Chapter 169 Despicable Me 1

Feng Bujue was not worried about being killed in one shot since he still possessed four Contra Medals. The first four deaths were nothing more than a process. From the looks of things, other than being forced to abandon the game or being disconnected, in this Solo Nightmare Mode, there were only two possibilities of failure. He could be killed a fifth time after using all the Contra Medals, or as mentioned by the boss earlier, the toxin would activate. In other words, he would fail the scenario once the ninety-two minutes time limit was up.

In any case, no matter what was waiting for Feng Bujue inside the first corridor, the worst-case scenario was experiencing his first death. There was no possibility that might cause him to fail the scenario directly. Of course, if there was one, it would be one that he had no idea about, but the chance of this was minute and very unreasonable. It would be like playing Super Mario Bros, and the game rules stated very clearly that you would only die if you fell into the hole or the time ran out, but just as you started the game, you hit the first question block, and it exploded, killing you… Obviously, you would be playing a different game then.

Feng Bujue raised his arms in surrender and stepped out with firm, determined steps. He turned his body to face down the corridor and stood at the first corridor's entrance. Since he still did not hear a reply after yelling earlier, he was mentally prepared to face a bullet rushing at his face, but to his surprise, there was no one in the corridor at all.

There was no shooter or gun; the corridor was empty.

Perhaps the shooter made the shot from an impossible distance? The sound of the gunshot travelled over the distance and reached my ears?

That was what Feng Bujue thought.

But if that was the case, the shooter was definitely not using the One-Shot-Kill Pistol because the effect of the pistol would have been nullified after the target went beyond the shooter's range of sight. Otherwise, the shooter could have aimed the gun at the sky or the open space of the corridor and made as many shots as he wanted. Who knew how many people at the edge of the world would be shot dead?

So, what kind of weapon was used by the shooter earlier? Based on the distance, the chance of it being a sniper rifle was very higher. But if a person's neck was shot through by that kind of high-caliber sniper rifle, it would not have caused a penetrative effect. Instead, the other Feng Bujue's head should have exploded like a watermelon being smashed.

But how could a normal gun achieve such accuracy at such a distance? Had the shooter attached some kind of scope to the One-Shot-Kill Pistol? Did the shooter possess some kind of ability like Eagle Eyes that allowed them to look down a very long distance?

The other question was, if the shooter really attempted the shot at a really long distance, then Feng Bujue's scream earlier would have eluded them. They probably did not even hear him. Then… what would they be doing now? Had the shooter stayed where they were and already seen Feng Bujue, who had moved into the doorway? Or had they already put down the pistol and moved away after taking down the target? If the shooter had moved away, then would they be coming toward Feng Bujue, or had they already left from the other end of the corridor?

If the shooter can see me and is me, then he should know that the current me and the Feng Bujue from earlier are not one and the same. After all, if he cannot make that distinction, he might have been given the impression that his first shot didn't make the kill and would have fired off a second shot already. But he did not… Could it be that his marksmanship skill or the weapon that he used is on cooldown?

No… that shouldn't be the case.

He lowered his arms and walked through the first door calmly and unhurriedly. As he moved forward, he carefully observed the floor, ceiling, and walls of the first corridor, trying to find some clues that he might use.

Feng Bujue denied the possibility of it being a super-long-distance shot. Even though that hypothesis would have explained why he had only heard the sound of one person running earlier and why there were no other sounds after the gunshot rang out in the corridor, but… the corridor itself was empty. Obviously, there was an alternative explanation, one that was much simpler and made more sense in the current situation.

"So, they are really just an illusion," Feng Bujue said. "The 'me' from before and that gunshot were merely stimuli that I obtained visually and auditorily. Without a dead body and shell casing, even the blood stain on the ground has dissolved into white light and disappeared…"

He turned around to glance at that fan-shaped area.

"That warning of 'you got it all wrong' and 'you need to stop…' should be telling me that this route is the wrong one and that I should not move forward anymore."

He scratched his chin.

"Then, to look at it from another perspective, should I ignore that warning and continue down this corridor?"

He really could not find any other hints. This corridor looked the same as the one that he had walked through earlier. There was nothing that stood out; every stretch was the same. Footprints would not be left on the ground. He rushed back to the fan-shaped area and waited for ten seconds, but there was no sign that any event had been triggered.

Looking at the four different doors and four different paths before him, Feng Bujue grumbled, "Normally, this kind of setup means that each of the path will lead to one of the quest items, but what if it is a different set up? Assuming that there is only one path that is correct and will lead me to all the chemical potions, and the other three paths are all dead ends…"

He scratched his head.

"Or perhaps… two of them lead to the potions, and the other two are dead ends. Or perhaps three of them are correct, and one is wrong." He moved his gaze back to the first door. "The thing from before, is a real hint or a disturbance? Or am I overthinking the meaning of the phrase overlapping of space or…"

"Huh…" Feng Bujue lifted his head to look at the ceiling. "What do you want from me in a scenario with such monotonous design and so few hints…"

Even though from the start of the chapter, Brother Jue's actions and thoughts had filled up more than one thousand words. In reality, he only had used about two minutes. To summarize, he had moved to stand in the doorway, think about it, walk forward a few steps, think about it, go back to the fan-shaped area, and think about it.

From the end of the introduction to the scenario and the second Feng Bujue gained control of his body, it had been seventeen minutes. In other words, since he heard about the ninety-two-minute time limit from the broadcast, sixteen minutes had passed. The difference between the two was not big, and no matter which one was used as the standard, the time difference of one minute was so small that it could easily be ignored.

Assuming that Brother Jue would exhaust about the same time to find each of the chemical potions, he would need to spend twenty-three minutes searching for each potion. In other words, Feng Bujue would find a potion every twenty-three minutes, and that would guarantee that he found the antidote before the toxin activated.

But now, he had not even gotten a glimpse of the first potion, and it would not work for him to continue wasting time like this. Therefore, he turned around… and headed down the third corridor.

Feng Bujue didn’t worry that he would be over within one shot. Under the given circumstance that he had four Contra Medals, the first four deaths were just a kind of using consumable items. Currently, unless he got disconnected or retreated purposely, in Single Player Survival Mode Nightmare difficulty level, there were only two cases of failure. The first one, he had used up all the four Medals and got killed for the fifth time. The second one, according to what the BOSS said through the speaker, [Once the poison burst out, you will be judged as failing the scenario], this meant, when his 92 minutes ran up, he would be declared failed.

In short, no matter what was waiting for him in the first corridor, in the worst case, Feng Bujue only had to die once. The factor that directly led to failure in clearing the scenario didn’t exist. Of course, if it did exist, this factor would be completely unknown. However, this possibility was small and unreasonable. It was like when you play Super Mario, and the description says that you only die when you jump into the holes or your time is up. Turns out, when you just bump to the brick, it explodes… Apparently, this would turn into a game with a different nature…

After yelling for a while but receiving no answer, Feng Bujue held up his arms, determinedly walked forward, moving his body to face the corridor behind the first door. He was ready to receive a headshot. Unexpectedly, no one was in the hallway in front of him.

Neither the shooter nor weapon. The corridor was empty.

The shooter had shot out from a very far distance that naked eyes couldn’t see, perhaps? And the gunshot had traveled through the whole corridor to get there? Feng Bujue thought.

If it happened this way, he could confirm that the weapon the other had used wasn’t the Kill In One Shot pistol. Because this gun couldn’t work with the targets out of the user’s line of sight. If not, when the user just pointed the gun towards the sky or an empty corridor, no one knew how many people at the horizon would get hit.

As for what kind of weapon used by the shooter… based on the distance, a sniper rifle was the biggest suspect. But if a person’s neck were to be pierced by a 12.7 mm caliber and above sniper bullet, it would absolutely not be the kind of penetration and blood spraying out effect just now, but rather, the whole head should fall off.

But if it was just a standard gun, how could it reach such precise range and accuracy? Had the shooter installed the sniper scope on the Kill In One Shot pistol? Or perhaps the shooter got some skill that allowed him to observe a far far away distance, like the hawk’s eyes or something?

Another suspicion was that if the other did shoot out from a really far distance, he certainly didn’t hear Feng Bujue’s surrender declaration. So… What was he doing now? If he lay still at his spot, he would see Feng Bujue coming to the door. Or after he had killed the man, he dropped the gun and ran away? If he had run away, which direction he was heading to? This side, or the other end of the corridor?

“If the other can see me, and moreover, he is me, he can notice that the other guy and I aren’t the same Feng Bujue. If he couldn’t distinguish us, he should have recognized that his first shot didn’t succeed and launched the next shot already. But he didn’t… Is it the ‘cool down’ time of his skill or weapon?” Feng Bujue wondered, “No… Not that.”

He dropped his arms, entering the first door neither slowly nor hurriedly. He was carefully observing the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of the corridor ahead while walking forward in an attempt to find some clues.

Feng Bujue crossed out the assumption of long-range shooting, although it could explain why he had heard only the footsteps of the escapee and his voice, and why there was no sound in the corridor after the gunshot. However, there was another explanation for the case of an empty corridor, much simpler. It was also the more reasonable explanation at this stage.

“They are all illusions…” said Feng Bujue. “The previous ‘me’ and the gunshot are just the information my hearing and sight had caught, but there’s no body or cartridge, and even the bloodstain on the ground had turned into a white halo and disappeared…” He turned, looking at the fan-shaped lobby. ” He said ‘All are wrong’ and ‘You mustn’t… again,’ it indicates that I had taken this way and it’s not the right way so I shouldn’t follow it again?” He rubbed his chin. “Well, think about the other way around… I should leave this effect aside and take this path?”

Indeed, he couldn’t find anything abnormal around. This corridor looked exactly the same with the corridor section he had walked through before. Even if it didn’t have any significant feature, and every part looked identical, there was no footprint left on the floor. He turned back to the fan-shaped lobby, stayed there for more than ten seconds, but there was still no sign of a FLAG that had been triggered.

Looking at the four doors in front of him, and the four paths behind, Feng Bujue mused. “According to the standard rationality, each of the four paths would lead to one of the four chemical bottles, but if it’s another situation, in which there’s only one correct path to take, leading to the all four chemical bottles while the other three lead to death…”

He scratched his head. “Or… two hallways lead to the chemical bottles, and the other two are the deadly ways. Or, three of them are the correct ways and the only one left is the dead end road.” He shifted his look to the first door. “Should the previous event be a hint or an interference… or I’m just overthinking about the time and space overlapping, or…”

“Ah…” Feng Bujue looked up at the ceiling. “Such a simple background and too little clues, what should I do…”

Although from the beginning of the chapter until here, Jue-Ge’s thinking process and actions have been pictured with more than one thousand words, in fact, he had spent only two minutes walking back and forth. In simple words, what he had done could be described: dodge to the door, think, make some steps forward, think, return to the fan-shaped lobby, then think again.

According to the brief introduction of the plot, from the time Feng Bujue had regained his mobility until now, it was 17 minutes. And from the moment he had heard the key word ‘92 minutes’ from the speaker, it was 16 minutes. It wasn’t a big difference. No matter which point of time he would use as the standard, this 1 minute difference could be negligible.

Currently, he could divide the required average period of time to find the four chemical bottles. 92 minutes can be split into four sessions, each has 23 minutes. In other words, at every 23 minutes, Feng Bujue had to find a bottle. This was how he could be able to make the antidote before the poison burst out.

At this moment, he hadn’t seen the shadow of the first bottle yet. If he still lingered here, it wouldn’t be a good solution. Thus, he turned around and entered the third corridor.

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