Chapter 3 — Surrounded By Danger!

Lin Xiaolu has been immobilised, and cannot see the invisible enemy’s incoming attack!

Edited by Planetes

Ding — Protected Player 4109874 is now online, we’re now assigning an exclusive customer service agent…

Ling Xiaolu stared at the waiting symbol in front of him, speechless. How did he end up becoming a protected player? Also, what was with that system-assigned number? If he did not know that this was a game, he would have thought that he was in prison.

The assignment of the customer service agent was pretty fast. In less than half a minute, an unknown creature appeared next to Ling Xiaolu.

“Hello! GM92735 is here to serve you wholeheartedly!”

“…”

“From today onwards, I’m your exclusive agent, I hope t-t-that put me d-d-down hey hey hey!”

Ling Xiaolu was grabbing onto the agent’s tail — if that was a tail — and lifted it up upside down. As it was suffering a violent treatment, the silver bodied little fellow struggled desperately, its claws scrabbling in the air wildly, and the long fur on the top of its head swayed back and forth.

“Maliciously attacking the GM, are you still keeping to the company’s regulation?!” That strange creature sharply denounced Ling Xiaolu’s wicked deed.

“This thing looks so strange yet it can speak,” Ling Xiaolu released it. “What exactly are you?”

The GM who finally regained its freedom tumbled through the air, flipping twice, and at last had its head facing up.

“Didn’t I just introduce myself? I’m your exclusive customer service agent that the higher ups have specially assigned to you, my ID is 92735.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. What sort of animal are you exactly?”

“Huh? Wasn’t this your special request? I’m clearly a cool, handsome Wind Pterosaur.”

“Thanks for your information. If you didn’t say it, I still thought you were a four-legged bug.”

The GM had a face full of tears, “I keep feeling like I’ve picked up a not very good task.”

“Then fine, Mr Pterosaur GM… I had always thought that the GMs would be human. Has technology already advanced so quickly?”

“I’m human! What you’re seeing now is only the disguise I made to hide my identity.”

“Hold on,” A spark appeared in Ling Xiaolu’s brain. “Manager Ke said that he’s going to give me a mini version of a Wind Pterosaur, don’t tell me that’s you?”

“Congratulations, you’ve got it right! Actually, what you’re seeing now is only an ordinary non-combative pet. But because from now on I’ll be responsible for guiding you in the game, as well as keeping your identity a secret, I’ve presumptuously borrowed your image as a pet to prevent you from attracting extra attention. Don’t you think that this is definitely the most suitable disguise?”

Ling Xiaolu was expressionless. “Can I invite you to leave my pet body?”

“Of course, but like that, I’ll resume my original human appearance. Would you prefer that from now on, in the game, there would be an adult man of 190cm and 90kg following you around? Of course, I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“I mind! Since the first time I saw you, I feel that you look extremely pleasing. Please remain inside and never take a step out!”

“As you wish. Then, next, shall I give you a beginner’s tutorial?”

“Go ahead.”

“First, <Spirit Contract> is a VR game about battling pets. In the game, players can capture and train all sorts of pets to help them fight bosses, instances and PK. It can be said that the pet system is the game’s greatest selling point, and of course, all these have nothing to do with you.”

Ling Xiaolu stared at him, his face unfriendly.

“Hahaha — cough cough — of course, other than the pet system, there are still many other things to do in this game. For example, there’s the production system, the home system, the business system, as well as a rich interactive system with people. These are all highlights of <Spirit Contract>.”

“Can you be a little more sincere? Don’t just recite from the script.”

The GM did a somersault. “Then let’s head straight into the main topic. First, I have to teach you the basic controls in this game. Do you see a button on the top right corner that’s lit up?”

Ling Xiaolu had long noticed that flashing fake button. He reached out to touch it, and a menu appeared.

“I need to clarify that the interface you’re seeing now is only visible to you, unless you personally choose to share it with others. May I ask if you’ve seen the menu?”

“I see it.”

“Please select the first item, Personal Information.”

Ling Xiaolu tapped on the first selection. On his left field of vision, a panel appeared showing various characters. The panel was translucent, and the background behind it could still be seen clearly.

“Do you see yourself?”

Ling Xiaolu saw his 3D image in the character case. When he reached out to touch it, it even spun around.

“Interesting.”

“You may have noticed that there’s no name in your display name field, as you have yet to choose a name. Now, you can decide on a stupendous name for your own character.”

The GM shook its tail, and pulled out a very large piece of Xuan paper from somewhere. The paper floated in midair, and the GM sprawled upon it, satisfied. Its claw clumsily held a Chinese brush, and it was licking at the hair at the end of the brush.

Do the special effects in this game have to be so exaggerated?

Ling Xiaolu was very depressed. He had wanted to be a renowned god-like player in the game, but now he had no choice but to sneak around and be a commoner.

A god in the mortal realm. “We’ll go with Shen Fan.”! In the annual tournament of experts in the game, Li Zheng was last year’s runner up, but everyone believed that his abilities were actually above the champion.”

“Then why did he lose?”

“He lost because of his pets. During the quarterfinals, it was pretty much a battle amongst the benefactors. Those players who filled up the top 8 spots mostly had human pets. The only one who could get a runner up position with an AI pet was only an expert like Li Zheng. However, regrettably, at the end of the day, artificial intelligence is still unable to defeat a real life person. During the finals, he lost with only a point difference. If not for his much weaker pet, he would have been the champion.”

“Li Zheng rarely appears in places with many people. If he’s also coming, then I really believe that that person is near Yuanting Town. I wonder who would be the first to capture them this time.”

“Wuwuwu, my Adonis, if I could just see him one time…”

Ling Xiaolu could not bear listening to this anymore. He needed to quickly leave this goddamn place.

“You guys basically didn’t keep your words,” Ling Xiaolu ran as he complained. Unknowingly, he had reached the forest outside town. “You promised that I won’t be captured by anyone and become their pet. Now they’re all here, and I was nearly just about to be caught easily.”

“This can’t be entirely blamed on the company. My colleagues in the technological department have already tried their best,” Ling Long spoke aggrievedly.

Ling Xiaolu hurried away. Suddenly a strange noise exploded by his ear. It was not loud, but its impact was great. Just like a blast of air, it diffused.

At the source of the sound, a powerful soundwave diffused outwards, like an enormous wave crashing onto its surroundings. All the plants and trees in the area toppled over. The soundwave traversed through Ling Xiaolu, and disappeared far into the forest where no eyes could see.

“Wow,” Even the experienced Ling Long received a shock. “Such a powerful force of air, it must have come from an expert. If I’m correct, this is an immobilisation curse to seal all skills. It’ll immobilise all beasts within a certain radius, but I’ve never seen anyone with such a wide radius before. How impressive.”

It turned its head, alarmed to see that Ling Xiaolu did not look quite right. “What happened to you?”

Ling Xiaolu was frozen in his position, unable to move. With much difficulty, he spat through his teeth, “I… c-can’t… m-move….”