Chapter 1 The Descent

The feeling of falling, a sudden and violent descent.

At the same time, pain spread throughout his body.

The scene changed in an instant.

The four players seemed to awaken from a dream, their eyes snapping open to find themselves falling. Of course, it was only a few meters, not enough to kill them.

They landed on a crimson carpet, groaning as they rose to their feet and looked around.

They were surrounded by a sea of books, as if in a library. Six rows of extremely tall bookshelves were joined together, forming a hexagon that enclosed them like a wall.

The ceiling was nearly ten meters high, and several chandeliers were visible, providing ample lighting.

Directly above the four players hung a large, square iron cage. The iron plate at the bottom was open, revealing the reason for their fall.

"Is this the so-called 'real world'?" Qiu Feng asked, touching his chest, relieved that the blood hole was gone.

"Seems like it," Feng Bujue said, standing up. "How are your survival points?"

"I'm barely damaged," Honghu replied.

Ji Chang said, "Me too."

Qiu Feng responded, "The previous damage seems to have disappeared."

Feng Bujue's own survival points had returned to 96%. It seemed that in the "real world," their survival points were always full until they fell from the iron cage above, which only caused a slight decrease.

"Hmm... that's right," Feng Bujue said. "All the items we got in that mental world are gone too." He was referring to the lighter, notebook, wallet, and so on, that he had in his pockets.

"Ha! The consumables I used in the memory space are still here," Qiu Feng said.

Prompted by his words, Feng Bujue opened the menu again and checked his inventory. He found that the ***-500 tablet and the survival point supplement he had consumed were back.

Looking at the skill bar, the [Nanto Flying Dragon Fist] he had learned in the mental world was still there.

"Regarding items, we should be back to the state we were in when we first entered the script," Feng Bujue said. "However... the skill I learned in the memory space has been retained." He stroked his chin and speculated, "If I hadn't learned the skill immediately and instead put it in my inventory as a skill card, maybe it would have disappeared..."

"You're really lucky," Honghu said. "You actually found a skill."

"Didn't you have a chance to learn one too? You talked to middle-aged Peter Pan for so long, didn't you take the opportunity to ask him to teach you how to fly?" Feng Bujue retorted.

"I actually did ask him," Honghu replied. "He told me that to fly, you need pixie dust and you have to 'believe' you can fly." He paused. "Looking back... that seems to be a hint about the truth, but... at the time, I thought he was just stating the original story's setting, so I didn't take it seriously."

After saying that, Honghu added, "Oh, also, I tried asking him about swordsmanship." He sighed. "He said that in the second year after he left Neverland, he was arrested for possessing a controlled weapon, and his short sword was permanently confiscated by the authorities."

"Sigh... the adult world is so scary..." Qiu Feng sighed deeply.

Ji Chang said, "Aren't we all adults? That's a strange thing to say..." Even so, the tone of his response was similar to Qiu Feng's.

Feng Bujue said, "It seems everyone had a wonderful childhood, and then, after growing up, they developed a sense of... 'I didn't know how good I had it back then' regret."

Honghu looked at Jue-ge and said, "Hmm... let me guess... Feng-xiong, you weren't quite normal as a kid, were you?"

"Actually, my personality when I was seven or eight wasn't much different from now," Feng Bujue replied.

"So that's very abnormal..." Qiu Feng interjected.

"Anyway, even back then, I felt that social roles like children and teenagers were severely discriminated against," Feng Bujue said. "So when I was eleven, I wrote a paper called 'On the Stereotypical Prejudices of Adults Against Children and Adolescents.'"

"To show that among the billions of flowers of the motherland, there are one or two freaks like you?" After this experience, Qiu Feng's ability to make sarcastic remarks had noticeably improved.

"You were still a Pichu back then, what would you know?" Feng Bujue naturally wouldn't be at a disadvantage in a verbal exchange.

Ji Chang commented from the side, "But... Feng-xiong, you really are a strange person. When I was eleven or twelve, I had trouble writing a five-hundred-word essay."

Feng Bujue snorted coldly. "What's that? I had already completed my debut short story, *Sword God*, by hand in a notebook when I was ten. For a piece of writing the length of a paper, I can sit on the toilet with a laptop and write it in the time it takes to take a dump."

They seemed to be chatting, but in reality, they were multitasking, their hands and feet never idle.

The four of them tacitly took responsibility for one direction each, checking the surrounding bookshelves while talking, trying to find a way to leave the area.

"If all else fails, let's climb to the top of the bookshelves and take a look," Ji Chang said after observing for a while. "We can first jump onto that iron cage, then use the chains above the cage to climb up. Once we reach the same height as the top of the bookshelves, it'll be easy to jump over."

"Aren't you considering... looking at all the books around?" Feng Bujue's reading addiction kicked in, and he made a shocking statement.

Qiu Feng looked up at the bookshelves, which were about eight meters high and packed full of books, and gave a dry laugh. "Even if the four of us split up and looked, we probably wouldn't even finish the table of contents before we were forcibly disconnected."

Honghu didn't participate much in the three's banter. His attention was mainly focused on the "hidden worldview." At this moment, the script's world rules were written in the expanded menu of the taskbar:

[Hidden Worldview: Imprisonment in the Brain.]

[A powerful being who has read countless books has brought the players into his own brain world. In this world, every virtual character he knows will become a being with self-will and influence each other.]

The reason why X-23 was blocked when retrieving ***-233 was because... she was entering the "Boss's" brain world. If it weren't for this reason, the Boss wouldn't have been able to stop her at all. For derivatives of Twenty-Three's level, invading a script from the inner world was nothing; even the system couldn't interfere, let alone those data lower than the Four Pillar Gods.

"It's not difficult to get out of here," Honghu said, after thoroughly understanding the worldview and combining it with the task. "But the current task seems to be hinting that the real 'Boss' is very strong..." He turned to look at his teammates. "Is it really a good idea for us to leave this safe area rashly?"

"Indeed, main quests like [Defeat the Real 'Boss' or Escape the Mystery Club] are usually because one of the options is too difficult, which could lead to a team wipe. That's why the system gives players another, easier route to clear the game," Qiu Feng added.

"And a more difficult clear route means more experience, more skill points..." Feng Bujue said in a very arrogant tone.

"But if we get wiped out, we'll have nothing," Honghu interrupted. "The risk factor also needs to be considered..."

"Until we see the 'Boss,' no one knows how strong he really is," Feng Bujue said. "You are all smart people. Now everyone is basically at full health, and the inventory has been unlocked. We shouldn't be too quick to belittle ourselves, but rather objectively assess the overall strength of the team." He paused and then said, "Besides, this is just a normal difficulty team survival mode script. No matter how strong the hidden Boss is, how strong can he be?"

"Hey... Feng-xiong, judging by what you're saying, you've taken down a Nightmare difficulty Boss before?" Ji Chang asked.

Honghu stroked his chin and pondered, "Feng-xiong's level hasn't reached 30 yet, so he shouldn't be able to queue for Nightmare difficulty team survival mode. It seems... he's cleared a Nightmare difficulty script in single survival mode."

"Isn't that obvious?" Feng Bujue responded in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's been almost a month since the public beta, is clearing a Nightmare script still considered news?"

"I've tried Nightmare level scripts three times, and I've died in the middle stage every time..." Qiu Feng said.

Ji Chang said, "I've tried it five times, and I haven't cleared it once either. In two of those times, I failed at what I thought was near the end of the story..."

Honghu also said, "I'm a solo player. Unlike the professional players from their studios who have tasks to do, I've tried it more often. Since I reached level 15, I've tried Nightmare difficulty single survival a total of twenty-six times, and I've only cleared it once." He adjusted his glasses. "To be honest, I've also experienced some setbacks in life, and my psychological resilience is pretty good. But playing on Nightmare difficulty really kills your confidence. There were two or three times where I was kicked out of the script because my terror value was too high..."

Qiu Feng then said, "But judging from your tone, Feng-xiong, it sounds like clearing it is a common occurrence?"

"No, it's not," Feng Bujue immediately began to play dumb. "I've only cleared one Nightmare level script, and that was a puzzle script without a Boss fight." He shook his head. "My point is, compared to the Nightmare level scripts that are full of death flags, what's a normal difficulty Boss?"

"Heh heh heh... what's a ball?" Suddenly, a strange voice sounded, interrupting the players' conversation. "If you think I am, then I can indeed turn into a ball." The voice came from all directions, echoing around them. And the most incredible thing was that the voice was exactly the same as the system's notification sound.

The four players' expressions changed. After quickly exchanging glances, they said in unison, "The Boss?"