Chapter 103

Chapter 103: This Thing Is More Useful Than Magic

Being invincible in a single-player game makes it lose all its fun.  

Being invincible in an open-world game with PvP? Then your ID becomes legendary in the community—but in real life, you’re still just another nobody. 

Unless, of course, a single Dragon-Slaying Sword in the game is worth tens of millions.  

Now, expand that scope further—absolute dominance across the entire internet…  

At that point, you become like a shadow king. Anyone who displeases you gets doxxed, their personal information paraded online for all to see. 

You can cheat in games without fear of bans, and anyone who dares oppose you gets a taste of social annihilation.  

Hell, you could even flash a creepy face on your enemy’s screen mid-argument.  

Better yet, the moment you realize your power, you can alter the data from any device measuring your abilities. No one but you will ever know your true strength.  

You can do whatever you want. No one can judge you. No one can catch you.  

Amari Yota was precisely this kind of uncrowned king—an untouchable god in the digital world.  

And yet, he didn’t even need his identity exposed to be in danger. Just stepping outside carried the slightest chance of getting run over by a car.  

The searing pain of his throat being slit made it clear—in the real world, he was still pathetically weak. Any random person with a knife could end him, no different from an ordinary man.  

But now? That wasn’t a concern anymore.  

Because he was already dead.  

He didn’t understand the mechanics—maybe his brain matter had splattered into some wires—but the result was the same. 

His consciousness had no physical form anymore, fully integrated into the digital world. Here, he could keep doing everything he used to, without ever fearing “death” again.  

He could even use his powers to affect reality, treating human brains like computers…  

This was evolution.  

Not that he understands the science behind it. He was a dropout who barely scraped through compulsory education—if he were smarter, he wouldn’t have squandered his Level 5 abilities like this.  

The gist of it? Using games as a medium, he could tap into people’s brainwaves. When their will was weakest—during sleep—he could pull them into a simple game of his own making.  

The best part? He could also erase anyone in his game world at will. No more petty cyberbullying—this was true, absolute domination.  

How many players were in his Dream Game now? 150 million. Still too few. But the crisis he was creating already rivaled the legendary Level 5 Great Destruction.  

…He felt a little empty.  

Even with all this power, he lacked the grand ambitions of a true ruler. All he had were his twisted little hobbies—hence, the Dream Game.  

“You all talk so much trash online. Now that I’ve given you a chance, why have only 10,000 of you died?”  

Meh. Plenty of web novel protagonists started without ideals, growing stronger by accident or because some “Soul Palace” kept hunting them down.  

What should you do with overwhelming power? Become the ultimate tyrant, of course.  

Back in the real world, he couldn’t even buy instant noodles without cringing at his own otaku aura. Now? He looked down on everyone.  

Oh, right. Among these players, there was one who stood out.  

A boy named Mi Xiaoliu.  

His records only dated back to March. Almost no traces existed before that. Though his profile claimed he was from the Fallen City, there were zero accounts or digital footprints tying him there.  

It was like he’d popped into existence out of nowhere. Stranger still? He had no fingerprint records. The ones submitted to his school were faked.  

The police would’ve never noticed. But against Yota’s power? Nothing hidden in digital records could escape him.  

This was the first.  

And damn, this kid was cold. Killing without hesitation, no remorse. Was he really 13?  

(Well, technically, Yota had been the one to finish the job—after Mi Xiaoliu “killed” Jenny Majian in-game, Yota made sure the real Jenny suffered brain death.)  

Right now, Yota’s consciousness hovered high above Mi Xiaoliu, invisible… or at least, he should’ve been.  

Yet the boy looked up—directly at him—for two full seconds.  

A chill crawled down Yota’s spine…  

But the moment passed. Mi Xiaoliu was busy fighting a [Boss] with Yiwen—the Flame Wolf King.  

Yiwen pretended to falter, luring the beast in.  

Seizing the opening, Mi Xiaoliu double-jumped, cast a binding spell, and whacked the Flame Wolf King’s skull with her staff.

A single hit only brought the boss to critical health without finishing it off. It seemed the [Boss] were starting to get tougher in difficulty.  

“Alright, Xiaoliu, step back. My turn.” Yiwen motioned for him to retreat as she moved in for the killing blow.  

It wasn’t about stealing EXP—team kills shared rewards equally. But Yiwen had recently discovered a hidden trait of hers: 100% drop rate.  

Maybe it was the game’s way of balancing things out. Normally, a boss would drop one piece of loot—if any at all. But if Yiwen landed the final hit? Every possible drop spilled out at once.  

Rubbing her hands together, she eagerly opened the treasure chest to divvy up the spoils.  

A sleek set of armor. In their current situation, defense gear was far more valuable than weapons. Higher resistance meant an easier time surviving in this brutal game.  

“Here, Xiaoliu, equip this.” Yiwen handed the armor over.  

Mi Xiaoliu obediently put it on, then passed her old set to Yiwen.  

This had been their routine for a while now. Yiwen insisted—compared to her, Mi Xiaoliu was in far greater danger from other players.  

For one glaring reason:  

Mi Xiaoliu [Players Killed: 1]

A scarlet notation trailing her name.  

The game’s manual had never mentioned this feature. 

Clearly, the developers had a twisted sense of humor.  

Now, they had to avoid others at all costs.  

In the open world, aside from monster-spawning dungeons, there was nowhere to hide from other players. Thousands crammed into the same server—meaning they either grinded endlessly or risked getting mobbed in public zones, especially with that red name painting a target on their backs.  

Explanations were useless. Yiwen had learned that the hard way a year ago. Online, people always assumed the worst—and acted on it without hesitation.  

Humans had two faces, one in reality, another in the digital world.  

“We need to level up fast.” Only strength could shield them from harm.  

Aside from the armor, the [Boss] had also dropped a weapon—which Yiwen also passed to Mi Xiaoliu.  

[Blue Flame Hand Cannon]  

A sleek, black minigun with a shape-shifting function. No damage values listed.  

Each shot consumed mana, with cost varying by form. The higher the user’s max MP, the deadlier the firepower.  

Yiwen’s total mana pool wasn’t even a third of Mi Xiaoliu’s. The game allowed mid-play rerolls—while she’d stuck with the warrior class, Mi Xiaoliu had gone full mage. This weapon belonged in her hands.  

Once again, Yiwen felt the developers’ spite oozing from the design.  

Like later, when the village chief reappeared in a questline, peddling “essential” adventure gear at extortionate prices—refuse, and the map became impassable.  

Only for Mi Xiaoliu, blessed by RNGesus, to accidentally trigger a hidden plotline—revealing the village chief, his daughter, and grandson were all secretly working for the Demon King’s Army, scamming Yiwen out of her hard-earned gold…  

Mi Xiaoliu blinked at the strange weapon in her hands.  

It looked odd, but she’d seen these on TV before.  

She raised the minigun—  

BRRRRRRT!  

The entire ruin wall disintegrated under the barrage.  

Mi Xiaoliu tilted her head.  

“…This is better than magic.”  

She seemed pleased.  

Yiwen, however, just stared in silence.  

From her perspective? A tiny, bespectacled kid in ancient-style armor, gleefully wielding a minigun…  

The image was beyond absurd. Maybe she should teach him (her) how to dress properly later—at least fix that hair.  

But the moment they left this place…  

She’d forget everything again.  

That’s right. Everything.  

When will this game ever end?  

Yiwen turned to Mi Xiaoliu—only to find him (her) staring intently at the sky.  

“What’s wrong?”  

“…Someone’s there.”  

Amari Yota immediately teleported away.  

That brat—he (she) could actually see him!