Chapter 6: Developer’s Difficulty Level
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qin Guan cursed in his heart. ‘Why is it that my system is so unique, eccentric, and loves causing trouble to me in so many ways?
‘The other people’s systems all have voice support. I hadn’t even complained about it, and it’s already causing me trouble during the trial?’
In the beginning, Qin Guan had wondered whether everyone had the same fate and could only choose to be beggars at the start of the trial, but when his consciousness returned to reality, he heard his former dormmates talking excitedly on how they should begin the trial, making it clear that they were all normal…
Some chose to be athletes, some students, and some office workers… However, none chose to be a useless person. Forget about choosing it, that option was not even part of their discussion.
Qin Guan did not say a single word. He chose the athlete option and clicked a few times on the gray [Begin Trial] icon, but there was still no response.
It could be said that he was in great despair.
Qin Guan had no choice. He could only choose the [Useless Person] option. Then, he clicked on the [Begin Trial] icon.
‘Curse you and your “useless person.” You’re just making yourself sound nicer. What’s the point of making it sound so refined? You could have just straight up called this one a beggar. Oh, right. Beggars can still shamelessly go and beg for food, but a useless person won’t even be able to get any food. That’s why he’s a useless person, isn’t it?’
Once he was done quietly mocking his option, Qin Guan noticed that he had gained another appearance in the world of trials in his consciousness.
At that moment, he stood on a pure white platform, and around him was a white space.
It was not a valley or a mountain stream. There was no ground or river under his feet. Everything before his eyes was just endless emptiness.
The pure white platform was squarish and floated in the air. Qin Guan could see that it was the only material object that existed within his field of vision.
And before Qin Guan was an illusory, vertical frame.
The illusory frame was just as its name suggested—it had no physical form. It was only an outline made of green lines.
Based on it, he could tell that it formed a rectangle. It was about 3.2 feet away from where Qin Guan stood.
At the same time, the aim of the trial popped up to the right of Qin Guan.
[Jump]
A dialog box also appeared right in the middle of his vision. [Please select the level of difficulty for the trial.]
The difficulty levels included Novice Mode, Easy Mode, Medium Mode, Hard Mode, Despair Mode, and Crazy Mode.
Right at the bottom of these difficulties was a [Developer’s Difficulty Level]. However, the button for this difficulty level was slightly further away from [Crazy Mode]. It looked like it had been added as an additional option.
The higher the difficulty level, the less friendly the colors representing them became. From top to bottom, the colors of the difficulties were white, green, blue, purple, orange, gold, and last difficulty level, the [Developer’s Difficulty Level], was red.
“Well, let’s choose a simple mode to test the waters first.”
This was similar to the difficulty adjustment menu that would appear when most games were initially booted up. New players would choose a lower difficulty so that they could have an easier time getting used to the game, and those who were confident in themselves would challenge the higher difficulties.
Qin Guan chose something easier not because he lacked confidence in his abilities. If it were a game on his computer, he most likely would have chosen the highest difficulty, but he was not in the real world at the moment.
The background color for the difficulty levels was different, while the colors of the words was white and gray, making it clear that the white words were the difficulty levels he could choose; the gray ones symbolized what he couldn’t access.
The first three options available at the start were Novice Mode, Easy Mode, and Medium Mode. The next three difficulty modes that came after the first three, Hard, Despair, and Crazy, were not available. This was similar to many game designs. Game developers wanted the players to slowly improve themselves so they could gradually unlock higher difficulty levels.
Qin Guan chose Easy Mode and clicked [Confirm] with his mind.
Nothing.
Shocked, he did not use his mind to click the button next time, but instead chose to tap on the button furiously with his hand, but even after he clicked on it for a long period of time, there was no response!
“Which damned developer made this game? How did he manage to not even get the interactive interface right? I won’t comment on you not putting the button in gray, but why didn’t you even give me a system notification after I clicked the stupid button?!”
Qin Guan suffered a mental breakdown. He could only try to pick every single difficulty level on his screen until one worked.
Novice Mode. Unavailable.
Easy Mode. Unavailable.
…
Crazy Mode. Unavailable.
Developer’s Difficulty Level… Entered?!
Qin Guan was instantly flabbergasted. ‘You didn’t give me a second confirmation box and just dragged me into this mode?!’
When he looked up in search for the difficulty adjustment menu, he found that it was already gone.
When he remembered the terrifying shade of red for the [Developer’s Difficulty Level], a slightly ominous feeling rose in his heart.
Frustration also welled within him. Logically speaking, the developer’s difficulty level should mean that he was a Game Master or something, right? Why was it that the difficulty level for the developer of the game was so much higher than Crazy Mode, which was the highest difficulty level possible?!
Once he chose the difficulty level, the dialog boxes that blocked his view vanished. He did not receive any further guidance.
However, there was a tiny arrow above the white platform on which Qin Guan stood. It pointed at the illusory, green, vertical frame before him.
The goal of the trial at the upper right of his sight was still around, and it still said only one thing: Jump.
“Are you saying… that I am to jump onto the illusory green frame before me?!”
Qin Guan was stunned silly.
It was not that the frame was far away from him. A normal boy could jump above 7.8 feet in a stationary long jump while the illusory frame was only 3.2 feet away from Qin Guan’s white platform. Even if he did not do a run-up, he could jump to it easily.
The problem, however, lay in the fact that it was simply too scary!
There was only endless emptiness around the platform. When he looked down, he could not see the bottom. All he saw was just white. Besides, even if he jumped toward the frame, it was illusory! It had no physical entity, so how could he have the courage to jump toward it?
The action itself was not difficult, but it went against human survival instincts.
Forget the rest, even looking down the platform was enough to make Qin Guan’s knees feel weak.
He was in no hurry to jump. He first crouched down to touch the white platform under his feet.
Once he chose the [Useless Person] option to start his game, he had gained the horrible appearance of a person dressed in rags. He wore only a torn pair of shorts.
The white platform appeared to be quite smooth, but when he touched it, he found that it was not so. The friction was quite good. At the very least, it would not affect him once he took off.
There was something else that took Qin Guan by surprise. There were basically no sharp corners on the platform. They were smooth arcs, just like the curved displays smartphones adopted in recent years. The arcs and the sides of the platform were very smooth, and they felt like glass.
They were clearly made of the same material, but the difference in friction was as great as night and day. This was something that was very mind-boggling.
This meant that he had to jump onto the frame. It would be very difficult if he wanted to climb onto it by grabbing the edges of the platform, because they were too smooth.
Qin Guan patted his naked chest and gritted his teeth. “Let’s test it out, then. There’s no way I only have one life in this game, right?”
He did not believe that anything would happen to his real body even if he died in the game. It was obvious that everything around him was an illusion. Perhaps the person who created all of it had had some sort of goal, but if he wanted to kill everyone, he did not need to spend so much effort to do so.
However, there were still few who were as foolishly bold as Qin Guan. Most of the people did not dare to jump no matter how much they tried to soothe their nerves. They only trembled in fear on the platform.
In other words, this was perhaps one of the few good qualities that Qin Guan possessed…
He took a few steps back and did a run-up before he jumped!
While his body fell through the air, Qin Guan felt like his heart came to a stop, but the moment his feet left the solid surface, the illusory green frame before him turned into another white platform and received him.
Qin Guan gasped loudly. He might have jumped after he made his decision, but when he recalled what he had just done, he still felt fear.
The new platform was the same size as the green frame. It was a rectangle, and an arrow appeared above it to point toward the next illusory green frame.
“So… this so-called trial is just me jumping continuously?”