Chapter 1: Stealing My Golden Core? I Summon the Players

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“Sinner Su Qingyue, for stealing the sacred artifact and injuring the sect leader’s direct disciple, Lin Ao-huang.”

“In light of her parents’ sacrifice to protect the sect, her life shall be spared. However, her golden core will be extracted, her spiritual veins severed, she shall endure the punishment of ten heavenly bolts, and be cast out from the sect to fend for herself.”

The entire audience was silent.

Su Qingyue was the youngest golden core cultivator and true disciple in all of the Northern Lands—only seventeen, yet already formed her golden core with boundless prospects ahead.

To have her golden core torn out, her spiritual veins broken, and then suffer the ten bolts of heavenly punishment—such torment was worse than death!

On the execution platform, Su Qingyue’s expression was resolute. Even as her golden core was dug out, her spiritual veins severed, and heavenly thunder ravaged her body, not a single cry escaped her lips.

Just a little longer—if she could survive the heavenly lightning, she’d have a chance to return to the ancestral land of the Su family, where generations had left behind their fortune, offering her a chance to rise again.

Heavenly lightning raged within her—a first bolt, a second... the ninth, and finally the last. However...

“What’s happening? Why is this heavenly bolt...”

Su Qingyue’s heart trembled with dread. She barely managed to open her eyes.

She saw a thunderbolt, many times more massive than the previous ones, descending upon her like the wrath of gods.

Out of the corner of her eye, Su Qingyue glimpsed something flash in Lin Ao-huang’s hand—a streak of purple light rushed toward her—

“Ah—!”

A dreadful scream echoed; many disciples could not bear to watch, turning their faces away.

When the lightning’s shroud dissipated, only a heap of blackened charcoal remained.

For reasons unknown, the final heavenly bolt suddenly lost control, its power drastically amplified, obliterating Su Qingyue’s body in an instant, leaving nothing but scorched remains.

How tragic! Su Qingyue, once a prodigy, had met such a miserable end!

*

When Su Qingyue regained consciousness, she found herself seated on a patch of grass, instinctively shrinking in on herself.

Lingering phantom pain still surrounded her, the agony of her body torn apart by thunder before death haunting her memory.

“Wasn’t I dead? Where am I?”

Suddenly, a voice rang in her mind: “Host, System 5165 at your service. Do you wish for revenge?”

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“System?”

“Yes, I am your system. I detected your strong resentment and bound myself to you! I am here to help you change your fate!”

Su Qingyue was speechless. Sixteen years after transmigrating to this world, only at the moment of her death did she realize she was nothing more than a cannon fodder side character.

She was doomed to fall at the hands of the chosen one, Lin Ao-huang.

Yet only after her demise did a system decide to bind to her? How ridiculous!

Despite her grumbling, Su Qingyue still longed for a chance to rise again.

“What can you do to help me get revenge?”

“I am a cross-world holographic online game system. In simple terms—summon players!

I can project this world as a holographic online game to other realms. The summoned players have undying bodies, are vast in number, absolutely loyal, and willing to do anything for you!” The system’s tone was fervent, almost like a salesman.

Su Qingyue found nothing to doubt.

She herself had loved gaming back in modern times and understood players well.

Each was relentless; as long as there were mission rewards, they’d toil tirelessly, even harder than an old ox.

Summoning players was undoubtedly a powerful cheat, especially those who mastered modern technology.

Imagine tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, able to die and revive endlessly, absolutely loyal, never tiring.

For the sake of various tasks, they’d grind day and night, whether farming, earning money, undercover schemes, technological advancement, cooking, weaving—everyone had their specialty. Was there a better choice?

Come, my players! Let us overthrow the so-called chosen one!

Su Qingyue was itching for action, her lips curling into a smile, her eyes gleaming with murderous intent.

So what if the protagonist was exceptional? Let’s see if she can handle a 1V100,000 battle against infinitely respawning, fast-leveling players with no bottlenecks!

She opened the system panel, posted the game ad, and summoned players. Then she found a grove to wait quietly. Considering chaos from too many arrivals, she chose to start with 100.

These players were uncontrollable and potentially destructive, lacking moral or legal constraints since they believed this was just a game. If mismanaged, they could annihilate the world—better to summon them slowly, bit by bit.

Yet an hour passed, then ten, then a day and night—still nothing.

Su Qingyue: “??? System, are you malfunctioning?”

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“Ah, please wait! My backend is overloaded, about to crash—the number of applicants has broken 100,000 and is still climbing. Screening 200 out of 100,000 is overwhelming, ahhh!” The system was frantic, its reply tinged with despair.

“What? One hundred thousand?” She was dumbfounded. How could a niche game attract so many applicants? Was that even reasonable?

In 2040, on the largest gaming forum in Huaxia, a game advertisement post caught everyone’s attention, sparking lively discussion, mostly mocking.

A holographic online game? Must be a scam for fools.

But hours after the promotional video was released, the forum exploded with heated debate.

#Ultra-realistic holographic game Immortal Spirits will begin internal testing in three days. Players are invited to make reservations and experience the most authentic world of cultivation#

“Oh my god, look what I’ve found! A holographic game—so exciting! But, Jade Studio? What kind of big company is that? Never heard of it! Doesn’t seem reliable!”

“I think it’s just hype—no way it’s real. Why are cows flying in the sky? Because someone’s blowing smoke on the ground!

This company’s boasting is out of control. Remember those years when we got fed garbage by so-called holographic games? Click in and it’s all pay-to-win junk.”

“Still, maybe it’s worth a try. What if it’s real? The poster looks pretty good.”

Clearly, everyone still longed for holographic games. As the saying goes—holo games have fooled me a thousand times, yet I love them like first love.

People’s desire for holo gaming was outrageous. Even though there were some on the market, they were perfunctory at best.

Even those blocky, pixelated models could captivate players to the point of obsession! Such was the yearning and tolerance for holographic games.

“Everyone, check out the video. I think it’s quite stunning,” someone suddenly replied.

There was a pause with no replies. After some time, the person who’d mentioned the video posted again: “Wait, where is everyone? You must’ve finished watching, right? Why is nobody here?”

“Hey, hey, hey, where did everyone go?”

A few hours later, the thread exploded with 9999+ replies, quickly turning hot and climbing to the top.

“Ahhh, is this video not real footage? It’s so lifelike! I can even feel the wind blowing, see the fine fuzz on characters’ faces.

Every breath, every word, every emotion unfolds as if truly happening before my eyes, as if these aren’t models, but living people!”

“Exactly! After watching it once, I couldn’t react, instinctively replayed it several times, utterly addicted. This CG is toxic!”