"Hahaha... I lost?" Ren Yifei suddenly burst into laughter, tapping his eye with his fingertip and pulling off a tear. "I laughed so hard that tears came out."
"No matter how much you cry, it won't help." These NPCs were all players before, some from the Wasteland, some from the natives. But regardless of their background, none of them wanted Ren Yifei to be the winner.
"If I'm this miserable, why should you break free of your cage? Stay here and let's fall into depravity together." This was the true sentiment of the people present.
Ren Yifei's acting is simply superb; he's destined to lose this round. If the referee wants someone to lose, that person has to lose.
Two black chains, one on the left and one on the right, stretched out from an unseen distance, their clasps fastening around Ren Yifei's feet. The bustling street scene around him dissipated like smoke, revealing its true form—a house that glowed white from all sides.
The NPCs no longer resembled the director and assistant director. Their appearances remained the same, but their clothes had all changed, and they all looked at Ren Yifei with ill intent.
"It seems you'll have to come down and keep us company." The thought of the genius falling from grace and the world never seeing the 'Black Rabbit' again made Nian Tianxi's smile seem more genuine.
"There are two kinds of strength: personal ability and background. Only a child would be so naive as to think that if he is strong enough, he can win."
He walked up to Ren Yifei, reached out and pinched his chin, his gaze resembling that of an old prostitute sizing up a struggling, miserable woman.
Ren Yifei slapped the hand away, a hint of rejection and disdain appearing between his brows.
In Nian Tianxi's view, Ren Yifei's silence seemed like passive resistance. The more unwilling Ren Yifei was, the happier he became: what did it matter how proud he was? He still ended up like this.
"I've always wanted to meet you, but unfortunately I haven't had the chance. But it doesn't matter, we'll have plenty of opportunities to meet in the future." Nian Tianxi was like a prey facing certain death, his heart filled with the urge to pour out his feelings. He couldn't wait to vent his resentment at being surpassed by someone else.
"Great, you have a face that's perfect for the entertainment industry. You've always received preferential treatment because of your face, haven't you? I'm really curious, how many people have you gone through? Those seniors and directors, they must be very good at training people, right? Is that how you honed your acting skills?" Nian Tianxi no longer bothered to hide his malice.
Ren Yifei laughed instead: "You look like you're going crazy with jealousy. Isn't my acting great?"
Nian Tianxi's face darkened when his inner desires were laid bare. Indeed, he had uttered so many derogatory remarks simply out of jealousy. Only through such belittling and malicious speculation did he feel his jealousy lessen slightly.
"To be honest, the thing I like most is to do whatever I want because I have talent." Ren Yifei once again brushed the bangs that had fallen across his forehead behind his ear: "Do you see your own face? You're so jealous... your eyes are about to bleed."
Ren Yifei's words became arrows, piercing Nian Tianxi's heart one by one.
"Shut up, aren't you afraid of dying?"
"Why shut up? Isn't this the truth?" Ren Yifei smiled brightly. "As for dying, I'm not worried about that. At most, I'll just be jumping ship from the desolate corner to here; the loss won't be significant. But you..."
"What about me?"
Ren Yifei's smile deepened: "If I were you, I definitely wouldn't choose to keep me. The comparison is too cruel. When you don't have a real diamond, moissanite can make do. But once you have a real diamond, who would want moissanite?"
These words were truly provocative and cruel. Nian Tianxi, recalling the competition just now, became enraged and grabbed at Ren Yifei's neck with one hand.
Ren Yifei's feet were bound, but his hands remained still, waiting for Nian Tianxi to grab them.
Unfortunately, Nian Tianxi's hand was only halfway out when a mysterious force stopped him.
Realizing where this power came from, Nian Tianxi's face turned deathly pale. He thought of Ren Yifei's words just now, something about diamonds and moissanite.
"Am I going to be abandoned?" Nian Tianxi's heart ached. Back in the desolate corner, those who had sworn to pursue him had so easily turned to Ren Yifei's embrace.
Even high-end players have begun to list Black Rabbit as their top partner.
"Boss, don't be fooled by him, this person doesn't exist..."
"Shhh."
Nian Tianxi suddenly froze, unable to move.
"New player, how should I address you?" A peculiar voice appeared in the space, its source elusive, seemingly coming from all directions.
The mini-game itself has arrived, and the NPCs, who hadn't been acting seriously before, immediately straightened up.
"Just like in the desolate corner, call me Black Rabbit." Ren Yifei looked particularly friendly, as if he was about to switch jobs any second.
This little game clearly thought so too, so it simply said, "Welcome to the team, Black Rabbit..."
Before it could finish speaking, Ren Yifei raised his hand: "Wait a minute, I haven't decided whether I want to join. Of course, I know that not joining means death. But I don't have a particular obsession with living, so threatening me with that probably won't work."
Nian Tianxi sneered from the side: He actually rejected an infinite flow game? He's asking for death…
"What do you want?" After weighing the options for a moment, the game still felt that Ren Yifei's value was enough to make it back down a little.
The word "die" was still stuck in Nian Tianxi's throat, and the other NPCs were stunned. When had they ever seen the game itself so easy to talk to? And when had they ever bargained with the game like this before?
However, Ren Yifei dared to make a demand: "If you want me to join, you have to let me see who I'm supposed to serve. Forget about that puppet, I want to see the boss, the real person in power."
All the NPCs present gasped. They thought Ren Yifei was incredibly audacious; how could a player dare to make such an unreasonable request?
However, Ren Yifei had his own reasons. Mini-games couldn't compare to the Wasteland Corner. The Wasteland Corner had the ability to create dungeons on its own, and players were purely consumables to it, and consumables that could be continuously regenerated.
But mini-games are still pitifully using a limited number of players, borrowed from other infinite games, as artificial NPCs.
Therefore, the desolate corner doesn't need powerful players, but the mini-games do. If the NPCs aren't strong enough, the dungeons can be easily breached, so it needs players like Ren Yifei, just like it chose to spare Nian Tianxi's life before.
"You're very brave," the little game said, its voice devoid of emotion.
"No problem. Asking for an exorbitant price, we'll settle for whatever's right. It's a matter of mutual choice." Ren Yifei remained calm, much like the businessman he was portraying this time. "If you want to keep me, you should show me your sincerity."
"I am this world, and this world is me," the game says.
In other words, it has no physical form, no specific mode of existence, and it is simply this infinite game itself? Ren Yifei frowned: "That's troublesome."
Before he could even figure out the mini-game, he saw the player reveal a wicked smile: "I was hoping to lure out your true form... Never mind, I'm in a hurry."
With a deafening roar, a bolt of lightning cleaved the white room in two. A gaping hole suddenly appeared in the ceiling above, leaving a dark void.
Before the NPCs could react to what was happening, several smaller black holes appeared beneath their feet, and more and more of them appeared. Anything that touched them would turn into a completely black dot that did not reflect any light.
Like holes burned by cigarette butts appearing on a piece of colored paper, it's not a cover-up, it's disappearance.
Realizing the terrifying nature of this thing, not only Nian Tianxi, but all the NPCs' expressions changed: "What is this thing? What's going on?" This was the first time such a situation had occurred in the dungeon world, and the NPCs were at a loss.
"Where's the boss? Why isn't the boss responding? Is there a problem with the system?"
These people tried to escape, but they couldn't; they were confined to this area.
The black holes multiplied, swallowing more and more things. After a few minutes, most of the room had turned into pure black.
The NPCs called out to the game's master for a long time, but no one responded. Several of them had already been hit by the black hole, and their body parts were disappearing little by little.
"It's death!" The people finally panicked.
In this chaotic environment, only Ren Yifei remained calm as always. He even looked at everything with appreciation. And only he had no flaws whatsoever.
Nian Tianxi questioned, "Did you do this?"
Ren Yifei smiled slightly: "Guess?"
Each extreme emotion corresponds to a power: the power of greed is illusion, the power of gluttony is devouring, so what about pride, which is the dominant emotion?
"It's a field."
The ability that arose from absolute confidence in one's acting skills
But he had never used it before, and even when facing a crisis, he could only rely on the ability to unlock other emotions to cope. It wasn't that he was unwilling to use it, but that he couldn't.
The conditions for this field to appear are too stringent; it must be on a film set where actors are performing.
In the realm of acting, he possesses the unique ability to set the rules, and any other force must yield to his rules.
The "black whistle" incident had been warned about in the desolate corner long ago. Given the questionable character of the mini-game players, how could Ren Yifei have been completely unprepared?
He agreed to the contest while simultaneously activating his domain, and his rule was: fairness.
We don't do anything fancy or talk about connections; we just focus on acting skills. On stage, acting skills are what matter; everything else is secondary.
With Ren Yifei's pride, he doesn't resort to underhanded tactics when it comes to acting; he only wants the fairest and most impartial competition.
Unfortunately, it was disappointing.
Nian Tianxi's character doesn't match his acting skills. There were indeed people in the crew who brought their own funding to join, and there were indeed people who stole his roles, but none of them would have dared to act superior in front of Ren Yifei.
Even if the artist is brainless, his assistant and manager are. Ren Yifei is so capable and has such a wide network of connections, what good would it do to offend him?
Nian Tianxi delivered himself to their doorstep.
It's a pity that he gave these people another chance.
It was then that he asked them if they accepted the result. If even one person had stood up and said "no," the situation would be very different now, but no one stood up to object.
In other words, they all accepted the result, and they all participated in the fraud.
These people went to unnecessary lengths. If they were planning an unfair competition from the start, they might as well have just arrested him. Now, by staging this whole thing, they've only ended up losing their own lives.
"I really feel sorry for them." Ren Yifei almost shed crocodile tears for their misfortune.
Actually, his only real regret was not bringing the mini-game itself in along with it and killing it too.
In order to reveal the true nature of this mini-game, Ren Yifei delayed the time allotted for the penalty for violating the rules.
The rules of this domain are paramount; once an entity enters, it is governed by those rules. He concealed this ability back then, luring the villainous system in to kill it, which allowed him to enjoy several years of carefree life afterward.
This time, he planned to use the same trick again to swindle the mini-game. But who knew that this mini-game didn't actually have a physical form? Of course, it's also possible that it was too cunning and suspicious of him, thus lying about not having a physical form.
However, since the goal could not be achieved, Ren Yifei had no choice but to give up the mini-game and continue to advance.
Dad (the mini-game) isn't here, so the son (the agent) will have to make do. First, get the Ghost Card; as for the rest… let the mini-game and the Wasteland fight it out.
"Although this desolate corner is still rubbish, it's still better than this three-no factory. After thinking about it, I'd better not switch jobs," Ren Yifei said to Nian Tianxi.
At this moment, most of Nian Tianxi's body had been swallowed by the black hole. He wanted to drag Ren Yifei down with him, but his legs had disappeared, and only his hands were still futilely scratching in mid-air.
"Ren Yifei, do you know that Saman is also in this game?" Even though the black hole was starting to swallow his neck, Nian Tianxi was still unwilling to give up. Even if he couldn't hurt Ren Yifei, he still wanted to show some other painful expression on his calm face.
"I know, and I also know he's currently attempting a challenge. So? Do you have any dying words you'd like me to pass on?"
Ren Yifei's words almost choked him. Nian Tianxi's face darkened: "You knew he was coming, but did you know he was going to die?"
Ren Yifei's fingers tightened, but his face remained relaxed: "You can tell he's about to die even through the dungeon? Impressive."
"Don't try to provoke me. I don't know his current situation, but I know the mini-games won't let him off the hook. There are quite a few players still alive, but most of them just quietly clear the game. But you and Saman, you entered a dungeon and destroyed it, seriously threatening the existence of the mini-games. Do you think the mini-games will let you leave alive?"
As Nian Tianxi was about to be completely devoured, he laughed loudly: "You two are a couple, aren't you? What a pity, you and Saman, one of you is going to die today."
The author has something to say: The existence of 'neighborhood' is not a stroke of genius, but a basic setting—one emotion corresponds to one ability.
Has no one ever wondered what the 'Pride' ability is? Why can't he use it in crucial moments and only unlock other people's abilities?
The article also hinted that what he was most proud of was his acting skills.
When I saw everyone saying it was abrupt this morning, I almost thought there was a problem with the basic settings (facepalm).