Chapter 13 Begins

The perspective rapidly ascends, revealing those flickering sparks drifting toward every corner of this world. Subsequently, portions of the sparks began to converge toward three locations. The CG scene swiftly flashed through the images of the Foundation, the Reaper, and the University, while in the perspective shift, those sparks gradually transformed into human figures, symbolizing that although the torch of fire might not be rekindled for the time being, it was passed to the depths of every person's heart in this manner.

Waiting for the wind to rise and the clouds to surge, the starfire to blaze across the land.

This was followed by a simple introduction to the three major organizations of the Paradise World, interspersed with numerous silhouettes of players who carried the torch in their hearts. They passed through the academy forests shrouded in darkness via their organizations' rookie trials, and then, because of a diary, they traversed time and space to the life forbidden zone of the wasteland world. Countless players' backs, whose faces could not be clearly seen, began to advance with difficulty toward the center of the forbidden zone.

This path, some fell, some perished, yet some never gave up.

They traversed the outer ring settlements, walked out from the middle ring floating islands, directly reaching the inner ring ruins, revealing the sealed secrets of the ancient world, and finding the only method to break through the darkness curtain. In front of them stood a science maniac with immense ambition and many fierce warriors from the wasteland world.

Those unyielding and strong figures once again overcame numerous obstacles, successfully awakening two sleeping sages, and obtained the opportunity to confront the science maniac in battle. However, those who could persist to this point were only two figures—one man and one woman. The previously increasingly grand background music now plunged into a tragic tone, because these resolute figures still exuded a youthful aura; with merely these two tender newcomers, how could they bear such a heavy responsibility?

And at that moment, the sparks hidden in their hearts suddenly flared up. Accompanying their advancing footsteps, more and more ancient dead quietly rose and followed them, until they appeared before the final enemy chief, forming an unstoppable army of the dead.

The music rhythm suddenly accelerated, the powerful drumbeats becoming more prominent. When the two players led the army of the dead in the final charge, the rapid drumbeats converged into thunder, once again dimming the screen instantly.

And this time, soft music sounded in the darkness, a great flame soaring into the sky pierced through the screen's darkness and burned through the heavy curtain shrouding the life forbidden zone. In an instant, the sky was clear and vast, the Sun Goddess bathed in fire and reborn, the ancient torch of fire severed for ten thousand years reignited once more in the future world.

Unfortunately, it still could not illuminate the uncertain path ahead.

Because relying solely on the Sun Goddess's torch of the king of fire was fundamentally insufficient to break the world's darkness curtain; she required the assistance of countless torches of fire to unravel the reincarnation puzzle, resist the world's doomsday, and allow the endless torch of fire to be passed on.

A series of badges cast in fire gradually took shape. A few carefully crafted ones were distributed to the brave figures exploring the life forbidden zone, while the others were scattered across a certain sea-isolated island, awaiting the 99 torch bearers selected to island for battle. Through their own strength or utilizing the badge effects, they would fight until only the last ten remained.

The Sun Goddess hoped to select ten Guardian Knights in this way to help her spread the torch of fire, collect the power of faith, and use it to break through a certain life forbidden zone in the Paradise World.

At this point, the music ceased, and the screen froze. The last promotional CG before the formal release of Abnormal Paradise, nearing its conclusion, but before ending, a small Easter egg remained.

A certain white-faced clown, gazing at the sea-isolated island shrouded in darkness, revealed a strange smile.

……

"This white-faced clown, how does it resemble the previous colorful-faced clown?" Yu Jin raised an eyebrow. His first assessment task had been for the colorful clown to lead the Chaos Apostles into the Foundation's 19th hidden facility, and the white-faced clown at the end of the video, no matter how one looked, was extremely similar to it. This made Yu Jin and many players realize that the Killing Island probably involved more than just players fighting; it likely entailed plots related to the Chaos Apostles.

"Hey! Interesting."

Yu Jin pondered for a moment, then gave Bei Jiu Jian Nong a period.

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "What?"

Yu Jin: "I think we need to talk properly."

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "Heh, only remembering me after watching the CG? Do you think I'm a tool user?"

Yu Jin: "I was originally going to be more tactful. Since you've already called it out, I won't hide it."

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "Yu Jin, I'm very angry!"

Yu Jin: "I think not making it into the top ten is worth being angry! Your strength is very commendable, so I estimate we still need to cooperate before the one-on-one duel. You definitely won't deny that, right?"

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "At best. If you say something pleasant, I might agree."

Yu Jin: "Miss Qiu Yi Nong is peerlessly elegant!"

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "...... Your integrity?"

Yu Jin: "Heh, what is integrity in front of me, the Sun Guardian who has continuously defected?"

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Soon, it arrived at the game time for the final assessment.

The promotional CG produced by Singularity was fully spread across online platforms. Players who had long awaited the official launch were able to understand the plot progression during the internal test through the videos. However, for most people, what concerned them more was that the real-life actor of the Sun Goddess had been officially announced in the promotional CG.

With her superb skills and graceful appearance as advantages, she formally debuted as a game celebrity and gradually entered the film and television circle, with rising popularity—a well-known veteran player: Song Zi.

In these times, the social influence of the game industry is growing larger and larger, with funding inputs increasing year by year. Various game celebrities emerge endlessly. After experiencing the initial chaotic situation where the good and bad were mixed, all the outstanding figures who stand out from the vast player base possess certain superior qualities. Moreover, as a minority who debuted as game celebrities, the brokerage companies' contract signing standards are extremely strict. Not only must they possess outstanding game skills, but their images must also meet certain requirements.

And Song Zi is one of the most popular in the game celebrity circle in recent years. Therefore, the news of her signing with Singularity Company to portray the real-life Sun Goddess and interact with game players pushed the discussion heat of Abnormal Paradise to its peak.

Regarding these various messages, Yu Jin was not particularly concerned, although once selected into the final ten, he would automatically become the Guardian Knight of the Sun Goddess.

Before entering the game, he and several friends had made an agreement not to fight each other until the end. With only a few minutes remaining, he casually opened Singularity's official game live stream, listening to the host's opening introduction for a while.

Singularity attached great importance to this live broadcast, not only setting up channels on major live streaming platforms but also specially inviting two famous commentators from the game industry to host the event, introducing the situation of Abnormal Paradise and which well-known players were participating. The two also mentioned Yu Jin's name due to the ranking, and to enhance the program effect, they only described him as "mysterious." Subsequently, they focused on introducing well-known veteran players such as Fish Scales Arm, Not the Jianghu Trio, Ancient Vine Old Tree, and others.

Actually, for the vast majority of live broadcast viewers, the game was unfamiliar to them. By watching the well-known players they were familiar with, they could more easily experience the game effect of Abnormal Paradise. Almost every well-known player brought a large amount of traffic. Therefore, Singularity officially only allocated one-tenth of the internal test qualifications to recruit these well-known figures to enhance the game's attention. And one-third of the 99 people who broke into the Killing Island this time were from this group, indicating that the game level indeed determined some issues.

"Good! The time is about to come. I estimate the live viewers are all impatient. Let's quickly cut into the game screen!"

When the screen formally cut into the game, Yu Jin found himself inside a flying vehicle. The real-time map in the cabin showed that this vehicle was rapidly approaching a certain sea-isolated island. Then, the cabin door suddenly opened, and a strong gale rushed into the cabin. Yu Jin resisted the wind pressure with his own strength, gazing toward the sea-isolated island, but could only see an endless darkness curtain.

[Hint: In the single-player challenge, you have won the first place of the Foundation. You have obtained the initiative advantage. Please select one of the three locations given by the system to land.]

[Hint: There is a one-time consumable "Flame Badge" near each of these three locations. Obtaining the "Flame Badge" will help you complete this assessment.]

[Hint: The effects of the "Flame Badge" are temporary enhancement of health and sanity, Sun Golden Body, and Sun Illumination.]

Oh?

The effect of the Flame Badge was originally to divide the Sun Badge into three parts. Having one randomly would provide quite a bit of enhancement.

The three locations given by the game were the outer edge of the island, the interior, and the central area. Yu Jin did not hesitate and directly chose the outer landing point. The flying vehicle broke through the darkness curtain and rapidly traversed the island, giving Yu Jin the opportunity to see the diverse terrain of this sea-island.

Peaks, concave valleys, dense forests, long rivers.

Scenery flashed past in Yu Jin's eyes but could not conceal the strong confidence hidden in the depths of his heart.

"Killing Island, I have come!"