Chapter 1 The Beginning

Seconds later, a black humanoid object slowly rose from the shadows on the ground. It was about two meters tall, its body wrapped in congealed darkness, like a three-dimensional "shadow." But it was clearly not a regional optical phenomenon caused by an object blocking light; it was a true entity in three-dimensional space.

"The puddle outside the river analogy…" Feng Bujue ignored Samodier's less-than-brilliant entrance and continued his previous topic as if nothing had happened, "…is better suited to a whirlpool outside the River of Time."

"Although Einstein said that time and space are just illusions of human perception, merely parameters describing the movement of matter, in this magical world, we can treat them as something more real. It's something that must be kept running at all times, like water in a river, always flowing. If the water stops, then the river can no longer be called a river."

"Based on this view, since Samodier extracted this space, he must have also extracted a portion of 'time,' otherwise everything in this space would be static, including himself. But the amount of water he can take from the 'river' is limited, only thirty minutes. These thirty minutes belong only to this city and will cycle infinitely. Each time the cycle ends, there will be a few seconds of nothingness as a buffer. That dark moment is where the segments of the circular timeline connect. After passing through the buffer point, it's a new cycle."

The shadow circle beneath Samodier began to move, his humanoid body advancing with the black circle connected to his feet, approaching the five players.

"Jue-ge, any suggestions?" Wang Tanzhi didn't dare to act rashly and quickly asked.

The others were also waiting for Feng Bujue to say something.

"There shouldn't be anything special to do…" Feng Bujue said, "With the current plot development, the difficulty will definitely not be higher than choosing to go through the door." He then added, "Don't interrupt me, I'm not finished yet. In summary, the coming of darkness is just a phenomenon that occurs when reaching the connection point of the timeline; it's not some action implemented by Samodier."

"But why do the monsters get stronger every time the darkness descends? There's only one reason: that short period of darkness, which is not part of the time loop, is when Samodier can exert his full power. He can only do something in those few seconds, such as distributing power to the demons, or instantly devouring the humans in the city. Of course, before we arrived, he had already devoured everyone in the city, and we are so-called 'visitors from another world,' so he can't devour us."

"You mean… the Samodier in front of us isn't strong? At least weaker than the Boss we might encounter after going through the Demon Gate?" Long Aomin asked.

"If you want an example, it's like we are inside a balloon, as weak as ants, while Samodier is outside the balloon, as strong as a human. The inside and outside of the balloon are two insurmountable dimensions. He can't puncture the balloon; he can only blindly grab at it from outside, and what we see now is just the outline of his fingers pushing out the exterior of the balloon." Feng Bujue stroked his chin and said, "But I personally think… even so, his strength at this moment is definitely not as weak as you say; it's still very easy for him to kill us."

"Hey! Then why did you say so much so relaxedly! Run!" Lonely Little Bro pulled Lonely Little Sis and turned to run away.

Before they could take a few steps, they heard the system prompt: 【Worldview has been deciphered, player: Feng Bujue, awarded 240 skill points, the team can now view the world rules of this scenario in the expansion options of the task menu】

"If I didn't hurry up and 'say' it, how would I get these skill points?" Feng Bujue said, "Regarding worldview decryption, it has to be said verbally for the system to judge it."

The shadow of Samodier was already about ten meters away from Feng Bujue, but Feng Bujue still didn't plan to run away: "Besides, didn't I say not to do anything special? Since the Demon Gate is already closed…"

At this moment, the black shadow suddenly accelerated, and the volume of the humanoid object in the black circle instantly increased several times, turning into a huge black hand, rapidly pressing down on Feng Bujue.

But at the last moment, the big hand froze in mid-air, unmoving.

"Judging from the title…" Feng Bujue lowered his head slightly and walked out from under the black hand with ease, "…the *Lord of Time* should be a guy who is never late."

Soon, Samodier's shadow began to shrink sharply, as if there was a huge force pulling it into the space-time opposite the pool of shadows.

【One day… you… will… pay… the… price… not… too… long…】

"Heh… that's not good. Generally, saying lines like that means the villain will reappear sooner or later," Feng Bujue laughed.

The part of the black shadow protruding from the ground struggled wildly like a beast falling into a swamp, and then was completely pulled back. Then, the black circular shadow on the ground began to gradually shrink, disappearing completely after more than ten seconds.

【Travelers from another world, thank you for what you have done. After this place is purified, I can draw water back to its source, allowing it to flow back into the River of Time】

A different voice from Samodier appeared in everyone's minds. This voice sounded typical; most of the older wise men in games have this kind of voice.

【You have received a reward from the Lord of Time, please check the settlement screen】 The system voice then sounded.

【The current task is complete, all main tasks have been completed】

【You have completed this scenario, automatic teleportation in 180 seconds】

The automatic teleportation time limit for team mode is longer, apparently considering that players may need to communicate.

Wang Tanzhi immediately sat down on the ground, his tense nerves relaxed, and his fear value finally returned to the bottom.

Lonely Little Bro and Lonely Little Sis also breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling of surviving to the end for the first time was too good.

Long Aomin remained relatively calm. He put away his weapons and shield and took advantage of the minute he had left to say to Feng Bujue, "Brother Feng." At this moment, the address changed back to Brother Feng. "I still have one question I don't understand."

Feng Bujue said, "What is it?"

"It's a question about time," Long Aomin said. "As you said, from the moment we entered the scenario, we haven't seen any clocks or timing devices. So how did you calculate how long it was between the two periods of darkness? I remember you said 'about thirty minutes' when we arrived at the Demon Gate."

"Because I've been timing it," Feng Bujue replied. "As soon as I entered the scenario, I noticed an abnormality: how could there be no electronic clocks in the subway station? Later, I didn't see anything that could tell time on the surface either. After the first darkness descended, I started to calculate the time. By the time we got to the police station, when the second darkness descended, I calculated it to be about thirty minutes."

"Right, that's what I wanted to ask. Without clocks, how did you keep time?" Long Aomin said.

"By counting," Feng Bujue replied. "Counting silently in my mind, three hundred and one count is five minutes. When not moving, you can use your pulse to replace it. Didn't you see that I kept my right hand on my left hand when I was mostly idle? That's the human body's own timer. In that state, my pulse is 77 beats per minute." He knew his pulse rate clearly because he had spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital, undergoing countless tests, so he understood all the indicators of his body. "The time calculated by counting my pulse is actually more accurate than counting silently in my mind, and I don't need to use my brain to control the frequency of counting. It's a lazy way to do it. By alternating between counting pulses and silently counting seconds when my concentration decreases, the calculated time won't be too different. If you don't believe me, you can try it at home for half an hour or an hour. You can also do other things that distract you during this time; it's actually just a task that requires patience."

"No need… I understand. Thank you for your guidance." Not only Long Aomin, but Lonely Little Bro and Lonely Little Sis, who were listening to these words from the side, looked at Feng Bujue as if they were looking at some kind of monster.

Wang Tanzhi was already used to it anyway. He had seen all kinds of scenes after knowing Feng Bujue for so many years. If someone came to tell him that aliens had invaded the Earth, he would probably be skeptical; but if someone told him that Feng Bujue was actually an alien, he might believe it.

"I won't say much more, everyone. We're about to teleport. Let's say goodbye here," Feng Bujue said.

Lonely Little Bro and Lonely Little Sis said a few words of thanks and then said goodbye to the other three. They quickly turned into white light and left the scenario.

Long Aomin didn't teleport immediately. After the two disappeared, he said, "Brother Feng, Brother Wang, how about we add each other as friends?"

He made this suggestion not because he was hoping to cling to their coattails; it was too early to talk about clinging to coattails. Today was only the first day of the closed beta, and there wouldn't be much difference in level between professional players, ordinary players, and casual players. Although Feng Bujue seemed to have the potential to be a pro player, it was hard to say whether he would be online regularly in the future.

The main reason Long Aomin wanted to add this friend was because Feng Bujue had handed over a Fine quality equipment to him without hesitation earlier. Although the equipment itself couldn't be said to have much value, it was difficult to unconditionally trust a stranger these days. Based on this alone, this friend was worth adding.

As for Wang Tanzhi, he was obviously queuing up with Feng Bujue, and of course Long Aomin couldn't just add Feng Bujue alone. Moreover, judging from his performance in the battle with the Blood Corpse, although this guy was timid, his skills were not bad. Even if he wasn't a pro player, he wouldn't necessarily be a hindrance.

"Sure, let's talk again when we get back to the login space. Let's go see the settlement situation first," Feng Bujue responded.

The three greeted each other and then left the scenario.

Just after all the players had left, the Demon Gate suddenly trembled again, as if on the other side of the door, some unknown creature was slamming against the magic-forged door…

A white light flashed before his eyes, and Feng Bujue returned to the login space. System prompts sounded in succession:

【You have leveled up to level 11, Stamina limit increased, currently 1100/1100】

【Title system unlocked, you have obtained the title – Cold-Blooded Headshot Maniac】

Afterward, he shifted his gaze to the display screen on the wall. The screen already showed the settlement situation after clearing the scenario.