Salted Fish Zombie

Chapter 50.1: Game Base (1)

June 29, 2023 by Wyrd

[Congratulations to player Ning Su for successfully completing the game.]

[Player performance and reward statistics are being calculated.]

[Player will be transported out of the instance “Manman” shortly.]

During the teleportation process, Ning Su felt a little uneasy.

This time, it had been a while since 9277 started announcing his completion rewards.

Ning Su had no complaints. After all, he had a history.

It wasn’t until they were about to land outside the base that he heard a belated and strangely emotionless voice from system 9277.

[Upon inspection, player Ning Su took a core NPC out of the instance privately. As compensation, all of player Ning Su’s points and items from this round of the game will be deducted.]

[Player performance and reward update in progress.]

[Now announcing player performance and rewards.]

[Player “Manman” instance performance as follows:]

[System rating: F.]

[Core NPC rating: SSS (Bravest Mother).]

[Final rating: B.]

[Player rewards for this round are as follows:]

[Manman: The most powerful Gu Man Tong in the world. Luck is her toy. Please explore and raise her on your own.]

[Points: 0]

[Luck value: 8]

[Player’s personal data panel has been updated. Player’s luck value is 67.]

[Congratulations to the player, please continue to strive for excellence.]

Ning Su: “...”

Ning Su, who had vented his anger at 9277 before, was unusually quiet at this moment. He neither opposed nor spoke, silently waiting to land.

Although he remained silent, 9277 couldn’t hold back and angrily spoke out just as Ning Su was about to land.

9277: [If you continue like this, the main system will eliminate you!]

9277: [Didn’t I remind you to be normal and low-key?!]

Ning Su: [Don’t worry, I always remember your words. I’ve already been quite low-key.]

9277: [?]

Ning Su: [Think about it carefully. Haven’t I been clearing the instance within the allowed rules, using things obtained within the instances? If I were high profile, when the monster children attacked the castle, I would have absorbed them all.]

9277: [???]

9277: [I’m talking about the fact that you brought the core NPC out of the game! She is the only core NPC in the instance. If she leaves the game instance, it won’t be possible to restart it. Don’t you realize the seriousness of the situation?!]

As expected.

Ning Su secretly felt happy in his heart. If he brought the only ghost master out, the instance wouldn’t be able to restart.

This instance was not like “Ghost Animals” that had two ghost masters. If he brought one out, there would still be another ghost master to maintain world order and allow for the continuation of the game. However, in this instance called “Manman,” there was only one ghost master. Without the ghost master, the instance couldn’t be restarted.

What Ning Su wanted was for this annoying instance to never restart again.

He didn’t want those few ghost children, who had never experienced love, to be treated as experimental tools by the system, repeatedly feeling love and then losing it, or being loved and then betrayed and hurt.

The method he discussed with Manman, the method to continue being together, was to bring her out.

Originally, his plan was to bring out the remaining ghost friends as well, but unexpectedly, Shi Tianzhu came out and said she could make a contract with them, summoning them whenever she wanted.

Ning Su decided not to bring them out anymore. He thought about it and felt that Shi Tianzhu’s summoning contract was better.

The deadlock of the instance lay in the fact that if players were initially unkind to their ghost friends, they wouldn’t receive any luck points and wouldn’t be able to leave the castle.

On the other hand, if players were too kind to their ghost friends, the ghost friends, who had never experienced love before, could not accept losing the player in the end. They would want to turn the player into one of them and keep them in the instance world.

Unless they encountered a Gu Man Tong like the one Gu Witch met, who was loved even during its lifetime and was not obsessed with a small amount of love.

Or like Ji Mingrui, who treated his ghost friend well but not excessively so and hadn’t touched the softest part of the ghost friend’s heart. Thus, the ghost friend didn’t have such a strong obsession to keep him.

He could resolve the deadlock for other players by bringing their ghost friends out.

But if he brought them all out, he himself would definitely be too busy to take care of so many children.

As for the players, they did like them during the instance, but what about in the distant future?

Ning Su’s own experience told him that even raising a normal child without a blood relationship could lead to resentment over time, let alone a ghost child.

Shi Tianzhu’s summoning contract was better because she could summon them and fulfill the ghost friends’ desire to see the players frequently, without losing the player’s love for them. They could also continue to live in a familiar environment.

Moreover, players would have an extra helper in dangerous situations, and not only would they not get tired of taking care of them every day, but they would also love them more, thus maintaining a good relationship.

It’s just that Shi Tianzhu had worked hard.

When Shi Tianzhu came forward and said she could help the players enter into a contract with their ghost friends, it surprised not only the other players but also Ning Su.

Because he thought Shi Tianzhu wasn’t that kind-hearted.

She was summoning NPCs for other players, so Shi Tianzhu’s summoning contract was two-way. She signed separate contracts with the players and the ghost friends. When the players needed their ghost friends, they could send her a request, and she would summon the ghost friends for them.

Why did she want to add an extra trouble, expend an extra skill, and help the players and ghost friends build such a bridge for meeting each other?

Was it because those ghost friends would also help her?

It’s also possible that this was a way to restrain or bind the players.

As Ning Su thought about it, he half-heartedly apologized to 9277.

Ning Su: [Ah, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have brought Manman out.]

9277: [...]

9277 remained silent, not sure if they were angered.

The seven players who cleared the level appeared together outside the base gate.

Everyone looked at the little girl beside Ning Su, a moment of silence ensued.

Zhu Shuangshuang had already accepted the situation after their first dungeon instance together.

However, she was worried that if Ning Su entered the next dungeon, would a ghost master appear with him every time? Would that cause any problems?

Meng Jiang stumbled, “Ning Su, is this the reward item you obtained?”

Ning Su made a sound of acknowledgement without confirming or denying, leaving the other players to speculate.

Meng Jiang believed, “Your items are all very special. Is it related to your skills?”

Ning Su made another sound of acknowledgement, thinking that explanation sounded good.

Players had countless skills, so this ability was nothing special... right?

Other players could only think that it was his skill, something like copying an NPC’s abilities, using a portion of the NPC’s skills, just like how Shi Tianzhu could summon NPCs to fight for her.

But Shi Tianzhu didn’t think so.

The glowing circle in front of the players finally disappeared, and people outside could see and hear them.

The head manager of the Yinhua Guild, Song Hongkang, immediately approached Shi Tianzhu in surprise.

He was astonished to find that the young boy named Ning Su had also come out unharmed.

Weren’t they supposed to kill him in the dungeon?

Or did the president realize that he didn’t hold any hostility towards the Yinhua Guild?

Just as he was pondering this, he saw Shi Tianzhu dragging the boy aside with a very unhappy expression.

No one dared to approach, but the head manager had already realized the seriousness of the problem.

Indifference was Shi Tianzhu’s usual state. It had been many years since she had shown such an expression.

He speculated reasonably that it was because Shi Tianzhu wanted to kill this young man in the instance, but failed, which made her look so unpleasant.

The head manager gestured to the people around him.

According to the system rules, killing was not allowed in the game base, but players had other ways to destroy someone.

When Shi Tianzhu pulled Ning Su to the side, the two children followed and looked up at her.

Shi Tianzhu glanced at Gui Sheng, then at Manman, and asked him in a cold and low voice, “Did you also bring Gui Sheng out of the instance?”

“Yes,” Ning Su nodded and nervously looked at her.

After coming out of the instance, they all returned to their original appearances.

They looked somewhat alike, but not to the extent where people could immediately recognize them as siblings.

The resemblance mainly came from their peach blossom-shaped eyes, one cold and the other vacant.

Whenever the young man looked at her with those slightly frozen peach blossom eyes, Shi Tianzhu couldn’t maintain her cold and tough demeanor. But she still revealed a cold face and solemnly told him, “You can never bring an NPC out again, otherwise, you’ll be doomed!”

The latter part of the sentence was emphasized, so the other players heard it too.

The head manager was one of those who heard it.

Ning Su obediently nodded and said, “Okay, I understand.”

Only then did Shi Tianzhu release his arm.

She stood in front of him, slightly lowering her head to calm her emotions.

Just now, she did lose control a bit. She didn’t understand why she felt so nervous and afraid when she saw the young man bringing Manman out of the instance world.

All she knew was that such behavior by the young man was not allowed by the system.

As the player who had spent the most time in the game, Shi Tianzhu was well aware that the system was by no means a benevolent existence; on the contrary, it was rigid and selfish, and no one should harm its interests.

There were many things she could not say to the young man. She only hoped that he would truly understand and refrain from recklessly bringing NPCs from the instance world.

One or two instances might be considered fortunate, or perhaps the system could tolerate it, but no one could guarantee what would happen next time.

Ning Su felt a bit complex when she was sternly warned by Shi Tianzhu. Besides being nervous, there were some other emotions as well.

Seeing Shi Tianzhu lowering her head to calm herself, he quickly said, “I remember. I won’t bring them out anymore.”

“Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

Ning Su pursed his lips, suppressing the unfamiliar and sour feeling welling up in his heart, and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t die.”

Shi Tianzhu didn’t say anything else. She turned her head to look at the other players and asked, “Do you want to review the instance together?”

It was very common for successful players who had completed an instance to review it together at the base.

Even after coming out of the instance, the clues and rules obtained by a player were limited. By reviewing together and consolidating information, they could obtain a more complete map of the instance.

However, they did not expect that Shi Tianzhu would take the initiative to ask them to review it. The clues held by the expert must be more abundant than theirs, so of course, they were willing.

Without giving them time to consider or respond, Shi Tianzhu said to the head manager of the Yinhua Guild, “Go prepare the food, make it plentiful.”

The Yinhua Guild was quite influential, and Shi Tianzhu had never concerned herself with such trivial matters as food.

The head manager understood her intention and said, “Don’t worry, I will make sure it’s plentiful.”

Ning Su exclaimed, “Ah, great!”

A barely perceptible smile curved Shi Tianzhu’s lips.

Just as the group was about to head towards the Yinhua Guild, a flash of light appeared near them at an instance exit.

Ning Su had just recognized that the Taoist priest Su Wangsheng and the high school student Fang Qi were there, but Zhu Shuangshuang was already walking in that direction.