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Chapter 30: Eerie Cinephile City (End)

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Several seconds later, from the center of the shadow on the ground arose a humanoid body; it was about two meters tall, cloaked in that condensed darkness, and looked just the same as a three-dimensional “shadow” would have. But he obviously was not a local optical illusion formed when the body blocked the light, rather he was a genuine three-dimensional entity.

“This puddle-outside-of-the-river analogy,” Feng Bujue ignored Samodeer’s not so shining stage entrance. He continued his previous topic nonchalantly and stated, “should be changed to vortex-outside-the-river-of time to be more fitting.

“Although Albert Einstein had said that time and space are both misconceptions made by people, and that they are just a kind of parameter used to describe the movement of matter, in this magic alternate world we could consider them to be more practical sorts of things. This is a thing that must always be kept running, forever flowing like the water in a river. If the river flow ever stilled, then that river can’t be called a river.

Based on this point of view, since Samodeer had isolated this space, he inevitably needed to isolate a segment of time within it as well; otherwise everything in this space would become stagnant, including he himself. But there’s a limit to the amount of water he could remove from the ‘river’; he could only secure about thirty minutes. These thirty minutes belong only to this city and were endlessly cycled. At the end of each cycle there would be a few seconds of nothingness which acted as a buffer. Those moments of darkness was exactly where the time segment circle linked up. After the buffer point it would then start a new cycle.”

Samodeer’s shadowy aberration began to move; its human-shaped body straightened while its feet moved with the vicious dark circle as it advanced towards the five people.

“Jue Bro, do you have any suggestions?” Wang Tanzhi was the first to ask; he didn’t dare act blindly.  

The others were also waiting for Feng Bujue to say something.

“We shouldn’t have to do anything in particular…” Feng Bujue spoke, “According to the current plot direction, the difficulty definitely won’t be any higher than the choice of going through the Gate would be.” He even continued, “Quit interrupting me, I still haven’t finished my explanation. To sum it up, the descents of darkness are just a type of phenomenon that occurs when the time line links and are not some kind of operation Samodeer himself carries out.”

“But why do all the monsters get stronger during each descent of darkness? There’s only one explanation for that: that short buffer period of darkness, which is not part of the time cycle, is the only moment during which Samodeer can exhibit his full power. He can only do something within those few seconds, such as bestowing power to the demons or swallowing up all of the humans in the city in an instant. Of course, before we’d arrived, all the humans in the city had already been completely devoured by him and we’re the so-called guests from an “alternate world”. He can’t devour us.”

“You mean… this Samodeer before us isn’t actually that powerful? Is he at least weaker than the BOSS we would’ve encountered if we passed through the Demon Gate?” asked Long Aomin.

“If I had to use an example, it’s as if we are currently located inside a balloon like a bunch of puny ants. Samodeer is outside the balloon and he’s like a big strong human. The space inside and outside the balloon is impenetrable and he can’t puncture the balloon. He can only use his hand separately to blindly grope around in the balloon. What we see is only the silhouette of a finger supported by him from outside the balloon.” Feng Bujue stroked his chin and said, “But personally I think… even if it’s like this, his current strength isn’t as weak as you say. At the very least, killing us off is still very easy.”

“Hey! And you still carefreely talk so much! Run!” Lonely Lil’ Bro grabbed Lonesome girl and turned to escape.

Before they even gone a few steps, they heard the System Notification tone:【Worldview has been deciphered, Player: Feng Bujue obtained 240 points Skill Point reward. Team can now read the Scenario’s rules and regulations for this world in the menu’s expanded options】

“If I didn’t seize the chance to say these “words”, how else would I have gotten these Skill Points?” Feng Bujue reasoned, “Regarding deciphering the Worldview, you must explain it. Only then can the System judge you.”

Samodeer’s transformed shadow had already come about ten meters in front of Feng Bujue. Feng Bujue still didn’t plan to run away, “Plus, didn’t I say this before, we don’t need to do anything in particular, since the Demon Gate has already been closed and all….”

The shadow suddenly sped up, the human shaped body in the black vicious circle suddenly bulked up, expanding several times larger, and turned into a gigantic black hand that flew towards Feng Bujue to crush downward.

But at the last moment, the giant hand froze in midair, motionless.

“Judging from the name…” Feng Bujue slightly tilted his head down and walked out from under the black hand, “【Time Lord】should be a guy who’s never late.”

Very soon, Samodeer’s shadow began rapidly pulling itself back, as if there was a tremendous strength dragging it back into that space-time from across the shadow.

【There’ll be one day… you all… will… pay… the price… it will not… be long from now…】

“Ah… that’s not good. Usually when those lines are spoken, it means the villain will appear again.” laughed Feng Bujue.

The part of the shadow stuck out of the floor and struggled for a period, just like a beast that had fallen into a swamp, before it was completely yanked back. After that, the black circular shadow on the ground began to gradually shrink down. A a little more than ten seconds later, it had completely disappeared.

【Hitchhikers from another galaxy, I thank you for doing these things. Once I purify this land, it’ll be possible for me to scoop up the waters and return them to their source, allowing it to flow steadily in the River of Time.】^[1]

A voice that different from Samodeer’s appeared in everyone’s mind. This voice dubbing sounded very typical, like those wise old men in video games, most of whom had this kind of voice.

【You’ve obtained the Time Lord’s reward . Please examine it in the Summary Screen】The System’s voice sounded.

【Current mission has been completed, Main Mission has been completed】

【You have completed the required Scenario; you will be automatically transferred after 180 seconds】

The automatic transfer period was comparatively longer in Team Mode. Apparently it considered the possibility that the players might want to engage in some interaction.

Wang Tanzhi dropped to his butt where he was onto the floor. His taut nerves relaxed and his Terror Value finally returned to its base level.

Lonely and Lonesome also let out a sigh. The feeling of finally clearing a level really felt too good.

Long Aomin’s expression could still be considered calm. He retrieved his weapon and shield and took advantage of the one minute he still had left to talk to Feng Bujue, “Feng Xiong.” At this time he returned to calling him Feng Xiong, “I still have a question, there’s something I don’t understand.”

“What?” Feng Bujue replied.

“It’s a question regarding time.” Long Aomin spoke, “Just as you said, from the moment we entered the Scenario, there wasn’t a single clock or time keeping device to be seen. Then how were you able to figure out how long the time between the two darknesses were? I remembered when we reached the Demon Gate you said it was ‘about thirty minutes’.”

“Because I’ve been keeping track of the time since the beginning.” Feng Bujue replied, “As soon as I entered the Scenario I noticed something strange: why was there no electric clocks at the subway station? Then when we reached ground level I still didn’t see anything which kept time. I started to keep track of time after the first darkness descended. At the police station, the darkness descended a second time; I had counted about thirty minutes since then.

“Yeah ah, I wanted to ask, no watch? How did you keep time?” asked Long Aomin

“By counting.” Feng Bujue answered, “Silently counting to three hundred is about five minutes. Under non-exercise conditions, you can count your pulse instead. You didn’t see me take my left hand with my right during most of our idling time? It’s the body’s natural timer; in that state my (pulse) is seventy-seven beats per minute.” He knew his own pulse so clearly because he stayed in the hospital for some time and had underwent countless sorts of examinations. As a result, he was very aware of each of his body’s indicators. “Actually my counting pulse was more accurate than me counting in my head and didn’t require mentally controlling my counting frequency. It’s considered a lazy method. Alternate mentally counting with this when your concentration drops; the time calculated won’t differ by too much. If you don’t believe me you can spend half an hour or an hour trying it out at home. You can even do something distracting during this time. It’s really just a homework which requires patience.”

“No need… I understand. Thanks a lot for your advice.” Not only Long Aomin, but even Lonely and Lonesome who were standing off to the side had been listening to these words. The way they now looked at Feng Bujue was the same as if they were looking at a monster.

Wang Tanzhi was used to this by now. After knowing Feng Bujue for so many years, what spectacle hasn’t he seen already. If someone came and told him that aliens were invading the Earth, he’d most likely be skeptical; but if someone told him Feng Bujue was actually an alien, even without clarification, he’d believe them straightaway.

“I won’t say too much, everyone, we’re about to be transferred. This will be goodbye for now.” said Feng Bujue.

Lonely and Lonesome said a few words of thanks then said goodbye to the other three. They quickly turned into white rays of light and left the Scenario.

Long Aomin hadn’t immediately transferred and stayed until the other two had left. He opened his mouth to ask, “Feng Bro, Wang Bro. How about we add each other as friends?”

He put forth this proposal not because he wanted to be carried, right now it was too early to talk about being carried. Today is only the first day of the closed beta. Whether it’s as professional players, ordinary players, or leisure players, at least there wouldn’t be too big of a gap in levels. Even though it seems Feng Bujue has high gaming potential, it would be hard to tell if he’d regularly be online in the future.

Long Aomin wanted to add them as friends mainly because Feng Bujue unhesitatingly handed him a Superior ranked Equipment. Although it was hard to tell how much the equipment was worth, it was because it’s hard to find someone who’d unconditionally trust a stranger nowadays. For this reason alone, this was a friend that would be worth adding.

As for Wang Tanzhi, he’d obviously queued together with Feng Bujue; naturally, Long Aomin couldn’t only add Feng Bujue. Plus from his performance in the fight against the Blood Corpse, though this guy was timid, he skill wasn’t so bad. Even though it wasn’t highly skilled play, it wasn’t so bad as to hinder others either.

“Sure, let’s return to the Login space and continue chatting then. First let’s take a look at the Summary situation.” Feng Bujue flatly answered.

The three gave a few farewells, and each departed the Scenario.

After all the players left, the Demon Gate suddenly shook. It seemed like on the other side of the Gate some unknown creature struck the magic Gate…

Before Feng Bujue’s eyes there appeared a ray of light, and he was then returned to the Login Space. The System Notification sound repeatedly sounded out.

【You’ve reached Level 11. Max Stamina has increased, currently at 1100/1100】

【Title system has been unlocked. You’ve obtained the Title——Cold-blooded Headshot Psychopath】

Soon after, his line of sight moved to the display screen on the wall. The screen was already displaying the summary situation for passing the Scenario.

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Footnotes:

[1]It’s supposed to be Travelers from an alternate world, but I thought this was more fun

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