Chapter 68: Core Content
Inspector Lowell left his seat and walked to the window.
Through the layer of dust-covered glass, all that could be seen to the naked eye was viscous darkness, akin to ink, with occasional undulating flashes of eerie red light.
This dense, otherworldly red light intertwined with the inky darkness, weaving an intricate web that enveloped the entire town.
Inspector Lowell took a deep breath.
"Forbidden Magic: Infernal Breath" isn't Yang's limit… This bastard could actually bring the Void itself!
Were it not because he wasn't confident in taking down Black Mage Yang, Inspector Lowell would have hanged Yang several hundred times, just based on this lunatic's ability to bring the "Void Realm" into reality!
Inspector Lowell was vaguely starting to regret his decision to stay behind in Exile Town. It didn't seem very wise now.
He couldn't stop this black mage from continuing with his madness—no, after witnessing Yang's ability to bring "Void Realm" into reality, Lowell's confidence in being able to escape safely was starting to waver.
How can he control magic and wield eldritch power if becoming a spellcaster means abstaining from faith, which disqualifies spiritual powers?! Lowell was completely stumped.
However, voicing this question would only reveal his fear. Thus, Inspector Lowell could only remain silent.
No matter how curious, fearful, and puzzled he was, he could only hold it in.
First hut among the row of eight, near the Wanderer Guild site.
Hal, Tuttle, and Finley hurriedly moved their belongings into huts before the sky turned dark. Once darkness set in, the three of them simultaneously lit their oil lamps, illuminating the 20-square-meter space.
The five women next door had already gone to sleep, but this former bandit trio was still wide awake.
"That black-robed instructor also can't stop this madman Yang…" Hal sighed for the umpteenth time, feeling bleak about the future.
"We actually thought of robbing that fella before escaping. O Lady Gold Coin above, how fortunate we didn't offend him," Finley said with lingering fear.
"I recall that spellcasters should fear the Void more than all others. Even a trace of the Void's essence can drive one mad. Even the holy mages of the Kenyan Empire refuse to seal Void rifts in person… What is it that sets Yang apart? Why is he so audacious as to allow the entire town to be filled by the essence of the Void?" Tuttle was exasperated while racking his brains.
"Compared to why he doesn't fear the essence of the Void, what's even more terrifying is that this guy can bring the essence of the Void into reality," Hal despaired. "It's the Void we're talking about, for f*cks sake!"
Finley and Tuttle turned pale on hearing this…
The Void, the ultimate emptiness, where all horrors resided, and the end point of all death and destruction—a tomb of the former rulers, where fallen gods resided!
Even a demon that emerged from the Void was second only to elder gods in terms of a calamity!
Tuttle let out a long sigh and said gravely, "Hal, Finley, I think… it's time we make a decision."
Hearing this, Finley subconsciously turned toward Hal. From the beginning, Finley hadn't explicitly expressed dissatisfaction with life in Exile Town.
Finley didn't actually have any objections to living under the shadow of a black mage. The days of being a bandit in the Sorensen Mountains weren't much better than this.
Hal's face went through several waves of different emotions before he slapped his thigh heavily.
"…So be it!" This former bandit gang leader put on a look of mixed reluctance in order to prevent his two companions from realizing his unease. "Even the black-robed inspector from the Goddess of Prosperity's faith can't stop the mad black mage. We can't risk our own lives for this!"
What he implied was: For everyone's sake, let's not oppose Yang. Forget all the things I said before and be obedient citizens.
Tuttle and Finley, both individuals with astute minds, weren't certain if they detected Hal's unease behind this bravado, and both nodded solemnly.
Following that, Tuttle and Finley said some lines like "let's keep ourselves useful for the future," and "we're enduring humiliation for the sake of our brothers," to try and save some face for Hal.
While these three comrades were conversing fervently for a while, Finley seemed to notice something and asked in puzzlement, "Tuttle, why does your shadow seem a little faint?"
"Is it?" Tuttle glanced down, then replied, "Probably because there are two extra oil lamps. There are three shadows reflected now."
"Must be my eyes playing tricks on me, then," said Finley.
———
Warrior Guild's site.
After "sacrificing" Tang Jia, the players finally saw the NPC.
Light came on in the hut that the two skeleton ladies had barged into earlier. Someone appeared at the window, glanced outside, and then walked to the open door before shutting it with a loud bang.
A street away, Unceasing Entropy's jaw dropped.
"Charlie Rex?" Yang Ying exclaimed in astonishment. "The warrior instructor isn't staying in his tent?"
"Study, what did you see inside the house?" Unceasing Entropy caught hold of a shell-shocked Study Obsessed who had just run back.
"The warrior instructor!" Study Obsessed was still recovering from her fright. "My goodness! He isn't a good person with those thick eyebrows, huge eyes, and all sorts of weird things covering him!"
"You aren't mistaken, right? The warrior instructor we saw just now was normal, wasn't he?" Jia Luo asked.
"Damn it, there's no way I could be mistaken. Besides, it wasn't just me who saw, Gummy saw him too!" Study Obsessed was gesticulating in her haste. "It's true! When Gummy and I burst into the house, we saw the warrior instructor leaning against the wall, asleep. There were some strange appendages sticking out of his forehead, chest, and shoulders. They were alive, grabbing and scratching… It scared the hell out of me!"
Yang Ying let out a surprised squeak, while the others seemed disdainful.
"…It wasn't a civilian NPC? The ones with a problem are the advanced NPCs?" Many questions ran through Unceasing Entropy's mind. "Wait a minute, Study. When you two came running out, was it the warrior instructor attacking you, or the arms growing out of the warrior instructor?"
Study Obsessed understood the importance of providing detailed information, and after thinking carefully, she said, albeit not very confidently, "Um… how should I put it… When we went in, the warrior instructor was sleeping. It was the arms and legs that came out of him that attacked me and Gummy… Um… come to think of it, those arms didn't look like the warrior instructor's. They looked like a woman's hands, which was quite eerie."
"A woman's hands!" Unceasing Entropy's entire body shuddered.
Guileless Gale was at a loss. "But when the warrior instructor showed his face at the window just now, he looked no different from usual, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Jia Luo was also completely baffled and looked toward Unceasing Entropy. "Qingyue, what's going on?"
Unceasing Entropy stroked her chin and ponded for a moment. "Sis Ying, Jia Luo, do you remember the period when some players harassed the warrior instructor at night and quite a number were chased and chopped down by him?"
"I remember." Yang Ying nodded.
Jia Luo added, "Can't forget that. Quite a lot of people were killed by the instructors at the Wanderer Guild site, too."
"At that time, the warrior instructor could chase players in the middle of the night and it makes no sense for him to suddenly have night blindness." Unceasing Entropy exhaled sharply. "The warrior instructor was woken up in the middle of the night, and the hut is only a short distance away from where we waited. We didn't hide either, but he didn't chase after us when he looked out of the window."
Guileless Gale was first stumped, then eventually blurted out, "Are you saying that the warrior instructor can't see us?"
"Ah?" Yang Ying, Phantom, Jia Luo, and Study Obsessed couldn't comprehend.
"It's very likely," Unceasing Entropy said softly. "Or rather, the NPCs that stay indoors during the event period might not be able to see us outside their buildings."
"This… What's the point of having such a setup? Does it make any difference whether NPCs can see us or not?" This time, it was Guileless Gale whose head was filled with questions.
"I don't know." Unceasing Entropy shook her head. "Right now, only two things are certain: First, the monsters in that wooden house are closely related to the warrior instructor, who was seen behaving abnormally by Study and Tang Jia.
"Second, whether it's the monsters or the main body itself, we have no way of attacking. Third…"
At this point, Unceasing Entropy paused, appearing rather troubled as if she were unsure her hypothesis was correct.
"What is it?" The others hesitated to ask, but Yang Ying had no such reservations.
"Third, the 'mutated' NPCs themselves probably aren't aware of the anomalies on their bodies," Unceasing Entropy offered the conjecture with a lack of conviction. "Um… I find this circumstance strange too, but if we link it with the notion that NPCs can't see us outside, it sort of makes sense.
"The event announcement mentions civilians, and the description of the event monsters is quite vague, suggesting they are 'terrifying entities attracted by the flesh and blood of the living.' Given the tricky and misleading nature of this game, along with the fact that the developer team often neglects player welfare, I can pretty much confirm that this is deliberately misleading us.
"In that case, I'll have to overturn my previous line of thought—the core content of this event isn't about the newly arrived civilian NPCs 'reviving' the mysterious circumstances of Exile Town, but rather, it is the long-term residents of Exile Town, the advanced NPCs, that have unknowingly given rise to some sort of inner demon-like monster."
Unceasing Entropy explained her perspective in detail, but her conclusion left the group of players baffled and scratching their heads…
"Sis, can't you just tell us how to deal with these creatures or how to earn contribution points in this event?" Study Obsessed asked weakly. "I'm not really interested in the event plot or its core content. I don't care what it is; I just want contribution points."
"Me too," said Yang Ying heavily.
Unceasing Entropy: "…"
Indeed, she really wished for a friend like Blossoming Strokes…
"Wait, wait, wait." Guileless Gale seemed to catch hold of something. "I understand what you're getting at. The 'repelling corruption' of this event… It means we have to purify the corrupted NPCs. That's why you've been mulling over the origins of these event monsters, right?"
Unceasing Entropy clasped Guileless Gale's skeletal hand and said, "Guileless Gale, let's exchange WeChat contacts later."
Yang Ying and Jia Luo: "???"
Tang Jia! You are being cheated on!
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