Chapter 257: We?
Mr San smiled.
“[S] class, [A] class… what is the difference between them? They are but a law set down by the system. Is it important?”
He stood up and slowly walked to the side. He opened a wardrobe and retrieved a trench coat from within it. As he was slowly wearing it, he said, “Mr Chen Xiaolian, if you are only going to ask these simplistic questions, then I suppose we can end our conversation here.”
“Wait! Wait!”
Chen Xiaolian stood up anxiously and said, “I still have a lot of questions to ask you!”
Mr San considered it and said, “Very well, we still have some time.”
Chen Xiaolian strained himself as he contemplated his questions. Then, he took a deep breath and asked, “You… just what are you? Player? Or Awakened?
“What I mean is, are you also a participant in the London instance dungeon? But if you are not, then how could you be here? Logically speaking… according to the laws of the system, non-participants cannot enter an instance dungeon.
“So how did you appear inside this London instance dungeon? Does that mean you are a participant in this instance dungeon?”
Mr San smiled.
“Now this question is more appropriate.”
Wearing the trench coat, he walked to the table and slowly picked up the teapot and took it to the sink. He poured out the contents of the teapot and slowly rinsed it.
His movements were very slow and precise.
“Mr Chen Xiaolian. Before I answer this question of yours, can you first tell me…about your participation in this game… what is your goal?”
Chen Xiaolian was startled.
My goal?
“I want to survive and also protect my companions. Mm, no, the word protect is not quite right. I want to fight together with them, lead them and survive together!” Chen Xiaolian said firmly.
“A pretty good goal. However… what happens after that?”
Mr San looked at Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian was shocked by the question.
What happens after that?
Chen Xiaolian found that he was unable to answer the question.
“Instance dungeons will always appear. This game will always go on. You can struggle again and again, work hard again and again. Yet, in the end, you will still be constrained by the rules of the instance dungeon.
“When it wants you to enter an instance dungeon, you will have to enter an instance dungeon.
“When it wants you to encounter problems, you will encounter problems.
“You can snatch victory time and again, successfully completing the instance dungeons again and again…
“But what happens after that?
“Where is the ending?
“If this is a marathon, then… where is the ending location?
“Mr Chen Xiaolian, how many instance dungeons have you managed to complete so far?”
Chen Xiaolian thought about it.
The first instance dungeon was the underground area in the deserted island, followed by the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, Tokyo and London.
“Four,” answered Chen Xiaolian as he took a deep breath.
“Oh, just one more and you would be a veteran,” said Mr San with a faint smile. “For a rookie, your performance is considered quite good. Surviving through four instance dungeons and having your own guild.
“But what I want to ask you is… how long do you think you can hold on?
“Another four more instance dungeons?
“Ten? Twenty? Fifty? Hundred?
“Or a thousand?
“Ten thousand?”
Chen Xiaolian was at a loss for words.
“This is a line. There is a starting point, yet there is not end.” Mr San sighed. He brought the teapot and teacups that he had washed to the table. Then, he pulled out a clean piece of cloth and began wiping them. He arranged them carefully and said, “You do not have the power to stop. There is also no possibility of you finding the ending. This game… has no end.
“Do you know how it feels?”
After saying that, a faint trace of sorrow appeared within Mr San’s expression.
“This feeling where you cannot see hope, where the road before you is utter darkness, without a speck of light.”
Chen Xiaolian’s heart sank.
However, he was, after all a young man. This feeling of melancholy came as quickly as it faded. He shook his head and said, “What is the connection between this and my question? Mr San?”
“You asked me what am I. But then, what are you? What is the meaning of your existence? What is it you are chasing after?” Mr San gave a faint smile and continued, “Rather than ask me, why not ask yourself?”
Chen Xiaolian was shocked.
“You’ve met ‘it’ before, haven’t you?”
Mr San looked into Chen Xiaolian’s eyes in a meaningful manner.
“It?” Chen Xiaolian was perplexed.
“Running the program, mm, or should I say… according to the way you youngsters think, it is probably called GM. Have you met it?”
Chen Xiaolian’s body was shaken.
GM!
This Mr San knows the existence of GM!
“How… how did you know?”
Mr San did not say anything. He silently regarded Chen Xiaolian and said, “What did it say to you?”
Chen Xiaolian hesitated for a moment.
Mr San only smiled.
He then said, “Theoretically speaking, the system is everywhere; the same applies to its laws. Thus, the GM is also omnipresent. The only exception is that it cannot participate in instance dungeons. Generally speaking, it is a management program that can monitor everything. It can perceive everything you say, everything you see and everything you can think of.
“However… the things that I will be telling you, for now anyways, while you are here by my side, the words you say will not reach it.
“Even… the system will not know.
“Do you understand what I am trying to say here?”
Chen Xiaolian was shocked once more!
“You… you mean to say… you have the ability to block off the system?!”
“Not, the accurate word is not block, but hide or avoid,” answered Mr San with a sigh. “Compared to the system, we are too weak. We are like a virus inside a computer. The system can use its antivirus software to search for us. However, we can hide from it. Mm, something like that.”
Mr San looked at Chen Xiaolian and said, “Answer my question first.”
Chen Xiaolian hesitated.
Next, he looked into Mr San’s eyes. It was then that a strange voice appeared within him!
This voice told him that it would be best for him to be honest with this man standing before him! Additionally, this could be an opportunity for him to discover some unknown secrets!
An extremely rare opportunity!
“All right! I’ll tell you!”
Chen Xiaolian firmly made up his mind.
…
“… GM said that it would give me some help with the purpose of disrupting the Players’ plan of completing the quests. It’s just like what happens in a game where we try to stop the Players from completing the game. Because if all the instance dungeons are cleared, the system will reset.
“As for the GM, it was not easy for it to become self-aware. If the system is reset, GM will be reset as well to a blank state.
“For it, that was tantamount to ‘death’. Thus, it chose me as a partner.
“Mm, I am to try my best to delay the time for the ultimate reset.”
Chen Xiaolian did his best to say all those. Then, he stared intently at Mr San as he carefully observed for any changes in Mr San’s face.
Chen Xiaolian was disappointed.
Mr San’s face… showed no changes!
He listened quietly without making any indications. He did not even bat an eye.
After Chen Xiaolian finished his story, Mr San gave a faint smile and asked, “Are you finished?”
“Mm, yes. That’s more or less the gist of it,” answered Chen Xiaolian with a nod.
Mr San was silent.
He suddenly closed his eyes. He was seemingly thinking of something or perhaps, recalling something.
A few minutes later, Mr San smiled.
Then, he opened his eyes and said.
“As expected… it is still like that.”
Chen Xiaolian’s heart skipped a beat.
He caught onto that key point in those words.
‘Still’ like that!
Which means… it continues to be like that?
In other words… such a thing… happened before?
…
Mr San suddenly moved to the window. He arranged his trench coat lapels tightly and said, “We don’t have much time. I will try my best to answer some of your questions.
“First, you asked me what am I?
“Naturally, I am not a Player.
“Oh, I am also not an Awakened.”
Hearing those words, Chen Xiaolian’s face became very animated.
However, Mr San’s next words made him go speechless.
Mr San pointed at Chen Xiaolian’s nose and said, “You should have already guessed it. I am in fact, the same as you.”
The… the same?!
The same… BUG?
The same…
Irregularity!
…
“What a nostalgic feeling.” Mr San gave a faint smile and said, “I remember the days when I was still as young as you. Back in those early days, I was as naïve as you and… childish.
“So childish it’s almost cute.”
Chen Xiaolian did not say anything. He held his breath, fearful of missing out on a single word coming out of Mr San’s mouth!
“At that time, I was about as young as you.
“Since I was young, I did not think too much about it. In the beginning, after being sucked into this game, my way of thought was about the same as yours.
“Mm, struggle and fight with everything I have to survive! Make myself stronger!
“Because, back then, I thought that only by becoming stronger would I have the ability to protect myself. Only then would I be able to survive through each of the instance dungeons and live longer!
“The me from back then was really naïve.
“Mm, perhaps by being naïve, I had less to worry about.”
From Mr San’s tone, it seemed that he was recalling something.
Chen Xiaolian carefully asked, “What then?”
“Then, I met it. No, more accurately, it came to find me,” said Mr San who squinted his eyes as he smiled and looked at Chen Xiaolian.
“GM?”
“Mm, that is your name for it. But back in my younger days, I thought that it was God.” Mr San laughed. “Was I not naïve?”
“… … …”
“It told me that I was its chosen one and that it wanted me to work with it. It would provide me some help. Naturally, those help would be provided in secrecy in order to avoid the notice of the Development Team – back then, I thought of them as the Creator.
“Long story short, the words exchanged between us were roughly the same as those you had with the GM.
“We strove with all we had to complete the instance dungeons, stopping Players from smoothly completing them. That way, GM would be able to keep on surviving, he would not be reset due to all the instance dungeons being cleared – to it, that was the equivalent of death.
“In the beginning, things proceeded fairly smoothly for us.
“After all, having the GM’s help was like having a cheating program opened for us. With the GM there to help us cheat, we were able to quickly enhance our strength.”
“Wait a minute! Did you just say ‘we’?” Chen Xiaolian looked at Mr San.