GRMFBS CH209

Zhan Yan: “When you guys explore the world, don’t you feel that walking on just two legs is very slow?”

Nie Yu: “…I really haven’t thought about that.”

The problem was that no one knew the appearance customized at the very beginning would actually have practical value!

Zhan Yan comforted her: “It’s fine. Although I can’t fly, I can swim. A dragon’s head should be able to breathe underwater. If I collect any data underwater, I’ll share it with you.”

Nie Yu: “It doesn’t matter, I’ll call people over right now and have them design how to customize characters in advance.”

“This place is considered a beginner’s village, there’s no danger. Wait for me here a bit,” Nie Yu said.

They happened to be right at the entrance, so Nie Yu, full of initiative, went out to send a message.

Zhan Yan waited for her inside the Dawn World.

The beginner’s village chief strolled over, squinted at him for a long while, and said: “Whoa! This physique, you can tell at a glance you’re a good hand at farming!”

Zhan Yan: “…Thank you for the compliment.”

The village chief was a chatterbox. Zhan Yan quickly learned gossip from him like whose chickens were the fattest and whose dogs were the fiercest. He sounded like a habitual petty thief.

The village chief was extremely enthusiastic, drawing a basin of well water for him: “It’s a hot day, come wash your face.”

Zhan Yan didn’t particularly want to wash his face, but he had customized a dragon head now and really wanted to play with water.

He buried his face in the water and tried to breathe…

Cough cough! The dragon head could not breathe underwater.

Sigh, so did the customized appearance only affect the external organs? It didn’t work for the lungs inside the body?

As Zhan Yan was pondering this, the enthusiastic village chief took advantage of him lowering his head to wash his face to carefully observe the dragon horns on his head: “They say deer antlers are good stuff. Antlers can even regenerate… Hey, can these dragon horns of yours regenerate?”

Zhan Yan abruptly raised his head and looked at him warily: “What do you want to do?”

Village Chief: “Aiya, I just…”

Before he could finish speaking, a figure suddenly whooshed into appearance right before their eyes.

Zhan Yan jumped in fright. The Gossip System reacted faster than he did:

[You were startled by the sudden appearance of the “Deep Shadow” NPC.]

The village chief was the second to react. Holding the basin, he quickly ducked behind the fence and vanished from sight.

Zhan Yan: …

Forget it.

What did the “Deep Shadow” NPC come over for? It couldn’t be because he wasn’t 23 yet, right? That minor game protection setting should have already been removed.

Zhan Yan looked at him, feeling a bit curious.

This was an NPC customized based on the big shot Deep Shadow!

However, this appearance was definitely different from Deep Shadow’s. Wan Shitong wouldn’t have sculpted his real appearance.

But the temperament matched the feel of Deep Shadow quite well: chin slightly raised, eyes looking down… well, looking down when he first appeared, but after seeing his appearance clearly, he stopped looking down and his pupils started quaking. After two seconds of pupil-quaking, it turned back to deep and unfathomable.

Zhan Yan: “Does this world not allow growing a dragon head?”

The “Deep Shadow” NPC spoke: “Come with me.”

After speaking, a magic circle lit up beneath his feet, enclosing Zhan Yan within it as well. Before Zhan Yan could react, the magic circle flashed on and off, taking the person away.

Nie Yu happened to return and saw this scene.

“Wait! Give Approaching Science back!!!”

The beginner’s village puppy trotted past her with a pitter-patter.

Nie Yu: …

“Wan Shitong! The NPC you made kidnapped someone!!”

Wan Shitong was called over by Nie Yu’s relentless barrage of calls.

After listening, Wan Shitong was extremely shocked: “You’re saying that NPC spoke?!”

Nie Yu: “…Do you know how to grasp the main point?! The main point is he kidnapped my guy!”

Wan Shitong: “But ever since I customized this NPC, I’ve never heard him speak! The person who got kidnapped is very special!”

Nie Yu: “It’s not important that you made a mute, what’s important is hurrying up and getting my guy back!”

“I didn’t make a mute!” Wan Shitong emphasized. “I’ll do my best to find him. What’s your guy’s name? What does he look like?”

Nie Yu got stuck.

The fact that Approaching Science also possessed network-type abilities was a secret that couldn’t be casually exposed. But when she taught Approaching Science previously, it was always 1-on-1, and she hadn’t given him a codename.

“Dragon Head. He grew a dragon’s head, you’ll recognize him at a glance.” In the blink of an eye, Nie Yu came up with a perfectly fitting codename for him.

Wan Shitong: “Huh?”

Nie Yu: “Don’t you know you can freely customize appearances in the Dawn World? But this isn’t important right now. What exactly is going on with that NPC of yours? Will he hurt Dragon Head?”

“He shouldn’t hurt people casually.”

Wan Shitong and Qi Ye built this world for a game. The setting they established was that when players get hurt, their health bar drops, and death means being kicked out of the game world. Apart from monsters, NPCs wouldn’t target players for no reason.

But now the game world wasn’t entirely virtual anymore. Although the “Deep Shadow” NPC didn’t have a soul from the apocalyptic world attached to him, Wan Shitong couldn’t fully guarantee it.

With a bitter face, he called Qi Ye over, and the two of them started looking for the NPC together.

Nie Yu worried from the sidelines: “How did you customize this NPC? Why would you make an NPC with settings stronger than yourself?”

Wan Shitong: You don’t understand the feeling of having an idol.

Qi Ye was also very curious: “How did you adjust the parameters?”

The game world was initially built by her and Wan Shitong together. Everything here wouldn’t exceed the scope of their abilities. Theoretically speaking, the abilities they could bestow upon an NPC, they could definitely bestow upon themselves.

But even before merging with the apocalyptic world, they already couldn’t catch that Deep Shadow NPC.

Wan Shitong was equally bewildered: “I don’t know.”

He just wanted to be a little mischievous and customized an NPC based on Deep Shadow’s personality. The parameters and such were adjusted normally. At first, this NPC wasn’t so powerful that he couldn’t catch him.

It all started with a slip of the hand when he maxed out the difficulty of gaining the NPC’s favorability.

Qi Ye had tried to repeat Wan Shitong’s operation afterward, but couldn’t replicate it.

“Maybe it’s a unique aspect of your ability,” Qi Ye said.

Every network-type’s ability had different inclinations. Network Ghost excelled at stealth and setting traps, Hacker excelled at breaching, Qi Ye excelled at building… Maybe Wan Shitong’s ability leaned toward sculpting little avatars?

Wan Shitong complained: “Then what’s the trigger switch for this ability? Making the customized NPC stronger than me and having his favorability towards me drop to 0?”

When he was in Infinite, if he relied on this kind of NPC that actively avoided him to act as a bodyguard, he would have died in there long ago, alright?

Sigh, how did he pass missions in Infinite again?

“I feel like my ability is a bit off in this world.” Wan Shitong scratched his head blankly, “The Dawn World isn’t just a network world anymore. I feel like my ability isn’t just network-type anymore either…”

He felt an itch in his head. Distant memories pierced through the dust of time, flashing a few blurry images.

That seemed to be in the Land of Disorder. The Land of Disorder wasn’t a dungeon, but its terrifying aspects were no less than a four-star dungeon.

Wan Shitong felt tightly wound up, sweat beads rolling down his forehead like a waterfall.

Two people stood in front of him: one with their back to him, one facing him. Identical appearances, identical postures. Cloaked in shadows, their aura cold and murderous.

“Deep Shadow…” Wan Shitong felt his throat go incredibly dry.

“Replication. Is this your ability?” The Deep Shadow facing him looked indifferently at the “Deep Shadow” blocking his way.

Right, his ability was Mental Replication.

He could use his spiritual power to extract traces from things a person had touched. When enough traces were extracted, he could replicate that person. The replica’s abilities and personality originated from the original body, with limitations on time and ability strength.

Wan Shitong had collected the traces of many powerhouses, but he would never push a replica’s abilities above eighty percent. Because this ability had a terrifying side effect…

“Didn’t you know the person you replicated can share the perspective and memories of your replica?”

“I… I know.” Wan Shitong swallowed hard. “This happens when the ability is pushed above eighty percent. I didn’t mean to…”

As Wan Shitong explained, he wailed internally. What was he even saying!

Forty minutes ago, he encountered a massive crisis in the Land of Disorder and had no choice but to max out the replica’s abilities to successfully escape.

The replicas each had their own personalities. Although they wouldn’t hurt him, they wouldn’t necessarily save him either. Oftentimes, Wan Shitong would only realize a replica was unusable after collecting all the traces. There were too many players in Infinite who acted one way to your face and another behind your back. Relying on this ability, Wan Shitong discovered that many players with great reputations were actually terrifying.

However, the replica of Deep Shadow—who was rumored to kill everyone to clear a stage—would save him every single time.

It was because of this that Wan Shitong boldly guessed the supposedly cold-blooded and cruel Deep Shadow was actually a good person, choosing his replica in a critical moment and pulling its abilities to one hundred percent…

…

Gu Jiancheng finished making cat food for Xingxing and squatted on the floor to watch him eat.

“How is it? Satisfied?”

Gu Jiancheng looked at Xingxing very seriously, attempting to judge from his little cat face.

The feline family member’s satisfaction level was also very important!

Xingxing took a bite. Although the craftsmanship was slightly inferior to the lowest-ranking poop-scooper, his attitude was enough to make up for it. Not to mention, Gu Jiancheng even brought him meat jerky for grinding his teeth.

Giving him a lot of face, Xingxing ate it all.

Gu Jiancheng packed away his things and rubbed Xingxing’s head: “I’m going to sleep now.”

Washed up, changed clothes, quietly opened the bedroom door.

Yan Yan was lying flat on the bed on his back, hands resting on either side of his body, leaving half the space beside him open.

Ahhh, Yan Yan’s sleeping posture is so well-behaved!

Gu Jiancheng slipped under the covers very lightly.

Although it wasn’t his usual bedtime yet, Yan Yan was already asleep.

He lay under the blanket and covered up. His hand slowly groped towards Zhan Yan under the covers until he touched Zhan Yan’s fingers.

Gu Jiancheng held Zhan Yan’s hand, closed his eyes, and instantly fell asleep, thoroughly contented.

Gu Jiancheng started dreaming.

First, he dreamed that he was in deep, dark shadows. He stayed in the shadows for a while and felt very bored.

He wanted to go find Yan Yan. Where was Yan Yan?

Yan Yan, Yan Yan was here. He felt Yan Yan was right here, he wanted to go find Yan Yan… Following a vague direction, Gu Jiancheng searched and stepped into a patch of light.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a small village. The dirt road was uneven, blades of grass poked out from irregular fences, and a local dog was strolling leisurely…

Yan Yan was right here, he could feel it!

Gu Jiancheng turned around and saw a two-meter-tall burly man with a dragon head in front of him.

Pupil earthquake!

Yan… Yan?

The two-meter-tall Yan Yan was taller than him. Adding the dragon horns, he was nearly two point three meters.

The dragon-headed Yan Yan looked down at him and asked, “Does this world not allow growing a dragon head?”

How could that be? Whatever head Yan Yan grew was perfectly right! Even if Yan Yan was two point three meters tall, he was still very cu… cute!

The world within dreams lacked logic. Gu Jiancheng felt he had a mission: Yan Yan was hungry, he needed to cook for Yan Yan!

He knew where the good food was.

“Come with me.”

Gu Jiancheng drew a magic circle and took Yan Yan away with him.

Zhan Yan’s vision blurred, and when it cleared, the scenery before him had turned into a fantasy scene.

Beneath his feet, he stepped on a jelly-like sea, and overhead were burning rosy clouds.

The orange-red clouds dripped from the sky, sinking slowly through the ethereal sea mist like large bubbles. Upon touching the azure surface, they melted in, transforming into golden ripples and pink shimmering light on the sea.

There were also some that couldn’t melt in, rolling around on the surface like oil beads, before being pushed in all directions by the waves.

Looking at the direction the waves were pushing, Zhan Yan realized he seemed to be standing at the center of this scene. All the waves were pushing those un-meltable rays of light further away.

This scene was incredibly bizarre, yet dreamy and beautiful.

Zhan Yan: “Is there a screen recording function now?”

Right! Gu Jiancheng felt that a screen recording function was very important; he should be able to develop one! If there was a screen recording function, he could take a picture with Yan Yan here. He could hold Yan Yan…

Gu Jiancheng turned his head to look at the two-point-three-meter-tall dragon-headed Yan Yan, and an image surfaced in his mind.

The “Deep Shadow” NPC gave Zhan Yan a deep look, and walked in a certain direction without saying a word.

Zhan Yan followed him curiously: “Hey, where are you going?”

Gu Jiancheng: …Sorry, he was still quite unused to a two-point-three-meter-tall Yan Yan whose arms were almost as thick as his thighs QAQ

The “Deep Shadow” NPC still didn’t speak.

But this didn’t stop Zhan Yan from continuing to ask: “Where is this? Why did you bring me here? What are these things floating down?”

Gu Jiancheng: …But he couldn’t bear to ignore Yan Yan either.

“Going to eat.”

Zhan Yan: “Eat? Eat what?”

He felt that the way the “Deep Shadow” NPC popped out words one phrase at a time was quite amusing.

For some unknown reason, Zhan Yan couldn’t feel nervous at all. Although he was suddenly taken here by force by the “Deep Shadow” NPC, he wasn’t worried that the “Deep Shadow” NPC would hurt him.

Did he transfer his trust for the big shot Deep Shadow onto the NPC?

A few bouncing cloudy beads were pushed past him by the waves. Zhan Yan felt these things looked somewhat like large bouncy gummies, but filled with flowing rosy clouds. The colors of these clouds were also varied. Some leaned towards gold, some towards red, some were a pale orange-yellow, and their texture looked incredible.

His hands itched; he kind of wanted to squish them. Could these things be squished?

Zhan Yan then opened the Gossip System and started searching.

[The “Deep Shadow” NPC has brought you to the core of the Dawn World.]

A new golden little star also appeared in the “Domain” tab of the information drive.

Zhan Yan’s dragon eyes widened.

The Gossip System was still displaying information.

Although the apocalyptic world had already integrated, the rules and concepts of the two worlds hadn’t completely meshed yet. This was the place where the two worlds fused.

The rosy clouds above were the concepts of the apocalyptic world, and the sea below was the foundational rules of this world manifesting through the game world.

The concepts from the apocalypse dripped down; compatible concepts merged, while incompatible concepts were swept aside. However, even though these concepts couldn’t be merged, they were still new information words!

[Congratulations on arriving at the Information Granary.]

Zhan Yan: !!!

Happiness came so suddenly!

The NPC made according to the big shot Deep Shadow’s personality was indeed a good person too!

But how should these concepts be collected?

Zhan Yan reached out and poked a concept jelly rolling past him.

The concept jelly wobbled lightly twice and continued to be pushed further away by the waves.

Touching didn’t work…

Zhan Yan remembered that the “Deep Shadow” NPC previously said he was bringing him to eat.

Hmm… so he was supposed to eat them?

Gu Jiancheng was still agonizing over Zhan Yan’s question.

Right, he wanted to bring Yan Yan to eat. But what should he cook for Yan Yan?

The scene of him making cat food for Xingxing suddenly popped into Gu Jiancheng’s memory.

Gu Jiancheng was thinking hard when he suddenly heard the sound of gulping behind him.

He turned his head to look.

The two-point-three-meter-tall Yan Yan picked up a ball of jelly, and the dragon head opened its bloody maw wide.

Chomp!

Gu Jiancheng: !!!