Chapter 1117: Topsy-turvy-Styled Player
Right now, Sun Mo was touring the streets and experiencing the local customs while observing the people he met.
Sometimes, he would take the initiative to mingle with the lower class like peddlers and carriers. He would also interact with the rich and wealthy. Although their appearances looked real and they knew much stuff, he still discovered that there were some flaws when he used some minor tricks to converse with them. He had proven that these people were really NPCs.
“This should be an open-world exploration game, right?”
If an aboriginal of the Nine Provinces came in contact with this game for the first time, they would surely be immensely shocked and extremely excited to continue playing it. But Sun Mo didn’t have the mood to do so.
It was unknown how many AAA-masterpiece games he had seen before.
“I’d rather play some eroge visual novels.”
Sun Mo sighed.
If he encountered such a vivid game that showcased an open ancient world in the modern era, Sun Mo would be very invested in it. But the Nine Provinces itself was a world in the feudal era. What was the difference?
Rather than wasting time in the game, Sun Mo might as well spend his time heading to the brothels and checking out the ladies there.
“Weak!”
Because Sun Mo was bored and wanted to play this game differently, he was prepared to do some overbearing actions to test the game’s mechanism.
A girl about 20+ years old stood before a medical booth and was trying to negotiate with the boss.
“Is this a rare NPC?”
Sun Mo walked over and listened to a few sentences. So, someone in the little maiden’s family was sick and she needed to buy medical ingredients. But the money she brought with her was insufficient so she wanted to buy them on credit.
“I’ll pay the medical bills for you.”
Sun Mo took out a silver fragment and tossed it to the boss.
“Many thanks mister for helping me!”
The little maiden thanked him and bowed.
“Lady, there’s no need for you to be so polite. Do you still have anything you need help with?”
Sun Mo wanted an NPC to give him a mission, but the other party didn’t do so.
“I don’t dare to trouble sir!”
The little maiden left after taking the medicine. She didn’t even turn her head.
“Just like that?”
Sun Mo was speechless. In games and TV shows, shouldn’t the girl be extremely touched and want to marry him to repay the debt? (Could it be that my judgment was wrong? Forget it, let’s just go all out and see what happens!)
Sun Mo chased after the little maiden and patted her bum.
“Hey lady, don’t be in a hurry to leave.”
Sun Mo laughed carefreely like the evil son of an official. Sadly, he didn’t have a few lackeys that followed him around, or he would be able to flaunt even more.
(This is unscientific. I’m the only son of the county magistrate, so why don’t I have a few lackeys to order around? I wonder how I can give feedback to the company that makes this game.)
“Sir, please respect yourself!”
The little maiden had a cold look on her face and tossed the medicinal ingredients back to Sun Mo. “These are yours, I don’t want them anymore.”
“Whether you want them or not, you won’t be able to change the fate of being humiliated today.”
Sun Mo revealed an evil smile and went forward.
The girl wanted to run but was grabbed by Sun Mo.
“Beauty, from now on, you belong to me.”
Sun Mo acted like a villain and felt extremely happy to do so. At the same time, he pricked his ears to see if the game system had any feedback.
If there wasn’t, this might actually be a game like [GTA 5].
There were no responses. But the little maiden suddenly frowned and stretched her index and middle finger out as she fiercely poked toward Sun Mo’s eyes.
At the same time, her right leg aimed a kick at Sun Mo’s crotch.
“F***!”
Sun Mo was badly frightened. As expected, this must be a rare NPC. Her retaliation was so sharp.
Pak! Pak!
Sun Mo blocked it, but the constitution of his body in this game was simply too weak. Such exertions actually caused Sun Mo to pant. What was even more troublesome was that this girl had even taken her hairpin from her hair and prepared to use it to attack.
Chi! Chi! Chi!
This tempo was so quick that Sun Mo’s eyes were almost blinded.
“Interesting!”
Sun Mo didn’t dare to be careless because he didn’t have spirit qi in his body. He definitely wouldn’t be able to use cultivation arts. However, saint-tier cultivation arts were all extremely powerful. Just using their moves alone, they were relatively impressive.
Moreover, Sun Mo was using combat techniques in his fight.
He didn’t dodge. Instead, he took the chance and charged at the maiden, unleashing his attacks using punches, kicks, elbows, and knees.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two of them fought intensely.
“Damn, it’s so painful!”
Sun Mo was pierced by the hairpin. The sensation of pain was extremely real, and there was even blood. Because of it, he decided to be more ruthless and directly pin her in a lock, using a technique to press her down on the ground.
“Be more honest or I’ll strip you of your clothes.”
As Sun Mo said this, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the maiden’s bum again.
In any case, the female NPC wouldn’t report this to the authorities.
The little maiden was so anxious that her entire face flushed. She wanted to bite Sun Mo’s ears but wasn’t able to do so. Hence, she could only anxiously roar. “Sun Mo, you scum! You are a shameless villain. Quickly release me!”
“Huh?”
When Sun Mo abruptly heard the NPC shouting his real name, he jumped in fright.
“Shameless dog, why haven’t you released me yet?”
The little maiden scolded again and tears could be seen filling her eyes.
“You are…”
Sun Mo felt a headache. (Damn, is this still a cyber game?)
Seeing the manner of the little maiden, she should be a great teacher from the Black-White Academy. If it was An Xinhui and the others, they would have long since greeted him.
(It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have used my real appearance.)
Sun Mo released his grab while feeling embarrassed.
Bang! Bang!
When the other party regained freedom, she didn’t climb up immediately. Instead, she dashed over and kicked twice at Sun Mo. Sadly, she missed.
“Don’t misunderstand. I thought I was playing a game and was just trying things out.”
Sun Mo braced himself and explained.
The little maiden angrily stared at Sun Mo and spoke mockingly, “So you are a scum when playing games?”
“Yup. Since this is an open-world game with no restrictions and the guide of newbies didn’t say anything… if we want to clear this level, we can only try all sorts of methods!”
Sun Mo explained.
“…”
The little maiden furrowed her brows. Open world? Guide? Clearing the level?
There were many terms in Sun Mo’s speech that the little maiden didn’t understand. This made her start to guess whether Sun Mo had come in contact with a game similar to this before.
But that shouldn’t be the case. The Black-White Star Disk was something that only the Black-White Academy had.
“How did you select the role as the son of an official?”
The little maiden was curious.
When the people from their Black-White Academy played this game, the vast majority of them started off as ordinary folks. There would occasionally be people managing to choose other characters, but they had no idea how they did so.
The character of the little maiden was clearly someone from a common village. She had to depend on herself and decided to come to the city for opportunities.
“Tell me your name first.”
Sun Mo counter-asked.
The little maiden fell silent.
“I even know how to select other characters. For example, princesses and daughters of wealthy clans. Do you want to give it a try?”
Sun Mo tempted her.
The little maiden’s eyes brightened but after that, she became suspicious.
How did Sun Mo know it?
“So, tell me. What is your name?”
Sun Mo laughed. “Since you know my name, you should be able to trust my character. I won’t lie. As for you, I have no idea about your true identity. Even if you run away, I won’t be able to find you.”
“Why don’t you take a guess?”
The little maiden didn’t wish to say it. As for how Sun Mo managed to be the son of an official?
She believed that she should be able to tell the reason why from her observation!
(Right, I shall follow you for a few days.)
“See you when I see you then!”
Sun Mo didn’t mind it. It was just a game.
For the next few days, other than going home, Sun Mo went to tour the streets idly to get himself familiarized with the game.
During this period, he was tested frequently by his official father.
How would Sun Mo know the answers?
Given his standard, he would at most know a few common sentences from the classics. Hence, his performance was very bad and he got beaten several times by his father.
Learning these things was useless.
It was so illogical that he worked so hard in real life and still had to study when playing a game. Who could bear with this?
Hence, Sun Mo started to skip classes and hide from his father.
And after a month, the date for the triennial provincial imperial examination arrived.
With no suspense, Sun Mo failed.
“Scram! I don’t have an unfilial child like you!”
His father raged and wanted to drive Sun Mo out from their home. However, his mother felt heartache for him and secretly gave him 1,000 taels so he would have things easier.
She told him to head out and hide for a while first. When his father was no longer angry, he could come back and apologize.
Hence, Sun Mo had a good reason to explore this world freely.
In the game, Sun Mo couldn’t sense the difference in time. But after asking the system, he knew that a day had passed in the real world while a month had passed here in the game.
Sun Mo was now in the Longevity Realm. Also, given his constitution, he wouldn’t die of hunger even if he didn’t eat for ten days to half a month. Hence, he could continue playing the game.
“What should I do next? Should I become a gigolo?”
Sun Mo started to plan his life. In reality, he would definitely be embarrassed to be a son-in-law living at his wife’s parent’s house. But in a game, he didn’t mind this.
Just when Sun Mo was thinking about whether he should choose to marry a rich young missus or a princess, he ran into a group of bandits at the foot of a mountain.
Now, he could openly start a slaughter.
After Sun Mo hacked 6 NPCs to death, the bandit leader surrendered.
“Do you have any professional ethics?”
Sun Mo was speechless and was preparing to head up the mountain for a look. In a mountain stronghold like this, there would surely be kidnapped wealthy girls, right?
After that, Sun Mo became a bandit himself.
This caused the little maiden who had been following Sun Mo to be dumbfounded.
(What the hell? The game can be played like this?)
The little maiden had cautiously and conscientiously managed her life. Even in the game, she wouldn’t want to overstep the prescribed limits, and she was just an ordinary girl from an ordinary family, making a living by washing silk. But Sun Mo was completely different. He acted as he willed, doing whatever he wanted.
Sun Mo didn’t manage to become the son-in-law of the royal clan or a wealthy clan. Instead, he became ‘Song Jiang’ and called himself ‘Timely Rain’. He sent out invitations and invited all the heroes under the sky to gather to discuss a major event.
“…”
The life view of the little maiden got turned topsy-turvy.
Sun Mo played the game into one of horse-riding and slaughter.
After bringing disaster to Jiangnan, the imperial court sent armed forces to suppress them.
One couldn’t help but say that the ancient country in this world didn’t have the basic conditions required for rebellion. Hence, Sun Mo was suppressed.
When Sun Mo was captured and about to be beheaded in a public execution, he quitted the game.
“Lucky. If I couldn’t leave the game, I would really be stunned.”
Sun Mo climbed out from the chess piece-shaped gaming cabin.
Six days had passed, but it was six months in the virtual world. So, Sun Mo was still somewhat fatigued mentally.
“Teacher Sun, how is it?”
Xie Enhui’s tone of voice was filled with a hint of flaunting.
“Aunty Xie, are your eyes alright?”
Sun Mo was concerned.
“Mn, there’s no major trouble.” Xie Enhui teased, “Is the game fun?”
“Still okay!”
Sun Mo nodded.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zerui at the side twitched his lips involuntarily.
(What do you mean still okay? Don’t you know that the people who played the Black-White Game wanted nothing more than to not exit it forever?)
“Where are Xinhui and the others? Are they still inside?”
Sun Mo turned his head and realized that the chess pieces his group members used were still shining.
“Mn!”
Zhou Zerui smiled. “If the game character dies, they can start again. However, I hope that Teacher Sun will play it a few days later. After all, many people are waiting to hear your spirit rune lectures.”
Sun Mo had run off after giving one spirit runes lecture, and this caused the spirit runists to feel an unbearable itch in their hearts. They felt depressed and had a sense of vexation like they saw a treasure mountain but were unable to obtain it.
“This place is open 24/7 for you guys. You all can play however long you like to, so there’s no need to be in a hurry to play now!”
Xie Enhui added.
This was an extremely excellent condition. One must know that even great teachers from the other Nine Greats wouldn’t have such preferential treatment.
“Mn, I’m going to the lecture hall!”
Sun Mo cast another glance at the few gaming cabins. “Aunty Xie, please take care of them and let me know if there are any troubles happening.”
Even if Sun Mo didn’t say anything, Xie Enhui would also monitor them.
After all, An Xinhui and the others were geniuses. They might have new discoveries.
After Sun Mo left, Xie Enhui sighed.
“I really want to make him stay with us. Look at his behavior. This is what a true great teacher should be like.”
A lot of great teachers who came in contact with the Black-White Game would be immersed within. Hence, Xie Enhui had waited here because she was also worried Sun Mo might be overly addicted to the point he wanted to miss his meals. But from the looks of things, Sun Mo’s self-control was terrifyingly strong.
“Yeah, the Central Province Academy is truly fortunate.”
Zhou Zerui nodded. Just when he wanted to sit down and continue to read, a cabin not far away from him opened up.
“Bai Fu!”
Xie Enhui waved her hands. To this girl whom she had watched growing up, she treated her like her own grandchild.
“Auntie Xie! Uncle Zhou!”
Bai Fu hurriedly walked over and greeted them with a lowered head.
“Did you encounter Sun Mo and the others in the game?”
Xie Enhui merely asked this casually, but she didn’t expect Bai Fu to nod. Hence, she continued to ask. “How is he as a player?”
“…”
Bai Fu didn’t know how to reply.
“What’s wrong?”
Zhou Zerui was astonished. Although Bai Fu didn’t focus on her learning, she was definitely an elite. There weren’t many things that could cause her to fall into contemplation.
“I’ve seen Sun Mo’s gaming process and I’ve no way to evaluate him.”
Bai Fu hesitated before speaking. “If you really want me to describe it, I can only say that he is a player that turns everything topsy-turvy!”
Xie Enhui and Zhou Zerui exchanged a glance.
“Aunty Xie, I feel that you should suggest to Uncle Wan to allow Sun Mo to enter THAT game. Maybe, he might be able to clear it!”
Bai Fu suggested.
“Absolutely not!”
Xie Enhui didn’t even think about it and directly rejected this request.
Leaving aside the fact that the game Bai Fu was referring to was an absolute secret of the Black-White Academy, it also contained extremely huge risks. If Sun Mo died inside, how would she be able to explain things to the Central Province Academy?
“So many outstanding students of our school sank into coma and imbecility because of that game. They can’t die but cannot live either. Don’t you feel it’s very agonizing?”
Bai Fu sighed. “Naturally, before Sun Mo enters, he can sign a declaration saying that our school need not be responsible for his life or death.”
“I’ll consider it!”
Xie Enhui replied perfunctorily.
Honestly speaking, in her eyes, Sun Mo’s identity was more valuable than everyone trapped in that game. The ‘reserve saint’ title wasn’t a joke.
Bai Fu was very intelligent and could guess Xie Enhui’s thoughts. Hence, she described Sun Mo’s performance in the game.
“Huh?”
Xie Enhui and Zhou Zerui were stunned.
Being the child of an official?
Becoming a bandit?
And even pacifying a rebellion?
They didn’t expect that Sun Mo could cause so much trouble.
Maybe, he really could clear the game!
[1] Song Jiang is a character in the novel Water Margin