GDYARVE ## Chapter 12:
## Chapter 12:
After much effort to find the passage to the next level, he once again missed the time limit.
Clear time: 4 minutes 16 seconds.
Brother Yin: …
"Unbelievable, he's truly something else!" Brother Yin didn't know whether to praise or curse. He even had a premonition that if he restarted another game, the map would change again.
The two-minute door limit seemed to be designed to torment perfectionists and those with OCD.
"This time, let's continue with the game. At least after we get familiar with its mechanics, we can reconsider the no-damage thirty kills and the two-minute door."
Brother Yin immediately chose to give up. With a new game, there was no need to waste too much time on such trivial things during the first playthrough.
Many things that were missed could be completed later if the game was engaging enough to keep playing.
He controlled his character to jump down the steps ahead, into a giant container filled with strange liquid.
Petri dishes were connected by numerous pipes, with only a few candles burning in the dim environment.
In front of the giant container stood a person wearing a blue cloak and carrying a blue syringe.
This NPC had syringes chained to his back, and if you looked closely, there seemed to be something inside.
Ice-blue round objects constantly twisted, looking like the cells we had been collecting during the game.
【Hehe, look who it is...】
【You can call me the Collector. I might be the only friend you'll find here.】
【If you give me the cells you plundered from enemies, I can give you some very useful things...】
【If you find blueprints, I might be able to offer you some more... experimental items.】
Then a trading interface popped up.
The right side of the interface showed the number of cells he had, while the left side showed the items he could exchange for.
But after a quick glance, besides the health flask, there didn't seem to be anything else worth unlocking.
After a few random clicks, he spent all his cells.
Leaving the Collector’s room, he saw another mutation merchant.
This merchant didn’t need cells but required coins.
There were still red, green, and purple mutations.
"Wow, the game’s system is indeed rich. Once I get the hang of it, you guys can try it out. Although I’ve only played one level, the game should be fine," Brother Yin nodded in approval.
He quickly entered the next level, the Promenade of the Condemned.
A corpse hung from an execution platform by chains. In this world full of chains and cages, it looked quite fitting.
The forest, which should have been a pleasant rural scene, was now filled with an aura of sin.
This area wasn’t as dark as the sewers; it had reached the outside world. The background was filled with chains, and birdcage-like iron cages hung from the branches.
But everyone knew these weren’t real birdcages.
As soon as he emerged, a few monsters appeared. Unlike before, the monsters were more diverse in form.
Some monsters even had transparent pink shields around them.
A single slash bounced off, with the shielded monsters taking no damage.
A faint pink electric line from the shielded monsters led in a direction.
Brother Yin ran in the direction of the electric line, pursued by the monsters, until he saw an orange doll continuously sending shield energy to the monsters.
After slashing a few times, he destroyed the orange doll, and the monsters' shields quickly disappeared.
"The game is getting interesting." Brother Yin's lips curved in a clever smile as he discovered a new and intriguing game mechanic, feeling a bit of joy.
But soon, he found an armored warrior with a machete crossing the platform to attack him.
A swarm of monsters rushed at him.
On an inescapable platform, monsters attacked from both behind and in front.
“Wow, guys, aren’t you taking turns?” Brother Yin struggled to retaliate but, in his attempts to dodge, also alerted the moths hanging from the platform above.
This time, he was surrounded by monsters from all directions.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to dodge, but it was impossible to avoid.
Monsters threw projectiles and launched ranged attacks, while others wielded machetes, and moths flew overhead...
It was enough to make Brother Yin's head spin.
His limited health quickly depleted, and soon he was on the brink.
"Hey, these things don’t play fair!" Brother Yin kept shouting, but his cries didn’t stop the monsters' attacks.
Watching his health bar empty and the screen darken, Brother Yin didn’t think much of it. To him, this was only the second level. Even if he died and revived countless times, it would still start from the Promenade of the Condemned.
When the screen brightened again, and he saw the familiar execution platform, the familiar giant remains, and the familiar prisoner’s cell, he was dumbfounded.
Restart from the first level after dying?
No way, buddy? Is it really that brutal?
He immediately thought it was impossible and must be a mistake.
But remembering that this game was made by the studio behind Getting Over It, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
—Hiss
Other studios might not create something so cruel, but this studio certainly could.
He reopened the game’s homepage and stared at a line of text in the game description that sent chills down his spine.
Always in danger, death always looms, no checkpoints, only killing, dying, learning, repeating!
"What the..." Brother Yin was completely stunned, "Do I really have to start all over again…"
Seeing his disheartened look, everyone’s memories of the suffering from Getting Over It resurfaced.
‘Don’t even mention it; my blood pressure is rising...’
‘I thought "repeat" was a joke, but when I saw it actually repeat, my blood boiled!’
‘Brothers, stop talking, I’ve already repeated twice. I wanted to quit, but the game is just too fun!’
‘When I played, I saw an item behind a door, and it said I could take it for 1000 coins. I thought all doors could be broken, so I broke it. Well, I got cursed by the gods…’
Offering coins allowed taking the item; breaking the door resulted in the Curse of the Gods.
Under the curse, taking any damage (including poison) would result in instant death—killing a certain number of monsters could lift the curse.
Posting two chapters daily, please try not to stockpile chapters. Competition is intense, and the audience for game literature is small. It’s hard to compete with others. Just checking in daily is a great support for me.
T^T
(End of this chapter)