Chapter 11 Major Upgrade, v2.0!

[Welcome to Paradise].

"Heavens————————!"

Zhang Zhiyuan's eyes flew open, gasping for air as if he had just awakened from a nightmare. The characters in his field of vision gradually faded until they disappeared completely.

What had just happened? He only remembered putting on the VR headset that had been mailed to him and then losing consciousness instantly.

The sensation was indescribable, as if all of his senses had been cut off.

Suppressing the lingering dizziness in his mind, he looked around—the familiar office had transformed into a dark wooden room, and besides him, five other people were either lying or sitting around.

Could this be... the legendary Paradise?

"Damn it..."

Zhang Zhiyuan couldn't help but curse aloud.

The training he had undergone allowed him to remain unaffected by surprise at any time, but obviously, there were limits to this training, especially when what he saw was too shocking.

Out of the four applications filled out for the organization, only one was real, and in the end, Paradise had only provided one spot. This wasn't beyond his expectations, but he never imagined the so-called game could be to this extent!

He could smell the scent of rotting wood in the air and feel the roughness of his coarse clothes. As for the people sitting opposite him, they looked like living beings from every aspect, not characters conjured from graphical data.

When had virtual reality technology advanced to this level?

Or was it... that this was not any kind of illusionary technology, but that he was actually in some corner of the real world?

The place where he put on his headset was clearly inside the police station. If the organizers of Paradise could abduct a living person from the police building without anyone noticing, their capabilities would not be much less impressive than virtual reality.

It took him a long while to suppress his shock, and just when he was about to observe his situation more closely, the other five people suddenly started to stir.

Zhang Zhiyuan instantly raised his guard to the maximum!

Sticking to the wall, he prepared for a fight—if these strangely dressed strangers showed even the slightest hostility, he would strike first to knock them out and ask questions later.

"Huh...switched bodies again, did we?" A corpulent man rubbed his neck, speaking in the familiar Russian language. "But why do I feel dizzy?"

"Who are you all, let's start with names," another middle-aged man muttered. "I am Joe James."

"Zhou Zhi."

"Qianyuan Mingzi."

The rest began to give their names as well.

Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly realized that all these people were participants from the last game! And that man who claimed to be Joe James was the very target he was supposed to shadow!

"I'm Anthony, and I think you should remember me," the second Russian to awaken shifted his gaze to Zhang Zhiyuan and the person next to him. "Looks like we have two newbies this time."

At this point, he switched to fluent Chinese.

Seeing that the others were looking at him, Zhang Zhiyuan coughed twice and calmly said, "Zhang Zhiyuan, aside from my name, what else needs to be mentioned?"

In fact, before deciding to take part in the game, the police had crafted for him a completely new identity as a wealthy man, including family background and history. After all, even if Paradise knew his identity, it did not mean the other participants would, so a proper disguise was still necessary.

"Whether you speak or not is up to you, we're just here for some fun, no need for complications," Anthony said dismissively, glancing at the last person. "So what about you? You're new here too, right?"

"His name is Jason Tyler," James volunteered, "a friend I brought along."

"Exactly, I'm from the United Kingdom," the man nodded repeatedly. "When Joe told me about this, I didn't believe him; I thought he was just spouting nonsense after too many drinks. I never imagined what he said couldn't even capture one ten-thousandth of this world... This game is simply magical!"

Zhang Zhiyuan deeply agreed.

He even began to suspect that the police might have completely misunderstood the situation—Joe James wasn't holding a secret meeting here; he was simply enjoying a game that only the wealthy could afford to participate in.

But now it was impossible to withdraw, he could only play this role to the end.

"Does Paradise allow us to invite others to join?" Mingzi asked curiously.

"I don't know, but when I signed up, I filled out his information, and he also received the VR headset by mail," James shrugged.

"Can this window be opened?" Jason Tyler walked around the cabin, stopped in front of a sealed wooden window, "Don't get me wrong... I just want to know where we are now."

Everyone exchanged glances, with no one voicing any opposition.

In fact, they all wanted to know.

Seeing this, Jason tried pushing the window, and the wooden board wasn't locked, quickly opening a crack. Light streamed in from outside, making the room, which was previously illuminated only by an oil lamp, a bit brighter.

He eagerly moved closer.

"My God... Jesus bless! There's a city outside!" Almost at the same time, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"A city?" The others crowded forward.

Zhang Zhiyuan was no exception, and when it was his turn, his reaction was not much better than the others'—under the cover of gray fog, a sprawling city line unfolded before their eyes. Countless houses were arranged closely together, ascending slowly like a mountain ridge. The streets were bustling with pedestrians, and carriages occasionally passed by, dragging goods, looking quite lively and prosperous. Judging by the architectural style, it was clear that this place was far different from the Earth of the 21st century, but the variety of people didn't seem to be much different. If all this was just a simulated illusion by the game program, what terrifying level of computational power must the host have?

"Could it be... this city is the same one we saw last time?" Zhou Zhi murmured.

"Where did you guys appear last time?" Zhang Zhiyuan asked immediately.

"On the sea," Mingzi replied. "We were playing as pirates."

"Uh... pirates?" As an enforcer, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"That's right, but we had just landed when the patrol team killed us all," Mingzi said indifferently. "At that time, we could only see a barren village and the tall city walls in the distance."

"So, what are we supposed to play this time?" James rubbed his hands together, his tone already filled with anticipation, "Infiltrators into the city, or the century's greatest bank robbers?"

"Mate, can't you think of anything better?" the Briton said disdainfully. "Please don't bring reality into the game."

"Ha, I just can't wait," James said.

Zhang Zhiyuan's expression was indifferent, but he chuckled inwardly; yes, this guy was definitely Wayne James, a criminal used to committing crimes, on the wanted list. This person named Jason seemed quite familiar with Joe; if he could get his identity out of him, it might be a new direction for the case.

"Speaking of which, where's the host?" Anthony said. "He mentioned last time it was just a trial run, and this time it was going to be drastically different."

"I just hope he gives us more suitable weapons this time," Mingzi seemed to be holding a grudge about having to fight the patrol team with rusted weapons the last time.

"Of course, I don't think anyone will be disappointed this time." Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.

Everyone was startled and turned to look in unison.

At some point, a man wearing a red and black cloak with a Sichuan opera mask had appeared in a corner of the room.

This person was the host of the Paradise game!? Zhang Zhiyuan immediately focused on him. Even though he knew this was just a virtual figure, he still hoped to pick up a clue or two from the individual.

"Come on, tell us, what roles are we playing this time?" James urged.

"Don't rush, I'd like everyone first to look at the top left corner—yes, that's where your line of sight is," the host said calmly.

Although puzzled, Zhang Zhiyuan still looked to the top left corner as instructed.

He then noticed a pale white number slowly emerging.

The number was "1000."