Chapter 584: Spectre Inc. (4)
Translator: Lonelytree
Other than that, due to the contract that he had signed with Zombie Blade, in terms of law, Tired Dream was not allowed to work with any other gaming studio within a year after he left Zombie Blade. But luckily… he could still become a freelance professional player and at least there was income int hat. Therefore, Tired Dream started a new account and restarted everything. In the half a month since the tournament, using his wealth of gaming experience, the professional player’s attitude and determination as well as the buff from Exp card, he rose to level 34. The current him relied on his own power and not the drugs provided by Zombie Blade to carve his way in game. His sensitivity, instinct and presence… had all been awakened. In terms of pure power level, he was no different from players like Uncle Worthless. And this was no exaggeration.
“I need no opinion from the person who was forced to delete his account! Squat back down!” After hearing Tired Dream, Soulie immediately growled back.
“Erm…” Tired Dream thought for two seconds and realized he could not retort the argument so he could only scurry back behind the pillar.
“Hey, look, someone is coming!” Soon Greedy Wolf saw something. He whispered at his two teammates and waved at them to get their attention. The next second, the three glanced from different direction. They saw a young man who was commonly dressed and looked around 20 plus walk into the parking lot, he was walking towards a coffin.
“Ah~ It always feels nice to get off work early.” The kid appeared to be in a good mood. He said to himself as he walked. If he knew what would happen next, his good mood would probably disappear in a jiffy…
!!
“Ouch, shucks!” Suddenly a female voice rang out, it sounded sweet and weak. The young man froze. He titled his head towards the sound. And he soon saw a slender figure fallen behind the shadow of one of the pillars. “Do you need any help, lady?” When he asked that, he already walked towards the figure. Several seconds later, when he walked into the shadow of the pillar, two figures appeared from the dark and pressed him to the ground easily.
A cold gun barrel pressed on the young man’s pale forehead. Soulie who held the gun said with a smile. “Name, identity, race. Count to 3, 1…”
“Edward! Vampire! I’m just a normal scarer! Please don’t kill me!” Edward replied hurriedly.
“Nonsense! Why would a vampire be afraid of having his brain blown off? If you’re a vampire, why didn’t you morph into a bat and fly away?” Soulie cleverly interrogated the man.
“Not all vampire can morph! And we will die if we lose our heads!” Edward quickly explained.
“Okay…” Soulie exchanged a look with her two teammates and then added, “Hmm…. I will believe you for now…” But she did not move her gun away because her question was far from over. “Hmm… just now, you said you were a ‘scarer’?”
…
Inside the public area of Spectre Inc, there were hanging flat screen tv’s everywhere. Inside the screen, they were all broadcasting the promos for the company. The basic content was like this…
“Monster Inc, we are always reaching for greater heights! We provide fuel for your car, we warm your house and light up the city that you live in, we accompany you every day…” Following the narration, the promo showcased many corresponding explanation videos. “we have the best scarers all over the monster kingdom. At the scare floor, the human being transported here will experience suffocating terror and their high quality fear will be transmuted into constant and stable energy for you to use!
“We know human being’s resistance to fear is getting stronger and they are getting braver and braver but we are always ready for a challenge! We have the best scarer, the best energy transmutation device and we already starting on new energy technology. We… are monster Inc! We scare because we care!” Inside the company security department’s breakroom, Ruoyu finished the promo video that was several minutes long without a change of expression. “So this scenario has basically borrowed the setting of Monster Inc…” This statement was the conclusion drawn by Ruoyu.
Buzz—
At that moment, a female monster with a slender body walked in, she appeared human and wore a sharp western suit. About 10 eyes of different sizes grew on her face, she had no nose or ears but she did have a mouth…
“Nice to meet you, miss.” The monster with many eyes radiated an air of professionalism. She sauntered over to the table and raised her hand at Ruoyu and said, “Let us sit down and have a talk.”
Ruoyu nodded slightly, she walked over silently and sat down. The monster sat across from her and then she started. “Let me start by introducing myself, I am the leader of the Security Department, Many Eyes.”
“You can call me Passing Rain.” Ruoyu responded in her usual tone.
“Okay, Miss Passing Rain.” Many Eyes said, “Let us cut to the chase…” Her gaze (of all her eyes) changed slightly and she added, “You are a traveller from another world, yes?”
Ruoyu thought for a while and then answered. “Yes.”
“Hmm… I thought so.” Many Eyes continued. “Rumours about your kind has been circulating around our kingdom, it is kind of a urban legend by now.”
[A monster with more than 10 eyes is calling me an urban legend…] Ruoyu could not help but gripe internally but on the surface, she answered calmly, “Then I believe you must have known some information about us.”
“We do know some but rumors are just rumors, no one will treat them as truth and it is foolish to do so.” Many Eyes answered. “At the end of the day… we are just a power plant, we are not a law enforcement unit of the kingdom, so I am also currently wondering… whether I should hand you guys over to the relative department.”
“No, you have already considered that already.” Ruoyu instantly responded with a sharp gaze. “Or rather your superior has already made the decision.” She crossed her fingers, placed her elbows on the table and leaned her body forward to radiate confidence (Actually she was just mimicking Brother Jue), she glared at Many Eyes and said, “This interaction that we are having now is essentially a negotiation. You very desperately wish to gain information from me but you do not know what kind of condition you have in negotiation. Therefore, you started with the point of ‘handing me over to the related unit’, to put it frankly… you are threatening my personal safety and freedom.” She scoffed. “Unfortunately… your negotiation tactic is wrong.”
“Oh, why is that?” Many Eyes pretended to be calm and asked.
“Because… if we are willing, we can leave your world at any time.” Suddenly another voice came from the other side of one of the walls. “Death… is just another way of leaving after all.” As the sentence ended, the upper half of the wall started to glow before it slowly fade away to become a transparent glass. On the other side of the glass was a darkened room. There were currently two people standing side by side in the room, one was the boss of Spectre Inc—Freddy Kruger and Feng Bujue.
“How did you get over there?” Ruoyu turned to ask Brother Jue. She knew that he could hear her.
“Ah… well, I arrived at this place about several minutes earlier than you did.” Feng Bujue replied with a smile. As he said, he raised both of his hands. Ruoyu only then realized, they were cuffed together.
“Mr. Feng it was you who promise you will not interrupt their conversation, that was the condition I agreed to have you join me in the observation room.” Freddy turned around to look at Brother Jue, “Why do you go back on your words?”
“The negotiation was already over, couldn’t you see it?” Feng Bujue titled his head and said sarcastically. “My friend has already seen through your tactic from the beginning and realized your bottom line but you still know nothing about her and she will not tell you anything… therefore, continuing the negotiation will just be a waste of time.”
“Haiz…” hearing that, Freddy sighed deeply. The next second, with a wave of his hand, the wall between the two rooms dissolved into green light and disappeared.
“Are you alright?” Seeing the wall disappear, Ruoyu immediately stood up and walked towards Feng Bujue.
“Don’t worry.” Brother Jue replied with a smile as he raised his arms. The next second, the handcuff around his wrist snapped into pieces. Seeing this, Ruoyu calmed down and put away her thought of using brute force to save Brother Jue. But when Freddy and Many Eyes saw this, their expression shifted. The former even retreated back out of nervousness to put some distance between him and Feng Bujue. Then he said, “Mr. Feng… You sure have hidden many things from me.”
“Hah…” Feng Bujue laughed at the man. “I did not resist when you guys put the cuff on me because I wanted to show cooperation.” He paused as wrath crossed his eyes. “And snapping it now is to tell you that if you wish to use brute force, I will be willing to play with you.”
“Okay then…” Freddy said darkly. “Forgive me for our inconsideration earlier.” As an antagonist from a horror film with a high intellect, Freddy basically could sense the danger from Brother Jue. This traveller from another world was hard to read and was incredibly powerful, and from the start until now, he had shown no trace of fear or panic at all, as if everything was within his control… facing such an adversary, Freddy naturally would not let his guard down.
“Nevertheless.” Feng Bujue shrugged as he replied with ease. “At least for now… we can discuss the issue of cooperation on a more level playing field.”
“And the cooperation that you mean is regarding…” Freddy probed.
“The cooperation between all the staff of Spectre Inc… and my group of friends.” Feng Bujue replied, “We will work together to go and deal with the ‘real intruder’.”
“And what would that be?” Freddy asked.
“That will be the disaster that could end your life…” Feng Bujue said seriously. “I have a reliable source that told me that at this moment, there was a humanoid lifeform that is half a dimension higher than you guys and incredibly powerful who has arrived at this universe and… they are hiding in your company.” He looked at Freddy for two seconds to observe the change to the man’s expression. “Temporarily, I have no idea what is their name or gender, but… I can tell you their race is called Anomaly, they are a very dangerous race and for you guys, they are as powerful as gods…” brother Jue said as he raised his finger at Many Eyes. “For example, this lady Many Eyes, with her power…” Several threads of dark data flow crossed his eyes swiftly. “…she would be taken over by the Anomaly directly and become one of their lifeless puppets.”
“You better have basis to back up your claim!” Many Eyes instantly fired back angrily, that was just a normal response. Whoever who was told that would get angry.
“He he… I was just giving an example.” Feng Bujue’s expression changed fast like lightning and he took on a kind smile. “Forgive my offense.”
On the other end, Freddy thought for a while and then he scratched his decaying chin and asked, “Do you have any proof… to support your own statement?”
“I do not have one now, but…” Feng Bujue answered. “When you have the actual proof, I am afraid it will already be too late.”
“Then forgive my straightforwardness, Mr. Feng.” Freddy added, “I still cannot trust you fully.”
“That is fine.” Feng Bujue had already predicted this. “Actually I have something else that I need to do for now. If you allow it, through this thing, I can further prove my willingness to cooperate.”
“Oh?” Freddy asked in confusion, “What is it?”
…
Five minutes later, at the parking lot of Spectre Inc.
“I have already told you everything that I know! Please don’t be like this! I just want to go home!” Edward who was kneeling on the ground had told them everything, the only thing he had not told was the fact that he had flipped over a girl’s skirt when he was in primary school but the three players still did not want to let him go.
“What now?” Tired Dream turned to Soulie and asked, for some reason, he had taken Soulie as the leader of the group.
“Hmm… indeed, it feels like there is nothing to ask anymore.” Soulie said contemplatively. It had been almost 10 minutes since they captured Edward. During that period, Soulie already neatly acquired all the valuable information from their hostage and grasped some basic knowledge about the monster kingdom.
“But there is something else… that is very strange.” Greedy Wolf said.
“yes…” Soulie nodded and mumbled, “How come the main quest still has not been triggered?”
“Ahem, hello, hello~ can you hear me?” Suddenly a familiar voice echoed in the parking lot. Actually, not only the parking lot… the entire Spectre Inc reverberated with Feng Bujue’s voice. “This is Feng Bujue, I am currently with Passing Rain. Members of Underworld Frontline as well as… Greedy Wolf and Tired Dream, listen carefully.” Brother Jue said through the broadcast. “I need you to please go and approach the nearest security guard and have them escort you to the company’s security department.” He paused for two seconds and said, “You have noticed by now that the main quest still has not been triggered. I can tell you for sure that this is caused by the Anomaly.” The latter half of the sentence was a different words heard by the NPC because they had been tempered with by the system, “You still remember the core of the V1.10 patch, right? In the new version, whenever you enter a group scenario on nightmare mode with six people, there is a 0.2 percent chance we might run into Anomalies and I think that is what is happening to us.”
At this point, the players who heard the broadcast could ensure that this was not a trap, because… while it was possible for NPC in game to mimic the player’s voice, it was impossible for them to know things like V 1.10 patch, furthermore… it was indeed hard to mimic Brother Jue’s unique tone and voice. “It has been less than half an hour since the start of the scenario so I believe there is an 80 percent chance the data of the Anomaly has not been completed yet. But… I can confirm that we have run into a very powerful character this time so much so that the plot of the scenario has been interrupted.” Brother Jue was still speaking, “If I am not mistaken, when the Anomaly is fully born, the main quest will be triggered and it will be a quest directly related to that Anomaly.” He sighed, “To put it simply… the system is also waiting and preparing to come up with the solution depending on the situation. Therefore… we better make use of our time and be as ready as we can.”
At this point, he felt like he had said enough already so he ended it with, “In any case, please hurry to the security department as soon as possible. We can discuss more in details when we meet up in person.”
…
At the same time, at the security department inside the main control room.
“Okay, I’m done.” Feng Bujue switched off the speaker and turned back to tell Freddy.
“Well… let us wait then.” Freddy placed his hands on his waist and looked at the many cameras before him.
“Bujue.” At that moment, Ruoyu who had been standing silently at the back suddenly called after Brother Jue, “xiao Tan might not be coming.”
“Hmm, why is that?” When Feng Bujue answered, he already took a glance at the game menu, “he is still alive, isn’t he?”
“I am not sure about the others, but I guarantee you he has not heard the broadcast.” Ruoyu said.
“How would you know that?” Brother Jue asked.
“Aiz…” Ruoyu sighed and raised her right finger to point at the camera on her right side. Feng Bujue followed her finger and his eyes soon fell on a small monitor at the corner of the room.
At that moment, the monitor was showing something like this… inside a rectangular room, at the corner of the room sat a dresser and a chair. On the chair sat a woman in red, who was brushing her hair in front of the mirror slowly. And on the other corner of the room cowered a man (Xiao Tan). He was hugging his knees with his hands and stared at the woman with sweat on his face, barely daring to take in a breath.
…
“Hah… Hah…” Heavy breathing, deep breaths and heavy breathing. “hah… Hah…”
The sound echoed round and round. The data that floated in the air gradually solidified into a humanoid creature. At that moment, V1- War God’s body had basically formed its foundation. Overall, his appearance was similar to a human male but his lower body was lacking any sexual identifiers. His body was made up from a very sturdy and intense unknown material, it looked like a material similar to leather but in reality… the tensile strength and flexibility was far better than even the best leather.
“Hah… hah…” After another bout of deep breaths, V1- War God stood up. His muscles were as perfect as if they were carved. His brown skin was covered in swirls of black patterns. From a far, he looked like a human-shaped tiger.
“Phew…” He gave out one last breath. From that second onwards, V1- War God did not need to rely on breathing any more.
“It is so painful every time…” He said with a grin. His mouth though was shaped like that of a human, “It is like I have just finished a 10 minutes aerobic exercise…” He said as he lifted his head and started to observe his surrounding. V1- War God’s face only had one eye but the eye was very bug and his line of sight was wider than a normal person’s; his ears were rectangular in shape and they stuck tightly to the side of his head, they were only 3 centimetres long; other than that, he had no nose and no hair on his body…
Of course, this kind of creature was not that unique in the monster kingdom.
“Oh? Monster Kingdom is it?” V1- War God only took in the surrounding data for a moment and he already knew which universe this was. He mumbled to himself, “This is a place with a lot of ‘food’ I suppose… Hah… I should be able to start my hunting once I have dealt with all the hum…” His words stopped there because at that moment, he saw the player list.
“Ha… Ha ha… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…” V1- War God started to laugh. “Feng Bujue! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha… Good! Very good…” His giant eye widened and his face was twisted in an eager grimace. “As long as I destroy your data here, then the internal fighting within the Origin will cease…”
As he spoke, white data flow appeared in his eyes, this was proof that he had started his long-distance scanning mode.
Long distance Data analysis:
–Breaking through firewall…
–Downloading information…
–Initiating counter tactic…
Appearance recognition database initiating, downloading, inputting/ correcting / inputting/ inputting.
Name: Feng Bujue
Forces: Player
Race: Human
Level: 43
Height: 179 cm
Weight: …
–Encountering unknown error.
— reconstructing anti-resistance mechanism…
Warning, appearance of anomalous data overflow!
Detection of attack by unknown code
–Outer firewall has been broken through…
–Emergency solution: Ending long distance data analysis…
“Ergh…” The scanning was forced to shut off. V1- War God gasped in shock and immediately knelt to the ground. He used both of his hands to push against the surface of the ground. His face showed one expression of extreme pain. At the same time, the white data flow in his eyes slowly faded and then it was… slowly turning black…
“What is this!” V1- War God used his hands to hold his head like he was fighting something inside his body. His whole body was shaking. “How is this possible… this thing… is he not human? Why does this happen!”
–Emergency solution completed. Part of the middle firewall has been destroyed, virus database has been updated.
–inspecting the status of the core firewall…
–Core firewall is undamaged. Cleaning program has been activating, firewall recovery program has been activated.
Bang!
V1- War God waved his fist in anger. It left an imprint on the floor, “Damn it! I was scammed by him…” After saying that, he rested for two minutes before he stood up again, “Is this bastard a humanoid virus… No, impossible… this is not a normal virus… a code on that level is something I have not encountered before… even a level 1 Anomaly like myself…” V1 appeared to be reminded of something but he did not continue his thought because he knew that… what he had remembered, even if he contemplated it further, it would a waste of time.
…
At the same time, inside the main control room of the security department at Spectre Inc.
“he’s here!” Feng Bujue who stood in the middle of the room shouted loudly, “He is a Level 1!” At that moment, Ruoyu, Soulie, Xiao Tan, Tired Dream, Greedy Wolf and Solie had already gathered at this room (Xiao Tan was escorted here), once they heard what Brother Jue said, they became tense with alert.
“Main quest triggered.” The system announcement came one second later Brother Jue’s reaction. The players all turned to summon out the game menu and they saw that inside the quest tab there was a very simple quest objective, “Kill V1 – War God.”
“Something is not right…” Greedy Wolf instantly said. “Didn’t the patch note said that… in the scenario that the players might run into Anomalies, the players can choose to help or kill the Anomaly?” He paused. “But for this scenario… the scenario did not even provide us with an intro cg and the first main quest is to order us to kill this Anomaly?”
“Haven’t I already told you, this time we have run into a not so simple character.” Feng Bujue tilted his head to the side and replied, “To deal with him, the system cannot go around in circles anymore…”
“Brother Feng.” Tired Dream used a strange look to assess Brother Jue and he asked, “It is not that I do not believe you but I cannot help but want to ask… how do you manage to know all these things.”