[Achievement Name: Person Who Crossed the Dawn]
[Achievement Content: Earn all achievements in the game "Dawn"]
[0.1% of players have this achievement]
Watching the achievement notification pop up in the bottom right corner of the computer screen, Su Mo leaned back in his gaming chair, a surge of joy welling up in his heart.
"Dawn," a domestic sci-fi AAA game still in beta testing.
Among the 1,000 players globally participating in the beta, he was the first to obtain all achievements!
Su Mo took a screenshot of this achievement and posted it in the "Dawn" beta game group, along with a "funny" emoji.
Just as he finished posting the image, the thousand-member group erupted:
[Holy shit! How long has the game been out, and someone already has all achievements???]
[Bro, you've really been grinding hard, I just finished fighting Dr. Chen...]
[Boss, boss, how do you beat the White Giant's second stage when it opens its red eyes? I've been killed over a hundred times (covering face)]
[Please make a guide video on Bilibili, I'll send some energy your way (grin)]
While Su Mo was basking in the praise of his fellow group members, the game developer of "Dawn" made an appearance:
[Congrats on being the first global player to achieve all accomplishments, how do you find the game's difficulty?]
Difficulty? Su Mo felt it was beyond just 'difficult'.
"Dawn" adopted the network narrative structure akin to "Baldur's Gate 3," with a staggering amount of main and side content, combat difficulty rivaling the Ninja Gaiden series, and a margin for error even lower than Dark Souls.
To get all achievements, Su Mo had lost count of how many thousands of times he had died.
At times, he even suspected the developer had some sadistic tendencies, enjoying the process of selecting those who admire pain.
However, at this moment, Su Mo still coolly typed two words:
[So-so]
Instantly, the screen was filled with 666.
Su Mo continued chatting casually with his group members for a while, feeling pleased as he went to wash up.
He lay down on his bed, clearly exhausted, yet still not quite satisfied.
"Although this game is very difficult, the quality is really high, with more content to explore than the Hyrule Continent. It can definitely be a contender for TGA's Game of the Year."
"When the official version of 'Dawn' goes online, I wonder how many will manage to clear all achievements like me."
"Ah... my head is starting to ache again... I think I'm out of meds. I should go to the neurology department for a prescription tomorrow..."
"So sleepy, so sleepy..."
"So... sleepy..."
Su Mo closed his eyes, fatigue spreading out, the darkness like a tide engulfing all his consciousness.
...
...
...
"Unidentified life forms detected infiltrating, core area has been breached."
"Base confidentiality and safety system activated, self-destruct program initiated, countdown 5 minutes."
"All research personnel, please evacuate immediately via the emergency passage."
The emotionless mechanical voice echoed in Su Mo's ears, accompanied by a sharp alarm.
He struggled to open his eyes, as his blurry vision began to focus...
A strange scene came into view.
This was a completely enclosed space, the walls covered with dull metal, various instruments and devices scattered on the lab benches, with the hum of machinery intertwining, and a faint scent of chemicals lingering in the air.
The warning lights on the walls flashed continuously, red light staining the surroundings like splashes of blood, perfectly matching the urgent alarm for an eerie effect.
Su Mo raised himself from the table he was slumped over, looking around.
On the table in front of him lay a syringe, already empty, its original contents unknown.
Suddenly finding himself in this unfamiliar place left Su Mo bewildered.
Where is this?
Didn't I just chat in the group and go to sleep?
Is this... a dream?
No, a dream wouldn't have such realistic sensations.
Moreover, once someone realizes they're dreaming, they should soon wake up.
This isn't a dream.
Could it be...
A crossover?!
Even though Su Mo had read many crossover-themed web novels and fantasized about crossing over one day, it had just been idle thoughts.
Now, with such a thing truly happening to him, he was completely dumbfounded.
"Base self-destruct program countdown, 4 minutes."
"All research personnel, please evacuate immediately via the emergency passage."
The cold, mechanical voice looped incessantly.
Su Mo steadied his mind.
There was no time to ponder the reasons for this time-travel—following the alarm to evacuate was the priority; heaven knows what's happening in this place.
He eyed the evacuation signs and got up to run towards them.
"Boom—"
He hadn't yet rushed into the emergency passageway when the ceiling above suddenly shattered, and a massive, distorted shadow fell from above.
"Thud!" The shadow landed before Su Mo, the sheer wind pressure knocking him to the ground and cracking the hard floor like a spiderweb.
Su Mo opened his eyes, only to feel a chill surge down his spine, his hands and feet instantly growing cold.
Before him stood a man whose entire body was deformed. He was nearly four meters tall, his right arm twisted and swollen, skinless, with crimson muscle tissue exposed, and amidst the muscles were sharp teeth, clearly some form of mutated combat organ.
The mutant man's eyes were narrow and slanting, looking down at Su Mo. In the intertwining flashes of the alarm lights, shadows on his face kept twisting, like some indescribable living entity.
The mutant man extended his right arm, the muscle tissue dissolving into thick tentacles, which, like a ferocious beast opening its bloody maw, slowly moved toward Su Mo.
As a gaming nerd, Su Mo had played many horror games, unperturbed by playing alone with the lights off at night.
But the terror occurring right in front of him far exceeded his tolerance.
He moved his trembling, numb limbs, stumbling backward to escape.
However, his speed was far too slow, nowhere close to matching the mutant man.
As the tentacles were about to envelop him, another mutation occurred.
Without warning, the mutant man's right arm suddenly developed a huge cavity, exploding from right to left, with fragments of the limb flying over ten meters away.
"Bang!"
The deafening gunshot finally reached from the end of the emergency passage after the mutant man's arm was blasted off.
Su Mo stared dumbfounded in the direction of the gunshot.
Two figures stood at the end of the passage.
Dressed in black combat suits and wearing masks, their faces were indistinct, but judging by their builds, they appeared to be a man and a woman.
The man had black hair.
The woman's hair was pure white.
In the man's hand was a sniper rifle aimed at the mutant man, with smoke gradually wafting from the muzzle.
Are they laboratory guards? The thought crossed Su Mo's mind.
When facing such a monstrous mutant man, Su Mo knew he couldn't help at all.
This was absolutely not the time to shout or run around causing trouble like a foolish teammate.
Staying safely out of the way and not causing trouble was the greatest help he could offer to his allies.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Su Mo hid under a table, leaving the battle area to the two guards.
The mutant man no longer cared about Su Mo, turning instead to face the enemy in the emergency passage.
"Sss—" At the site of the mutant man's severed arm, a large amount of muscle tissue proliferated, filling in the gunshot wound with astonishing regenerative capabilities.
He lunged at the two, muscles on his right arm fragmenting in mid-air to form a blood-red maw, teeming with sharp teeth glistening like blood under the alarm light.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."
The black-haired man continued firing, the bullets blasting bloody holes in the mutant man, yet unable to stop his advance.
The white-haired woman signaled the black-haired man to retreat as she advanced.
"Hiss—" Grasping the hilt at her waist, she fluidly drew a Tang Blade that shimmered with cold light, charging at the mutant man from the front.
Their clash grew closer.
As they were about to meet, the white-haired woman's form accelerated into a blur, the blade flashing.
"Swoosh!" Dazzling silver light lit up the passage like mottled moonlight.
The mutant man staggered a few steps forward under inertia, frozen in place.
The white-haired woman stopped behind the mutant man, cradling the Tang Blade in her arm, wiping off its thin layer of blood, and sheathed it with remarkable precision and skill, not turning back.
"Click." The Tang Blade was sheathed.
A crimson slash emerged on the mutant man, a bloodline that cut from the right waist to the left shoulder, running through his entire body.
His body split along the bloodline, the upper and lower halves crashing down separately, the cut smooth as a mirror, with blood staining the passageway red.
The brief yet intense battle returned to silence, leaving only the sound of the alarm.
At this moment, Su Mo's tense nerves finally relaxed, and he hurriedly crawled out, running toward the two allies.
Earlier, he couldn't see the details due to the distance; now, standing before the white-haired woman, Su Mo noticed just how beautiful her hair was, pure white, as if a curtain of snow had fallen from the sky.
Su Mo repeatedly thanked them, "Thank you, I almost got killed by that monster... Let's evacuate quickly."
The mutation happened again.
Suddenly, Su Mo felt his vision go black, a pressure pressed on his face, and a sensation of weightlessness spread throughout his body.
"Thud!" His back collided violently with the ground.
When he came to his senses, he found himself lying on the ground, face pinned down by the white-haired woman.
The black-haired man also approached, aiming the gun at his forehead.
The two looked down at him with utter indifference, as if looking at a corpse.