"Liu Nailiang!"

A teammate’s shout echoed from the side.

But Liu Nailiang didn’t react at all; he kept staring at the altar, as if enchanted, a mad expression on his face, as though he had seen something extraordinary. One hand gently stroked the altar.

The steward appeared indifferent, his expression unchanged; this wasn’t the first time he had witnessed such a scene. Many times, if he didn’t think about it carefully, he couldn’t even remember precisely how many times it had occurred.

At this moment, the other players were in a state of panic. A short man wearing a vest tried to rush over but was stopped by the guard beside him.

"Anyone who dares to go over there will die!" the steward coldly reprimanded, his demeanor turning icy, starkly different from the previously peaceful old man.

Several question marks floated above his head.

For these players, this was a high-level NPC. The gap between them was too vast, even unable to discern the specific level.

"Can’t exit the game!"

A female player screamed in horror. She initially wanted to exit the game to prevent Liu Nailiang from continuing, but she found she couldn’t exit at all, showing an abnormal status.

This was such a terrifying situation.

If it kept going like this, wouldn’t they be trapped in this world forever, or perish, while their bodies outside had a continuous supply of energy fluid, allowing them not to die for a short period, but over time, their functions would weaken.

Liu Nailiang lay in the cabin, his emaciated body convulsing, a crazed look on his face, as if possessed, one hand trying to pull out the cabin’s power source.

Yet he was repeatedly prevented by his subconscious, seemingly sensing that doing so would plunge him into the abyss, an irretrievable abyss.

After dozens of breaths, Liu Nailiang’s heart exploded, suddenly collapsing to the ground.

He hadn’t completely died yet, breathing heavily, experiencing real, intense pain that kept stimulating his nerves.

This temporarily brought him back to clarity.

The barrier of the cabin disappeared, and he truly descended into this world, becoming a member of it, genuinely ruling this body.

He widened his eyes, turned his head to look at his companion beside him, his body slightly twitching, not knowing what had happened or understanding why this was happening. The remnants of rationality led him to shout a few words:

"Run!"

Several companions suddenly woke up and ran outside.

The steward watched them without any intention to stop them, instead drew a long knife from the attendant beside him, stepping towards Liu Nailiang.

Something’s wrong!

Something’s wrong!

"No!"

Liu Nailiang realized he made a mistake, what he should’ve shouted wasn’t "Run," but "Quickly kill yourself." Running out inevitably brought true death.

This was a terrifying world, absolutely not some laughable game!

The steward’s peaceful face turned vicious in his eyes, like a demon, with a ghastly face.

Step by step towards him, the blade scraping the ground with a crisp sound.

"Survivors often seek death, do you understand this principle?"

The steward gazed at Liu Nailiang on the ground, speaking slowly, he knew everything but just didn’t reveal it.

The people of this otherworld are undoubtedly weak, yet they can do as they please in their world.

He felt angry about it; they were like walking dead, puppets controlled by others, stripped of truth.

He needed to end it all.

······

"Beep beep beep."

The cabin emitted warning sounds.

"Life signs weakening, please disconnect the game immediately."

"Life signs weakening, please disconnect the game immediately."

·····

Blood seeped from Liu Nailiang’s facial features, breath gradually calming, body cooling, losing life breath.

He died in this cramped apartment.

······

A luxurious and extravagant room was lit with a not-so-bright oil lamp.

A young man with brown hair and blue eyes was bound by chains, dressed in disarray, with a big hole in his chest, lying powerlessly on the bed.

Notably, his eyes were double pupils.

"Let me out, you traitorous dogs to your master!"

"Huo Jia, my father discovered your deeds, you will definitely die a horrible death. I advise you to release me now, we can still talk."

"I am the son of the Grand Duke, who dares to touch me."

······

A player similarly bound, dressed in attendant clothing, lay on the ground, said helplessly:

"Don’t struggle, Po Lai, they won’t listen. That dog steward has already bought everyone."

He only wanted to enjoy a carefree life, but didn’t expect such an accident; life is full of dissatisfaction, it’s a pity his video "Life of an Attendant" couldn’t continue.

Po Lai looked at this attendant, full of emotion and said: "At times like this, you’re the only one standing on my side, good brother!"

Yu Duoduo patted his chest and said:

"Young master, even if I die, I’ll stand by your side. Huo Jia, that ungrateful guy, doesn’t dare to touch you before your death is confirmed."

Po Lai shook his head and said: "Since he dares to do this, he has already gone all out and must have been plotting for a long time."

Yu Duoduo struggled to sit up from the ground and asked: "Why did that damn butler tie you up? What’s his intention?"

Po Lai pondered for a while and said:

"I don’t know. He’s always been the butler of our family. My father trusts him a lot, and I trust him too. I’ve entrusted him with many things, yet he turned out to be a sneaky and vicious scoundrel."

The offspring of such Great Nobles tend to be simpler; their values are passed down from their forebears, receiving good education.

Of course, this is also related to the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duke is not only terrifying in strength but also outstanding in abilities. He stood up in the kingdom’s toughest times to reorganize, giving the kingdom a fresh look that led to the current situation.

Clang~

The chains on Yu Duoduo came off silently on the ground.

"How did you break free?"

Po Lai asked with some surprise.

These chains are specially made, able to suppress the Power of Extraordinary individuals; once bound, it’s almost impossible to break free unless one reaches a certain level of strength.

Yu Duoduo stretched his shoulders, gestured at the lock-picking tools in his hand, and said:

"Lock picking, I have mastered top-notch lockpicking skills, opening this type of lock isn’t a problem."

Po Lai didn’t ponder much about why Yu Duoduo had such Ability, but instead said: "Try to see if you can help me open mine."

"Hmm, let me try... This lock seems completely different." Yu Duoduo found he couldn’t open the lock on Po Lai; it seemed to be deadlocked.

Po Lai immediately said:

"Don’t worry about unlocking mine, just carry me and leave. As long as you can help me escape, I’ll give you whatever you want."

That was an incredibly valuable promise.

Yu Duoduo’s face lit up with a smile. This was exactly what he was waiting for; he confidently said:

"Rest assured, young master, I will get you out even if I die."

Suddenly, screams were heard from outside.

Yu Duoduo looked out the window as a female Player was pierced through her chest with a Long Halberd, pinned to the ground, dead.

What frightened him even more was that the body remained unchanged, exactly as it was.

What did this imply?

He couldn’t imagine it.

His assurance of getting Po Lai out was entirely based on the assumption that Players wouldn’t truly die.

Yu Duoduo’s face turned pale. Scanning the surroundings, he gritted his teeth, still deciding to get Po Lai out.

"I’m taking you out."

He carried Po Lai on his back, climbed out through the window, and ran along the eaves towards the outside of the castle.

······

Su Changxing suddenly stood up from his seat, sensing something wrong, and rushed out of the tavern, looking towards the castle.

A black eerie light, piercing through heavy clouds, seemed to support or was trying to pierce through this world.

"What is that? A scent of a ritual?"

He immediately ran towards the manor, with Lu Mengyao following behind him, and others seeing Su Changxing running, followed suit.

Even Ordinary People felt a deep shiver and experienced physiological discomfort, with many getting cramps and falling while running.

A group of Attendants clad in dark armor approached, shouting: "Everyone return, the manor is under lockdown, no exiting allowed."

They looked murderous, ready to make a move at any moment.

Su Changxing scrutinized the Attendants but didn’t plan on trying to force his way through. His status was at its weakest, and even if he exited, he needed to detour around.

"This way."

With Lu Mengyao in hand, he moved towards the western side of the manor, bypassing the central plaza. The guards were weaker there, and it was further from the manor’s center, connecting to the forest on the back hill.

Among the remaining people, several Extraordinary individuals clashed with the Attendants, but the disparity in Levels made them quickly subdued.

Others, seeing this, had no choice but to obediently walk back, like sheep being herded by sheepdogs.

Lu Mengyao asked absentmindedly, "What’s happening? I feel my senses becoming clearer..."

She noticed changes in her body, the cabin’s barrier seemed to be slowly fading, making certain details of the world clearer.

Su Changxing also sensed the changes in Lu Mengyao. Her presence felt more realistic, akin to others in this world, and he advised:

"You better not die now, dying might truly be dying."

Lu Mengyao raised her head to look at Su Changxing, showing surprise: "You know!"

Su Changxing glanced at her and with a sardonic smile said, "Not only do I know, you guys treat this world’s people as NPCs, but they see you as fools."

Duke’s son Po Lai seemed to have found a way to kill these Players, through some ritual?

He naturally thought all this was Po Lai’s doing, but killing Players wasn’t the ultimate goal; there must be deeper purposes.

For example, acquiring Power, acquiring Power from these Players or the game.