CH 1

Splash—

The sea surged and the whole world seemed to be submerged by seawater.

He Yu’s consciousness had just awakened when he felt something pulling him down, his body weak and struggling becoming difficult. In his mind, there was a clear voice:

[Ding! Contestant No. 2333, He Yu, is about to die. Equipment dropped: a useless pair of plain glasses, a set of clothes that look okay but are not quite useful, and a useless but particularly sharp belt buckle.]

The seawater squeezed his lungs, causing sharp pain and a feeling of suffocation. The world plunged into boundless darkness.

At the same time, He Yu seemed to see a blurry image floating in front of him with dense and varied words scrolling rapidly on the screen:

“Waiting for this person from an unknown planet to sink into the sea.”

“The most exciting part of this competition is the madness of different people before they die, but unfortunately he died in the sea, only struggling in despair and unable to speak.”

“Which planet is this contestant from? Blue Star? Never heard of it, what a trash planet?”

“This new trash planet contestant is here to entertain us, hahaha. So many trash planet people have died, just waiting for this one to die too.”

“Keep waiting.”

…

These dense words made He Yu’s already throbbing head ache even more. It seemed that they even wished for him to die faster. A strange memory belonging to this body also rushed into his mind.

He Yu’s struggling movements almost came to a complete halt, and the long seaweeds wrapped around his feet continued to pull him down into the darkness…

Meanwhile, outside the screen, on the planet of Blue Star.

The leader of Blue Star, Wei Jiaguo, shook his head. “He can’t hold on any longer. Blue Star has lost another person.”

Zheng Ke, the person in charge of the selection process sitting next to him, sighed. “This was to be expected. He Yu looks good, but his abilities are too weak.”

Even they had only selected him in the first place because of his delicate face.

They thought, maybe the audience of the Cosmic Federation would notice He Yu’s face and therefore notice Blue Star.

The Blue Star contestants are all voluntary, and they are chosen in a direction that is advantageous to Blue Star.

Don’t think they are cruel, this is forced.

Blue Star urgently needs the Cosmic Federation to notice and approve of them, even if there is only a slight possibility, they will try.

The reason why Blue Star is in such a hurry is that six months ago, an extraterrestrial civilization suddenly contacted them and ordered them to send ten thousand people to participate in a mandatory selection.

As excitement set in, pressure also struck.

The alien world had developed far beyond their expectations, with more advanced technology, robotic planets, the Federation’s five major main stars, superpowers etc.

In such an environment, if Blue Star were to be attacked by other planets, they would undoubtedly lose!

If they could contact them suddenly, they could also attack them suddenly.

The entire Blue Star was anxious, and in this situation, the inexperienced young planet of Blue Star must strive to join the Cosmic Federation as soon as possible and gain its recognition.

At least, before they grow up, they need the protection of the Cosmic Federation.

Unfortunately, their technology is underdeveloped and they do not have strong representatives in the Federation. The Federation simply ignores them, and their application has not received a response.

Obviously, the Federation only wants them to participate in the competition and doesn’t care about their planet.

There’s nothing they can do but focus their attention back on the selection process and look for opportunities to break through.

The top-level selection process, known as the ‘Death Trial Ground’ or ‘God-making System,’ has been done dozens of times, but it has become increasingly unimpressive except for a few exceptional years.

Not only can they not create gods, but even death also is not exciting enough.

This time, the organisers of the Cosmic Federation decided to struggle one last time.

Since they can’t create gods, let’s focus on ‘death’.

Previously, only the planets in the Cosmic Federation were eligible to participate. This time, they forcibly included those ‘low-level planets’ that have not yet entered into advanced civilization and joined the federation.

For example, Blue Star.

As a result, Blue Star was integrated into the wider universe and was required to send ten thousand people to participate in this devilish top-tier selection contest.

A competition where millions of people participate, but only one person can survive.

This is a carnival of the universe, waiting to see how these ‘low-level planet people’ will be slaughtered, waiting to see them being attacked by ‘advanced civilizations’.

Being behind means being beaten up. Blue Star has no say in the matter and is helpless. They must participate, and they must participate well.

More than ten million people from Blue Star registered, but only ten thousand were selected from them.

Leaders gave priority to selecting death row inmates. After all, for Blue Star contestants, entering the competition meant being sentenced to death, and a very painful one at that. The Federation forced them to provide ten thousand people, so death row inmates were the best choice.

But at the same time, they also held a glimmer of hope, hoping that Blue Star could seize this opportunity.

So they also selected scientists, doctors, special forces, boxers, etc. who volunteered to participate.

He Yu was a special case, as they were attracted to He Yu’s stunning appearance.

Some of the contestants who signed up did it for Blue Star, while others did it for the one-in-ten-million chance of ‘possibly becoming a god.’

And for Blue Star, its contestants are needed to make a name for the planet. As long as someone has a stunning performance and enters the top ten rankings, Blue Star can get the attention of the Cosmic Federation, and their application may be approved.

This selection is a grand event that the whole universe pays attention to and is about the life and death of Blue Star.

Blue Star people have not yet joined the Cosmic Federation, they are not citizens, therefore they cannot register an account, vote, or send bullet screens, but they can watch and all of Blue Star is watching the live broadcast.

They hope that Blue Star contestants can have stunning performances that will shock the universe and bring glory to Blue Star.

They hope that Blue Star contestants can break the cognition of those Federation citizens who are just watching them as a spectacle.

They prayed for the Blue Star contestants.

Could someone among them become the only winner and the top player in the entire universe?

It’s something they don’t dare to think about!

The Blue Star leaders sitting in the live broadcasting room looked a bit disappointed as they watched the barrage floating across the screen.

“It’s a pity that the people of the Cosmic Federation seem to be more concerned about strength than looks.”

Wei Jiaguo shook his head again. “It’s a pity for the contestant He Yu. Since he’s not a death-row prisoner and has a family, compensation money should be paid. Well, switch to Bo Jingshan next to him. He has already secured a lifeboat and has a good chance of passing the audition.”

Zheng Ke nodded and reached out to switch the scene.

Beside them, Admiral Ye Kaijun of Blue Star exclaimed, “Wait!”

His voice was full of surprise, and he stared at the screen in disbelief.

Wei Jiaguo, who had been avoiding looking at the screen, looked over in confusion, and then his eyes also showed surprise.

On the screen:

The man who was almost out of breath due to being entangled by water plants suddenly seemed to gather strength and opened his eyes wide. His body shrank under the water, and he bit off the water plants that were tangled around his feet.

Before they could even make sense of what had just happened, the man had broken free from the water plants, his body curled up as he propelled himself upward, and quickly leapt from the seafloor and headed straight for the surface!

Everyone including Wei Jiaguo was stunned.

At this moment, the barrage was also filled with messages:

“He’s still alive?”

“Oh my god, how did he manage to put his head next to his feet under the water?”

“I have to go back and see…”

“Boring, this garbage star person is still not dead, I’m going to see other garbage star people who are about to die!”

“Don’t rush, there are too many dangers in the water, he has no strength left and still can’t survive.”

…

On the screen, the man in the water stirred up the seawater. His face was pale, and his eyes, as bright as stars, were deeper and more charming than the surrounding seawater. He moved like a swimming dragon and quickly surfaced.

Wei Jiaguo breathed a sigh of relief, “His luck is good-” but his voice suddenly stopped.

Just as He Yu’s head emerged from the water, a giant fish measuring fifty metres suddenly appeared in front of him, opening its huge mouth towards him!

With its bloodthirsty jaws, a massive vortex formed as it bit towards him, seemingly intent on swallowing him and the surrounding water all at once.

Thunk–

With a loud noise, the giant fish appeared in the spot where He Yu was originally located. The waves around it surged, and vaguely, they saw the indifferent eyes of the giant fish.

The live broadcast conference room fell silent.

After a while, Wei Jiaguo murmured, “…really unlucky,” continuing his previous statement.

Wasn’t it just bad luck?

He had finally broken free from the water, only to be immediately swallowed by the big fish.

“How unlucky.”

Zheng Ke shook his head and reached out to switch the screen. Most of the audience in the barrage also left.

— He Yu died, and his live broadcast room was about to disappear.

Just before Zheng Ke pressed the switch button, the waves on the screen gradually calmed down, and the complete appearance of the giant fish was revealed.

At the same time, Zheng Ke’s hand froze.

His eyes widened again, it was even more exaggerated than before, to the point where his eyeballs seemed like they were about to pop out. Due to shock, he even opened his mouth wide and became completely stunned. The veins on his forehead were pulsing and he tightly gripped the mouse in his hand.

Besides him, everyone else, including Wei Jiaguo, had almost the same reaction. The barrage also went blank in an instant. It seemed that at this moment, everyone was too shocked to react.

On the screen, the giant fish showed half of its head floating in the seawater, and on its head lay He Yu, who had just been ‘swallowed’. He lay quietly on top, half-closing his eyes, as if he had been there all along.

The live broadcast was still on, and He Yu was not dead yet.

After a long time, Ye Kaijun’s voice became hoarse;

“Rewind … and take a look at what just happened …”

The live stream rewound and played in slow motion.

They saw everything that happened in that instant.

The giant fish, with its mouth wide open, lunged towards He Yu, its jaws big enough to swallow him whole!

But at the moment it bit down, He Yu kicked off and the thin, pale man moved closer to the fish’s upper jaw.

Afterwards, he quickly somersaulted in the water, his body boneless and almost touching the giant fish’s upper jaw. He contorted himself into an extremely tricky position and flipped onto the fish’s head.

His movements were so smooth and fluid that they seemed like an artistic performance rather than a dodge from a deadly blow from the giant fish.

The position he was lying in was perfect. The giant fish couldn’t see its own head, and his small and weak body weight as a human was insignificant compared to the giant fish.

Of course, the giant fish probably wouldn’t have expected that someone would dare to lie on its head.

It remained still, seemingly pondering why it didn’t feel anything after swallowing its food just now.

Was the food too small?

The confusion in the fish’s eyes passed in a flash. Then it looked around and didn’t smell any more food, so it closed its eyes and floated in the water, letting the sunshine fall on its head, in a lazy posture.

The Blue Star Live conference room was still quiet, while the barrage was instantly flooded with messages:

“Rewind and watch! OMG, this guy reacted so quickly!”

“And his body is so soft, is it a superpower?”

“This person’s name? Great, he has caught my attention. I want to see how good his luck can be!”

“Luck +1”

“I don’t think it’s all luck…from breaking free of the seaweed to escaping from the jaws of the giant fish, contestant 2333 has some skills…”

“But that doesn’t matter, he’s still on the giant fish’s head and could be in danger at any moment!”

…

The live chat was more lively than ever before. Wei Jiaguo’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at the screen with some anticipation.

And beside him, Zheng Ke frowned, “Why isn’t he trying to leave?”

Ye Kaijun was anxious, “Yeah, the giant fish is relaxed now, why doesn’t he hurry to leave? When the giant fish moves, he won’t be able to run away!”

Zheng Ke sighed, “It’s just that he has too little experience. He Yu was only a minor celebrity before, without special training. He just escaped by chance earlier, but afterwards…”

He didn’t say any more, but everyone understood.

Whether it was Wei Jiaguo and his team, or the universe citizens in the live broadcast room, they were all wondering why He Yu didn’t take the opportunity to leave.

“Is he so daring?”

“Well, this is just asking for trouble! The giant fish of the Sea Star is not to be messed with!”

“Boring, I’m out of here.”

“I’m going to stay and see how he dies. This guy is too bold, and his death will certainly not be pretty.”

…

However;

Seeing the content of the bullet screen, He Yu’s mouth twitched imperceptibly.

Author’s note: He Yu: A new bking has appeared!

(Note: “bking” is likely a misspelling of “boss” or “big king”, and refers to a difficult enemy in a game or challenge that requires skill and strategy to overcome.)