Chapter 182: Encroaching Upon The Forbidden Zone

The chauffeur lightly patted the wrinkled area of his collar before looking eye to eye with Chen Xiaolian. “I can give you the specific whereabouts of Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo. But, not now… at present, you need to put all your focus into surviving this instance dungeon. If possible, I would rather not have such a rare Irregularity die on me.”

“Irregularity? Don’t you mean virus?”

“Even if you are a virus, you are still the prime virus! As for your other guild members, Qiao Qiao, Roddy… they are all second-generation viruses who were infected by you… do you understand?”

“Wait a minute, I don’t get it… what do you mean prime, and why second-generation…”

“The metallic sphere that represents the account,” The chauffeur stared intently at Chen Xiaolian. “Only when a Player or an Awakened is killed by you, will the metallic sphere drop out. You should already have known about this.”

Indeed, Chen Xiaolian knew about this.

That was how Roddy and Qiao Qiao was able to get their hands on the metallic spheres and become Irregularities.

“You probably haven’t figured out this one other thing. Only when… the prime viruses kill an Awakened will the metallic sphere come out. The prime viruses that I am talking about are none other than… you and Soo Soo. Only the two of you.

“As for Qiao Qiao and Roddy, they are the equivalent of second-generation viruses that were infected by you… when they kill an Awakened or a Player, the metallic sphere will not drop out, understand?

“Thus… the existence of prime viruses is a valuable thing! You people are the source, the only ones who can continue to create Irregularities! If both you and Soo Soo were to die… then that would be the end. It doesn’t matter if it is Qiao Qiao or Roddy, neither of them could get the metallic spheres to drop out when killing Awakened ones and Players. [1]”

Chen Xiaolian was shocked.

“Between you and a little girl, it is only natural that I have more expectations toward you.”

Virus… source?

Only he and Soo Soo could create more viruses…

Chen Xiaolian abruptly raised his head and directed his gaze into the chauffeur’s eyes!

He kept his eyes staring forward for a full 10 seconds.

Then, he asked something peculiar.

“The upper plane… how does it look like?”

The chauffeur’s face turned slightly odd. Then, he slowly shook his head. “You already know that I cannot tell you. This is the rules of the system. Not to mention, those rules are the fundamental directive! As for me, it would not be wrong to say that I am part of the system. I cannot violate the fundamental directive of the system.”

Chen Xiaolian snorted and continued in a frosty tone. “Very well, you do not need to say anything. I’ll guess!”

He pointed toward the chauffeur. Then, he retracted his finger and pointed toward his nose. “First, the ‘life form’ in the upper plane must be humans! Humans that are similar to us!”

“Oh? How can you be so certain?”

“Very simple!” Chen Xiaolian was quick to come up with an answer and he continued immediately.

“Normally speaking, when people create a virtual world, be it a game or a movie, or even literature and novels… the protagonist would usually be created in the image of their own species!

“In World of Warcraft, the protagonists were designed to have humanoid shape. In Lord of the Rings as well, the one who wins in the end is the humans!

“The novels written by Jinyong also feature humans as the main characters!

“In nearly every novel, the story that was written would be dominated by humans!

“Because the creator is a human!

“As for us… this world we occupy is one where the civilizations are led by humans!

“As such, the ones who created this world, this game, they must also be human. Those Players… are certainly humans!”

The chauffeur raised his eyebrows.

Chen Xiaolian rapidly continued. “They probably created us by using their own appearance as a template.”

“Hmm, and?”

“And…” Chen Xiaolian walked around in a circle and kneaded his forehead before replying. “And… I suspect that a major portion of the composition of their civilization mirrors ours.

“Truthfully, all the worlds created in the Western fantasy novels uses Western medieval civilization as a base template.

“Even the creation of the background setting in Jinyong’s martial arts novels utilizes our country’s ancient historical records as a base.

“Therefore, when creating the civilization of our world… during the process of creation, a large portion of it was created by referring to their own civilization as a model!”

“Interesting. Anything else?”

“Of course!” Chen Xiaolian replied coldly. “Here in this game, in the instance dungeons… all the abilities, be it equipment, machinery, mech, martial arts, extraordinary abilities… those strange War Pets… all of them likely do not exist in the upper plane!”

“Oh? Just now, you mentioned that they referred to themselves for base template…”

“That is a different concept in its entirety. Since they are constructing a virtual world for people to enter and experience, they must naturally satisfy some fantasy aspects in order to make it enjoyable. If they were to create a world that was completely similar to theirs, what meaning would there be in playing this game? What sort of gameplay value would it hold?

“It is based on reality, yet it has to exceed it. That is the fundamental mind-set when creating a game.

“To be able to do things that one usually could not do in the real world is what makes a game interesting.

“Thus… I am willing to make a bet! Those Players who entered out world… they could not exhibit such extraordinary powers in their own world!”

After having said those words, Chen Xiaolian looked at the chauffeur with a somewhat excited expression. “Am I right? Did I get close? Their world, their social structure, their civilization, they should be similar to ours! The only exception would be that they do not possess those extraordinary powers. Additionally… the level of their civilization should be far above ours!”

The chauffeur quietly allowed Chen Xiaolian to finish speaking.

He stared at Chen Xiaolian. However, no change in expression could be seen on his face. There was neither agreement nor objection. Rather, not even a trace of emotion could be detected.

After what seemed like an eternity, he slowly said. “Perhaps you are right, perhaps you are wrong… however, I am unable to answer your question.”

“… … …”

“I’ve mentioned this before; all information pertaining to the upper plane cannot be disclosed. That is the prime fundamental directive of the system. Any and all such information would be blocked off. Thus, no one could inform you about it. That includes me,” The chauffeur said. Then, he smiled. “Also… even if I want to tell you, I wouldn’t be able to. Because… I too, am not in the know.”

“… … …”

“Do not forget, I am just like you, a ‘virtual’ existence within this world. I am not a life form from the upper plane. I am just a… metaphorically speaking; I am just the management program for the system. Hmm, that comparison is more appropriate.”

“Just like a computer, we are part of the program inside the computer while you are the system’s management program. When it comes to the matters regarding the world outside the computer… not even you could know how it looks like?” Chen Xiaolian looked at the chauffeur.

“Correct, that is simply how it is.”

The chauffeur nodded his head. Next, his tone turned solemn.

“The reason I came looking for you today is because there are two things that I need to warn you about.”

“Hmph!”

“First, the conversation you had with Miao Yan yesterday… you had best not try to pull that stunt a second time. Any attempt to spy on the upper plane will be blocked off by the system. Additionally… it will increase your chances of being found out by the system! The only reason you are still in the safe is because you are an Irregularity.

“Remember what I told you last time?

“As an Irregularity, you are the equivalent of a virus in the system. The system will not categorize you as an NPC, nor would it categorize you as an Awakened. When separating the categories, the system’s scan for NPCs would fail to detect you. The same goes during the system’s scan for Awakened ones.

“For the time being, you have yet to be subjected to the system’s monitoring.

“However, if you try to pry into the forbidden zone, you would likely trigger the system’s alarm.

“Because any leak in information regarding the upper plane is forbidden. That is the system’s prime fundamental directive!

“Prime fundamental directive supersedes all else!

“Any existence that encroaches upon the prime fundamental directive, regardless of your identity, would result in the system’s retaliation!

“You could compare it to an artificial pond.

“Originally, the owner is only raising two things, fishes and prawns. The fishes represent the NPCs while the prawns represent Awakened ones.

“As for you, you are unexpected existence, a loach. By hiding inside the pond, you were able to escape being found by the owner.

“However, once you attempt to escape from the pond and encroach upon the forbidden zone, you will come in contact with the power grid and be found out!

“When that happens… I believe there is no need for me to tell you what the consequences would be.”

Chen Xiaolian revealed a glum look on his face and he did not say anything.

The chauffeur nodded his head. “Remember my warning. Do not encroach upon the forbidden zone.”

“And?” Chen Xiaolian asked coldly. “Earlier, you mentioned that there were two things.”

“The second thing is related to the instance dungeon that you are going to participate in,” The chauffeur’s expression loosened. “Contrary to what you might think, this instance dungeon might be more…”

“More difficult?”

“No no no, for the most part, the designated class given by the system to an instance dungeon is accurate,” The chauffeur shook his head. “I don’t mean that it will be more difficult. Rather… it will be somewhat more complicated.”

“Complicated? What is that supposed to mean?”

“How should I put it… in the instance dungeons that you participated before, there was an unusual circumstance in one of them,” The chauffeur scratched his head. “The difficulty for the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang instance dungeon had exceeded the evaluation given by the system. The reason for that was Miao Yan’s participation. She utilized the privilege of a High-class Player to enter the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang instance dungeon. However, the class of her abilities and strength was too high, far higher than the mean average of the other participants. Thus, the system automatically increased the difficulty of the instance dungeon. As a result…”

“As a result, the monstrously powerful Bai Qi appeared! His appearance nearly caused the utter annihilation of every single participant,” Chen Xiaolian knitted his eyebrows.

“That about sums it up,” The chauffeur nodded his head. “This time, something almost similar might happen. Only, the specifics will be different.”

“Different?”

…

1 The GM is talking about non-instance dungeon circumstance only. In instance dungeons, Players and Awakened ones will drop the spheres whenever they die, regardless of who or what killed them. The biggest difference of note between Chen Xiaolian and Soo Soo and the other Irregularities is that the two of them were meant to be dead in an instance dungeon. Instead, these two ‘dead’ NPCs activated the metal spheres within that same instance dungeon. I am not sure if that is what makes them different.↩