Chapter 170: The Reason for Evolution (Bonus Chapter for Tip Jar)
“Your guess is pretty accurate.” Old Lady Bai said calmly. “But I don’t have the authority to open an instance. It was pure coincidence that I became an instance character when the Tourism City instance was born. You could also call me the instance boss.”
“That’s why I can’t leave Tourism City. However, the instance rules are indeed set around me.”
“Three tasks. As long as you find me, you clear the instance.”
“In the past, I wouldn’t make things difficult for outside players.”
She paused her words, then shook her head. “But the world has changed. In Fairy Tale City, everyone used to smile while telling fairy tales to children. Now they smile while selling xenomorph products to outsiders. Even those outside players get worse year by year.”
“The game world is a twisted world. It twists and perverts people who were once kind.”
“Because of this, you don’t want Fairy Tale City to continue.” Xu Huo said.
“My husband sacrificed himself to save the people of Fairy Tale City, but in the end, he was driven out of the safe zone and torn apart by xenomorphs. I only survived by jumping into the sea and using the chance to hide inside the instance.” Old Lady Bai recalled the past, her face numb. “Scraping by in the game, whether you’re a cannibal player or a non-cannibal player, everyone is pitiful.”
“When I learned that Fairy Tale City would never have new players again, I actually felt relieved.”
After hearing her words, Tao Chengxin sighed. “Compared to other districts, Fairy Tale City is indeed worse off.”
Xu Huo wasn’t interested in Fairy Tale City’s history. He had held out this long wanting to know only two things.
“Twenty years ago, a large number of xenomorphs appeared, and new players stopped being born. What is the real reason?”
Old Lady Bai looked up at him and suddenly revealed a strange smile. “You’re a player from District 014.”
“District 014!” Tao Chengxin couldn’t wait to ask. “Is that the new district where someone got a super item?”
The others at the table also turned their gazes to Xu Huo.
“Because of the appearance of the super item, quite a few high-level players from other districts entered District 014. Before I escaped into the instance, I heard the item had already been snatched away.”
He said, “But District 014 and Fairy Tale City have similarities. Both experienced a major upheaval right at the beginning of evolution, with external forces intervening. Could District 014 become the next Fairy Tale City?”
“That depends on how the people in District 014 handle it.” Old Lady Bai said vaguely. “As long as a large number of players appear in a short time, District 014 will be safe. Otherwise, it will become like Fairy Tale City, reduced to the game’s breeding zone.”
Xu Huo frowned, keenly sensing the connection between the two. “You mean, at the beginning of evolution, if a large number of players die and there’s no successor, the new game district will be annexed by other districts and used to breed xenomorphs?”
“This… this is too absurd!” Sun Jirou blurted out in shock. “I’ve never heard of it!”
“You’ve never been to high-level random instances.” Old Lady Bai said. “If you had, you would know that in the Dimension Crack game, only one-third is in the light.”
Players who had done a few instances had all heard of random instances. If you miss an instance once, after three months, the game will randomly throw you into an instance. This kind of instance is different from the random instances that appear daily in reality. They are basically dangerous high-level instances, and fewer than one in ten players who enter survive.
Everyone present was an E-level player. None of them had truly seen a high-level random instance, and they felt oppressed by Old Lady Bai’s ominous words.
At that moment, Old Lady Bai stood up.
“Don’t kill us!” Gao Baimei screamed. “We don’t plan to get involved in your grudge with the Government Hall! We’re just here to complete the task!”
But Old Lady Bai shook her head, walked over to the sofa, took out the access card, and gently stroked it.
Xu Huo took out the imitation obsolete access card he had commissioned. The two access cards were placed side by side. Old Lady Bai said again, “When Fairy Tale City first evolved, how ambitious were the Government Hall and us players? We used metal found in the game to make storage pods, using its patterns as the emblem of the player organization… But now, the people in the Government Hall are long dead, and I’m the only player left in Fairy Tale City.”
“Once I die, Fairy Tale City will truly disappear.”
The old woman, filled with sorrow, looked like an ordinary elderly person on the verge of death. Perhaps she would die tomorrow.
Just then, Yang Sheng, who had somehow broken free from control at the dining table, had an ice spike appear in his hand. Instantly, the temperature in the entire room plummeted. In the blink of an eye, frost condensed on everyone’s eyelashes, and the cold air traveled along the floor towards the distracted Old Lady Bai.
Xu Huo took two steps back to make room. Old Lady Bai turned around, curled the four fingers of her right hand into her palm, and a huge mouth appeared behind Yang Sheng. Its lips parted, and two rows of teeth, sticky with saliva, swallowed him, Sun Jirou, and the others whole!
Ripping sounds rang out in succession. Yang Sheng, along with Wang Qiao and Gao Baimei who were close to him, were bitten in half at the waist. The big mouth closed, chewed, then moved back and disappeared, spitting out Sun Jirou and Tang Yuan!
The two who escaped were drenched in cold sweat, as if severely traumatized. Their limbs trembled, their eyeballs rolled wildly, and they lay on the table, unable to get up.
Tao Chengxin was so scared she fell off her stool, wisely stating her position, “Old Lady Bai, I’m on your side!”
Old Lady Bai patted Xu Huo on the shoulder, signaling him to help the person up, and said with a smile, “Only players who have eaten people can’t withstand interrogation.”
Xu Huo pulled Tao Chengxin up, and thinking of the three missing teeth in those two rows, he couldn’t help asking, “Old Lady Bai, are you really looking for teeth?”
Old Lady Bai waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter whether I find them or not. The people looking for me have arrived. You all go play somewhere else.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Huo and the others, along with their belongings, were instantly teleported into a strange room. Outside was no longer a garden, but a pitch-black forest.
Tao Chengxin looked around and then at Xu Huo. “She’s not going to starve us to death here, is she?”
Xu Huo didn’t want to talk to an idiot. He picked up his bag, walked to a corner, and sat down.
Although Old Lady Bai hadn’t said it explicitly, based on her words and what happened in Fairy Tale City, it could basically be concluded that the appearance of the xenomorph tide and the extinction of players had nothing to do with pollution, and might not even be man-made. What was truly meddled with by humans was the establishment of the breeding zone after the xenomorph tide and the fact that no one in Fairy Tale City gave birth.
What was the reason for the extinction of players?
He rubbed his chin. The appearance of the first batch of evolvers in District 014 also seemed to have no warning, followed immediately by the game’s intervention… Did the evolvers come first, or did the game come first?
Did the companies or individuals playing the role of game administrators have any role here?
“What are you thinking about?” Tao Chengxin, who had circled the room, ran back to his side, tilted her head, and stared into his eyes. “Tell me about it, I’m really curious.”
Xu Huo leaned back slightly to create distance. “I’m thinking about the reason for the appearance of the first batch of evolvers.”
Tao Chengxin was stunned. This touched on her blind spot.
“What’s the use of thinking about that? You can’t change anything.”
Sun Jirou, who had been slumped on the ground, stood up. “Because of wormholes.”
“In any game world, the first batch of people to evolve did so because of the natural evolution triggered by the opening of a wormhole.”