Chapter 183: A Despicable Me (Part 8)
Chapter 183: A Despicable Me (Part 8)
Feng Bu Jue felt relieved the potion was on *-173. If he’d defeated this minor boss without obtaining the potion, he’d have had to return to the room in the middle of the second corridor to search again. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case now. Not only had he successfully acquired the task item, but his death had also saved him time traversing the corridor. The consumption of those two Contra Medals now seemed entirely justified.
After securing the potion, Feng Bu Jue didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he quickly crouched down and began rummaging through the corpse fragments, hoping to find additional loot. His body was already smeared with bloodstains, so a few more wouldn’t matter—besides, he’d never been one to shy away from filth.
This, undeniably, was one of his remarkable traits. Feng Bu Jue could remain eerily calm when confronting things that would make others recoil—like three-day-old corpses teeming with fly eggs or decades-old trash heaps infested with skunks. In fact, every time he encountered something new and revolting, his tolerance expanded further. Call it discovering new limits of endurance… or simply lowering his standards yet again.
The corpse search took little time. Within a minute, he confirmed the boss carried nothing besides the task item.
As he stepped through the doorway into the fan-shaped zone, Feng Bu Jue examined the item’s description while walking.
[Name: Unknown Chemical Reagent (Beta)]
[Type: Plot-Related]
[Quality: Common]
[Function: One of the ingredients required to synthesize an antidote]
[Can Be Taken Out of Scenario]
[Background: Cannot be stacked in inventory with similar items.]
“Strange…” Feng Bu Jue muttered when he read the background. His satchel currently occupied seven slots: Mario’s Pipe Wrench, Flashlight, Eighteen Bronze Warriors’ Foldable Stool (No.5), *-500 (19/20), Anti-Gravity Launcher, Contra Medal x2, and One-Shot Pistol. Adding this Unknown Chemical Reagent (Beta) made eight out of ten slots. According to the background, the other three reagents—Alpha, Gamma, and Delta—would each require their own inventory slots.
Ignoring auxiliary storage like clothing pockets, Feng Bu Jue realized he’d hit full capacity when collecting the final potion. Fortunately, he wouldn’t need to carry all four reagents simultaneously—once all four were combined into an antidote, inventory space wouldn’t be an issue.
While this might seem coincidental, Bi Li’s mention of *-500 at the start of the scenario made Feng Bu Jue suspect the game designer had meticulously planned his limitations. It wasn’t just his satchel space—skills, physical stamina, and equipment were likely calculated as well.
If the scenario was generated by the systembasisplayer’s unique traits, then the “game” itself was essentially designed by the system. Bi Li, the marionette, was merely a messenger. Could it be that even Bi Li’s belief—“I designed this game”—was implanted by the system?
This also explained why [Know Your Enemy] revealed nothing. This scenario had no true boss—only rules, a player, and a few designated pieces…
Returning to the Sector Area, Feng Bu Jue glanced back at the second corridor. He was surprised to find the corpse fragments and bloodstains had vanished, leaving the corridor eerily empty. The blood on his own body, however, remained.
“I see…” Feng Bu Jue seemed to understand. He didn’t linger. Mentally tracking time, he estimated he’d spent about 46 minutes. If everything went smoothly, he’d reach the prison cell at the 41-minute mark on the map with three potions in hand.
At this pace, his progress was perfect.
Thinking this through, Feng Bu Jue entered the fourth corridor and sprinted forward. Though the Contra Medals had revived him, his stamina value post-revival remained at its depleted level. Even with [Jazzy Moves], his stamina was dwindling—894/1800. While still over half, anyone familiar with long-distance running knew how exhausting the final stretch could be… especially during a sustained sprint like this.
This scenario was a dual marathon of body and mind—not one promoting the joy of participation, but a deadly race with a deathline.
……
Five minutes passed like a blink inside the corridor. The room’s door appeared ahead at the expected moment.
Feng Bu Jue suddenly realized something—he’d never run the full length of a corridor before. He’d only traversed the first half of corridor three and the second half of corridor two. The minor boss’s room location—front or back—was unknown, making it impossible to measure half-distances. Even if he completed corridor four from start to finish, he couldn’t compare its length to the others.
“No wonder the rabbit never figured out the shortest route,” Feng Bu Jue muttered. “First, because it only ever went down corridor one. And second… the version of me appearing at the 41-minute mark had already run three corridors, but still didn’t know their lengths. If I’d known, I’d have told the rabbit.”
Executing a Sakamoto-style slide, he gracefully halted at the door, grabbed the handle, and pushed forward.
The rusted iron door exuded a chainsaw-massacre vibe. The dim, claustrophobic room creaked to life as gears ground into motion upon entry—clearly triggering hidden mechanisms.
Feng Bu Jue had no intention of leaving an escape route. He knew barricading the door was pointless—his satchel lacked suitable tools. The flashlight and folding stool might get crushed, and if the pipe wrench snapped… that would be a real loss.
Click.
Artificial light flooded the room, illuminating it to ten points of brightness. Overhead, an iron chain suspended a cage. Bi Li, the marionette, lounged inside, his red-and-black eyes peering through the iron bars with an overseeing gaze.
His raspy voice echoed just as the mechanisms settled: “Hello, Mad Bu Jue. I want to play a game.”
(End of Chapter)
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