Those time travelers that year

"...You, you actually dared to lay a hand on me!" The unfortunate survivor retreated in a panic, shouting, "Do you know who we are? Don't you want to live? You, you...you mere Earthling, how dare you..."

"I think there's something wrong with you guys!" Charles pointed to his head and said, "Your bizarre way of thinking is really problematic, kid. You're addicted to online games! You need treatment!"

"What!" The guy's expression changed drastically, and he stared at Charles in disbelief, screaming, "What did you say?"

"Online games, huh! Or should I call you 'players' instead!?"

"You..." The man looked at Charles with a terrified expression, backing away in a panic. "Why, no, who are you?"

“NPCs!” Charles, carrying his twin swords, walked step by step toward the guy, saying as he went, “Those lowly beings in your eyes, those you can bully at will, mere virtual entities constructed from data and code…”

"No, you, no, don't come any closer..."

"Don't worry, don't worry, death is just a permanent dream. Anyway, in the mind I've read, aren't you all treating those NPCs with the same arbitrariness, deciding life and death at will?" Xia Er said softly. "...Then my actions can be understood as—an eye for an eye!"

"No, you can't kill me. I'll report this to the guild as soon as I resurrect..." Suddenly, the guy remembered something and shouted arrogantly, "You'll die a horrible death! Do you think you can fight us? You're courting death!"

"The last guy who said that got screwed over a million times, though he's probably been exonerated by now," Charles shrugged. "...But how to put it? He's already got the protagonist's halo, so you know! Do you think you'll have the protagonist's halo?"

"By the way, don't rely too much on the system; it doesn't work for me..." Pointing his sword at the spot where the other adventurers, whom Sharl had just slashed down and then disintegrated, had been, Sharl said sarcastically, "...Your revival is based on a system that exists in every corner of this world, but this system only works in that world. Unfortunately, this place isn't covered by that system, which means..."

"If you die in this alternate world I created, then you are truly dead!"

"Liar!" The man in front of him suddenly turned red in the face and shouted, "This is impossible! We are gods with immortal bodies..."

“Gods die too, and you are not gods!” Charles shook his head, then ignored the bastard's rant, silencing him with a single, decisive strike. “So you will die too, without exception…” Charles showed no pity for these guys. While reading their thoughts and memories, he also reviewed them, then decisively chose to humanely destroy this scum. It seems the inherent flaws of humanity are the same in every world, whether it's constantly plotting to blow up the entire world or becoming arrogant and self-important after gaining power. Humans always find excuses to justify their greed and crimes, and this delusional chuunibyou who thinks he's a god because he's immortal is no exception.

Unfortunately, after creating this alternate world and shielding these adventurers from the influence of the outside world's systems, their immortality became utterly useless, unable to cause any trouble. Instead, their souls were permanently imprisoned in this world.

But this other world isn't just about Ciel; many more monsters lurk in the shadows beneath the bright moon.

The only fate for those killed by Ciel is to be relentlessly hunted by countless monsters in this other world, to die, to be reborn, and to die again, until their souls are completely destroyed and assimilated into a new monster.

"The town of Yanan is warm and hospitable, and the streets of Immortality are filled with simple and honest people!"

Charles muttered to himself, and then his figure dimmed and disappeared from the scene.

Fourth watch!

346. Piracy is the only way to go!

Whether time exists in this world is something Sharl doesn't know yet, but after being in this world for some time, he has discovered something new: these adventurers, or rather, the system behind them.

Unlimited, low-cost resurrections, the ability to improve oneself through fighting or completing quests, and the innate ability to learn various spells and skills—aside from being limited by system caps, they are practically cannon fodder. Yes! Cannon fodder. In Sharl's view, the greatest use of these adventurers is as cannon fodder. In the past history of this world, whenever a monster or something else appeared that threatened the world's safety, these adventurers, like errand runners in all traditional RPGs, would rush over, then die countless times to figure out the enemy's moves, weaknesses, and fighting methods, and finally take down the unfortunate soul who had been approached by the adventurers.

What could be cheaper and better than these undead creatures? Not to mention that these cannon fodder know how to cooperate in groups, how to coordinate in small groups, and they are durable. A little bit of profit is enough to make these guys rush over.

The requirements couldn't be lowered any further.

So now, Charles has his eye on the system that trains these adventurers. Of course, he can't directly extract the system that's integrated with the rules of this world. He can't, and neither can his physical body. The likely consequence of extracting the system would be the complete destruction of this world, with the system disappearing along with it—a truly disastrous outcome.

Since forcibly taking it is impossible, then let's just pirate it! Anyway, does this world have copyright issues? Even if it does, it doesn't matter. Can the work of a translation group be called piracy?!

However, in order to figure out the rules of this world's system, Xia Er still needed some test subjects, and what test subjects could compare to these adventurers? None! Moreover, these adventurers were 'good people' who delivered themselves to his door, so Xia Er naturally had no reason to refuse.

……

He reappeared in that alley, which once housed six people, but now only Charles remained. No one knew where the five adventurers who came to his door had gone, just as no one knew that their immortality had been destroyed.

That's why the disappearance of a few adventurers didn't attract anyone's attention. After all, the guild these adventurers belonged to had a terrible reputation. Whether in the past game or in this real world, people don't care much about scum, and even those who are also scum won't care about their companions.

These guys who believe in violence above all else simply don't think anyone would actually make a move in this city.

As for Charles, the adventurers he had killed were enough material for his research. Before that, they needed to experience firsthand what true terror was... and what it meant to encounter 'love' around the corner. He believed they would be happy to suffer in a world filled with the creator's malice. Once their consciousness and souls had completely collapsed, the remaining task was to decompose their souls and extract the rules governing the system.

However, another point of interest for Sharl was the city's defense mechanisms. After all, the guards were an absolute strait for adventurers. No matter how powerful an adventurer was, they couldn't fight back against the guards, which made Sharl extremely curious about this system.

However, this mechanism seems to only apply to conflicts between adventurers. Now, the adventurers in this city have become more sophisticated, and they generally won't pull out weapons or use skills to fight you. Instead, they've fully learned and understood the fine traditions of John Bull's football hooligans, fighting within the bounds of the law as much as possible. Of course, there are also unfortunate examples of people going too far and being silenced by the guards.

Unfortunately, Xia Er couldn't find any trace of the guards. Even after circling the entire city, he couldn't find them, and there was no city-wide PK.

"Could it be that we really have to overturn this city?" After wandering around for a while, Charles casually stood on the top of a building, looking down at the entire city. This circular city wasn't large, and apart from its complex, maze-like streets, there wasn't anything particularly remarkable about it. However, the guards were still well hidden. "...Or perhaps, these guards aren't actually above the city, but below?" Since he couldn't find these guards anywhere in the city, it naturally meant that they weren't above the city, but most likely underground or somewhere similar.

“Underground!” Charles looked at the city with a hint of distress. “This is troublesome! This clone… isn’t very effective with magic!” If he could, Charles would love to unleash a cataclysmic attack that would tear the city apart, but he couldn’t, at least not this clone. Since that was the case, he could only think of other ways… There were ways, but they required patience, a little patience and time.

"But what I have no shortage of is patience..."

The adventurers in this city seem to be all united under one guild, so there are far fewer PK battles between them. These guys who have lost their ambition are afraid of the tiring routine of fighting monsters and running dungeons outside, while using their own strength to try to exploit outsiders and the native land people in the city.

Compared to the adventurers who had been fighting fiercely in Akihabara before Charles left, the adventurers in this city were significantly weaker in terms of both level and equipment. While Akihabara wasn't much better, there were simply more adventurer guilds there! Especially the combat-oriented guilds, who had gone to hone their skills and combat techniques by fighting monsters early on. Charles was certain that while those guilds might not seem like much to him, if he brought any combat guild to this city, the adventurers here would be completely crushed, unable to even put up a fight.

After all, there aren't many level 90 characters in this city, but the main force of the combat-type guilds over there are all level 90 characters with top-tier equipment.

"And as the competition over there intensifies, some combat-oriented guilds will probably cross over and take over this city, right?!" Crossing the map is a difficult task even for a single LV90 adventurer, but for a guild with a well-balanced class composition, it's just a minor issue. Moreover, they can use this opportunity to escape the vortex of Jiaozuo and independently occupy the resources of a city—it's a win-win situation, as long as news of this city reaches the other side.

It's dawn!!! Time to give out votes!

347. Blocking the door!?

There was nothing left to linger in this city, and there was no possibility of gaining anything more. The only thing that could be considered a gain was the five adventurers. Apart from that, Sharl was very interested in the city's defense system, but since he was not his true self and did not have the ability to launch a large-scale magical bombardment, he was truly helpless about it.

Even though his clone's combat power is not weak, definitely at the planetary god level, it's still not good enough. He doesn't have the ability of that silver-haired guy who can easily trick others into crippling and sending them to their deaths without exerting any effort, just by talking.

Since that's the case, leaving this city has become an option. After all, to be honest, it's not as popular as Akihabara... Of course, more or less, Xia Er has the idea of ​​using the city with more people as a test subject, such as selling some tampered weapons and equipment to trick those guys into fighting in the city, so that he can take this opportunity to see the strengths and weaknesses of the city's defense system.

So after wandering around the area for a while, Charles turned around and headed towards the city gate.

"Ah?!"

Just as he approached the city gate, Shardon stopped. There, a large group of adventurers, their faces blatantly malevolent, had surrounded the area. Except for the road leading directly out of the city gate, all other directions were completely blocked. And exposed to the hostile gazes of these adventurers of varying levels were a pair of very familiar eyes.

The enchanter named Shiroe was walking towards the city gate with a cat-man and a red-haired little girl. The cat-man was a level 90 adventurer, and seemed to know Shiroe like an old acquaintance. As for the little girl... she was utterly pathetic. Sorry, Sharl felt he had never seen anyone so utterly useless, yet still dragging everyone down... Well, perhaps the little girl didn't want to be a burden. Looking at her expression, almost bursting with fear, it was really too much of a stretch to have her as a combatant.

Then the two gods and the pit duo walked out of the city in a grand manner. At this moment, those who originally had ill intentions in the city rushed forward. Of course, they did not make a move, but instead blocked the city gate in groups.

Meanwhile, outside the city, a group of people surrounded them. The leader was a man who looked like a thug. In ancient society, anyone who saw him would have thought he was a bandit or a mountain bandit leader.

Then, Shiroe, radiating an aura of impending sabotage, shouted something unintelligible. The cat-man echoed him, and the man who looked like a bandit or mountain bandit leader instantly turned ashen-faced. He then jumped out, and the two seemed to be engaged in a verbal battle. From Ciel's angle, he just happened to see Shiroe's eyes flash once more…

"They clearly have the advantage, why not just go all in and win?" Shaking his head, Xia Er watched as the bandit leader, seemingly provoked by the words into having an idiotic idea, decided to settle things with a one-on-one fight. He couldn't help but doubt the bandit leader's intelligence. But then he thought, this guy, who looks no different from a bandit leader, is just a background character in many novels, used as cannon fodder by the villains to test the protagonist. Thinking about it that way, it's not surprising that this guy doesn't have much intelligence.

"But speaking of which... blocking the gate isn't a good idea!" Having no interest in watching this guy's fight, Xia Er figured the bandit leader was pretty much doomed. So he leaped off the building and landed on the street, then walked towards the city gate as if no one else was there.

"Excuse me, could you please move aside?" As they reached the city gate, Charles patted one of the people blocking the gate on the shoulder.

"Who!?" The guy who had been patted on the shoulder immediately turned around, and when he saw Charles, his expression turned wary. "Who are you? What do you want!"

“I want to go over there…” Charles pointed to the city gate, “but your people are blocking the way…”

"Get out of my way!" the guy shouted arrogantly. "...Who do you think we are? Get out, or die!"

"...Why is it that none of you have any intelligence?!" Xia Er felt that the average intelligence of these adventurers was yet to be seen. Their bullying and sycophantic behavior made it no wonder that many protagonists treated them as monsters to grind experience.

"What, you seem to have a problem with that?" The guy looked at Xia Er with an unfriendly expression. "You... wait, an Earthling? Hahahaha, a mere Earthling dares to speak." At this moment, most of the guys blocking the city gate turned their attention to this scene because of what was happening here.

"Earthlings? What's going on?"

"It's said that this guy wants to get out..."

"This looks... haha, I didn't realize this Earthling was so pretty. We might as well capture her and sell her as a slave!"

……

A barrage of profanities followed, and the adventurers' gazes toward Charles instantly turned hostile. They stared at Charles with arrogance and ferocity, like wolves eyeing lambs that had been delivered to their doorstep!

"So, I'm telling you! Your IQs are seriously questionable!" Bathed in a sea of ​​malicious gazes, Charles wasn't worried at all about what these guys were planning. "...One last thing, get out of the way! Otherwise..."

"What else can I do?" The unknown extra laughed arrogantly, then slapped a hand directly at Xia Er. "You mere Earthlings, you're just slaves... Ah!!!" A flash of light, and the guy's arm said goodbye to his body. The next moment, he collapsed to the ground covered in blood and died, rolling to reload his save.

The adventurers blocking the door were immediately stunned. What was going on? Weren't these NPCs usually the ones being bullied by them? How come there was a counterexample today, with one of them being instantly killed? However, a sense of humiliation quickly welled up in their hearts. Well, according to their subjective perception, it was just idiotic thoughts like "how dare a mere NPC resist?" and then they all chose to attack.

"Fools!" Facing these guys who were about to make a move, Charles glanced at them disdainfully, then combined Rakuyo's long sword and short sword, and swung them out. A crescent-shaped blade of light shone directly in the air, instantly killing several adventurers - cutting them in half at the waist.

This caused a commotion at the city gate, but Charles, who was already planning to make a move, didn't care how many people were in front of him. Besides, the city guards wouldn't be triggered by this, and so, a few breaths later, all the guys blocking the gate were cut down and sent back to the Great Temple to reload and respawn.

Without activating the inherent barrier that erodes the world itself, Sharl cannot do anything to these individuals, as their souls are intertwined with some kind of rule system of this world. Without shielding this world, Sharl cannot sever the souls of these adventurers. However, not being able to sever them doesn't mean he has no way, right? In any case, Sharl just secretly intervened, and presumably when these adventurers revive, they will find themselves completely naked, every inch of their equipment instantly reduced to zero durability.

It also comes with a debuff that lasts for a day and cannot be dispelled by any means. Before the duration ends, the person affected will involuntarily dance to the music from an unknown source, and will not be able to make any movements during the dance.

A group of completely naked guys dancing at the respawn point, the scene is just...

Anyway, Charles found this very interesting and sincerely hoped that these guys wouldn't suffer any lasting consequences.

348. If you don't court death, you won't die.

The cat-man wielding dual swords was engaged in fierce combat with the bandit leader wielding gauntlets. Both were level 90 characters, and neither had a clear advantage in equipment, resulting in a close and evenly matched battle. However, soon, aside from levels and equipment, individual factors began to emerge.

The cat-man, who initially seemed to be at a disadvantage, turned the tide with a series of accumulated moves. Meanwhile, the bandit leader was burdened with a multitude of debuffs, his health rapidly dwindling. However, it seemed the villainous bandit leader wasn't going to play by the rules of a one-on-one fight. Seeing his health drastically reduced by the cat-man's combo attacks, he arrogantly ordered his henchmen to begin healing him.

Under the command of another elven mage, this group decided to go for a gang fight instead of a one-on-one duel. Midway through, Naotsugu, acting as the tank, jumped out from the nearby woods and started taunting the enemy, drawing their aggro. However, the situation remained extremely unfavorable for Shiroe's side. A newbie dragging them down, coupled with the fact that they were a support mage with little offensive power, it seemed they would all be wiped out.

Despite this unfavorable situation, Shiro calmly adjusted his glasses, which, with their special effects, began to reflect light again—clearly, this was within his expectations. However, a loud bang soon interrupted his suave display and the lively battlefield.

Instantly, all eyes turned towards the source of the sound, and there they saw all those guys who had been blocking the city gate lying on the ground, reduced to fragments, going to reload their saves and be reborn...

The sound of footsteps echoed, and amidst the dust kicked up by the ground, a figure dressed in black with a black cloak draped over his back, and wearing a tricorn hat adorned with a white feather, slowly emerged.

"I apologize for interrupting your 'friendly' and 'harmonious' martial arts gathering..." Charles's voice rang out, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present. "I have a small problem to deal with here. May I ask... who was it that sent a bunch of trash to block the road? Don't they have any sense of public decency? Don't they know the city gate is a public facility?" Charles stopped and turned his gaze to the frozen adventurers. "So... who is the leader of Brigantia—Demiquas?"

Instinctively, many people's gazes turned to the bandit leader who was confronting the cat-man. The bandit leader, caught in the unconscious gazes of a crowd, shivered. Then he saw Charles's ambiguous smile. For some reason, Demiquas, the guild master of the Brigantya Guild who looked remarkably like the bandit leader, had an immediate urge to turn and run.

On the other side, Cheng Hui paused, then quickly adjusted his glasses, which were now so shiny they were reflecting light. It seemed the turn of events had taken him somewhat by surprise, even though he had initially been about 80-90% certain—now it seemed 100%. Especially recalling the extremely hostile attitude of the adventurers now under the name of the Brigantia Guild towards the former NPCs, now the Earthlings, he could easily guess what the Brigantia Guild members in the city were doing.

Plus Ciel's good looks...

This is as suicidal as disturbing a sleeping dragon without any preparation and saying you want to rob it!

"What's going on?" At this moment, Class Monitor Nyan Tai gave a knowing look.

"Don't worry, everything is under control." Shiroe then gave him a reassuring look, and coughed to attract everyone's attention before saying, "Hello, Mr. Ciel, the Burigantia Guild Master Demiquas you mentioned, is that guy with dark skin who looks like a bandit leader who robs people on the street or a wanted notorious thief..." As he spoke, he pushed up his glasses and pointed to the guy who was confronting Nyanta.

At this moment, Demiquas, the guild master of the Brigantya Guild who looked just like a bandit leader, suddenly had an urge to rub that bespectacled guy to the ground. Especially after Charles's gaze turned to him, a feeling of impending doom swept over him, making him even more eager to kill that bespectacled guy right now.

"You...what do you want from me?!" But as a guild leader, if he backed down at a time like this, what would his underlings think? So Demiquas had no choice but to steel himself and glare menacingly at Charles. "Don't go looking for trouble. Get lost, or I won't hesitate to kill you!"

“…I see!” Seeing Demiquas’s stubborn attempt to act cool, Sharl paused, sized him up, and then nodded seriously. “Alright, I’ll grant your wish—to court death!” As soon as he finished speaking, the world was distorted. It wasn’t changed or replaced, but simply some kind of invisible aura made everyone present feel as if the whole world had been distorted by an invisible hand.

Then everyone's system panel started frantically displaying all sorts of debuff messages. Intimidation judgment, slow judgment, armor reduction judgment, magic resistance reduction judgment, fear judgment, action judgment, skill release judgment... In short, no matter what you do or what action you take, you have to first roll the dice. If the judgment fails, you will be imprinted with a series of debuffs.

Then, a bright red warning panel appeared again in front of the adventurers present. This time, apart from the cunning eyes who knew beforehand, the shield warrior, and the invisible little girl assassin, everyone else was stunned.

Right in front of them, a combat warning panel appeared.