Cat 286: The Ending of the Zombie Scenario

Chapter 286: The Ending of the Zombie Scenario

Yan Jiyun outside the screen was as startled by the NPC younger brother’s thunderous words as Qi Feng was inside the game instance. The Ultimate Video Game Console.

The NPC brother knows he’s an NPC?

Yan Jiyun wanted to reach into the screen and ask about the cause and effect, but when his paw touched the screen, it was just a wall; he couldn’t reach through.

He recalled that, as far as his memory served right, in the instances he’d experienced, conversations between players in the game were never accessible to NPCs. NPCs could only understand content related to the plot, and anything beyond that, they would selectively ignore.

What was strange was that Qi Feng had always been searching for the truth behind the system—why had he never mentioned this zombie scenario to him?

With no one beside him to talk to, Yan Jiyun quietly memorized what was happening in the instance and continued watching.

Inside the screen, Qi Feng was taken aback, his expression freezing for a moment. “You know you’re an NPC?”

He responded instantly. At this point, he couldn’t be bothered to play dumb—besides, the zombies outside wouldn’t allow them to dawdle here.

Seeing Qi Feng’s startled look, the NPC younger brother quickly recovered his composure, and his eyes took on an appreciative glint.

“Why would you want to save an NPC? Never heard of players wanting to save an NPC before?” He spoke softly, his voice low enough for only him and Qi Feng to hear.

Qi Feng’s reasons for wanting to save the NPC brother were twofold: one, he suspected the other’s identity was not simple; two, he genuinely wanted to save this NPC brother, subconsciously feeling there was something different about him compared to the other NPCs. Now, that feeling had become more concrete—the NPC brother actually knew he was an NPC?

The anger and betrayal he had felt from his teammates was completely overshadowed by the shock that the NPC brother knew his own nature.

His mind raced. Since the NPC brother knew he was an NPC, could he also know the truth behind the game?

“Maybe I think you shouldn’t die, or maybe I’m just too soft-hearted,” Qi Feng said. He didn’t immediately ask the NPC brother about the truth of the game—this confession had come too suddenly; he needed time to process it.

“So, even if another NPC was playing this role today, would you still want to save them?”

“Not necessarily. Maybe it’s just fate,” Qi Feng answered, gazing at the face so close to his own.

There was a fragility to the NPC brother’s face; his eyes were sharp, as though they could look straight into a person’s heart. He immediately saw through Qi Feng’s vague response.

“No, you’re smarter than everyone else. You’d already guessed the answer before you tried to save me. Besides, you wanted to use getting scratched by a zombie as a test to see if your friends were worth keeping close. Am I right?” The NPC brother was ruthless and forthright, leaving no room for pretense; in front of him, nothing could be concealed.

Qi Feng didn’t hide his intentions either. “You’re right. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Yan Jiyun hadn’t seen players mention this scene in the barrage. It seemed the system had somehow blocked it out. Was this the real truth behind the zombie scenario?

So Qi Feng was no saint either. He had long known that the members of his team might not be of one mind, and now he’d truly seen their real intentions.

Qi Feng was surprisingly tolerant—managing to stomach Su Qiuming till the very end, and still willing to speak to him. Su Qiuming’s timely fainting had left nothing to be said, but that friendship was now truly broken.

The NPC brother, on the other hand, wasn’t the least bit angry that Qi Feng had ulterior motives for getting close. Instead, he watched with amused interest as Qi Feng endured the pain of being scratched by a zombie.

“How did you know I was the answer you were looking for?” he asked Qi Feng about his deduction. “None of your friends got it right.”

“If that doctor was really the person I needed to save, as a member of the research institute, you ought to be more nervous than we are. But you’ve never seemed worried about the doctor. Besides, you led us into the pharmacy without hesitation. No one except a core staff member of the research center could do that so quickly. You deliberately guided us to the serum. Lastly, I noticed the label on the serum tube had been freshly affixed, and in the chaos, you slipped several tubes and boxes into your pocket. I guess the real serum is among them. The only thing I don’t understand now is whether you are the doctor I’m searching for.”

“But you already have your answer, don’t you?” the NPC brother said.

“Yes. I just want to hear it from you, even though you insist you’re an NPC.” Qi Feng had already quickly curbed his surprise.

“Oh, that’s right.” The NPC brother didn’t see any need to hide it. “The serum your friend took is fake. The doctor infected with the zombie virus is actually the deputy director of our institute—my rival.”

“So that’s it—a workplace rivalry,” Qi Feng said.

“No, we simply had different philosophies.” The NPC brother still had a sense for the plot as the NPC of this scenario.

“Did they take away your achievements when the zombie outbreak began and lock you in the research institute?” Qi Feng guessed at the story.

“That’s exactly what happened. Qi Feng, you’re smart. Work with me, and I’ll take you out of the game. The serum is in my hands. Once it’s injected, you can survive,” the NPC brother said. The Ultimate Video Game Console.

But Qi Feng hesitated at this point, because he recalled that the main quest required the serum for the doctor. Yet this NPC brother had never been bitten by a zombie—so who should receive the serum?

“But if we use the serum, will I still be able to leave the game? And as an NPC, do you know how the game works? Do you know where I come from?” Qi Feng could feel the zombie virus beginning to take effect in his body. Instead of pain, his wound was going numb.

“I know this is a game. You’re players, and I’m an NPC in the game. If I want to leave the game, I need your help,” the NPC brother said. “Qi Feng, will you make this deal with me? If we succeed, you’ll be free from the game’s control forever.”

The truth was, Qi Feng did possess a certain gentleness.

“What about you? Are NPCs only data? If you’re discovered, will your data be erased?” He was still concerned for the other’s safety.

“That’s not your concern. The point now is that I have the serum—are you willing to cooperate?” The NPC brother had no intention of explaining everything about the game to Qi Feng. “Your play time is almost up. You have to clear the quest to help me.”

“Fine. What do I need to do? How can we players leave the game? And if possible, can we shut down this inhuman game forever?”

The NPC brother seemed surprised—not only did Qi Feng want to leave, he even wished to shut down the entire game. The NPC gave a slight, ambiguous smile, uncertain whether he was pleased with the answer or amused by such naïve hope. How could a mere mayfly shake a great tree?

“You really—” The NPC brother’s words were cut short as their dining car was jolted by passing zombies.

He was thrown by inertia against Qi Feng’s chest, who steadied him with his uninjured hand.

“We need to find somewhere safe first.” Qi Feng informed the NPC brother of his remaining game time—also the time left in the instance. “There’s only an hour left.”

If the time ran out before the main quest was completed, the instance would close and all players would die; if the main quest was cleared early, the player could leave the game early, and rewards would be settled based on completed objectives.

Their original plan had been to find the doctor with the serum and leave the game. Who would have thought something would go wrong midway? As it turned out, the so-called doctor was not the real quest target. If they acted rashly, they would definitely fail and everyone would perish in this notoriously cruel high-difficulty instance.

Now, Qi Feng almost felt grateful to those teammates who had abandoned him. Otherwise, he would never have come into contact with a self-aware NPC.

“There are zombies everywhere outside—we can’t leave for now. I’ll inject the serum into you.”

“Wait. If the serum is injected into me, and I fail to complete the quest, how can I leave the game? My main quest requires me to inject the serum into the real doctor. As long as I finish the quest, the virus in me should disappear naturally, and I won’t turn into a zombie.” Qi Feng stared at the NPC brother. “You’re really not hurt?”

“You suspect I’m not the doctor?” The NPC brother’s gaze suddenly turned dangerous.

Qi Feng’s reasoning was that the real doctor had already been injured—only someone bitten by a zombie could be the true target.

“That’s not what I mean. I just want to keep the serum for now. There’s still an hour—anything could happen. I hope you won’t get hurt, so the serum can be reserved for you.”

“I have a way for you to leave, but you must have the serum injected.” The NPC brother reached for a medicine box from his pocket, inside of which lay a tube containing pale yellow, transparent liquid. The Ultimate Video Game Console.

The NPC brother pulled out the syringe with swift, practiced movements and injected the serum directly into Qi Feng’s vein.

Qi Feng watched the serum enter his body, deeply hesitant. “Are you sure this isn’t a waste? This serum is for the doctor.”

The NPC brother’s eyes changed as he watched the serum slowly flow into Qi Feng, as though he had finally accomplished some great mission.

“Good, it’s done. Now I’ll take you out—”

Just as Qi Feng felt the serum taking effect, their dining car rocked violently and overturned. This time, the NPC brother wasn’t caught by Qi Feng—his shoulder slammed straight into the table leg, making him groan in pain.

“Damn it.” The NPC brother looked out the dining car’s only window, gritting his teeth through the pain. “Qi Feng, this instance might be about to collapse—you—”

Qi Feng nodded, “I know. The system is warning me that a player is cheating, and the instance will soon eject the player from the game. Is it talking about me?”

“Don’t worry, they won’t suspect you. All you did was inject the serum.” The NPC brother gave a low laugh. “The system isn’t targeting the players. It’s after me—”

“Then how do we cooperate? How can I help you? How can I find you again?” Qi Feng rushed forward to grab the NPC brother’s hand, and as he reached out, the NPC’s jacket was torn from his impact with the table leg. Qi Feng saw his arm and gasped, “You were actually bitten by a zombie—why did you do this?”

The NPC brother’s face remained calm. “It was just an experiment—”

Qi Feng saw the system’s countdown. He hurried to ask, “The system is about to eject me—how do I contact you in the future?”

[The player will be ejected from the instance in five seconds.]

Five seconds—

Four seconds—

Three seconds—

“What’s your name?!”

Two seconds—

One second—

The NPC brother’s expression wavered. He shook his head and said, “What’s my name? I don’t know. If I succeed, I’ll—”

Qi Feng recalled the main quest notice: If the doctor does not receive the serum within twenty-four hours, he will mutate into a zombie and the player will fail the scenario.

In his final moment before being ejected from the game, Qi Feng cursed, “Damn it!”

Yan Jiyun watched the entire sequence play out.

Was the NPC brother truly self-aware?

He was an NPC in need of rescue by the game. As long as he was injected with the serum, he could continue to exist as an NPC for future scenarios; he was not the villain abused by players hundreds or thousands of times. He had followed the players around with the serum, actually searching for someone suitable to cooperate with—and Qi Feng was the one he chose.

In the end, the NPC brother did the unexpected—he injected the serum into Qi Feng.

But Yan Jiyun didn’t understand: why did the system sense something was amiss after the serum was injected into Qi Feng? Why did the NPC brother say the system was coming for him?

Yan Jiyun wanted to rewind and examine the serum again, but found the remote had disappeared, and the screen in front of him was slowly shattering into fragments.

The next moment, he was pulled back into a blindingly white space.

When he opened his eyes again, Yan Jiyun found himself back in the game, still in his humanoid card form, standing behind the curtain. The Ultimate Video Game Console.

A new player entering asked, “Why are you hiding back there? Is there a door or secret passage?”

Yan Jiyun felt along the wall and replied, “No door.”

His mind was still replaying the scenes from the zombie instance. He thought he finally understood why Qi Feng had never entered the top-tier scenario.

Qi Feng had been searching for the NPC brother all this time.

Now, the screen showed Qi Feng wielding an axe, hacking away at the giant vines entangling the main door—there was no sign of the beautiful woman anymore.

Yan Jiyun asked the nearby player, “Did you see my companion holding a woman’s hand on screen just now?”

The player shook his head. “No, wasn’t he just fighting monsters?”

Yan Jiyun sat back on the couch, and when Qi Feng finished chopping the vines and exited through the door, they successfully cleared the level.

When he stood before Qi Feng, Yan Jiyun was suddenly at a loss for words.

Qi Feng, seeing the scratches on Yan Jiyun’s face, asked with concern, “How did you get hurt?”

Yan Jiyun pressed his lips together, hesitating. At last he said, “Do you… have a white moonlight*?”

Qi Feng: “…”