Chapter 1 Time Rewinds

Time rewinds back thirty seconds.

When the four players heard the round-faced girl outside the bank say, "Anyone holding a ring is a contestant," the task log in their player panels updated once more.

[Second Stage Task Objective: Seize the ring and participate in the Death Chariot Race]

Upon seeing the new task, Li Ang sprang from the ground and, with lightning speed, openly ambushed Franklin from behind, putting him in a neck lock.

The reason for not directly killing these characters was twofold.

First, they all possessed the self-destruct attack method of pulling out rocket launchers from their fourth-dimensional chrysanthemums.

Second, Li Ang hadn't yet figured out the basic rules of this world and didn't want to become enemies too early.

The reason for choosing to kidnap Franklin was simple. The three protagonists of GTAV all had special abilities: Trevor had temporary invincibility, Michael could enter bullet time,

and only Franklin could slow down time when driving, which was useless outside of a vehicle, making him the easiest target.

Moreover, Franklin had the best relationship with Michael and Trevor, unlike the side character Lamar, who was unloved by everyone.

"A babe?"

Trevor and Michael looked at the tall, muscular Franklin being held hostage by Li Ang, stunned for a couple of seconds.

"People with American citizenship, aren't they all babes?"

Li Ang explained with a straight face, "I've suffered greatly from this.

Some unscrupulous self-media outlets often make up titles like 'Beautiful Teacher Seduces Student's Parent,' 'Beautiful Waitress Falls in Love with Married Landlord,'

and when you click in full of expectations, you find nothing but monstrous, bizarre creatures.

And the editor's explanation is 'American teacher, American waitress, not a beautiful woman.'

It's truly heartless!"

Li Ang complained incessantly,

while tightening his arm around Franklin's neck, making the latter's eyes bloodshot and causing him difficulty breathing.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

Seeing the guide was near the door, and his companion was being held hostage, Michael, who cared most about Franklin, quickly said, "Hey, buddy, don't get excited. Let's talk."

"Drop the gun, now."

Li Ang slightly increased the pressure on Franklin's neck and snatched the ring from the latter's hand.

Faced with Li Ang's monstrous strength, Franklin struggled desperately but couldn't break free. Soon, his eyes rolled back, and his struggles weakened.

"Crap!"

Michael cursed, reluctantly threw the gun on the ground, kicked it away, and glared at Trevor, who was standing still—the latter grumbled for a while, but eventually reluctantly dropped the shoulder-fired rocket launcher in his hand.

"Eh?!?"

The guide girl couldn't help but cry out when she saw the scene of the bank employees turning the tables on the robbers in the bank lobby.

Li Ang glanced at this guide from *Monster Hunter: World* (nicknamed Aibo, Deviljho cub, a glutton who likes to steal the mute handyman's inventory), and asked, "As long as you get the ring, you're a contestant, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

The guide girl said hesitantly.

"Very good,"

Li Ang nodded and looked at Trevor and Michael, "Now take off your rings and throw them to me."

"Do you know how much effort we put into getting these rings! You..."

Trevor was about to spew venom when Michael stopped him.

The two exchanged glances of unwillingness and regret, silently took off their gloves, removed the rings from their hands, and threw them over.

Li Ang caught the two rings and looked at Lamar—the latter, facing the angry stares of Michael and Trevor, had no choice but to obediently drop his weapon and throw the ring while cursing in a Black rap tone.

Li Ang threw the three rings to his companions, and then used his little finger to hook the last ring. He turned to the guide and asked, "So we're contestants now, right?"

"Uh... yes."

The guide girl hesitated and nodded. "But are you sure, sir?

The contestants in the competition are all unique data. Randomly generated city residents like you may have a hard time surviving..."

"That's none of your concern."

Li Ang smiled and had Sunset Melted Gold pick up the box that Trevor had just carried out of the bank vault. He also shouted towards the door, telling the police officers outside to come in and arrest Michael and the others.

After the three GTAV characters were all handcuffed, Li Ang released Franklin and pushed him towards the police officers.

Holding the box, Sunset Melted Gold asked in a low voice, "Hey, is it really okay to do this?"

"Of course it's okay. After all, the system said so, so we can only do it."

Li Ang comforted, "Fortunately, this world doesn't seem to have mobile phones, otherwise these GTAV characters would be even more difficult to deal with."

(In GTAV, players can enter specific cheat codes on their mobile phones to activate cheats, such as summoning sports cars and airplanes, temporary invincibility, reducing wanted levels, obtaining large amounts of cash, etc.)

"Do you think you've won?"

Trevor, handcuffed by the police officers and rudely escorted towards the door, turned his head and shouted at the four players, "With your data strength and anomaly level, you won't even survive the first section of the Death Chariot!

You'll be torn to pieces by those monsters! You're dead! You're dead!"

Data strength?

The players' hearts skipped a beat. It was strange to hear this term from the mouth of a video game character.

If time allowed, the Witch would very much like to grab the GTAV quartet and interrogate them thoroughly to obtain information,

but the guide girl looked at her watch, exclaimed, and hurriedly urged the players, "There's no time! Hurry up and get on the plane, the race is about to begin!"

She quickly ran out of the bank. The players who had put on the rings had no choice but to follow, grabbing ropes and boarding the Pelican aircraft.

The space inside the aircraft was much more spacious than the players had imagined.

When the players boarded the cabin, there were already several figures sitting in the seats on both sides.

One was a big bearded man wearing a white shirt, with one eye bigger than the other, and a pot lid on his head (Crazy Dave from *Plants vs. Zombies*, who likes to speak gibberish).

There were three little green men with huge eyes (Kerbals from *Kerbal Space Program*),

a small blue dwarf without a nose or ears and a mushroom on his head (Toad from *Super Mario Bros.*),

and the most normal-looking and beautiful one

was a young silver-haired handsome guy wearing a black coat and carrying a large sword.

He looked a bit like... Nero from the *Devil May Cry* series?

But why does he have a cowlick on his head?

Seemingly noticing the players' gazes, Nero, who was sitting lazily in his seat, glared over here, and the surface of his right hand faintly flickered with blue fire.

"Um, please don't use force inside the cabin!"

The guide called out, Nero curled his lips and dissipated the fire on his arm.

The cabin's broadcast announced that takeoff was imminent and asked passengers to fasten their seat belts. The four players found seats and sat down.

After the guide girl closed the cabin door with the help of Toad, the Pelican's tail immediately ejected flames, propelling the plane straight into the sky.

"So, what exactly is this script..."

The Witch narrowed her eyes and complained softly, "It's been inexplicable from the start, it's really annoying."

"If you want to know, just ask."

Li Ang cleared his throat, raised his hand, and asked the guide girl, "Ahem, excuse me, can you help explain the rules of the Death Chariot?"

"Eh?"

The guide Aibo was stunned for a moment, "Sir, are you participating in the competition without even knowing the rules?"

"Not me, it's my friend."

Li Ang patted Sunset Melted Gold's shoulder next to him and said in a sorrowful tone, "He suffers from short-term memory loss and can only remember things from thirty minutes ago.

He often gets beaten up when he asks people 'Do you know who I am?' when wandering around night markets,

and he always gets his salary deducted for not flushing the toilet.

I've already explained the rules to him several times, and my throat is dry, so I'd like to ask you to help."

Don't give me these messy character settings!!

Sunset Melted Gold cursed wildly in his heart, but had to cooperate with Li Ang's introduction, making a distorted, dazed expression.

"Re, really?"

The guide Aibo scratched her head, gave Sunset Melted Gold a sympathetic look, and clapped her palm. "Okay, then I'll explain the rules of the Death Chariot to you all."