The streets were bustling with activity.
All sorts of people rushed out of their homes to see the spectacle of the flower thief. The streets were busier than during New Year festivities.
Constables were shouting to maintain order.
A young man, bruised and swollen, was restrained with heavy chains. He faced the public's accusations and curses, as well as the mud and rotten vegetable leaves they threw. Yet, he remained calm and composed, occasionally even cracking a smile, not taking his capture seriously at all.
Peering through a gap in the crowd, Lin Bai locked eyes with the captured young man. After a quick scan, he was immediately stunned.
Above the man's head, the name "Jade Cat" shone brightly.
What the hell?
Lin Bai blinked, looking at the man again. The name was still there.
The onlookers paid no attention to the name floating above his head, their focus remaining on his lecherous actions as they pointed, jeered, and cursed.
A Player?
Lin Bai swallowed, instinctively looking around.
Just as he thought, in the dense crowd, a man and a woman also had names above their heads: "Crispy Rice" and "Sticky Rice," respectively.
Lin Bai took a deep breath and inconspicuously squeezed his way between them.
「 」
"...It's a breathtakingly realistic game, with every NPC coming to life, each with their own thoughts. It's hard to imagine how powerful the underlying computation must be to support such a lifelike world!"
"There's no limit to technology; you can never imagine what kinds of wacky things those scientists can come up with. Jade Cat is such a dumbass. Some people have already tested the NPCs' limits, yet he still had to go and court death. While detained by the Government Office, one can't log off without deleting their account. He's in for a rough time..."
"He didn't do anything truly substantial; he'll be out in a couple of days. Of course, there's also the possibility that he actually wanted to go to jail."
"Why?"
"If the game is based on the real world, then prison has another name: the Super Talent Market. Many powerful NPCs might be hidden inside, and you can learn lots of things you can't learn outside. Don't underestimate the skills of any of those beta testers."
"He wants to go down the evil path?"
"Maybe. This game is different from previous ones. You need to explore it yourself; you can't rely on past experiences..."
"Crispy Rice, there's a moronic NPC behind us who keeps sneaking glances at us?"
The one named Crispy Rice laughed, glanced at Lin Bai, and said unabashedly, "He must be captivated by your beauty! Surely you don't think he can hear our private channel conversation?"
"Maybe he's into you. That guy hasn't even given me a proper look. I think he's gay. The game was advertised as being 'built based on the real world,' so there are all sorts of people in it..."
「 」
You're the gay one. Your whole family is gay.
Lin Bai muttered inwardly, averting his gaze while keeping his composure. However, his mind was in turmoil.
They really are Players! Did he transmigrate into a game world?
No wonder the names of the cities in this world felt so strange: Jiamucheng, Yimucheng, Fiore City...
If this is a gaming world, then these names are perfectly normal. But is this really a gaming world?
The air flowed. Various delicacies, Mountain Stone, and Tree were lifelike. When a blade of wild grass was plucked, sap oozed out.
The scent of women's cosmetics, the stench of men's sweat, the bad breath from unbrushed teeth...
Everyone had their own thoughts, families, jobs, and emotions. They bled when injured, ate when hungry, and slept when tired.
If a game can be made to this degree, how terrifying must the people who created it be? How powerful would the servers need to be to run such a game? Does Earth even have such an incredible gaming company?
The most crucial point! If this is a game, then what is he? If he is a Player, why is there no attribute panel, not even an option to quit? If he's an NPC, he's obviously not from this world; he's an outsider, and he can see the Players' names! And yet, the Players with names above their heads also treated him as an NPC. A transmigrator stuck between being a Player and an NPC? What a headache!
「 」
Lin Bai was no stranger to gamers, having spent his four years of college navigating an ocean of games.
Client games, web games, single-player games—he'd experienced all sorts.
He had done, nine times out of ten, whatever Players had done in game worlds: jumping over city walls, killing other people's chickens, harassing women in broad daylight...
All the strange occurrences suddenly made sense. It was perfectly normal for Players to engage in such activities, even more reasonable than for System holders.
In games, Players are only restricted by game rules, completely free from the constraints of law and morals.
They had infinite respawns and could grow rapidly with Experience Points. Nothing they did in the game world had any impact on reality.
With such premises, Players could act without restraint in the game, freely releasing their primal instincts, even more wildly than the cultivators in the Cultivation stories Lin Bai had told Luo Congwen.
With infinite growth, they'd draw their blades if you showed the slightest weakness. Their behavior was unpredictable. They could become stronger through in-game purchases. To satisfy their desires for destruction and creation, for the sake of their experience bars, they would do anything.
These are Players.
This is the Fourth Disaster.
「 」
Looking at the two Players in front of him, then at the still-curious crowd, Lin Bai felt a complex mix of emotions. His transmigrated world being infiltrated by Players—nothing could be more absurd or laughable.
When encountering Players, the advantage of being a transmigrator vanished in an instant.
So what if he had a System? He was just one person, and who knew how many Players there were...
The thought of wave after wave of Players treating him like a boss monster to be farmed made Lin Bai's scalp tingle.
Damn it!
The two Players' conversation continued, completely ignoring Lin Bai's presence beside them.
Chatting on their private channel gave them ample confidence.
「 」
A game with no data wipes after beta, high freedom, developed based on the real world, with no guides or walkthroughs—Players had to discover its secrets entirely on their own...
More and more game content spilled out from the two Players.
Lin Bai tried his best to gather all useful information.
Three days.
The first batch of closed beta Players had entered this world three days ago, which was a few days after he himself had transmigrated.
Lin Bai didn't believe there was no connection between the two.
After all, the origin of the System Combo he possessed was also unknown.
When a living, breathing world suddenly turned into a game world, Lin Bai instinctively doubted everything around him.
However, the information he could currently collect was too scant to allow for further deduction.
Whether it was a conspiracy or fate, it was impossible to determine.
In this strange world, he, like the Players, was still in an exploratory phase.
At present, even his survival was a challenge, placing him in a more difficult situation than rookie Players. It was too early to consider such distant concerns.
Perhaps, for now, playing the role of this special NPC was the only chance to uncover the truth.
Taking a step back, using his System to become a Boss was far better than being a clueless ordinary NPC.
Being able to distinguish Players from ordinary people and hearing Players' private conversations was enough to make him feel lucid in this human world.
Players would level up. For now, they could be caught by constables and have eggs thrown at them by the common folk. But once their Levels were higher, they could probably sweep through these NPCs. It wasn't unlikely that high-Level Players with a twisted sense of humor would return to torment the NPCs in the Novice Village. Therefore, he had to grow alongside the Players, and ensure he progressed faster than them.
Players leveled up by grinding Experience Points.
Lin Bai, naturally, could level up through System rewards. That damn Nine-Days True Scripture—he'd have to practice it when the time came, like it or not.
An NPC who doesn't want to be a Boss isn't a good NPC!
If he was to be one, then he must become an invincible Boss.
Endless motivation burst forth from Lin Bai, and he redefined his life's trajectory.
Lay low? Impossible! From the moment the System had appeared on him, lying low was no longer an option for Lin Bai.
「 」
When the world was no longer as he understood it, Lin Bai revisited his tasks with a different mindset.
What better way to understand their actions than to stay close to the Players?
Players, overconfident from past experiences, wouldn't suspect an NPC could understand their conversations.
To Lin Bai, these guys were transparent, with no secrets.
Recalling how quest-giving NPCs behaved in games, and combining that with the two Players' speculations about this game, Lin Bai confidently approached them.
Players thought differently from ordinary people; he couldn't treat them as such.
The two Players stopped talking and looked quizzically at the approaching NPC.
"What does this guy want?" Crispy Rice said.
"Who knows? He's been acting weird for a while now," Sticky Rice said. "A quest NPC?"
"Aren't game quests supposed to be actively triggered by us?" Crispy Rice asked. "And don't the NPCs in this world generally dislike interacting with strangers?"
"He's coming over," Sticky Rice said.
"Excuse me, could I speak with you two for a moment?" Lin Bai took a deep breath and asked hesitantly.
"Sure." Crispy Rice straightened up, exchanged a look with Sticky Rice, and chuckled.
A flicker of pleasant surprise crossed Lin Bai's eyes, and his hands rubbed together unconsciously. "This is a bit hard to explain. I inherited a fortune-telling technique from my ancestors. After observing you two for some time, I've discovered that your destinies are rather special—what I would call a Dragon and Phoenix Destiny. You're destined to soar to the heavens and achieve great success. Honestly, I've never encountered anyone with such a physiognomy before..."
Looking at the chatty NPC before them, Crispy Rice and Sticky Rice exchanged a glance. Crispy Rice asked, "Is this guy a con man, or did he really see something?"
Sticky Rice chuckled. "Wouldn't it be more interesting if he's a con man? Perhaps he's a special NPC. Let's hear him out."
Hearing the two Players' unguarded conversation, Lin Bai kept a straight face, but his tone became even more embarrassed. "...You might think I'm a fraud, or just joking with you. After all, I don't look like a fortune teller.
"But I just couldn't help myself. Your destinies are far too extraordinary, like dragons and phoenixes among humans. I'm afraid I'll miss this opportunity if I ignore it. It's like feeling an urge to befriend a future City Lord before he rises to prominence. That's the feeling you give me now. This is a chance to change my life, and I must seize this opportunity."
Lin Bai interspersed his words with some local tidbits to camouflage his identity and create a certain impression for the two Players.
If he'd said this to ordinary people, he'd be lucky not to get beaten up. But were Players ordinary people?
Obviously not.
Crispy Rice asked, "What are you planning to do?"
"I want to follow you both." Lin Bai looked at Crispy Rice, his gaze fervent, his tone earnest. "If possible, I'd like to acknowledge you as my Big Brother. You two seem to be outsiders in Jiamucheng. If there's anything inconvenient for you to handle, I can do it. Of course, if you come across any benefits, don't forget about me. And when you achieve great success, perhaps you could give me a little boost?"
"Of course," Crispy Rice agreed readily.
No Player would refuse an NPC who practically delivered a unique storyline to their doorstep. Even if he was a con man, who knew if he might have follow-up quests?
Even if he didn't, wouldn't it be awesome to have a lackey, or even a pet, during the game's closed beta? Besides, he'd likely be the first Player in the Eastern Continent Server to recruit an NPC as a younger brother. If he posted about it on the forums later, it would definitely make a ton of people envious.
"Really?" Lin Bai looked at Crispy Rice in pleasant surprise, unconsciously clenching his fists.
"Of course." Crispy Rice's eyes crinkled into a smile as he nodded affirmatively. "From today on, you're my brother."
"Big Brother!" Lin Bai exclaimed, looking at the Player before him, his voice trembling slightly with excitement, his dignity completely forgotten.
"Brother!" Crispy Rice clapped Lin Bai on the shoulder, a sense of instant camaraderie between them.
Lin Bai thought: Players are so much easier to fool than the locals. My task is finally on track.
Crispy Rice thought: Recruiting an NPC as a little bro right at the start? I'm gonna strike it rich!