There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: The Weakest Holy Grail War in History

"I’m serious!" Little Fatty said, annoyed. "You can doubt my looks, you can doubt my taste, but you can’t doubt my professional skills. This game really doesn’t have any bugs."

"Let me just float a theory—just a theory, mind you. Could it be that your skills just suck?" Duan Fei asked earnestly.

"Duan Someone, I’ve put up with you long enough! Get over here! Let’s duel!"

Duan Someone eyed Little Fatty. Little Fatty glanced at Cuihua on the side, then nudged him. "What are you looking at? Hold me back!"

"Clever boy. Alright, I’m logging off. Let’s play again sometime."

"For sure. Take it easy."

Pushing open the door to his room, Duan Fei stepped out, his foot landing on a damp carpet.

The door to the room closed behind him. Anyone else leaving it would simply be returned to a random location in the main hub area.

Players didn’t run into each other in the hub area. Duan Fei found this design choice odd; he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some ulterior motive behind it.

But that wasn’t a concern for a Level 5 player like him. Right now, all he needed to do was open his treasure chest.

The small treasure chest was Blue-quality, meaning it could contain rewards of Blue quality or lower. There was also a high probability it would drop a reward related to the dungeon he’d just completed.

Taking a deep breath and offering a quick prayer to the RNG gods, Duan Fei flung open the blue chest. Inside, he saw a syringe-like object.

"Biological Culture Medium: Uncontaminated, Green.

Description: A miraculous Biological Culture Medium created by the Good Dream Company. It can hold the DNA of up to three organisms, combining them to generate a new species. After collecting biological samples and providing sufficient nutrients, a new creature will be born. It will randomly inherit some of the merits or flaws of its progenitors.

Note: The resulting creature is completely random. After all, DNA is a mountain of crap; you can never be sure what garbage you’ll find in there.

Further Note: This medium is a single-use item. Before use, ensure you have enough firepower to subdue any monster that might emerge. This is a lesson learned from the blood, sweat, and tears of countless employees. Do not take this warning lightly!

Final, FINAL Disclaimer: This product is still in its testing phase. Anything can happen. Should any problems arise, you are to resolve them on your own."

Gazing at the glowing culture medium in his hand, Duan Fei felt like it was nothing more than a gacha ticket.

The ceiling was Mythic-tier, the floor was garbage, but the most likely result was just a common pull.

Besides, the summoned monster wasn’t even guaranteed to obey him. All in all, it seemed about right for a Green-quality item.

Stashing the Biological Culture Medium away, Duan Fei, satisfied, logged out of the game and returned to reality.

It was already one in the morning. He quickly got ready for bed and lay down.

The message he’d sent to his childhood friend had a reply. It was short and sweet: "Nice. We should play together sometime."

"Sounds good. I’m gonna get some sleep. I’ll hit you up when I wake."

After sending the reply, Duan Fei pulled the covers over himself and sank into his dreams.

In his dream, he found himself back on that infinitely extending floor, happily exploring the endless secret rooms.

The next day, after what felt like a full day of exploring in his dreams, Duan Fei’s eyes snapped open. He couldn’t wait to scramble out of bed, log into *Abyss*, and begin his journey for the day.

After all, as a high-end bug hunter with savings just shy of eight figures, he was already enjoying financial freedom. He was his own boss.

If he wanted to, he could spend the entire day playing games, and no one could say a word.

The moment he logged into the game, a strange noise came from a nearby air duct. A letter shot out of the vent and landed perfectly in Duan Fei’s hand.

It was a friend request.

Unlike other games that announced a friend request with a simple DING, you had to add friends this way in *Abyss*—unless you’d met inside a dungeon.

Pinching the letter, Duan Fei decided the *Abyss* development team had to be a bunch of obsessive-compulsive perfectionists who loved showing off their unique aesthetic in the most random ways.

He didn’t need to look to know the letter was from Jinghong.

Jinghong was his childhood friend. They had grown up together, knew each other inside and out, and had long considered one another an indispensable part of their lives.

No matter what game they played, she would use the ID Jinghong, just like how Duan Fei always used the ID Duan Someone.

Unless someone else had snagged it first.

Although their genders were different, Duan Fei felt like he had never seen her as a member of the opposite sex.

For instance, if both he and Jinghong were dosed with Heroic Joy Powder, Duan Fei would absolutely figure out how to take care of it himself rather than ask her for help.

He reckoned she’d do the same.

After accepting Jinghong’s friend request, Duan Fei shoved the letter back into the vent. He listened as it clattered away into the distance, the sounds of its impacts far too heavy for a simple piece of paper.

A few minutes later, another letter flew over. It dropped in front of Duan Fei, and an item tumbled out.

It was a small key that would allow two people to enter the same dungeon together. It was a fairly common in-game item, but one that still held some value.

An item like this cost about three hundred Abyss Coins, and that was just for a standard key.

A standard key only allowed friends to enter a dungeon together. Higher-level keys, however, not only did that but also let you customize the dungeon’s difficulty, type, and more.

Of course, the better the key, the higher the price.

The key from Jinghong was Green-quality. But that meant she must have been playing this game for a while—long enough to get a key, at least.

’So that’s how it is, Jinghong! Playing games without me, are we!’

Duan Fei viciously docked his affection score for Jinghong by 1 point. It was now at 114,514.

’At this rate, you’ll have lost me completely in another three hundred years, Jinghong!’

Annoyed, he jammed the key into the nearest door. He watched as it began to change color and form, quickly transforming into a red fire door.

"Tier Zero, Ten-Player Dungeon, Fantasy. No Level restriction. Contains competitive elements."

"Competitive elements" meant it was a dungeon with PvP. Different players would have to battle under specific constraints to meet the victory conditions.

’Interesting. Bring it on!’

Pushing the door open, Duan Fei found himself standing in a dimly lit room. A gloomy, freckle-faced woman was staring at him, her own face a mask of pure astonishment.

A pentagram, smeared in red pigment, covered the floor. It was surrounded by countless arcane symbols, giving it a profoundly mysterious air.

Staring intently at Duan Fei, the woman picked up a thick book from nearby and spent a long time flipping through it. Finally, she asked in a small, hesitant voice, "Am I worthy to know your true name?"

"Duan Someone."

Not finding the name in her book, the woman pulled out her phone and searched for a long while, but still came up with nothing.

"Um... which hero are you? What are your great deeds?"

"None whatsoever."

The woman’s face instantly filled with despair.

She dropped to her knees, pounding the floor and wailing, "No, this can’t be happening! I didn’t want some no-name, unknown hero for the Holy Grail War!"

Now, it was Duan Fei’s turn to be surprised.

’I’m supposed to fight in a Holy Grail War this time?’