"All right, that should be the last one. Looks like we've filled today's recruitment quota for the Lord God."
The man leading the group waved his hand. The others in black lowered their weapons, exchanging idle conversation.
"No way there's anyone else coming. Lately, people have been way too careless. Everyone thinks the Lord God's Space is some fun little game."
"Yeah, they all act like they're the protagonist in a novel or something. Then they end up dead."
"This newbie's not bad though. Let's celebrate with some barbecue tonight!"
"Stop jinxing it, man."
The men in black drifted out of the classroom in twos and threes. Only when they vanished from Qiu Wenjian's field of vision did everything around him return to normal.
Time began to flow again.
Just as Qiu Wenjian started to question whether he'd imagined the whole thing, his computer suddenly emitted a blinding light. Then, a powerful, irresistible force yanked him into the screen.
His classmates didn't react at all to his cries for help. It was as if nothing had happened.
What Qiu didn't know was that, the moment he was pulled into the computer, time in his world froze once more.
Scene Transition
Qiu Wenjian woke from unconsciousness.
Squinting, he realized he was lying on the ground.
Wherever he was, it definitely wasn't his university.
His school didn't have brick floors. Sure, it wasn't a prestigious university, but it wasn't so broke it had to resort to bricks instead of concrete.
Someone or something had moved him. Of that much he was certain.
He glanced around and saw other people lying nearby. He had no idea who they were or what they wanted, but a guess formed in his mind.
If everything that just happened wasn't a hallucination… then he had most likely ended up in the tired old trope of "the Lord God's Space" that always shows up in those infinite-world survival stories.
If he was right, this was probably the first world he'd been dropped into.
But still better not stand up right away. A few other people were still lying down too. No need to play the hero. Better to play dead for a bit and listen in. Might pick up something useful.
If there was any real danger, it would've struck while he was unconscious.
Lying perfectly still, Qiu didn't move a muscle. A short while later, the others around him started to wake up one by one.
"Huh? Where… where are we?"
A young man's voice, laced with confusion, broke the silence.
"Who are you?"
The voice asked again, more pointedly.
"Why won't you answer? Do you know something?"
The young man, clearly getting anxious, began bombarding someone else with questions.
"I'm not wasting my breath. We'll talk when everyone's awake. Until then, shut up."
The second voice was low and threatening. It made Qiu flinch despite himself.
Jeez, why'd he have to shout like that?
Trying to stay calm, Qiu made a few quick deductions. At least one person seemed to know what was going on and was watching the rest of them. And judging by that tone, he wasn't exactly the friendly type.
Qiu kept lying still. Hopefully, more people would pop up and start asking dumb questions. The more noise they made, the more he could quietly observe and piece things together. No way he was going to be some clueless pawn.
Unfortunately, the three people who woke up next two women and another man didn't ask anything useful.
All he could gather was that they were all young, judging by their voices.
Was this some kind of twisted pyramid scheme? Or maybe a trafficking ring? Rounding up young people to use as cannon fodder somewhere?
Unlikely… but not impossible.
There just wasn't enough info. Staying on the ground wasn't giving him anything new either. Time to try something else.
Maybe… the "Rookie Chat Group"?
If his consciousness really could link to some kind of chat system, then this situation might actually be real. But if he couldn't connect…
He'd already scoped out a rough escape route while squinting earlier. Crawling around to peek was exhausting, but he'd mapped out a path that, while risky, might just get him out.
He hadn't been tied up. That gave him options.
"I want to log into QQ?"
He thought it silently.
No response.
"Big Handsome here, requesting battle authorization?"
Still nothing.
Seriously? Couldn't they at least leave login instructions or something?
"Where's the group chat? I'm the new member! Didn't you guys say I could link up with my mind? Has the great F2 abandoned me?!"
"Oh, oops, sorry! I was rushing to clock out and forgot to tell you how to connect. Just think about joining the chat group, and it'll happen."
Just as Qiu was about to get up and make a break for it, a voice echoed in his mind, instantly snapping him to attention.
Okay… that felt real. Still, better keep watching and see what happens next.
Maybe someone hypnotized him? Couldn't rule it out.
Qiu didn't think he was anyone special just a regular college student but a healthy body alone was enough to catch the attention of shady people.
Maybe right now, the real him was lying in some dingy clinic, about to have a kidney harvested. If that were the case, he really needed to wake up fast.
"I want to enter the chat group."
Following the voice's instructions, he focused on that thought and suddenly, his consciousness snapped into a chat interface.
"Welcome, new member: Big Handsome here, requesting battle authorization!"