Chapter Three: Rejoice! And Then... Grow Restless!

"Task Creation!"
Liu Mengchao closed his eyes, his mind spinning rapidly.
Only twenty minutes in total... If he failed to raise the negative ninety reward points to zero within this time limit, Joanna would be doomed.
The world was completely frozen. In other words, the subway would keep moving, but would never reach the station.
"Task One:
Find Makoto Ito within three minutes.
Task Two:
Kill Makoto Ito within ten minutes and successfully escape the subway.
Task Reward: Receive one hundred Main God points.
Failure Penalty: Erasure!"
Liu Mengchao glanced at the task panel he had written, then surveyed his surroundings. Mimicking the emotionless NPCs hidden among the crowd, he watched silently as the man lay on the ground.
Jiao Fugui, are you ready to die?
"Ding!"
Countdown begins: 10, 9, 8, 7... 3, 2, 1.
The Main God Game starts.
Listening to the countdown in his ear, Liu Mengchao patiently watched Jiao Fugui, who lay unconscious on the ground. Liu Mengchao's lips moved soundlessly, voicing his judgment: "Now, you should stand up and be surprised by everything happening around you."
As Liu Mengchao finished speaking, Jiao Fugui shuddered violently and staggered to his feet.
He looked to be in his forties, with a large bloodstain on his chest, dull eyes, and a face covered in grime. He stared warily at his surroundings.
Surprised, aren't you? Liu Mengchao leaned back on the subway seat, enjoying the stage play he had directed. Apart from the genius male protagonists of infinite flow novels, anyone seeing a subway full of Japanese characters would be shocked.
Especially Jiao Fugui, who had just committed murder moments before!
Bang!
Under Liu Mengchao's gaze, Jiao Fugui suddenly knocked into Makoto Ito, who was secretly taking photos with his phone.
Ha, so he heard my command. Liu Mengchao narrowed his eyes slightly, amusement spinning like a carousel within them.
As expected!
Jiao Fugui, still dazed from his recent killing, was startled by a strange sound.
"Task One:
Find Makoto Ito within three minutes.
Task Two:
Kill Makoto Ito within ten minutes and successfully escape the subway.
Task Reward: Receive one hundred Main God points.
Failure Penalty: Erasure!"
Makoto Ito!?
Jiao Fugui looked around suspiciously. No one moved; evidently, no one had noticed his anomaly. He ignored the strong stench emanating from his pants, squatting down somewhere at random.
Everything unfolded as Liu Mengchao had anticipated, causing him to smile. "This Jiao Fugui actually knows to observe his environment? After experiencing murder and transmigration, even the dullest person would feel awe toward unknown forces."
So, did he notice the word 'erasure'...
Thinking this, Liu Mengchao glanced at the subway's ticking clock. The time displayed was 7:40 a.m.—the moment the Main God game began.
As long as Jiao Fugui's mind wasn't clogged with paste and cotton, he should now see the time on the clock.
Indeed!
Jiao Fugui suddenly looked up, his eyes wide with terror, gazing at the clock above him.
7:40...
The red digits flickered.
7:41...
A bead of sweat, large as a bean, welled from Jiao Fugui's forehead, trickling down his grimy face and leaving a clear trail.
Ding!
A crisp tone rang in Liu Mengchao's ear. The system panel popped up.
Main God game participant: Game in progress.
Participants: 1
Due to the Main God being unconscious, a proxy is responsible for setting the world and issuing tasks.
Current jackpot: 10 reward points.
Liu Mengchao noticed that when the sound occurred, the jackpot had jumped from -90 to 10.
So emotional fluctuations had already begun? Jiao Fugui, how can those reincarnators who play the Main God like a fiddle bear this? I don’t expect you to be brilliant, but don’t surrender so quickly.
Is this the zero-potential quality of a rookie?
Thoughts surged through Liu Mengchao’s mind, but he remained expressionless in his seat, quietly watching his own play. Meanwhile, Jiao Fugui sensed something was wrong.
The red digits changed.
7:42...
He had just burned another minute.
Jiao Fugui’s pupils dilated sharply; his breathing quickened. He realized he couldn’t wait any longer. Seeing that no one noticed him, he glanced anxiously around, then stood up by the subway door.
Jiao Fugui was anxious!
“Who is Makoto Ito?”
He shouted loudly.
No one responded, as if time had completely stopped.
But Jiao Fugui knew time was still moving! He had only a minute left! If he failed, erasure awaited him!
Unable to contain his anxiety, Jiao Fugui shouted, spraying saliva as he did: “Who the hell is Makoto Ito? Stand up!”
“Ah!” The threat of death plunged Jiao Fugui into terror. Liu Mengchao noted that as Jiao Fugui kept yelling, the jackpot on his panel kept rising, now reaching 100.
Clang!
Jiao Fugui stood up; after a few steps forward, he was tripped by the man on the ground—Makoto Ito, whom he had knocked into at the start.
“You!”
Jiao Fugui could no longer hide his agitation and slapped Makoto Ito hard, then, ignoring the man’s reaction, shouted loudly,
“Do you know where Makoto Ito is?”
Suddenly, a strange smile spread across Jiao Fugui’s face. He had just heard the system notification.
Makoto Ito found.
Task One complete!

Ha! Jiao Fugui laughed triumphantly, mouth wide open, showing yellow teeth. Only then did he lift his head, a little smugly, to look at the subway clock.
...
Not a second more or less—exactly three minutes.
“I’m not destined to be a beggar!” Jiao Fugui kicked Makoto Ito over, his face red with excitement, glaring viciously at the man lying on the floor.
Liu Mengchao saw the numbers on the system panel and smiled as well. Just now, Jiao Fugui had gone from despair to finding a target and completing the task.
He had just ridden a roller coaster; now, his heart must be full of relief.
The system panel seemed to sense Liu Mengchao’s thoughts, and the jackpot jumped from 100 to 500.
Now, it’s time... to kill, Jiao Fugui.
As if hearing Liu Mengchao’s words in the void, Jiao Fugui’s gaze turned fierce, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.
Knife!
Jiao Fugui searched himself thoroughly, only to find he had come completely naked, without any weapon. So... to kill this man before him... he could only...
Use his hands!
“Die, die!”
Jiao Fugui gripped Makoto Ito’s neck tightly. Under Liu Mengchao’s gaze, Makoto Ito’s face first turned red, then purple, finally his eyeballs bulged, his tongue popped out with a snap.
Just like that, the hanged ghost appeared clearly before Jiao Fugui.
“Dead, ha! You’re dead!”
Jiao Fugui plopped onto the floor, laughing heartily. He had never felt so happy—now, all that remained was to escape this damned subway!
“You’ve all been scared silly by me!”
Jiao Fugui shouted wildly, then walked to the subway door. He had once begged for food on subways and knew every train had an emergency brake valve.
“Brake valve?”
Jiao Fugui punched the brake valve open, looked at the Japanese-labeled device, and gave a sinister laugh toward the people in the subway.
Click!
He twisted the valve one hundred eighty degrees, and then... rumble rumble... the subway kept moving forward without any sign of stopping.
“This is a world formed from a frozen image. In other words, this carriage is the entire world.” Liu Mengchao understood everything that was happening.
He knew that human emotions are like roller coasters, with highs and lows, and only with such fluctuations can emotions reach their peak.
From the excitement and relief of completing a task, to now, discovering the uselessness of the brake valve—surely you’re starting to panic, Jiao Fugui!
The system panel confirmed Liu Mengchao’s theory.
Thanks to Jiao Fugui for his heartfelt contribution to the psychological roller coaster.
Jackpot: 1000.
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By the way... this afternoon, it seems the server at Starting Point crashed...?
Sigh... quietly confessing... the greatest purpose in writing this book is to create a novel that readers enjoy, and I enjoy writing.
Shyly reaching out, begging for votes and favorites~