Chapter 1 The Rain

The rain hadn't stopped, even as evening approached, a constant drizzle pattering outside. The only constant was the absence of pedestrians on the road.

Mingmei noticed that Qi Hai葵 and the others were already restless, watching the sky, and planning to head to the Zhang residence. She had no choice but to follow their lead.

However, given the swarm of little ghosts surrounding them, Mingmei didn't stick too close, instead trailing behind them at a moderate distance.

To prevent any sudden "face-smashing" ghosts, Guigui was especially vigilant, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Mingmei was also paying attention to the vicinity herself, and soon had Guigui scan the entire town.

She was truly uneasy. Because the Zerg had yet to show its face, Mingmei didn't know why it had come to the newbie village. After tampering with a bunch of NPC data, it seemed to be targeting not only Mu Chen's Boss character, but also her.

She, a mere boxed lunch vendor, had somehow caught the Zerg's eye, and Mingmei felt utterly wronged to be hunted from the start.

If it was targeting her to get at the players, she could understand. But from Lu Xiaoyao's perspective, it was clear that Mu Chen was being targeted, too.

Her being targeted was one thing, but why was it going after the villain Boss?

What was the purpose of this targeting?

[Host, there doesn't seem to be any unusual data flow in the entire town.]

Guigui had completely scanned all the data in the town and found no strange data fluctuations.

[You mean, that Zerg isn't here anymore?]

Mingmei felt a nagging sense of unease. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. Surely, the Zerg wouldn't tamper with things and then run without seeing the results?

[Yes.]

[Then what's going on?]

As Mingmei chatted with Guigui, she noticed that Qi Hai葵 and the others were getting further away, so she quickened her pace. But after taking a few steps, she realized something else—

"Wait, does the game map have areas outside the town?"

Mingmei seemed to recall Zhen Hu mentioning to Qi Hai葵 that he was chased by vengeful spirits outside the town at the start.

Was there any activity outside the town?

[Yes.]

Guigui seemed to remember something after Mingmei's reminder—

[The Zhang family cemetery is located outside of Baishui Town.

In the original storyline, the player who played the geomancer was supposed to see a sky full of black mist above the Zhang family graves before entering the town to examine the feng shui. Calculating with his fingers, he felt something was amiss, and that's why he entered Baishui Town, leading to the later investigation. He also happened to witness the Bai family's daughter being taken for a night wedding.

If, without the interference of the boxed lunches, and with the geomancer dying prematurely, one possible ending that non-Xuanmen (Mystic School) players could potentially achieve was to break into the Zhang family cemetery, dig up the evil ghost's grave, destroy the feng shui seal of the Zhang family's ancestral tomb, and perish together with the evil ghost.

However, that route can only be achieved by the player portraying the Bai family's daughter.]

Guigui's last sentence was a very clear hint.

It meant that if Lu Xiaoyao was playing the role of the Bai family's daughter, Mingmei would probably never see that ending no matter how many times she played ＿(：3」∠)\_

Lu Xiaoyao would cry to death if she heard that.

[Then quickly check the Zhang family cemetery.]

[Host, please wait a moment.]

When Mingmei first entered the newbie village, it was also her first time playing this role. At the time, she was nervous and inexperienced. The scope of her knowledge of the game was basically limited to the active range of the living players she had seen.

As for the geomancer who died too quickly, Mingmei had no contact with him, so naturally, she didn't understand the antecedents and consequences of his appearance. Plus, the development of Lu Xiaoyao and the others' plotlines was disrupted by the boxed lunches, and none of them rushed into the Zhang family cemetery.

Therefore, the Zhang family cemetery outside the town had always been a place Mingmei hadn't paid attention to.

[Host, you were right. There seems to be a strange cluster of data in the cemetery, but I didn't dare to scan it directly. I think with my skills, if the other party is really the Zerg, it is very likely that I will be discovered...]

[You actually think you're not up to it?]

[Host, I call that knowing my limits, not being incapable! Besides, if that guy was really that slow on the uptake, Mr. Yan Hui wouldn't have had everyone come in to find it.]

Although Guigui felt a little annoyed by Mingmei's questioning of its abilities, now was not the time for it to act on impulse. AI brains also had their own social circles and information channels.

According to what it knew, Sixth Master seemed to have suffered a loss in the game and was ambushed...

This information couldn't be directly told to the host... It, a small AI brain, didn't know all the ins and outs of the matter, and it couldn't tell Mingmei these half-understood things directly.

[Then how should I hint to the players that there's a problem with the ancestral tomb?]

Mingmei watched the two figures in front of her, who had been careful and sneaky when they left the house, but were now surrounded by forty or fifty little ghosts, and their aura had become increasingly tyrannical.

They looked as if they were about to barge in and snatch the bride. Mingmei suddenly choked back the words she wanted to say.

Could she really count on these two in their current state?

While Mingmei doubted her teammates, Mu Chen felt the same way.

Although he had managed to deceive Lu Xiaoyao and the others, making them believe that he was controlling them and that they would obey him, the more he thought about it, the more Mu Chen doubted their intelligence. Could they really cooperate with his plan?

At this moment, Mu Chen missed Mingmei even more. Although he didn't know what Mingmei was doing now, he was sure that Mingmei was also working hard to track down the Zerg's whereabouts.

However, this was the first time he had been so passive. If he caught that Zerg...

"Young Master, it's time to change your clothes."

The voice of the servant outside the door brought Mu Chen back to his senses. Mu Chen glanced coldly at the expressionless paper figure at the door.

He saw the black dotted line on the other person's body that only he could see. In the original game, this line should have connected to the Boss, but now the line was no longer connected to him.

"Put the clothes there and leave."

The paper servant put the clothes down and subconsciously avoided the spot where Lu Xiaoyao and the others had smashed a hole, which was still dripping water. Mu Chen narrowed his eyes as he stared at the other's back, seemingly pondering the degree of consciousness awakening of the NPCs in this game.

It should be known that even if Yan Hui awakened the consciousness of the NPCs in the game back then, it was not all of them. Many seemingly intelligent characters were still very stupid at the beginning.

To be able to avoid their own weaknesses without being reminded, like this paper figure, was far more "flexible" than those initial characters.

What exactly does this Zerg want to do in the game?