Godmode: My Infinite Game Odyssey

Liam Watson woke up and found himself sitting in the backseat of a cramped, dilapidated car. The chair backs emitted a realistic smell of smoke, and water slid down the car window, blurring the outside world. Through the glass, he could faintly see the fine rain falling. The sky was dim, and it was hard to tell if it was dusk or night. The air carried a faint, unpleasant smell of salty fish.

In front of him, a floating panel appeared with the words—[Game Instructions].

Liam furrowed his brow.

Where was he? Why was he here? And what was this panel?

The panel seemed to sense his confusion and began to display answers, one by one.

[You are in a deadly game, and you're here because we detected a strong desire for money after your recent job loss, which triggered the game.]

As the words on the panel appeared, Liam slowly recalled some things.

Yes, that's right, he had lost his job.

He had always had an intense desire for money. From a young age, he was abnormally obsessed with wealth. A psychologist had even diagnosed him with [Money Hoarding Disorder]. The doctor had warned him that if he didn't control his obsession with money, he would eventually do something reckless for the sake of wealth.

Liam could manage his desire for money with his regular income when he had a job. But after losing his job, he was overcome by an uncontrollable urge to hoard money, even at the cost of everything. His psychologist had told him it was a common reaction for someone who had lost their job, advising him to relax and go out to see the world.

Liam had just wanted to laugh bitterly. Without money, going out meant he could only see hell, not the world.

Liam sarcastically asked his psychologist: "If I go out and see the world, will I become rich?"

The psychologist had been stunned: "Of course not. You'll only become poorer."

Liam: "..." So you knew this would happen, didn't you?

"But after you become poorer, you'll realize…" the psychologist had tried to console him, "being poor isn't so bad. Money is just a material thing. Why torture yourself like this?"

Liam had flatly asked, "Does it pain you to deal with a patient like me?"

The psychologist: "..." Painful.

Liam smirked: "Why do you torture yourself so much? Why don't you quit your job and go take a walk?"

The psychologist: "..." Because of money, I can't go out without it.

Then he burst into tears.

After making so many psychologists cry, Liam clapped his hands and sighed. Poverty truly was the best weapon to attack humans.

It might hurt others, but it hurts yourself even more.

Luckily, the psychologist was from a community service, or Liam would have been even poorer.

——

After losing his job, Liam fell into a state of intense anxiety, unable to calm down. He dreamed of becoming rich overnight, sitting in a pile of money and laughing joyfully. When he woke up, the stark contrast between his dreams and reality often left him even more despondent because his savings were only in the five-digit range.

Amid this unrelenting joblessness, anxiety, and inner conflict, Liam often daydreamed. If only there were a way to make money through high-risk ventures, he could risk his life for money!

He shared his thoughts with a friend, who comforted him, saying, "See that book on your bookshelf, 'Criminal Law'? Open a page, and you'll find high-risk ways to make money. Try hard enough; you might even make it to the 'urgent' list this month."

Liam: "..."

Liam didn't want to break the law. Was there really no way to make money fast without breaking the law? His friend replied: "Dreaming is faster."

Even if it meant risking his life, he still wanted money—Liam thought this as he lay in bed, dreaming, right before he lost consciousness and was pulled into the game.

The memories ended, and Liam looked at the floating game panel before him.

The panel displayed another line of text:

[Yes, your intense desire triggered the game, and as long as you succeed in completing it, you will get everything you desire.]

Liam replied without hesitation: "I want money."

Forget about the game; all he wanted was to make money.

After a while, Liam asked, "Is this game legal?"

The panel replied:

[…Legal.]

The panel continued:

[By completing the game, you will earn points, which can be exchanged for money and anything else you desire.]

Liam: "What kind of game is this? How must I complete it and earn the points you're talking about?"

The panel explained:

[This is a horror escape game filled with monsters, murderers, and the impossible. Your task is to find their weaknesses, complete the game's story, and survive from their grasp.]

[Game instance loading… Completed.]

——

[Game Instance Name: Siren Town]

[Level: One (A level-one game is one where the player's death rate is less than fifty percent.)]

[Mode: Solo Mode]

[Description: This is a thrilling game combining action and puzzle-solving. It is quite popular among players but seems very unfriendly to newcomers. The death rate for newbies is very high.]

——

[Player Information Loading… Completed—]

[Player Name: Liam Watson]

[Health: 100 (Below 60 health, the player's attack power decreases. If health reaches zero, the player dies.)]

[Stamina: 80 (Full of energy)]

[Agility: 25 (You've been sitting at a desk for too long; your body is stiff and not very agile.)]

[Attack: 30 (You have the attacking power of a high school girl using her backpack to hit someone.)]

[Intelligence: 89 (Surprisingly smart.)]

[Luck: 0 (You're remarkably unlucky. If your company is going to lay off someone, it will definitely be you.)]

[Skills: None (You don't have any skills yet.)]

[Mental State: 100 (You are the first player of the year to enter the game with full mental state.)]

Under the mental state, there was a small red note:

(Note: Please ensure your mental state stays above 60. If it drops below 60, the player will start losing control, and all panel attributes will be halved; below 40, hallucinations will appear, making the game harder; below 20, it will trigger a state of madness, with attack power randomly spiking as you kill monsters. If the mental state reaches zero, the player will be completely assimilated into the instance, becoming one of the monsters.)

[Overall Evaluation of Player's Attributes—F rank player, the lowest rank, but due to special measurements for mental and intelligence stats, this rank is under review. Final player rank is recorded as—F (?)]

Liam scanned his character sheet and looked at the question mark next to the F rank, feeling slightly mocked. He closed the panel, and a new one popped up.

[You have logged into the Newcomer Area's small TV screen (1/100). Currently, no one is watching your gameplay. Player Liam Watson has a popularity rating of 0, with a spending rate of 0.]

Liam frowned: "What is this?"

The panel explained:

[Your gameplay will appear on the small screen in the Newcomer Area of the Player's Hall for others to watch. However, no one is watching your gameplay or spending money on it. You are currently anonymous.]

Liam understood it now—it was like a game streamer setup, but none of that mattered. He focused on the "spending rate": "If someone spends money for me, I can earn points, right?"

The panel replied:

[Yes.]

[The game will begin now. Good luck, New Player.]

The panel vanished with a flash of white light like a television turned off.

A small screen suddenly lit up in a game hall, displaying Liam Watson's calm and pale face. Around this screen, many other screens displayed the terrified, collapsing faces of other newbie players—some curled up like hedgehogs, covering their heads and refusing to accept reality. In contrast, others screamed and hit the screen, trying to break free.

However, only Liam appeared unaffected, standing out as an anomaly among the panicked players.

Everyone looked up at the suddenly lit screen and started discussing with amusement.

"Another new player has arrived; I wonder how long they'll last."

"Look at the background. Is this from the Siren Town game instance?"

"Bad luck for this batch of newbies. The death rate is really high in Siren Town. Didn't the last batch of 100 players leave only one alive?"

"They've really made the rookie levels difficult lately. But it's hilarious watching these newbies pee their pants in fear!"

"Wait!" Suddenly, a player passing by spotted something on Liam's panel and exclaimed, "There's a new player with a mental state of 100!"

"What?!"

"Move, I want to see too!"

"Damn! Are newbies this crazy now?! Mental state 100?!"

"The last person with a mental state of 100 is now in the top ten of the game leaderboard!"

"A potential seed! Let me check it out!"

Liam's small screen flickered, and a mechanical voice flatly announced:

[Fifty people are gathered around Liam Watson's TV screen. Liam has unlocked the 'First Step' achievement, enabling the One-Touch Triple Combo system.]

[28 people have liked Liam Watson's video, 56 have saved Liam's TV, but no one has contributed to Liam's game. Please continue, Liam.]