281 – Rampaging Zombie Horde! Is Wang Ping Cheating Again?!

“Based on the intelligence we’ve gathered, we can determine that regardless of what kind of resurrection method one possesses, as long as they fail the Heavenly Tower trial, they will completely perish. Otherwise, with the means of those in the [double digits], resurrecting would be an extremely easy task…”

Wang Ping stroked his chin and began analyzing.

“Heavenly Tower is truly terrifying, possessing power that surpasses even the [double digits].”

Lin Yuanyuan sighed once again.

“That’s also normal. If it didn’t have such power, it couldn’t possibly trial those in the [double digits], and rumors about becoming a [single digit] by reaching the top of the Heavenly Tower wouldn’t exist.”

Wang Ping’s eyes glimmered as he sighed.

“Just don’t know whether the Heavenly Tower was naturally formed or created by some terrifying entity. If it’s the latter, that’s too terrifying; it means they can even create [single digit] entities…”

“But, aren’t [single digits] said to be omniscient and omnipotent, representing eternity? Can such an existence really be created?”

Lin Yuanyuan doubted.

“Who knows. This world is too vast and filled with too many secrets. With us only being [six-digit] entities right now, it’s impossible to know so much. Only by striving to become stronger can we slowly unveil the truth…”

Wang Ping shook his head, sighing.

“That’s true.” Lin Yuanyuan nodded.

“Brother Wang, we’re about to undergo the Heavenly Tower trial soon. The Heavenly Tower trial randomly allocates teammates. This means, we’ll likely have to rely on ourselves to pass the levels…”

Lin Yuanyuan was a bit worried.

“Don’t worry. This is just the first level. You’ve executed so many [Group] missions and have grown a lot; the first level shouldn’t be difficult for you.”

Wang Ping chuckled and comforted Lin Yuanyuan.

Due to the rules of the Heavenly Tower, the contents of the Heavenly Tower trial are strictly confidential.

Participants who have undergone the trial cannot reveal any details in any way. If they attempt to do so, they will instantly die on the spot, and the circulated information will be immediately blocked.

Similarly, no one can provide help or any kind of hint to those about to participate in the trial; if they do so, they too will be obliterated.

Therefore, the exact details of each level’s trial are well known to those who have participated, but they cannot disseminate it.

This is why countless people fear the Heavenly Tower.

As long as it’s a game and there’s intelligence available, the difficulty of strategy will greatly diminish.

However, the lack of any information regarding the Heavenly Tower trial makes everything reliant on oneself, making it exceedingly dangerous.

The fear of the unknown is human nature.

“I’ll try my best to clear it. However, Brother Wang, should I choose the easy mode or the difficult mode?”

Lin Yuanyuan bit her lip.

The Heavenly Tower trial becomes increasingly difficult the higher one goes. It’s rumored that the first few levels are relatively easy and not so deadly.

Of course, that’s provided one chooses the simple mode; if one opts for the difficult mode, hell mode, or even the most terrifying abyss mode, that’s a different story.

The higher the difficulty, the more astonishing the rewards after clearance, achieving a snowball effect.

If one constantly picks the simple mode and receives average rewards, the subsequent levels will become increasingly challenging, drowning them in the Heavenly Tower trial.

This applies to both ordinary players and the terrifying entities in the [Allheavens Playground].

Because in the Heavenly Tower trial, one can only rely on their awakened life talents and special items.

Meaning, normal items, skills, and Destiny Imprints cannot be used, making it relatively fair.

However, it’s only relatively fair since the strong ultimately possess abundant resources, allowing them to procure powerful special items outside and enhance their life talents to an astounding level.

These advantages are completely unattainable for ordinary [multiverse] players, who might not even have the opportunity to awaken their life talents.

“Go for the difficult mode. The starting point is too low with the simple mode, significantly affecting your future. Of course, if you’re scared, it’s okay to choose the simple mode. After all, your life is yours, and you need to consider it carefully.”

Wang Ping shook his head and said.

“Hmm.” Lin Yuanyuan nodded.

At the moment Lin Yuanyuan nodded, a Park Access Pass suddenly appeared in Wang Ping’s and Lin Yuanyuan’s hands.

Then, the Park Access Pass started to emit light, enveloping Wang Ping and Lin Yuanyuan, bringing them into the Heavenly Tower.

When Wang Ping’s vision cleared up again, he saw himself in a white blank room, which felt very empty.

In response, Wang Ping wasn’t surprised.

Although the contents of the Heavenly Tower trial are confidential, this part is documented.

This blank room is each player’s exclusive room and can be adjusted through one’s will.

However, this sort of benefit can’t really be called a benefit. With a cultivator’s means, they can achieve this easily.

Then, with a thought, Wang Ping wanted to create a scene of primordial chaos.

However, while the scene of primordial chaos did appear, it was merely superficial, without any power of the laws.

“This is really useless. The Heavenly Tower indeed won’t give any advantage…”

Wang Ping shook his head. Although he had anticipated this, he was still a bit disappointed.

“Player, please enter your Heavenly Tower game alias.”

At this moment, a lively voice sounded.

“Tianyan.”

Wang Ping thought for a moment, feeling that it wouldn’t be appropriate to continue using Bai Tianhong’s name here, so he chose his own title.

“Ding, Heavenly Tower game alias selected successfully. Player Tianyan, would you like to adjust your height, weight, appearance, and other data?”

The lively voice sounded again.

“Of course, adjust.”

Wang Ping’s eyes sparkled as he said.

In the Heavenly Tower game, no one would be foolish enough to use their original body data and information to play.

The protection mechanism of the Heavenly Tower is very strong. After adjusting the data, no matter how powerful your teammates are outside, they can’t find your true self.

Unless that player chooses to expose themselves.

However, such idiotic action of exposing oneself is quite rare, and those who did it before are mostly dead.

After all, the rewards of the Heavenly Tower game are astonishing, and everyone desires them.

As Wang Ping adjusted his appearance, his once handsome look, enhanced due to cultivation, became plain and unremarkable again, blending into the crowd without standing out. His height, weight, and physique also significantly differed from his real self.

“Ding, adjustment successful. Please choose your game difficulty.”

The lively voice sounded again.

“Difficulty…”

Wang Ping’s eyes flickered. He was just planning to play it safe and choose the difficult mode.

However, he was soon dumbfounded.

Because a virtual screen appeared before his eyes.

On the screen, there was only one mode.

This mode was the Abyss Mode.

“Damn, are you playing with me? You said there would be simple, difficult, hell, and abyss modes, but now there’s only one abyss mode for me to choose from?”

Wang Ping could no longer stay calm and said, somewhat agitated.

“Ding, please quickly choose from the four modes. If no choice is made within ten minutes, the system will regard it as the player forfeiting the trial and will subject them to Heavenly Tower’s punishment.”

The lively voice sounded again.

“Did you hear that? There’s clearly only one option here, and you’re saying there are four options for me to choose from?”

Wang Ping grew even more irate.

“Please make your choice quickly.”

The lively voice sounded again.

“What the f***…”

Wang Ping couldn’t hold back anymore, his expression turning twisted as he started cussing.

Hell, is this really the Heavenly Tower’s artificial intelligence?

This f***ing thing is probably an artificial idiot, even worse than Alpha.

“No… Could it be that the Heavenly Tower is targeting me? Or is some big player interfering?”

However, Wang Ping quickly calmed down, frowned, and began pondering.

His current situation was clearly abnormal.

Considering that he had been schemed against since his transmigration, the possibility of external interference wasn’t small.

But if the other party could even mess with the Heavenly Tower’s options, how strong must they be…

“Or could it be that he can only interfere with the options of the first few levels? However, even if he can only intervene in the options of the first few levels, that’s terrifying enough…”

Wang Ping’s expression kept changing.

The other party was clearly either forcing him or reminding him that choosing the Abyss Mode was the right path. Otherwise, it would surely be troublesome in the future.

It’s also possible that in order to achieve the other party’s goal, he had to select Abyss Mode in every trial of the Heavenly Tower from now on.

“It seems like I have no choice…”

Wang Ping sighed, and reluctantly made his decision.

“Ding, congratulations to player · Tianyan for choosing Abyss Mode. The game map is · Rampaging Zombie Horde. The game is about to start; the Heavenly Tower will teleport the player to the game world in ten minutes. Please prepare yourself mentally.”

The system’s voice rang out, surprising Wang Ping.

Rampaging Zombie Horde? It sounds related to zombies? Could it be that the first trial of the Heavenly Tower is that simple?

One should know that the first group mission I, Wang Ping, participated in was the zombie world.

And in that zombie world, I went on a massive slaughter.

“No, this time it’s different from that time; Destiny Imprints can’t be used, skills can’t be used. Only innate talents and special items can be used. This means it’s very likely that I’ll have to pass this with the attributes of an ordinary person.”

Wang Ping furrowed his brows again and murmured to himself.

Moreover, the mode he chose was Abyss Mode. It probably won’t be that simple; he must be extremely cautious.

Otherwise, he might end up in a tragic situation.

Next, Wang Ping began to close his eyes and rest, quietly waiting for the game to begin.

In a blink of an eye, ten minutes passed, and Wang Ping was enveloped in white light, transported to the game world.

When Wang Ping opened his eyes again, he found himself in a van.

In addition to Wang Ping, there were three other people.

Two men and one woman, all of whom looked extremely ordinary.

Obviously, not only Wang Ping, but the others also understood the importance of making their appearance look ordinary.

This is normal; anyone brave enough to choose Abyss Mode clearly isn’t a fool. Their wisdom and courage are definitely up to par.

“Ding, the game will officially start in thirty minutes. During this time, you can silently recite the details of the task in your mind to obtain basic information about the game world and related tasks.”

Before Wang Ping and the others had a chance to greet each other, the system’s voice rang out, causing Wang Ping to squint his eyes.

Then, Wang Ping silently recited the task details in his mind, and he instantly received basic information and related tasks about the game world · Rampaging Zombie Horde in his mind.

The background of this world is an ordinary Earth setting, with no extraordinary abilities.

However, a zombie virus will appear in this world in thirty minutes, which will rapidly infect humans and spread.

The players’ tasks are threefold.

The first is the main task: to survive in this world for twenty-four hours.

After completing the task, they can choose to exit the world.

At that time, the most basic rating will be given, and corresponding rewards will be obtained.

The second task is a side task: hunting zombies. The more zombies killed, the higher the rating after surviving for twenty-four hours, and the richer the rewards.

The third task is also a side task: killing the hidden BOSS to obtain special rewards and further improve the rating.

“It seems quite similar to the mode of the Lord God’s Space.”

Wang Ping pondered as he looked at these tasks.

The difference is that the Heavenly Tower’s positioning is much higher than the general Lord God’s Space.

Perhaps, spaces like Samsara Space are training through such methods to cultivate people who can pass the Heavenly Tower trials.

After all, that kind of training method is more suitable for challenging the Heavenly Tower.

“Hehe, one main task and two side tasks. Is this Abyss Mode? Interesting.”

At this moment, a flat-headed young man chuckled lightly, looking quite relaxed and not at all nervous.

“You can’t tell what’s special about Abyss Mode just from the tasks. Of course, since this is our first tower challenge, there’s no way to compare.”

The woman pushed her glasses and spoke silently.

“In my opinion, Abyss Mode most likely increases the strength of the zombies. Honestly, we must quickly find a suitable hiding spot and not waste time here.”

“Compared to this, I think we should introduce ourselves and state our talents, then discuss cooperation.”

The second man, with pockmarks on his face, spoke indifferently.

“Please, do you think anyone would reveal their talent in abyss mode? Cooperation is just a joke.”

The flat-topped youth mocked and pushed open the car door, stepping out.

Seeing this, Wang Ping also followed, equally disinterested in cooperation.

After all, being with these people provided no sense of security.

What Wang Ping wanted to do now was simple — find a secluded place to conduct a free simulation and gather information.

Information is the most important thing.

Seeing the flat-topped youth and Wang Ping walking away, the pockmarked man frowned but said nothing more.

As for the bespectacled woman, she didn’t leave, chose to stay, and smiled slightly, saying, “I think we can discuss cooperation.”

“Hehe, you’re smart. This is the choice of a wise person.”

The pockmarked man smiled.

After that, Wang Ping ignored the others and directly found a quiet coffee shop to sit in.

At the same time, through analysis, Wang Ping figured that the background here might be a city in the Free Nation.

“System, I want to start a free simulation. By the way, can we do a text-based simulation instead of an immersive one?”

Wang Ping’s eyes flickered as he asked silently in his heart.

After experiencing so many things, knowing that someone behind the scenes was plotting something through him, Wang Ping’s view of the Life Simulator had changed, thinking he could attempt to change some things proactively.

Sure enough, this time he got a response.

“Ding, immersive simulation deactivated, text-based simulation mode starting.”

The system’s voice sounded.

“Hehe, this is much better.”

Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction.

Immersive simulation took too much time. Once in an immersive simulation state, it could take a long time. Even taking thirty minutes to simulate once was a problem.

Meanwhile, his physical body in the real world would be completely unguarded.

In that state, he could be ambushed and killed by the three players.

Even if not deliberately ambushed by the three players, he could be bitten to death by zombies once the game officially started.

At that point, it would be truly tragic.

Just as Wang Ping was feeling happy, the screen appeared, with familiar text appearing.

【You know the game is about to start. After thinking it over, you decide that heading to the rooftop of a tall building is a great choice.】

【To this end, you quickly take action, find a tall building, and head towards it. During your advance, you also study your current situation.】

【Through your study, you are pleasantly surprised. Because you discover that although your physical strength has reverted to that of a normal adult, the talents refreshed through the Life Simulator, which is your innate talent, can still be used.】

【Of course, the usable talents are limited to abilities, and talents classified as physical items cannot be used.】

【However, you are unsure if those low-level talents can be used and if they are effective against zombies. If they are, your advantage will become immensely significant, making you a bug-like existence in the Heavenly Tower game.】

【Soon after, you reach the rooftop of a high-rise building, lock the iron door, and wait for the game to start.】

【A few minutes later, the game officially begins. From the rooftop, you witness a horrifying scene. On the streets, many people suddenly collapse and then get up rapidly within ten seconds.】

【At this moment, they have turned into zombies, pouncing on the surrounding people. You solemnly realize that these zombies’ speed is incredibly abnormal, reaching the level of Acquired Realm cultivators.】

【This means that this is a terrifying world where even ordinary zombies have the strength of Acquired Realm cultivators. If these zombies mutate again, just thinking about their strength induces a shiver down the spine.】

【At this moment, you finally understand why the main quest is only to survive for twenty-four hours. In such an abnormal world, surviving for twenty-four hours with an ordinary person’s body is really difficult to achieve. Even if someone awakens a terrifying talent, as long as the talent isn’t abnormal to a certain degree, the chance of surviving to clear the game is still very low.】

【Of course, you also understand that the reason these zombies are so abnormal is that this is an abyss mode game world. If it were easy or hard mode, it wouldn’t be this terrifying.】

【Thinking of this, you start cursing the Heavenly Tower’s AI and the mastermind behind the scenes, feeling like they’ve put you in a terrible situation.】

【Just when you are feeling depressed, you find that everyone on this street has been wiped out in a short span.】

【This makes your heart feel heavy. Just then, you notice a huge commotion. Looking in the direction of the sound, you see a giant several meters tall walking around, trampling on the rapidly increasing zombies with impunity.】

【Seeing this, you are quite surprised, astonished at the giant’s talent. If this talent could only transform into a giant, it would be useless. But if it enhances combat power by increasing body size in proportion, then it’s quite decent.】

【Of course, though you don’t know the talent’s manifestation in the external world, in the first trial of Heavenly Tower’s game world·Rampaging Zombie Tide, its performance seems rather good.】

This also makes you think that it’s necessary to differentiate the strength of talents in the Heavenly Tower trials. Some initially unimpressive innate talents from the outside world might perform well under the various restrictions of the Heavenly Tower trials, while some powerful talents from the outside world might lose their advantage due to these restrictions…

For example, Cai Yonglong’s Absolute Defense could help him withstand powerful attacks from enemies far stronger than him in the outside world. However, in this game world, standing from the perspective of the giant player, it becomes somewhat useless… Even if he survives a bit longer, he will ultimately be overwhelmed by zombies…

As you are contemplating, you notice a change in the situation. Initially, the giant, tens of meters tall, with enormous strength and incredible defense, was able to crush these zombies like stepping on ants. However, as the giant continued to slaughter zombies, something seemed to trigger a mechanism, causing the zombies to rapidly mutate and grow stronger…

Their strength quickly increased from the Acquired Realm to the Innate Realm. As the zombies grew stronger, the giant’s advantage disappeared, and he was overwhelmed by the zombies, his defenses shattered.

In the end, the giant screamed and was also infected, turning into a zombie. Thus, an extremely terrifying giant zombie appeared…

This scene leaves you speechless. Although you understand that he must have been driven to desperation to use his talent and transform into a giant, facing the enemy head-on, it is still a bit reckless. His speed of defeat is astonishing…

At first, you thought he might be a hidden expert when you saw him casually stepping out of the van, but it turns out he was a boorish brute.

Of course, you are still very grateful to this brute. After all, he provided you with a lot of intelligence, and the importance of this information is self-evident.

“As expected of the Abyss Mode, the difficulty is simply outrageous, leaving no way for people to survive…”

Wang Ping frowned as he looked at the simulated text.

The newly infected zombies already possess the strength of the Acquired Realm.

The time to infect a human is within ten seconds, sometimes as fast as just three to five seconds.

Moreover, once zombies encounter a strong enemy, they will quickly mutate and their strength will soar…

As for the players, aside from their talents which can be used freely, their attribute panels are like those of ordinary people… Not to mention fighting against such rapidly mutating zombies, even facing a single zombie would make their hair stand on end…

As for special items, those must either be rewards from the Heavenly Tower or obtained from special trials in the Allheavens Playground. Otherwise, ordinary items cannot be used.

And such items are obviously difficult for novice players like them to possess.

“However, there is no need to panic. I still have many talents that I can use. I just don’t know if the green talent: Immunity to All Poisons can block the virus infection. If it can, then it would be incredibly useful…”

Wang Ping’s eyes flickered as he thought to himself.

In the first team mission, it was also the green talent: Immunity to All Poisons that blocked the virus infection, giving Wang Ping a chance to complete the mission. Otherwise, it would have been a deadly situation.

Perhaps now is another moment for the green talent: Immunity to All Poisons to shine.

As Wang Ping was pondering, the simulation continued.

With the giant being infected and turned into a zombie, he also noticed your presence, looked towards you, and roared. This caused your expression to change slightly. Although you knew you would eventually be discovered by these mutated zombies, being noticed so quickly still made you uncomfortable.

As your expression grew serious, the giant zombie burst forth with far more terrifying speed and strength than before it was infected, charging towards you.

But you had already anticipated this, unhesitatingly using the golden talent: Teleportation. As you used the golden talent: Teleportation, your figure instantly disappeared, leaving the rooftop of the high-rise building.

Just a moment after you were teleported away, the entire high-rise building was directly smashed into rubble by the giant zombie.

At this moment, due to the effect of the golden talent: Teleportation, you were teleported to the street. This street, too, was devoid of any living beings, only filled with zombies.

Your pupils contracted at this. According to your observations, there was no high-rise building here like before, and even if there was one far away, it would certainly have caused significant commotion due to the giant zombie’s destruction. However, there was no such factor present, indicating you were teleported a considerable distance away from your original location.

Yet, despite being teleported far away, there were still zombies present. This implies that the source of the zombies is not just one place, but possibly a global, premeditated infection event.

However, you can’t afford to think too much now, as the zombies have already set their sights on you, who suddenly appeared, and are starting to pounce.

With a heavy expression, you unhesitatingly activated the blue talent: Berserker’s effect, forcibly enhancing a portion of your physical attributes and entering a state immune to negative effects. Of course, the effect of the blue talent is limited, and you aren’t expecting too much from it. Right now, you only want the temporary enhancement of physical capabilities, nothing more.

However, you also clearly notice that the blue talent: Berserker, though usable, offers a much smaller boost compared to when you were in the Lower Realm.

At that time, you were in the Transcendent Realm, still experiencing a significant enhancement. Currently, you are just an ordinary person, only able to increase to the strength of the Vitality Period.

Nevertheless, the strength of the Vitality Period is sufficient. After all, your control over power is not what it used to be. You can easily unleash strength far surpassing the Acquired Realm simply through technique, even with just the physical strength of the Vitality Period.

However, you cannot engage in combat with the zombies, as there are too many of them, and killing them would cause rapid mutations.

Therefore, you have no choice but to run, taking advantage of the talent’s effect to escape as fast as possible. This time, the green talent: Escape Genius also shows some effect, making you run even faster.

This makes you sigh; the once-abandoned low-level talent surprisingly still has its uses.

However, as you escape, you quickly notice a problem. This twisted zombie world is not like those in zombie movies, where you can hide in a room by shutting an iron door. Their strength allows them to easily break through any building, rendering such an escape method futile.

Moreover, these zombies do not rely solely on hearing to detect humans. Their senses are fully functional and far exceed those of a normal person. The only flaw, if it can be called one, is that they have no wisdom, only the desire to bite.

But even without intelligence, you cannot shake them off. This makes you anxious as the effect of the blue talent: Berserker is gradually wearing off. Once the talent effect disappears, you will be forced to use the seven-colored talent: Flashes of Ephemeral Splendor to enhance your combat power or the seven-colored talent ‘God of Escape’…

However, using the seven-colored talent: Flashes of Ephemeral Splendor requires you to die once. Although you can be revived, death is inevitable. Besides, as long as the zombies remain unslain, your situation will not change…

But then you think of something: the seven-colored talent: Resurrection of the Dead allows you to define the time of resurrection. You consider setting the resurrection time to the point when the main mission is completed to pass the trial…

You think this might be feasible and worth a try. But before that, you want to find a way to survive and gather more information…

Since you’re going to do it, you should aim for the best evaluation and the highest reward…

Therefore, when the effect of the blue talent: Berserker wears off, you use the seven-colored talent ‘God of Escape,’ intending to relocate…

As you use the talent, your figure once again disappears, leaving the zombies pouncing on empty air. Subsequently, you are teleported to a new location, where you see two familiar yet unfamiliar faces…