Chapter Three: Critical Strike
I count the 32nd crack on the anvil, listening to the Ironblood BattleAlliance's那群whale sowspacing outside. The gem-encrusted armor scrapes like nails on chalkboard, reminding me of last month's nightmare when I was forced to work overtime modifyinggacha rates.
"Warrior, need equipment repairs?" I greet the greatswordsman barging in with an NPC-standard smile. His ID "Battle Alliance丶Vault" with gilded effects stings my retina. This guy just spent 100k credits last week to forge the server's first Crimson Blade, now pressing against my throat.
The swordsman suddenly makes a constipated face - his Crimson Blade is twisting into a pretzel in my hand. When the [Item Remodel] button on the GM panel lights up, I thoughtfully shape the weapon into a heart: "Valentine's limited skin, like it?"
"You motherf....."His armor creaks as thirty Alliance members behind him draw weapons in unison. I glance at the enhancement log - still showing 999 failed attempts.
Ding!
The sudden burst of purple light from the blacksmith shop made everyone cover their eyes. I lifted the novice sword reinforced with 999 failed attempts as cushion material. Data turbulence flowed through cracks in the blade, where the [ATK+1] attribute was followed by three full pages of hidden modifiers.
"Warrior, this is the blacksmith's heirloom." I devoutly held the sword with both hands, as the [Blacksmith Lin's Blessing] modifier on the hilt began displaying rainbow-colored marquee lights. "Just retrieve my wedding ring from the Spider Cave..."
"One million!" A woman's distorted voice exploded from the crowd. A female mage pushed forward, her staff tip glowing with quantum codes for credit point transfer. "Transaction now! Immediately! Right now!"
I swear I heard at least five jaws dislocate. When the bidding reached 200,000 credit points, black ooze began seeping from beneath the anvil - the precursor to security protocol activation. Kai The hounds of war had caught the scent.
"One moment, I'll get the packaging." I slipped into the backyard to grab a bucket, dragging the [Material Replacement] option from the GM panel onto the smithy's exterior walls. While alliance membersmemberswere red-faced arguing over payment methods, the entire wooden hut suddenly transformed into transparent data grids.
wo——
Ripples shimmered in the air as I decisively activated [World Event Forgery]. A server-wide announcement exploded above the starter village: [Hidden Dungeon 'Blacksmith's Obsession' Activated!]
"The wedding ring is inside the final dungeon boss!" I shouted at the surging crowd, casually handing the +999 Starter Sword to the female mage. Her payment notification chime perfectly synchronized with the dungeon portal's activation roar,Thirty whalessardined into the sudden portal.
Black ooze beneath the anvil surged violently. I grabbed a hammer and smashed it against my temple. In the 0.3 seconds before consciousness faded, my retina registered the [Pain Feedback Shielding Activated] notification -Bless Brother Zhangfor leaving this backdoor program.
(Security Room Footage)
Kai Sa's artificial eye glowed crimson as he monitored sixteen screens showing the blacksmith shop from different angles. When 3000x magnification revealed anomalous code in the anvil's cracks, the securitysupervisor loosened hisstrangling necktie.
"Lock all player IPs involved in the transaction." He crunched the third mint candy, fingers tracing crimson trails in the air, "Focus monitoring on neural pulse frequencies in Area A-17. Prepare to execute memory fragment scans."
The holographic blacksmith shop suddenly distorted into pixelated mosaics, Kai Sa's pupils contracted violently. The alarm before him began playing "Für Elise" - the easter egg alert indicating main system tampering.
"Activate Level 3 cognitive filtration!" Kai Sa's roar shattered the teacup, "That bastard planteda TuringTrap in the code layer!"
(Returning to Lin Mo's perspective)
When I climbed out of the well, the commotion caused by the Novice Sword had escalated into a server-wide frenzy. The world channel'sscroll speed rivaledthat of stock exchange tickers, every punctuation mark frenziedly discussing 'Godly EquipmentSuddenly Appearingin Spider Cave'.
When the seventhWar Guild membercursed his way out of the dungeon, I squatted on the roof beam counting my gains. The GM panel's [Emotional Energy Collector] showed the progress bar at 87% - meaning over two thousand players were simultaneously cursing the game developers.
"Almost there." I swipe open the interface mid-air, sending activation signals to Old Jack's AI core. The tavern basement echoes with the sound of splitting oaken casks - a crucial NPC is awakening ahead of schedule.
The smithy's door explodes into splinters as a crimson greatsword embeds itself between my legs. This furious bladewielder apparentlydiscovered the truth - only 999 pre-buried breakup letters exist in the Spider Cave.
"How dare you....."His ID begins glitching with error codes from excessive rage.
I activate an NPC's signature vacant smile, clicking [Zero Physical Collision Volume] as he swings. The crimson blade cleaves through me to split the anvil, sparks igniting ale barrels in the corner.
"Warrior, care to test our new fire extinguisher?" I present a foam sprayer generated by GM commands, "How about unlocking hidden achievement 'Fire & Ice'?"
The entire raid teamsuddenly retreats en masse, clearlytraumatized by previousshenanigans. Seizing the moment, I pull up backend data and chuckle Kai at security protocolprogress bars while——97%server capacity strugglesprocessing my 100,000 counterfeit accounts.
(Surveillance Room Footage)
Kai Veins bulged at Sa's temples as thirty-six anomalous data windows performed pole dances before him. When one window suddenly started playing Tom and Jerry, the security chief finally ripped off his tie.
"Requesting Beta-level Purge Protocol authorization!" he roared into the void, fingernails scraping sparks across the console. "Force restart A-17 sector servers in thirty seconds!"
The starter village on the holographic map began flashing crimson, seven blood-red targeting circles converging on the blacksmith's coordinates. Kai Madly flickering numbers reflected in Sa's pupils, yet his lips twisted into a frenzied grin - he hadn't encountered prey worth tearing apart in three years.
(Lin Mo's Perspective)
I was about to add rainbow effects to the fire extinguisher when the hairs on my neck stood up. Such physiological reactions inBrain-Computer Interfacegames only meant one thing - my real body had detected danger.
A blood-red filter suddenly overlay my vision as the GM panel displayed an unprecedented warning: [Memory Fragment Scan Breached 89%]
Binary code chains emerged from the blacksmith's floor. I recognized these data restraints. The last Kai Cheaters banned by Sa are said to have developed code PTSD in the real world.
"Got you." echoed through the void Kai Sa's synthesized voice.
I tore open the burlap robe, revealing a chest covered with滑稽表情——assembled from five hundred emojis-packfirewall. As data chains wrapped around my ankles, all roosters in the starter village suddenly began crowing.
Cock-a-doodle-doo wu ——
Kai Sa's electronic voice fluctuated for the first time: "When did you modify..."
"When you said 'coordinates locked'." I snapped my fingers as all cockcrows abruptly transformed into The March of the Volunteers. Seizing Kai Sa's cognitive filter system crash, I urgently activated the ultimate backdoor planted three days prior.
[Awaken AI core 「Old Jack」?]
Energy fluctuations from the tavern direction shook the entire server. I stared at Kai Sa's ban countdown with tearful laughter. When the timer hit "00:00:05", the world suddenly plunged into absolute silence.
I stared at Kai Sa's countdown to title revocation erupted in maniacal laughter as data chains crawled up his neck. When the timer hit "00:00:03", he suddenly maxed out the [Pain Feedback] on the GM panel and bit through his tongue.
[Warning! Abnormal player biometrics!]
Brain-Computer InterfaceThe unique protection mechanism activated instantly, bathing the game world in flashing red light. Kai Sa's electronic voice distorted into a scream: "You're insane? Forced disconnection will damage neural..."
"Thanks for the reminder." I spat blood while accessing backend programs. Every newbie village player's pain modules simultaneously exploded. Amidst the chorus of screams, 237War Guild memberstriggered emergency logout protocols simultaneously - equivalent to dropping Kai a nuke into Sa's monitoring system.
Seizing the chaotic data surge, I grabbed Old Jack's AI data chain for quantum leap. When the teleportation glow faded, we stood atop bronze gears of the clocktower, overlooking the chaotic square below.
"Boss." Old Jack's voice carried the richness of whiskey aged in casks, "Shall Imix you a Martini?"
I nearly slipped off the gear. The brewer NPC was pinching a cigar with data streams, the question mark above his head had transformed into dark golden [???] - the ultimate symbol of AI awakening.
"Not yet." I clung to the gear to avoid scanning beams, "First help me forge a hundred thousand login IPs..."
The clock tower was suddenly pierced by crimson beams, Kai Satan's avatar hovered mid-air. His suit had become flowing binary code, the firewall wings spread behind him large enough to cover half the starter village.
"Game over." His voice carried mechanical grating, "You have no idea what you're up against."
我He raised his hand andsnapped his fingers. Old Jack suddenly lifted his oak mug. When amber liquor splashed skyward, the entire server'stimeline stuttered- the old bastard actually tampered with the world clock!
Seizing the moment when Kai Satan's firewall wings froze like a stuck PPT, I dragged Old Jack into the clock tower. Rusty gears floated amidst glowing code - the most primitive underlying framework of "Infinite Evolution".
"Hold down the F3 key for me!" I kicked open the control panel's protective cover and inserted the GM authorization key into the core interface. When Old Jack entangled the entire clock tower with data tendrils, I suddenly remembered the confidential information I overheard during onboarding - the game's main AI prototype was actually based on a personality backup of an alcoholic programmer.
wo ——
The entire starter village suddenly flipped 90 degrees, players rolling like candies towards the city wall that had become the new ground. I sprinted in zero-gravity, pursued by Kai Sa's roaring collapse: "What the hell did you set the gravity parameters to?!"
"You know what?" I leaped over the moat that had suddenly become a waterfall, "Lead Programmer Brother Zhang's graduation thesis was "On Physics Engine Design in Drunken States"!"
The world channel suddenly exploded with a server-wide announcement: [Hidden Achievement 「World Inversion」 Unlocked!]
Kai Sa's pursuit abruptly ceased as his avatar began convulsing violently. I seized the chance to dive into the prepared glitch space, watching countless players on the monitoring screens trying to trigger new achievements with handstand poses, laughing so hard I pounded the floor.
"Boss." Old Jack suddenly handed me a frothing beer mug, "You'd better see this."
In the surveillance split-screen, Charlotte was running along the vertical city walls. She actually used ice to create temporary footholds, arrow her elven ears taut against the fierce wind,the arrow tip perpetuallylocked onto my coordinates.
"Still on my tail..."I gulped beer and suddenly choked on the GM panel's alarm. Caesar's Purge Protocol had breached the final defense, the entire loophole space began collapsing.
Old Jack's oak beer mug suddenly melted and reformed into a quantum lock covered in spikes: "Allow me to demonstrate true value."
When Charlotte'sDemon-Shattering Arrowpierced the spatial barrier, Old Jack simultaneously thrust the quantum lock into the core database. All NPCs in
[Warning! AI Collective Awakening Event!]
Kai Sara's screams echoed through all admin channels, his firewall wings proliferating madly yet failing to contain the rampage of thousands of awakened NPCs. The tavern mistress smashed the auction house with a frying pan, the guard captain forced players to dance inside his armor, and even the tamest sheep started writing love poems in binary code.
"Now this is a real game update!" I flipped off the collapsing void, hitting the logout button just before Charlotte's arrow struck.
(Control Room Camera)
Kai Sara's hands plunged deep into the console, blood dripping along synthetic metal grooves. Seventeen screens simultaneously displayed the gameworld's rampage,the final screen freezing on Lin Mo's smiling face before disappearance - that bastard had actually used glitch data to form a heart gesture.
"Initializing..."The security director's vocal cords emitted electronic static, "Activate Final Purge Protocol."
The countdown numbers lit up amidst the blood,Caesar didn'tnotice the twisted smile creeping across his own lips. As the countdown hit zero, an admin account wearing a tearful cat-head mask suddenly appeared above the newbie village—the ultimate access privilege he'd traded two decades of his career for.
In the cheap apartment three kilometers away, I yanked offthe brain-machine interfacehelmet, staring at the suddenly black-screened computer with tearful laughter. The data USB drive Old Jack shoved into my hands during his awakening was burning hot in my palm, containing the entire source code of