As soon as the words fell, Lu Ce instinctively lowered his head slightly, glancing at everyone in the class out of the corner of his eye.

  The class instantly erupted into chaos, with everyone looking around and chattering, trying to see if anyone around them had experienced it firsthand.

  Lu Ce kept his head down. He usually didn't have many friends and was relatively inconspicuous, so no one paid attention to him.

  He thought to himself: A global supernatural event that science can't explain at all. When no one knows what the future holds, at least we should observe first. Anyone who exposes themselves recklessly is a fool. Surely no one will...

  "Teacher, me! I was chosen!"

  A boy sitting by the window raised his hand proudly, his face unable to hide his smug expression. He was surrounded by the most classmates chatting with him before.

  Lu Ce: ...

  The one who raised his hand was Zhang Tao, someone he had a mediocre relationship with. He was the type who, with a bit of family money, liked to show off at school.

  When they first met, Zhang Tao had thought about bullying Lu Ce, who was an orphan, but after getting beaten up by Lu Ce, they had no further interaction.

  Although he found the fool's behavior a bit hard to bear, he still looked over, wanting to see what the perspective of other Chosen Ones was like.

  "Oh?" Old Liu's eyes lit up as he looked at him and said, "Zhang Tao, you were chosen? Are you directly participating in the game, or are you an audience member?"

  "I'm an audience member. The live broadcast appeared before my eyes," Zhang Tao said weakly, then quickly added, "But I qualify to participate in the next game."

  As soon as he finished speaking, the class erupted with "wow" sounds of amazement. After all, in the stagnant life of senior year, such a world-shattering event was incredibly stimulating.

  Zhang Tao thoroughly enjoyed the envious expressions of everyone, his smile harder to suppress than an AK.

  "Anyone else?" Old Liu sent a message on his phone and continued to ask the class: "I hope everyone will be honest. This matter is very important to the country and, of course, to you as well."

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  In the quiet atmosphere, no one else raised their hand.

  "Alright, everyone, self-study for now. Zhang Tao, please come with me."

  With that, Zhang Tao walked out of the classroom like a victorious general, head held high.

  ***

  "Damn, I'm so jealous. Why him?"

  "Zhang Tao doesn't even study, right? Old Liu used to say he was good-for-nothing, and now he's so polite..."

  "Study? Study what? This kind of supernatural event can't be explained by existing science. Who are you going to learn from?"

  "There's a video circulating online. Haven't you seen it? That game seems like a different dimension where you can gain superpowers!"

  "Superpowers, really? Do we have a chance to be chosen later? Didn't they say it's the first batch of Chosen Ones?"

  The homeroom teacher left, leaving the class buzzing with conversation. Everyone took out their phones, sharing the latest news and videos they had seen.

  Lu Ce was initially puzzled. Why were these people so excited?

  After all, the so-called game he experienced was not fun at all.

  Being helplessly tied to an operating table, amputated, having organs replaced, and being dissected by a psychotic woman.

  It was only because he had no sense of pain since childhood, had suffered a lot, and the Chosen of Pain allowed him to defy fate a bit.

  Otherwise, with such extreme torture... not many of these ordinary students could withstand it.

  But gradually, based on what everyone said, Lu Ce realized a fact.

  Everyone's Initial Game seemed to be different.

  Although most were tests of people, extreme situations like his, where he was tortured and killed, seemed rare.

  Moreover, during the game's conclusion, it was clearly stated—"The initial level won't result in real death, but those who don't finish will lose their game qualification."

  This seemed to imply that under normal circumstances, the game could result in real death...

  And it seemed like none of the classmates cared or even knew about this.

  They treated Chosen's Paradise as a real game, going in to fight monsters and level up like it was a game, without considering the consequences.

  But having truly experienced it, Lu Ce could keenly sense the brutality inside, where it could be a matter of life and death.

  "I just saw that someone in the U.S. who participated in the game claimed there's a Temporary Ranking."

  "That special forces guy said he ranked 67th and got a reward of physical enhancement. He said he can now fold a bottle cap with his fingers, incredibly strong!"

  "Really? If he keeps participating, won't he become a superman?..."

  Listening to the continuous chatter around him, Lu Ce remained silent.

  He reached into his desk, picked up a bottle cap.

  With a squeeze of his fingers, the cap seemed to be put through a shredder, easily crushed into a small ball by Lu Ce.

  His lips curled slightly, feeling the strength in his hand.

  The game was indeed brutal and twisted, but Lu Ce only hoped it would be even more so!

  Compared to the reality bound by strict rules, he preferred that place, where life and death were determined by fate and one's own abilities...

  "Hey! What are you smiling about? Did you have a spring dream last night?"

  Just as Lu Ce's smile was becoming twisted, a clear voice woke him up. It was his female deskmate, Xie Antong.

  Xie Antong had been Lu Ce's deskmate for three years.

  His childhood experiences gave Lu Ce an eye for people. Although Antong never seemed overbearing, her attire and demeanor told him they were from different worlds.

  But for some reason, the more he tried to keep his distance, the more Xie Antong began to teasingly provoke him.

  "Nothing, just thought of something happy."

  Lu Ce quietly hid the crushed bottle cap ball in his desk, speaking without turning his head.

  Suddenly, he felt a tickle in his ear as Xie Antong leaned in and whispered: "Playing dumb? You were chosen too, weren't you?"

  Lu Ce was startled, pretending to be calm as he asked: "What nonsense are you talking about? Why do you ask?"

  As they locked eyes again, Lu Ce saw only her squinting, smiling eyes, feeling inexplicably guilty.

  His Initial Game did have an audience, but it couldn't be such a coincidence.

  His Chosen of Pain, Gene Lock activation, and unhesitatingly killing were much more extreme than the class discussions and had to be kept secret.

  So he glanced at Xie Antong, testingly extending his right leg, which had been amputated in the game.

  "Look, my leg..."

  Xie Antong glanced down, "So? It's fair, long, and smooth. Can I touch it?" She said, reaching out directly.

  Lu Ce: ?!