There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Sir, Use More Force

The moon rose, and the desert was calm. An occasional gust of wind stirred up clouds of yellow sand.

Before long, the roar of an engine came from beneath the sand. Soon after, an off-road vehicle burst out from under it.

Duan Fei and his group jumped out of the vehicle. They spent a good while patting themselves down, managing to get rid of only about forty percent of the sand.

Looking up, Duan Fei stared at the moon in the sky, a little dazed.

Little Fatty spat out a few mouthfuls of sand-filled saliva, then walked over and asked, "Duan Someone, what are you looking at?"

"Something’s wrong with the moon."

"What’s wrong with it? Are you some kind of pervert who gets excited just from seeing the moon?"

"Even if you won’t call me ’Dad,’ I can still smack you around. Based on the lunar phase, the moon shouldn’t be in this position right now."

"Maybe it’s just the instance’s settings."

Duan Fei shook his head. "I can’t speak for other games, but the development team for *Abyss* is a bunch of obsessive sticklers for detail. They wouldn’t make this kind of mistake. I feel like there’s a clue here. I’ll make a note of it."

Little Fatty nodded, agreeing with Duan Fei’s assessment.

Of course, he didn’t know the first thing about the rotation or revolution of the moon and sun. He simply thought Duan Fei was smarter than him, so all he had to do was agree with his opinion and follow his lead.

Patting Duan Fei’s shoulder, Little Fatty said, "I’ll go talk to Cuihua. I guarantee I’ll get our five-person team on the same page. Just trust my communication skills."

"Oh. Good luck with that."

Little Fatty immediately went over to Cuihua and talked at him for a long time. For the most part, he did the talking and Cuihua did the listening.

Occasionally, Cuihua would icily utter a single word, but Little Fatty would immediately elaborate, so Cuihua’s aloof persona never faltered.

After they were done, Little Fatty returned to Duan Fei’s side and said with a clenched fist, "It went great. We had a really good chat. He didn’t agree at first, but he eventually came around to my way of thinking. But an expert is an expert; it was really tough to persuade him."

"Ah, you’ve worked hard."

"It’s nothing, it’s what I ought to do. What’s our next step?"

"Let’s check the game mission first. I think I heard the notification sound earlier. Our mission should have been triggered."

Opening the mission panel, Duan Fei saw that his mission had indeed been triggered.

But the mission was only three words: "Complete the game."

"That’s as good as saying nothing," Little Fatty grumbled.

"Yeah. We’ll just have to take it one step at a time."

After tinkering with the off-road vehicle for a while, Duan Fei fixed it and then checked their bearings.

They still hadn’t decided where to go when a beat-up old jeep suddenly appeared. A friendly-looking, middle-aged man sat in the driver’s seat, waving amiably before asking, "Are you folks in some kind of trouble?"

"Yes, sir," Alice said sweetly.

The twelve-year-old girl was a perfect little Angel as long as she wasn’t driving. Who knew who had taught her to drive, or who had blessed her with such a terrible case of road rage.

Making a funny face, the driver tossed a piece of candy to the girl. He then pointed to a speck of light in the distance and said, "In that case, I suggest you head to Moon City. They have clean water, plenty of food, and a safe settlement. The City Lord, John, is a relative of mine and a very hospitable guy. Just mention my name, and he’ll treat you well."

"Does he have weapons?" Mary asked. "We’ve been marked by the monster boys."

"Hahahaha, the monster boys wouldn’t dare cause trouble there. John would kill them all as easily as snapping a baby’s arm. Don’t you worry."

Duan Fei didn’t answer right away.

He looked at the tracks left by the man’s tires, then asked, "How long have you had this car?"

"Twelve years. Why?"

"The tires are brand new. Where’d you get them changed?"

"Changed them myself. You can find them all over the roadside."

"Mary, what year is it?"

Hearing the serious tone in Duan Fei’s voice, Mary immediately answered, "2033."

"Well, that’s interesting. Why is the manufacturing date on your tires 2032? Are there still factories operating now?!"

The driver’s face went pale. He slammed his foot on the gas, preparing to flee.

But someone was faster.

Cuihua’s template Attributes also excelled in Reaction, and his Skills were tailored for the Long Spear. With his spear in hand, he was unrivaled within ten paces.

In a single stride, he was in front of the jeep. He shouldered his Long Spear in a reverse grip, thrusting the tip under the jeep’s wheel. Then, putting force into his shoulder, he unified his core and stance, and with one motion, flipped the entire jeep into the air. It spun half a circle before crashing heavily back onto the ground.

"Holy shit!"

Duan Fei and Little Fatty couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment, then broke into heartfelt applause.

’No wonder he’s a champion.’

Even though he was Level 10, he hadn’t chosen a class yet. His template Attributes were probably only double that of a normal person.

But this move required more than just Power. It demanded an exceptional understanding of his Skills and Spear Technique to pull off such an incredible feat.

’Once everyone’s Attributes get higher and they have more Skills, a move like this probably won’t be that difficult.’

But to see someone pull it off now, relying on pure technique, left Duan Fei utterly stunned, even if he couldn’t fully comprehend it.

At the same time, Duan Fei realized that the game *Abyss* was truly extraordinary.

Its simulation of reality had reached a mind-boggling level, allowing players to perform actions identical to real life, and even to surpass the game’s own programming.

’The development team for this game is a bunch of gods.’

Walking up to the overturned jeep, Duan Fei saw that Cuihua had already dragged the middle-aged driver out.

The jeep had good shock absorption, and the sand was soft, so the driver wasn’t seriously injured in the crash. He had only hit his forehead on the steering wheel. It was bleeding steadily and looked like it probably hurt.

Gritting his teeth, he glared at Duan Fei and couldn’t stop himself from cursing, "What do you want?! I haven’t done anything to you!"

"Then why’d you run?"

"...Habit."

"What kind of habit makes you run after being asked a few questions? Spill everything you know, and I might consider leaving you a complete corpse."

The man sneered and looked at Duan Fei. "Bring it on! I’m a famous tough guy. You’ll never get anything out of me!"

"You said it."

Raising the Crowbar, Duan Fei slammed it down on the man’s forehead.

The moment the Crowbar fell, the man closed his eyes, bracing for the pain.

But in the next moment, he felt like he had arrived in heaven.

A brand new sensation began to pour in. The breath of life entered his body along with the Crowbar, making him realize what a beautiful and elegant thing it was to be alive.

A surging Energy raged through his body, tearing and stimulating. This provocative force began to heal his old, hidden injuries, making his body even healthier than before.

In that moment, he just wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, "Harder, master!"