2022-11-06 09:59 Category: My Days Pretending to Be an NPC in Puzzle GamesTurn off the lights
Yesterday's intrusion by two players put the NPCs on high alert, and they began to focus on players who appeared suspicious in the crowd.
These players don't meet the criteria for exposure, but they did indeed engage in actions inconsistent with their public personas. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but now that there's a disturbance, they're the prime suspects.
"Except for the one that's about to…, all the others…" Saman stared at the Queen, issuing the order without turning his head.
A player? What player? Does he have anything to do with this?
A large number of players who had already noticed something amiss suffered as a result.
"Damn it, they can investigate all they want, but did they have to make such a fuss?" the targeted players complained bitterly. They had been behaving themselves for the past two days, doing nothing wrong, so what had they done to deserve this?
Since they had no evidence, the NPCs couldn't do anything to them except keep an eye on them and prevent them from participating in the nobles' coming-of-age ceremonies. They also changed them to jobs far from the city center and had someone else monitor them.
That's enough.
"I reluctantly swept the floor for two days just for this coming-of-age ceremony, and now they won't let me participate? What's going on?" The speaker was Bingmin, a waitress on the fifth floor. The word "Yuan" in her name meant she had changed jobs.
When someone broke in yesterday, she had gone to bed early because she was on the day shift. When she woke up groggily, it was already over.
She thought this had nothing to do with her, but when she woke up, she was told that she had been changed jobs—she was going to sweep the floor on the third floor.
"This is outrageous!"
"It's alright," the player said, gripping the broom and sneering as he pulled out a card. "Just because you won't let me go doesn't mean I can't go?"
Such things happen in different corners of the anthill, and eventually they all reach Saman.
The humans in this instance are as efficient as ants; they never slack off or cheat, and in a very short time, Saman can get the information he wants.
"Of course, we can't trust them too much, after all, these people are human, not ants," Saman thought to himself.
The entire anthill was bustling with activity as the nobles prepared for their coming-of-age ceremony.
Ren Yifei wanted to take the opportunity to get involved, but he was rejected every time he tried to speak. He belatedly realized that 'Gucheng' had already been regarded as an 'outlier'.
They banned 'Valley City' from entering the central area.
Having played so many games, this was the first time he'd been targeted, which he found incredibly novel and interesting. He even started considering pulling off a big heist, letting player 'Gucheng' retire successfully, and then 'Jiang' would reappear.
However, after careful consideration, Ren Yifei abandoned the idea.
This instance is too unfriendly to workers and civilians; passage is prohibited on the second floor and above, which places too many restrictions on 'Jiang'.
It's alright, if the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain. Ren Yifei tore off a small piece of paper shaped like a reptile and used it to replace his eyes and ears as he went upstairs to check the situation.
The coming-of-age banquets of the nobles always seemed like a crucial part of the story, something I couldn't miss no matter what.
Using paper dolls, transforming into shadows, borrowing other people's eyes... players displayed their unique skills, and all attention was focused on the nobles' eighteenth birthday.
The soldiers and civilians stood ready, knowing that something unexpected had happened among them. Unlike previous occasions, this coming-of-age ball was fraught with uncertainty.
But the nobles themselves were the most relaxed. They had been pampered and spoiled for so many years that they had lost much of their biological instincts and vigilance.
Hearing that they would have a better life after this day, both female and male nobles went out to choose clothes and jewelry they liked with great joy, without any doubt.
"After all, this has been the way we've been for over a decade." A person smiled and looked up at the window, but instead of blue sky and white clouds, there was another wall depicting various beautiful and lifelike landscapes.
The fifth floor had no windows, not a single one; the lives of the nobles were completely isolated from the world.
Nobles are puppets manipulated by soldiers and civilians. They may appear noble, but once they lose their usefulness, they are discarded like worn-out shoes. From childhood, they are placed in sterile greenhouses and have never experienced any hardship.
The soldiers and civilians took good care of them until the time came when they were needed.
Time and time again, it hardened the heart of 'it' that was initially astonished and bewildered.
One day, it suddenly thought, why resist it? Wouldn't it be more interesting to accept the world as it is and let others accept it as well?
He held a card in his hand, on which was clearly written:
Identity: Obsessed Person
Wish: To return.
The sun slowly circled its zenith, turning the sky a beautiful blue-purple, and the workers gradually returned. They were completely unaffected, for they had no idea that the nobles would be coming of age today.
These people live exhausting lives, but also very simple ones.
"Why are there a few missing people?" After closing the nest, the person in charge of Nest No. 3 counted the number of people.
"They may have gone too far; they'll be back tomorrow," other workers said.
In search of the Black Cube, workers can travel very far, sometimes unable to return on the same day, but returning the next day; this is quite common.
The soldiers' and civilians' nests on the second floor were also closing down to count the number of people.
These soldiers and civilians would be divided into two groups. One group, like Ren Yifei, who were mediocre, were required to stay in their rooms after dark and not to step out.
One group, like gatekeepers, was responsible for security and arrangements for the noble coming-of-age ball tonight.
Before entering, Ren Yifei glanced back and saw four soldiers and civilians standing downstairs. They would stand there all night until dawn, when everything would be settled.
He lay on the bed with his eyes closed. Not far away, a small insect, carefully hidden in a corner upstairs, opened its eyes and slowly crawled out of the darkness.
The fifth floor still bears traces of yesterday's destruction, but the carpet has been replaced with a new one. Only the damaged walls and ceiling show the intensity of yesterday's battle.
The little bug carefully crawled along the crack in the wall. As soon as someone came, it curled up into a ball and stuck to the carpet, pretending to be part of the carpet. Ren Yifei specially designed the bug's shell to be the red of the carpet.
After crawling for a while, the insect caught a whiff of a sweet fragrance. Perfume was a luxury item in this instanced world, something only nobles could afford—and this was undoubtedly a noble's world.
Humans in this world have a highly developed sense of smell, and they carry a distinctive scent. This is similar to ants, who use pheromones to distinguish social status, health, and so on.
When Ren Yifei first infiltrated the soldiers' and civilians' hideout, the scent of the workers and civilians on him was detected. But strangely, a day later, his scent naturally changed to that of the soldiers and civilians.
He then infiltrated the floor where the nobles were located. He was discovered at first, but soon the scent of soldiers and civilians disappeared.
There must be something wrong with Jiang's constitution, because the smell he emits can actually change.
The little insect crawled along the sweet scent and sure enough, it saw a noblewoman admiring herself in a mirror. She was choosing jewelry to match her clothes and trying to adjust her most beautiful angle and expression.
"This one suits my skin tone better, but... the style isn't quite right."
Her bed was piled high with clothes, and jewelry was scattered haphazardly on the table.
"Not here," the insect thought. "It's looking for the room filled with books."
It crawled into the second nobleman's room; it was a man. He had long hair, was tall and thin, and was holding a female soldier's arm. Blushing, he said, "I won't choose to mate with them. I like you..."
The female soldier, who was much taller than him, just smiled and made no promises.
In the third room, two noblewomen were talking, one of whom was the woman in the pink dress who had gone down earlier. They seemed to be on good terms, and one said to the other, "Whether we're adults or not, I don't care. We'll still be friends when we go to the Kingdom of God."
"Okay." The noblewoman whose hand was being held smiled so much that her eyes narrowed.
Although they all looked fierce and menacing towards 'lower classes', they got along quite well with each other.
"Go to the Kingdom of God after you grow up," the little bug wrote down this information, even though it seemed like a lie to deceive the nobles.
It continued to huff and puff as it crawled forward, but after crawling only a few centimeters, it heard the vibrations of human footsteps ahead.
It turned out to be a group of soldiers and civilians, each with a serious expression, holding weapons, walking in an orderly line over the little insects.
It had just encountered a different group. It wondered how many soldiers and civilians were stationed here tonight.
Nearly two hours passed in this endless climbing, and it still hadn't found the room filled with books. Instead, one by one, nobles in their finest attire emerged from the room, heading towards the banquet to perform their final rites before adulthood.
Behind the nobles were soldiers and civilians protecting them.
It saw the nobleman whose face was burned, whom it had knocked unconscious the day before. His eyes were darting around, and his expression was somewhat different from that of the other noblemen.
"Huh?" He acted too quickly yesterday and didn't notice this. Could it be a player?
One after another, nobles, soldiers, and civilians—their feet crushed over the tiny insects.
No one spoke, not even the nobles; their expressions were serious, either expectant or tense.
Once everyone had left, the little insect poked its head out, shook its antennae, and looked at the elegantly dressed figures from behind.
After thinking for a while, and considering that fortune favors the bold, it opened its two carapaces, unfurled two pairs of wings, and began to flap them, trying to fly in that direction.
"Smack!"
A dark shadow fell, something pressed down on the insect, and then crushed it: "Player?"
This was the last sound Ren Yifei heard; it was deliberately lowered, making it impossible to tell if it was male or female. He suddenly sat up in bed, turned his head, and spat out a mouthful of blood.
That's the downside of paper puppets that share all five senses; once the paper puppet is killed, the puppet itself will also suffer some damage.
"Which bastard is it? Could it be a player?" He wiped the blood from his lips, threw back the covers, and prepared to change his clothes. He couldn't miss tonight's excitement; it was an intuition.
But how can I get up there?
There were so many guards sitting at the entrance below, and he was injured and unable to repeat his trick.
Should he use it? That would waste a Ghost Card, and he only has that one left. He also has very few offensive options.
Ren Yifei paced back and forth in the room, racking his brains, but he couldn't find a solution that satisfied both sides.
"If I'm prepared to give up the identity of 'Gucheng,' then it's not entirely without a solution." He looked at a certain spot in the room and suddenly had an idea.
Author's Note: A ghost has appeared. Guess who 'it' is
?