Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Death Means True Death

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Projection, physical? What does this mean?

Not only is it impossible to exit the game, but both soul and body have been transferred to this world? In other words, the real self no longer exists? Transported to another world through the game?

How could this be possible? This clearly looks like just a game, just intimidating words?

Nolan didn’t know. Even as a closed beta tester, he had never heard of such a thing. Even for special events, the operators would at least give some hints beforehand, revealing at least a little information.

There was nothing.

The only thing was this deity statue before him, unilaterally announcing this terrifying fact. At first, Nolan thought it might be an image controlled by the game operators behind the scenes, but now… if not handled properly, it could evolve into an operational crisis.

But if it wasn’t the game operator, what could it be?

A deity set in the game manual, or some high-level NPC in the game?

「From now on, I shall announce the following rules:」

That world-shaking voice sounded again, speaking in the manner of issuing a serious and indisputable decree:

「First, from this moment on, all players will revert to their real-life appearances and receive one renaming right. The new name approved by the deity will be your new identity in this world and is a necessary component for acceptance by the world.」

「Second, all pain settings will automatically be adjusted from the default ‘0%’ to ‘100%’, and cannot be changed.」

「Third, all default NPCs in towns that help players level up quickly will disappear from this moment on. Shops will no longer sell any equipment or items. All items must be collected and crafted by players.」

「Fourth, once PVP is activated in the wild with red name mode, it cannot be turned off. After victory, instead of the original ‘probability of obtaining one item from the defeated player’s backpack,’ it is changed to ‘seize all items from the defeated player.’」

「Fifth, all floor bosses will return to their original difficulty. The floor bosses encountered during the beta test phase were only 50% of their true difficulty, but at the same time, experience and rare items will greatly increase.」

「Sixth, all previously prohibited in-game behaviors due to various regulations will be unlocked, including age-restricted settings.」

「Seventh, effective immediately, any conventional resurrection methods in the game will become invalid — death means true death.」

It was at the moment these divine rules were announced that all players lost their game-created character appearances and were presented in the game with their real-life appearances in an almost shocking manner.

It was as if to prove that everything happening was real.

“What, what’s happening, my body?” In an instant, almost all players in the plaza changed their appearance. Reality… or something closer to a photo face creation method, presented in a way extremely close to real-life appearance.

Nolan looked at his arm. Unfortunately, since he had logged into the game using photo modeling, there was almost no change.

“Is this why there was additional display of player identity information and gender at the beginning of login…”

Looking at the towering deity statue before him, facing the impact of what seemed like divine pressure, Nolan and other players gazed upward in shock, his shoulders and pupils trembling violently.

「The only way to leave or return to the original world is: defeat the boss on the 100th floor.」

「Also, remember to always pay attention to various activities in the game (The Order of the Ever-Turning Stars). Various time-limited activities will appear irregularly in the game. Now, go conquer this game and survive. Good luck to all players (Starforgers).」

After dropping such an irresponsible statement, the divine light that had descended on the statue shot back up into the heavens.

Even after the Star Lord departed, almost everyone in the plaza was still in a state of shock. Perhaps even now, some still found it hard to believe. The entire plaza fell into brief silence.

This… isn’t a joke? Dying in the game would mean actual death, becoming reality?

“Is this… real? Isn’t this a bit extreme?”

“This is just a game, right? Is it necessary to make it this realistic… isn’t this game already quite difficult?”

“Damn, even the NPC shops are gone. What are we supposed to use to fight monsters in the beginning? Just clearing the second floor dungeon killed me over a dozen times. The raid group that tackled the first floor boss 1 hour ago wiped over 20 times, and that was only at 50% of the boss’s original strength!?”

50%, meaning the original boss’s strength was only half.

Including the first floor boss that had already been cleared, victory was achieved only through exploiting weaknesses. Even under these circumstances, it was extremely difficult. Even when Nolan solo-challenged floor bosses during the closed beta, he had to reach a very high baseline level before having room to maneuver.

This doesn’t include his record of over 200 deaths during boss fights.

It was only after more than 200 battles that he could handle all details to perfection, creating that slim possibility to solo a floor boss. But if the difficulty doubles on this basis, how much lower would that possibility become?

Not allowing death in an MMORPG game seemed a bit too demanding.

Could this still be considered a game?

Many people surely had the same question at this moment.

Amidst the confusion, a rather skinny man suddenly pointed at the silent crowd and laughed, “Hahaha, look at your expressions, you’re all scared already? It’s just a gimmick copying a death game!”

He mocked all the players standing around him, appearing completely unconcerned. His voice spread across almost the entire plaza. His expression and gestures were quite exaggerated, making it difficult to distinguish whether he was truly calm or excessively shocked and stimulated.

“What do you mean ‘death means true death’? The safety of these game helmets has been verified. Never mind the idea that game helmets could damage the brain, but now saying we’ve all been summoned into the game? What kind of explanation is that?”

“If you die and can’t return to the game, doesn’t that just mean you return to reality?”

“I’ve seen all kinds of situations. For those of you without experience, whoever wants to stay here can stay. I’m not sticking around! Since logging into the game, I’ve died countless times, and every time I’ve been able to resurrect!”

As he spoke, the skinny man sneered at the crowd with wooden expressions, taking out a green-glowing item from his game inventory. Nolan, among the crowd, immediately recognized it as the basic item 【Corrosive Grass】.

In the game, continuously fighting monsters, dying, then resurrecting to fight again was the logic of MMO exploration and leveling.

The cost of death was very low, so there was no burden for exploring unknown areas. The most severe punishment for death was losing some experience. Therefore, many players, for convenience, would choose to commit suicide with items to teleport back to the main city.

But now, it’s different. The cost of death would become death itself.