[Online Games] The world is your enemy

Toddler: "Can you give me two steamed buns?"

Player A hastily handed in the buns and completed the task.

The toddler immediately returned her attention to her own play, as if he had never made the request.

But soon, another player passed by...

The toddler raised his head as if he had received some order: "Can you give me two steamed buns?"

Such scenes often appear in Xue Pei's life.

The place where he is now is called Kongqueping, which is a relatively peaceful small village in Jiuli.

He has lived in this small village since he came here a few days ago.Aunt Jinhua in the village was willing to provide him with a place to stay, provided that he could help with some chores—Xue Pei naturally agreed happily.

He is not interested in fighting monsters and upgrading, such a peaceful life is very good for him.

His current property panel looks like this...

Name: Xue Pei

Level: 8,

Strength: 10, Body: 7, Sensitivity: 1, Disease: 1, Soul: 4, Mind: 1

Level 8 is the lowest level for coming to Jiuli after completing the task in the novice area... But to be honest, his current cursed attribute point is not as good as the level 1 novice who just came in.If it is a normal player, the initial attributes after birth at level 1 are higher than his state...

But Xue Pei doesn't care about it, he thinks his life is good now.After giving up fighting monsters and upgrading, he just lived with NPCs in Kongqueping.

The environment here is similar to that of ancient China, where we work at sunrise and rest at sunset, and it is generally peaceful.

It's just... It's different every time a player appears.

The toddler asked, "Can you give me two steamed buns?"

The little guy at the entrance of the village would ask the same question every time he saw the player.And the same goes for other people in the village, just like Aunt Jinhua borrowed scissors from different people every day, and the little couple in the east had to stage countless life and death farewells every day.

Xue Pei named this phenomenon "Player Rules" in his heart.

He has also seen this kind of player rules himself - when he was in Taigu Tongmen, he was almost driven crazy by the phrase "Help collect a Sanwei Zhenhuo".

Player rules are above everything else... When encountering player-related quests, any NPC must stop what they are doing and start speaking quest-related lines.Although Aunt Jinhua doesn't need scissors at all, and the steamed buns collected by the little boy at the entrance of the village these days... can already make the little guy open a shop and get rich.

But when Xue Pei tentatively asked about these NPC parties, the other party's reaction was blank. "When will I ask people for steamed buns?" the little boy at the entrance of the village asked wonderingly.

"You asked, just now."

"No, no one came just now."

"You have no impression of the player doing the task at all?"

"What is... a player?" The young boy was disturbed by him, and shouted at him, "I don't know about those...don't ask me! If you ask me again, I will sue my mother!"

——This rule overrides all common sense.

And sometimes players disappear out of thin air when they go online and offline in the village, and the people in the village don't seem to see it.When Xue Pei asked them, their reaction was: "Have you never seen such a strange person?"

It seems that there is an invisible strange force that makes them turn a blind eye to the player, but serves the player every day.

Xue Pei liked the peaceful life in Kongqueping very much. He felt that Aunt Jinhua and other people in the village were very good people—if there were no weird player rules, he would really think that he was still living in the real world.

The server he stayed on seemed to have just opened, and there were often new players passing by around Kongqueping.

But no one has bothered him... People who passed by probably regarded him as a new NPC.

Only Shuitian Zhilan would occasionally say a few words to him—after the same boat that day, this Shuitian Zhilan would come over to say hello to him every now and then.

After learning that Xue Pei had been staying in Kongqueping, Shui Tianzhilan was stunned: "You are too talented!" He was stunned for a long time before he dared to continue talking to Xue Pei, "I have seen casual players, But I have never seen a casual player as fierce as you... What are you playing in just one village?" Xue Pei just smiled and didn't say anything.Later, Shui Tianzhilan invited "Come to the dungeon, I will take you" several times, but he refused each time.

Shui Tianzhilan is the only player he has contact with now, and in all fairness... his personality is not annoying.Although he regarded Xue Pei as a girl, he never showed excessive courtesy.

Maybe... Can you really ask Shuitian Zhilan to help?

Xue Pei even seriously considered this issue - he couldn't use the game's private chat communication system himself, but he could ask other players to do it for him.A few of his good friends from the past also went to play the new area of ​​"The World". He remembered their IDs, and he might be able to find them if he searched.

But he quickly dismissed the idea...

Even if someone is willing to help him find...even if he really finds those good buddies...what can he do?

No one would believe him—instead, if someone online said “I’m actually an internet ghost of your best friend after you died”—it would just be taken as a nasty, hurtful joke.

It cannot be said, and it is meaningless to say it.

The friends...family...the bright future...are no longer his.Xue Pei sometimes even had an illusion - trapped in the game and not restricted by the "player rules", is he a player or an NPC?

Although in real life, "who am I" and "what is the meaning of my existence" are just pretending to be profound philosophical questions... But for Xue Pei at this time, it is a practical question.

What is he now?

"Bang, bang, bang."

A slow and rhythmic knock on the door called him back from his self-awareness.

Xue Pei asked casually, "Is it Shuitian? Is there something wrong?"

He thought it was Shuitian Zhilan who was back again, because he was the only player he was familiar with so far—and Aunt Jinhua and other NPCs never knocked on the door.

At this time, he was still a little angry, thinking that this Shuitian Zhilan was a little too brain-dead.It's not that I haven't explained the gender issue to him, and it will only make people disgusted if I keep pestering him like this... So his tone was slightly annoyed, and he said without thinking:

"What are you doing again?"

In the end, it was a calm voice that answered him: "Hehe, can't I come?"

Xue Pei raised his head.

At the door of this simple private house is Yu Jizi's spotless blue robe, and the setting sun is projected from behind him.

"..."

Xue Pei had the urge to cry... He really didn't expect to see this BOSS again in this situation... The level difference is so big, how can he be paid attention to by this BOSS!

Let's not say that he is far inferior to ordinary players...even if he is an ordinary player, he has to be upgraded to level 67 or above to build a good supply team before he dares to go to Yujizi...and he has to destroy a whole copy on the way mobs...

But why come to me... the BOSS has become something that you will bump into when you are sitting at home?

"You...why did you come to Kongqueping! This low-level area is not your domain..." Xue Pei stared at the door for a long time, really not knowing what to say.

As a result, Yujizi gave him a concise and clear answer——

"Passing by."

"..."