Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Preliminary Test
In the abandoned hospital, junk food wrappers and empty beer bottles were piled high as mountains, but the supply of remaining snacks seemed endless.
Little Fatty was sprawled limply on the sofa, yelling "This is the life!" as he stared at the screen in front of him.
In *Abyss*, if you drink too much, the game transmits a simulated sensation, just like getting drunk in real life, making the player feel "intoxicated."
After all, any sensation could be replicated with electrical signals, and all external stimuli could be simulated with bio-electrical signals. The resulting "brain in a vat" debates had become a perennial topic, popping up every so often.
Of course, you could simply turn it off if you didn’t like it, but who could resist the temptation of binge-eating and getting drunk with absolutely no side effects?
Even though he had a bit too much to drink, Little Fatty hadn’t neglected his duties.
As the most tech-savvy member of the four-person team, whenever a particularly terrifying scene appeared, he would grab Jack’s laptop and pretend to be monitoring their surroundings. Only when Bald Qiang, who was sitting next to him, started making comments would he shift his attention back to the screen.
Using the laptop, he had hacked into every single surveillance camera on Xuanxiao Mountain, not even sparing the dashcams of parked cars.
These cameras were his eyes, an extension of his vision.
Through these eyes, he could see what was going on around them and get a general sense of his surroundings.
Just then, one of the camera feeds suddenly filled with static. An eerie voice echoed from within, faintly whispering words like, "Coming... I’m coming..."
Then, Jack’s phone rang shrilly.
Jack answered the call, munching on a handful of chips. He nodded repeatedly into the receiver before handing the phone to Little Fatty.
"It’s for you."
"Who is it?"
"Mary. She says she’s at the entrance."
The news shocked Little Fatty half-sober. He quickly took the phone and asked, "Which Mary? It’s not..."
"I’m Mary, and I’m at the hospital entrance. I’ve come for you, Little Fatty."
"There are so many other people! Why are you after me?!"
"You seem like the easiest to bully."
"So even monsters like you pick on the weak?! Hey, don’t hang up! Answer me, you bastard!"
Masking his fear with anger, Little Fatty turned to Duan Fei, his face a mask of misery. "Brother Duan, what do I do?"
"Simple."
Giving Little Fatty a thumbs-up, Duan Fei made a swiping motion over his head. Little Fatty’s name immediately changed to "Little Fatty 2."
Then, with another remote action, the ID above the head of the distant Lone Ranger—who was currently searching for Duan Fei’s group—changed to "Little Fatty."
His Talent this time was "Unlimited Name Changes," and the description never said it was limited to just himself.
So Duan Fei had tried it out and discovered that he could not only change his own name, but also the names of others.
It worked on players and NPCs alike.
And according to Bald Qiang’s deductions, the monsters in this dungeon targeted people by name, not by appearance. This opened the door for all sorts of shenanigans.
Sure enough, after his name was changed, the phone didn’t ring again.
’The "Mary is behind you" urban legend was pretty famous. A doll harasses someone over the phone and ends up breaking into their home. I never understood why the victim didn’t just call the police.’
’With each harassing phone call, Mary gets a little closer to her victim.’
’At first, she’s far away. Then she slowly moves to the apartment building, then the front door, then the bedroom door, and finally... right behind you...’
’This escalating sense of terror was actually pretty interesting, but Duan Fei figured there were a dozen ways to counter it. You just had to use your brain a little. He couldn’t understand why the original victim would just let her walk right into their house.’
’Well, for now, this was a problem for the Lone Ranger.’
Before long, Little Fatty’s cameras caught sight of the Lone Ranger.
He was wrapped in a white cloak, moving silently down the street.
Suddenly, a phone fell in front of him. Its ringtone blared frantically until the Lone Ranger picked it up.
"I’m Mary, and I’m outside the parking lot. I’ve come for you, Little Fatty."
"You have the wrong number," the Lone Ranger said, his face devoid of expression.
The line went dead, only to start ringing again a few seconds later.
"I’m Mary, and I’m at the street corner. I’ve come for you, Little Fatty."
"I already told you, you have the wrong number."
The line went dead, then rang again a few seconds later.
"I’m Mary, and now I’m..."
"I know you’re behind me. I also know you’re stepping on my shadow and holding a cleaver. Listen, I don’t know why you keep mistaking me for Little Fatty, but I have no time for you right now. I promise you, if I turn around and see you, I will rip you to shreds in the most brutal way possible. I don’t care if you’re a monster from some urban legend or whatever else you are."
After hanging up, the Lone Ranger pocketed the phone and slowly turned around.
There was no one behind him.
Nodding dispassionately, the Lone Ranger opened his quest panel, only to find that his count of resolved urban legends hadn’t increased.
He stroked his chin, puzzled. He recalled how Mary had mistaken him for Little Fatty, and a suspicion began to form in his mind.
’A monster like that shouldn’t make such a simple mistake. Which means, just now, it must have identified me as Little Fatty through some specific means.’
’A Curse? Some kind of special Skill? Or something else?’
At that moment, the Shadow Assassin’s Passive Skill, "Life and Death Intuition," activated. A piece of information surfaced in his mind.
[A flash of insight strikes you. You have a feeling this incident is somehow related to Duan Someone.]
"Life and Death Intuition" was one of the Assassin’s Passive Skills, and its activation chance increased with its Skill Level.
His "Life and Death Intuition" was only at the Beginner level, but the Skill Level only affected the probability of activation, not the accuracy of the information.
Therefore, the Lone Ranger was immediately certain: this incident was definitely connected to Duan Someone.
The Lone Ranger opened his Attributes panel and checked his status. He found that his Attributes were unchanged, and there were no special notifications on his Skills panel.
The moment he was done using Mary, Duan Fei had switched the Lone Ranger’s name back. As a result, the Lone Ranger didn’t notice anything unusual about his name.
Having missed this crucial piece of information, the Lone Ranger’s train of thought hit a blind spot. He inevitably concluded that this must be the work of some special Skill.
’Misdirecting the monster? Or forcibly transferring its target to me? Is it random or targeted? And can it be used without limit?’
The Lone Ranger let out a long breath, a pang of regret hitting him.
’If I’d known Duan Someone was this troublesome, I should’ve just placed a tracker on him from the start.’
’Even though the tracker consumes an extra item, its cost is nothing compared to dealing with such a tricky enemy.’
A faint smile touched the Lone Ranger’s lips. He suddenly struck out, and a small crossbow bolt shot from his sleeve, shattering a surveillance camera hanging over the street.
’Come on, Duan Someone.’
’Let’s see what you’re made of.’
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