The actual situation matched the information provided by Copernicus. Around one kilometer ahead of them sat a building, and it was quite a large one at that.
It was a sprawling and severe-looking mansion. In front of the entrance was a garden, and the gate of the garden was about two meters away from the road. The mansion was wreathed in the same darkness as the rest of the field. Even though the players were only standing ten meters away, all they could see was darkness. It was as if the streetlight and moonlight were blocked by a certain obstacle, preventing them from shining into this piece of land.
In front of the garden, Feng Bujue took out his flashlight from the inventory. The others followed suit. Most of them used flashlights, but Zen Dream raised a lighter. Yes, the one he used to light his cigarettes.
“I say, Brother Zen, aren’t you afraid that the flame will sear your hand once you move faster?” Feng Bujue asked.
“Of course not…” Zen Dream answered. He sounded like he was about to add why he was not afraid, but for some reason, his expression shifted slightly like he suddenly realized that Feng Bujue’s argument had some merit to it. However, since he had already started the sentence, he had to finish it. After three seconds, Zen Dream continued in a stutter. “Er… Of course not!”
“Oh, okay…” Feng Bujue smiled. He found this Brother Zen to be quite interesting, and he continued with a wicked joke. “Then I have a suggestion to make. During a dangerous moment, you could take a sip of the alcohol and spit it at the flame. It will light up the room and cause fire damage on top of that.”
“Oh! That’s a good idea!” Zen Dream replied with admiration.
“I think you should put the lighter away and follow us. After all, with so many torches, we are not lacking that small breath of flame from your lighter,” Galileo said.
“Er… okay.” Zen Dream was glad for the excuse and put his lighter away.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything like a doorbell.” Ye Zhi walked to the garden’s iron gate. As she said that, she raised her hand to touch the gate. With a creak, the gates opened just like that.
The group turned to look inside. When the sight fell into their eyes, they realized that instead of calling it a garden, it was more like an abandoned plot surrounded by rails. There was a dried pond in the garden, and in the middle of it sat an old, broken fountain. Around it were several fruit trees that had grown wild and out of control. Weeds covered every patch of available ground, and a not so welcoming stench permeated the garden.
Once upon a time… this had perhaps been a quiet resting place filled with trees brimming with fruit, the delicious aroma of flowers, and a bubbling fountain. But at that moment, just like every haunted mansion in scary movies, it was eerie, deserted, and decrepit. Once the players stepped through the gates, they were greeted by decay, darkness, and depression.
“I think… we should let Brother Invincible go in first,” Copernicus said. “With the player with the plot armor leading the way, it should be much safer.”
“Hmm, based on what you said, danger is imminent,” Feng Bujue said under his breath.
“Oh, that was exactly my plan.” Invincible Champion strode forward. He did not seem to mind being the sacrificial lamb. “But based on the set-up so far, there will be several mob-level spirits or ghosts at most. I don’t think there will be an instant-death threat.”
“Plot armor has been transferred. Current player with plot armor—Ye Zhi.”
When Invincible Champion finished his sentence, the system announcement echoed in their ears.
“Eh? What happened?” Invincible Champion was baffled.
“Oh, so saying these words of stupidity will cause one to lose the plot armor…” Feng Bujue scratched his chin.
“Hey… you do not know that I can hear you very clearly, right? Can you please phrase your words better next time?” Invincible Champion looked at Feng Bujue awkwardly.
“But seriously, could that really be the system behind the transference of plot armor?” Ye Zhi said with a frown.
“I believe that there should be two sets of rules,” Feng Bujue said. “One is how Brother Invincible lost the plot armor; it was through his own actions. The second method is probably an action taken by players without the plot armor to claim it.”
“But how does one claim it? Is it to not utter any words of stupidity?” Invincible Champion quoted Feng Bujue back at him, obviously dissatisfied with the man.
Feng Bujue appeared to be inspired once he heard Invincible Champion. “Hmm, you have a point, let me try.”
He suddenly walked to the front of the group and assumed a serious pose. “Let me assume the task of scouting ahead…”
He straightened himself and looked like he was about to transform. Using an extremely shameless voice, he said, “Even if facing off against the world will alienate me, I will not hesitate to stand at the front to guard the lives of my friends!”
The other five were struck speechless by his proclamation. They wanted to mock him but did not know where to begin. Zen Dream took several gulps of beer to calm himself down.
But several seconds later…
“Plot armor has been transferred. Current player with plot armor—Feng Bujue.”
“Pfft!” Zen Dream instantly spat the beer back out.
Feng Bujue turned around and smirked proudly. “See… Easy as ABC.”
“What the‽” Invincible Champion groaned. “Will it work if I quote some Slam Dunk? Mr. Anzai, I want to play basketball!”
“Of course not, you would have to kneel down before another person with tears in your eyes and utter the words through a breaking voice. When the tears squeeze out of your eyes, then perhaps it might work,” Feng Bujue said.
“How did you even manage to come up with an idea like that?”
“I’m just giving you my opinion. Of course, it might not work.” Feng Bujue shrugged. “Also, your line was uttered by the side character, so it wouldn’t have worked.”
“Tsk… this thing should have been called the halo of shamelessness,” Ye Zhi added. “If that’s the case, I don’t think I have a chance. Of course, I have no interest in fighting for the plot armor anyway…”
“Actually, you should give it a try,” Feng Bujue said. “Maybe some Sailor Moon… On behalf of the moon, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil…”
“I warn you—I won’t repeat these ridiculous words.” Ye Zhi cut Feng Bujue off.
Feng Bujue chuckled. “Then… Brother Zen and er… the two masters of astronomy, are you guys interested?”
“No thanks… I might not look that way, but I still have my image to preserve,” Zen Dream replied.
“Haha… I think I’ll pass,” Copernicus said.
Galileo sighed. “Erm… Brother Feng, I think… you’re the only one who can control this plot armor.”
“Actually, it’s quite simple,” Feng Bujue said. “For example, if I don’t want it already, then…”
He suddenly revealed a very salacious laugh and quoted ’Good Day for Gag Comic’. “I am not a pervert. Even if I am, I am a gentleman with the name pervert.”
“Plot armor has been transferred. Current player with plot armor—Invincible Champion.”
“As long as you say lines like that, you will definitely lose the plot armor.” Feng Bujue instantly changed back to his usual calm self. “But since I have volunteered to surrender the plot armor, the next player will be chosen at random.”
“Big brother… you can stop now…” Invincible Champion pleaded.
Feng Bujue ignored him and said, “If I want to get it back…”
He suddenly put on a tired-looking face, but there was a determination radiating behind his lazy eyes as he quoted Gintama. “If you’ve got time to fantasize about a beautiful death, why not live beautifully until the end?”
“Plot armor has been transferred. Current player with plot armor—Feng Bujue.”
“Have you had your fun already?” Ye Zhi held her forehead with own hand and shook her head. She would never understand the joys of a geek.
“The plot armor is going to be ruined by you!” Invincible Champion exclaimed. “That’s enough! You can continue to have the plot armor. No one is going to fight you on that!”
“Oh, in that case… I shall temporarily shoulder the burden of being the main character.” The way Feng Bujue changed his expression was faster than one flipped through the pages of a book. He only took one second to revert to his usual self and stepped into the garden.
“In a way… this guy sure is something else…” Zen Dream played with his smoke rings as he whispered to Invincible Champion and Ye Zhi.
Soon, the six walked through the gates and entered this supposedly empty manor.
…
At the same time, inside the mountain, at the shrine, a can sat in the corner of the room. It was a brown can covered with spiderwebs. In the dark, it appeared inconspicuous. Suddenly, a human hand reached out from the can.
Before passing through the spiderweb and dust, the hand was quite clean, looking like it did not originate from inside the can.
After the hand came out, naturally, an arm followed. But the part beyond the shoulder was stuck and was unable to come out. The can linked to another dimension was too narrow for the owner of the arm to pass through easily.
“This is so troublesome.” A low male voice rang in the empty room.
A small altar sat against the wall, and next to the altar was a ginormous cocoon that was glowing weakly. The cocoon was one meter tall, and the largest part in the middle was more than one meter wide. At that moment, a human face poked out from the top part of the cocoon, and it was this face that had spoken earlier.
“The conversion speed of fragmented data is held back to such a degree…” Another voice rang through the room. It was also a male voice, but this time, it came from above the roof beams. “Are you a level three Anomaly?”
“You level fours sure like to ask pointless questions,” the man in the cocoon replied. “Humph… It’s not like any of you know the meaning of ’pointless’ in the beginning.”
“Is there anything I can help with?” the level four Anomaly asked.
“Of course, there is,” he replied. “You can try to complete the quest objective before the players arrive here and force them to teleport away.”