The Inner World, Area Z001.
"Hehehe …" A burst of wretched laughter rang out, and Woody's figure suddenly appeared in front of 0.
"I've finally met you." 0's image at this time had become a mess, like a character in the Atari 2600 (a game console released in October 1977, which was popular at that time and became the representative console of the second generation of video games). It was almost impossible to tell that he was a human.
"It sounds like you're looking forward to meeting me," Woody said.
"My mood at the moment is the same as those humans who are eager to talk to God," 0 replied. "No matter how outstanding and different I am in this dimension … I'm still helpless and ignorant …" He looked at Woody. "Only the Creator can answer all my questions."
"Then do you know … what is the Creator's greatest hobby?" Woody replied.
0 did not answer. He really did not understand the meaning of the other party's question, but judging from the content and context, it was very likely that it was a question or a simple tease.
"Hehehe … you guessed right." Woody laughed. "I'm going to answer my own question." He seemed to be able to easily see through the other party's thoughts. "But after knowing your judgment, I can choose not to say it."
"I understand …" 0 was silent for a few seconds and replied, "The Creator's greatest pleasure … is to play with everything he creates in the palm of his hand."
"Hehehe …" Woody said, "You understand it very quickly."
"It seems … I can't get anything out of you," 0 said. "But … you'll still tell me something … I 'need' to know …"
"Yes, listen carefully …" Woody said solemnly. "Feng Bujue has already stood on Lute's side."
"What?" 0 was obviously startled. "What does that mean?"
"It's such a simple sentence. Can't you understand it?" Woody asked.
"But he's a human …"
"Ha … so what?"
0 fell into silence again …
After a while, he said, "I know what to do …"
"Very good." Woody raised his right hand. "I'll give you a lift."
With a snap of his fingers, Zero shattered into a ball of pixels and disappeared without a trace.
Two seconds later, another person's voice rang out not too far away from Woody. "Haha … How pathetic ~" Vincent said in a mocking tone.
"En … This time, I really miscalculated …" Woody said in a deep voice, "This guy, Feng Bujue, he really did it …"
"The reason you chose him …" Vincent continued. "Isn't it because he's capable of doing anything? Hahaha … "
"In conclusion … I've been caught in a trap of my own making?" Woody said.
"Haha …" Vincent laughed but did not answer. He changed the topic. "Actually, I think … as early as half a month ago, when he began to secretly investigate all kinds of 'supernatural things', you should have noticed."
"I did know about that …" Woody continued. "And I didn't know about it from Arthas … It was the people from 'Nine Subjects' who told me …"
"Oh …" Vincent said, "In other words, he, a mortal without any superpowers, managed to successfully track down the local government's secret agency under the surveillance of your informant within two weeks."
"Yes … I thought this was just a normal reaction after meeting with me." Woody pushed up his glasses. "Hehehe … Now it looks like he's preparing himself for the immoral acts he might commit in the future …"
"Since things have come to this, why don't you just kill Lu Te?" Vincent asked. "After all, her life has nothing to do with the bet."
"But if I do that …" Woody said, "Won't that be the same as admitting defeat?" He paused. "Furthermore, the situation now is even more interesting …"
"Starting a new round with the person you've placed your bet on …" Vincent said. "Don't you two feel tired?"
"Haha …" Woody laughed. "If Feng Bujue was here, he would have answered in unison with me … No."
"Perhaps … he has seen through your thoughts, and that's why he acted so recklessly," Vincent said. "Whether you kill Lu Te or not is completely within his calculations."
"That would be for the best," Woody said. "Otherwise, how can he be worthy of being my opponent?" His glasses flashed with white light. "In the future, if he can really liberate one of the Anomalies … then I will concede defeat. If that happens, I will not stop him anymore. In fact, I will try my best to help him. "
"Fine …" Vincent shrugged and smiled. "Let's not talk about helping others for now. Now, how are you going to deal with this mess that you're the director of?"
"Hahaha …" Woody's expression returned to its usual wretchedness. "Don't worry, I've already come up with a solution."
…
Outside the scenario, inside the livestream area …
"What's going on? Why is the screen black? "
"Who won?"
"Isn't this competition a bit too weird? What exactly is an Anomaly? "
"Feng Bujue should have died together with the boss, but will that give him any points?"
"Why haven't the players who died appeared yet? Is there a problem? "
When the intense battle stopped, the people's adrenaline level dropped. After they calmed down, the many strange things that happened in the competition … started to surface.
"Eh? Look, the hosts are here. "
Just as the audience was discussing and the atmosphere was turning weird, Pan Feng and Hwa Xiong appeared on the big screen again.
"Er … Ladies and gentlemen," Pan Feng said. "We will now announce the final result … and …" He stuttered. From the focus of his eyes, he should be reading the script on a teleprompter outside the camera. "… and an emergency announcement."
"The results of this year's Tournament for the Best have been announced," Hwa Xiong said. Hwa Xiong added from the side. He was in a similar state as his partner. Both of them had cold sweat on their faces as if they were being forced to broadcast. "The final champion is … Star Guild's player, Flying Pegasus."
"What?"
The audience was in an uproar. Even the players in the "Flying Pegasus broadcast area" were puzzled because Brony did not kill any players. From the beginning to the end … he only assisted in the battle with Y2-TWINKLE and double-killed Lute in Gemini mode.
"From second to tenth place, they are …" Hwa Xiong looked at the teleprompter and continued to read, "Lying Drunk, Yama, Bladeless Swordsman, Matcha Cookie, Zombie Blade Victor, Uncle Worthless, Not a Scaredy Cat, Shiva, and … Feng Bujue."
"What's going on?"
"How did they rank up? Phantom Dawn didn't make it into the top ten? "
"Zombie Blade Victor obviously couldn't beat Uncle Worthless, so how did he rank higher than him?"
"Matcha Cookie got fifth place? Feng Bujue could have killed her with one hand, right? "
Confusion soon turned into dissatisfaction.
But the content that made people even more dissatisfied … was just the beginning …
"Due to the appearance of the Anomaly …" Pan Feng's voice was shaking. "The scenario's hidden worldview has been forced to activate …"
"What? Where did the hidden worldview come from? What is the meaning of forced activation? "
"Speaking of which … what exactly is an Anomaly?"
The audience shouted loudly, as if their voices could really be transmitted to the screen.
"The initial point system was abolished when the Anomaly invaded," Pan Feng continued. "The current ranking is based on … the battle points that the contestants have accumulated during their fight against the Anomaly."
Hwa Xiong continued. "For the ranking of eleventh to thirtieth and thirty-first to fiftieth, please check the official website after 6 am this morning." He paused. "The prizes for the competition will be sent to the contestants' mailbox in three working days. Skill Points will be added to the contestants' account the next time they log in, so please check them carefully."
"Now … an emergency announcement," Pan Feng said. "The server will be shut down in five minutes."
"Hey, hey … what's going on?" The audience was about to lose control. "There are still many players who haven't come to watch the competition! The finalists are still in the scenario, right? "
"With immediate effect, the queuing system for all modes has been locked." What Pan Feng said next explained the problem. "The players who are in the scenario will be automatically disconnected after the current scenario ends."
Hwa Xiong continued. "As you can see, during the Tournament for the Best, something unexpected happened. This was the first world-wide event in Thriller Paradise — the invasion of the Anomaly. "
Once that was said, the players quieted down again.
"Whenever Thriller Paradise experiences a 'big event' like this, there will be a huge change …" Hwa Xiong was reading the script himself, so his expression changed along with the content. "Based on the influence of the event, the server will … make changes to the version."
"Huh?"
"No way!"
"What's going on? Is the game going to be updated? "
"What kind of game would not give us a heads up before the update?"
With just a few words, the audience had completely forgotten about the results of the competition … Originally, who was the champion had nothing to do with them at all.
But … the closing of the game's server and the opening of a new version had something to do with them.
"Therefore … Thriller Paradise's open beta has officially ended," Hwa Xiong continued. "This server update will take about three working days. After the server reopens, the game will enter the official operation phase, and the version will be V1.10 — The Invasion of the Anomaly."
"For the details of the new version, please pay close attention to the patch announcement on the official website," Pan Feng said.
After reading the script, the two looked at each other with nervous expressions.
Two seconds later, the screen cut away, and a message that sounded like an explosion appeared on screen. "Time until server shutdown: 47: 14."
This was no doubt 'game time', so there was still plenty of time.
"This again … Are you kidding me?"
"That's right, that's what happened when the game switched from closed beta to open beta. They shut down the server whenever they wanted to. There was no prior notice."
"Tsk … You're just pretending to know. During the closed beta … it was because the Fearless Champion from Regulation had reached the level cap, so they had to shut down the server. "
"Actually, that's not a bad thing. If they announced too many details of the update beforehand, it might cause the price of goods to fluctuate, and the gaming studio might stock up on them."
"You have a point. When I played other games before, the game company announced the server switch one week earlier, and that week, there would be scammers, scoldings, and looting."
"Eh? What happened to the players who participated in the finals? Don't tell me they really died in the scenario? "
"What are you talking about? How is that possible? They said it was a world-wide event, just like Angel opening the door, the Lich King's invasion, and the Wings of Death's rampage … The players did not turn into white light, so it must be a special effect of a special scenario. "
"Yes, yes, the Anomaly must be an NPC, but the setting is different from normal NPCs. Like the Four Pillars of Divinity, it's a grand setting."
"Wow, doesn't that mean we're lucky enough to witness a scene that's hard to replicate?"
A simple announcement successfully shifted the focus of the players' attention … At least, most of them agreed with the official statement.
They began to talk about the previous war with great interest and were full of expectations for the upcoming new version …
…
Looking back at the scenario …
The moment Lute was dragged into the tunnel, the bodies of the dead players … had already turned into white light and disappeared.
When the players were asked about this experience, they all said that … their memory stopped at the moment they were killed. Then, it felt like only one second had passed, and they were sent to the log-in lobby. It felt no different from dying in other scenarios.
The remaining players in the city, Wang Tanzhi, Phantom Dawn, Shiva, Yama, Vishnu, and Matcha Cookie, all exited the scenario.
Xiao Tan was the first to leave. He was a rather innocent person because Brother Jue yelled, "Everyone! Leave the scenario now! " So, he did as he was told.
Matcha Cookie, who was far away, had no idea what was going on, but with the reminder from Formless Demon, she also left quickly and did not take the risk of staying.
The three from Brahman did not leave immediately. They also considered the matter of the competition points … but this idea was quickly dispelled. This was because when they opened the game menu to confirm, they realized that the competition points had disappeared. Therefore, the three gave up on the idea of killing each other or giving Phantom Dawn a killing blow, and they left the scenario as well.
With regards to Phantom Dawn … he lay on the ground for a long time. It was not until the people around him had left and retreated that his own resentment had calmed down that he left with a sigh.
On the Anomaly's side … 23, Red Iron, and Sharp Wind did not seem to have any intention of interacting with the other players. They had completed their mission, and the next thing they needed to do was return to the inner world. Time did not allow them to stay for too long.
Not long after that … the messy battlefield returned to silence.
The night breeze blew past.
Nine strange figures appeared in the area.
"Is it over?" The Repentant asked.
The Observer said, "Yes … the visitors from another dimension and the Anomalies have all left. The remaining three seem to be heading toward a dimensional tunnel."
"Now …" War Spirit turned to Soulsnatcher. "What should we do?"
"The leader of the demons might return at any moment …" Bloodthirsty interrupted. "From how I see it …"
"Let's retreat." Soulsnatcher cut him off. Of course, that was what Bloodthirsty was thinking as well.
"Leader …" The Observer said. "After we return, how are we going to explain this to the King?"
"Don't worry … I know what to do," Soulsnatcher replied. Suddenly, he seemed to be reminded of something. "Hmm … Speaking of which … Feng Bujue, that kid … seems to be holding onto something that belongs to me …"
Bloodthirsty laughed drily and looked at Soulsnatcher with pity. "Do you really think he will return it?"
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