Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 108 - 103: The Endless Cycle of Pain!

Chapter 108: Chapter 103: The Endless Cycle of Pain!

These Eastern Barbarian invaders, many of them without trousers, only a minority clad in armor, most invaders merely wearing helmets, and even the absence of helmets was common.

Their armor was the Eastern Barbarians’ distinctive breastplates, and the patterns on their clothing were completely in line with Eastern Barbarian style. Especially the helmet worn by the leader of the invaders, with its exaggerated design and high recognizability.

As the invaders roared in charge, a discernible tumult rose within the ranks of the Great Sheng Dynasty’s soldiers.

Many soldiers even trembled in their legs, clearly entertaining thoughts of retreat.

Obviously, these soldiers were not any kind of battle-hardened elite; not only was their fighting spirit low, some didn’t even have their armor’s buckles properly fastened, and a pervasive emotion of fear naturally spread.

"Do not retreat!

Prepare for combat!"

The leading General thundered loudly.

He rode his warhorse, which was outfitted with a Zhenyuan Bow on the side, looking to be of high poundage and beautifully crafted.

The General himself donned the high-grade armor of a Great Sheng Dynasty military officer, looking heroic and awe-inspiring.

"Follow me into the fray!"

The General shouted, brandishing his long spear and charging out ahead on his horse!

Seeing this, the soldiers also drew their battle sabers from their waists to follow.

The sabers they held were the standardized battle sabers of the late Great Sheng era, with slender and relatively straight blades, markedly different from the Barbarians’ blades.

Some of these Great Sheng soldiers wielded long spears, some carried battle sabers and round rattan shields, and clashed with the oncoming invaders in a melee.

Su Chengbai, while being swept along by the other soldiers, surveyed the exceedingly realistic surroundings.

All of this was too real, truly giving the sensation of having traveled through time!

But after seeing everything clearly, Su Chengbai felt a surge of panic.

Weren’t there supposed to be "no more than two or three real bandits out of ten"? How could there be so many invaders!

The few sentences he had quoted online, like "no more than two or three real bandits out of ten", were indeed original historical texts.

Su Chengbai, as a Weibo influencer, was not a genuine expert or scholar; in fact, he only had half-baked knowledge about many things.

Sometimes, upon encountering unconventional viewpoints, he took them at face value after minimal verification, without truly delving into research.

Of course, he didn’t feel the need to do in-depth research.

On one hand, as an influencer and not a professional scholar, even if there were academic errors, no one would hold him accountable; on the other hand, these unconventional remarks could also spark controversy and bring him popularity.

Moreover, he harbored some wishful thinking, believing that no one could really do anything to him.

But now, he found himself actually in the midst of history!

These seven or eight hundred invaders appeared to be authentic Eastern Barbarians; from their clothing, armor, weapons, to various details, everything was consistent with historical accounts.

Every minute aspect was impeccable, leaving no room for fault, all of which gravely challenged his perceptions.

"No, impossible, this absolutely isn’t real history!"

Su Chengbai refused to admit he was wrong and desperately observed everything around him, trying to find some glaring mistakes to deny it all.

The leading General, riding his warhorse, charged into the enemy ranks slaughtering left and right – he wielded a large spear with impressive skill, held differently from common soldiers, gripping the very end of the spear to extend its reach, impaling many invaders before their long swords could even touch him.

The situation seemed to be not too bad.

But the moment the frontline soldiers engaged the invaders, things immediately took a bad turn.

The invaders in the back calmly strung their Barbarians’ Bows, and then a torrent of arrows rained down, striking many of the front-line soldiers.

Those with rattan shields fared better, able to raise their shields to defend, but those with spears were often hit by arrows, many falling before even reaching the invaders.

As the clash of steel sounded incessantly, both sides engaged in battle, yet the combat ability of these Great Sheng soldiers was incomparable to that of the valorous Great Sheng General, essentially crumbling at the first touch!

Su Chengbai watched in horror as a soldier charged forward with a saber only to be effortlessly blocked by an invader wielding a Barbarians’ blade in both hands, followed by a decisive chop that brought the soldier down!

With the final blow, the invader’s Barbarians’ blade stabbed forward into the soldier’s body, and after being withdrawn, the invader grasped the handle with his left hand, spun the blade with his right, and shook off the fresh blood.

Among the invaders, there even was some who wielded large glaives, standing about one meter eighty-nine, towering like small giants among the generally shorter Eastern Barbarian invaders, swinging their long glaives, successively defeating four or five soldiers.

Subsequently, these Great Sheng soldiers began to rout!

It was a veritable "crumble at a single blow".

The soldiers farther back in the formation were not particularly capable fighters to begin with, and seeing their comrades upfront easily broken through and utterly outmatched, they now turned tail and fled en masse.

Some soldiers even tossed away their rattan shields and long swords on the ground to run faster.

The leading General shouted angrily, "Do not retreat!"

To no avail.

Before Su Chengbai could react, an invader was already upon him, sword rising and falling!

"Ah!"

Su Chengbai let out a pained cry, feeling a sharp agony, before tumbling to the ground.

The invader raised the Barbarians’ blade for the thrust, withdrew the weapon, the blood spinning off, and turned to leave.

Su Chengbai’s vision darkened, and he gradually lost consciousness.

...

Swiftly, Su Chengbai’s consciousness revived.

He found himself back at the start, right before the moment of the clash between the Great Sheng soldiers and the invaders.

The invaders, once again raising their Barbarians’ blades, shouted as they charged down from the hill!

"Infinite loop?

I’m done, I don’t want to play anymore!"

A sense of horror suddenly surged in Su Chengbai’s heart, as he struggled to exit, the previous death leaving a deep psychological scar.

The invader’s blade seemed to linger before his eyes, and the spot where the Barbarians’ blade had pierced still throbbed painfully.

It hurt too much!

Wasn’t this game supposed to have only 20% of the pain sensation? But the pain he felt then, it was definitely more than just 20%!

It was as if Su Chengbai had really died once; his heart was now completely filled with fear, and all he wanted was to escape.

However, this scene was immediately witnessed by other soldiers.

Su Chengbai felt that their looks toward him were somewhat peculiar.

It seemed as if they were saying, "Brother, you’re truly brave!"

These soldiers would only retreat together when they were completely overwhelmed. Who would run away by themselves before the fight even started? Was he trying to test whether the General’s blade was sharp enough?

The General’s face turned grim, "In battle, any soldier who abandons his commander and retreats first shall be executed without mercy!"

Having said that, he lightly spurred his horse on and quickly caught up with Su Chengbai, who wanted to flee. His spear thrust forward, piercing through the heart in one strike!

"Anyone else dares to flee before battle will be killed without mercy!"

The General slapped his warhorse, returning to the front to command the charge.

Meanwhile, Su Chengbai lay on the ground, fresh blood flowing from his mouth and nose, emitting sounds of resentment.

Time and again, Su Chengbai found himself returning to the starting point.

Stabbed to death by a barbarian blade.

Shot to death by arrows.

Overthrown by a large glaive.

Even killed by his own side for fleeing.

As for where he was injured, it was incredibly varied.

Arms, legs, chest, back, neck...

There wasn’t a single part that was intact.

On several occasions, Su Chengbai even collapsed to the ground weeping at the start, filled with despair for the whole world.

But this was also futile, for the General would immediately become enraged and bellow, "Disrupting the army’s morale, kill!"

And then, Su Chengbai would return to the very beginning once again.

Finally, after many deaths and torments, he came to understand a truth.

Cry? Crying also counts against the time!

For some unknown reason, the damned game’s treatment of him was absolutely different from that of other players!

Physical fitness, Return Order Ability, and pain adjustment, he lacked entirely.

The most fatal aspect was that he wasn’t even given an option to exit; he couldn’t quit midway like other players!

It seemed he would have to wait until 6 a.m. the next day, when the game server would shut down, before he could leave.

"This is outright illegal detention!

"I, too, have human rights, have freedom; the game can’t treat me like this!

"I absolutely don’t believe this is authentic history! It’s definitely fake, deceitful...

"Think hard, there must be a way out..."

After countless deaths, Su Chengbai was on the brink of collapse.

On the one hand, he felt trapped in a loop, dying and suffering over and over; on the other hand, it was because everything seemed too detailed, too real, like actual history.

He was absolutely unwilling to admit any of it.

Because if he admitted that "Dark Sand" was indeed historical reality, wouldn’t it completely negate his past self? How could he then monopolize the interpretation of history? How could he still manipulate truth and falsehood for his own benefit?

What awaited him then would be nothing but the contempt of thousands.

"Wait, I remember the game officials once said that it operates on the principle of dreams, which is why all of this feels so authentic.

"So, to wake up from a dream, first I need to realize it’s a dream, then find the discrepancies between the dream and reality, which will cause the entire dream to collapse...

"Yes, I must find a way to spot the historical inaccuracies in this illusion, like the clothing details of these Eastern Barbarian people, the weaponry and tactics of the Great Sheng Dynasty soldiers; only by finding the flaw can I be saved!

"Maybe I can even cause the entire illusion to collapse and escape successfully!"

Su Chengbai made up his mind.

What of the game’s official endorsement?

If someone like Su Chengbai were to back down just because of an official endorsement, he couldn’t have been in the line of work he was in.

At this moment, Qi was observing the "Trial Illusion" where Su Chengbai was, and asked, "Did you leave him a method to exit this environment?"

Meng Yuan nodded, "Indeed, he can leave by completing the trial."

Qi was momentarily at a loss for words, "Isn’t that essentially the same as not leaving a method at all? But by 6 a.m. tomorrow, he will naturally come out. By then, he will certainly not wear the gaming helmet again."

Meng Yuan chuckled, "Whether he wears it is his business, but whether he dreams is mine.

"Isn’t he so fond of defending the Eastern Barbarian bandits? Fair enough, let him have extensive contact with the Eastern Barbarian bandits, let him truly experience what kind of people his beloved Eastern Barbarian bandits are.

"Such people, the more the merrier. I don’t need to give him the power of the Return Order for protection; just tossing him into the ’Trial Illusion’ will do."

Meng Yuan, although he had offered Su Chengbai the opportunity to experience "Dark Sand," the nature of this opportunity, compared to the internal test qualifications of players, was clearly worlds apart.

Players would receive a part of Meng Yuan’s Return Order Ability, which was why the number of participants was limited.

But Meng Yuan would never give his power to someone like Su Chengbai, directly allowing him to enter the Trial Illusion with his real-life weak, ordinary self.

Let him enjoy himself here.

To really feel whether the Eastern Barbarian bandits are truly Eastern Barbarian people, to feel whether these bandits would spare his life just because he had defended them.

Moreover, this was also an experiment.

One can imagine that there will certainly be no shortage of people like Su Chengbai in the future; it’s not practical to always have Du Gang go to deal with them and find people—too troublesome and a bit too brute-force, lacking in refinement.

Mental "healing" is far better than blocking his speech.

If this experiment on Su Chengbai is successful, there will be a standard procedure in place to deal with such individuals in the future. It would save the trouble for people like Du Gang and allow them to focus on other tasks as well as eradicate any potential hidden threats to the maximum extent. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.

Of course, for Meng Yuan, whether Su Chengbai truly reforms and becomes a new person is not important.

What’s important is to make him pay the price for his words and actions.