Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Old Zhou’s Class was perfectly aligned with his code name—Prisoner.

He had initially been curious about why he had awakened this Class. According to his own thinking, he should have been more likely to awaken a Class like ”Athlete” or ”Enforcer.”

After all, he had never been to prison before.

Of course... Old Zhou didn’t think it was completely unreasonable either.

Before joining the Death Game, Old Zhou worked security at a nightclub—living a life that was active at night and dormant during the day.

Although Old Zhou wasn’t entirely sure if he had ever broken the law, he knew the things he did were indeed in a gray area.

The circumstances of his entry into the game were nothing special either. One day after his night shift, while walking home and passing a construction site, he was killed by a falling steel bar.

But... because of that, Old Zhou finally understood just how unwilling he was to die.

And because of that, after passing through his first round, he felt that his current life was an utter waste of his life.

After all, the Prisoner Class might have revealed his subconscious expectations about his current job—if he kept going like this, he would eventually end up in prison anyway.

Getting imprisoned or detained was a common occurrence in his social circle and workplace.

So, Old Zhou quit his job, said goodbye to his fair-weather friends, and started teaching himself programming.

Although he had quit his job, Old Zhou still didn’t know what he really wanted to do—he could only do what he was best at.

He found a new, respectable job at a game company.

During work hours, he worked hard. After work, he spent his days relentlessly working out, boxing, and waiting for the next dungeon to open.

If he encountered someone strong enough in a dungeon, he’d fight them to vent the stress accumulated at work.

Until...

After his eighteenth dungeon, shortly after becoming a Second-Tier, he met a girl wearing a black dress who had a great interest in corpses.

After exchanging blows with her, she was amazed by his strength and started chatting with him in a dangerous Survival dungeon.

”You’re pretty interesting. You’re clearly so strong, but you’re still wandering aimlessly without any goals.”

”But calling you aimless... you’ve somehow joined this Death Game and survived this long. That’s really strange.”

”Still, I happen to be an oddball too, and I’ve joined an organization where oddballs stick together... So, you want in?”

After a brief moment of thought, Old Zhou agreed for some inexplicable reason.

Perhaps it was the word ”freedom” that appealed to him too much.

He had to admit... the Free Alliance was indeed a very interesting organization.

Hanging out with those oddballs—even though his life didn’t seem to have changed much—those little moments were enough to make him feel that life was actually quite interesting.

Of course, those guys absolutely couldn’t be called ”good people.” There was the one who loved collecting corpses from funeral homes, the one who loved challenging limits without caring about others’ safety, and the one who would beat up anyone with terrible cooking skills who wasted food...

They had even been blacklisted and hunted by the semi-official player organization, Order.

But Old Zhou just felt that these people were better than those scumbags he used to deal with who ended up in prison for fighting, drunk driving, gambling, and other dirty business.

No real reason—just purely subjective feelings.

And so, he continued living his life and participating in the Free Alliance’s operations.

In this state, Old Zhou completed the prerequisite tasks for Third-Tier and received the quest to obtain his Exclusive Item.

That Exclusive Item was called... the Path of Redemption and Freedom.

The moment he saw the name of his Exclusive Item, Old Zhou had a vague realization.

”Maybe Prisoner refers to the part of me deep inside that’s always felt trapped.”

Although he worked out every day and acted as an enforcer in nightclubs, he never saw himself as an Athlete or Enforcer.

And even after entering a respectable company with a decent job, he still didn’t feel ”free.”

Deep down, his life was still like a prison.

Even after making changes, that didn’t mean he was no longer ”wasting his life.”

Before joining the Death Game, he had already longed for change.

Death and this game gave him his first chance to think and make a decision.

Joining the Free Alliance and watching those carefree companions—without him even realizing it—gave him a second chance to make a decision.

This time, instead of quitting his job, he chose to put on a mask, sneak into his boss’s home, beat him up, tie him up, and take all his money—even though this company seemed to be making browser games on the surface, it was actually helping people launder money behind the scenes.

After taking the dirty money, Old Zhou fled to another city.

During that escape, he broke the lock of a shared bike and rode it out of his city.

The night wind howled past as Old Zhou pedaled his bike and called into the Free Alliance group chat. At first, he just said he’d quit his job, but the more he talked, the more excited he got, and he couldn’t help sharing what he had done that night.

Old Zhou had forgotten what everyone said, but he remembered... from that moment on, he knew why he was alive.

Whether being a thug enforcer at a nightclub or a respectable office worker at a big company... or a civil servant, teacher, doctor, a rich man or a high official, a great scientist or artist—no matter ”who you become,” it doesn’t mean you’re not ”wasting your life.”

Only by doing what you truly want to do can you say you’re truly not wasting your life.

Old Zhou understood that night. The freedom he had always longed for was that very moment—constantly growing stronger, then using the power he had accumulated to overcome all enemies and defy all rules in that single instant!

The Ten Realms were vast. He wanted to learn more techniques to increase his own strength until he became even stronger!

Most Players viewed the Death Game as a trap and a curse. Even though it gave them a second chance at life, very few were grateful for it.

Only Old Zhou truly understood from the bottom of his heart—this game was his Path of Redemption and Freedom.

He held the rusty brass key and turned it slightly, as if unlocking a shackle of fate that didn’t exist.

In the next moment, the wounds on his body healed rapidly, and lightning surged around him.

From this moment on, Old Zhou could freely use all his items without any ”side effects” or ”restrictions.”

This was the function of the Path of Redemption and Freedom—[Within ten minutes, cancel all cooldown times and restrictions on every other item the owner possesses]!

The Thunder Demon-Suppressing Cross Tonfas and the Thunderclap Totem Wood Carving were both pushed to their limits. The power of lightning stacked continuously before being completely absorbed by the War Drum Battle Method, transforming into his own strength.

He stabilized himself in the raging wind, then...

”Whoosh!”

He transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot out of the storm.

”Old man, didn’t expect this, did you—”

”I’m back!”