Monster Hunter

Half an hour later.

A military off-road vehicle stopped outside the blockade line.

Wang Huai, the military representative at the front, and Li Shengkai, from the Dungeon Resource Management Division, jumped out of the car at the same time.

When they looked up and saw the dense, primeval forest that seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere in the early morning, their faces showed astonishment.

Even though I had heard a briefing on the way here, witnessing this miraculous scene in person was still awe-inspiring.

And on the open ground not far away.

Lu Xiu leaned against a tree trunk, discussing with Shen Nian Jian Li changes that had occurred in the area since she entered the instance.

The group of dungeon monsters were now obediently staying behind Lu Xiu, like a group of dutiful guards.

Wang Huai took a deep breath and instead of going directly to Lu Xiu, he strode towards the sergeant. He needed to understand what had just happened.

Li Shengkai calmed himself down, straightened his collar, and walked straight towards Lu Xiu.

"Miss Lu, it's been a long time."

Li Shengkai walked closer, trying to make his tone sound natural, but he couldn't help but glance at the dungeon monsters out of the corner of his eye.

Lu Xiu looked up and saw who it was, somewhat surprised. "Director Li? I didn't expect it to be you. I thought it was Director Yan."

"He went to Prison Rock to participate in the negotiations."

Li Shengkai offered an explanation, then his gaze swept across the surrounding forest again, and he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "Although I've heard that the Architect's function is quite special—I never imagined that you could place a dungeon to this extent. It's simply—like creating a new area out of thin air."

"----Did you learn about this from the Construction Club?"

Lu Xiu had also heard of Li Shengkai's deeds and understood the implication behind his words.

"Right."

Li Shengkai nodded. "The previous leaders of the Construction Club had all reached level 15 in terms of Architect level, and some had even unlocked the third Architect function—but none of them had ever made such a big splash."

So, Lu Xiu, why is it that your ability to create such a commotion when you place a dungeon instance?

Although the leaders of those Construction Club were very secretive about their Architect skills, Li Shengkai was certain that the other party had never made such a big commotion.

According to the intelligence gathered by the undercover agent, they only placed an entrance to an offline instance.

What kind of anomaly?

It doesn't exist at all.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to show up at the event.

Li Shengkai had genuinely believed that Lu Xiu's placement of the instance was simply to create an offline entrance to the instance.

Who would have thought?

This will cause such a big commotion.

He rushed over as soon as he heard the news.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiu remained silent for a moment before replying, "We were just discussing this topic."

A hint of curiosity flashed in Li Shengkai's eyes. "Is there a conclusion?"

Lu Xiu thought for a moment and said, "I entered the instance offline and came into contact with the characters inside, which caused the forest to start expanding outward uncontrollably."

Based on my own observations in the instance, and what I vaguely sensed after gaining access—

I believe this exaggerated distortion and assimilation of reality is closely related to the subjective initiative of the core characters in the story.

"The subjective initiative of key figures?"

Li Shengkai asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Simply put, when the core characters in the instance—who strongly desire to come to the real world—are placed in the instance, the instance scene will expand outwards, assimilating and altering the real environment."

"The stronger their desire, the more urgent their longing, the faster it expands until it truly becomes a reality."

Upon hearing this, Li Shengkai gasped in shock.

But she quickly realized something was wrong, pointing to the ordinary monsters. "What about these ordinary monsters? Will they also affect the activity of placing dungeons?"

"Won't."

Lu Xiu shook her head and glanced at the monsters that obeyed her. "But ordinary monsters are influenced by the core figures."

My personal guess is...

"The system probably believes that in the independent world view of the dungeon, a large part of things, including the scene, mechanism, peripheral NPCs and low-level monsters, are essentially centered around the core character."

Their very existence represents the instance itself; if they didn't exist, the instance wouldn't exist. Therefore, when they appear, these ordinary monsters will also appear in reality.

----Although Lu Xiu didn't want to admit it.

But she had just overheard Shen Nian and Jian Li saying that after she entered the instance, its expansion speed became ridiculously fast.

And it gets even more exaggerated as you go on.

She stopped immediately after she came out.

Whether you want to admit it or not, you have to.

This really has something to do with Viola and Ellen; they genuinely wanted to get out.

Especially when I'm in contact with them.

And this is combined with what they themselves said.

Without a doubt.

The impact of placing a dungeon, and the extent of that impact, depends entirely on the core character within that dungeon.

At least that's the case for the [Witch] dungeon.

"----Are the key figures in that Witch Instance Viola and Ellen? Or is it just Ellen? Did they also appear?"

"Please don't mention that."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiu looked utterly dejected, her shoulders slumping. "I have a headache right now."

Li Shengkai: "?----What's wrong?"

"It's a long story, but to put it simply, two NPCs want to find me. That's all. No need to ask anything else."

Li Shengkai thought for a moment, then refrained from pressing the matter. Instead, he looked around and sighed, "If that's the case, then it's understandable that the Construction Club hasn't made any moves with their dungeon runs; their dungeons are just too bad—"

"Etc."

As they talked...

Li Shengkai realized something was wrong. "Wait a minute, Lu Xiu, the scenario of Construction Club might be terrible, but if you just put in the effort, you could create an excellent core character, right? For example, you could create a scenario where a character is trapped in a 'fish in a tank' scenario and always wants to go outside to see the world—"

He looked at Lu Xiu.

".

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiu's expression turned strange, and she turned her face away. "My personal guess is that it would be useless to just write a dry sentence in the setting that he longs to see the outside world."

This might also be related to the Architect's verification process, and it could even be related to the emotions the Architect poured into the construction process.

Li Shengkai didn't quite understand. "----Simply put, what is it?"

Lu Xiu didn't explain, "Figure it out yourself."

Li Shengkai:

Something's not right.

The chief Architect of Nine Provinces in front of me is very strange.

"That's basically it."

Lu Xiu was dejected for a while, but then cheered up. "Now this area is under my control, it's almost like a country within a country. I can change the landscape here at will, and I can control all the wandering dungeon monsters except for the core characters."

If I'm not mistaken, the area affected by the mutation will continue to expand, but it won't expand indefinitely.

Alternatively, you can now enter the dungeon offline. While the rewards will be better offline, the completion conditions will be completely different, and the area affected by the mutation may expand again.

That's all the intelligence we have. What do you think we should do?

After listening, Li Shengkai felt it was a bit tricky.

If it were completely under Lu Xiu's control, then the Coordination Bureau could treat it as a secret realm.

Even a country within a country.

I estimate that most people wouldn't have any objections.

But the problem now is...

According to Lu Xiu, the source of the anomaly in the instance area was actually the core NPCs within the instance, and the Architect couldn't control them.

"----I have a question."

Li Shengkai asked, "If the key figures show up, will they harm you?"

I don't know.

Lu Xiu shook her head. "Because I haven't met them in reality yet. I only know that I can't control them; they are independent individuals."

Li Shengkai fell silent.

At this time.

Having already learned the situation from the sergeant, Wang Huai strode over as well.

Although the tough soldier's face remained expressionless, his eyes had already turned fiery.

He strode up to Lu Xiu and asked Open Gate, "Miss Lu, these monsters not only obey your commands, but the area they inhabit seems to require absolutely nothing from our reality, right?"

"Right."

Lu Xiu looked at her and said frankly, "My personal guess is that they are also part of the game world. As long as the core characters' obsessions remain, they can even refresh infinitely to some extent."

Upon hearing this,

Wang Huai immediately began to mutter to himself.

No logistical support is needed.

No loss.

"Absolute obedience to orders."

"And—you can respawn after you die."

He became increasingly agitated as he murmured.

Next.

Wang Huai suddenly stood at attention, gave a standard and solemn military salute, and looked at Lu Xiu, saying, "Miss Lu."

"If—I mean, if."

"If the military provides sufficient site support, is it possible for you to—deploy this level of copy directly to the front lines?"

-"

Lu Xiu knew this part would happen, and immediately pointed at Li Shengkai.

Li Shengkai repeated Lu Xiu's explanation.

Upon hearing this, Wang Huai slightly opened his mouth. "----The key figures are uncontrollable?"

"Right."

Lu Xiu nodded. "I even suspect that NPCs with strong self-awareness are difficult to control, which is a considerable hidden danger—after all, what kind of dungeon do you plan to put on the front line? Resident Evil is not suitable, as it only has a small-scale scene. Similarly, Outlast is not suitable either."

Leaving aside the Witch, the only suitable dungeons are Sekiro, Dark Souls, and Titanfall, as well as the Sifu barely qualifies.

Do you really think this is appropriate?

That's something worth trying, but if the key figures become too aggressive and out of control, they might attack the frontline soldiers first. If I drive them away, the anomaly might stop, and the real-world anomaly associated with the instance would shrink.

Li Shengkai:

Wang Huai: "----"

"Let's give it a try first."

After a moment of contemplation, Wang Huai took a deep breath and said, "I'm counting on you, Miss Lu, to see how things go after the core character of the Witch Instance comes out."

Lu Xiu's expression was somewhat strange, but she finally sighed and said, "Alright then—"

"Actually."

Li Shengkai suddenly said softly, "The problem now is that the core characters in the dungeon are uncontrollable and the atmosphere of the dungeon is not suitable. Lu Xiu had not considered the Placement Function before."

Therefore, most dungeons are designed to be very despairing, and the characters within them are also very despairing. If there's a sufficiently large dungeon that provides a broad buffer zone, and the underlying tone of this dungeon isn't darkness or destruction, then most of the NPCs...

They don't harbor extreme hostility towards humans, and the core characters' obsession remains simply hunting or protecting.

"Really."

Wang Huai agreed, "If there were a dungeon where the NPCs were not only extremely powerful in combat, but also naturally enthusiastic about fighting monsters, and could even interact positively with our soldiers, providing logistical or equipment support—that would be perfect!"

"Are you making a wish here?"

Lu Xiu found their words somewhat amusing: "How could that be—"

But he only got halfway through his sentence.

She paused, her words trailing off.

Don't tell.

----It seems there really is a suitable one.

Lu Xiu suddenly fell silent.

Li Shengkai and Wang Huai's eyes lit up, realizing what this meant.

"Lu Xiu ----"

"There is indeed a suitable one."

Lu Xiu looked up. "---- Monster Hunter is an option, and the multiplayer dungeon version is coming soon."