592 This Is An Expansive Game

It was a completely different level of quality when compared to the simulation games played in the Void in the past. Not only had the number of players increased to one thousand-odd people due to the students' participation, but the environment itself had become so much more immersive with greatly improved graphics. It was like a giant leap from polygon boobs to modern-day triple-A production.

The rules of this game were very straight-forward. Although the players kept their real-life knowledge and life experiences, their avatars would all spot the same standard physical stats. Their goal in this world was to survive and live as long as possible, and if they accidentally died in the game, they would respawn after getting a certain amount of cumulated scores deducted.

Other than those constraints, there were no more hard rules. The players were free to take their simulated lives however they liked it. Finally, the one who accumulated the most scores would be the winner.

Players would find themselves spawned in this simulation with the rules already embedded in their heads, but there was more. To fast-track the learning curve and make it more beginner-friendly, Baiyi had decided to offer a starter-gift to everyone. It could be anything the player desired — be it abilities, skills, weapons including Void Energy, the War God Sword, the Book of Servitude, and more.

Most players would reasonably dither for a while when facing such a momentous gift, but some sprung into decisions instantly. One such brave soul was the Engineer, whose decision was formed within a second, "I want to the best mecha pilot ever!"

A white flash enveloped him, and the Engineer's wish instantly came true. How to best use a robot's weapons, the ability to write complicated and executable programming even under duress, and how to activate an AT Field[1], as well as other miscellaneous knowledge, flooded into his head.

He had become the best mecha pilot this simulation was ever going to see! The world would tremble before his skills — when there was finally any robot in this world.

The Archmage was also one of those who had made a split-second decision. He had wished to have the Book of Servitude as his starter-gift, and obediently, the book immediately appeared right in front of him. A very happy Archmage reached out to it instinctively, but as soon as his finger touched its cover, a window popped up in his head: "This book can only be used by an emperor of Rohlserl. [ok]"

Only then he realized that he was now a commonfolk.

"Traitooorrrr!" The Archmage cursed loudly, his square-jawed face bulging in rage to the point that it almost looked round. "You backstabbing, disappointing excuse of a protege! I'm not even dead yet, and you already fancy yourself king!"

At a different end of the spectrum where these two's hasty decisions bit them in the neck, Little Mia was utterly lost at what to choose. The girl was now standing in a lush green plain, donning the most quintessential school uniform, her hair tied back into twin tails, and her legs wrapped by a pair of silky white socks.

Right now, she was staring blankly at a list as compact as a dictionary, crammed with things she could claim as her starter-gift. Although she had heard the Walkers mentioning playing games with another in the Void before, she had never joined one herself. Not only that, she was also thrust into this game without any mental preparation.

"Aww, my head hurts just looking at all these words!" She muttered. "Can I just have whatever?"

Just like that, a bright light flashed, and Mia found herself gifted with a new ability —"acting cute."

"Wait, how's this supposed to help?!" She protested with her lips pouting unhappily. "I don't even feel like I've gained anything new! Aww, what am I gonna do now?"

She was still wallowing in the corner she had trapped herself in when she noticed a beautiful figure approaching her from afar. She turned, narrowed her eyes, and saw that it was the Warrior!

"Big sister Lan You!" Mia launched herself into the woman in glee.

The Warrior, however, gave her a mean flick on her forehead. "Show some respect, young lady. It's Mother Lan!"

Hurt, the little girl retreated and curled herself into a ball like a bullied kitten. The sight seized on the Warrior's sympathy, and soon she found herself quickly gathering the girl in her arms before rubbing her head lovingly.

"My spawning point was just up ahead. As for my starter-gift, I chose 'People-finder' so that I may discover other players around me quickly," The Warrior explained while pinching Mia's tender cheeks. "Alright, let us depart. We need to get ourselves something to eat."

Compared to the idiots who made choices without thinking and Mia's irresponsibility, the Warrior was downright sagacious. She knew that surviving an unfamiliar world alone as an ordinary person would be an uphill battle. So she decided that an ability that could help her form a team of familiar faces was the right way to go.

Just their luck, the Warrior and Mia then accidentally met Attie the Kitty Cat Maid while searching for food. She was wearing the classic maid outfit with a cat-ear hairband tucked on the crown of her head, her hand clutching a thick, black stick. She looked so confused, and after a simple questioning, she revealed that she had picked the War God's Sword as her starter-gift — something she obviously could not use in a simulation.

"Many of the choices on the list were gotcha options. There's no way we could obtain powerful powers this easily," The Warrior remarked while studying the useless hilt. A beat later, she shook her head regrettably and said, "It's useless. Discard it."

"No, no way! Even if it's useless, I want it with me!" Attie said, snatching it back into her arms.

The trio continued to wander through the seemingly empty plain for half a day before arriving at a thicket. It was then they found Noirciel.

The poor Angel had not even fully recovered from her stupor when Baiyi beamed her into the simulation. Now, she could only squat under a small tree with her hands pressing against her forehead, her eyes still blindfolded. She looked so pathetic that even plants would feel bad for her.

Noirciel stayed in this bracing position for a while longer before picking up enough courage to try once more. She took a few more steps before decking her head on the same tree again, this time hard enough to knock her on to her butt. Tears burst out of her eyes as she mewled, "Oww, this stings!"

The trio watched her performance quietly with a nonplussed expression. 'Who is this young lady acting cute for?'

Spurred by camaraderie, Mia was the first to stop watching and raced towards Noirciel. The Angel paused in her self-pity and sniffed the air as though her nose had picked up a new scent, then finally broke into a giggle. She shouted at Mia's direction, "You're here! You're here to save me, isn't it, Mia?"

The two girls collided into a warm, tight embrace, their cheeks stroking against another. After inhaling enough of the Mia Meth, Noirciel finally pulled her head back from her friend's a little and fondled her friend's cheek with her hand. "I can't see you, but I can still tell that you're the Mia I remember."

Mia stiffened. She had not expected Mr.Hope to be cruel enough to take away her friend's sight just for the sake of a game!

Once again, it was the Warrior who had a better idea of what was happening. She yanked the blindfold away from Noirciel's head, and suddenly she exclaimed, "Wait. I… I can see! I mean, not as clearly as before, but I can see!"

After another round of gentle prodding, Noirciel revealed that Baiyi, as the new Time God, had restored her position as the Vassal of Time. The surprised Angel was beyond jubilant, but Baiyi added the condition that she must learn to live as a human before returning to her status. Hence, the Angel was brought into his simulation game too.

The Warrior, however, shook her head furtively with her gracefully-arched eyebrows furrowed. Frankly, she was starting to worry about the team she was assembling.

Making matters worse was how right her concern turned out to be. While they were scouting for food, Mia — either because she was twelve or because she was that bad at these sorts of games — kept falling while walking. At times it was because of some protruding tree roots, but other times, she just tripped over nothing as though she did not even know how to stand correctly.

After falling over nothing for a while, the child was now sticky with mud. Even her white silk socks had bear a few new tears, exposing the girl's fair, supple skin underneath. Curiously, Mia showed no sign of injuries, though she did look a little uneased by herself.

Noirciel, meanwhile, took the quest to learn from humans a bit too far and started to mimic Mia by stumbling through her steps. It was as if those two girls were trying to outdo each other in a kawaii loli match. Unfortunately, Noiricel did not share Mia's imperviousness to the ensuing injuries, because soon she was covered in big splotches of blue-black.

It had gotten to the point where the Warrior had to look for food and water alone, leaving the two troublemakers to the only other girl left in the team who was slightly more dependable.

Contrary to the Warrior and her awkward state, some people appeared to fare better in nature — for example, the Caveman. Instead of ability, the man of the wild had asked for an ordinary lamb as his gift. He then used it as a bait for a simple snare he had fashioned from whatever he could gather around him, thus luring a hungry wolf to himself.

After a fierce brawl with him emerging as the battered and bruised victor, the Caveman quickly identified natural disinfectant in some tree sap to address his wounds. Then, he cooked the whole wolf as his meal for the day after scalping its furry coat as his cape, feeding the little lamb with wolf blood.

Thus, as most of his colleagues could only eat palsy fruits and sleep on tree branches, the Caveman had a fulfilling nap under a tree with a full stomach while his little lamb loitered around nearby. In comparison, Mia's team had only each other's body warmth to fight off the chilly night.

While some people were doing fine as a lone wolf, some others benefitted from having a reliable teammate. The Blacksmith was an example of this. After a stroke of fortune had him reunited with his Second Perfect, the two were now having smoked fish for dinner nearby a creek. Apparently, the Blacksmith's favorite pupil was shrewd enough to choose "fish-catching" as his starter-gift.

"So, Mentor, what did you choose for your gift?" Second Perfect asked while tossing his fishbone away.

"I told you not to call me Mentor!" The Blacksmith snapped. He then raised his right hand to flex a beautiful modern watch encased with an iridescent orange ring.

"Call me — Director of Central Intelligence!" He proclaimed bombastically, obviously overtaken by whatever character he was roleplaying. With the same severe and straight face, the Blacksmith continued, "Our priority should be more than just survival. There is a city that needs saving — and we're the only ones who could do it. Do you copy me, Agent?"

"Wait; what? I'm 'Agent' now?" Agent mumbled, dumbfounded. He was just getting used to being Second Perfect!

[1] Absolute Terror Field, from Evangelion