Chapter 12
Chapter 12
He roasted him without mercy. “With a mouth like yours and a body that’s constantly falling apart, you’re so sickly that no one would hire you even for manual labor, right?”
Ning Shuo replied profoundly, “The world is vast and there are many paths to take. How do you know I don’t have anything I can do?”
“Like what?”
Ning Shuo enunciated clearly: “Livestreaming.”
“…”
Ning Wang asked softly, “Livestreaming about how someone is about to face a bloody disaster?”
Ning Shuo looked horrified. “Don’t talk nonsense! That world is still very scientific!”
After their banter, Ning Wang asked, “In all seriousness, what exactly did you do for a living?”
Ning Shuo thought back. “Bartending, gaming, writing, construction work, substitute teaching… I’ve done a bit of everything.”
Ning Wang looked at him with disdain. “With your physique, if you went to a construction site, wouldn’t people worry you’d drop dead the next second?”
Ning Shuo said, “Well, since I might drop dead any second, can you tell me the truth now?”
-Do you have anyone you knew from before?
Ning Wang was silent for a moment before saying, “There is one other person, but he might as well be dead. Finding him is useless; he’d probably just kick us out.”
“Was he brainwashed by the System just like you?”
Ning Wang nodded.
Ning Shuo asked, “What’s the name of the person you remember?”
“Willow.”
Ning Shuo paused. “Sometimes, I’m truly amazed by your English proficiency.”
Ning Wang shrugged. “I just woke up and suddenly knew it. I probably learned it well the last time I entered the game.”
Ning Shuo said, “Then do you know who Willow is?”
Sensing something, Ning Wang tapped on the personal Heat Ranking List.
At the very top of the Ranking List was Rao Lin, code name Willow.
Most of the players in the top ten were mysterious. It was said they were assigned other tasks by the System and were jokingly called “Evaluation Players” by the general player base. They were almost never seen.
These types of players also kept their friend requests closed to avoid being bombarded.
In other words, to find Rao Lin, they had to break into the top ten and become an Evaluation Player just to see him.
Ning Wang asked, “Maybe there’s another way?”
Ning Shuo suggested, “How about I give us some Poisonous Milk? Maybe we’ll see him in the next second?”
They actually waited for ten seconds. Then Ning Shuo said, “Sorry.”
“…” Ning Wang said softly, “Getting what we want shouldn’t count as ‘Poisonous Milk.'”
One of them looked at his balance of a million Heat, while the other looked at his balance of fifty thousand. Then they looked at the thirty million required for the tenth spot on the Ranking List. Both fell silent.
Ning Shuo said, “We still need to find another way.”
He wriggled around to rescue himself from the quilt, then stood with his hands behind his back, looking serious. “Perhaps we could collapse a few more Scripts.”
An alarm seemed to blare in his ear, though it only lasted for a second.
Ning Shuo was shocked. “Did you hear that?”
Ning Wang nodded. “You’ve been warned.”
Ning Shuo said, “Don’t think you can stay out of this. You’re a grasshopper on the same string as me now.”
“I could just cut the string.”
“Maybe you should reconsider.”
Ning Wang looked at him: *Reconsider? The System is monitoring us.*
Ning Shuo: *That just proves finding Rao Lin is the right move. Messing with the Scripts is viable.*
Ning Wang: *How will we communicate after this?*
Ning Shuo spread his hands: *Open Wolf.*
Ning Wang stared at him and suddenly smiled, reaching out to shake his hand. “Pleasure doing business with you.”
This System update lasted for an entire day, and the Forum was abuzz with various theories.
Some said a Big Shot had caused it; others said it was caused by that newcomer Ning Shuo, code name Ning Banxian.
[No way, are you guys stupid? A newcomer caused a bug? This is the System’s first update ever, right?]
[This is hilarious. You’re saying a newcomer triggered a bug that even the Big Shots couldn’t find? What kind of bug did he even create?]
[The thing is, we’ve never seen a Big Shot get an NPC to perform an Accusation before!]
[“I’m more inclined to believe this is a Hidden Rule that went unnoticed until some unknown Big Shot discovered the bug.”]
[“Why say it’s Ning Banxian? Because he single-handedly engineered the first NPC to be killed by the Clown in a PvP Script!”]
[“I happened to see Lolita at the logout point right when the bug appeared. It must have been her; the timing matches up perfectly.”]
[“Is it possible the update happened by pulling all players out of their Scripts simultaneously?”]
[“Lolita is only ranked in the twenties. If we’re reaching that far, why not say it was Willow?”]
[“LOL, is it that hard to admit someone is talented? Does he have to be a Big Shot on the Ranking List? Can’t he just be a newcomer?”]
[“When Ning Shuo makes it onto the Ranking List, I want to see how the people bashing him today will be singing his praises later.”]
[“So… has anyone noticed an unfamiliar name suddenly appearing at rank 96?”]
[“Didn’t notice. Who is it?”]
[“Number One Swordsman in the World… what kind of chuunibyou name is that? Real name Ning Wang?”]
[“What a coincidence, he has the same surname as Ning Shuo.”]
[“How come I’ve never seen this alias before? It really did just appear out of nowhere.”]
[“Am I the only one thinking that since the System’s Additional Rule is so sensitive, life must be pretty rough for someone whose alias is ‘Number One Swordsman in the World’ if they managed to climb into the top hundred?”]
Meanwhile, the person at the center of the discussion had just finished dinner and was about to start the next Script.
People who watched live streams generally needed to be free of immediate worries about food and shelter before they could afford the mental energy to watch. Otherwise, many were like Li Ziqian, busy every day working side jobs just to earn enough for a few steamed buns.
Furthermore, although Ning Shuo had discovered three Hidden Rules, he was still a newcomer, so his level of attention wasn’t that high yet.
Thus, Ning Wang didn’t close the Live Stream Room when he started the Script.
After a brief discussion, they decided to open a PvE mode.
Ning Shuo said, “Killing other players is simple enough, but there’s more fun in toying with NPCs.”
Ning Wang replied, “Stop pretending. You just don’t want to kill people. After all these years, how did you become so indecisive?”
Ning Shuo said with a beaming smile, “Ningning, you should know that before everything happened, you were far more indecisive than I was.”
Only those who know you well know exactly how to step on your sore spots.
Even though Ning Shuo was stepping on Ning Wang’s sore spot, it was no different from stepping on his own.
Ning Wang gave a cold snort and started the game.
Ning Shuo had intended to stay in the Rest Area to learn more about the System, but as soon as Ning Wang started the game, a Virtual Screen popped up in front of him as well.
[Script filtering in progress…]
[Welcome, Player Ning Banxian, to the Script ‘Dreamweaver’s Troubles’. The rules are as follows:]
[This Script is in PvE mode. There is no competitive relationship between players. However, you are still required to find the Murderer hidden within the Script without breaking character. Once found, you must locate the Notary Office to perform a Murderer Accusation. At the same time, you must complete the main quest to leave the Script.]
[Note: In PvE mode, among all NPCs, only the Murderer can tell lies.]
[Next, introducing the background of this Script:]
[You are an ordinary novelist who has recently been suffering from anxiety and insomnia due to your new book. You decided to travel for inspiration and happened to hear that there is a powerful hypnotist known as the Dreamweaver in an obscure small town. To solve your insomnia, you have come to this town and met five other guests who also suffer from insomnia.]
[Meanwhile, the Dreamweaver claims to have some troubling trivial matters that need your help to resolve before he can cure your insomnia.]
From the looks of it, the main quest was to solve those troubling matters for the Dreamweaver.
Ning Wang was still processing the rules when he suddenly realized someone else had appeared beside him.
The moment he saw Ning Shuo, he blurted out, “Why did you come in too?”