Chapter 35: Game Origin

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Game Origin

WHIRRR!

Five metal threads spun rapidly, directly shredding the ground into dirt and debris, which slowly caved inward.

Soon, a large, circular pit appeared in the street. Chen Qi had opened a passage underground.

Although he really didn’t want to crawl into a sewer, Chen Qi had to do it himself to be safe and drag this big black dog out.

Perhaps because he’d been away from the slums for too long, Chen Qi found it a little hard to readjust to the familiar atmosphere.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

Chen Qi made his way through the sewer and quickly found the large black dog paralyzed on the ground.

WOOF! WOOF!

The large black dog stared at Chen Qi in terror, seemingly recognizing him.

"Go on, bark. No one will come to save you even if you bark your throat raw!"

Chen Qi shamelessly tugged on the large black dog’s single horn. ’It’s actually real,’ he thought.

The large black dog’s eyes were filled with fury, but it couldn’t move any part of its body except for its head.

"We’re old acquaintances, so let’s skip the pleasantries."

"If you cooperate with me obediently for a few experiments, I’ll let you go!"

While teasing the dog, Chen Qi carefully sensed the changes in his Puppet Threads.

Although the large black dog didn’t understand what this human was saying, that didn’t stop it from sensing his undisguised malice.

At this critical moment, it followed its old instincts and tried to reconcile the two forces within its body.

Just as the two forces were about to reach a balance again, that damnable source of interference reappeared.

Under Chen Qi’s control, the dog immediately coughed up a large amount of blood and became completely listless.

’A dog like you wouldn’t understand the ’self-inflicted injury’ ploy, anyway.’

Chen Qi retracted his Puppet Threads with satisfaction. The conflict inside the dog’s body wouldn’t calm down for at least four or five days.

At this stage, it was a dog on a chopping block, just one step away from being served.

WHIMPER! WHIMPER!

The large black dog’s eyes were filled with pleading, but unfortunately, Chen Qi paid it no mind.

He hadn’t forgotten how, when they first met, this dog had stared at him, its mouth dripping with drool.

If not for the fact that the dog’s blood might be poisonous, Chen Qi would have considered tearing off one of its legs to have a taste.

"Leiteri, you can come down and drag the dog out now!"

Since the dog had completely lost its ability to resist, Chen Qi had no intention of carrying it out himself.

After giving orders to the people on the surface, Chen Qi glanced around out of boredom.

Although the tunnel was very dark, Chen Qi casually adjusted the focus of his pupils, and his field of vision brightened.

By now, Chen Qi had already trained his Red Falcon Fist to the Master Level.

Chen Qi had modified the "Eye-Witness" technique possessed by a Martial Arts Master, turning it into his own unique ability.

Now, even without using his [Body Control] ability, he could freely adjust his vision to achieve [Telescope] and [Dark Vision].

Unfortunately, the Dynamic Capture ability required even greater control over his eye muscles, so he would have to wait until his Red Falcon Fist reached the Grandmaster Level.

······

’This seems to be the dog’s lair?’

This section of the sewer was surprisingly clean. Chen Qi even found a dog bed not far away.

The dog bed was built from discarded human clothing and a sofa. From an artistic standpoint, it was definitely built by the dog itself.

Chen Qi shamelessly rummaged through the dog bed but found no unexpected treasures.

This dog was too Zen; it didn’t even bother to drag a single bone back to its den.

There was nothing but dog fur.

"Huh?"

Chen Qi’s gaze swept across the wall next to the dog bed, and he noticed some scratch marks.

It looked like a place where the dog sharpened its claws, but among the scratches, Chen Qi keenly spotted handwriting left by a human.

This immediately captured Chen Qi’s attention.

"Hate... I hate him so much... That bastard Gutaf lied to us!"

The words seemed to have been forcefully carved into the wall with a finger. The handwriting was not only filled with hatred but also stained with dark blood.

’Interesting. A real surprise after all!’

The carvings were in the common human language. After recognizing the name "Gutaf," Chen Qi knew he had hit the jackpot today.

"Why? Why is it different from what was promised?"

"After that game started running, we did indeed obtain [Positions] and [Talents], but what we lost was our lifespan."

"Hate! Why are we aging so rapidly? While that bastard Gutaf is regaining his youth."

"Everything is just as Morici said. This is a trap!"

"Gutaf has obtained long life, while we have become disposable pawns!"

"Hate, hate, HATE! Why can’t we kill him?! Heaven destroy the Lanyu Kingdom!"

Toward the end of the carvings, one could even faintly see fragments of bone embedded within them. It was clear just how bone-deep the hatred of the person who wrote this last testament was.

’Although I don’t know who you were, you must have been one of the meritorious officials who helped Gutaf ascend the throne, one of the first-generation players of the King’s Game!’

This was easy to deduce, especially after Chen Qi had obtained "that manuscript."

This person in the sewer had probably survived the "Bloody Coup" by a stroke of luck, but for some unknown reason, ended up dying here anyway.

The Bloody Coup took place 10 years after Gutaf’s ascension, which was just over 30 years ago. Combining this with the timing of the Dog of Death’s appearance...

...Chen Qi could easily reach a conclusion: the large black dog had mutated after eating this first-generation player.

"He" was the root cause of the Dog of Death’s birth!

······

However, Chen Qi’s most important discovery wasn’t digging up the big black dog’s background, but learning the truth behind the "Bloody Coup."

From this first-generation player’s last words, Chen Qi could draw two conclusions.

First, before the King’s Game was created, or rather, before Gutaf ascended the throne, he was just a Mortal. Otherwise, he would have had no need to rally others for support.

And his bargaining chips for winning over subordinates, besides power and money, must have included [Player Status].

If the rumor Plum Blossom 10 heard was true, the King’s Game was initially just a production and management type of game. In that case, the [Talents] possessed by the first-generation players were most likely some kind of [Profession] bonus.

For example, the [Prime Minister] Card possessed the [Talent] "adept at coordinating and handling various affairs."

Chen Qi had also received a clear answer on this point from Plum Blossom 10.

In fact, he had asked so many questions that the latter had almost blocked him.

From this, it was clear that before the King’s Game was upgraded to a combat-type game, [Players] didn’t have [Superpowers] at all.

And this also fit with another of Chen Qi’s speculations!

Namely, the game required Energy to run!

The [Initial] source of this Energy most likely came from the players.

That was why the first-generation players had their lifespans drained. And why they only possessed talents, not Superpowers.

This was because the initial King’s Game was still weak and needed "subjects to make offerings to the King."

And this was probably the "hidden game rule" that Gutaf never explicitly told the [First-Generation Players]!

Once the game’s operation stabilized and covered the entire Lanyu Kingdom, the Energy needed to sustain it was shouldered by the entire population.

By then, the game was already very powerful, which led to the appearance of [Superpowers].

As for the second conclusion Chen Qi reached, it was utterly astounding!

The one who left the last words believed Gutaf had obtained long life, but Chen Qi had guessed *how* Gutaf obtained it.

Gutaf bound the King’s Game to the Lanyu Kingdom, and bound the [King] to himself.

As long as the Monarchy of the Lanyu Kingdom did not fall, the King’s Game would continue to run, and the [King] would forever be Gutaf, and only Gutaf.

In this way, Gutaf could live forever—100 years, 200 years, 300 years, 500 years...

This was probably the "original intention" of the 68-year-old Gutaf when he created this game.

Although he didn’t know how Gutaf had done it, Chen Qi was now certain that the creator of the King’s Game could only be a human.

A mythical being like a Demon wouldn’t covet a mere few hundred years of life!