There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Duan Fei walked out in confusion, wondering which players wanted to see him.

"Do we have any acquaintances out there?" Duan Fei asked Darts Guest.

"Probably not. They didn’t ask for anyone by name, so they’re likely not people we know."

"Hmm, true. So what do they want?"

"To assassinate us for some kind of reward?"

"What reward could possibly be better than killing the boss?"

The two of them couldn’t figure it out. In the end, they had no choice but to call over their two Protectors, Beist and Winston, and go see what the squad of players wanted.

The player in the lead seat looked like a dashing young nobleman straight out of a shoujo manga. His long, silky hair seemed to have a special effect, constantly giving off a sparkly sheen.

His features were extremely androgynous—the kind that would make him a total heartbreaker in a dress. Anyone who saw him would instinctively have to remind themselves, ’I’m straight.’

"Let me get this out of the way: I’m a girl. Cross-dressing is just a hobby," the dashing ’nobleman’ named Qiushi said, flicking her long hair.

"I didn’t say anything!" Duan Fei said, surprised.

"It’s a precaution. People question my gender so often that I have to be prepared, just to keep anyone from falling for me. I’m here to talk business, not feelings."

Squinting at her, Duan Fei called out, "Jinghong, come over here for a second."

Jinghong, who was standing guard at the door, poked her head in, revealing only half of her side profile. "What?"

Even that half-profile was enough to reveal a beauty that could topple kingdoms, making Qiushi’s breath catch in her throat.

"It’s nothing. Go on back."

Jinghong shot Duan Fei a puzzled glance. The way she furrowed her brow was somehow both cute and alluring, her cold indifference hiding a girlish heart. Qiushi marveled, wondering how something so adorable could possibly exist.

After letting Jinghong resume her post, Duan Fei turned to Qiushi, who had curled up like a crawfish in embarrassment. "So, any thoughts on your previous declaration?"

"I just want to die... It was my mistake, trying to act all cool when I’m this hideous. My apologies for subjecting you to the sight of this ugly woman. I’ll see myself out."

"Whoa, hold on. We’re just here to talk business, not feelings. I don’t care whether you’re ugly."

"Just let me die! I don’t want this embarrassing moment to go down in my personal history!"

Duan Fei let Qiushi have her hysterical fit for a while. He took a sip of milk, savoring the smooth sensation as it slid down his spine to his hip bone.

Once Qiushi had calmed down, Duan Fei asked, "It’s pretty gutsy of you few to come here all by yourselves."

"Yeah, we found an opening. It wasn’t easy getting here. Kael has been monitoring us the whole time. His ’eyeballs’ are really getting on our nerves."

"Then why are you here?"

Qiushi showed Duan Fei the corruption indicator in her hand, then placed her hand on another player’s head.

The corruption indicator began to rise slowly, showing that the player was now corrupted.

After the demonstration, Qiushi said, "After Lone Ranger left that day, we kept searching for items, but some players started acting incredibly strange. Then, we realized that most of us were corrupted, and that even getting rid of our newly acquired items did nothing. After a thorough investigation, we found that the source of the corruption was inside our brains. So... we used a sharp axe to split open a skull and found something that looked like a worm."

"Whoa. I feel for that player. Both the one swinging the axe and the one getting their head split open."

"Yeah, for real. Watching it made my mouth water. Don’t look at me like that, I’m just kidding. Wait, was that joke really not funny at all? Why isn’t anyone laughing!"

After realizing she had a bizarre sense of humor, Qiushi shrugged helplessly and continued, "It was only then that we realized something was wrong with us. When we recalled Lone Ranger’s earlier hint, we finally concluded that we’d been used by the Church."

"Your reflexes are a little slow. When they were handing out neural pathways, did you ask for the scenic route?"

"...I’m furious, but I’ve got no comeback. Anyway, we owe Lone Ranger an apology. But we’ll still cross swords the next time we meet. After all, that guy has killed plenty of players himself."

Duan Fei nodded and glanced at the nearby curtain. A shadow was crouched there like a cat, looking rather pleased with itself.

After all, there’s a certain satisfaction in hearing people who misunderstood you admit they were wrong.

Ignoring the secretly smug Lone Ranger, Duan Fei first explained what the worms were, then asked, "So, what are you going to do?"

After a moment of contemplation, Qiushi said, "If that’s the case, these players could be taken over at any moment. We’ve already figured out which players are corrupted. They’re currently documenting their Reactions to the corruption so we can turn in a report for some event points."

Duan Fei thought for a moment, then tapped his skull and asked, "Did Kael say what kind of rewards he’d give you?"

"He said he’s looking for the former Demon King Winston and the lost hero Beist. He promised to give us rewards for any piece of information, including but not limited to some strange trinkets, blessings, Divine Arts, and the like. These things are probably all corrupted and unidentified, but we should be able to make a small profit if we take them to a city."

"That old geezer has been running the Church for fifty years. He must have lined his pockets quite a bit, so he’s definitely got some good loot. You interested in fleecing him? We can all get rich."

"But the prerequisite for that cash-out is finding those two people... They’re here! With you! Don’t tell me it’s these two!"

Qiushi’s reaction was incredibly fast. She must be the strategist of her group.

Once she realized Winston and Beist were on Duan Fei’s side, she immediately began to brainstorm with him. The two shameless, despicable players quickly hammered out the details, deciding to use the remaining three days to fleece Kael for all he was worth.

And when there was no more fleece to be had, they’d just take the guy out. A fine example of using something to its fullest potential.

Finally, with their discussion concluded, the two shook hands, both feeling that they were about to hit a major jackpot.

Kael, here we come.

Having settled on how to split the spoils, Qiushi immediately prepared to leave and begin her clandestine preparations.

Before she left, she looked at Duan Fei and said with feeling, "You are, without a doubt, the most despicable player I’ve ever met."

"You don’t look in the mirror much, do you?"

"...Goodbye."

Watching Qiushi flee in disarray, Duan Fei pretended to pick his nose, pointed at her retreating figure, and said to the nearby Jinghong, "That Qiuqiu is so lame. She can’t even think of a comeback before running off."

"You called her Qiuqiu?" Jinghong asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah. So what?"

"Sounds like a rather intimate nickname," Jinghong said with a cold laugh.

"I just came up with it. If you want, I can call you by a nickname, too."

"...My nickname is ’I love you.’"

"Are you kidding me?! Let’s go! We need to get started on Operation Fleece!"

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