems quite a few people have already begun to realize that the Deep Red Continent is a real world."
He knew these players were right, but the game company would never come out and admit it.
Jian Lai's finger paused on the mouse wheel before he continued scrolling down.
The forum was filled with all sorts of posts: discussing ways to make money in the game, sharing discovered hidden missions, showing off newly learned spells—the comment sections were filled with people trying to soak up the posters' luck.
Some people were seriously analyzing the backgrounds and relationship networks of various factions, drawing dense mind maps.
The posts were diverse, illustrating the realism of the game world from every angle. The players' enthusiasm was unprecedented, and it was nearly impossible to find anyone criticizing it.
Further down, there were many specious analyses from self-proclaimed experts who rambled on about everything from the game to the future development of Blue Star, which they claimed was destined to be flourishing.
In the short time since the open beta began, 《Deep Red Continent》 had already generated the highest level of game hype in history.
A few players also noticed something strange: there were very few official announcements on the forum, no developer interviews, and no responses from the game company.
Facing a game that was destined to be a hit, the officials remained detached and serene, moving entirely at their own pace.
If any other game company encountered this level of popularity, they would have flooded the media with press releases, yet this company did nothing, as if they didn't even exist.
Jian Lai knew why. It was because no 'game company' existed at all. This game might not have been man-made from the very beginning.
He continued scrolling. After a while, he felt his emotions had stabilized enough, so he prepared to close the forum and return to the game to continue his adventures.
Just as he was about to exit, a highlighted post caught his eye.
The title of the post was in red, preceded by a 'fire' symbol, and written in a bold, oversized font: "The Legendary Rise of Jian Lai, Owner of Tulip Security Company: The True Boss of 《Deep Red Continent》!"
Jian Lai's pupils dilated in shock. "What on earth is this?"
He clicked on it.
The post detailed how Jian Lai, starting as an ordinary player, had supposedly used a series of brilliant maneuvers to push out the original boss and take the top spot at Tulip Security Company himself.
The content was ninety percent fiction and ten percent truth. The true part was that the boss had indeed left; the false part was the methods used. The post described him as an ambitious schemer possessing both wisdom and courage, someone with deep foresight and ruthless tactics who hit the mark with every step—a textbook example of a player usurping an NPC.
"Who... who the hell wrote this?" Jian Lai's scalp tingled, and his fingers trembled on the mouse.
He kept reading. The comment section was a sea of worship.
"Worshiping the god."
"+10086."
"Big brother is awesome."
"This is a true player. While we're still grinding mobs to level up, he's already become the boss."
"Wait for me, Great God Jian Lai! I'm going to Tulip Security Company to find you as soon as I get into the game."
Some were even posting serious advertisements: "I'm from XX Influencer Agency. Great God Jian Lai, please private message me at email XXXX. Our company promises a base salary of ten million and a professional path to stardom, making you the next top-tier celebrity on Blue Star..."
Jian Lai's breathing grew ragged.
A ten-million base salary!!!!
Mixed in were a few ridiculous comments.
"I'm going to write novels in the Deep Red Continent and then publish them in the real world. Readers will never have to worry about me dropping a series again, hahaha..."
"I'm going to throw parties in the game. No need to worry about catching diseases, I can go as wild as I want."
"Stop dreaming, you above. The game doesn't support taking your pants off."
"Are these people crazy?" Jian Lai's mouth felt dry, and his heart raced.
But most of the comments were still praising him.
"Great God Jian Lai is the most impressive player I've ever seen, bar none."
"From today on, Jian Lai is my idol."
"I beg the Great God to take me in as a lackey."
Jian Lai's breath was short, and he was embarrassed beyond measure.
He was just an acting boss. He had only been boasting when he said he had usurped the position; he hadn't expected so many people to take it seriously.
Who was so annoying? They even exposed the nonsense he had been spouting!
Suddenly, he felt an urge to delete his account.
But as he looked at those admiring comments, though he was embarrassed, a strange sense of joy rose within him.
It was a feeling he had never experienced before. He had actually become a shining game god.
Having made a name for himself in such a popular game, Jian Lai knew all too well how much profit this could bring in reality!
He had wanted to explain a bit, to say he was only the acting boss and that he wasn't anymore.
But the words wouldn't come. He couldn't bear to let go of this worship and attention, nor the massive potential benefits that might follow.
Jian Lai's mind was a mess. He didn't log into the game for the time being, instead tossing and turning in bed, replaying everything that had happened today in his head.
The moment Yue Shi suddenly returned, he had abruptly lost his power. The players he met in the corridor still called him boss; even though he knew his status as acting boss was gone, he couldn't help but respond.
The posts on the forum praising him made it seem as if he had already become a true game god.
What if Yue Shi never came back? What if he disappeared forever...
The moment that thought popped into Jian Lai's head, he sat up abruptly, his heart beating like a drum.
What am I thinking?
Kill the boss and make all the lies I told before a reality—a true usurpation of power!
Once the thought appeared, it grew wildly in his heart like weeds.
He began to find reasons to convince himself.
Strictly speaking, Yue Shi is a major villain. Killing him would be ridding the people of a menace. The Investigation Bureau might even give me a hero's medal.
I will become the official boss of Tulip Security Company and a game god in the real world. I'll kill two birds with one stone.
Always the center of attention, always pursued, gaining both fame and fortune, holding great power...
Kill Yue Shi.
The idea lingered in Jian Lai's mind, impossible to shake off.
"How exactly should I kill him..."
Rate on N.U.
