Free Web NovelChapter 18: Chapter 18: An Increasingly Interesting Game
Watching the merchant name a price with a pained expression, Little Fatty couldn’t help but ask once they’d left the black market, "Duan Someone, you’ve done this kind of thing a lot in real life, haven’t you?"
"No, no. I actually don’t talk much in real life. I just have a lot of gaming experience, so I’m used to this kind of thing."
In his mind, Duan Fei silently added a qualifier: ’In my past life.’
He already had the bug Constitution back then, but it wasn’t as severe as it is now.
Moreover, Duan Fei was a game streamer back then. He played all sorts of games day in and day out, and over time, he accumulated a vast amount of gaming experience. It was then that he happened to discover he seemed to trigger bugs with particular ease.
At first, this Constitution of his was still a great source of conversation topics.
But as his bug Constitution grew more severe, the viewers who watched Duan Fei’s stream for entertainment no longer cared about the quality of his content. Instead, they became obsessed with when he would trigger the next bug.
’Thinking back on it, those were actually pretty fun times.’
"Old Duan, what’s wrong?" Little Fatty asked in confusion. "You look like you just accidentally started reminiscing about a past life."
"...Are you a mind reader?"
Taking out the money pouch again, Duan Fei began to inspect the money the merchant had given them.
The currency here looked like it was made of plastic. It was waterproof and also had some anti-counterfeiting features, since manufacturing plastic was still quite difficult in this era.
The setting of this instance was post-apocalyptic, where most technology had been lost. The technology required for plastic wasn’t exactly basic, so using it as currency was a decent method.
Pinching the currency, Duan Fei nodded. He felt that the dev team for *Abyss* was as meticulous about these kinds of details as ever.
So meticulous, in fact, that it made him suspect they had actually created a real world.
With money in hand, they first went and rented a simple little house. The rent was a bit expensive, but it had the advantage of being a detached building. It also had a simple alarm system inside. They prepaid for a month of security insurance, which promised that guards would arrive within fifteen minutes if a break-in occurred.
After a quick bite to eat, Duan Fei was just about to consider their next move when he saw a crowd gathering below.
This group clearly wasn’t trying to hide their movements, and their targets were clearly him and his companions.
’They must have been watching us since we entered the city,’ he figured, ’and have been tailing us this whole time.’
Adhering to the principle of not letting something go to waste, Duan Fei immediately activated the alarm system to summon the security guards.
Then, he decisively shook the dozing Cuihua awake and pointed outside, saying, "There’s a group of people outside who might be about to attack us. Cuihua, do whatever you think is best. The only requirement is that you protect us."
Cuihua glanced outside, then hooked a nearby long staff into his hand with his left foot.
However, after sizing up the width of the doorway and staircase, he shook his head and picked up the French bread Duan Fei had bought out of curiosity.
The foot-long Baguette was mixed with sawdust. This improperly leavened loaf had been reborn in the flames of the oven, ultimately gaining the hardness of a rock.
This foot-long loaf was no longer bread, but the final act of defiance from some surrendered nation. It was a declaration that even at the dinner table, they had not given up on revenge and were prepared to deal their enemies another fatal blow.
Of course, this was all just lore Duan Fei had made up on the spot to make the Baguette seem a little more serious.
But no matter how much lore he tacked on, he still wanted to laugh watching a British-looking old man menacingly pick up a Baguette to go beat someone up.
Little Fatty, at his side, was also about to lose it.
He pinched his own thigh until it felt like a pretzel, which was the only way he could stop himself from laughing out loud.
Cuihua, however, didn’t notice their expressions. He gave a slight nod, positioned himself at the door, and before long, saw the first guy come in.
Seeing an old man already standing at the door, the thug was surprised at first. Then, he pointed at the Baguette in Cuihua’s hand and asked, "What, you planning on having a snack by the door, old-timer?"
Without a word, Cuihua brought the Baguette down hard. The thug’s head immediately lost its contest with the bread, and he tumbled down the stairs.
Striding forward, Cuihua searched the thug for a moment before expertly pulling a phone from his pocket. He then turned and tossed it to Duan Fei, who was still at the door.
He glanced warily behind Duan Fei, and upon seeing that Little Fatty wasn’t there, Cuihua breathed a sigh of relief. "You..."
"You’re telling him to hurry up and get back to safety while you hold them off! Is that what you meant, oh great one?" Little Fatty’s voice piped up from inside.
Cuihua heaved a long sigh, gave the thug on the floor a final, hard kick, and then went downstairs to defend the entrance.
Little Fatty took the phone from Duan Fei, turning it over and over for a moment before speaking. "It’s an old smartphone model. Has a password, but it should be easy to crack. I can’t believe they still have phones in a post-apocalyptic setting. It’s incredible."
"Maybe this instance isn’t that simple," Duan Fei said.
Taking out a toothpick, Little Fatty inserted it into the SIM tray to remove the card. After that, he performed a few operations on the phone without the card inside.
After pushing the SIM card back in, Little Fatty held up the now-unlocked phone. "Just as I thought," he said to Duan Fei. "This particular model has a persistent issue related to the SIM card that they could never fix. If you know a few tricks, you can use some exploits to unlock it."
"How are you so skilled at this? What is it you do in real life, anyway?"
"Let’s just say it’s related to computers and phones. Don’t ask about things that are too private, okay? Isn’t it better if we all just have fun playing the game?" Little Fatty lowered his head, looking guilty.
"Fair enough."
Picking up the phone, Duan Fei saw that it didn’t have many apps—just a single, simple-looking interface that seemed to be for posting missions. Displayed on it was the mission the phone’s owner had just accepted.
"Urgent Mission: Kill any one of the following individuals to receive 5,000 points.
Time Limit: 12 hours
If you cannot kill them, you must also prevent the Monster Boys Gang or the City Lord from killing any of them.
This mission comes from the Gods. The deities will give every warrior who charges into the fray a supreme reward, even granting them the right to enter the Divine Kingdom and enjoy all it has to offer."
Below the mission text were the portraits and names of his five-person party, so clear it looked as if someone had taken their photos right in front of them.
Just as he finished reading, Duan Fei saw the phone begin to shut down on its own.
A moment later, the entire phone spontaneously burst into flames, smoking and melting into a puddle of liquid right before Duan Fei’s eyes.
"Daddy!"
[You have felt your daughter’s filial piety. This filial piety has pleased you. Your damage dealt has been reduced by 5 points.]
He glanced at his damage stat. It had already dropped to -20.
Waving a hand to show he was fine, Duan Fei first whacked the puddle of molten phone with his Crowbar, restoring it to normal. Then, he used the Crowbar to heal his own burns. Only then did he toss the repaired phone to Little Fatty.
"Check it. What happened?"
"Remote surveillance. There must be a backdoor in the battery. As soon as it detects something is wrong, it’s triggered remotely to make the phone incinerate itself."
Just then, the newly repaired phone once again began to self-ignite, but Duan Fei aborted the process with another whack of his Crowbar.
Gazing out the window, Duan Fei saw that it was pitch black outside. But he was certain that something out there was watching their every move.
From the ambush by the Monster Boys Gang, to the driver’s misdirection, and now to these thugs, Duan Fei felt like something was constantly watching them, intent on taking their lives.
Facing the window, he broke into an excited grin.
’This game is getting more and more interesting.’
