282 – SSS Rating! Amazing Rewards!

These two familiar faces are indeed two other players: the pockmarked-faced man and the glasses-wearing woman. At this moment, both are looking at you with astonishment, not expecting you to suddenly appear before them.

However, they quickly calm down, smiling as they congratulate you on your successful escape. Hearing this, you realize that they have guessed your situation and respond with a chuckle, saying it was just luck.

Next, they start probing, asking if your talent is related to spatial transfer and whether you can transfer others. If so, then great, cooperating would greatly increase the survival chances of the three of you.

You chuckle without acknowledging or denying, silently observing the surroundings. You discover this place is likely a very concealed basement, currently quite safe.

For this, you can’t help but admire their luck and methods, managing to find such a hidden place within just thirty minutes, unlike that guy who could transform into a giant. Because of a poor hiding spot, he was directly caught by zombies, forced into combat, then ended up dead.

Subsequently, you decide to cooperate with them. Both also introduce themselves. The pockmarked-faced man calls his game name ‘A Blade of Grass,’ and the glasses-wearing woman says her game name is ‘Little Cow.’

They also reveal their talents to you. The pockmarked-faced man’s talent is Hardening, which can super-hardify objects. Confidently, he claims that as long as they hide here without making too much noise, they can delay for a long time, possibly clearing the level.

As for the glasses-wearing woman, she says her talent is Resurrection and can revive dead teammates.

Listening to them describe their abilities, you chuckle, pretending to believe them while secretly staying on guard.

You continue to feign cooperation while being cautious to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, hoping to last twenty-four hours.

Time flies, and sixteen hours go by without incident, making both the glasses-wearing woman and the pockmarked-faced man relax. They think the Abyss Mode isn’t that bad and can be survived easily.

But you remain solemn. After seeing the giant’s tragic end and the zombies’ freakish physical capabilities and mutation speed, you suspect that as time progresses, even if no zombies are killed, they will gradually mutate.

You believe that once the zombies mutate to a certain extent, this place might not be safe anymore.

You also ponder over another issue: perhaps in this world, the sky is the safest place. As long as you fly high enough, the threat of zombies can be effectively avoided. In other words, finding an airport and taking off before the game officially starts might be a way to clear the level.

Of course, you’re unsure if birds will get infected. If they do, it’s also a problem. In Abyss Mode, any situation could happen.

While you’re deep in thought, a sudden change occurs. A loud noise rings out, causing the three of you to change expressions. The pockmarked-faced man, with an unpleasant expression, says that zombies have discovered you. There are already zombies at the basement’s entrance, destroying the massive iron door.

The pockmarked-faced man tries to reassure you and the glasses-wearing woman, saying not to panic, as the zombie’s strength, although formidable, is still insufficient to destroy the iron door after hardening.

But the pockmarked-faced man quickly eats his words. Shocked, he finds the zombies’ strength increasing rapidly over time, eventually smashing open the hardened iron door.

With the door broken, you see five zombies in the basement.

The pockmarked-faced man’s expression changes, turning himself into a statue-like stone figure without hesitation. Apparently, he had hidden some of his talent’s abilities before.

As for the glasses-wearing woman, she looks terrified, seemingly without any hidden intentions.

In this critical moment, you can’t afford any more hesitation. With zombies pouncing at you, if you don’t retaliate, you’ll truly die here.

Hence, you activate your seven-colored talent: Flashes of Ephemeral Splendor. Under this talent’s effect, you gain incredible strength, and your physical power escalates to a level that can rival the Innate Realm.

With your Innate Realm-level physical strength and your skills, even those in the Spirit Origin Realm would fall before you like pigs to slaughter. The few zombies, no matter how powerful they’ve mutated, are no match and are easily killed by you.

However, you know clearly this is just a temporary solution. Once the effect of the seven-colored talent: Flashes of Ephemeral Splendor dissipates, you’ll die here immediately. Then, you’d have to rely on the seven-colored talent: Revival of the Dead to revive and attempt to clear the level by dragging time.

Just as you’re pondering, the glasses-wearing woman, filled with joy, suggests cooperating with her, believing that you might clear this Abyss Mode’s rampaging zombie world together.

You look at the glasses-wearing woman, calmly stating that the premise of cooperation is for her to reveal her true talents and demonstrate her worth. Without that, there’s no need for cooperation.

Hearing your words, the glasses-wearing woman’s expression shifts. She finally reveals her true talent. It turns out her talent is named ‘Death Control.’ As long as she kills a target, she can revive it as her servant.

In other words, if the glasses-wearing woman kills enough zombies, she might control them to hunt other zombies and snowball her strength, thus reaching the goal of clearing the level. She might even receive a good rating.

Hearing her description, you’re amazed, feeling her talent is pretty good. Perhaps in the Allheavens Playground or her own world, she has already developed an enormous force through this snowballing ability. After all, even some severely injured or terminally ill strong figures would willingly be killed by her to be revived in such a manner.

In this game world, her ability is quite handy. Unfortunately, her overconfidence led her to choose Abyss Mode. As a result, the zombies are too abnormal. Her ordinary human body couldn’t kill the rapidly mutating zombies to snowball her strength, forcing her to hide here with the pockmarked-faced man.

Of course, in your view, if her ability is truly this, it also has evident flaws. If she weren’t foolish, she’d preemptively kill some uninfected ordinary people to revive them, securing zombie henchmen.

However, she didn’t do so, either because she didn’t think of it or because the revived human servants’ state underwent some alteration that couldn’t achieve her goal.

After considering many issues, you decide to cooperate with the glasses-wearing woman. You’re currently interested in clarifying her true talent.

As you begin cooperating with her, the pockmarked-faced man returns from his petrified state, proposing collaboration and claiming he can increase your combat power through hardening.

You chuckle and immediately knock him out. The strength gap left him thoroughly unable to react.

Next, you let the glasses-wearing woman kill and revive the pockmarked-faced man. You want to see her true ability.

The bespectacled woman looked at you with some fear but dared not disobey your order. She chose to kill the pockmarked man and then revived him…

With the pockmarked man’s revival, you finally understood why the bespectacled woman didn’t kill ordinary people earlier and then revive them. Because the revived pockmarked man was no longer human but rather a battle puppet without flesh and blood. Though combat power did increase to a certain extent, it was nothing remarkable. Additionally, it would not be infected by zombies…

That is to say, there was no point for the bespectacled woman to kill ordinary humans earlier; it would only foster suspicion among her companions and possibly lead to her arrest by the police. After all, before the zombie outbreak, society was governed by laws…

However, you didn’t say much. Taking advantage of the time you still had your power, you led the bespectacled woman to kill zombies, wanting to see the limits of her ability…

As you went on a killing spree in the city, the bespectacled woman increased her combat power by scavenging. Together, you started forming a powerful battle line. Because the bespectacled woman’s battle puppets lacked flesh and blood, they did not attract the attention or attack of zombies. Thus, the battle puppets could slaughter other zombies, exponentially increasing your side’s combat power…

You couldn’t help but marvel at the bespectacled woman’s snowballing ability. Perhaps in her plan, she could first cooperate with the pockmarked man, then ambush and kill him, turning him into her battle puppet. The battle puppet could then kill more zombies, achieving the snowball effect…

However, the pockmarked man’s superb defense abilities left the bespectacled woman speechless. Such a teammate was unkillable…even in an ambush. She could hardly do anything. Killing zombies alone was as hard as climbing to heaven…

Just as you both were reveling in the kill, you noticed that the time for Flashes of Ephemeral Splendor was almost up and began setting the revival time, planning to exploit it to attempt a trial clearance…

With that, your consciousness sank into darkness, and you collapsed to the ground…

Seeing you suddenly collapse brought a gleam of joy to the bespectacled woman. After all, to her, you were a greater threat. She wanted to check your condition; if you were merely unconscious, she would kill you and revive you as her strong puppet…

But just as she started to act, a terrifying zombie appeared before her. It grabbed her neck and injected a substance into her, making her pass out…

The terrifying zombie then took both the bespectacled woman and your body away…

When you woke up again, you found you hadn’t cleared the game but were still within the game world. This confused you…was it a game mechanism to prevent deliberate time-wasting, or an anomaly because this was the Life Simulation?…

Regardless of the reason, you realized one thing: Wang Ping couldn’t clear the game using risky methods full of hidden dangers. Thus, you had to find a different way out…

You quickly noticed your current situation: you seemed to be soaked in a special liquid with lasers around you. Also, four tall and strong zombies were guarding you…

This made you frown. You knew you were imprisoned. Maybe it had something to do with the mastermind behind the scenes. They had been monitoring the situation above ground, treating it as some sort of experiment…

Soon, you relaxed, your mouth slightly curving up. This situation couldn’t be more favorable for you…

After all, now you could find out who the mastermind was. Once you knew who he was, your talents would handle him: purple talent: Destiny Connection, Purple Talent: Substitute Puppet, Golden Talent: Life-for-Life, seven-colored talent: Cassine’s Guillotine…

With so many talents, even if he had several lives, it would not be enough…

Soon, your situation was detected by the monitoring staff, making them look like they had seen a ghost. They quickly informed the boss…

Then, the boss appeared before you, amazed at your revival. He had the zombies bring you back because seeing such powerful abilities in an ordinary human intrigued him; he thought your body had research value. He didn’t expect you to come back to life…

The boss smiled faintly, expressing hope that you would reveal the truth about your abilities, promising to consider sparing you…

Upon hearing this, you chuckled and immediately used Destiny Connection to bind the mastermind…

Then you began to self-harm. When you slashed your own hand, the boss’s hand started to bleed, stunning him…

Smirking, you explained Destiny Connection’s effect, urging him to cooperate and divulge all secrets, or face death…

Your words darkened the boss’s expression. Though stunned by your dangerous ability, he didn’t fully believe you and tried a reverse threat…

In response, you resumed self-harm, making the boss bleed all over, further souring his mood. Although he had evolved into a Zombie King with powerful abilities and control over many zombies, he hadn’t anticipated your bizarre ability to transfer damage to him…

Soon, he smiled again, stating that while your ability was impressive, he could put you into a permanent sleep, rendering you powerless…

With another cold laugh, you dared him to try. Then, you used the seven-colored talent: Cassine’s Guillotine, causing the nearby zombie to die suddenly…

This eerie death silenced the boss. Clearly, before he could put you to sleep entirely, you had the power to kill him…

Next, you gently persuaded him, stating that if he let you go and cooperated to make you a perfect evolutionist too, you would do nothing against him and might even help his research for better evolution…

Although the boss disliked your carrot-and-stick approach, he couldn’t afford to gamble now and had to reconcile and cooperate with you…

Thus, you learned many secrets, including the boss’s name, Link Siger. His research institute had developed the zombie virus and deployed virus devices worldwide, activating them a day ago, turning the world into a zombie apocalypse…

Everything was for research. Yet, as the plan unfolded, they didn’t expect the zombies to mutate so rapidly. Not only did city zombies mutate quickly, but their specially cultivated zombies also evolved faster, exceeding those outside…

They were puzzled by these anomalies, but it thrilled them, confirming their research was right. This was the path to human rapid evolution, heralding a new era…

Besides that, the emergence of strange ability users caught their attention and excitement…

You listened from start to finish, noting everything from the research institute’s rise to the zombie crisis and their philosophy and research plans…

Finally, you repeatedly chanted in your mind, ‘Van near the high-rise passage to the underground research institute,’ hoping to transmit the information to Wang Ping…

“The free simulation still isn’t good enough; there are too many details missing. If only it could truly predict the future with every detail in mind, that would be fantastic… Text simulations ultimately have too many gaps.”

Wang Ping frowned as he looked at the text simulation and sighed.

But this is already good enough; at least he now knows the enemy’s stronghold location.

At the very least, he has obtained a lot of information, especially knowing the boss’s name, which allows him to complete the task efficiently.

After all, as long as he knows the boss’s name, he can use various talents to kill the boss and complete a side mission.

As for the main mission and the group task of killing zombies, Wang Ping also has ideas as long as he goes to the research institute.

Thus, Wang Ping continued to stare at the screen.

The following simulations were quite uninteresting, basically focusing on how the simulated Wang Ping tried to gather more information.

However, in the end, the zombies’ mutation speed was too fast, making it difficult even for Linck Sieg, the boss, to control them.

In the end, everyone died.

With that, the simulation ended.

“System, I want to conduct a free simulation.”

Wang Ping then began to act, directly activating his Blue Talent: Berserker to enhance his physical strength for traveling, while silently thinking in his mind.

Although he had many ideas, time was tight, and he couldn’t leisurely sit in the café to simulate; he had to take action immediately.

Of course, simulating while acting was also necessary.

Otherwise, if there were problems with the plan, it would be awkward.

Of course, simulations were just an insurance; real-life situations could change, and he shouldn’t fully rely on them.

At this moment, Wang Ping’s incredibly fast running speed, far exceeding that of a car, stunned countless passersby.

Even the three players noticed Wang Ping and showed strange expressions, not understanding what kind of madness he was displaying.

The game hadn’t even started, yet Wang Ping was already exposing some of his cards, drawing a lot of attention. This was a self-destructive act.

Wang Ping didn’t care; he ran full tilt, heading straight to the target underground research base.

Because Wang Ping was running at full speed, he managed to arrive at the entrance of the underground research base ten minutes before the game officially started.

The security measures here were obviously astonishing.

However, this wasn’t a problem for Wang Ping, who forcibly broke through the door made of special metals.

When Wang Ping burst inside, dozens of armed men in black pointed their guns at him.

Besides, zombies were also staring at Wang Ping.

Clearly, zombies had already appeared, but the boss Linck Sieg hadn’t yet ordered their global spread.

“Step aside, I want to see Linck. I have a proposition for him.”

Wang Ping shouted loudly, causing the ears of the men in black to ache.

At the same time, his voice echoed throughout the underground research base.

“Bring him to me.”

Linck Sieg, sitting in his office, saw the scene through the monitors and squinted his eyes, speaking in a deep voice.

He had initially thought that their superhuman creations were strong enough, heralding the era of human evolution, but Wang Ping’s appearance shocked him.

Could an ordinary human be this strong? Or is Wang Ping also an evolved human?

Following Linck Sieg’s orders, the men in black immediately holstered their guns, and one of them led Wang Ping to Linck Sieg’s office.

When Wang Ping saw Linck Sieg, the boss, he immediately used his Purple Talent: Substitute Puppet, and then self-harmed in front of Linck.

“My ability allows me to transfer any harm I endure to a designated target. In other words, your life is now in my hands. I have only one demand: delay the virus’s spread by twenty-five hours, or I will kill you.”

Wang Ping inflicted self-harm, causing Link’s wrist to bleed profusely, and said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Link’s expression instantly changed. He looked at Wang Ping, then at his own bleeding wrist, a sullen look on his face.

To be honest, he really hadn’t expected that this sudden visitor, Wang Ping, not only had a strong physical body but also supernatural abilities.

“Do you think I will believe what you say…?”

Link Sig’s face looked grim as he said in a somber tone.

“I think you will believe what I say.”

Wang Ping sneered and inflicted self-harm again.

This time, his throat bled directly, making Link Sig’s face turn pale.

His goal was to evolve himself, becoming a perfect new human being.

Now, his dream was not yet accomplished; he absolutely did not want to die.

“I can agree to your request.”

Immediately, Link Sig hurriedly spoke up, stopping Wang Ping from continuing to harm himself.

Although he didn’t know who Wang Ping was, nor the purpose behind delaying the virus spread, he had no choice but to comply for his own survival.

To this end, Link directly started making phone calls, notifying various teams to delay spreading the virus.

“Very well. Link, now pour me a cup of coffee.”

Seeing Link’s cooperation, Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction and sat comfortably on the office sofa, asking Link to pour him a cup of coffee.

Seeing Wang Ping treat him like a servant, Link’s face turned very unpleasant.

However, Link had no choice but to comply and brewed a cup of coffee for Wang Ping.

Then, Wang Ping quietly waited for the time to pass.

Side quest one: The more zombies killed, the higher the score obtained.

So, if he prevented the zombies from appearing at all, would that mean he eliminated all zombies and could get the highest rating?

Or does it mean, since the zombies didn’t appear, he wouldn’t get any bonus points at all?

Of course, it shouldn’t be that bad. After all, Wang Ping had wiped out all the special zombies within the research institute, so he should get some score boost.

In no time, more than twenty-three hours had passed.

At this moment, the three players outside were thoroughly confused. They found no sign of zombies appearing at all.

This made them somewhat suspicious if the Heavenly Tower had a bug.

“Hehe, this isn’t too bad either. Although we can’t complete the mission, we can pass the Abyss Mode lying down, which is an amazing achievement.”

The pockmarked-faced man looked at the livestream on the stolen phone and said happily and relaxedly.

“Is this really the Abyss Mode? Could there be a mistake…”

The bespectacled woman, Little Cow, was doubtful.

“Maybe that player did something? If it was really him, it’s equivalent to him leading us through the Abyss Mode flawlessly.”

The pockmarked-faced man speculated, his eyes twinkling.

“Makes sense.”

The bespectacled woman, Little Cow, pondered.

They saw Wang Ping’s unusual behavior, evidently he had discovered a way to clear the mode and took action to stop the zombies from appearing.

If that’s truly the case, then this person’s methods are terrifying.

If we can find him in the future and cling to him, perhaps I could also become a big figure in the Allheavens Playground.

The bespectacled woman couldn’t help but fantasize.

As the thoughts of the three players were racing, Wang Ping glanced at the time and realized there was only one minute left to complete the main quest.

“Link, thank you for your cooperation.”

Wang Ping looked at Link and smiled gently.

“It was my duty. Is there anything else you need me to do, sir?” Link’s heart harbored a foreboding feeling, squeezing out a relatively natural smile, and spoke very politely.

“I do have one last thing.” Wang Ping chuckled.

“What is it?” Link asked nervously.

“Please go die.” Wang Ping’s lips slightly curved upward as he said these words.

Then, Wang Ping struck, crushing his brain and shattering his heart.

This caused Link to die on the spot.

“Ding, twenty-four hours have passed, the main quest is completed. Congratulations to the player for passing the first level of the Heavenly Tower game world: Rampaging Zombie Tide.”

Just a few seconds after Link Siegel’s instant death, the melodious voice of the Heavenly Tower’s AI rang out.

Then, Wang Ping was enveloped in white light and left this game world, returning to his exclusive room.

Immediately, the melodious voice of the Heavenly Tower sounded again.

“Ding, the player has chosen the Abyss Mode, survived for twenty-four hours, completed the main quest, and has received an A-grade evaluation.”

“Ding, the player successfully killed the final boss, Link Siegel, evaluation increased to S-grade, awarded a special treasure box.”

“Ding, the player perfectly annihilated all zombies, evaluation increased to SSS-grade, awarded an SSS-grade Abyss treasure box.”

“Ding, full tower announcement: Player ‘Tian Yan’ has chosen Abyss Mode, perfectly passed the first level of the Heavenly Tower game world, obtained an SSS-grade evaluation, becoming the 99th player to receive an SSS-grade evaluation.”

“!!!”

Wang Ping was quite astonished seeing the series of information on the screen.

Goodness, obtaining an SSS-grade evaluation directly, and it’s being announced to the entire server… this is outrageous.

However, isn’t this a bit too high-profile?

“Forget it, doesn’t matter. I’d be famous sooner or later anyway. Since it’s a mandatory announcement, there’s nothing to change… better to accept it calmly.”

Wang Ping shook his head and muttered.

“But, the minimum evaluation for Abyss Mode is A-grade. Even just staying alive will earn an A-grade evaluation, which is quite remarkable. It seems that if you choose simple mode, even doing the same things, you probably wouldn’t get a high evaluation.”

Wang Ping thought about the evaluation issue, pondering.

It looks like, if you don’t choose Abyss Mode, you can forget about obtaining the highest SSS evaluation or the best rewards.

“Maybe, only by choosing Abyss Mode every time can there be hope of reaching the top of the Heavenly Tower and becoming a top-ranked player.”

Wang Ping had this random thought.

However, Wang Ping soon shook his head again, thinking these goals were still too far off to contemplate too much.

Then, he shifted his attention to the rewards from this time, eager to see what good things he could get.

Firstly, Wang Ping claimed the special treasure box from killing the final boss.

As for the SSS-grade Abyss treasure box, he planned to open it later since he liked saving the best for last.

As Wang Ping claimed and opened the special treasure box, golden light appeared, and a very peculiar stone came into view.

It also included some textual information.

Rules Stone: Can successfully evolve a six-digit level talent to a five-digit level.

“Holy crap!”

Wang Ping was astonished by this reward.