Drip-drip—drip-drip—
The clear sound of water droplets, along with the sticky noise of slimy limbs rubbing against each other, awakened He Ao from his chaotic slumber.
[Game Start]
[In this game, you will role-play a game character, please read the following cautions carefully]
[1. Please note, once role-play starts, the player is the character. Being seen through will result in game failure.]
[2. Please note, all physical items acquired during the game cannot be taken away after the game ends.]
[3. Please note, in the game, you have only one life. Cherish it. Irresponsible gaming, loved ones shed tears twice.]
[Your identity is: Priest Yezola of the God of Knowledge]
[Your mission is: To complete the Descending Ceremony of the God of Knowledge's offspring as planned]
[Wish you a pleasant game]
After these brightly flickering Song typeface characters that filled He Ao's vision disappeared, he finally made out his current surroundings.
The first thing that caught his eye was a wide underground cave. Droplets of water slid down the pitch-black cave walls and fell to the ground with a drip-drip sound, and all around the cave were dark passages stretching in all directions, with not a single ray of sunlight filtering in.
But the cave was not completely dark; on the damp cave walls, there were densely packed clusters resembling vegetal tubers. These 'tubers' emitted a faint glow, providing the cave with a hazy light.
Evil God, sacrifice, Advent, ritual.
Key terms resurfaced in He Ao's mind. That 'thing' which had accompanied him for eighteen years seemed to have brought him into some kind of 'game,' where he needed to role-play a certain character.
It appeared this game was not any ordinary urban game. Given these elements, it reminded He Ao more of some fantasy games or fantasy novels.
He Ao did not panic. He was calm. The more dangerous and unfamiliar the place, the more imperative it was to remain calm. Humans had become the rulers of the world not only because of their agile bodies but more importantly, because of their developed brains.
He Ao placed his faith in the results of evolution.
This was science.
He Ao attempted to move his 'body,' and that's when he realized something was wrong. Accompanied by a slithery friction sound, he lifted a massive tentacle.
...
It seemed this wasn't any ordinary fantasy game either.
While operating these 'new limbs' was more troublesome than 'hands and feet,' with the instincts of this body, He Ao quickly adapted to controlling these 'limbs.' But as he was trying to maneuver them, a sudden, intense pain shot through him from one side.
Almost at the same time, similar sensations of piercing pain came from several other directions.
One after another, dark metal stakes lit up in the dim cave. There were eight in total, neatly distributed in eight directions. Each metal stake had an ultra-thin wire extending into He Ao's current 'body.' As He Ao began to move, these metal stakes activated simultaneously, injecting intense electric shocks into He Ao's body through the wires.
The sharp pain had come from these sources.
These dark metal stakes were hidden in the dim environment, and He Ao hadn't noticed them at first.
The prickling sensation wasn't too strong for He Ao, akin to the feeling of a silver needle slowly penetrating a fingertip along the edge of a nail, which was bearable. However, he still slowed down his movements and stopped, as he heard a series of hurried footsteps coming from a passage connected to the cave.
The vision of this body was not great, but its hearing was quite good.
As his movements ceased, the metal stakes too gradually quieted down.
Eight figures emerged from the passage, all dressed in tight black combat suits, adorned with various firearms and equipment. The moment they appeared, lines of grey semi-transparent text flashed above their heads,
Mechanically Modified Person*8
It seemed to be a game hint that only He Ao could see. Hmm, Song typeface.
The elements were getting more and more jumbled...
Among these people, the leader was a tall young woman, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with soft brown wavy hair.
As soon as she appeared, she quickly walked to the black metal stakes, squatted down, and checked them one by one,
"The confinement device has just been activated," the woman lifted her head, looking at He Ao, "We need to deal with this guy first."
At the same time, He Ao was also watching the blonde woman, a strong sense of danger surged into his mind.
This sense did not come from the system, but from the body itself. Interestingly, aside from this woman, the other seven individuals in He Ao's 'perception' seemed like weaklings that he could easily crush.
"Miss Selena, but we haven't found the Ritual Array yet," said a man standing to the left behind the woman. He was holding a high-end-looking black firearm, "And this guy has already had his consciousness crushed by us. These cultists are just mindless lunatics with great power. Once their consciousness collapses, they're just trash. There's no need to be so vigilant."
He then added with a smile, "Maybe he just twitched a little just now, triggering the confinement device. And even if he were conscious, he might not be able to break free from the confinement device's restraint, since you know how painful it is when the device is activated."
The man was standing behind the woman to her side, seemingly of a higher status than the others. The rest of the team aligned closer to him rather than the blonde woman, indicating that he was the true core of the group.
"According to the Church of Knowledge's customs, if we don't find the Ritual Array at his residence, then it must be under his body,"
The blonde woman didn't turn back to look at her lieutenant; instead, she turned her head towards a team member at the end who was holding a box and waved at him. The team member discreetly glanced at the man who had just spoken and then quickly walked up with the box.
It was a pitch-black metal box covered with thick protective armor. There was a smooth display-like surface on top of the box. The blonde woman placed her palm on the surface,
"As long as we kill this guy, we can see the Ritual Array."
Streams of pure white light illuminated the box. The blonde woman's palm seemed to be some kind of key, unlocking the previously locked box.
Meanwhile, He Ao was getting accustomed to all his limbs. While they were talking, he had slowly prepared to attack. The sharp perception from this body told him that something very dangerous was inside the box.
Waiting passively for death wasn't his style.
However, the unexpected came faster than his attack.