Chapter 1 “Should we go check out the town first?” Ye Zhi said after reading the task details. “So far, there haven't been any restrictions on players' freedom of movement, nor any time constraints. Theoretically… we could find a place far from this mountain to hide until dawn, and then find some heavy machinery or explosives to physically destroy the well.”

Ye Zhi was assigned to practice medical specialization by the studio, not because she was a female player, and the superiors had stereotypes, but because she, like Feng Bujue, was also a game player who took the puzzle-solving route.

Among the three members of the Order team, Ye Zhi was responsible for providing advice and support during battles, Yongzhe Wudi was mainly responsible for the combat part, and Meng Jingchan, as one of the top players in the studio, could be regarded as the captain of this small team, and his opinion was crucial.

It can be said that even if these three people encounter the worst teammates, they may be able to clear four- or five-person scripts with their own strength. The so-called masters and top guilds must have such strength and confidence.

“This is a non-sleep mode script. If we delay until dawn, the system might judge us as passively playing the game,” Feng Bujue said after a moment of thought, and then offered a correction. “However, I think it would be beneficial to go to the town to take a look. First, we can gather information, and second, we can search for items.”

Ye Zhi glanced at him, thinking, “Passive game… I overlooked that factor.” She then said, “Anyway… let's scout the town first. I assume no one has any objections?”

“I agree,” Feng Bujue replied.

Yongzhe Wudi nodded. Meng Jingchan, who was standing aside smoking and drinking, probably had no objections.

Copernicus and Galileo exchanged glances before saying, “Okay, let's go to the town and take a look first, but I don't think we should delay too long, because that's contrary to the main quest.” What he meant was that since the majority of you have reached an agreement, we don't need to object anymore, but we still think we should go up the mountain earlier and follow the quest.

Feng Bujue silently observed Copernicus and Galileo's every move, trying to find something out. Before figuring out whether these two guys were GMs, Feng Bujue would definitely feel uncomfortable. What he couldn't stand the most was a puzzle that was right in front of him but couldn't be solved. But he couldn't directly ask, “Hey, are you two game administrators? Are there Derivates in this script?” Even if the other party was really a GM, they wouldn't admit it if he asked them like that. If they weren't, it might cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.

After the six people discussed it, they changed direction and headed towards the town along the road, but they found a problem in less than ten minutes… the distance between the town and the mountain was much farther than they had imagined.

The edge of the town was a large area of farmland, with only a few scattered houses. It was night, and there was a moon in the sky, but the moonlight wasn't very bright. The road that the players were walking on had telephone poles and streetlights, although there weren't many streetlights, there was still some light every certain distance, while the fields on both sides of the road were dark. There was even a bus stop on this road, but the sign showed that only two buses a day would pass by.

In the far distance at the end of the road, the lights of the city could be seen. That was Yingguo Town.

Although the distant view in the opening CG showed that the mountain was next to Yingguo Town, after walking for a while, the players gradually adapted to the sense of distance in the dark. They soon realized that the road might be about ten kilometers long, or even longer. To truly enter the urban area of Yingguo Town, it would take at least an hour of steady and rapid walking, unless they ran.

“Well… it seems our strategy has failed,” Feng Bujue said, stopping. The others knew what he was referring to and stopped as well. “I'm afraid if we continue walking like this, we'll be judged as being far from the task objective and passively playing the game before we even get close to the edge of the town. Heh… then we'll have to turn back towards the mountain to解除消极游戏 (jiechu xiaoji youxi, undo the passive game) status, so going back and forth would be a waste of stamina.”

“Ah… as expected, it doesn't work to play tricks at the beginning of the script,” Meng Jingchan always spoke in a tone of emotion, while exhaling smoke rings…

“Sorry, it's all my fault,” Ye Zhi admitted frankly. “I made everyone run for nothing. Let's go back while we haven't gone too far.”

“No, it's not running for nothing,” Feng Bujue denied. “If going in this direction was completely futile and going in the opposite direction, the system should have given a warning about passive play.” He paused, his tone more firm, “There is only one road at the starting point of this script, and we have two choices. The first is to go into the mountain, and the second is to follow the road towards the town. Judging from the distance, the system doesn't intend for us to reach Yingguo Town, but this route obviously has something to do with the plot, so we haven't been judged as passively playing the game yet.”

At this moment, Galileo looked at Feng Bujue with a strange look in his eyes. He didn't make a big movement, nor did he turn his head, but just cast his gaze over. Feng Bujue had been paying attention to him and his companion, so Galileo's move was completely seen by Feng Bujue.

At this moment, Feng Bujue was absolutely calm and extremely cautious. He wouldn't make accidental eye contact with the other party. He only used his peripheral vision to observe the two suspected GMs, while still talking, his eyes unfocused, as if he was thinking absentmindedly.

At this moment, in this team of six, an暗战 (anzhan, undercurrent war) that went beyond the script content had already begun. For Feng Bujue, the most direct way to confirm whether there was a Derivate in this script was to first figure out whether the two teammates around him were GMs. Only when he was 100% sure that the other party was an administrator could he say a lot of things.

A few seconds later, Galileo said something to Copernicus in a low voice. Then, Copernicus suddenly said to everyone, “Brother Feng is right, I've already seen it.” He raised his arm and pointed to the front of the road, “There is indeed a large building outline less than a kilometer ahead.”

Yongzhe Wudi replied, “Oh? Why can't I see it?” He squinted his eyes, as if that would allow him to see further.

“I'm a侦查专精 (zhencha zhuanjing, scouting specialization), so in the absence of obstructions, as long as there is some light, I can see farther than the average person,” Copernicus explained.

Feng Bujue snapped his fingers. “Very good, that place you saw probably has some fLAgs that can be triggered.” He said in an excited tone, “It's like some very cunning side-scrolling games, always rushing to the right, but with a reward hidden in a section to the left of the starting point of a certain level.”

“Hopefully…” Copernicus replied, but his tone sounded weak for some reason.