At the moment when time completely stopped, the activity of thought also fell into a state of complete prohibition.

However, before that, Ethan saw a few fleeting images; neither the scenes nor the characters involved had anything to do with him, and they were definitely not his memories.

"So, is this the 'other side'?"

Someone asked.

They woke up on the muddy ground in the wilderness, the biting cold wind felt incredibly real. These people reacted the same way Ethan did when he traveled through—bowing their heads to look at their own hands to see if everything they were experiencing was real.

After all, when you wake up from a dream and suddenly find yourself in an entirely unfamiliar place, your thoughts become a tangled mess.

But unlike him, these people seemed to know why they were here.

Their "travel" seemed intentional.

Ethan carefully observed the actions of the people around him. Their voices came intermittently; some people's mouths seemed to be moving constantly, yet no sound could be heard, while the sound of the whistling cold wind was particularly clear. He could only guess from their expressions how they viewed this place and their reasons for being here.

The first closed testers of a game?

The game company promised them a world with a hundred percent real touch?

No, that's not right.

Ethan quickly dismissed this idea. Their demeanor did not resemble facing a groundbreaking virtual game; there was not a hint of excitement on their faces. Leading them was a middle-aged man with a solemn expression, who seemed to be analyzing their current situation with the people who came here with him.

No gamers would show such heavy expressions when facing a groundbreaking game.

As a gaming enthusiast, Ethan had a say in this.

He still remembered his first contact with online games. Even though that game was already old and many of its designs were somewhat immature, the gameplay wasn't anything extraordinary, but looking back now, he could still savor the excitement he felt entering an unfamiliar world.

He would first spend some time understanding the professions and core combat modes, then transform into a small animal hunter, following the footsteps of task NPCs, bringing devastation to the wild animals around the town.

The exploration and acquisition of experience, equipment, and abilities were also indispensable pleasures in gaming.

In fact, if Ethan hadn't believed he "traveled through" at the time but thought he was experiencing a large and realistic magic world game, he definitely wouldn't have stayed confined in Ximu Town, practicing Fireball Skill for two years, which to a player would seem rather cowardly.

Ethan silently observed for a while longer and finally understood where the strange feeling came from.

These people seemed more like they were here to work.

The middle-aged man was the leader, briefing them on the work details before starting. The expressions of the other people were no different from the exhausted workers called in to work overtime early in the morning after staying up late last night.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, hey—"

Someone tapped "Ethan" on the shoulder; it was a young woman who looked in her early twenties, just entering the workplace. She seemed tired of listening to the leader's speech and started whispering to the nearest person. Her face was full of curiosity, and she mysteriously asked, "I heard them say you're an archaeologist?"

"Ah, um."

Ethan didn't act, so the owner of this body gave a somewhat awkward response.

"Really!"

The young woman's eyes lit up, "They also said you've been to ancient tombs. Is it like in the novels where there are lots of treasures but also many traps, and if you're not careful you'll trigger things like poison arrows and flames? Oh, and zombies. If you recklessly open the coffin, the corpse inside turns into a zombie and jumps out!"

"...Not that exaggerated."

"Ethan's" voice sounded uncomfortable. He seemed to be a gloomy man, not used to dealing with the opposite sex, but he also understood a deeper reason—the truth he just admitted was all lies, or as one might eloquently put it.

He indeed entered countless ancient tombs, but not all people in this line of work are archaeologists.

He was a grave robber.

The kind involved in cases serious enough for life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

And the young lady in front seemed to have just graduated, out of the Ivory Tower, still holding many beautiful ideas about the world.

"Did you study archaeology in college? Why did you choose this major; was it because you wanted to travel the great mountains and rivers of the world? Haha, I once had a classmate like that."

Such innocent questions felt like daggers stabbing into "Ethan's" body.

In reality, "he" did not attend university, and the reason for being in this line of work was simple—lack of money.

"He" thought about quitting several times, but "he" was used to spending lavishly and had developed a gambling habit, seeking extreme mental stimulation at the gambling table. If "he" didn't have money, "he" would borrow from loan sharks, and when it couldn't be paid back, it was time for "one big heist."

"He" wanted money, an endless supply of money.

Ethan listened to the truest desire of this body's heart, as for the reason for joining this strange "closed test," it was also simple—he was caught.

The "last heist" did not go smoothly. While collecting the loot and preparing to leave, there was a disagreement over the division of spoils, and someone died.