Chapter 1428: A Relatively Real World
There was a clear difference in appearance between the residents of Gem City and the players, but that didn't mean players couldn't change their appearance and disguise themselves as Gem City locals. However, could simply altering one's looks and clothing be enough to blend in with the residents of Gem City?
That wasn't necessarily the case. If disguise were really that effective, those few players shouldn't have been hanged.
"Do you think the Gem City people have a way to distinguish locals from outsiders?" Yan Jiayu immediately caught his meaning. "I'll disguise myself and go out to test it."
Although he felt it wasn't entirely necessary, Xu Huo still agreed and said, "Keep an eye out for other players."
After Yan Jiayu left, Xu Huo sat in the room for a while before heading to the backstage of the performance venue.
Some props once used by the circus were still stored there, along with some old promotional flyers.
The main attraction promoted on the flyers changed each time, but it always alternated between magic, acrobatics, and animal performances. It was clear that magic was more popular—about a third of the flyers over the years featured magic as the main event, followed by other programs.
He put the flyers back on the table, took a look around other places, then returned to the stage backdrop. He pulled open a movable wooden board underneath.
"Haha!" A child's high-pitched laughter rang out, and a bald little boy crawled out from inside, revealing a gap-toothed grin. "You caught me!"
This child wasn't among those who had been handed candy earlier. He must have sneaked in while the adults were busy. Xu Huo wiped the dust off his face. "Why are you hiding here alone?"
The little bald boy pushed his hand away and asked instead of answering, "Can you do magic?"
"A little," Xu Huo nodded. "Do you like magic?"
The little boy looked up at him. "Then can you make a person appear out of thin air?"
"That's a bit difficult." Xu Huo rubbed his chin.
The little boy dug into his pocket and pulled out two finger-sized gems, handing them to him. "I'll give you these gems. Can you make my mom and dad appear for a little while? I want to talk to them."
But as soon as he finished speaking, he clenched his fist and took the gems back, adding, "I'll only give them to you if you actually do it."
Xu Huo crouched down to meet the boy's eyes. "Where did your mom and dad go?"
"They were killed by thieves from outside. Those people wanted to steal our family's gems." At his age, the little boy couldn't fully understand the meaning of hatred, but he missed his parents who were no longer around.
"Were those thieves caught?" Xu Huo asked.
"They were executed." The little boy acted like a little adult, dragging over two small performance stools from nearby. After sitting down, he said, "The uncles and aunties all say my mom and dad turned into stars in the sky. Do all people turn into stars after they die? If that thief also turned into a star, would he still bully my mom and dad?"
Xu Huo sat down across from him. "Look at the stars in the sky—some are close together, some are far apart. If they all turned into stars, the thief should be very far away from them."
The little boy thought that made sense and then said, "I wish they really had turned into stars."
Clearly, the child had his own thoughts and didn't fully believe everything the adults said. But then he added, "Can you bring the stars down?"
"That's also very difficult." Xu Huo thought for a moment and said, "But I recently obtained a magical mirror that can let you see the person you miss the most. However, since it's a treasure, it can only be used once, so..."
The little boy jumped off the stool and shoved the gems into Xu Huo's hand. "This is a deposit. I can give you two more."
Xu Huo smiled and put the gems back into the boy's hand. "I've never used this mirror before, so I don't know if it will actually work... How about this: bring a photo of your parents tomorrow night, and we'll try it. If it works, then I'll take your gems."
The little boy beamed and high-fived him. "It's a deal!"
The child bounced away happily. Xu Huo turned around and looked toward the corridor.
Li Kun emerged from the shadows and asked tentatively, "These people are just NPCs in the instance, and it's even a fairy tale instance. They're not even real people. You could just brush them off. There's no need to go to all this trouble."
"In the instance, they are living people." Xu Huo didn't elaborate further. Li Kun's words weren't wrong, but this couldn't simply be treated as a fake world. After all, the hanged players were real.
When players entered the fairy tale world, whether they became part of the fairy tale or the fairy tale world became real, it all pointed to one thing: their environment was relatively real. The Gem City residents, who seemed illogical by normal standards, were also real, inheriting all the emotions of this setting.
Looking purely at the instance background description, this fairy tale world seemed flawless. It was almost impossible for players to find a breakthrough.
"Any gains from the Pudding Tavern?" Xu Huo asked.
"A little," Li Kun said. "The king of Gem City is indeed offering a reward for the thieves, and the capture team in the tavern was established under the king's orders. The team's expenses and rewards are all provided by the king. The first-hand information about the stolen gems is also public."
"Too little information?" Xu Huo picked up.
"That's exactly the problem with this first-hand information," Li Kun said with frustration. "They say no one has ever seen the thief's face—only a single footprint left in the garden. They didn't even say what the stolen gems looked like."
"A footprint can reveal quite a bit of information," Xu Huo said.
"True, but before we got here, some people had already used the footprint to deduce the thief's height and build and caught a few people. None of them turned out to be the thief."
"Since no one has seen the thief, how do they determine whether the captured person is the thief?" Xu Huo's thoughts shifted. "Is the king deliberately hiding information about the gems?"
"It seems that way," Li Kun said helplessly. "Almost everyone in Gem City carries gems. Without more detailed information, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. But apparently, the castle doesn't identify the thief based on the gems either. The king once saw the thief's back."
"Some players have also proposed meeting the king to ask for the specific details. The response they got was that the king fell ill from grief over the stolen gems."
Xu Huo could imagine the expressions of the players who had gone to the tavern upon hearing this news. "Has anyone tried entering the king's castle through other means?"
"Sneaking into the king's castle will get you labeled as a thief." That was the real headache for Li Kun. In Gem City, as long as it wasn't a semi-open place like a tavern or inn, entering without the owner's invitation could get you labeled as a thief. The city guards would then arrest you, and capture meant execution.
Since not many players had entered the Pudding Tavern, no one had yet tested what chain reaction breaking the law would cause.
(Chapter End)