I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

"Hahaha!"

Song Mo stared at the screen, hands on his hips, and chuckled three times: "7.62mm bullets are useless, but what if I used a 7.62mm meteorite to strike?!"

carefree.

She felt as if she had been stuck on a game level for three days, and in a fit of anger, she opened developer mode and smashed the boss into the ground to grow into a ginseng plant – a truly exhilarating experience.

Inside the instance, the undead army is crumbling.

The flames of the Naga Sons burned through the entire riverbank.

Undead creatures, immortal and indestructible, attempted to resurrect, and the chains of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face descended from the sky, gathering all the souls that should not have been resurrected.

[Intermediate-level materials: Naga Child x50 have been released.]

[Advanced materials: Ox-Head and Horse-Face have been released.]

[The undead army is collapsing. Current remaining strength: 72%.]

Player morale is rising.

Player exploration value: 65%.

Song Mo stretched out a long yawn.

Unlike the London Underground incident where everyone was resurrected and time was reversed, this time it's a war between her and the god of this instance.

From the very first day players entered Merlin, she had a vague feeling that this instance was different from the ones she had created.

It seems to have its own will.

It has no image, no concrete consciousness, but it does exist.

It drives the corpse collectors, the Vortigerns, the undead legions, and strange creatures, using everything it can manipulate to prevent the player from completing the quest.

It's like a tug-of-war.

When it was introduced to players at the end of the Song Dynasty, it unleashed a plague.

To improve player survival rates, side quests were added at the end of the Song Dynasty, which in turn increased the number of undead chasing players.

There are currently 132 players remaining, but only 65 are in the writers' faction.

—Some players have had their race changed.

Undead, death knights, ghosts, cursed to turn into toads.

Song Mo let out a soft breath.

For her, when the player's exploration value reaches 50%, the scriptwriter will launch a devastating attack.

But for players, this 50% is already 100%, or even 1000%, that they have explored with their lives and blood.

[Official team members Chen Xi, Zheng Wenxuan, and Wang Lei, along with Jiangcheng University team members Weng Yang and Tan Moli, entered London's Old City.]

She continued reading, and the words flowed out like water.

This is a city that has long since died.

The city is a scene of ruins and desolation.

Chen Xi discovered a damaged helmet and perfectly intact clothes. The clothes were neatly piled against the wall, as if folded piece by piece and simply left there, unworn. Untouched.

Zheng Wenxuan found the cellar, but it was empty. Only dust remained.

It appears there was a major fire here.

Wang Lei noticed that the tables in the residents' houses were mostly covered with food that was already rotten and unrecognizable; the knives and forks were tilted, and the chairs were overturned.

There are no living creatures in the city.

There weren't even any bugs.

The sword in the stone is planted in the Stone Square.

Its hilt was wrapped with old strips of cloth, the blade was not rusted, but the sword was stuck in the stone.

[It seems that Tan Moli has discovered something.]

[The official team members have arrived at the Stone Sword Plaza.]

Beside the sword stood an old man who identified himself as Merlin Ambrose.

He had white hair, a white beard, and was barefoot. His feet were gray, like sheep's hooves.

You have discovered an aged, wise old man in a white robe standing beside the Sword in the Stone.

The old man (Merlin) speaks to the player party.

[The old man (Merlin): A messenger of the gods who has traveled from a distant, alternate dimension.]

[Old Man (Merlin): This land has been waiting for you for a long time.]

Song Mo's finger froze in mid-air, her eyebrows twitched, and her heart skipped a beat:

Can the other person see her?

……

……

……

……

The Stone Sword Plaza was much larger than Chen Xi and the others had imagined.

This is a circular open space paved with gray flagstones, and dead moss grows in the gaps between the flagstones.

Twelve sturdy stone pillars stood around the open space, each carved with patterns.

The stone pillars formed a circle, and a white veil hung down along the pillars. The bottom of the veil had been torn apart, revealing the shadow of a huge rock in the center.

The rock is about the height of a person, with a flat top and a smooth surface, as if it has been touched by countless people.

A black sword was stuck in the center of the boulder.

And standing next to the sword was an old man.

The old man was wearing a worn white robe, and the hem of the robe revealed a pair of bare sheep hooves.

He was very thin, his face was covered in skin like dried bacon, and his eyes were deep-set, filled with gray-blue pupils.

His hair and beard were white, without a single blemish, hanging straight down to his chest.

"I am Merlin Ambrose."

"Welcome... messengers of the gods who have traveled from a distant alternate dimension."

"This land has been waiting for you for a long time."

The old man's mouth opened and closed, and the words he uttered sounded like some kind of pre-programmed sequence.

"We've come to find out where Arthur is."

Chen Xi observed the other person and tried to strike up a conversation:

"Arthur, son of King Uther, we must find him. He must pull the sword from the stone and save this continent."

Merlin looked at the players, his mouth opening and closing, and then uttered an answer that no one had expected:

"King Arthur is dead."

Chen Xi's mind went blank for half a second.

The shock on Weng Yang's face was genuine.

Everyone felt like their heads were filled with mush.

"Dead?"

Wang Lei was the most agitated; he wanted nothing more than to grab Merlin by the collar and hurl insults at him.

"No way, what was he good for? How did he die? Didn't he know there were so many of us waiting for him to draw his sword???"

"How are we supposed to complete our mission if he's dead?! Aren't you a great magician?! Didn't you predict that King Arthur would pull out this sword tomorrow?!"

"The main character is dead, what's the point of us playing?! We might as well just commit suicide!"

"Calm down."

Zheng Wenxuan covered the mouth of his paper doll teammate and stuffed a pill into his mouth. The latter subconsciously chewed it and swallowed the anger that had been simmering inside.

Why did King Arthur die? When did he die? Where is Vortigern?

Chen Xi took a step forward, staring into Merlin's eyes:

"King Arthur is the son of prophecy; he should pull the sword from the stone, and he should become king."

"So your prophecy was wrong... or did Wojtichan kill King Arthur before the prophecy was fulfilled?"

That's not right either.

The main quest did not show as failed.

Merlin did not answer.

"This continent is about to be destroyed."

The white-bearded old man spoke slowly, as if telling a story: "No one can save this world; it is destined to shatter."

"It cannot break."

Weng Yang's voice was a little tense: "Merlin, listen to me, we must find Arthur. Without Arthur, this instance—this world—will collapse."

It will come to our world, do you understand? It will destroy more than just your world.

Merlin looked at her, expressionless.

"The messenger of the Outer Gods."

"Congratulations on slaying the evil Vortigern! Fine wine and delicacies are prepared in the castle; please enjoy."

That's so weird.

The players hadn't even met Vortigern's face when the old man, who called himself "Merlin," mechanically declared their victory.

Just like the AI ​​NPCs in a game that issue missions.

It will only play the recordings as set.

But the players couldn't accept it.

"King Arthur is dead, so how are we supposed to complete our mission?"

Tan Moli's eyes welled up with tears, and she instinctively grabbed Weng Yang's hand: "Will we never be able to go back?"

No, it won't.

Weng Yang offered quiet words of comfort, while Zheng Wenxuan, seemingly under immense mental pressure, paced back and forth in circles.

Why did Arthur die? Will the prophesied son who is to pull out the holy sword tomorrow still appear?

"Why is Merlin acting like a robot?!"

"What exactly went wrong?"

Merlin looked at the player, his mouth continuing to open and close: "King Arthur is dead."

"The messenger of the Outer Gods."

"Congratulations on slaying the evil Vortigern! Fine wine and delicacies are prepared in the castle; please enjoy."

The same.

Every word, even the pauses, are the same; it's like a malfunctioning robot.

More players arrived at the Stone Sword Plaza.

They also saw the sword in the stone, and Merlin standing next to the stone.

A group of people were overjoyed and ready to complete the mission, but all they received were the same cold words.

"King Arthur is dead."

This sentence was like a bucket of ice water, chilling the player to the bone.

Players who were still caught in the chase and high-speed chase of Vortigern stared at Merlin with their mouths agape, unable to believe their eyes.

King Arthur is dead.

The mission was a complete failure?

Some players were struck dumb, kneeling on the ground and wailing.

Some players angrily took off their hats and smashed them against the ground.

Some people wept and knelt before the Sword in the Stone and Merlin, praying for a miracle.

Some even rushed out, ran to the stone, grabbed the hilt with both hands, and tried to pull the sword out of the stone.

The sword remained completely still.

The player, refusing to believe it, pulled hard again with red eyes.

The sword remained completely still.

Then the player's expression began to change, confusion and fear spreading from his eyes—

His fingers began to turn gray.

Then the gray layer began to darken and harden, petrifying his forearm, up to his shoulder, and then up to his neck and chin.

"Help me! Help me..."

The man struggled, his eyes wide open, but before he could finish his plea for help, he turned into a stone statue.

Everyone in the square took a step back.

No one spoke; everyone stared at the stone statue, a chill running through them.