The Player Must Die

By Joseph Chiarella

Ye Su, a pundit author, discovers a shocking secret. "Our world is actually a virtual world!" "We are all NPCs!""A group of invaders called players are constantly eating away at our world!" Ye Su: "Please believe me, I'm not sick, much less crazy, and none of this is fiction either, our world is really being invaded by players! It's just that yo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyrone Hermon
• Release date: Feb 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869310446

Book preview

Chapter 01: We're just NPCs

    Ye Sue.

    An ordinary man.

    It was a mundane trajectory, at least until he turned 22, and took his time.

    Until the day ......

    Humble natives, how dare you stand in my way, don't want to live, do you!

    Ancient wind and a smile, what have you got to be angry at a native.

    Captain, what do you think, should we take out this NPC in passing?

    The smell of alcohol is too heavy, and it also stained my clothes, kill it, at most it will only add a little bit of system red name value.

    ......

    A group of men in strange costumes kill a drunk who has upset them in the middle of an incredibly busy pedestrian street in full view of everyone.

    Ye Su was one of the crowd of onlookers at the time.

    The drunken man's body fell heavily to his feet, blood staining his pants.

    What happened next should have been a scene of unbelievable chaos, with the perpetrators scattering in all directions.

    However!

    In that instant, everything in Ye Su's vision slowly became a blur, and his mind followed in a trance.

    When they came back to their senses, the crowd around them, as if nothing had happened, dispersed.

    The body of the drunken man at his own feet had disappeared at some point.

    The men in the strange costumes slowly disappeared into the sea of people far away.

    Everything is calm again.

    The only thing that wasn't calm was Ye Su's heart and the bright red blood on his pants!

    Ye Su stared wide-eyed at the crowd coming and going.

    Murdered!

    The killer has run that way!

    ......

    However, before this could be said, Ye Su's expression just froze.

    He saw the blood on his pants slowly disappear as if wiped by an invisible eraser!

    Looking at this scene and recalling those people's words in his mind, Ye Su couldn't help but mutter.

    How could this happen, how could this happen!

    That night, Ye Su returned to his residence like a walking corpse.

    Inside the brain, it was full of all sorts of strange thoughts.

    The next month.

    Ye Su was as if he was a witness chosen by the heavens, seeing with his own eyes the humans beside him, disappearing one by one.

    The street cleaner's aunt, the smiley lady next door, the neighborhood punk with yellow hair ......

    Their disappearance was like the erasure of an unimportant program, vanishing and obliterating from the memories of everyone around them.

    Even all traces of their former existence in this world were slowly disappearing.

    The murderers are the humans who call themselves players.

    They were men, women, and children of all ages, all of them had cold and ferocious expressions, and their gazes were filled with disdain as they referred to humans as NPCs and natives. They wielded their weapons and slaughtered at will.

    Ye Su didn't know where they were coming from, but he perceived that the players that appeared in this city during this recent period of time were getting more and more numerous.

    ......

    Hey, Salty, the food is already up, why are you gawking again!

    A voice suddenly sounded in Ye Su's ears.

    After returning to his senses, Ye Su looked up at the few people around him.

    Ye Su is a network of authors, pen name 94 years of salted fish, today by the three city authors asked out, together out of dinner.

    The fat guy on the left, he's taking pills.

    The tall, thin and handsome man sitting across from him was Akito.

    The one sitting next to Akito with a ponytail was Tei Hate, and it was his voice that had just been heard.

    In the online world, Ye Su and they are the kind of occasional appearance of one or two tycoon readers reward, all hate to add fifty chapters, everywhere proclaiming bragging about the kind of fluttering author.

    Everyone is nerdy and in the real world, doesn't have many friends.

    Sleeping during the day, coding at night, chatting online, shopping online, and living like a salted fish every day has become a normal part of life.

    As the bottom of the net article creation staff, are also dreaming of relying on the net article can be like the three young potatoes they, annual income of more than a hundred million, to the peak of life.

    However, these are ultimately just daydreams at this point in time.

    They can only rely on 10,000 word updates per day and receive a modest monthly fee, barely surviving in this materialistic society.

    It's heartbreaking to say the least, but it's a freeing life.

    If you have money, you go on a wave, if you don't, you stay at home, and when it comes to the spiritual world, they, the punt writers, are highly liberal.

    Eat Pill suddenly tapped Ye Su's shoulder and narrowed his eyes as he laughed heatedly.

    Salty Fish, have you been thinking about Missy lately, you came out for a get-together today and you're walking around in a daze.

    Tell me who the young lady is and I'll help you out.

    Tei Hate followed suit with narrowed eyes.

    Hehehe, which young lady is it that has moved you, a ten thousand year old salted fish, tell us about it.

    Before the opposite side of Qiudu could make up for it, Ye Su said directly.

    You three bachelors!

    A word that struck a nerve with all three.

    Akito immediately retorted, Salty, aren't you too!

    Eat Pill looked at his hands, I don't need a girlfriend because my hands have already helped me accomplish my dreams!

    Tei Hate: Don't talk about me, I just broke up and I'm just in a temporary emotional hiatus at the moment.

    ......

    After a bit of banter, the meal was almost done.

    Ye Su suddenly raised his head and swept his gaze over the three of them, taking the initiative to ask.

    I said, what if our world, is just a virtual world, and each of us is just a piece of a program, or an NPC in a game, and everything about our life trajectory has been fixed by the system.

    Speaking here, Ye Su slightly turned his head and scanned his eyes around, while then lowered his voice and said.

    And in this world of ours, there is a group of people who call themselves players, who can slaughter us at will, and those who are killed by them are the equivalent of the program's erasure, all traces of it, disappearing from this world. Those players, however, are free from any legal or moral punishment.

    And it's happening all the time, all the time, all around us, and no one knows about it.

    Ye Su looked straight at the three, his expression serious and earnest as he asked.

    Do you believe it?

    The look on the three of Qiudu's faces was at first slightly stunned, and then they burst into laughter.

    Haha! Salty, to be honest, out of the four of us, I admire your brainchild the most. Players invade, slaughter humans, and erase memories. This idea is good, I use it, the name of the book is all thought out, it's called 'Players Must Die', it just so happens that Starting Point has a sci-fi has a Brain Hole essay, I'll open the book in a couple of days, it feels like it's going to be a big hit!

    Akito, as soon as I heard you hadn't read many of the Great God's books, the Dancing God's Apocalypse, have you read it? It's not just this kind of idea.

    Salty fish you must have read too many novels and are starting to hallucinate. Usually think less nonsense, come out and get together with us more often in the future to distract yourself. Maybe you can even meet a few young ladies and solve the problem of being single.

    ......

    What I said is true.

    Our world, a mere virtual world.

    Players really do exist in this world of ours.

    And we, all of us, are just npc ......

    Looking at the cheeky trio, Ye Su chose to remain silent after all.

    As they say, it's all supposed to exist in fiction.

    Normal people, who would believe that!

Chapter 02: Master of Cards

    After the end of the Crosstown Puffs author party, it was midnight zero that day.

    Ye Su completed today's regular guaranteed five, after holding the phone to watch a bit of news, brush a bit of jitterbug, play a couple of King of Glory, the time is already unconsciously came to 2:30 in the morning.

    After listening to children's songs for a while, Ye Su eventually fell asleep at three in the morning.

    He had a dream.

    In the dream, it was in the middle of a gray world.

    On the ground, there stood a magnificent and incomparable altar.

    People were like mole crickets, densely gathered towards the altar from all directions, the sound of footsteps interspersed with the clamor of voices echoing continuously throughout the entire heaven and earth.

    On top of the altar, a stout man, dressed in luxurious attire, with a glass of wine in his left hand and a beauty in his right, looked down at the four fields with a sad face.

    After drinking a cup of wine painfully, the man looked at the beauty in his arms with a puzzled yet somewhat incredulous expression.

    Just see her, willow waist and phoenix eyes, broad bosom, muscles like condensed snow, full of charm, can be described as the best.

    That beauty, seeing that she was surrounded by an army of vassals, her eyes were actually filled with joy.

    The beauty's expression was taken in by the man's eyes, and although his heart was sad and angry, he eventually sighed lowly and said softly.

    The widow will die, and the great merchant will die.

    Consort, did you just say that you are a player? The extermination of the merchants is merely a mission for you?

    The beauty smiled low and said, Well, that's true.

    Seemingly hearing the answer he least wanted to hear, the man's face steeped in anger as he questioned loudly.

    Mission? Is your mission as important as the widow's? Is it as important as my kingdom?

    The beauty gently got up from the man's arms and looked at him again, her eyes, which were usually full of love, were already as cold as ice, and the corner of her mouth sneered, You and your Jiangshan? To be honest, in my eyes, you are merely an NPC, and your so-called Jiangshan is merely a piece of virtual world! Killing you and destroying the Shang Dynasty was a task given to me by the system. And now that my mission is about to be completed, I should be able to obtain a very generous reward from the system.

    As she spoke, an incomparably sharp dagger appeared out of thin air within her tender white hands.

    Next, your life will be ended at my hands, poor NPC!

    The scene shifts.

    Kill!

    On top of an incredibly empty wilderness, an army of 300,000 soldiers rushed toward the front with an almost earth-shattering momentum.

    In the sky above their heads, there was an immense flag suspended in the air, with Qin written on it in ancient script, and a golden light constantly emanated from the flag and entered the bodies of 300,000 people.

    Standing in their way was a group of scattered-faced, oddly dressed people, numbering perhaps a hundred thousand, all standing casually in twos and threes.

    Even though they were facing this strongest army that had been created with the power of the nation, there was no trace of panic in their expressions, and many of them even wore a disdainful smile.

    Perhaps in their eyes, natives are just natives after all.

    At the rear of the army, in the middle of a luxurious tent, a man, wearing a crown on his head, with an undisguised anger in his serious face, sat in the upper part of the room.

    Below them sat a dozen people in order, men and women, old and young.

    Listening to the sounds of battle that soon resounded outside, the man with the crown on his head, said in a determined tone.

    These damn players, how dare they randomly intercept and kill my Great Qin people and plot against my kingdom, I must kill them in a hurry!

    After this battle.

    Great Qin 300,000 tiger and wolf divisions, finally routed 100,000 players, but paid an extremely painful price, 300,000 people, very few survivors.

    After the end of the battlefield, it was already like hell on earth.

    The corpses stretched for dozens of miles.

    The scene shifts again.

    In the middle of a luxurious and incomparable palace, while a large army surrounded the outside, two men were standing face to face inside.

    A man with a confident face, about thirty years old, clad in a battle robe with blood still on it.

    The other man, with a pale face, about sixty years old, was wearing a dragon robe, and his expression was indifferent.

    The two of them were conversing.

    Wang Mang, are you really a player?

    Wang Mang frankly said, That's right! I am a player. But Liu Xiu, aren't you also an Awakened?

    To be honest, you appeared later than I expected. When I first received the ss-ranked mission of usurping the throne, although I managed to change the dynasty, I didn't think it would last long. But I didn't expect that you Awakened Ones were getting worse and worse in your ability to make me the emperor for fifteen years.

    Wang Mang's gaze steeped for a ghostly moment, and his expression was quite smug as he said.

    Do you know how many things I have done in these fifteen years of my reign? Every single one of them is something that can change the course of this world's history. In other words, the course of this world's history has been indirectly pushed by me, and in the future, this world will, inevitably, fall completely into the hands of us players.

    By the way, even if you kill me now, I'll still be able to get a sss-ranked evaluation from the system side! This is the highest level of mission evaluation, and I will also receive a rather generous profit at that time!

    Liu Xiu's gaze steeply condensed, and the large sword in his hand slashed straight toward Wang Mang, and his expression was furious as he shouted down.

    The player must die!

    In the face of Liu Xiu's attack, Wang Mang stood motionless, his head slightly raised to look at the hall, the corner of his mouth with a smile.

    Next, Ye Su's dream continued to switch, one image after another.

    Each of them is a picture that has shaped the whole history, and there are those so-called players in it.

    They are as pervasive as assholes, and the whole world's is constantly being indirectly changed by them.

    Their purpose is to completely invade this world.

    And the only means this world has to fight them is a group of humans known as the Awakened.

    The dream gradually dissipated, and Ye Su's consciousness slowly became confused.

    I don't know how long it took, but a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Ye Su's mind.

    Congratulations, you have been successfully selected as an Awakened.

    As an Awakened, your ultimate goal, is to kill players, and for every player you kill, you will receive a generous reward.

    What the hell?

    Is it possible that this voice is popping up in my own brain because I'm so addicted to writing?

    The dazed consciousness steeply cleared!

    Ye Su wanted to open his eyes, but realized that his eyelids were as if they were locked, and he could not open them at all.

    The mechanical and cold voice continued to sound.

    Awakener Career Choices in ......

    The icy voice paused for a few seconds before suddenly ringing out.

    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained the hidden profession: card master!

Chapter 03 - Magical Cards

    Master of Cards?

    Listening to this voice, Ye Su felt a little messed up.

    As a punt writer, in this moment, all sorts of fictional plots, come pouring in.

    The icy voice, continued to ring out.

    Received career rewards: five skill cards, one equipment card, one special card, and four point cards. It has been automatically placed into your card bag, please pay attention to it.

    Next, please check your personal panel, and your own card library.

    Accompanied by an icy voice, Ye Su in his own consciousness, he actually saw a transparent panel, quietly suspended there.

    On the panel, like character introductions in an online game novel, were rows and rows of character attribute settings.

    What's a little different this time, though, is that the protagonist becomes himself.

    "Awakened One: Ye Su

    Profession: Card Master

    Level: 1

    Points: 10 (currency)

    basic property

    Blood: 100 (remaining)/100 (maximum)

    Blue: 50/50

    Physical attack: 20

    Physical Defense: 5

    Magic Defense: 5

    Strength value: 10

    Agility: 5

    Stamina value: 10

    hidden property

    Gnosis: 3

    Lucky value: 1

    Charm value: 2

    Mental power: 1

    special value

    Reputation: 0

    Glory: 0

    Number of player kills: 0

    Individual combat power assessment: 50

    Professional Passive: Accurate Hit, Blood Recovery, Blue Recovery

    [Accurate Hit]: Level 1 passive, card throwing attack hit rate increased by 30%, three card attacks, must hit once.

    [Blood Recovery]: Level 1 passive, 0.1% per second after a drop in blood level occurs.

    [Blue Recovery]: Level 1 passive, 1% of total blue recovery per second after blue drops.

    Equipment slot: 1

    Number of deck cards: 11

    Number of cards in pack: 0/10

    Card Fragments: 0

    Note: Every time you upgrade, you will receive an increase in your basic attributes, and your own blood and blue levels will be returned to full; for every two levels, you will receive a random card draw opportunity, and the upper limit of the number of cards in your pack will be increased by 2; for every five levels, you will receive an opportunity for a passive upgrade of your profession, and your equipment slots will be automatically increased by one as well."

    Just after reading the personal panel, without giving Ye Su time to react, the mechanical voice sounded again.

    Next, please check your card information to learn about your card. The system will also explain to you the introductory knowledge about the cards.

    Cards can be obtained through mall purchases, fragment synthesis, monster-killing drops, and system rewards.

    A card vault is a place where cards are stored, with no upper limit on card storage. Card packs are where cards used in battle are stored, and have a storage limit, but this limit can be constantly raised through upgrades or special system rewards. When you run out of cards in battle, they will be returned to the pack. If you want to replace the cards in the card pack, it will take at least an hour before you can replace one, so please pay attention to card selection when placing cards.

    Equipment slots, which can only be used to hold equipment cards, are placed in equipment slots and do not take up pack space.

    Cards are categorized by type: point cards, skill cards, special cards, and equipment cards ......

    Generally only skill cards require blue consumption, while other types of cards do not.

    Cards are divided into nine levels of red, orange, yellow, green, green, blue, purple, black and white, from low to high, based on rarity, power and so on, and this level can be understood by looking at the color of the border on the front of the card. In addition, the higher the level, the greater the amount of blue required to use a skill card.

    When fighting with cards, try to put some distance between you and your opponent or look for Awakener teammates to help you create a good output environment ......

    Accompanied by the introductory voice, just like a newbie guide in an online game, the position of Kaku in the personal panel flashed white.

    Ye Su merely thought of checking the card bank in his mind, and a finger was instantly gently clicked the card bank.

    The card library opened instantly, and eleven cards were placed inside, categorized.

    Ye Su gazed over.

    "Point cards: [Level 1 Blue Crystal], [Blue Volume Surge], [Quick as Lightning], [Hong Luck]

    Skill Cards: [Level 1 Fireball], [Level 1 Ice Arrow], [Summon Holy Sword], [Death Entanglement], [Freeze Trap]

    Special card: [Dipping card]

    Equipment Card: [Magic Believer]"

    Following the method just now, Ye Su's mind was thinking of checking the card information of the [Level 1 Blue Crystal], that finger really did appear again, pointing on top of the [Level 1 Blue Crystal] card, and the relevant information immediately appeared.

    [Level 1 Blue Crystal]: after use, gain 10 points of blue. Cooldown: 1 minute.

    It's kind of amazing!

    Ye Su inwardly let out a slight marvel.

    Immediately after that, Ye Su curiously tapped to check the information of the rest of the cards.

    [Raging Blue Volume]: after using it, one's blue value instantly returns to full, while the following two uses of the skill card will not consume any blue volume. Cooldown time: 30 minutes!

    [Fast as Lightning]: after using it, increase your agility value by 10 + 20% of yourself for 10 seconds. Cooldown time: 1 hour.

    [Honour Luck]: after using it, increase your luck value by 5 + 20% of yourself for 10 seconds. Cooldown time: 1 hour.

    [Level 1 Fireball]: consume 5 points of blue to summon a flame that attacks within 10 meters, upon hitting the target, it will inflict 10 points of fire magic damage value on the target and gain a burning effect that lasts for 10 seconds, and while in the burning state, it inflicts 1 point of damage per second on the target. No cooldown.

    [Level 1 Ice Arrow]: consume 5 points of blue to summon an ice arrow that attacks within 10 meters, and when it hits the target, it will inflict 10 points of Ice Magic Damage Value on the target, with a one percent chance of freezing the target. No cooldown time.

    [Frozen Trap]: consumes 5 points of blue, allows you to set up a frozen trap anywhere within a five meter radius of yourself, after the target enters the trap, it will be frozen and deal 50 points of Ice Magic damage to it. Note: The more powerful the target, the less time it will be frozen. Cooldown: 5 minutes!

    [Summon Holy Sword]: consume 40 blue points to summon a holy sword, when using this weapon in close combat, every five hits on the target will randomly trigger the effect of a skill card in the pack, no blue consumption. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

    ......

    [Dip Card]: while completely immune to the target's next attack, and will directly transform its attack into a skill card of its own, the skill card does not occupy a card pack position, while the skill card can only be used once. Cooldown: 1 hour, when the unused skill cards converted by the Dip Card reach a total of three in the card pack, the Dip Card will become unusable.

    [Magic Believer]: every 2 points of blue restored will deal 1 point of damage to targets within a 20 meter radius, and if the number of targets is greater than 1, it will prioritize the target with the least amount of blood.

    Just after reading the card information, that icy voice also suddenly fell silent for a moment.

    A few seconds later.

    Please note that the closest copy to you will be opened in three hours, and the coordinates of the center of the copy are 119.8s;33.78w!

    This replica is a level D replica with a replica range of 50 kilometers in a radius, so please go within the replica range as soon as possible. Failure to enter the replica before it opens, or being killed in the replica as well as quitting in the middle of the replica, will result in severe penalties!

    Extra tip: Every awakened person, has only three lives!

Chapter 04: None of this is a dream

    Wake up at nine.

    Ye Su looked around, or his own familiar and incomparable room, the electric fan that was turned on before going to bed is still whimpering and shaking its head, the old Zhang's family next door is quarreling as usual, the husky raised by the family upstairs is learning to bark at the wolves as usual, and as usual, everything has not changed in any way.

    Whew!!!

    For no reason, Ye Su heaved a sigh of relief, and a few more points of relief and regret appeared in his expression.

    Afterwards, Ye Su just lay on the bed, his eyes staring straight at the ceiling, recalling everything from last night.

    Everything is just like the real thing.

    Nine-thirty in the morning.

    Ye Su finally came back to his senses, sat up from the bed, stretched, wiped his drowsy eyes, and muttered to himself.

    Should be dreaming!

    Awakened? Card Master ...... All of this should be a daydream, after all, during this period of time, those players have brought a little too much pressure on themselves, plus they have been addicted to writing and letting their brains fly all day long, which caused them to have that dream last night!

    Ye Su quickly found himself a rather reasonable explanation.

    Inwardly, he was also completely open to this explanation.

    Get dressed, wash up, and go downstairs for breakfast.

    At nine fifty, Ye Su sat in front of his computer, clicked on his writer's background, and daily checked the data of his works from the previous day.

    Average subscription plus 1, total subscription increased by 5800, favorites increased by 243, recommended votes increased by 108, reward increased by 0.

    As always, the numbers are up and down.

    DUH DUH DUH!!!

    Accompanied by the sharp vibration of his cell phone, Ye Su, who was checking the readers' replies, received a message from the administrator of the readers' group, Hatsumomo.

    Salty, you said at the beginning of the year that you were going to start a new book, and now it's summer vacation, are you ready?

    Starting a new book?

    Ye Su slapped his head and almost forgot about it.

    Ye Su clicked on the readers group, and it was like an explosion inside.

    Author, I just got out of summer vacation, and you were talking about the new book in the group when I was on winter break!

    Nine-four, are you sneaking around and opening a small number.

    Brother Salty, are you lying to us? I've been waiting for almost half a year for the promised opening of a new book!

    ......

    Looking at these messages, Ye Su thought of that winter vacation.

    I've been a little slow in updating because I had something going on with myself at first.

    A reader asked about it, and he or she casually mentioned to the group that they had been working on a new book recently.

    In fact, later also really in preparation for the new book, Ye Su got four or five outline settings, one is not satisfied.

    The matter was slowly put on hold.

    Now suddenly being asked, although Ye Su had a burst of mmp in his heart, but nay these reader lords are all God.

    God is the greatest of all.

    The gods have asked you a question, and Ye Su has to answer even if he doesn't.

    After a moment of thought, Ye Su suddenly thought of the title of the book [Player Must Die] that Qiudu had said during yesterday's party, and at the same time associated it with what had happened to him recently.

    Ye Su smiled at the corner of his mouth, then skillfully typed in the group chat input interface.

    Everyone is not in a hurry. The new book will be opened in the next two days, and the name will be [The Player Must Die], which focuses on the player invading the world and the protagonist becoming an awakened person ......

    But just as the message was written, the phone just suddenly went black.

    When Ye Su was suspecting that the cell phone was broken, the icy voice that rang in his dream last night, at this time, it was clearly ringing again.

    Please note that you are currently revealing secrets about the Awakened, a serious violation of the system's rules, and you will be punished next.

    However, since this system did not tell you about the rule, and also you are a first time offender, the punishment is reduced. The punishment has changed from dying once to having your height reduced by ten centimeters! This punishment will begin after the end of the replica, and if you have not died once in the replica and persist in it until the end of the replica, then you will be exempted from the punishment.

    Extra tip: There are thirty-one minutes and fifty-six seconds left before the copy opens! You are currently within range of the copy, as an Awakened entering the copy for the first time, please familiarize yourself with your profession as soon as possible.

    After the icy voice disappeared, Ye Su's cell phone resumed its normal state, and the readers' group on his cell phone, was already blocked.

    While at this moment, Ye Su did not focus on this matter, his mind was always recalling the voice he had just heard.

    It took a while for him to come back to his senses, learning to follow the same behavior as he had done yesterday in his dream, and turning his attention directly to his own brain, thinking about personal panels.

    In the next moment, Ye Su saw a transparent panel that was suspended in his mind.

    Ye Su chanted softly under his breath.

    First class blue crystal card!

    The moment the words fell, Ye Su realized that in his hand, a card had appeared out of nowhere.

    The texture of the card was smooth, the weight was no different from an ordinary playing card, but it was so hard that Ye Su's fingers exerted a slight force without causing the slightest bending to it.