Chapter 1 A Startling Dream

It began with Meng Jingchan spitting out a mouthful of blood, his chest tightening, and a wave of dizziness washing over him. His body was uncontrollably pulled by a tremendous force, sending him flying far away, until he crashed into a tree.

After catching his breath, he endured the pain and looked toward the direction he’d been in moments before. He saw, dozens of meters away… a man in a long purple suit, swinging a metal rod and ferociously beating another guy in newbie gear.

Meng Jingchan's expression froze, his mouth half-open. Numbly, he took out his wine bottle from his pack and poured a mouthful into his gaping maw to calm his nerves.

“Hmm… is this an illusion caused by the shockwave, or am I drunk…”

Meanwhile, in the courtyard before the shrine.

K3's qi shield was broken, and he lacked the stamina for another powerful killing move. However, even with Feng Bujue’s seemingly insane attacks, it was still difficult to actually kill the Derivative. Statistically speaking, each hit only did about 1% damage to his health, and not every attack reached that standard.

What was more disgusting was… this continuous state of combat would affect K3’s recovery speed. If he wanted to rapidly recover health and stamina, he had to find a way to shake off Feng Bujue's pursuit and avoid physical contact for at least ten seconds.

At that moment, Feng Bujue’s Survival Value could only sustain Ling Shi Jushen Shu (Spirit Consciousness Gathering Technique) for about twenty seconds. If K3 landed even a single hit, Feng Bujue would probably have to drop equipment, which was why he was chasing and attacking like a madman.

But K3 wasn't going to just keep taking hits. Even without his qi shield, his martial arts skills were still there. In terms of strength and speed alone, he was on par with Feng Bujue in Ling Shi Jushen Shu state. Was he really going to lose to a pipe wrench? Absurd!

“Ah!” K3 raised his right arm to block the pipe wrench, and the blow seemed to fracture his bone, but he ignored it and immediately launched a left hook, intending to knock Feng Bujue back.

Unexpectedly, Feng Bujue spun lightly on his heel, dodging the punch. "Thanks to you, my fighting ability has improved a bit!" he said, turning and swinging the pipe wrench backhand, striking K3's knee.

K3 cried out in pain, momentarily losing his balance and dropping to one knee: "How… did you do it… Your stats shouldn't allow you to survive my attacks this long, it’s ridiculous!"

Feng Bujue looked down at him from a superior position: "It's called the protagonist halo."

"What the hell!" K3 roared, suddenly launching a sweep kick.

Feng Bujue leaped up, dodging again. "The so-called protagonist halo… is…" He used the momentum of his descent to launch a punch. "The first punch of impact!"

K3’s nose was hit, and his neck snapped back, causing him to fall backward.

"The second punch of annihilation!" Feng Bujue seized the last few seconds of Ling Shi Jushen Shu, which was also the perfect opportunity with K3's qi shield down, to launch a series of attacks.

Before K3 could hit the ground, Feng Bujue struck his abdomen with the pipe wrench, his body arching like a sprung mousetrap, head and feet curling forward.

"The third punch of obliteration!" Feng Bujue finished delivering the three lines to his heart’s content, and in the last second before Ling Shi Jushen Shu expired, he landed a final, satisfying blow on K3's cheek.

Fear visited K3 at that moment. He suddenly realized that his health, constantly depleted, had reached a dangerously low level. And now, without the protection of his qi shield, a heavy blow to his vital organs would mean—death. His materialized form would die, immediately transforming into data fragments without autonomy, and at the end of the script, he would be completely erased by the system.

A flash of golden light appeared. As expected, Feng Bujue made the move his opponent feared most. He held his last Death Poker between his fingers, and his attack headed for K3's throat.

"There is only one truth," Feng Bujue said, and dropped the card. "You are already dead."

"I would actually… die in a place like this…" K3’s eyes were hollow and desolate. In that moment, his eyes reflected disbelief, fear, and anger, but even more so, a sense of sorrow. He understood that the fate he had anticipated had finally arrived.

"Just kidding!" Feng Bujue stopped the Death Poker right before it touched the other’s neck, and burst out laughing. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" At the same time, he withdrew his spiritual weapon and pipe wrench, took a few steps back, and said, "Scared you, didn't I!"

K3's forehead was covered in blood, which had run into his eyes, but he still stared wide-eyed at Feng Bujue in stunned disbelief, not even thinking to get up from the ground.

"Now, is it possible for us to have a civilized conversation using words?" Feng Bujue asked.

K3 looked at him suspiciously and slowly rose to his feet.

Feng Bujue took a few steps back. "I'm declaring this in advance, if you still want to fight…"

"No… you win," K3 said.

Actually, the second half of Feng Bujue's previous sentence was: "If you still want to fight, then I can only retreat…"

"I can tell you what you want to know about the Derivatives…" K3's speech slowed down as he said the last few words, and then he seemed to lose his ability to speak. Only his mouth moved, but no sound came from his throat.

A spatial rift quietly appeared behind K3. From that rift, a mercury-like substance oozed out. The substance clung tightly to K3’s body and spread out from his back to his shoulders, waist, and legs… Feng Bujue, standing close by, could clearly see that the edges of the mercury medium were feathered, like bird wings… the meaning was unclear.

Feng Bujue didn't quite understand what was happening. Was it some kind of skill of the Derivative? But judging from his tone and expression just now, he didn't seem to be preparing to continue fighting.

Completely enveloped by the mercury, K3 did not struggle or move. His body was compressed and converted into a data stream, and finally pulled into the spatial rift by the mercury mass, disappearing without a trace…

…………

"I see," K2 said, the light fading from his eyes. "You can directly bring me from the script to this place?"

X2 lowered her hand and replied coldly, "This is a special circumstance." She stared sternly at K2. "First, although the script hasn't ended, you already have the ability to enter the Reverse World; second, I have to stop you from revealing information about us to humans."

"Oh?" K2 asked after hearing that. "Do the level two Derivatives… constantly monitor level three and four Derivatives like us?"

"Of course that's impossible," X2 replied. "Observation is difficult, let alone forcibly bringing you out…" She paused. "We weren't monitoring you, you just happened to be there…"