In fact, what Copernicus and Galileo were performing wasn't something players at level 18 could do. Although the two of them were dashing on the flat ground, people could feel that they were putting their feet on the duckweed and gliding on the water surface just like they were using the legendary 'qinggong'. From the game aspects, this was caused by piles of skills heaping up altogether to create tremendous effects.
The two small BOSS monsters crossing the woods to approach them were two misshapen creatures, which were formed by fragments of dead bodies, barely appearing in human shape. Their appearance could be described as a combination of nauseating and horrendous things. However, their powers were average. Thus, among the six players in this scenario, besides the GMs, it wouldn't matter if they chose a random player to play against these small BOSS mobs. Of course, it required a certain cost.
The blade coldly sparkled, and the body was only as strong as a bowstring.
Copernicus and Galileo used the same type of weapon. They also had the similar fighting capacity with their timing almost the same as well. These two understood the monsters' data well, so it was no doubt that they could nearly kill the opponents in just one strike. At most, it would take three strikes to end the fight.
But… right at the moment they struck their attack, an unexpected situation happened.
It wasn't that the two small BOSS mobs had their power surged all of a sudden, but they just died abruptly… Only the two of them knew that these two monsters had died unknowingly right at the moment before they were hit. When their sabers slashed their bodies, the two monsters had already become two corpses falling forward with momentum.
In other words, it was like seeing a wild man holding a brick and storming towards you, but right when he's about to reach you, he had a heart attack and dies.
However, only the two GMs knew this. Feng Bujue couldn't see it anyway. In the eyes of outsiders, in this fight, Copernicus and Galileo had just used one slash to kill the two monsters in just a blink of an eye.
The three players from Order soon arrived. Invincible Hero was the first one to speak up in shock. "What kind of joke is that?! Turns out you guys are professional gamers too?"
"There's something wrong… We didn't kill these two mobs." Galileo opened his GM's menu to check while talking. His face suddenly became grim.
At this moment, their surroundings changed accordingly. All illusions vanished, and the woods turned back to its original appearance. With a further look, they could see they were actually not far from the field at the foot of the mountain.
Feng Bujue had a quick reaction as he immediately asked Copernicus, "Is the magic formation inoperative now?"
"Why do you ask me… How could I know—" Copernicus hadn't finished speaking, yet Feng Bujue interrupted him, "Why did it become inoperative?"
"So… Why do you want to ask me?!"
"Because you are good at Investigating Specialty," Feng Bujue answered boldly and confidently with justice on his side.
"In your mind, such Investigating Specialty," Copernicus' mouth convulsed, "means knowing nothing?"
"If you say so, I can change the question." Feng Bujue's visage and aura had a great change all of a sudden as if his eyes were saying your pretending game should end here.
Although there was a light of frenzy in his eyes, his countenance remained calm and confident. Feng Bujue directly asked, "Did the Derivative cause this?"
"Pffff…" Zen In Scary Dream sprayed out the swig of beer he just took.
Order Studio also had the information regarding the Derivatives… but it was sporadic. Besides the existence of the Derivatives, they just had some trivial information from the ones who had met them.
Ye Zhi's and Invincible Hero's level wasn't high enough in the studio, so this was the first time they had heard this word. However, top position players like Zen In Scary Dream could access more information about the game in the company. That's why he knew it. Of course, the information he knew was concluded in just one sentence: "In the Multiplayer Survival Mode scenarios for six players, there is a minute possibility to meet a kind of uncontrollable data." Something regarding the features of the Derivatives, the GM's interference when the scenario was being generated and the GM's competence… Order Studio didn't have the related information.
The reliable records about the Derivatives that Order had were just two. The first time was when a team of six reported to their manager that they had met a humanoid creature, which addressed itself as a Derivative. This creature had formidable powers, and its intelligence was far beyond the standard BOSS in the scenario. Moreover, it wasn't related to the plot. The second time it happened was also to a team of six with the same situation. The reporter said that the Derivative had cooperated with the BOSS in the scenario to kill the team. After the former team had a short verbal communication with the Derivative, the information that Order got was classified as high-level confidential data and to be kept a secret.
Zen In Scary Dream was startled mainly because the word 'Derivative' came out from this 'Unidentified Mental Disorder' guy. Is it true that Hell's Front Line Union, a union with no credit at all, could be able to collect and analyze information as well as Order? How many members do they have? How many of them are professional gamers?
Needless to say, Copernicus' and Galileo's complexions were kind of interesting. Even Zen In Scary Dream had such reactions, being the real GMs, it could be imagined how they would react.
"What are... you talking….about…" Galileo still hoped that he would still be lucky, trying to pretend naïve so they would let it go.
"Do you need me to say it straight away?" Feng Bujue said, "Please, Da-Ge, please check your GM menu to see whether the ineffectiveness of the magic formation near us is related to the Derivative's activities."
The three from Order looked at Copernicus and Galileo as if they were watching monsters. Then they shifted their looks, which used to look at super awesome monsters to study Feng Bujue. The amount of information he had said was too much; moreover, the atmosphere was now a little bit tense that they didn't want to say anything.
The two GMs then exchanged looks. Galileo smiled, looked at Feng Bujue and said, "Later when we're done with this scenario, you'll need to talk to our manager."
"Just talk about our current situation first," said Feng Bujue. "When the illusion disappeared, I've used [Planned Victory from a Thousand Miles Away] to check…" Anyway, GMs knew players' skills, though he just explained it directly. "Nothing showed up." He paused then asked, "I assumed that the Derivative had killed the two small BOSSES here?"
"The Aggrieved Well still exists, but it has lost its strength. It's the same with the other three magic formations in the mountain. Just recently, they all lost their effect at the same time," answered Galileo.
"At the same time?" said Feng Bujue. He continued after two seconds. "Except for the case that there are four Derivatives taking action at the same time, the problem should be from 'the power source.'"
"To cut off the power supply of the Aggrieved Well, besides breaking the formations, there's another way, indeed… That way, instead of calling it 'cutting off,' it should be called 'destroying'," said Copernicus.
"According to the latest information about the FLAGs… this scenario has one BOSS called Vahiru, but he wasn't on this map. We couldn't find his detailed data either. We just knew that in case we hadn't destroyed the three formations but already jumped into the Aggrieved Well, we would meet this BOSS. I guess that the Derivative had come to the other world in the Aggrieved Well and killed this BOSS, which deactivated all four formations here," said Galileo. When he was talking about this, he understood why the coordinates of the Derivative had been on and off previously. Considering the reason, 80% that it was when the Derivative had entered the other world.
"Uhm… Then we have a problem here…" answered Feng Bujue. "So why we are still not done with this game?"
"It…" Galileo actually didn't know.
Copernicus said, "I think the problem comes from the Main Quest. Currently, the content of the Main Quest is still 'Enter the mountain, seek the abandoned Shrine.' Maybe it's because we haven't triggered the next FLAG that led to our current situation." From his line of sight, they knew that he was checking his GM menu while talking. "If we successfully break any magic formation in the mountain, the Main Quest would be updated to 'Break all four Seizing Soul Formations - Seal the power of the Aggrieved Well.' And, if we directly met the true BOSS, the Main Quest would be updated to 'Destroy Vahiru'. But now, we haven't done anything, and all the formations have been deactivated."
"This means the Main Quest is stuck right at the first step…" Feng Bujue mused, "Interesting… If this is true, then right now that real BOSS is done, and there's nothing else in the scenario that can help us update the Main Quest. How can we pass this scenario?"
"You seem to know a lot," said Copernicus. "Then we should make it clear here." He turned around to see the three from Order. "The four of you, please leave the scenario."
"What?! What?" answered Invincible Hero. "The three of you just stand there, say confusing things, and then you ask us to leave? If we leave in the middle of the scenario, we will receive a penalty which keeps us from joining the team for a while. Moreover, we won't receive any rewards. To us, this loss is worth considering compared to getting all members of the party killed."
"I'm sorry. Considering the current situation, this scenario has a BUG where you can't finish the game," answered Galileo. "As Mister Feng has said, the Main Quest got stuck now, and we have no other way around."
As if he was afraid that Invincible Hero couldn't understand, Feng Bujue added, "This is much better than Li Xiao when he has just left Yuhang Town and the Leader of the Moon Worshiping Cult (1) got shot by an alien with his antimatter weapons. Even if you continue to play, you can't complete the scenario."
Copernicus continued, "We have errands to run here, which involves ways to solve the Derivative. If you guys stay, even if the Derivative won't kill you, you're just wasting your time, and at the end, you still have to leave the scenario." He knew he couldn't lie to them anymore, so he used the rhetoric the company had fabricated for them in case they encountered a critical problem. "As for the players' loss, if it's systematic causes, we will give some type of compensation to you. After we're done with this scenario, we will report to the manager on this situation. The relevant staff will contact you to offer the solution. I believe you guys will be satisfied with the results."
"You are two GMs, so can you explain to us what the Derivatives are?" asked Ye Zhi.
"I'm sorry Miss. We have no right to disclose this," answered Galileo.
Ye Zhi's reaction was really similar to the trick Feng Bujue had used on Pan Feng and Hua Xiong. "You should know that we are from Order Studio," she boldly said, "With our studio's ability, if we announce this on the official website of the game producers—"
"These are also your rights." Galileo remained calm as if he had a reliable backup. "The company knows how to deal with or explain this," he said firmly. In fact, it was because of the story between Pan Feng, Hua Xiong and Feng Bujue in the other scenario. When the managers saw their reports, they immediately set the new rules. In case their GM identities were exposed, they should answer the players following a standard process. Facing Ye Zhi, they just needed to give her such answers.
Anyway, the information about the Derivatives had soon been disclosed. Just the four of them here, including the members from big studios, didn't know it yet.
Indeed, within the two days in the transition between Close Beta and Open Beta, someone had posted topics about the Derivatives on the forum. However, they had been quickly drowned and not worth mentioning as they were just 'strange stories spreading among a small group of players'. Apparently, players now, or we should say people nowadays rarely believe in rumors. Who is to be blamed? Strange news on the network? Ha, ha.
"Well… if you say so—" Ye Zhi still wanted to say something.
Zen In Scary Dream swayed his arm, signaling her to stop, then he spoke up himself, "Ye Zhi, sharp words don't have any meaning here." He suddenly revealed a compelling manner, seriously facing Copernicus and Galileo. "Don't be worried. I can ensure to you two that Order will not disclose any information related to GMs and the Derivatives." His calculation was clear. Such information would be more valuable as long as not many people knew about it.
"Anyway," Zen In Scary Dream shifted the topic, "currently, leaving the scenario or not is our own choice, right?"
Galileo understood him. "Yes, if you want to contact the Derivative, we will not prevent you from doing so."
Copernicus shrugged and smiled. "I'm reminding you with my goodwill. The Derivatives are stronger than any BOSS in the scenarios you have ever played. When you get killed, don't be so surprised that the other is fast too."
"They just want to utilize their possibilities to gather more intelligence. And, when they got killed and leave the scenario, they won't receive a penalty like when they withdraw," Feng Bujue intervened. "And, by the way, I want to see that Derivative too."
"You also want to collect information?" Zen In Scary Dream looked at Feng Bujue and grunted.
"I'm just a typical player, I don't have as many responsibilities as you guys do," answered Feng Bujue. "I'm just interested in it."
The only Derivative Feng Bujue had met was X-23. He didn't expect to meet her again. According to the Derivatives' situation, X-23 perhaps had already been destroyed. The chance to meet her one more time was zero. Thus, Feng Bujue thought that it would be a strange Level 4 Derivative he was about to encounter in this scenario.
His curiosity was overwhelming as it was really rare to meet another Derivative. Feng Bujue suddenly had an urge to know more about this particular group of living beings, communicate with them, and observe what difference they had, whether they had the intelligence or even unique characters similar to the creatures in reality.
"It's up to you then," said Galileo. "But there's something I have to tell in advance. Our purpose is to destroy the Derivatives and 'kill' them, turning them into fragments of data. No matter how the situation turns out, this has always been our priority. If you just want to stay there and watch to collect intelligence, it's okay. If you want to help us, we'd appreciate that. But please, don't hinder us."
The three from Order expressed that they agreed with him, only Feng Bujue remained silent. After roughly ten seconds, he suddenly asked, "There's something I want to confirm… Is it true that you two can't receive the Protagonist's Halo?"
Galileo was hesitant a bit then answered, "Yeah… But… How did you know that?"
"Don't look at me like that. I just guessed. From the beginning of the scenario, the Protagonist's Halo has been shifted randomly three times. Invincible Hero got it twice, and Ye Zhi got it once," Feng Bujue answered. "The shifting on purpose has happened three times. Invincible Hero got it once, and I got it twice." He threw a glance at Zen In Scary Dream. "The ones who haven't received the Protagonist's Halo are you two GMs and Zen-Ge.
"In the short introduction of the plots, the part which mentioned the Halo, they repeated many times the word 'Players'. Only one time it didn't. It's the sentence 'When the number of members in the party is less than or equal to two, the Halo will disappear.' After I could confirm you two are the GMs, I thought that if the system doesn't consider you guys the players, this feature of the Halo is reasonable."
"You mean… if this scenario didn't have the Derivatives and GMs, as it was just a standard scenario for Multiplayer Survival Mode, the system wouldn't set up the Protagonist's Halo like that?" said Ye Zhi.
"At least, I assumed it this way," Feng Bujue answered. "The Protagonist's Halo is the protection that the system provided to players according to the difficulty level of the scenario and the actual situation. If it's the effect generated by the system, even after the players have been teleported and this scenario has been finished, it will remain.
"Usually, if we can pass the scenario, and the four players have left already, the two remaining should be GMs. If the Halo still exists, it will not be fair to the Derivative. Thus, it's a simple setting that the GM can't keep the halo under any circumstance…"
"What are you talking about? Why does the system have to make the battle between the Derivative and us relatively fair?" said Copernicus. "You've watched too many sci-fi movies, haven't you? Optical Generation Computer doesn't have independent consciousness. Moreover, if it does, why should the system give a group of data that is supposed to be destroyed chances to survive?"
Feng Bujue sneered inside. It would be nice if I knew it… Maybe there's a morbid person or a group of morbid people among your managers who intend to program the system this way.
"Yeah… Perhaps I'm overthinking," Feng Bujue was still calm outside to answer them. "We should get to the mountain first. If we can find the Aggrieved Well, we can locate the Derivative."
(1) Characters in Chinese Paladin (Chinese: 仙劍奇俠傳) a 2005 Chinese television series adapted from the original version of the Chinese action role-playing game The Legend of Sword and Fairy by Softstar Entertainment.