As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 761 The Tragic "Emptiness"

The ticket in Li Nuo's hand that summoned the gorilla driver turned gray, meaning that the summoning channel had been sealed.

The fact that the mission states "someone is waiting behind the scenes" is enough to prove that the mastermind has already made their move.

He now has three imaginary enemies in his mind: more than 8,000 players, a player who is over level 99, and the mastermind behind it all.

Players above level 99 have the means to control the "story".

The mastermind behind the scenes also possesses similar abilities.

Both sides are in a superior position, and they will inevitably fight sooner or later, so there's no need to worry about them for now. Moreover, Li Nuo is also the "narrator," and his narrative perspective is in the future, so he is the most hidden.

So the problem still lies with those eight thousand or so players, and now we have to add an "Ancient God" to the mix.

Li Nuo felt he shouldn't think too much. In a world where ancient gods exist, thinking too much is not a good thing, so he temporarily gave up thinking.

While he was pondering the above matters, his gaze remained fixed on Cha Bai.

Cha Bai had finished praying for the Lord Triss, cast a tear-inducing spell, and closed [Focusor] while shedding tears.

"Sis, look, my ticket is gray."

Li Nuo held up the receipt.

What he really meant was that they might not even be able to handle the butterflies anymore, since they'd lost the chef.

Cha Bai reached out, his hand gliding over the ticket, and touched his cheek. He cupped his face in his hands, his pupils, hidden behind the tactical goggles, filled with worry.

"As long as it's okay..."

She looked at it carefully for a long time before she felt relieved.

Actually, you can't tell if there's a problem just by looking at the face. What she's most worried about is what if Li Nuo is possessed by an ancient god, which is why she wants to look at his eyes.

"Try not to do such reckless things in the future."

Cha Bai's tone was somewhat harsh.

In order to defeat the judge, she would have to temporarily suspend her work as a scabbard, but we still have to dissuade her; Li Nuo is really too daring.

Li Nuo, realizing that no one was around, began to grin mischievously.

"Kiss me and I'll listen~"

"~"

System fix complete...

The sounds coming from the panels of the Cairo players in the "Redemption Corridor" were in my ears.

Um...we just...broke the computer.

【It's all Mr. Capeton's fault! He had to play with fire in the workshop and caused a short circuit! Mr. Henry is seriously injured and is in the medical room!】

Li Nuo and Cha Bai were hugging and munching.

"Do you think Mr. Henry might have already been murdered?"

Tea white retracted its tongue.

Li Nuo turned his head to the side, staring with dead fish eyes, and this image appeared in his mind.

With no managers present, the Cairo guys started a rebellion, kidnapped Mr. Henry, and messed around in the workshop, attracting the ghosts and monsters from the vicinity of the headquarters. Only then did they get back to work, hoping to get the managers and Li Nuo and the others to come back quickly and clear out the ghosts and monsters near the haunted planet.

[Oh dear! We knew something was wrong! It's the World Tree's fault! The World Tree deliberately cut off our internet!]

These ancestors are still causing trouble.

Cha Bai bit her lip, her expression one of helplessness.

"Is it really okay to act so recklessly?"

"It's ok."

Li Nuo's answer wasn't meant to reassure her; it was genuinely okay.

"Old Ma once said that the staff during the 'Endless' era actually had the characteristics of Cairo aliens. Those guys talked nonsense, but as long as they got things done, they were very reliable."

Actually, I'm the same as him.

Cha Bai released Li Nuo's neck and looked at the panel that popped up between the two of them, feeling a little regretful.

If it's the territory of "Redemption Corridor", the staff can directly see all the mission information, even more reliable than [Explorers]. The problem is that "Redemption Corridor" doesn't have any territory.

The world we are in now is the boundary between the "Endless Corridor" and the "Corridor of Death".

The nature of border areas means that staff cannot interfere too much.

The location was chosen because the scenario was considered another type of "world war". The champion of the last "world war" was "Endless Corridor", and "Endless" is the weakest corridor. Even if there are benefits from being the host, they are not useful.

Therefore, the script has no home turf, and staff and managers cannot interfere.

The reason why World Tree is so meticulous is because of the antics of Li Nuo and his friends in the script of "Claymore," which gave that giant tree a new layer of logical AI.

[Hey, you can see that there have been updates to the main and side quests, take a look.]

【Main Quest Update】

[Due to certain reasons, the original timeline of the script, January 2, 1888, has changed to November 1887. Therefore, the main storyline and everyone's protective measures have been adjusted.]

Players above level 95 must participate in the main quest "The World in the Painting".

Due to varying player levels, and to accommodate lower-level players, all players may have access to a "personal main story."

[Personal Main Story: Within the world environment, there is a separate storyline. Completing this storyline yields fewer rewards, but it is relatively safe and counts as completing the main storyline. If you don't want the big rewards, you can consider this backup plan.]

Li Nuo: "The World Tree is quite human-like..."

Cha Bai: "Shh, just keep watching."

……

[Republishing the rules]

[To receive any one of the five "Worlds in Paintings" illustrations, settlement will be made with January 5, 1888 as the final date. Specific dates will be announced separately.]

[Players entering the "Painted World" will be determined by the "Corridor" administrator after the settlement date, with each "Corridor" serving as a unit.]

[Among them, the players who created this scenario (Li Nuo and others), regardless of their level, must enter the "world within the painting."]

……

The corridor that fails to acquire any "Painted World" will be penalized, and the player will be subject to additional penalties.

[Corridor Penalty: The corridor transfer reward is given to the winning corridor]

[Player Penalty: Depending on individual performance in the scenario, penalties may include deduction of coins or demotion.]

……

The above alone dictates that Li Nuo and his companions must complete the main storyline.

The punishment includes the transfer of a fruit.

The result is the script.

Their "Corridor of Redemption" has no scripted world.

Li Nuo became happier the more he thought about it.

"How embarrassing."

Cha Bai pinched his cheek affectionately.
"Be serious."

……

[Re-announcing the reward rules]

[1. Kill other hostile players in the corridor to obtain an equal amount of experience points and one "random card"]

[2. The team that finds the painting will receive an extra reward: each member of the team will receive one "Golden Random Card", one "Magic Candy", and 20 Special Values.]

[3. On January 5, 1888, before the settlement, defeat the final boss of the scenario and solve the deepest labyrinth in the world view to obtain the right to reduce the "Corridor Penalty" and "Player Penalty".]

4. The script is subject to unforeseen circumstances. The main storyline, the final boss, and the labyrinth hidden deep within the nightmare will automatically find all players. Please be aware of your own capabilities and proceed with caution.

……

After reviewing all the information above, Li Nuo came to only one conclusion: the World Tree is a complete idiot.

The generous rewards amplified players' greed, while the punishments for those who targeted administrators created conflict between them and players, inevitably leading players level 95 and above to intervene in the struggle.

Players who are not high enough in level or ability may seem to have a "personal storyline" to escape the script itself, but high-level players will target low-level players in order to obtain better upgrade rewards, and the uncontrollable forces of the script will pull everyone into the center of the event.

The result is that no one can escape.

The channels for mitigating risks have now been blocked by the mastermind behind the scenes, leaving no way out.

The only way to leave the planet is to fly into space, but the battle with the baby in the dream makes Li Nuo realize that space is the home ground of the ancient gods.

Li Nuo stared blankly, his mind racing.

"Since this world's worldview is a grand mix of Elden, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne..."

He opened the panel, sipped his tea, and glanced at the worldview analysis he had seen when he first entered the world.

"The goddess Lani and her king have kept the Outer Gods at bay, and the Outer Gods include the Ancient Gods, so that should be correct. The laws established by Lani have enabled this planet to temporarily maintain its ability to protect itself. If we go into space, it will be even more dangerous."

Li Nuo suddenly had an idea.

Cha Bai tugged at his sleeve.

"No."

"roundworms……"

His thought that had just popped into his head was that since space was more dangerous, the rewards must be better.

Chen Shou had Zaku, and Marje could make YoRHa's flying machine, so going to space wouldn't be a big problem. However, the risks were unpredictable, so Chabai stopped him.

But this idea had already taken root in Li Nuo's mind.

“The Dreamland is the Ancient God’s ‘Field Ability’. Your ‘Threshold’ and my ‘Twilight Hour’ are both representations of Field Ability. You and I both know that when Field Ability is activated, it is also when weaknesses are exposed.”

Li Nuo slowly squatted down, biting his lip, his dead fish eyes gradually narrowing.

"Preserving the Dreamland is very important... The main base and enemy weaknesses can both be exploited using the Dreamland."

He slowly turned his head to one side.

The reflection in the pupils was the black goat hiding in the distance. The dreamland hadn't disappeared because the black goat hadn't died.

As Li Nuo stared at him, the black goat's fear prompted him to start babbling incoherently.

"Hunter who uses threads as a sacred seal to shatter moonlight in bearings! Banish my soul!"

In terms of not speaking human language, the black goat and Malger are sworn brothers.

When Cha Bai saw the black goat, he asked a question that had been asked many times before.

"Food reserves?"

The black goat froze on the spot, its mind blank.

"You all like eating mutton so much... I can help you catch one of my kind!"

Li Nuo stood up and shrugged.

"No, but you have to tell me everything you know."

What intrigued him most was that this guy hadn't died despite such a massive impact.

The black goat's answer was rather nonsensical.

The translation is:

The black goat can never leave the dream world. In the eyes of real people, he is already dead. As long as the dream world exists, he can live unless someone puts him in a pot, stews him, and eats him. This is a matter of mutual generation and restraint. Why would stewing and eating him cause him to die completely? After being eaten, he enters a medium, namely the stomach and intestines, and is transformed into feces and excreted. This is equivalent to changing the nature of the organism. Then the concept of the black goat is no longer the creator of the dream world or a life recognized by the dream world that can live in the dream world, but a pile of shit.

Therefore, when Li Nuo, Cuihua, and Chabai all wanted to eat him, the fear he felt outweighed his loyalty to the ancient god.

In this way, a traitor is formed.

The black goat can only maintain a small area of ​​dream within this region.

He plucked off his own fingernail and handed it to Li Nuo. [Return to Bone Fragment (Fingernail)]

[Quality: Ordinary]

[Effect: A return item to the "Black Goat's Dream". Upon use, you will immediately return to the dream created by the Black Goat. When you leave the dream again, you will be in the area where you last used the item (one-time use item)]

There are ten fingernails in total.

Li Nuo looked at the black goat's toes.

In no time, he had collected all twenty fingernails into his pocket.

This thing isn't exactly a good thing. If there are enemies nearby when you use it, you might get ambushed by someone lying in wait after you return.

Therefore, its greater use was as a "supply depot that could be used for resupply before a major battle".

Dreams can also solve a fatal problem.

The biggest weakness of the "Redemption Corridor" is not its small number of people, but that the managers also have to get involved in the script. As long as other corridors target Malger, Li Nuo and his group will not be able to unleash their full potential.

The solution is right in front of us: trap Marger in a dream, let him build a base in the dream, and turn this place into a real hunter's dream like in Bloodborne.

Li Nuo contacted Malger and asked the Black Goat to come up with a way to create an entrance.

While waiting for Marger to arrive, there were two more things to do.

The first is the "world within the painting".

"where?"

Li Nuo asked the black goat, who shook its head.

"I really don't know, you've demolished this place like this, who knows where it is?"

"I really want to eat you..."

"Can you please stop threatening me with such terrifying words..."

Li Nuo knew that the black goat wasn't lying, so he went to search through the ruins himself. Now, whenever he gets going, he's like a demolition crew, leaving ruins wherever he goes.

However, the paintings in the world of the painting are quite eye-catching in the ruins. First, the frames are very exquisite, and second, they are very large.

He set up the four-meter-tall painting in front of the broken wall.

Then I got confused.

"How long will this take to draw..."

As a cartoonist, his primary focus is on the details of the drawing. The blood moon in the drawing has disappeared, replaced by a city skyline, a modern metropolis.

"The scenario that Master Wang and his group went to outside the World Tree must be the world in the painting, right?"

Cha Bai spoke from the side.

Li Nuo didn't want to think about this problem. He planned to contact Soren to find out what was going on. Since Soren was there, he could sometimes put his mind at ease. Unfortunately, Soren thought the same thing.

As a result, Sauron was "out of contact".

In Four-Eyes' own words, he was doing something big.

But Li Nuo knew that the damn four-eyed guy was avoiding him, so he could only rely on himself for the time being.

"Sister, remember all the details in the painting."

Li Nuo gave a brief instruction, walked over, and touched the picture frame.

[Redemption Corridor, obtain the first "World in the Painting"]

[Mission Rewards: Each member of the team receives one "Golden Random Card", one "Magic Candy", and 20 Special Values]

How many characteristic values ​​do we have?

Cha Bai asked from behind.

Li Nuo always remembered it.

"Adding our points together, plus the 20 points we just acquired, we now have a total of 51 characteristic points."

Unlike other players, they don't rush to use their trait points because the benefits of these points are not strong at higher levels; they save them to break through level 99.

Players from the "Anti-Science Alliance" had told Li Nuo that trait values ​​would be very useful when breaking through level 99. He just didn't know the specific benefits, since even though Marje was an administrator, he hadn't broken through to level 99 and was only a probationary administrator; he didn't have the authority to know areas he couldn't be involved in.

A golden random card appeared before Li Nuo's eyes.

It's worth mentioning that the [Golden Random Card] draws items from the "Corridor of the End".

This indirectly indicates that the specific reason is known only to Marge and the Demon God. Because Marge kept using the Demon God's black card to create a large number of MAX-level equipment, it would cost too much gold for a new corridor without resources. So later, the farming went out of control, and the Demon God had no choice but to sell the items in his own corridor to allow the World Tree to flow back, and destroyed his own black card account.

Li Nuo first drew his [Golden Random Card].

The card glowed with golden light and eventually transformed into a rectangular object.

Golden bricks

"..."

Li Nuo exhaled a breath of stale air, forcing himself to maintain a smile. At least he knew that he was indeed not suited for lottery draws.

Anyway, he still has rewards in his account that he hasn't redeemed yet.

【Luna and Triss】

[Team Quest Reward: Blood Gem*3]

[Complete Kill Reward: Skill Card "Crimson Particle Torrent"]

Of the three Blood Gems extracted, one is very useful.

[The Blood Gem that Breaks the Curse]

[Quality: Epic]

[Effect: Attack-type Blood Gem, increases damage to weak points by 20%]

[Negative: Total health reduced by 50%, attack power reduced by 5%]

[Curse Saving: Curse resistance ≥ 80% can overcome negative curses from gems. Those who overcome gem curses can obtain true effects.]

[Actual Effects: 1. Increases damage to weak points by 70%; 2. Reduces damage dealt to "Ancient God" creatures by 20%]

This one is usable.

The best Blood Gems come with a lot of negative effects, depending on whether the user can accept them. Since Blood Gems are related to "blood and life", most of the negative effects include reducing HP. For most players, reducing HP is very fatal. For Li Nuo: Oh my god, give me more.

The other two [Blood Gems] are quite ordinary, and there are also three in the Tea White area, which are also of ordinary quality.

However, even ordinary blood gems are useful.

This brings us to the newly acquired skill cards.

Strictly speaking, it's not a skill card, but a skill learning card sphere. Crushing it grants the "baby's" skills.

【A Flood of Scarlet Particles】

Learning requirements: None

[Effect: Crush a "Blood Gem" to unleash a red arcane cannon]

[Briefly put: The learning conditions are "none." Think about it carefully.]

This approach has two problems.

Firstly, the fact that there are "no" learning conditions means that for this move, it's not the player learning it, but rather the move using the player.

The result is that after using this move, the "Ancient God Curse" accumulates and gradually intensifies until the user goes completely insane.

Yes, Li Nuo has resistance to the ancient gods.

Secondly, the activation condition is to discard one [Blood Gem].

Resources are something that can be accumulated slowly if you don't take them too seriously, especially with Marger around. What if he figures out how to create Blood Gems himself? After all, he's the administrator.

Li Nuo learned the [Crimson Particle Torrent] without hesitation.

A piece of the full moon fell from the sky, turning into an energy block that burrowed into Li Nuo's left arm, moved to his palm, and then emerged, flowing into the sidearm [Maggie] clipped to his belt.

【Crimson Particle Torrent】 became one of the entries for 【Maggie】.

This is the first time I've ever learned a move and even had a CG cutscene.

"Does that mean this move is powerful?"

Li Nuo looked at the night sky in the dream with some doubt.

The full moon was missing a piece, turning into a crescent moon.

"It's perfect that you don't have any useful energy cannon skills, so learning them won't hurt you."

Cha Bai said, pointing to the huge painting.

“I’ve memorized all the details; they’re already stored in my brain.”

She knew perfectly well why Li Nuo wanted her to remember the details of the "world in the painting"—so that she could easily take it away with the [retrieval bag] later.

So, as she spoke, she took off her black beret, reached into the [Wallpaper House] inside, and pulled out the three surviving players from the "Sky Corridor".

These three people can see what's happening outside through the "Wallpaper House." The process of Li Nuo versus the baby is like a nightmare for them.

Of the three, only the girl with short hair, named Ke Min, reacted relatively quickly.

"Brother, just say what you want. We're doomed if we don't help you."

It's convenient to talk business with this kind of person.

Li Nuo pointed to the four-meter-high "world in the painting".

“Since you are from the ‘Sky Corridor’, then give this to Brupp.”

"this one?"

Ke Min was somewhat surprised; wouldn't that be too easy?

"This is it. Oh, and by the way, tell Brupper that we'll always be friends."

……

Brupp's gang is in the area of ​​the Undead Asylum in the north.

Their purpose in coming here is to rescue the mentally challenged couple. The "Northern Undead Asylum" can be seen as Gotham's asylum, and it is now the headquarters of "The End".

Originally, it was the "Corridor of the Sky" who used tricks to bring more than 900 people from "The End" here. Their original plan was to make those madmen kill each other and then wipe them out in one fell swoop. Originally, there was nothing wrong with the plan.

But the "idiot couple" were sent to this mental hospital.

That's just outrageous.

Although that couple were idiots, they were indeed the two strongest in their group.

As the "firefighter" handpicked by the North Marathon, Brupert must find a way to get Aita and Pippen out of trouble.

But when someone is down on their luck, no amount of shouting will help.

"That guy named Li Nuo said that you will always be friends."

Kemin used the teleportation device to find Brupe and the others, and pointed to the huge "painting" they were carrying.

"So he said he was giving this to you as a gift."

Knowing Li Nuo's character very well, Brupp sat on a rock, took out a jug of wine, and drank it down.

Seeing Brupe's sudden haggard appearance, Kemin was puzzled.

Di got off the carriage by the roadside, dressed as he came over, patted Brupp on the shoulder, and then shook his head regretfully.

Ke Min was still curious.

"what happens?"

Di laughed, his voice tinged with helplessness and his expression with a sense of tragic grandeur.

"Now we're the underlings of the 'Corridor of Redemption'."

(End of this chapter)