7 Chapter 7 Start-up

Just as Li Ang was messing around in the classroom, the system notification sound, which had been inactive for a long time, finally came back online.

[The Original Connection System has completed debugging, the system template is officially online, players may inquire about basic information]

Finally, it has come...

Li Ang took a deep breath, walked out of the classroom, and engaged in a conversation with the system notification sound in his mind.

"This game, the Earth Slaughter, who founded and operates it? God? Ancient gods? Or aliens?"

[Player authority is insufficient, unable to inquire related information]

"What is the ultimate purpose of this game?"

[Player authority is insufficient, unable to inquire related information]

"How many times has the Slaughter Game been held in the history of Earth?"

[There have been 6 major Slaughter Games held throughout the history of Earth. The first one occurred approximately 542 million to 485 million years ago, the second one approximately 439 million to 363 million years ago, the third one 208 million to 146 million years ago, the fourth one approximately 66 million to 65 million years ago, the fifth one approximately 50 million to 2.5 million years ago, and the sixth one approximately 135,000 to 24,000 years ago.]

Li Ang narrowed his eyes, "So, the first game happened during the Cambrian explosion when arthropods, mollusks, and annelids suddenly appeared,

the second game was during the Silurian and Devonian periods, when green algae landed on continents and evolved into fern plants, establishing terrestrial ecosystems with early insects, while vertebrates began to dominate in the oceans, as fish evolved into primitive amphibians that started to reproduce on land.

The third game was in the Jurassic Period, when forests on Pangea were lush, the climate was warm and humid, and dinosaurs became the rulers.

The fourth game occurred just before an asteroid hit the Earth causing the fifth mass extinction. Afterward, the land-dwelling dinosaurs were completely wiped out, and small terrestrial animals that survived the catastrophe developed and grew in the ruins of the dinosaur era.

The fifth game, the rapid evolution of primates, monkeys, Proconsul, Aegyptopithecus, Dryopithecus, Australopithecus, until the evolution into the genus Homo.

The sixth game was the competition between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, in which Homo sapiens ultimately prevailed, and the Neanderthals failed and went extinct."

If the system's statements are true, then the Slaughter Game almost covers a significant part of the evolutionary history of Earth's species, and one might even go further to suggest that the Slaughter Game had a major impact on the history of biological evolution on Earth.

"In what form were these six Slaughter Games conducted?"

[The system will randomly select native residents to be promoted as players, and players complete the various tasks given by the system to receive rewards. Non-players can only obtain qualification by killing players. Player qualifications cannot be inherited through bloodline, nor can they be transferred.]

"How does the game end?"

[The system will judge whether the game progress is up to standard. If the player community cannot complete the final task within the specified time limit, the system will carry out a comprehensive strike on the Earth's ecosystem, causing extinction of the species to which the player community belongs.]

[Such as the Ordovician Period global temperature drop causing the extinction of invertebrates, the Devonian marine retreat causing the extinction of Dunkleosteus, Eusthenopteron, and other marine life, the Permian continental drift causing the extinction of trilobites, sea scorpions, and other arthropods, the Triassic Period widespread marine anoxia causing the extinction of brachiopods, gastropods, and the Cretaceous asteroid impact causing the extinction of dinosaurs]

"Wait, the players in the fifth and sixth games should be Ape Men, right? Have humans also encountered system extermination?"

[About 73,500 years ago, the system determined that the players of the sixth Slaughter Game, namely humans, failed to complete the progress target, thus the system implemented an ecosystem extermination strike.

The Toba volcano in Sumatra, Indonesia, erupted continuously for seven days, volcanic ash covered half of the Earth's sky, causing the Earth to enter an ice age, exterminating 99% of humans.]

Li Ang wasn't particularly surprised; indeed, the Toba volcanic eruption disaster 70,000 years ago almost wiped out the human population to just a few thousand individuals, and recognizing that as the most dangerous moment in human history isn't an exaggeration.

"So, have there been Slaughter Games after the sixth one?"

[After the sixth, the system concluded that large-scale Slaughter Games could not select high-quality players, and thus changed the game format to periodically hold small-scale Slaughter Games.

These small-scale games have been held intermittently across civilizations around the globe, lasting as long as a hundred years or as short as several years. A portion of the deities, demons, goblins, and heroes in human mythology, epics, and legends were once players in the Slaughter Games.]

"I see."

Li Ang nodded, this could explain why supernatural powers in history appeared sporadically and then vanished.

"Then now, when did this current game start? And up to this moment, how many players are there?"

[This is the seventh large-scale Slaughter Game, which began seven months ago, and the current scale of players is confidential.]

"Alright."

Li Ang tapped the tabletop lightly with his knuckles; seven months ago was exactly when urban legends started to become popular.

As the saying goes, 'When the river water warms in spring, the ducks are the first to know.' Since the outcome of the Slaughter Game would ultimately decide the fate of human civilization, it was certain that national governments with stronger organizational power and professional intelligence agencies had already obtained more information and had taken measures accordingly.

For instance, establishing specialized intelligence agencies, screening potential civilian players, or systematically forming official government-backed player teams, each official player would accordingly have access to their own think tank resources.

Philosophers, historians, mathematicians, astronomers, physicists, psychologists...

Compared to the national machinery, this gigantic multi-limbed and multi-eyed creature, the "quality players" selected from the ordinary people are still just ordinary people,

In the face of the overwhelming scrutiny from these think tank teams, individual players, lacking in intellect, have no advantage whatsoever, even with superhuman powers above the norm.

Organizational strength, the biggest difference between human society and primitive organisms, lies in the unprecedented strong organizational power of humans.

This organizational power is undoubtedly a good thing for human civilization's collective gaming, but for individual players, this powerful organization also blocks the possibility of Transcendents attaining enlightenment or acting unrestrained,

Even more so, individual players at this point in time, when the situation is not yet clear, have to endure pressure and threats from sources other than the Slaughter Game.

For example, the screening by national machinery (not necessarily a bad thing),

The prying of business organizations sensing a change in the era (definitely a bad thing),

Terrorists who aren't thinking straight,

And other players with malicious intentions.

Therefore, in summary, it is best for individual players to hide their identities for now...

"One last question: the specific forms of tasks released by the System."

[There are three types of tasks released by the System. The first type is the regular task, triggered randomly by players' daily activities; players can choose whether or not to accept. Completion is rewarded, failure incurs no penalty.]

[The second type is the mandatory task, randomly issued by the System; players must complete the task. Completion is rewarded, failure results in the player's elimination.]

[The third type is the script task, whose scenario does not necessarily take place on the actual Earth. Generated randomly by the System, players will assume a certain role and conquer the script. Completion is rewarded, failure results in a random punishment issued by the System.]

"Oh?"

Li Ang raised his eyebrows; the first and second types of tasks were understandable, but the third type, the script task, sounded a bit strange.

Just as he was about to ask more questions, the System emitted a prompt.

[Task trigger condition met, task type: regular task]

[Task name: Afterlife Affairs]

[Task objective: Eliminate the possessing ghost in Experimental Middle School of Yin City 0/1]

[Task reward 1: Elevate player privileges, unlocking the personal player panel.]

[Task reward 2: In addition to eliminating the target Spiritual Body, an extra 45 Experience Points are awarded.]

[Task reward 3: 100 Game Coins]

[Task reward 4: Random item of normal quality *1]

[Accept/Decline]