Chapter 144 The Butterfly Effect

Login Space, in a certain conference room.

"Hee hee hee... very good, the first one succeeded smoothly." Woody crossed his legs on the desk, hands behind his head, watching the broadcast screen as he muttered.

"Your tone makes it sound like you're describing a 'chess piece' that has been 'used to its full potential'," Vincent replied leisurely from across the conference table.

"Isn't that what it is?" Woody retorted.

Sid, on the other side of the conference table, said, "I just can't understand how this plan has progressed to this point with so many variables..."

"Didn't I explain it to you already..." Vincent turned his head earnestly to lecture him. "The special invitation player setting is to ensure that those 'ten people' can appear before Lute."

"That's the strangest part..." Sid said. "Xu Huai Shang hasn't even entered the finals, isn't that one person short?"

"Yes... that is indeed a problem." Vincent said, turning his head to look at Woody. "I wanted to ask you about that too."

"Hee hee hee... it's simple, because someone tampered with the group assignments during the [Butterfly War]." Woody replied with a sinister smile.

"Oh? Who?" Vincent asked.

"To be honest, I don't know either... it should be one of the Archangels." Woody pushed up his glasses, which gleamed with a white light.

Sid looked puzzled. "But in the past few days, I haven't heard of any Archangels being killed or falling..."

Woody replied with a smile, "Hee hee hee... don't worry, it's not that Simon is neglecting his duties, but that I, as the organizer of the competition, tacitly approved of their actions."

"Is that allowed?" Vincent asked.

"Of course, it is." Woody replied. "The Peak Tournament is just an activity in the game, and its rules have nothing to do with the bet. As the game's designer, operator, and technical supervisor, I naturally have the right to manage the competition."

"So... as long as you don't protest, then the matter of changing the groups will be swept under the rug?" Vincent asked.

"Hee hee hee... that's right." Woody said with a sinister smile.

"Oh... I understand." Vincent said. "That's a clever move."

"Of course, it is," Woody said.

Sid was dumbfounded. He looked left and right before interjecting, "Hey! What are you talking about! I don't understand!"

"This is a method of feigning indifference and using someone else as a knife..." Vincent recited in a literary tone.

"Teacher! Please explain it in layman's terms!" Sid said again.

"Alright..." Vincent shrugged and explained, "First of all, according to Woody's prior calculations, he needs ten people to defeat Lute's ten forms respectively. As for the candidates... they were naturally already determined. In order to reduce the probability of these people being accidentally eliminated before entering the finals, Woody set up the 'special invitation player' slots."

Woody continued, "According to the original arrangement, the system would not allow these ten seeded players to meet in the random groupings of the [Butterfly War]. But some busybodies from Heaven seemed to be dissatisfied with this arrangement. So... when the groupings were announced, there was a pairing of Feng Bujue and Xu Huai Shang."

"Wait... if they wanted to cause trouble, why not just arrange for all ten seeded players to meet each other in pairs?" Sid asked.

"Hee hee hee... isn't that obvious?" Woody laughed.

"You kid really hasn't improved after all these decades..." Vincent took over, looking at Sid with disdain and said, "I no longer expect you to calculate the developments five or six steps ahead, I only ask that you can see the changes in the next one or two steps. But you're still asking this kind of question..." He shook his head and sighed, then asked in return, "If they really did it the way you said, would that still be called 'tampering'?"

"Hmm... it would be too obvious, right..." Sid said.

"'The fact that ten special invitation players happened to be assigned to five groups in the [Butterfly War]...' Woody continued, 'Even if I believed it, the players wouldn't~ If they made a fuss on the forums... hee hee hee... I could just issue an announcement taking advantage of the situation—'re-randomize', and the problem would be solved.'" He paused for a second, then added, "Furthermore, the people tampering with it still have to be wary of Simon's presence and wouldn't dare to go too far."

"Of course, I think there are also some personal factors involved." Vincent added, "Why were the two people who met by chance Feng Bujue and Xu Huai Shang? This is undoubtedly targeting Woody..."

Woody laughed, "Hee hee hee... I'm happy to see it."

"In any case... Xu Huai Shang's elimination, although it will have some impact on the Peak Tournament, the result will not change." Vincent continued, "And those guys in Heaven, thinking they've pulled a fast one and gained an advantage, will be quiet for a while because of it." His expression suddenly turned gloomy. "Woody's feigned ignorance has given them this one lucky break, and this lucky break... may one day become the prelude to their destruction..."

…………

At the same time, in the various broadcast areas of the Shopping Mall, and in the conference rooms of various guilds.

A rather strange atmosphere was spreading...

Although most people wouldn't think of some supernatural settings because of the match before their eyes, the audience still felt that the atmosphere of this final was somewhat abnormal...

There were many players who had obviously been killed, but their corpses had not turned into white light and disappeared. This alone was inconsistent with the game's basic settings.

In addition... when the friends of those fallen players observed them from their friend lists, they would find that these players were still in the "in the game" state. This was also an irrational situation.

Finally, there was the issue of the Derivatives...

At this point, the existence of Derivatives was an undeniable fact. Many people in the audience had heard of the word "Derivative". They had heard of this term on the forums, but no reliable official channel had ever confirmed the existence of Derivatives.

Until today, on the stage of the Peak Tournament, this group of mysterious "peculiar NPCs" made their debut. Their AI and strength were beyond doubt; and the most intriguing thing was... they directly called the players "players".

Were they just game easter eggs in Thriller Paradise? Or uncontrolled data with self-awareness? Or something else?

At this moment, people could not know the answer.

But they all faintly felt... after this Peak Tournament ended, Thriller Paradise would usher in a huge change.