After Reborn, I Became the Bigshots' Beloved novel Chapter 420

Chapter 420: Chapter 420: It Exploded, Turns Out It’s a Holographic Game!

The sudden commotion in the Great Hall not only caused the participants in the program to panic and scream, but also stunned the audiences watching the livestream.

...Holy shit, what’s going on here?

What kind of show locks the participants in, seals the doors, and then releases some kind of sedative gas?

Isn’t this blatantly illegal? Is this really the program site or a crime scene?

And what exactly is this gas they’re releasing? Is it sedative or anesthetic?

These are the brightest and smartest high school students across the nation! What if this gas damages their brains? Can the program team really bear such consequences??

Seeing everyone in the Great Hall collapse one after another, quite a few netizens had already grabbed their phones from their desks, ready to call the police, thinking that the program team was up to some kind of illegal activity violating human rights.

And then, at that critical moment, the livestream screen suddenly blacked out.

A line of large text floated onto the screen—

[What you believe to be real, is it truly real?]

-

Meanwhile, on the 27th floor of Qingmang Tower, the operations department.

Watching Lu Sheng collapse during the livestream, Li Muchen stormed over, grabbed the shoulder of the person in charge, his gaze colder and harsher than it had ever been.

The veins on the back of his hand bulged, his grip so strong it felt like he was about to crush the bones of the man, scaring the surrounding staff into shaking with fear.

"You actually dared to use sedative gas on the participating students?"

Li Muchen clenched his fists tightly, barely maintaining his composure, and then stood upright, turning to Chen An. He spoke flatly, "Chen An, come with me to the 12th floor. I’ll bring Shengsheng back first."

However, just as he released his grip, the person in charge grabbed onto his hand instead, swallowed nervously, and said in a trembling voice:

"Wait, President Li. Please don’t get angry, Miss Lu Sheng is perfectly fine. She’s just asleep right now."

"...Asleep?" Li Muchen paused, about to turn away, and questioned coldly, "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Look at the livestream screen—"

The person in charge pointed at the large screen, at the line of floating text. The next second, the screen interface abruptly switched, returning to the Great Hall.

However, the scene within the Great Hall was completely different from before.

The twenty-eight participating high schoolers, including Lu Sheng and her group of five, were all peacefully asleep in their reclined chairs, as though the chaotic moment of panic, the gas release, and locked doors had never occurred.

As if trying to ensure everyone had a more comfortable sleep, the smart chairs slowly adjusted into the ideal angle for rest and relaxation. Everyone seated appeared to drift off into a deep slumber.

And then, something even more shocking happened.

The smart chairs suddenly raised glass domes from their tops, encasing the occupants as if forming individual pods. Helmets emerged within the pods, gently lowering onto everyone’s heads.

Seeing this, even Chen An—who was accustomed to major surprises—was visibly stunned. He turned to the person in charge and questioned, "...What is this?"

"Actually, this is the real footage of Miss Lu Sheng and the others after entering the hall—they simply lay down on their chairs and fell asleep."

"Thus, the creator specifically designed an in-game backdrop—the scenario where anesthetic gas was released, locking doors and causing panic. This way, the participants genuinely believe they were sedated, and when they wake up, they’ll think they’re already on the plane."

"They’ll assume this is just the program’s arrangement."

Chen An couldn’t help but ask, "Are you saying the footage we just saw wasn’t livestreamed, but was already inside the game itself?"

The person in charge nodded: "Correct. That was already game footage—consider it a prologue."

"It serves as both a test for the game’s functionality and a demonstration of its immersive effects for the viewers. Once the participants wake up, they’ll truly begin the game."

"Game time and real-life time aren’t synchronized. In-game, the duration is set to ten days. We’ll monitor and display all the in-game footage on screen. Meanwhile, the participants’ physical states inside the pods remain unaffected."

"This program is essentially a collaboration between us and the game creator. While we spent nearly thirty million to rent these dozens of devices for ten hours, our contract stipulates that for the next two years following the program’s conclusion, we’ll receive a 5% royalty for every unit sold by his company."

"Each device sells for over a hundred thousand yuan, but just look at the level of realism from the footage—you’ve seen it yourself. After watching this program, there’ll surely be countless people eager to purchase them. The two million you invested could potentially double in return."

Li Muchen didn’t care about recouping his investment; his sole focus was on Lu Sheng’s safety. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

"Will this game cause any harm to the participants?" Li Muchen asked.

"Not at all. We’ve implemented two exit mechanisms," explained the person in charge. "The first is voluntary withdrawal—they can simply press a button to return. The second is if their emotional state becomes highly unstable; we’ll pull them back to reality immediately. If the game causes any psychological impact, we can directly delete those specific memories."

Hearing this, Li Muchen finally relaxed a fraction and turned to Chen An decisively, "I’ll stay here to keep an eye on her. Take care of the remaining work."

Meanwhile, after finally reading through the thousands of words of explanation on Qingmang TV’s official weibo—

the entire internet was no less than utterly ablaze.