This bug is amazing!

Chapter 233 The Man Behind the Scenes: Countdown to Death (6.6k)

Zhuge Light Bulb: "?"

He didn't understand how he had been discovered.

And it's not just a matter of being discovered; the other party will most likely also be able to see you.

Although Zhuge Dengpao didn't think that Zuiwan Guhong would remember such a minor character as himself, it turned out that Guhong saw him and knew who he was.

Not only that, Gu Hong's words also revealed another piece of information:
"I know you don't have a [logout] button, and I also know the amount of money in your game account that you can afford to buy it."

Now, in Zhuge Dengpao's mind, Gu Hong's image was not only powerful and top-notch, but also shrouded in mystery.

"It seems you're still unaware of the situation, so let me remind you. There are currently two groups of players in this instance, and their quest objectives conflict with each other."

"Lone Goose" raised his eyes, and this time his gaze focused on the place where Zhuge Light Bulb was hiding.

"Therefore, abandoning the current instance is better for both of us."

Faced with such an overwhelming aura, Zhuge Dengpao was already having second thoughts.

He believed that if he did not agree to withdraw voluntarily, the other party would not mind simply "asking" him to leave.

"Which do you think is a smaller cost: the 50,000 game coins you painstakingly saved, or the penalty of dropping two levels?"

As his figure materialized, Zhuge Dengpao stared intently at Ji Yi on the stage.

He did something that none of the four players present expected.

Instead of resorting to desperate measures or paying money to avoid trouble, they humbly and confidently sought advice from fellow players.

'To remain so calm under such circumstances, it seems I underestimated Zhuge Liang before.'

Ji Yi thought to himself.

Having absorbed hundreds of abilities, the aura emanating from him was so powerful that even a glance from an ordinary person would send chills down their spine.

Moreover, he is now intentionally trying to scare Zhuge Dengpao.

"Some people have said that the lack of death penalties in player-versus-player dungeons is a conspiracy by the game developers, and that once players get used to fighting each other, a penalty mechanism will be added. Are we in that situation now, Mr. Gu Hong?"

Zhuge Dengpao asked again.

Ji Yi was silent for a moment: "I don't know, maybe it is, maybe it isn't."

In fact, although Ji Yi had guessed it, he did not think that the game system would put the theme of player conflict on the surface at this time.

The timing is wrong.

Firstly, players haven't lost or forgotten their PVE abilities yet; secondly, players haven't developed a reliance on PVP.

At this critical juncture, the situation is unlikely to be what Zhuge Guessed.

The eight players were most likely caught in an "accident".

"I suggest you try your best to maintain your level. Although leveling from 13 to 15 may not allow you to accumulate 50,000 game coins, time is a very precious asset, do you understand?"

Ji Yi answered Zhuge Dengpao's question.

After a moment's thought, Zhuge Dengpao seemed to have gleaned some information from Ji Yi's words.

"time."

Zhuge Dengpao frowned and pondered for a long time, then recalled the so-called "conspiracy theories" he had seen in some obscure corners of the forum.

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Master Gu Hong. I'll buy the [Logout] button now and leave. By the way, I still have two teammates outside."

"Ignore them, just go ahead."

Ji Yi interrupted.

"By the way, those talismans you have can be exchanged for some game currency. Of course, if you'd like."

As Ji Yi spoke, she held up one finger: "One talisman is worth 1000 game coins, regardless of type."

The price Ji Yi offered here was reasonable.

Although a blank card in the game store costs a whopping 1000 game coins despite having no effect, it is actually a precious material of excellent quality.

Another expensive profession is the Card Maker, who can create high-quality items from blank cards, so it's normal for them to be expensive.

While talismans require effort to craft, the raw materials are inexpensive, and given the mediocre quality of the ones Zhuge Dengpao possesses, 1000 game coins isn't cheap. In the game trading market, their price has currently been driven down to seven or eight hundred per talisman.

Seeing that Ji Yi's price was so fair, Zhuge Dengpao couldn't help but feel a bit more favorably disposed towards Gu Hong.

Ji Yi had been intentionally trying to befriend the third wheel, as he felt this guy could eventually become a high-level player, and he couldn't let the official team not leave a good impression.

"Okay, deal."

Thus, the transaction came to a pleasant end.

Player "Zhuge Light Bulb LV.15" has exited the dungeon.

When the message popped up, both No. 1 and Snow Leopard were taken aback.

What happened?

Snow Leopard knew that when faced with an imminent death in an emergency, the best option for players was to use the high cost of logging out to leave the instance.

But what exactly made Zhuge Dengpao leave so decisively?

"Is this coward scared out of his wits by the two hundred-plus people inside?"

After realizing what was happening, the snow leopard said angrily.

“Something’s strange,” he muttered to himself.

He didn't communicate with the snow leopard because it was unnecessary. As a skilled player, he certainly wouldn't have an innate keen insight into the situation.

This inexplicable intuition cannot be explained to others.

After thinking for a moment, and knowing that it wouldn't work, he finally spoke:
"Don't go in anymore. What awaits us inside might be an even more terrifying crisis."

What's even more terrifying here refers to more than just dying in a game.

“But,” the snow leopard said somewhat discontentedly, “our main quest requires us to go inside. If we don’t go in and lose, we will still be penalized for failure.”

"So, I don't think this is a dilemma. Rather, we can only move forward, right?"

The snow leopard was unusually clever for once, but unfortunately, he didn't know that dying and losing levels was just one of the punishments in the hyperdimensional game.

"You go if you want, I won't go in."

"No way," he said, turning and walking away.

"Hey, hey, no way! How can I possibly beat a dungeon with only four people? Even though those two noobs are dead, our main fighting force is still intact, so we still have a chance."

As the snow leopard kept up, its brain also began to work for once.

"Brother Designation, think about it, didn't they both lose because they were separated from the group? If we split up too, it'll be like the Calabash Brothers being sent to their deaths one by one. What are you going to do when I go in and die?"

The snow leopard, believing his analysis to be quite reasonable, added, in order to give the designated person a way out:

"If you feel now isn't the right time to go in, then we can wait a bit longer. Perhaps tonight would be a better opportunity? What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, he stopped in his tracks, his mind a jumble of thoughts.

He glanced at the few logout buttons in his backpack, then at the few remaining dungeon fragments.

"There's no need to rush this instance."

"It's not allowed," he said calmly.

"Since you're so eager to conquer this place, then come with me to a certain location."

"Where?"

"I'll show you something on the other side of the Azure Star."

As the snow leopard and the dog gradually walked away from our sight.

Ji Yi did not stop them, but let the two leave from there.

At that moment, Tan Ming ran over from the hotel entrance and quickly approached Ji Yi:
"I've already seen their real names. The short, fat one is called Zhu Zhishi, and the one who looks rather cold is called Zhang Tianyi."

"Well, please."

Ji Yi nodded, and Tan Ming quickly left.

"Alright, sorry, a little incident took up everyone's time. Did anyone else say they'd seen the Mist Woman? Step forward and speak."

Ji Yi looked at everyone.

At this moment, an atmosphere of fear still lingered in the hotel air.

Most people genuinely believe that Ji Yi is a ruthless villain, but only a few intelligent people realize that what Ji Yi is currently displaying is merely a disguise.

But now, everyone is keeping quiet, and no one dares to say a word in their own place, whether sitting or standing.

Only those few who claimed to have seen the Mist Woman reported their previous observations.

Half an hour later, after listening to everyone's statements, Ji Yi began to ponder.

"Why didn't you just kill that person?"

Miss Cat suddenly broke her train of thought; she had actually wanted to ask this question for a long time.

Ji Yi knew who she was referring to. Miss Cat already knew about the fact that it couldn't be the Headhunter Alliance.

"fishing."

Ji Yi stared straight ahead, seemingly looking at something.

He stroked the cover of the Death Note back and forth in his hands:

"Killing a high-ranking member of the Hunter's Guild won't change the current situation for the players. Once a high-ranking member dies, another one will immediately take their place. Of course, the guy I took down is an exception."

After saying that, he opened his notebook, took out a pen, and began to write on it.

The names he wrote were not those of the two people he had let go, but rather those of everyone within a two-kilometer radius who had turned into monsters.

Data Eye cannot view players' real names, but it is perfectly adequate for viewing NPCs' names.

"For a long time, I've been pondering something. The Mist Maiden was deceived into touching the forbidden power of the ancient gods. But what about the Headhunter Alliance? How did they know how to break the ancient gods' seal, and what was their purpose in doing so?"

Watching Ji Yi scribbling away.

Miss Cat shared her thoughts:
"You mentioned before that the Headhunter Alliance originally had a plan to 'control the dungeons.' Although I don't know the specific details, it's probably similar to how you built a good relationship with Misaki; they also wanted to reach an agreement and cooperative relationship with the bosses of the dungeon world to achieve control over the dungeons."

"Of course, I think it's very unrealistic. With over 700 dungeons, even if the Headhunter Alliance has nearly 10,000 members, it's impossible for them to control so many dungeons. Most of the players they recruit are low-level players, and their role in the dungeons is almost zero."

Ji Yi listened to Miss Cat's words, his hands moving non-stop. He was extremely fast, able to write dozens of names per second.

At the same time, he was able to spare the time to speak:

"Do you know? During these few days of my 'close contact' with the Ancient God, I discovered that there is a part of the Ancient God that has been deeply misunderstood."

"Rather than saying that its 'ok' philosophy is obscure and difficult to understand, it's more accurate to say that it has no philosophy at all."

"Do you think those believers of the ancient gods were taught by the ancient gods? No, it was just that the ancient gods unintentionally revealed their aura, which polluted ordinary people. The ancient gods didn't care."

"It doesn't need believers; it just sits there quietly, and believers come. It doesn't want to destroy the planet either; that's just the result of its unconscious activities."

Miss Cat seems to have discovered the problem:
"If what you say is true, then the so-called recruitment and control are meaningless. If the Headhunter Alliance continues to do this, it will only destroy this instance world."

Ji Yi nodded:
"So, I've been investigating one question: who told the Headhunter Alliance that they could gain benefits by breaking the ancient god's seal?"

Miss Cat suddenly realized: "That mysterious person who seduced the Mist Woman?"

"Ah."

Ji Yi put down his pen at that moment.

He just wiped out all the monsters within a radius of several kilometers.

"This mysterious person deceived the Mist Maiden, the Headhunter Alliance, and even more than two hundred extraordinary individuals present. He controlled and dominated the extraordinary power of the human camp, intending to use it as the final key to the awakening of the ancient gods at a certain time."

He didn't speak loudly, nor did he speak into a microphone.

However, a small number of people sitting in the front row of the hall heard it clearly. After listening, they looked at each other and began to whisper among themselves.

A cacophony of discussion erupted inside the room.

Ji Yi let the news spread among the crowd, while Miss Cat beside her frowned deeply.

It is self-evident who Ji Yi was referring to.

The president of the Extraordinary Council, the one who has never shown his face but has united all the extraordinary individuals in the world. Let's assume, let's assume Ji Yi's guess is true.

How terrifying must this chairman be?
To achieve their goal, they deceived everyone, manipulating people from different perspectives, all to awaken the ancient god and destroy the world.
"This person is special; he can influence the game system to some extent."

Ji Yi revealed even more important information.

He took out a piece of ordinary paper and wrote down the mission details of Zhuge Dengpao and the bonus buffs they would receive.

He handed it to Miss Cat: "Take a look."

After a moment of silence, Miss Cat seemed even more convinced of Ji Yi's conjecture.

Because these mission details and some of the wording don't seem to be the work of the ancient god Keltiq Numa, but rather something made by a fanatical follower of an ancient god.

"Well, if that's the case, I'd suggest you kill them both instead of letting them go."

Miss Cat suggested.

"Since this person has already been able to tamper with the system to a certain extent, we should not give him the opportunity to have usable pawns."

Judging from various clues, the mysterious person is more likely to operate behind the scenes.

But Miss Cat suspects that the other party doesn't like doing this, but is forced to do it for some reason.

Ji Yi let the two people leave in order to lure out the mysterious person, but the corresponding risks were far too great.

If these two people subsequently receive some kind of "divine enhancement" or even some abnormal "artifact," it will only make the mission more difficult.

"Hehe, of course I know."

As Ji Yi spoke, she took out the Death Note again and wrote the four words "Cheese Snow Leopard" on it.

"I only mentioned fishing to test the extent that the person behind this is capable of."

[Skill activated: Invincible Blessing (1/5)]

[Invincible Divine Blessing (Buff): 2:59]

[Invincible Divine Blessing (Buff): 2:58]

"wrong!"

The snow leopard shouted, "Get off the plane! Get off the plane!"

On the civil flight, it was decided that Snow Leopard would take the place of two passengers. They had just boarded the plane bound for the other side of the ocean when Snow Leopard suddenly shouted.

He frowned, "What's wrong?"

"There's no time to explain, get off the plane with me now!"

His brow furrowed even more as he realized that things weren't going to work. His sense of danger was far more acute than most people's, and the snow leopard's overreaction only puzzled him.

Not only him, but the passengers on the plane were also confused.

A passerby: "I've seen this part before. It's about a plane crashing. The protagonist has a precognitive dream, then gets off the plane with some friends, and sure enough, the plane crashes afterwards. Haha, don't worry, it's just a plane crash."

Passerby B: "?"

Passerby C: "Then what about us?"

"Run!"

Suddenly someone yelled, and in an instant, chaos erupted inside the plane as people scrambled to get out.

"Fuck you, what's wrong with this bunch of idiots? Get out of my way!"

The most panicked person at this moment was the snow leopard. The sudden activation of the Invincible Divine Blessing made him feel as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

He knew that if he didn't do something soon, he might die on the plane!

At first, he wondered if this invincible divine blessing skill was too overpowered, with five instances of invulnerability and each lasting for three minutes.

But looking back now, it all makes sense. It was actually a disguised "task countdown," with death and divine protection being settings made to prevent negative gameplay.

This is a proper monster-slaying dungeon!
You bunch of self-righteous idiots, you've really ruined my life!
Thinking this, he angrily drew his broadsword and slashed at the surging crowd in front of him:

"Don't block my way! Get out of my way!"

Click!

Bones shattered and blood splattered everywhere.

Seeing this, the crowd panicked even more, and everyone hurriedly tried to push forward.

As a result, a stampede inevitably occurred. People piled up and blocked the road, and the snow leopard frantically slashed, but it seemed unable to clear a path.

He was covered in blood, and whether it was the blood staining his eyes or not, he couldn't tell. Now, all these people looked incredibly ugly, covered in tentacles.
Never mind, I have to go back and kill the heretics, or I'll die!

kill!kill!kill!

Just as he was wielding his broadsword, intending to carve a path of flesh and blood, he...

"boom!!!"

With a loud bang.

A large hole suddenly exploded in the plane next to the designated spot where the plane was standing.

The crater looked as if it had been pierced by a huge armor-piercing bullet, with large patches of melted flesh and blood stained on the floor and the edges of the hole.

That power?!

The snow leopard was trembling with fear. Was this a skill effect?

No, it must be some rare item! Otherwise, even the strongest player couldn't have destroyed the plane so casually!
His brow remained furrowed, indicating that this wouldn't work, and he looked at the snow leopard:
"Come here. And then, explain clearly what happened."

[Skill activated: Invincible Blessing (2/5)]

[Invincible Divine Blessing (Buff): 2:59, 58, 57]

"Look, Brother Designation, as expected, the Invincible Divine Blessing activated on its own after three minutes. This is practically a death countdown!"

Snow Leopard panicked. He seemed to understand why Zhuge Dengpao had posted it back then.

Having infiltrated too deep behind enemy lines, I watched helplessly as my invincibility buff expired, and had no choice but to use the [Logout] button.

That's reasonable. This conjecture is very reasonable and almost certainly true.

They decided it wouldn't work to bring the snow leopard into the car, and the two drove off at high speed on the road.

Because of the strict speed limits in the city, police cars soon began to follow them with sirens blaring.

The incessant sirens of police cars created chaos on the roads.

"Boss, it looks like there are police cars ahead setting up a roadblock to stop us!"

The snow leopard roared, "Now, I only have two uses of Divine Blessing left. In eight minutes, I'm definitely going to die!"

"Shut up! If you want to live, keep quiet!"

The noise was giving him a headache. He knew someone was forcing them to go back, but it definitely had nothing to do with the game system.

Now, even though he knows this is a trap, he seems to have no choice but to go.

"You make it sound so easy for you! I'm the one who's about to die! You haven't used your divine protection even once! I told you to go in and check it out together, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what happened! I'm dead, and you're all alone."

"Shut up!!!"

He let out a loud shout when he knew it wouldn't work.

At the same time, a terrifying energy wave burst from his mouth. After melting a hole the size of a washbasin in the windshield, the energy wave began to spread and radiate, instantly melting the obstacle blocking his way.

The roadblocks, police cars, and armed personnel were all completely melted away by this energy wave.

The car then drove onto the melted road, quickly drove out again, and headed straight for the hotel.

At that moment, the car was completely silent.

The cheese snow leopard was terrified!

It was as if he only understood today what a top player truly is!
He had seen level 19 players before, but compared to Zhidingbuke, they were not even in the same league.

If he hadn't seen what the designated bigwig did on the plane, now he could see it clearly up close.

This is just a skill!
Despite being strengthened, all their attributes increased by 30, and their skill effects increased by 2 times.

But no matter what, a snow leopard could never cause such terrifying destruction. This power should be greater than A+, right?

He remained silent, watching as the skill's uses were consumed once more.

Only one chance left.

Looking at the countdown timer, the snow leopard calculated the distance and realized that it was highly likely it wouldn't make it in time.

He will die here.

Should I use the "Logout" button to leave?

After all, he's been a long-time player of Super Dimension Games and has quite a bit of savings. Using up a logout button isn't exactly bankrupt for him.

As he was thinking, an object emitting a pale blue fluorescence appeared in his hand.

Just when he was about to use it.

Swah——

The person who was focused on driving suddenly snatched the logout button away.

"You're not allowed to leave, stay seated."

He said coldly, his eyes flashing with cruel indifference.

"Boss! Please let me go! I'm going to die here in four minutes! Losing two levels will take me half a year to level up again!"

"I said, you're not allowed to leave!"

"Buzz!"

If that didn't work, he turned to look at the snow leopard. His eyes suddenly lit up, and his golden eyes seemed ready to shoot lasers at any moment.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't mind killing you right now."

The snow leopard fell silent. It was over. Everything was over.

He's definitely going to drop a level this time. If he falls to level 15, then all the hard work he put into dungeons over the past six months will be for nothing.
As some people have said: becoming a high-level boss and then dropping down a level, at which point you'll have a set of awesome equipment and skills, allowing you to play dumb and outsmart others, is actually just a theoretical possibility.

In each dungeon run, in order to accumulate a meager amount of in-game currency, the equipment wear and tear is barely enough to break even.

After all, fighting monsters causes wear and tear, and repairing equipment requires in-game currency. Since the cost of repairing ordinary equipment is too high, most people prefer to replace it only when it breaks.

In other words, you use ordinary equipment at level 5, and then switch to another ordinary piece of equipment at level 10. That's all. It doesn't mean that the quality of your equipment will get better as your level increases.

As for skills, they won't become unusable due to attribute reductions caused by level drops or unmet learning conditions.

However, most permanent skill cards are rather mediocre.

Many of the powerful skill cards that the snow leopard has acquired have limited uses; they disappear once used up.

Therefore, when he reached level 12, he already had 20 permanent skill cards with mediocre effects, and since then, his skill slots have remained largely unchanged.

In short, losing 10 attribute points by 2 levels is a huge nerf for the snow leopard!

This symbolizes strength and seniority!

Just as he was thinking this, the time for the final [Invincible Divine Blessing] was up.

But nothing happened.

"Huh? I'm not dead."

The snow leopard was overjoyed: "Boss, did you know this would happen?! Thank goodness! You saved me a logout button; that's my savings for my wife!"

The snow leopard beside him chattered incessantly, but he didn't reply, only frowning as he stared at his status bar.

[Skill activated: Invincible Blessing (1/5)]

[Invincible Divine Blessing (Buff): 2:34]

[Invincible Divine Blessing (Buff): 2:33]

[Invincible Divine Blessing (Buff): 2:32]

(End of this chapter)