Anchor Point
"Update? Impossible! I wrote a containment procedure!"
"I think you've reached the end of your life, old man. Look at this program again. What kind of crap is it? It stinks worse than Amiguro's candy boots!"
"Impossible! The preset code I left behind cannot possibly..."
The argument on the other end of the call had just started when it was abruptly cut off.
Everyone who didn't have time to hear anything: "..."
"I'm sorry, you don't have the permission to access this kind of information at the moment." Mao Cheng put down his hand and answered in a businesslike manner.
Xu Wei was still thinking about what the group of people had just said: "How can we obtain information permissions? The standards are set by you, and we may never be able to achieve them."
She was a little tired of these Riddler operations.
Mao Ting did not feel offended and turned to look at the city hall outside the single-sided glass of the office.
There were still people coming and going outside, and many electronic instruments were flashing. Players in different costumes and white-clad guides wearing information screens were mixed in groups of three or five near the instruments.
His eyes were fixed on the most conspicuous giant black electronic screen.
Xu Wei followed his line of sight.
Passing through the busy crowd, a huge white bold “∞” is printed on the black giant electronic screen, with a strong contrast between black and white.
The giant screen hung high above everyone's head, giving off a silent, oppressive feeling.
"The standard is when the Third Law changes."
This symbol again.
Xu Wei asked the question that had been on her mind for a long time: "In our world, this symbol means infinity, which means there is no end. Is it impossible for us to pass it?"
Mao Ting stared at the symbol, his eyes looked a little deep under the lenses: "No, there will definitely be such a day, and I am waiting for it too."
"The news is not announced to protect you," he replied, "Don't forget, 'it' is still there, all the time."
Qiu smiled and added: "The stars are with you, human."
“…”
"Stop pretending to be profound!" Li Shaodong protested loudly, "Either explain it clearly or don't explain it at all, don't explain it halfway!"
He waved his hands vigorously, rejecting the information PUA with his own actions: "So do you have anything to say?"
Mao Ting was obviously choked and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"Is your teacher okay? We are still waiting for a reply."
He had no choice but to fiddle with the display screen for a while, as if urging the other side to give a reply.
After a while, everyone's bracelets vibrated.
Clicking on the new information, Mao Cheng also said: "Considering that there was a problem with our system in this instance, we are intervening manually and setting up an emergency complaint department for players to report any abnormalities they encounter in the game. Successful reports will receive corresponding rewards and compensation."
"In your case, while retaining the system settlement reward, the technical department will restore all damaged props for the prop master and give him a chance to draw props. The ability level of the ability user will be improved according to personal situation, with the exception of Xu Wei."
Xu Wei waited patiently for him to finish.
"Finally, the system will pay you an additional 200 points of compensation as...mental damages."
Mao Cheng turned his eyes away from the display.
"No more?"
He nodded.
Xu Wei glared and pointed at himself: "What about me? Why can't I upgrade?"
Mao Cheng looked at her calmly: "The system can only provide skill growth for people with special abilities within a certain range. More depends on you. Your ability level has reached the current limit and cannot be improved any further."
Xu Wei had no choice but to ask: "How do I level up? Do I use my skills like crazy to gain proficiency in online games?"
"Go into more dungeons," Mao Cheng glanced at her, "or deal with 'it' more often, and come back alive."
Thinking of that thing that was neither human nor ghost, Xu Wei shuddered in his heart, but his face was tense and he said: "I can't improve, there must be other compensations, otherwise they all have..."
Mao Chow put down the information board in his hand and tried to discuss with her.
"integral?"
Xu Wei shook his head.
"house?"
"Yes."
"Gym VIP card?"
"You can, but you don't have to."
"Supermarket discount coupons?"
"It's not as good as a VIP card."
Mao Ting was impatient: "What do you want?"
Xu Wei tidied up the hair on her cheeks and said obediently: "I want you to promise me a piece of news, a piece of news that is not confidential to the extent you know it, but can only be revealed after '∞' is resolved."
Mao Ting wanted to speak, but Xu Wei raised his hand to stop him: "Don't be nervous, I'm just in case. I won't ask you now. I'll ask you this question at some point, when I think you need to know. How about that?"
"Even if it's contaminated?"
"I will take my own consequences."
After getting Mao Cheng's reply, Xu Wei took the opportunity to add him as a bracelet friend. The friend information interface of the city hall staff was no different from that of the players. Mao Cheng's avatar was a standard ID photo, wearing a white coat, blue hair, and a serious expression.
After saying goodbye to Mao Town, the five people went to the suspended metal cabin supermarket to buy a lot of ingredients and went home to cook hot pot.
Zhang Yuan rolled up his sleeves and said he wanted to show them his exclusive hot pot base.
Their home is also the simplest apartment with three bedrooms and one living room. The main colors are modern black and white. The decoration is simple, but it has a homey atmosphere. Qi Xiaopei also lives here now.
Xu Wei went to the kitchen to help Zhang Yuan as if she knew the place well. She pushed him out to eat some snacks, and then dragged Li Shaodong in.
Lu Fanye, who was about to squeeze in to help, stopped silently.
"You guys go out, we are guests here, how can we ask guests for help? Xiangdong, hurry up and cut this!"
Qi Xiaopei put a bunch of snacks he had just bought at the supermarket on the coffee table, stacked them up into different categories, and then thoughtfully turned on the TV.
Xu Wei sat on the sofa, holding a spicy strip in his hand, and a sense of déjà vu of visiting relatives during the New Year came to him.
During the meal, after clinking glasses a few times, the atmosphere finally became lively.
Only then did Xu Wei learn that Li Shaodong and Zhang Yuan had already completed four copies as a partner and had much more experience than them.
Li Shaodong drank two sips of the drink, and as if drunk, he began to talk a lot: "I met her in the second dungeon. Oh, she looked so scared, and she even grabbed my clothes and wouldn't let me go. Is there anyone who can do anything about this?"
"Eat your food!" Zhang Yuan picked up a piece of shrimp paste with chopsticks and threw it into his bowl.
Talk less and eat more vegetables.
Li Shaodong didn't even look at Zhang Yuan's face: "I felt sorry for this little girl at the time. Brother Shaodong, I've already passed the level once and still have some energy left. Why don't you... why are you pinching me?"
"Don't be so disrespectful. I'm older than you." Zhang Yuan glared at him.
"She's still a little girl..."
I ate three chestnuts.
Li Shaodong covered his head and leaned towards Lu Fanye aggrievedly: "Brother Ye, save me, I don't know when the little girl turned into a violent boy..."
Xu Wei laughed.
"Violent boy, are you still with me?" Zhang Yuan took back his hand and gave the beef roll to Qi Xiaopei, "Eat more meat to grow taller."
"A beautiful girl is hiding behind me, and I can't chase her away. How adorable! I'm a man, not a holy monk." Li Shaodong squeezed over and leaned against Zhang Yuan's shoulder, his eyes sparkling. "Wasn't I handsome when I saved you?"
Qi Xiaopei covered his face and couldn't bear to watch: "Sister Xu Wei, you don't know, the two of them were very restrained in the dungeon, and they lifted the seal directly when they returned to the transfer station. I've been eating too much dog food these past two days!"
Zhang Yuan pinched his face: "Look at you these past two days."
Li Shaodong had no choice but to yell a few times in an attempt to change the subject.
"So you got together after the second copy?" Xu Wei propped up her chin with an auntie smile on her face.
"No, don't listen to his nonsense, it's the third book," Zhang Yuan lowered his head to pick up some food, his voice a little muffled, "I thought I was going to die, and I thought I had to find a man to confess my love to before I died..."
"Humph!" Li Shaodong snorted coldly, "You've clearly been secretly in love with me since the second copy came out, and you even cook for me every day."
"Stop talking!"
"Just say it! She thought she was going to die, but then I came down as a hero to save her. She was so stunned that she was still confessing to the fake me. She was so stupid, help me..." Li Shaodong recalled the scene, the corners of his mouth raised, and he let out a suspicious silly grin.
Zhang Yuan's ears turned red.
Xu Wei was curious: "A fake you? Will the ghosts in the dungeon imitate the players?"
"Yes, even teammates who are not particularly familiar with each other may not notice it," Zhang Yuan thought of the previous experience and frowned, "It is best to set an anchor point to identify teammates, an anchor point that is related to the other party but not even the other party is aware of it, and only you know it."
"You already have it?"
Li Shaodong laughed proudly: "Of course, I guarantee she definitely doesn't know."
Xu Wei turned to look at Lu Fanye, and Lu Fanye also looked at her, and the two were silent for a moment.
"Observe more. The anchor point is definitely not that easy to find." Zhang Yuan smiled and tried to smooth things over for them.
Li Shaodong took another sip of his drink and changed the subject, his tone suddenly becoming deeper: "But, I think it's better not to have feelings between teammates."
Everybody looked at him.
"Without emotions, you will be calmer and make the best judgment. But once you have emotions, you will be more likely to make mistakes, such as in our copy this time."
He was referring to the risky behavior everyone took this time.
The atmosphere suddenly became cold.
"You want to have no feelings for me, right?"
Zhang Yuan slapped Li Xiangdong on the head: "I'll give you two punches, you think you have no feelings!"
Li Shaodong was hit hard, holding his head and yelling: "That's right! You don't know how sad I was when I saw you getting beaten! But I couldn't even come to help you. If the props stop, we'll all die!"
"My heart broke when you vomited blood!"
Zhang Yuan paused.
"Okay, let's not talk about these emotional issues for now."
Xu Wei pulled Zhang Yuan to sit down: "At least you are happy now, aren't you? From now on, we will not easily sympathize with the copy creatures, we will not take it lightly, and we will not do unnecessary things."
*
The days that followed were still uneventful. He would go to the gym, library, and night runs. Occasionally, he would meet Zhang Yuan and the other two, but more often, Xu Wei and Lu Fanye would accompany him in training.
Originally, the five of them planned to form a team, but they never expected that the system had restrictions on the number of people in a team at each level. Except for Qi Xiaopei, everyone was at C level and could only form a team of three. Only when they were upgraded to B level would they have more team permissions.
Everyone had to disband temporarily and agreed to regroup at Level B.
Seven days later, the bracelet rang with news about a new copy.
"Paradise Escape? Isn't this the large-scale escape dungeon?"
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