ICSST Ch2: New World

While Zhou Qi’an was eagerly pledging his allegiance, among the veteran players, a strong man whispered to a young girl, “Sister, when you’re using someone as a shield, consider him last.”

Such a beast, obviously suspicious and perverted, was not easy to deal with.

Anyway, for others, it was a multiple-choice question, but for Zhou Qi’an, it was a buzzer question.

Taking apart a rice cooker was something you could do with your hands.

Mr. Si’s red eyes exaggeratedly blinked twice, urging the remaining two new players for their answers.

The prospective college student had no hesitation. The teacher had been a great benefactor to him, so he shook his head decisively.

It was the middle-aged man’s turn.

The middle-aged man’s success was entirely due to the great help of a former friend. After an unexpected meeting at the airport, he had planned to repay the friend by giving him shares. But after a sudden fog, he inexplicably arrived at this place.

Having been in the world of fame and fortune for too long, under Mr. Si’s intense gaze, he opened his mouth.

“A wise choice.”

Realizing he had agreed, the middle-aged man lowered his head in shame.

Mr. Si grinned widely, said “Very good,” snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

The middle-aged man anxiously looked around and asked, “Where is he?”

“Where did that rabbit go?”

“Annoying, isn’t he?” An old player dug at his ear and said, “Just wait.”

“Will my friend…” The middle-aged man was eager to confirm the consequences of his previous choice. Seeing his fuss, the old player shrugged indifferently, “Each operator gives different small benefits; who knows what the result of the choice will be?”

Another old player sneered, “Good and bad are always relative.”

The sound of wheels interrupted him, and a conspicuous rabbit-headed bus approached. The bus made a drifting turn at the bend, stopping beside them with a sharp screech.

Mr. Si’s terrifying rabbit head poked out, “Get on.”

The veteran players boarded skillfully, and the new players followed suit.

The bus was full of empty seats; no one wanted to sit near Zhou Qi’an. Compared to his quick response, the middle-aged man’s struggle seemed more human.

Zhou Qi’an was happy to be relaxed.

People are bullies of the weak; if this were a place needing unity, he would certainly appear harmless and hardworking. But the looks the veteran players gave them were not friendly, so a vicious and sinister persona was necessary now.

People would subconsciously guard against being harmed by him rather than harming him.

“Where are we going?” The prospective college student asked timidly.

An old player sat next to him voluntarily and explained, “It’s like playing a game; now we’re entering an instance.”

A businessman can always get to the core interest. The middle-aged man asked urgently, “Earlier, it was said being chosen to come here was an honor. Where’s the honor in it?”

The old player asked an unrelated question, “What are the ancestors of humans?”

“Nuwa?”

The old player glanced at him.

The middle-aged man awkwardly said, “Apes.”

The old player still didn’t speak.

“There’s another theory,” Zhou Qi’an suddenly said, “that fish are the common ancestors of humans.”

The old player nodded, “Then you must have also heard that global warming will turn the earth into an ocean in the future.”

Zhou Qi’an: “There’s such a rumor.”

“It’s not a rumor.” The old player said solemnly, “The global environment is rapidly deteriorating; we are about to enter the true water era. Only new humans will have the priority to survive, and players are the chosen ones.”

Talking about being chosen, his expression was somewhat proud, soon overwhelmed by the fear of the instance.

In this contradictory mix, the old player paused, “Every time you complete an instance, your body organs will evolve until you completely become a new human.”

This overturned Zhou Qi’an’s understanding. He opened his mouth to speak, but a bus ticket appeared out of thin air in his hand.

Mr. Si, sitting in the driver’s seat, spoke, “Hand it back when you get off.”

The front of the ticket showed the grand entrance to a mysterious underwater world, with bold fonts printed on the surface: New World.

Zhou Qi’an flipped it over and found dense square characters on the back: Please choose an evolution direction.

1. Heart, lungs, and brain (Note: The brain requires multiple consecutive selections to fully evolve.)

2. Skin, blood vessels, and liver

3. Stomach, intestines, kidneys, and spleen

4. Teeth, eyes, and tailbone

5. Other aspects (please fill in)

Tip: Advanced organs often require two or more evolutions.

Undoubtedly, the brain was the most troublesome.

At this moment, the old player bit his fingertip, smiling as he reminded them before making his choice, “The more prominent the option, the higher the game’s difficulty. Directly choosing the heart means certain death.”

He wasn’t being kind; if the newbies’ personal game difficulty was too high, they might get killed at the start before serving as shields.

The middle-aged man immediately said, “Then what about choosing the appendix for evolution?”

His appendix had been removed long ago; wouldn’t the game difficulty be zero?

The female player sitting behind him sneered, “There is no upper limit to the difficulty, but there is a lower limit. You can try.”

Before evolving into a new human, one needs to keep entering instances. Even the simplest instances hide deadly dangers. Choices that are too easy have no value.

Zhou Qi’an pondered, “Do all of these need to be fully evolved to be considered a new human?”

“Of course not. For example, successfully evolving your lungs might automatically trigger your skin to evolve,” the female player said, a hint of longing in her voice. 

“Simply put, primary organ evolution can potentially lead to secondary and tertiary important organs evolving as well. This continues in a chain, but each person’s situation is different. The higher the initial evolutionary species direction, the more advantageous it is.”

“Initial evolutionary species direction?”

The female player lost her patience: “You’ll know soon enough.”

Just like the previous experienced player, she bit her fingertip and began to write something covertly.

Zhou Qi’an imitated her and wrote down his choice as well.

At the moment the blood slightly solidified, a voice echoed in his mind:

【instance entrance closed.】

“Congratulations on successfully choosing your evolution direction for this instance. Player attributes are now loading——”

【Name: Zhou Qi’an

Initial evolutionary species direction: Whale

Currently evolved organs: None】

Zzzz——

The strange electric noise gave Zhou Qi’an a splitting headache. Noticing this, the experienced player showed a hint of disdain. It’s common for first-time players to be surprised when encountering the game interface, but being this scared was rare. Even that university student was better; was Zhou Qi’an just a paper tiger?

After the zzzz electric noise, the text on the interface changed:

【Currently evolved organs: Hair (Absolutely useless??); Eyes (Strong night vision ability, with a certain probability of seeing through monster disguises)】

【Skill Talent 1: Speed (Current 100-meter speed comparable to the city’s top ten)

Evaluation: Second man, you’ll eventually be so fast that you’ll be timed in seconds】

【Skill Talent 2: Poison resistance, excellent drug tolerance.

Evaluation: Da Lang, they can’t poison you.】

Bullshit.

Zhou Qi’an cursed inwardly with a blank expression.

He’s got plenty of stamina.

【Second Talent: Predator

Have you heard of the big fish eating the small fish? You cruelly chose to sacrifice the bride, with a very small chance of plundering the energy of other creatures upon their death to complete your own evolution.

Friendly reminder: The closer the bond of the entity in the instance that dies, the higher the probability of successful plundering.】

【Characteristic: ……】

However, before the characteristic was fully loaded, the word “hair” Zhou Qi’an had written on his ticket disappeared.

Failed to exploit the loophole.

He had initially guessed that his peculiar silver-blue hair might be a form of evolution.

As expected, evolved organs cannot be written on the ticket again.

After some thought, Zhou Qi’an had to choose another body part.

When he looked up again, everyone else had already made their choices. The female player gave the prospective university student a wink, asking what evolutionary direction he had chosen. Receiving no answer, she shrugged: “Experienced players keep secrets to avoid being isolated if they’ve chosen to evolve a high-difficulty organ. What are you, a newbie, afraid of?”

That was true.

After all, they were all operating in the same instance. If someone chose the heart, the other players wouldn’t just not harm him; they’d probably automatically stay ten meters away, afraid of collateral damage. New players wouldn’t choose such an option.

“I… I chose hair.”

“The most useless part, the danger level won’t be too high.”

The prospective university student wasn’t discouraged; who doesn’t have a bit of fantasy?

“Isn’t hair completely useless?”

Among the three experienced players, the quietest one suddenly sneered, “Quite a few people have evolved their hair, and they all ended up bald.”

“What?!!”

“We’re all evolving towards marine creatures; have you ever seen a marine creature with hair?”

The prospective university student whispered, “Humpback whales do.”

There are also some marine creatures with quite lush fur.

The experienced player sneered, “Even if they do, it won’t be of much use. Besides, fur refers to both skin and hair, not a single evolutionary direction.”

When whales were mentioned, everyone became more interested.

“There’s a saying that ‘when a whale falls, all things thrive,'” the female player admired her freshly done nails, “It’s said that killing a player with whale attributes can bring enormous benefits.”

Lowering her hand, she sighed regretfully, “But it’s a pity that, to this day, I’ve never heard of any player whose initial species evolution direction is a whale.”

Zhou Qi’an’s eyelids twitched slightly.

Luckily, no one was sitting around him to observe his expression.

At this moment, the previously unfinished “Characteristic” reappeared.

【Characteristic: Affinity 100%

Note: Dolphins are also a type of whale; they often show sympathy to humans in distress and offer help.】

The players were still discussing the matter of hunting whales.

Zhou Qi’an chuckled to himself, thinking, “People want to kill you, and you save them, isn’t that pathetic?”

Also, he didn’t feel particularly friendly towards humans.

Halfway through the discussion, the silent and reserved experienced player coldly stated, “There never will be.”

Zhou Qi’an, in a raspy voice, feigned curiosity, “Why?”

This time, it was Mr. Si who answered.

“Of course, it’s for balance.” His red eyes looked at the players through the rearview mirror, a terrifying smile spreading across his face, “The stronger the species, the more terrifying the player’s skills and talents become in the later stages. Big fish eat small fish, and the whale is undoubtedly one of the ocean’s top predators.”

The experienced player nodded appreciatively, “The game emphasizes a fair mechanism; it wouldn’t allow such an evolutionary direction.”

The female player, crossing her legs, said, “Who knows? The Whalers’ Association spreads these rumors convincingly, firmly believing that such a direction exists, and even believing that players can start evolving before entering the instance.”

Zhou Qi’an: “…”

They guessed it right.

And that association—damn them.

His sudden silence caught the female player’s attention, who suspiciously asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Zhou Qi’an stared blankly ahead, “I’m wondering, which came first, the whale or the Whalers’ Association.”

The female player’s mouth twitched.

I think your brain went bad first.

The female player then asked the prospective university student if he had awakened any skills or talents.

The prospective university student looked bewildered.

“When the evolutionary direction leans towards advanced marine creatures, a certain talent is activated at the beginning, but it’s not very strong.”

The regret on the prospective university student’s face already provided the answer.

The middle-aged man cheerfully said, “I have the talent for building houses.”

To his disappointment, the experienced players didn’t react.

The female player guessed that his evolutionary direction was likely a beaver, a species that’s quite unique, not particularly powerful, but with distinct characteristics.

The car suddenly sped up, and Zhou Qi’an fastened his seatbelt.

Outside, the world alternated between dense white fog and darkness, passing through an underwater tunnel and an abandoned hospital. After a long drive, the driver made a sharp stop, and Mr. Si’s magnetic voice came through, “We’ve arrived.”

The players got up one by one, handing back their tickets before getting off.

In front of Mr. Si, no one dared to peek at others’ choices, nor did they dare to linger.

Hair.

Ears.

Mr. Si scanned the choices on the tickets, showing some interest when he saw “Blood Vessels.”

He continued looking.

Teeth.

Stomach.

……

Suddenly, Mr. Si’s gaze paused.

——Toes.

He looked again to make sure he wasn’t mistaken.

What the heck?

In all these years of leading groups, he’d never seen anyone evolve this.

Mr. Si sniffed the blood, tracing it to its source. Finally, he turned his head and saw Zhou Qi’an walking briskly down the steps, his finger still wounded.

Stepping off the last step, Zhou Qi’an wore a serious expression, making plans.

In an instance, you don’t necessarily have to win, but you must be able to escape.

Starting from his toes, he planned to gradually evolve his legs, waist, and lung capacity… maximizing his speed advantage to become the man with the most developed limbs!