There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Its maintenance complete, the Long Range finally departed the Star Gate, preparing to travel to the next Void Point and then cross through to the next Star Gate.

Once the ship was underway, the group stared at the prize the Missionary of Love had brought back, each of them lost in thought.

"Sigh..." Duan Fei let out a breath and said helplessly, "Missionary of Love, I always knew you’d end up going down this path, but I never expected it to happen so soon."

"A perv and a lolicon. I feel like there’s no point in him being alive. He’d be making a real contribution by dying," Shadow God added with a sigh.

"You have to learn to separate fantasy from reality," Little Fatty lamented.

The Missionary of Love seemed completely unaware of how serious a crime it was to kidnap a girl and bring her aboard the ship.

Faced with their lack of understanding, he was filled with indignation and roared, his voice cracking with emotion, "You have no idea how pitiful this girl is! She actually tried to kill me!"

"Pardon my bluntness, but I’m really not seeing the logic between those two statements," Duan Fei sighed again. "I think her only mistake was not killing you."

"A little girl was pushed to the point where she had to kill to survive. Isn’t that pitiful?"

"*We’re* the ones who are pitiful. Being forced to team up with a lunatic..."

After having Shadow God drag the hysterical Missionary of Love away, Duan Fei started to inspect the girl’s bag.

The weapons from the girl’s backpack had been laid out, and one of them, a revolver, seemed vaguely familiar to him.

He fired a shot at his own forehead. Duan Fei felt the impact was about the same—that familiar sensation.

He picked up a sketch from Sai Wen’s belongings and looked at it for a moment. Then he asked her, "Why do you have this sketch? What is your relationship to the young man who tried to kill me before? Are you also a Void Spirit?"

Ever since being dragged aboard the ship by the Missionary of Love, Sai Wen hadn’t uttered a single word.

But when she heard Duan Fei mention the young man, her pupils dilated slightly. Then, she spoke. "He was my predecessor. We’re detectives."

"Spirit Detectives?"

"...Fine. We’re all dead anyway, so there’s no harm in telling you. That’s right, Spirit Detectives. I don’t know our origins, only that we’re Void Spirits. However, because we gained consciousness, some of our inherent Void Spirit abilities are weaker. It’s like a box full of toys—if you add some building blocks, you’ll have less room for toy cars."

As Duan Fei questioned her, Little Drilling Wind had already sat down and started taking notes.

As a journalist, she had a great interest in all the game’s lore, especially information concerning Pseudo-men.

Thus, she couldn’t be bothered to condemn the Missionary of Love for his act-first-ask-questions-later stunt. Instead, she asked earnestly, "So, why were you hunting our captain?"

"...Because there’s a problem with him. It’s the duty of a Spirit Detective to apprehend problematic individuals."

"Mm, I understand," Little Drilling Wind said with a nod.

Seeing that Duan Fei was still confused, Little Drilling Wind explained, "You’ve read my forum post about Pseudo-men, right? Your name is in the purchase history, so I know you bought it. According to my team’s recent research, when a Pseudo-man is created, it’s given a single, obsessive purpose. This purpose is its core. No matter what state the Pseudo-man is in, its core never changes."

Duan Fei was starting to get it. He asked, "So you mean the core purpose of a Spirit Detective is to find ’problematic’ people?"

"Yes."

’Thinking back on what ’problem’ I might have,’ Duan Fei mused, ’it has to be my desire to know the truth of the Void. That’s a truth the Federation clearly doesn’t want its citizens investigating.’

’My identity is particularly sensitive—I’m the captain transporting a group of Superpower Users to prison. Someone in my position trying to uncover the truth of the Void would be a prime candidate for elimination.’

’In that case, the identity of the Spirit Detectives’ employer is obvious.’

’The Federation.’

’Or more precisely, the Spirit Detectives were created by the Federation.’

With this in mind, Duan Fei asked, "Can Pseudo-men be created?"

"Of course. In fact, most Pseudo-men *are* created. What’s more, Pseudo-men have a strong capacity for self-replication and propagation. They constantly copy themselves to achieve their purpose, but this replication process causes varying degrees of degradation. That’s why the earlier the generation, the more powerful the Pseudo-man. This isn’t an absolute rule, though. After all, Pseudo-men can also mutate. Some mutated ones even experience a change in their core, making them seem freer, but their fundamental nature doesn’t change."

After she finished, Little Drilling Wind suddenly remembered something and quickly added, "This is all paid content, by the way. Now that you’ve heard it, just keep it to yourself. Don’t go spreading it around."

"Got it."

Once she was sure Duan Fei wouldn’t leak the information, Little Drilling Wind continued explaining about Sai Wen.

"She calls herself the seventh, which means she’s likely the seventh self-replicated copy of a Spirit Detective. I’m not sure how Void Spirits self-replicate, but I’d like to study her more. It might improve my understanding of Void Spirits, and perhaps even my knowledge of Pseudo-men as a whole."

Duan Fei nodded, his admiration for Little Drilling Wind growing.

’Every player has their own playstyle,’ he thought. ’Success isn’t always about high completion rates or raw power.’

’Constantly digging into the game’s lore, unveiling its secrets piece by piece... that kind of dedication to the story is a valid playstyle in itself.’

Just before Little Drilling Wind led Sai Wen away, Duan Fei suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, "What did you mean when you said we’re all dead?"

"A Spirit Detective can’t just leave their post. If they do so without authorization, they’re considered compromised and must be rebooted."

Sai Wen drew a finger across her own neck. "And that’s the reboot method... Anyway, once I’m dead, the next ’me’ will self-replicate. Most of my current memories will be lost, so the ’problem’ will be gone."

"But we’re on a special mission!"

"The Spirit Detective’s clearance is probably higher."

Just then, the voice of the ship’s terminal, Alpha, echoed through the cabin: "Dear crew members, I regret to inform you all that we have been target-locked. In one minute and twenty-five seconds, we will come under attack. On a final note, I am pleased to have met my one true love before dying—the adorable Little Fatty."

The players exchanged helpless glances. It was way too easy to trigger a death event, and the worst part was having no idea how to avoid it.

The Navigator, Hancock, had gone pale, but the recent string of incidents had tempered his nerves. He could even manage a wry smile as he said, "So, is it finally our turn?"

"Not necessarily," Duan Fei said, rising to his feet. "Where’s the Space Suit?"

"What are you planning to do?! We’re locked on! A multi-gigawatt laser is about to hit us! We’ll be set ablaze and instantly turned into a giant firework in space! Just give up, we’re screwed!"

"That’s only because I haven’t made my move yet."

Giving a thumbs-up, Duan Fei threw on the Space Suit, flew out of the ship, and entered the vast emptiness of space.

Embracing the darkness before him, Duan Fei then saw a beam of light materialize in front of him, swallowing him whole.

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