Thriller Paradise

Copernicus and Galileo indeed did not move or act like normal level eighteen players. They were moving on a level field, but it gave the impression that they were skidding on waves, just like the legendary qinggong from wuxia movies. From a gaming perspective, this was only possible from the stacking effect of multiple passive buffs.

The two mini bosses that were moving through the forest were two strange looking creatures. Their bodies were pieced together from other carcasses to form a shape that was roughly human. Their appearance was the symbol of disgust and horror, but their ability could only be described as passable. For the six players in the scenario, other than the two GMs, anyone could have taken one mini boss down in a one-on-one battle, albeit with some injuries.

The blade glistened coldly as it flashed through the distance. The body possessed the momentum of a loosened arrow.

Copernicus and Galileo used the same type of weapon, and their fighting ability was almost identical. In fact, the timing they used to begin their slash was curiously uniform. The two had a clear idea of the monster's data status, so they had no doubt that they would be able to take down fifty percent of the monster's health with a skill and could end the battle with at most three skills.

But… just as they made their move, things took an unexpected turn. It was not that the strength of the two mini bosses suddenly grew, but instead, they died for no apparent reason. Only the people making the attack understood that just as the attacks were about to make contact with the monsters, they suddenly died for a mysterious reason. When their blades cut into their bodies, the two monsters technically were nothing more than bags of flesh that were falling forward from inertia.

To make a comparison, it was like some evil-looking man was charging at you with a brick raised in his arm, but just as he was about to smash the brick against your head, in that instant, he suffered from a sudden heart attack and collapsed on the spot.

But these things were only known to the two GMs. Even Feng Bujue did not realize what had happened. From their perspective, the scene looked like… Copernicus and Galileo each slashing, and in the snap of a finger, they took down two mini bosses.

The three from Regulations soon rushed forward, and Invincible Champion was the first to gasp in shock. "Are you kidding‽ You two are professional gamers too, right?"

"Something is not right… We did not kill these two monsters." When Galileo spoke, he activated the GM menu to check the status, and the expression on his face gradually turned severe. Right at that moment, the surroundings around the players changed. All the illusions disappeared, and it turned into a normal looking forest. Looking through the trees and into the distance, they found that they were not that far away from the farming fields at the foot of the mountain.

Feng Bujue reacted the fastest. He immediately turned to ask Copernicus next to him, "Has the effect of the magic circles ceased?"

"Why would you ask me? How would I know about…"

Copernicus did not have the chance to finish his sentence when Feng Bujue cut him off again. "Why would it suddenly lose its effect though?"

"Again… why you would ask me‽" Copernicus grumbled with some degree of annoyance.

"Because you specialize in sleuthing," Feng Bujue replied matter-of-factly.

The corner of Copernicus' lips twitched. "In your mind, is 'sleuthing specialty' equated to 'all knowing'?"

"If you wish to put it that way, I'll have to change my question." Feng Bujue's expression and presence had a huge change in that moment. His eyes seemed to be saying that it was about time for them to stop playing dumb.

A fiery dangerous glow was shooting out of his eyes, but his face maintained the usual expression of calm and confidence. Feng Bujue asked in a direct manner, "Is this the doing of the Anomaly?"

"Pfft…" A mouthful of beer burst out of Zen Dream's lips.

The core members of Regulations did have some knowledge about the Anomalies, but they knew very little. Basically, other than the presence of Anomalies, the few members who had made contact with the Anomalies could not provide any more information than that.

Ye Zhi and Invincible Champion did not have the access in the guild to know about such things, so this was their first time hearing this term. However, for a player like Zen Dream, he had higher browsing access to the company's information on the game. Therefore, he knew about this. Of course, the only information that he knew was merely that in a Team Survival Mode consisting of six people, there was a minute chance for the team to run into a set of uncontrollable data called an Anomaly. The appearance and properties of an Anomaly, the intervention of the GMs during the formation of the scenario, the power of the GMs, and so on… even Regulations did not have knowledge about such issues.

There were two more reliable encounters that the members of Regulation had with Anomaly. The first time, the six-member team reported to the superiors that they had come across some kind of human-type organism in the scenario that referred to itself as an Anomaly. It possessed incredible power, and its intelligence was far beyond that of a normal scenario boss. Furthermore, it seemed to have no connection to the plot of the scenario itself.

The second time, it was also a group of six, and the situation was rather similar. The person who referred to himself as the Anomaly worked together with the scenario's boss to wipe out the entire group. From the first team's brief communication with the 'Anomaly', Regulation obtained some little information, and it was listed as extremely confidential data and was stored in the data bank.

The reason Zen Dream was so shocked and surprised was mainly because… the term Anomaly came from the lips of this player called Feng Bujue. Could it be that the guild Underworld Frontline, whom no one had ever heard of, had the same information collection and analysis power as Regulation? How many members did they have, and how professional were they?

One should not understate the expression on Copernicus and Galileo's faces. Even Zen Dream had reacted that way. One could imagine how the two GMs would have reacted to this situation.

"What… are you… talking about?" Copernicus seemed to be praying that he had heard wrong and tried to brush the whole thing under the carpet.

"Do you wish for me to be more specific?" Feng Bujue said. "Guys, could you please open your GM menus and check whether the sudden disappearance of the illusory effect of the magic circles around us has anything to do with the Anomaly?"

The three from Regulations regarded Copernicus and Galileo with gazes that seemed like they were looking at monsters, and then they turned to Feng Bujue with eyes that appeared like they were looking at a super monster. The few sentences uttered by Feng Bujue were overflowing with information. The atmosphere then was rather nervous, and they felt like it would be out of line for them to speak.

The two GMs shared a look and exchanged some non-verbal communication before Galileo broke out in a laugh. He turned to Feng Bujue and said, "After this scenario is over, I would like you to come with us to share a bit of a conversation with our superiors."

"Sure, but let's focus on the issue at hand for now," Feng Bujue said. Since the GMs knew what kind of skills the players possessed, Feng Bujue cut right to the chase. "When the illusion disappeared, I activated A Strategic Victory again, but it did not show anything."

He paused before asking, "Can I speculate from this that the boss has already been dealt with by the Anomaly?"

"The well of resentment is still there, but it has already lost its power," Galileo answered. "The same can be said for the three other magic circles on the mountain. Just seconds ago, they lost their power at the same time."

"At the same time?" Feng Bujue noted that strange phenomenon. He thought about it for two seconds before continuing. "Putting aside the possibility of four Anomalies working in tandem, the issue probably lies with the 'source of the power', right?"

"To cut off the source of power to the Well of Resentment, there is indeed a different way other than destroying the other magic circles," Copernicus answered. "But that method, instead of calling it cutting off, it's more like demolishing."

"Based on the sequence of events that we're given… this scenario does possess an actual boss known as Wailu," Galileo added. "He is not currently present on this map, and we are not able to access his data. The only thing we know is that… if you jump into the well of resentment before destroying more than three magic circles, you will encounter this boss. I believe that the Anomaly has done exactly that. He jumped through the well of resentment to reach the other world. He slaughtered the boss and caused the magic circles on our side to lose their power."

When he said these things out loud, he came upon the answer for the question that he had earlier—why would the Anomaly appear and disappear randomly? The reason likely had something to do with the Anomaly entering the other world.

"Hmm… So here comes the problem," Feng Bujue said. "Why haven't we cleared the scenario?"

"This…" Galileo really did not know the answer.

"I suspect it has to do with the main quest," Copernicus said. "Our current main quest is still to 'enter the mountain and find the abandoned shrine'. Perhaps we have not triggered this quest's event, and that caused our current situation to occur."

His eyes showed that he was speaking while checking his GM menu. "After we successfully destroyed any of the three magic circles in the mountains,  the main quest would have updated to 'destroy four Soul Catching Circles and seal away the Well of Resentment's power'. But if we encountered the real boss directly, then the quest detail would be updated to 'vanquish Wailu'. We have not triggered either, but all of the magic circles have lost their power."

"And that caused the main quest to get stuck at the first step," Feng Bujue murmured to himself. "Interesting… If this analysis is correct, now that the real boss of the scenario has been killed and there is no other event for us to trigger to update the progress of the main quest, how are we supposed to clear the scenario?"

"Since you appear like you know many things," Copernicus said, "why don't we just discuss this in the open?"

At the same time, he turned to the three from Regulation. "I would like the four of you to disconnect from the scenario now."

"What, what, what?" Invincible Champion gasped. "The three of you have been saying these things that we do not understand, and then now you want us to disconnect? Quitting the scenario halfway will cause us to be punished in terms of delayed queue time, and we won't get any kind of reward. We will lose even more than getting a group wipe!"

"I'm sorry, but based on the current situation, this scenario can be considered bugged, and there is no way to clear the scenario," Galileo added. "Just as Mr. Feng said, the main quest is stuck, and there is nothing we can do about it."

As if afraid that Invincible Champion would have trouble understanding that, Feng Bujue added, "This is like how right as Lee Xiaoyao left Xu Hang Town, the Bai Yue Cult Leader was killed by an alien passing through Earth with some kind of anti-gravity weapon. Even if you continue playing, you won't clear the game."

"We still have a job to attend to, and that is to deal with the Anomaly," Copernicus said. "If you stay, even if you somehow do not get killed by the Anomaly, it will be a waste of time because, in the end, you will have to quit the scenario to end the game."

He knew that he was no longer able to paint this as a player mistake, so he provided the solution as per his instructions from the company.

"And the loss of gaming time that you've suffered, since it is caused by the system, will naturally be compensated for by the company. After we deal with this scenario, we will report this to our superiors. The related members will contact you after this and provide a solution. I am sure all of you will be satisfied with the result."

Ye Zhi chose this moment to ask, "Since you are GM, do you mind explaining to us what an Anomaly is exactly?"

"Hmm… I'm sorry, but we do not have the right to do so," Galileo replied.

Ye Zhi's reaction was very similar to what Feng Bujue did to Pan Feng and Hwa Xiong. "You should know that we belong to Regulation, right? With our guild's reach and reputation, if we expose what happened today on the official website…"

"That is your prerogative to do so." Galileo was not fazed at all, and he replied calmly. "The company will naturally retort with the necessary response and explanation."

The reason he was able to say all that so calmly was… when Pan Feng and Hwa Xiong encountered Feng Bujue in the previous scenario and came to the superior with their report, the company instantly drafted a new rule. Once their GM identity was exposed and they received similar threats in the future, the GM's response would need to follow this standard procedure. Facing Ye Zhi's interrogation, they had a standardized set of answers.

Actually, the issue of the Anomaly had already been exposed by others, but the four players who were present and even including the big gaming studios had not heard about it…

During the first two days when the game turned from closed beta to open beta, there were people who started threads talking about Anomalies on the forum, but they were soon consumed in the sea of new threads. This became less than 'a shared ghost story among part of the gamers'. Obviously, most gamers—or rather, most people—would not trust anything so easily anymore, and who was to blame? The proliferation of fake news?

"Humph… Since you've said so…"

Ye Zhi still had something else to say, but Zen Dream waved his arm and signaled for her to stop. He stepped forward to say, "Ye Zhi, it is pointless to rely on empty threats."

A powerful presence suddenly enveloped the man, and he turned to tell Copernicus and Galileo with a severe expression on his face. "Please don't worry. At this point, I can guarantee the two of you that Regulation will not release any information about GMs and the Anomalies."

His mind was very clear. For something like information, the fewer people who knew about it, the more valuable it was.

"But…" Zen Dream's tone turned sharp. "At this moment, whether we are quitting the scenario or not, that is the freedom of the players, right?"

Galileo seemed to have understood something from his question. "Hmm… if you insist on interacting with the Anomaly, we are not going to stop you."

Copernicus shrugged and smiled. "I will give you some friendly advice. The Anomaly's ability and aggression is far higher than any boss that you have encountered. When you are killed, do not be surprised at how fast it is."

"They merely want to gather as much information as they can. Furthermore, being killed will not lead to the punishment of quitting a game," Feng Bujue said. "By the way, I wish to meet this Anomaly as well."

Zen Dream turned his gaze toward Feng Bujue's face and asked in a serious tone, "You also wish to go gather some information, huh?"

"I am just a casual player. I do not have that heavy of a burden on my shoulders like the likes of you," Feng Bujue answered. "I am doing this merely out of simple curiosity."

This sounded rather believable from his lips. "Furthermore, it's due to this Anomaly that I am unable to obtain any rewards. At the very least, I should have the right to meet the culprit, right?"

The only Anomaly that Feng Bujue had encountered was X-23. He did not anticipate a second encounter with her because, with the lifespan of an Anomaly, X-23 had probably been deleted already. The chance of meeting her again was less than zero, so Feng Bujue believed that it would be a different Level four Anomaly who was inside this scenario.

He had a strong sense of curiosity, and since it was so rare to have a chance to encounter a different Anomaly. Feng Bujue naturally wanted to know more about such a unique situation. By communicating with other members of this community, he could use that as a kind of reference to discern the difference between the many Anomalies. Whether they had unique personalities and perhaps even world-building like the many sentient lifeforms in real life.

"Suit yourself then," Galileo said. "But I have a certain warning to give all of you first. Our goal is to demolish the Anomaly, to 'kill' it, to turn it back into stray data pieces. No matter what happens, that is our immediate goal. If you want to stay at the side to watch or collect information, feel free to do so. If you wish to help, we welcome that as well, but please do not do anything that might affect us negatively."

The three from Regulation all nodded to show their agreement, and Feng Bujue was the only one who remained silent. After about ten seconds, he suddenly said, "There is one more thing that I wish to confirm. The two of you… are unable to obtain the main character's plot armor, right?"

Galileo hesitated before answering, "Yes. Er… how did you manage to figure something like that out?"

"Don't look at me like that. Basically, I just had a lucky guess. Counting the one that occurred at the start of the scenario, the main character's plot armor has been randomly transferred thrice, two times to Brother Invincible and once to Ye Zhi," Feng Bujue said. "And targeted transfers happened three times as well, once to Brother Invincible and twice to me.

"The only person who hasn't obtained the plot armor, other than the two of you, is Brother Zen.

"In the introductory cinematic, and the introduction to the plot armor, it mentioned the term players many times. One thing that it did mention was that 'if the number of team members drops down to two, the main character's plot armor will disappear'. After confirming that you are GMs, I'm thinking, if the system did not treat the two of you as players, then the setting for this plot armor makes plenty of sense."

"What you're saying is…" Ye Zhi followed his hypothesis. "If there were no GMs or Anomaly in this scenario, if it would just be a normal team survival map, and the system would not have added this main character's plot armor setting."

"At least that is what I think," Feng Bujue replied. "The main character's plot armor is a type of protection offered by the system to the players after calculating the overall difficulty of the scenario and actual situation. Since it is an effect created by the system, even after the players are transferred, as long as the scenario is not closed, it will continue to exist.

"If the scenario is cleared normally, after the four players leave, then the two remaining will naturally be the GMs. If the plot armor continues to exist, then it would be very unfair to the Anomaly. Thus, it came up with this setting so that no matter the situation, GMs would not be able to enjoy the benefit of the plot armor…"

"What are you talking about? Why would the system wish for a fair battle between us and the Anomaly?" Copernicus argued. "You've watched way too many sci-fi films, haven't you? The photon computer doesn't have sentience. Furthermore, for the argument's sake, let's say it does, why would the system give a bunch of trash data that needs to be demolished a chance at survival?"

Feng Bujue smiled coldly, and he thought internally, If only I knew the answer to that question… Perhaps there is a maniac or a group of maniacs among your superiors that purposely designed the system this way.

"Hmm… perhaps you're right. I'm just overthinking things," Feng Bujue answered calmly. "Let's go up the mountain for now. Once we find the well of resentment, we'll be able to find the Anomaly."