NoveLight ™
- Did you correctly assemble the computer that was handed over to the police?
"Yes, sir. I've erased all traces of him as well as his memory, so there won't be any updates or anything like that.
The old man nodded at the woman's report and slowly read the papers on the table, a document that summed up the person's life. It didn't take long to read the entire page.
"He's very unlucky, but that's all.
The woman nodded in agreement. There were so many twists and turns in this man's life that even that was an understatement, but other than that, there was nothing special about it. His workplace was normal, his education was normal, and his relationships with people were normal. Everything was fine, except for this game.
Best Game Consoles
"I just don't understand.
That's why this person feels even more special.
Auril Gevis' legacy, Dungeon & Stone, was a failure. This was a conclusion made after much deliberation. There is no disagreement that it captured that world better than any other work, but it was impossible to surpass it, so it was scrapped 5 years ago.
— ... But if you think about it, someone who has gone through it will show up at this point. Could it be that it wasn't a failure?
The old man who was muttering something shook his head. Didn't everyone agree that even if someone managed to pass it, there was no guarantee that this project would produce better results than others? His decision was not wrong.
"But... I'm a little curious about what came out of it.
The old man then opened his laptop and entered the name of the only player who had managed to pass his legacy, which was thought impossible:
Lee Han-so.
***
[Ваш GP: 139 000].
After selling the information about the Lord of the 1st Floor and Skull Island, I didn't sell anymore. There were two reasons.
First, each transaction took longer than expected because the buyer was suspicious of me due to the lack of transaction history. They believed me after a few questions and both bought the information, but it would be more accurate to say that they trusted this community and not me, as it was a place where you couldn't enter again if you dared to deceive someone and you were kicked out.
The second reason was more important than time.
If I sell information whenever I want, I'm sure it will get someone's attention.
They say that protruding grass will definitely get under the lawn mower.
Whoever it came from, I wanted to draw as little attention to myself as possible. Anyway, I didn't need GPs now.
*Zing!*
Just at that moment, a message came.
[От: Ghost Master]
I have seen this nickname several times in notifications. In other words, it was a message from a community moderator.
My heart pounded as if I had been caught, but? When I opened it, there was nothing special about the message.
[Elfnunna's transaction history exceeds 10. EXP +10. Member level changed: Dead Man -> Goblin].
It was an automatic notification sent when you rank up in the community.
It couldn't be said that a high rank was very useful, but there was nothing wrong with raising it, as there were rank restrictions in some rooms.
*Keyboard tapping*
I posted the question using the GP I earned. The GP I offered as compensation was 10,000-100,000. It was an expression of willingness to pay more for valuable information.
[The proposal was published].
After posting the post, I spent some time looking around the community as if I were browsing the web. Looking at the jokes and humorous messages on the wall made me feel as if I had returned to the original world. It was at this point that I was doing this that I found out the exact GP value.
2 million gems for 100,000 GP?
My current GP was around 140,000.
Damn, did I just earn 2.8 million gems for answering two questions?
At first, it was just amazing, but when I thought about it, it turned out to be not so implausible. And the information I sold was not valuable.
I can sit on a lot of money just selling information here.
Suddenly I even wondered if it made sense to go further into the labyrinth. However, for me, exchanging GP for money still seemed dangerous.
Let's not think about strange things. Let's not get greedy and use this only as a place to get information.
So I set a new iron rule and made a decision. As I was surveying the rest of the community, I heard another notification.
*Zing!*
When I looked at the monitor, I saw that a new message had arrived.
[LoveElfnuna requested a chat].
LoveElfnuna was an uncomfortable nickname for me, but I didn't hesitate to click "Accept". He could only contact me on one matter.
I was worried, but he showed up during the day.
Finally, there is a seller of information.
In a library with an old-fashioned interior, I was a little surprised to smell the faint smell of books.
It is very well designed. How much did they spend on it?
It was of a very different class than the vacant lot with the newcomers' room in the background, or the abandoned field that became my base when I started the conversation. It must have cost a lot of GP. However, I didn't think it mattered much.
Of course, this alone creates a certain level of trust...
Taking a quick look around, I noticed a white man and greeted him.
— Hello.
— Hello. You're Elfnunna, aren't you?" Sit down.
As soon as I sat down, the man got straight to the point.
"Do you want to know about a mage named Shernal Fergang, from the School of Tarutein?"
— Exactly.
If I were to ask only about the phenomenon of the Dimensional Collapse, it would be difficult for me to know whether the other person is lying or not. But if I had asked about Shernal Ferganga, it would have been a completely different story, like this.
"To be precise, I want to know more about what he's done recently.
"Hmph, is it because of the rumors of the Dimensional Collapse?"
The man immediately associated this name with the Dimensional Collapse. The reliability of the information that was supposed to appear increased even more. So I asked openly:
"Are these rumors true?"
The man asked for 20,000 GP in exchange for an answer, and after I agreed, he continued to talk.
"If you're asking if those words came out of his mouth, yes, they are. But if you're asking about the veracity of rumors... In fact, this is not true.
"What do you mean?"
The man paused to organize his thoughts, then said honestly:
"This means that the collapse of measurements will not occur.
— What grounds do you have to say so?
"I'm afraid that these grounds include high-ranking officials and political tensions...
Simply put, this meant that it was too exclusive information for 20,000 GP.
"I'll pay 20,000 GP more.
"If you want to hear it so badly.
The man nodded and continued to speak without interruption.
"The Tarutein School specializes in the study of the labyrinth, especially dimensional magic. And the master wanted to conduct an experiment.
"Experiment...?"
"I can't go into details, but it's not a dangerous experiment. It's just that there should be fewer researchers in the maze than usual.
That is why the Tarutein School spread the rumor through the mouth of one of its mages throughout the city. They thought that if there were rumors about the Dimension Collapse, it would scare superstitious explorers away from entering.
— ... Is it okay that you just told me all this?
— I'm not "just" telling, but selling it for GP.
From such a confident position, I had nothing more to say. The man grinned and continued:
"What do I have to do with it?" I'm not a master of this school. In addition, sooner or later, the royal family will publish an official letter denying these rumors.
— ... The royal family?
"Do you really think that the royal family of Rafdonia will sit quietly?" Fewer researchers, which means that the reserves of mana stones will decrease.
Hmm, that was true. After the brief explanation that followed, everything made sense. The reasons, presented without question, were also compelling. It doesn't look like he was lying.
When I said I would complete the deal there and send the remaining 20,000 GP separately, the man shook his head.
"Come to think of it, it's all right. It sounds like you're a fan of his, too.
20,000 GP is 400,000 gems, but he said he wouldn't accept them just because I'm an Elfnuna fan? Although I thanked him, curiosity blossomed. How long had this man been here? 5 years? 10? No matter how much time has passed, one thing is clear: he is firmly established in this world enough that 400,000 stones are nothing.
Perhaps that's why he knows information that I couldn't find out for days, no matter how hard I tried.
Once again, I was determined not to forget where I had come from. I didn't care what kind of regime he passed, 15, 20, 30 or 100 times. It was not a game. It was a harsh reality, ruled by a savage providence, in which only the strong survived.
Small Balkans or not... I'm still a beginner.
I realized that compared to the road I had traveled so far, I had a much longer way to go. But why? A moment ago, I was determined not to forget where I came from, but I immediately grinned.
It's fun.
A place where a man who bought a strategy for the Lord of the 1st Floor, a woman who needed information about Skull Island, and a person standing in front of me would have reached over the years, but it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to get there on my own.
***
It all started with a DOS black screen. After a short load, a beep sounded, and a log filled with the actions of the selected player appeared on the monitor.
*Beep, beep, beep!*
The rules for keeping a journal were simple. Only actions were recorded.
[The coming-of-age ceremony is successfully completed].
[New equipment is equipped].
[You've stepped on a goblin trap].
[...]
[...]
Choosing a shield at a coming-of-age ceremony, being in danger when entering a maze, stepping on a goblin trap and crawling on the floor, bleeding for hours, killing someone on day 1, befriending a random elf, and reaching the 2nd floor unarmed, all on the first run.
"Crazy bastard.
The more he read the diary, the more the old man was speechless. Moreover, it was a diary in which only actions were recorded. Every action had a reason. The old man, who had seen many diaries of the players, could see the reasons for the judgments that Lee Han Su had to make at that moment. He had to do it because it was the right choice. He acted as if he were playing a game. It was truly amazing. How many players have made unwise choices in the gap between game and reality?
— ... How many of them reached the 2nd floor when they first entered?
— As far as I know, 117 players.
It was quite a large number, but the old man was sure that out of the 117 players, there was not a single one who had such bad conditions imposed on them.
He is simply charming.
The old man, who was still flipping through the magazine, froze in one place.
[Killed the Vampire Duke of Cambormir. Experience +5]
[Bonus for killing a high-class mutant. Experience +1]
[Guardian Kill Bonus. Experience +3]
The essence of the Guardian Vampire penetrates the soul of the character...]
Before he knew it, recent activity appeared on the screen in the magazine.
[Bjorn Jandel]
Level: 3 (Nov. +1)
Build: 155 (Nov. +75)
Spirit: 90 (нов. +44)
Special Abilities: 115 (new +85)
Item Level: 98 (Nov. -104)
Total Combat Strength: 381.5 (Nov. +204)
Acquired essences:
Information about the character, which would be difficult to believe even for an experienced player, was received just 2 months after waking up in an unfamiliar body. Of course, luck had to follow.
However, if it had been possible by sheer luck, there would have been at least one such case.
Statistics were like this. As samples and data accumulated, the number of cases decreased, and uncertain information turned into obvious facts. Surprisingly, the probability obtained in this way had almost no errors depending on how much the sample increased. In other words, the luck variable was extremely insignificant in statistics.
However, there were also such cases: at first, the impossible became possible. Simply put, 0 becomes 1. An irregular variable that exists outside of statistics, where even the cause could not be determined because there was simply no pattern to compare.
*Click-click*
The old man raised the rank of the player's Observer to the maximum.
[Abnormal growth rate].
[The administrator will now keep an eye on the character].
He suddenly thought when everyone agreed that it was a failure.
His last words were:
"I only rationally assessed the situation. Even if it's only one person in my entire life, if I can send him with a full playthrough, it will lead to an increase in the odds."
Perhaps this was true.