Just as Li Ang was fooling around in the classroom, the System notification, silent for a long time, finally came online.
[The Original Connection System has completed debugging. The System template is now online. Players can inquire about basic information.]
Finally, it's here...
Li Ang took a deep breath, walked out of the classroom, and began a dialogue with the System notification in his mind.
"This game, the Earth Slaughter... who created and operates it? God? Ancient gods? Or Aliens?"
[Player authority insufficient. Unable to retrieve related information.]
"What is the ultimate purpose of this game?"
[Player authority insufficient. Unable to retrieve related information.]
"How many Slaughter Games have been held in Earth's history?"
[Six major Slaughter Games have been held throughout Earth's history. The first occurred approximately 542 million to 485 million years ago; the second, approximately 439 million to 363 million years ago; the third, 208 million to 146 million years ago; the fourth, approximately 66 million to 65 million years ago; the fifth, approximately 50 million to 2.5 million years ago; and the sixth, approximately 135,000 to 24,000 years ago.]
Li Ang narrowed his eyes. "So, the first game happened during the Cambrian explosion, when arthropods, mollusks, and annelids suddenly appeared. The second game was during the Silurian and Devonian periods. During this time, green algae colonized land and evolved into ferns, establishing terrestrial ecosystems with early insects. Meanwhile, vertebrates began to dominate the oceans, as fish evolved into primitive amphibians that started to reproduce on land. The third game was in the Jurassic Period. Forests on Pangea were lush, the climate was warm and humid, and dinosaurs became the rulers. The fourth game occurred just before an asteroid hit Earth, causing the fifth mass extinction. Afterward, the land-dwelling dinosaurs were completely wiped out, and small terrestrial animals that survived the catastrophe thrived in the ruins of the dinosaur era. The fifth game saw the rapid evolution of primates: monkeys, Proconsul, Aegyptopithecus, Dryopithecus, Australopithecus, culminating in the evolution of the genus Homo. The sixth game was the competition between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, where Homo sapiens ultimately prevailed, and Neanderthals were defeated and went extinct."
If the System's statements are true, then the Slaughter Game has influenced a significant portion of Earth's species' evolutionary history. One might even argue that the Slaughter Game played a major role in the biological evolution on Earth.
"In what form were these six Slaughter Games conducted?"
[The System will randomly select native inhabitants to be promoted to players. Players complete various tasks assigned by the System to receive rewards. Non-players can only obtain player qualification by killing players. Player qualification cannot be inherited through bloodline, nor can it be transferred.]
"How does the game end?"
[The System determines if the game's progress meets the standard. If the player community fails to complete the final task within the specified time limit, the System will launch a comprehensive strike against Earth's ecosystem, exterminating the species to which the player community belongs.]
[Examples include: the global temperature drop in the Ordovician Period, which exterminated invertebrates; the marine regression in the Devonian period, which exterminated Dunkleosteus, Eusthenopteron, and other marine life; continental drift in the Permian period, which exterminated trilobites, sea scorpions, and other arthropods; widespread marine anoxia in the Triassic Period, which exterminated brachiopods and gastropods; and the asteroid impact in the Cretaceous period, which exterminated dinosaurs.]
"Wait, the primary players in the fifth and sixth games should have been Ape Men, right? Have humans also faced System-induced extinction?"
[Approximately 73,500 years ago, the System determined that the main players of the sixth Slaughter Game—humans—had failed to meet the progress objectives. Thus, the System implemented an ecosystem-wide extermination strike. The Toba volcano on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, erupted continuously for seven days. Volcanic ash covered half the Earth's sky, plunging the planet into an ice age and exterminating 99% of all humans.]
Li Ang wasn't particularly surprised. Indeed, the Toba volcanic disaster about 70,000 years ago had reduced the human population to only a few thousand individuals. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call that period the most dangerous moment in human history.
"So, have there been any Slaughter Games after the sixth one?"
[After the sixth game, the System concluded that large-scale Slaughter Games were ineffective for selecting high-quality players. Therefore, the game format was changed to periodically hold smaller-scale Slaughter Games. These smaller games have occurred intermittently across various civilizations worldwide, lasting from a few years to a century. A portion of the deities, demons, fiends, and Heroes in human mythology, epics, and legends were once Slaughter Game Players.]
"I see." Li Ang nodded. That would explain why supernatural powers in history appeared and vanished sporadically.
"Then what about now? When did this current game start? And as of this moment, how many players are there?"
[This is the seventh large-scale Slaughter Game. It began seven months ago. The current number of players is not disclosable.]
"Alright."
Li Ang tapped the tabletop lightly with his knuckles. Seven months ago was precisely when urban legends began to proliferate. As the saying goes, 'Ducks are the first to know when the river warms in spring.' Since the Slaughter Game will ultimately decide the fate of human civilization, state apparatuses with their superior organizational power and professional intelligence agencies must have already gathered more information and taken corresponding measures.
For instance, establishing specialized intelligence agencies, screening potential civilian players, or systematically forming officially-backed player teams, where each such player would have a think tank equivalent to an entire military company at their disposal. Philosophers, historians, mathematicians, astronomers, physicists, psychologists...
Compared to the state apparatus—this gigantic, thousand-armed, thousand-legged, thousand-eyed, thousand-headed creature—even the 'quality players' selected from ordinary people are still just ordinary people. Under the intense scrutiny of these think tanks, individual players with insufficient intellect possess no advantage, even if they wield Transcendent powers exceeding the norm.
Organizational capability—this is the greatest distinction between human society and primitive organisms. Humans possess unprecedented organizational power. This organizational capability is undoubtedly beneficial for human civilization's collective efforts to navigate the game. For individual players, however, this powerful organization also stifles the potential for Transcendents to achieve supreme power and act with impunity.
Furthermore, at this juncture where the situation remains unclear, individual players must also endure pressure and threats from sources beyond the Slaughter Game itself. For example, screening by the state apparatus (not necessarily a bad thing), the prying of commercial organizations that have sniffed out the changing times (definitely a bad thing), muddle-headed terrorists, and other players with malicious intentions.
Therefore, to summarize, it's best for individual players to keep their identities hidden for the time being...
"One last question: the specific forms of tasks issued by the System."
[There are three types of tasks issued by the System. The first is the Regular Task, randomly triggered during players' daily activities. Players can choose whether to accept. Completion is rewarded; failure incurs no penalty.]
[The second type is the Mandatory Task, randomly issued by the System. Players must complete the task objectives. Completion brings rewards; failure results in the player's elimination.]
[The third type is the Script Task. Its scenarios do not necessarily take place on Earth. These are randomly generated by the System, and players will assume a role to complete the script. Completion brings rewards; failure results in a random punishment from the System.]
"Oh?"
Li Ang raised his eyebrows. The first two task types were easy to understand, but the third, the Script Task, sounded a bit strange.
Just as he was about to inquire further, the System emitted a prompt.
[Task trigger condition met. Task Type: Regular Task]
[Task Name: Afterlife Affairs]
[Task Objective: Eliminate the possessing ghost in the Experimental Middle School of Yin City 0/1]
[Task Reward 1: Increased player authority, unlocking the personal player panel.]
[Task Reward 2: In addition to eliminating the target Spiritual Body, an extra 45 Experience Points are awarded.]
[Task Reward 3: 100 Game Coins]
[Task Reward 4: One random item of Common quality.]
[Accept/Decline]