Chapter 7: Dead board

Chu Cheng was sitting in the classroom, listlessly resting his cheeks in his hands and yawning an average of five times a minute. It wasn't until the teacher called his name that he became a little more awake.

"Are you feeling sleepy?" Wei Futong, Chu Cheng's junior high school classmate sitting next to him, glanced at him.

They were not very close friends in junior high school, but fate brought them together again in the same university and major. From time to time, the two chatted together and secretly went to the toilet, developing their friendship over time.

Men's friendship is that simple.

Although they were not in the same class, they checked their schedules with each other before choosing courses this semester, and they ended up selecting the same courses. Whoever arrived at the classroom first would often save a seat for the other.

"I stayed up a little late last night," Chu Cheng responded casually, yawning at the same time.

Wei Futong nodded understandingly and looked at Chu Cheng's hand meaningfully, as if he understood. So he approached him mysteriously and lowered his voice: "Did you get any resources?"

"Huh?"

"Don't pretend to be clueless. The teacher must have provided you with some good materials last night, right? Share it with your buddies too?"

"...No."

Seeing Wei Futong's disbelief, Chu Cheng couldn't help but feel amused and frustrated at the same time.

"I'm telling the truth. I played games last night and stayed up late," he explained.

Wei Futong's face fell into a disappointed expression, as if saying "Oh, it was just a game," and he stepped aside to play with his mobile phone.

Despite also being a gamer, Wei Futong had no interest in single-player games. He was only interested in competitive games, especially competitive mobile games, because he knew there were many girls playing those types of games.

Chu Cheng didn't go to bed until after midnight yesterday, his mind still reeling from the shocking scenes in the game's plot. He tossed and turned for a long time, unable to shake the excitement.

To be honest, the first level after the game's novice tutorial is truly impressive, with its lightning-fast action and realistic graphics. It's no wonder that Chu Cheng found himself hooked on the game.

Chu Cheng, who has experienced various horror games and thriller movies, had not felt this way in a long time. The last time he felt this uneasy was while watching the classic old movie "Midnight Ring."

At that time, Chu Cheng hadn't been exposed to many horror movies and was not very resistant to supernatural beings. The midnight bell left a deep impression on his childhood and young mind. He still remembered being scared as a child when he saw Sadako crawling out of the TV, dressed in white clothes and with disheveled hair.

Later, although the fear faded with time, Midnight Ring as an influential horror movie had left a lasting impact on his childhood. Even as an adult, Chu Cheng would still feel uneasy when facing a dark TV or computer screen at night.

This lingering fear was only alleviated when a close friend gifted him a humorous book, which served as a form of therapy. The book's plot centered around sister Sadako appearing on the TV of an otaku hero's house. However, due to the protagonist's poverty, the TV was too small, and sister Sadako's secondary sexual characteristics got stuck, with half of her body protruding out of the screen. The story then continues with sister Sadako having to deal with the protagonist's awkward situation.

Since then, a new world had opened up for Chu Cheng. He marveled at how the human XP system had been upgraded to the point where even ghost patches could be applied. Furthermore, Sadako's PTSD, which had persisted for many years, was miraculously cured instantly, and his mother no longer had to worry about him having nightmares.

Chu Cheng hadn't felt this uncomfortable in a long time. He didn't know whether it was simply because the game was well-made and the graphics were too realistic, or whether there were other reasons. This feeling lingered for a long time, and even last night, he kept replaying the cut-off process of the first level in his mind.

"Fuck."

Wei Futong, who had been swiping his phone with his head down, suddenly exclaimed in a quintessentially national voice.

Curious, Chu Cheng poked his head over. "What happened?"

"...Does the Klein Group know?" Wei Futong asked.

"Huh?" Chu Cheng tilted his head in confusion.

"It seems like a pharmaceutical company in the lower city," Wei Futong said, "I just got news that someone said the Klein Group's board of directors died suddenly last night!"

"...Sudden death?" Chu Cheng was taken aback.

It had been a month since he arrived in the Pole Star, and during that time, he felt that everything had been quite normal. The memory inherited from the original body also indicated that this was a safe and peaceful world.

This kind of thing should be heavy news.

"What happened?" Chu Cheng asked.

"See for yourself."

Wei Futong handed the phone to Chu Cheng, while continuing to explain in a low voice.

"The person who posted said that he is an employee of the Klein Group. He heard about it when he went to the company early this morning. But the specific reason is still unknown. It seems that the company was attacked by unknown people last night..."

Wei Futong kept talking, but Chu Cheng didn't listen to what he said afterwards.

The moment his eyes fell on the picture attached to the post, he was drawn in like a magnet. It was a pitch-black building, surrounded by authorities. Chu Cheng stared at the photo for a while.

At first, he felt like he had seen it somewhere before. But after a while, his pupils shrank and froze, as if electrocuted.

Damn, why does this look so much like the building Batman snuck into last night in the game!? Although it was night in the game and day in the photo, and only a limited part of the building was captured in the screen, Chu Cheng had controlled Batman to circle around the building for a long time, getting a good look at the appearance and structure.

He was confident that it was impossible to mistake it for another building. Wait, the board members of the Klein Group died collectively last night...

Chu Cheng immediately thought of the game level from the previous night. The man who raised his head in the conference room, and those crazy NPCs who blew their heads after being attacked by Batman.

So is there a possibility that they are not just NPCs? Maybe what he experienced on the computer last night was not just a virtual game process?

The moment this thought came to him, he felt a chill all over his body. The game screen from last night flooded his mind again, making his spine even more chilly.

Chu Cheng has read a lot of novels in his free time and has seen all kinds of weird cheating cheats after the protagonist travels through time. He immediately thought that something was wrong with the game he brought from the original world.

Maybe he had transmigrated into the world set by the game?

He remembered that the game loading interface last night showed that the map had failed to load at first. Then the system automatically repaired the problem, and the words "The new map system has been loaded" popped up.

So this newly loaded map may be the map of the Earth Star. "Avengers VS Justice League: New Era" automatically analyzes the laws of this world and loads the territory of this world as the map background...

Chu Cheng swiped down the phone screen to load more information, but a big "X" popped up on the screen and a prompt "The post you visited does not exist".

Confused, Chu Cheng tried refreshing the page, but the same message popped up again. He couldn't believe it. Was the post deleted? Or was he just hallucinating?

He looked up at Wei Futong, who was still explaining something, but his words seemed to be muffled and indistinct. Chu Cheng felt as if he was in a dream, everything seemed to be so unreal.

He rubbed his temples and tried to shake off the strange feeling. Maybe it was just the jet lag and the stress of traveling to another world. Maybe he was just imagining things.

But then again, what if it was all real? What if he was really in a different world, and the game he played last night was some kind of advanced technology that allowed him to travel through different dimensions?

Chu Cheng couldn't shake off the idea from his head. He felt a sense of excitement and fear at the same time. He didn't know what to expect, or how he would cope with this new reality.

He looked at Wei Futong again, who seemed to be talking to him, but Chu Cheng couldn't make out what he was saying. He felt as if he was drowning in a sea of confusion and uncertainty.

------------------------------

sup guys, Here's another chapter to make up for my absence in the last few days. I have made some changes to the last paragraph to make it more immersive, but don't worry, I haven't made any drastic changes to the original mtl, Just a few line in the end.