novelraw Chapter 1 : Welcome to the Game of Gods
Chapter 1 : Welcome to the Game of Gods
Chapter 1: Welcome to Game of Gods
Jiang City, midsummer.
The air was stiflingly hot, without the slightest breeze.
Under the Panlong Overpass, the air was filled with a mix of exhaust and dust. Occasionally, a vehicle roared past, stirring up a wave of heat.
Beneath the bridge, near the pillars, a flickering streetlamp with a poor connection struggled in vain, illuminating the dancing mosquitoes and drifting dust.
In the shadow of the bridge pillars, several figures were surrounding Zheng Wei at this moment. The one leading them was a burly man with a scar on his face, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his gaze vicious.
Zheng Wei’s rough hands were clenched tightly. Sweat slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the scorching concrete.
“Brother Wei, don’t be shameless when someone’s giving you face.” A frivolous voice sounded.
The Scar-face at the front slapped a loan-shark contract onto Zheng Wei’s face.
“Look, it’s written clearly in black and white.”
“Back when your daughter needed treatment, you borrowed fifty thousand from Brother Qiang. Now it’s time to pay up.”
“With fifty thousand in principal and interest compounding, the total is now three hundred thousand. Not a single cent less.”
Scar-face spat out the cigarette butt, crushed it with the tip of his shoe, and with a mocking expression said, “Brother Wei, three hundred thousand for your daughter’s life—pretty worth it, isn’t it?”
Zheng Wei trembled as he pulled a wrinkled stack of cash from his pocket. “Brother Biao, this is this month’s wages, three thousand. Please… take it first…”
Scar-face snatched the money and weighed it in his hand, letting out a cold laugh. “Three thousand? Are you treating me like a beggar?”
Zheng Wei’s body began to tremble. He lifted his bloodshot eyes and pleaded hoarsely, “Brother Bao, my daughter is still in the hospital. I’m begging you, give me a few more days… just a few more days…”
“…The payment from the construction site is coming soon. Once it arrives, I’ll pay immediately!”
“A few days? Can the hospital wait a few days?”
“Your daughter’s illness can’t be delayed, right?”
“If Brother Qiang hadn’t lent you money back then, you’d probably be kneeling at your daughter’s grave today, offering incense, wouldn’t you?!”
“Brother Wei, you really shouldn’t be ungrateful!”
Scar-face burst into laughter as he spoke, and the thugs behind him followed with jeering laughter.
“Brother Bao is right. If Brother Qiang wasn’t kindhearted, your daughter would’ve died already!”
“Brother Wei, I think your daughter looks pretty nice. Why don’t you let her ‘work’ for us to pay off the debt?”
“……”
Their filthy words smashed into the kneeling father.
Zheng Wei’s chest rose and fell violently. The pleading in his eyes was gradually replaced by despair, and deep within that despair, a massive fury was about to erupt.
“Looks like you’re not planning to hand over the three hundred thousand today, Brother Wei. Don’t blame us for being impolite then.” Scar-face lost his patience and raised a hand toward Zheng Wei.
Two thugs behind him immediately stepped forward and pinned Zheng Wei hard against the pillar wall.
Then Scar-face turned and grabbed a rusted iron rod from the corner. He weighed it in his palm, producing a dull metallic thud.
“Since you can’t pay the money, then we follow the usual rules. We’ll break one of your legs first, let you learn your lesson.”
“Let you know that Brother Qiang’s money isn’t something you can just avoid paying back.” The scar on his face looked especially ferocious under the dim light.
“Please… Brother Bao…” Zheng Wei’s voice carried a desperate plea.
But the iron rod in Scar-face’s hand had already been raised high. With a whooshing sound, it swung down fiercely toward Zheng Wei’s left knee.
Zheng Wei shut his eyes in agony.
He almost heard the sound of his bones shattering.
His daughter’s pale little face flashed through his mind.
No!
Why?!
He worked himself to the bone. He only wanted to save his daughter. Why did it have to come to this?
At that moment, extreme despair and fury erupted in Zheng Wei’s heart like a volcanic explosion!
Just as the iron rod was about to strike his knee—
A cold, majestic voice devoid of emotion, like an absolute truth, thundered directly within the depths of his soul!
【Welcome to ‘Game of Gods’】
【Matching player identity and faction】
【Identity match complete】
【Faction match complete】
【Player: Zheng Wei】
【Identity: Popeye】
【Faction: Radiance】
【Your anger shall become strength; your limits far exceed mortal imagination】
……
To Zheng Wei under the Panlong Overpass at this moment, the instant that voice appeared, time seemed to stretch infinitely.
At the same time, an unprecedented power surged from within his body.
Zheng Wei’s mind went blank, but his body, driven by that power, moved instinctively.
He instinctively swung his arm, and the two thugs holding him were instantly flung away like severed kites, crashing heavily against a distant bridge pillar.
Then Zheng Wei reached out and precisely caught the descending iron rod.
“Bang!!!”
A muffled explosion of impact rang out.
The bone-shattering sound Scar-face expected did not come. Instead, an overwhelming force surged from the other end of the iron rod, numbing his grip so badly he nearly lost hold of it.
How was this possible?!
Scar-face’s eyes widened in terror as his mind froze.
The thugs behind him, who had just been laughing, felt their smiles stiffen on their faces.
“You…”
Scar-face instinctively tried to yank the iron rod back, but it did not move an inch.
“Creak… crunch… aaah…”
Suddenly, a scalp-numbing sound of twisting metal rang out.
Under the terrified gazes of Scar-face and the others, the solid rebar-made iron rod was crushed flat… in Zheng Wei’s hand!
Every debt-collecting thug present, including Brother Bao, froze in place, their faces showing utter shock and disbelief.
He had bent a steel rod… with flesh and bone?!
Was this a damn movie?!
They looked at the distorted rod, then at Zheng Wei, whose entire being radiated a dangerous aura, as if they were witnessing the most impossible sight in the world.
At this moment, Zheng Wei slowly lifted his head.
His eyes had completely changed. The earlier pleading and despair had vanished without a trace, replaced by a dazed, simmering rage.
Zheng Wei could feel this immense power erupting from every cell in his body, coursing wildly through his limbs!
He stared at the thugs who had just been humiliating him moments ago. His gaze was as if he were looking at a pile of corpses.
“You… what the hell are you doing?!” Brother Bao was the first to snap out of his shock. He instinctively took half a step back, then shouted with a voice that sounded fierce but was hollow inside.
Next, Brother Bao reached behind his waist and grabbed a spring knife that gleamed with cold light. With a crisp “click,” the blade sprang open and lunged toward Zheng Wei. “I don’t care what tricks you pulled. You owe money, you pay! That’s how the world works!”
As the blade thrust forward, Zheng Wei raised his fist and struck it head-on.
At the moment fist met steel, the spring knife shattered instantly. A sharp cracking sound snapped from Scar-face’s wrist.
“A monster!”
One cowardly thug let out a shrill scream and immediately bolted. The remaining thugs saw this and scattered in panic like startled birds.
“Bro… brother… no, big brother!” The flesh on Brother Bao’s face twitched uncontrollably. His earlier arrogance had completely vanished, leaving only boundless fear.
Clutching his broken wrist, he wailed, “It’s a misunderstanding… all a misunderstanding! The money… forget the money! We don’t want it anymore, really, we don’t!”
Zheng Wei did not respond. His eyes shifted toward Scar-face, who instantly scrambled backward on hands and feet like a terrified dog.
Zheng Wei looked indifferently at the group of panicked scumbags. He did not pursue them, and soon they vanished into the darkness, leaving behind nothing but a strong stench in the air.
A night breeze suddenly swept through, bringing a trace of coolness.
Zheng Wei lowered his head and stared at his slightly trembling hands. He could not believe what had just happened.
Was he dreaming?
“Game of Gods… Popeye…”
Zheng Wei murmured as he began carefully examining the rule information that had appeared in his mind.
Factions, identities, abilities, slaughter, erasure… it all sounded like fantasy, yet it had undeniably happened to him.
Worldly law and order no longer bind you.
Your only restraints are other players.
The words of the rules echoed in his heart.
Perhaps… this sudden extraordinary power, this so-called “game,” was not entirely a disaster.
It might be an opportunity—one that could shatter his current predicament, perhaps even allow him to seize far more!
His daughter!
Zheng Wei suddenly remembered his daughter still in the hospital. He could no longer bother thinking about the “Game of Gods” and hurried toward the Jiang City First People’s Hospital.
And on this night, countless people in Jiang City were destined to lose sleep.
……
In the top-floor apartment of an inconspicuous residential building in Jiang City—
Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, the city’s lights shimmered brilliantly.
A young man in comfortable loungewear was quietly watching the enormous light screen before him. The display was divided into twelve sections, each showing a different scene in real-time.
One of those sections showed the exact moment beneath the Panlong Overpass—everything from Zheng Wei being pushed to the brink of despair, to his eruption of extraordinary power, to the thugs fleeing in terror.
The man picked up his freshly brewed coffee and took a slow sip, letting the rich aroma spread through his mouth.
He looked at Zheng Wei’s face on the screen—a mix of confusion, fear, and a hint of exhilaration. His lips curled upward slightly, forming a playful smile.
“A stone has been cast into the pond,”he murmured softly, his voice carrying the rhythm of absolute control, “Let’s hope it creates some… interesting ripples.”