[ ALERT, System has detected an Anomaly in the game! Advising Host to run a system scan. ]
He was exhausted from running away for a few hours now, then this System dare says he shouldn't logout because it has detected something unusual? At this moment, he really just wanted to jump on his bed and sleep for real. He would rather dream about a hot girl than to keep running away with no chance of defeating such a huge monster with 9 Million HP! It was just impossible!
He pondered for a moment before thinking it wouldn't hurt to spare some time before logging out of the game, and he was kind of interested in this new development realizing he finally had something else to do in this game besides just getting chased down and running for his life the whole time.
"I give you my permission to run the scan. Just make it fast." he dismissed the System and turned around to take a walk and examine the whole cavern.
He thought about the possibility that there could be treasures hidden in the cavern that could make himself stronger, but in his heart, he knew that he still wouldn't be able to beat the boss even if he found something that could boost his strength by leaps and bounds.
But of course it wouldn't be entirely impossible with the use of hacks, but he wouldn't stoop so low as doing that. He still had pride in himself, and he suspected that there wouldn't be any hackers in such a world-renowned game anyway. If they can program a game that let's you play it while you're asleep, then forget hackers. They wouldn't be able to hold a candle against those mad scientists!
…
Half an hour has passed since Krel started walking around with a torch on his hand trying to survey everything he could in the cavern.
He discovered that he could craft stuff through the system so he gathered just enough materials to craft the torch. What's really convenient is that the torch didn't even need a lighter, it can be toggled on and off anytime he wanted to. His proficiency in crafting also rose up by 1 level.
"Why is there an Antivirus inside the game itself?" he mumbled to himself.
[ System Scan Successful: Monsterification V03179 Project: 3,049,269,124 files found. ]
[ And System is not an Antivirus. System is bestowed upon the Host by whom the System also doesn't know of. System is limited to Host only. ]
"…" Krel was speechless, but hey, at least the System was honest.
"V03179 Project? What is that supposed to mean?"
[ Replying to the Host: The System has come up to a conclusion that the game equipment of UNREALITY can send out a sound wave that can alter the user's DNA, making mutation at an alarming rate possible, turning every single player in the game into a monster in one go. Host doesn't need to worry, you aren't using the equipment. ]
"When is it gonna happen? Can you do anything about it?" he seems to have realized something, he had an expression of worry displayed on his face.
[ Project will take place at 5:30 AM — Countdown: 01:37:58 ]
[ With the System's Level, it can only rewrite the files to reduce casualties but with such little given time, the System can at most only do a percentage of 20 out of 100. Upgrade for better functionality and to unlock additional feature; Store. ]
"Can't you just delete the whole thing?!" He yelled at the System, he then raised his hand to his forehead to calm himself down. This was too sudden!
[ System is unable to do so at the moment. Project is locked and using an unknown coding language, System can only improvise. Upgrade for better functionality. ]
"REWRITE IT." he commanded the System. Time was running out after all. He just wanted to play the game like a normal person. Why was he suddenly entrusted with such a big responsibility like saving the lives of people and leaving 80% of them to become monsters? Although he didn't want to shoulder such a heavy burden, he still had no choice. If he could save even just a little 20%, he won't spare no efforts to make it happen!
[ System rewriting progress… 1% ]
…
Krel was busy exploring the cavern until the ground suddenly shook and trembled violently. Rocks from the cave roof were falling to the floor one by one with loud thuds. Krel hurriedly found himself somewhere to hide to take cover from the falling rocks, he could have just ran away, but even with the bonus movement speed he got from the [Sprinter] title, he was still and already quite far away from the entrance so he dropped the idea. That would be a foolish decision, the cavern was massive after all.
A few minutes have passed, the shaking settled down. Krel stood up and tidied himself from all the dust and dirt that sticked on his clothes, it wasn't necessary but it felt uncomfortable for him. The moment he was about to walk, a pair of hands pulled him away, dragging him to a wall, then the other hand moved to cover his mouth preventing him to make any sound.
"Keep your voice down." the man said to Krel in a low voice, before dropping a violet scroll. When it landed on the ground, it automatically opened up and some unknown texts that were once written in black glowed up in blue.
About 2 or so seconds, it got engulfed in flames and instantly burned to ashes. A thin layer that looked the same as the cavern's texture formed in front of them, about 2 feet from the wall that their backs were pressed against on. It gave out a glint at the end before turning transparent and thick as glass.
This display of illusion magic enthralled Krel. It was his first time seeing such sorcery happen in front of him instead of just seeing it in movies. This was indeed a first for him!
While Krel was busy being mesmerized, he suddenly saw small faint dotted blue glows that caught his attention, making it's way inside, getting closer to right where they were at the moment. He kept himself quiet and refrained from asking why the man had saved him just now.
Even a player who had experience in the game was hiding from these guys, let alone him, a complete Noob. Who would have thought that there were still bugs in the game, and it even spawned him to a place with high level monsters instead of the starting town.
"How do you know about the Radiation?" The man frowned, as he let go both of his hands away from Krel, he sat on the ground cross-legged and took out out another violet scroll, pushing it to the camouflaged wall as it absorbed the scroll with ripples like a series of waves on the surface of water forming around it.
"You were eavesdropping on me? Do you know that invading a person's privacy can get you fined?" Krel panicked after having realized that the man was actually spying on him while chatting with the System, only that the man couldn't hear the System cause it was directly talking to Krel in his mind.
He couldn't think of an answer so he decided to play the role of the victim, it was incredibly stupid.
"Great, now he must suspect me even more. Good job, Krel! Seriously. Good Job!" Krel scolded himself.
"What a half-assed reason. Kid, who are you trying to fool? Hurry up and answer before I send you back to the starting city, and don't think that just because we're in the game doesn't mean I can't hunt you down in the real world." The man took out a dagger and pointed it at Krel.
'System, is what he's saying true?' he asked the System in his mind.
[ Replying to Host: It indeed is true. But fear not. You aren't playing the game with the use of UNREALITY's equipment, but, through the System. Your location cannot be traced. ]
Krel subconsciously heaved a sigh of relief. "Aren't you worried those things will hear us?" Krel questioned the man. He was trying as hard as he could to change the topic, but to no avail.
"I used the sound diffusion scroll, nothing can hear us inside. Now talk."
"Then-"
"Didn't you hear me? I'll kill you unless you give me a plausible explanation." Before Krel could say anything, the man cut him off and warned him once more.
"I HAVE AN INFORMANT." Krel answered, it wasn't a lie because he really did have an Informant. The System.
"Did you come here with him? No." The man shook his head. "Did he come here with you? Why are you alone? A Noob shouldn't be able to get here all by himself."
"Well, you got your answer right there. That Informant isn't here. But a friend of mine was generous enough to take me here to help boost my level. As you can see, I am a newbie and it's my first time playing the game. But that person who was supposed to help me suddenly had something else to do so he left me here all alone. I thought you were following me earlier? Wasn't it obvious that I was communicating through a voice channel? We've only just heard of the news, and why would we believe it? Because the Informant's Father is a Scientist that works for the company in charge of UNREALITY." Krel said in response as his lips curled into a smile. He improvised and made up his own story.
None of it were real, he just didn't want to reveal the System, it was a powerful hacking tool after all. If people found out, imagine what kind of trials and tortures Krel would have to go through.
"Oh? Tell them to come here, I'd like to have a conversation with them." The man sneered. "A Scientist that works for UNREALITY, huh." Then, the man frowned to the point wrinkles could be seen on his forehead, he was running out of patience. Krel was aware that the man was also afraid of the possibility of turning into a monster. Only that the man looked like he needed to do something else. The man was constantly checking his map in his user interface like he was busy locating something.
'Uh, you mean interrogate and threaten? If this guy knows about the project, then he should know as well as I do about what would happen if he chooses to stay any longer before the scheduled time, 5:30 AM. If I make him wait any longer, he'll kill me, making me lose such good opportunity to collect information about the project. I can't let that happen.' Krel was making careful judgements in his mind while maintaining his poker face.
"Looks like they've already logged out. Both of their status just turned to grey."
He looked on the top right corner where he could see the time [5:17 AM].
Time was running out! Yet, the man looked unperturbed.
'Does this man not know when the project is taking place?' Thought Krel.
"Seeing that we don't have much time left, I think it's about time to get serious. I'll make this fast, I believe that we both know something the other doesn't." Krel declared. The unconvincing expression that he previously had was now replaced by a serious expression. He now boasted an air of confidence around him. The situation was grave, he couldn't afford to waste any more time so he decided to drop his act.
I'm getting excited at how this situation will develop.
Thanks for the chapters~!
You have caught my interest
SAO-ish conspiracy brewing :D