Chapter 28-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
Chapter 28
All across the world, the standout players of Phase One opened the leaderboard almost simultaneously.
[Human Player Top 100 No.1 Tyrant No.2 Charlie Anderson No.3 Lin Haiying No.4 Fahad Sultan ... No.59 Miles Brown No.60 Hani Garcia No.61 Selam No.62 Cheng Yue ... No.98 Cui Yuxuan No.99 Bu Po Xin Xiang No.100 Chen Xinyi]
The world channel erupted into fierce debate over the freshly released leaderboard. Those still active enough to post were almost entirely the elite players who had been watching rankings.
[Tyrant again incredible!]
[The guy who killed ten thousand people is only number two!]
[Number two is terrifying enough that is second in the world among every human alive!]
[What is this Tyrant, exactly? What did they do to beat out that mass murderer?]
[Tyrant was the first player ever broadcast globally of course they are number one, do not act surprised!]
[Only two possibilities: Tyrant killed more people than Charlie Anderson, or Tyrant killed extremely powerful, rare mutated creatures several of them at minimum. I think everyone knows which is more likely.]
[Right, keep spinning it. Some people always assume everyone is as soulless as they are. I have not killed a single person and I am still a higher level than you so what?]
[Charlie Anderson has been fully exposed. Some locals risked their lives to post his info on the world channel. Completely inhuman typical of his country's soldiers.]
[Not surprised at all. He was probably acting under orders from his government.]
[Charlie Anderson is a traitor! He wiped out all our people. We never would have known if not for the global broadcast!]
[Wait that name, that level is that actually the President?!]
[How laughable. The monster you raised has nothing to do with you?]
[I refuse to believe there is no state involvement here. The top five no, the top ten definitely all have backing.]
[Number four, Fahad Sultan, is the third prince of one of the desert kingdoms.]
[Number three, Lin Haiying, has a fairly high international profile military, from a major nation, fairly senior rank. I will leave out the specifics.]
[Number two and three are both military from major powers, number four is a prince from a wealthy country and there is still zero information on number one, Tyrant?]
[If "Tyrant" were a real name, information would have been flying everywhere already.]
[That is a point Tyrant might have used a game item to change their real name. Makes sense, having your identity exposed is dangerous.]
[Please number one has nothing to fear. If I were them, I would be begging people to come find me and donate their experience points.]
[That is why you are not Tyrant, just a nobody.]
[Number 62, Cheng Yue, is pretty well known in our country too.]
[Number 60, Hani Garcia, saved us! God bless her!]
[Assuming Tyrant is a fake name what kind of person names themselves "Tyrant"? Tyrant's identity might be extraordinary!]
[Could they actually be someone who rules a country?]
[Most world leaders would not be this conspicuous. But Tyrant gives off this contradictory feeling conspicuous and low-key at the same time. I am genuinely dying of curiosity!]
[Honestly, "Tyrant" is exactly the nickname I would have given myself at my most embarrassing edgy phase. I love you Tyrant!]
[Thank god number one is not that scumbag Charlie Anderson. I do not care who it is, as long as it is not that filth!]
[The number one spot might be about to change hands the game rewarded players ranked 99 down to 2 with Position Swap Orders. Do you all know what that means?]
One post quickly drew attention on the world channel.
[Lv.17 Bu Po Xin Xiang: A Position Swap Order can only be used to challenge a player ranked higher than yourself it pulls the target into your location for a 1-on-1 fight.]
[Lv.17 Bu Po Xin Xiang: That means players ranked 2nd through 99th can all challenge Tyrant at number one. Though I will not be doing that, for what it is worth.]
Bu Po Xin Xiang was ranked 99th on the leaderboard. Holding a Position Swap Order, she could challenge anyone above her. But for someone like her, rashly challenging a higher-ranked player was far too dangerous unless she was in a desperate situation that required levelling up fast, she had no reason to take that risk.
[Wait the leaderboard has 100 people, so why do not number 1 and number 100 get Position Swap Orders?]
[Are you dense? Number 1 is going to swap down?]
[Tyrant's reward is Game Authority whatever that is, it sounds incredible!]
[So number 100 gets nothing?]
[Number 100 is Chen Xinyi that name is so common, there is no way to trace it.]
[Even with the global population down to four hundred million, there are probably still thousands of people in the country named Chen Xinyi.]
[No wonder Bu Po Xin Xiang dared post openly she is one of only two people on the leaderboard who do not have to worry about being pulled into a challenge.]
[Hold on does anyone else know Bu Po Xin Xiang? She is a massively famous young musical prodigy! Those viral songs "Die Die Die," "Frenzied Dance" all hers.]
[This leaderboard situation is intense. Making the top 100 might not even be a good thing except for Bu Po Xin Xiang and Chen Xinyi, every other big name has to live in constant fear of being pulled into a challenge!]
[Would anyone really dare challenge number one or number two?]
[The leaderboard rewards are brutal I have decided I do not want to be on it.]
[The Position Swap Order is basically a gambling chip kill anyone on the leaderboard and you not only gain a massive experience bonus, you inherit all their accumulated items. I wonder who will be the first gambler to make a move?]
[I am more curious about Tyrant's reward Game Authority. Something tells me that power is extraordinary!]
Bai Shan was standing on the roof of the Activity Centre. She did not have time right now to care about what the world channel was discussing.
Learning that she had, unfortunately, become the world's most-watched number one — and that the entire world now knew what "Game Authority" she had been rewarded Bai Shan immediately opened her items inventory.
Her game panel had gained a new item.
[Rule Pen (??) Function: Modify any phase rule of Tomorrow's Dominator. Single use only.]
Modify the game rules!
Bai Shan took a long moment to process. This item was enormous.
If she had obtained this item back in Phase One could she have changed the rule that required reaching level 5 to survive, down to level 1? If that kind of modification were possible, the number of survivors right now would be at least two hundred million higher.
And this item had fallen into her hands.
This item carried enormous weight. Bai Shan raked a hand through her hair, already sensing that she would lose sleep over how to use it.
As for becoming number one among human players Bai Shan's greatest feeling was relief that she was not playing under her real name, because otherwise she had no idea how much trouble would come looking for her.
For Bai Shan at this moment, the greatest gain from the end of Phase One was not the number-one honour, and not the authority to modify the game.
It was that she had finally broken past level 20.
[Name: Tyrant Level: 50 Talent: Tyrant's Grip (SS) Skill 1: Inspection Make physical contact with a target to view their Talent. Skill 2: Tyrannical Command Can manipulate any object touched by the right hand within a 50-meter diameter. Skill 3: Admonition All who bow before the Tyrant become subjects. The Tyrant may unconditionally access any subject's Talent. Skill 4: Unlocks at Level 90 Items: [Rule Pen] [Fengdu Tiger Tally] [Inextinguishable Sun Flame] [Breathing Bracer] (tap to see more) Active buffs: Strength Enhancement 400%, Agility Enhancement 300%, Body Enhancement 200%, Cold Resistance, Random Skill Enhancement (tap to see more)]
The most powerful third skill, [Admonition], had finally unlocked!
Along with it came the high-level items and buffs previously locked behind level requirements, and dramatically elevated physical capabilities. Even with some things still sealed, her current strength could hold its own against the world.
Bai Shan's heart was beating fast. She was itching to test the newly unlocked skills on the spot especially [Admonition], the ability that made others bow without question. It had surprised her again and again in Tomorrow's Dominator 1.0.
But this was not the place to run experiments. So Bai Shan decided to browse the leaderboard first and let the emotion settle see which lucky souls had made it onto the same list as her.
"Bai Shan, Bai Shan!"
Lin Huijun suddenly came running up from inside the Activity Centre, panic written across her face, edged with confusion.
"Bai Shan that leaderboard is my mum on it?"
"I do not even know your mum."
Bai Shan steadied herself and replied. She had not had time to look carefully at the leaderboard yet, and on top of that, she did not even know Lin Huijun's mother's name.
She scanned the leaderboard and knew immediately. The name was right there, third in line.
"Lin Haiying?" Bai Shan asked.
"That's her though it might be a different person with the same name?" Lin Huijun was uncertain.
Bai Shan glanced further down the list. She was not surprised Lin Huijun's mother had a particular background, with legitimate and principled means to achieve high levels. She said, unhurried: "A name like Lin Haiying is not common. You can be proud of your mother." The honour of ranking third just below the Tyrant.
"I will not say anything about Charlie Anderson — anyone who shares that name has my sympathies, instant target."
"Fahad Sultan that should be someone from one of the oil-rich countries, probably a local noble or prince."
"Selam? That name showed up in the broadcast this morning — only 61st place?"
This was the third human player name broadcast globally. Coming during the most chaotic stretch of time, it had sparked little discussion.
The name Selam suggested she was from the African continent. Bai Shan recalled that this person had unlocked some "Grassland Guardian" achievement and received the blessing of all living creatures hard to say what kind of buff that would bring.
Bai Shan could not help thinking of her own "Greatest and Most Despair-Inducing Event in Insect History" achievement, and quietly wondered whether it might come with a hidden debuff like "Curse of the Insects."
"Cheng Yue that name is familiar. I think my old deskmate had a celebrity crush on someone by that name?"
School felt like something from the last century. Bai Shan could barely picture her deskmate's face anymore, but the torments that person had inflicted remained vivid foremost among them the complete lack of boundaries when recommending her favourite celebrities, and an equally boundless willingness to share every detail of her love life.
Who knew if she was still alive now. She was a bit slow on the uptake, but this world needed space for slow people too.
"Bu Po Xin Xiang if it is who I think it is, I have heard her music."
"Chen Xinyi now that is a name that could have a thousand owners. Who does not know at least one Chen Xinyi?"
Bai Shan read all the way to the last name on the leaderboard. When she reached Chen Xinyi she made the offhand comment and then her gaze stopped.
"Surely it cannot be that much of a coincidence." Bai Shan's eyes widened slightly.
Lin Huijun cut in: "Chen Xinyi? I feel like you have mentioned that name to me before."
Bai Shan: "My neighbour's child. The one with the grandmother who was into that cult."
Lin Huijun remembered Bai Shan had told her about the child. An especially pitiable case: a father who was a career criminal with seven prison stints behind him, a mother who had left after the divorce, and the only person willing to take her in was a grandmother who was a member of a cult.
An infant with no capacity for independent action more helpless and passive than any of the elderly residents in this Activity Centre. For a baby with no concept of life and death, being painlessly erased from the world by the game might actually be a reasonable ending.
Just moments ago, Lin Huijun had watched the elderly residents of the Activity Centre disappear before her eyes. They seemed to feel no pain; the death the game administered was weightless as wind. But for Lin Huijun and those who remained the impact was enormous.
This was more shocking than watching mutated monsters devour people. No creature had appeared before them, no enemy no room to fight back, no chance to resist. Death arrived, unavoidable and absolute.
Lin Huijun had not even registered what the mechanical voice was saying. Her head was still ringing.
It was only when she opened her game panel in a daze and found a familiar name on the leaderboard that something in her steadied the safety and sense of direction she had lost came rushing back.
"I am pretty sure third place is my mum." Lin Huijun grew more certain with every moment. "It is not a coincidence. She is just that capable."
"As Lin Haiying's daughter, I need to step up too!"
Lin Huijun's eyes found their light again. For the sake of those who had gone, for the sake of those still living, she had to fight harder to survive in this game.
Bai Shan added from the side: "Fair enough but do not tell anyone outside that you are connected to Lin Haiying."
"I know, I am not stupid."
Appearing on the leaderboard meant four hundred million pairs of human eyes. More than a few would be eyeing high-ranked players for the experience and items they represented.
Then Lin Huijun thought of something, her expression shifting to worry.
"I am a bit concerned about the Position Swap Orders. Surely no one would challenge her, right?"
"Thank god she is third and not first or second. If she were second I would be afraid of Charlie Anderson going after her."
"Oh no what if she goes after Charlie Anderson herself?"
Lin Huijun had spiralled into anxious confusion and failed to notice that beside her, Bai Shan's expression had shifted. She bent down sharply and scooped up the compound bow from the ground.
"You could spare a little concern for me."
Lin Huijun heard the non-sequitur and for a moment could not follow. "Huh?"
"Because I need to use the toilet right now!"
Lin Huijun's shoulder was suddenly slammed by someone passing barely a brush, yet the force nearly knocked her off her feet.
She stared blankly as Bai Shan sprinted away at full speed, and hoped she had remembered to bring tissue.
"Take some tissue!" she called after her.
Very soon, Lin Huijun had no more attention to spare for whether Bai Shan had brought tissue.
Barely ten minutes after the mechanical voice fell silent ten minutes the cold, bone-deep tone that had been branded into four hundred million people rang out once more, sending a wave of shock through the entire world.
[Player Charlie Anderson has used a Position Swap Order!]
[Player Charlie Anderson challenges Player Tyrant!]
Author's Note:
Tyrant is about to make a thunderous entrance in a flower-print padded coat.
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