North of the square stood an imposing white building, with no sign indicating its purpose.
Only a cold electronic screen displayed: No entry except for authorized personnel!
Small text scrolled beneath it, detailing the severe punishments awaiting violators.
Roman walked briskly through the entrance, humming cheerfully.
Every layer of security was held at bay by a look from 2044, who walked beside him.
2044 led him through a maze of corridors and into a spacious room.
Electronic screens covered three walls, displaying faces filled with fear or tension.
Several staff members sat at the consoles, diligently processing the footage.
One of them stood to report their progress when 2044 entered. "We've uploaded two episodes today. Both run about an hour after editing. There's one more to go, but we've run into a problem."
"It's the 'Mother's Memorial Day' instance, right? Do this: the instant Mother gives up controlling the players, cut to the kitchen. Make the audience think the noise of the refrigerator falling over affected Mother, rather than..."
2044 shot Roman a vicious glare. "This guy's handiwork."
The staff member nodded. "There's also the one who can turn into a cat and control water and fire..."
At the mention of Lu Mi, 2044 instinctively avoided Roman's gaze and turned toward the staff member, pretending it was casual.
"Handle him the same way as Cheng Cheng. People with special abilities bring in plenty of viewers. Just don't let the audience realize someone like that is influencing the instance."
Returning to the subject of Roman, 2044 folded his arms and lectured him.
"Look at you. You're always darting between instances, and we have to spend enormous amounts of effort erasing your tracks before we can upload the footage to the show. That was bad enough, but now you're openly interfering with other NPCs..."
Roman leaned against the sofa, listening lazily, his pitch-black eyes betraying no emotion.
Suddenly, the communicator 2044 wore began glowing red.
2044 stopped his endless lecture and listened carefully for a moment, then seized a staff member by the collar in a fit of temper.
"Who told you to report this to the chief administrator? It's not as if we couldn't fix it! Now look what you've done. I have to go get chewed out again!"
After berating the staff member, he stormed over to scold Roman, the real culprit.
But the moment he met Roman's eyes, the words failed him. All he could do was stew in his anger.
Finally, he said, "Your highness, I'll deal with your mess when I get back. I'm begging you, behave yourself. Don't touch anything."
Roman nodded obediently. "Don't worry."
After 2044 left, Roman casually scanned the wall of screens before fixing his gaze on the one in the middle.
Onscreen, the faces of Lu Mi, Ning Zhuangzhuang, Xu Zhi, and "Mother" flashed past as a staff member deftly scrubbed through the footage, stopping when a figure in a black cloak appeared.
She slowed the video and carefully deleted everything involving that person.
Roman watched with interest for a while. When the footage reached the part where Xu Zhi took Ning Zhuangzhuang into the stairwell, he suddenly spoke.
"That looks like hard work. Can I give it a try?"
The staff member shuddered. "No."
"All right."
The staff member sighed in relief. She hadn't expected him to be so easy to talk to.
"Then I'll try this instead."
Roman waved something shiny in his hand and got to work at the other end of the console.
The staff member took one look and panicked. "My access card! When did you get that?"
"What are you standing there for? Stop him!"
Countless guards and staff members poured in, trying to pull Roman away.
Roman didn't run. He remained absorbed in studying and operating something.
But before they could reach him, a cloud of black smoke swept them up, tossing them into the air and catching them over and over.
The entire control center descended into chaos.
When 2044 returned from his scolding and saw the scene, he felt as though the sky had fallen.
He forced himself to calm down, again and again, then approached Roman. "Tell me. What have you done this time?"
Roman looked utterly innocent. "You know I can't read. I'm helpless when it comes to these complicated programs. What could I possibly have done?"
2044 surveyed the wreckage around him and took another deep breath before questioning a staff member sprawled on the floor. "Tell me. What did he do?"
The staff member looked as though all hope had left him. "He broke into the 'Mother's Memorial Day' instance and altered a dead player's program. He made her part of the instance-an NPC-so her life could continue in another form. It can't be changed now."
A vein bulged on 2044's forehead. "Which player?"
"A girl named Ning Zhuangzhuang."
2044 sat on the sofa, fighting the urge to beat Roman senseless. Only after a long while did he tell the person in charge of the control room to have everyone stop working.
Then he told Roman with utmost seriousness, "The administrator and I have unanimously decided to punish you severely for this violation."
Roman quietly waited for him to continue.
We mean business this time, 2044 thought. Now you know what fear feels like, don't you?
He continued, "Since that lord has forbidden us from opening your instance, and you refuse to behave yourself as an NPC, we'll throw you into an instance as a player and let you suffer a little."
Roman's eyes lit up. "Really? As a player?"
2044 maintained a solemn air, hoping to impress upon him the seriousness of the incident.
"Yes. But don't think you can crush the other players and NPCs with your overwhelming power. We'll seal your divine power, and you'll have to stay for at least two instances. This is a very serious punishment."
He thought Roman would be frightened. Sealing divine power was no joke, after all. It meant he would have to face a terrifying world just like an ordinary, defenseless person.
But Roman's eyes curved into a smile. "Okey-dokey."
Refusing to believe it, 2044 continued trying to scare him. "If you trigger a death condition and get killed, you won't come back to life."
Roman still looked delighted. "Okey-dokey. When can I get my player wristband? Can I keep playing after those two instances?"
The sounds of staff members operating machines and programs had stopped some time ago. The entire control room was steeped in shock at Roman's outrageous remarks.
Lu Mi left the service hall and put on his wristband.
After examining it briefly, he discovered that the wristband could bring up a floating panel invisible to everyone else.
As a newly registered player, he started with 20 points. According to the staff member, these were his reward for clearing his first instance.
Another prominent feature was [Achievements] in the upper-right corner. The two achievements were [Successful Survival] and [Crown of Popularity], each with its own leveling system. Completing or leveling them up would earn him points.
His [Successful Survival] had already reached level one. To reach the next level, he needed to clear two instances, which would reward him with 40 points.
[Crown of Popularity] had yet to unlock. Lu Mi guessed that this was because he had only just registered and had not entered the public eye.
The panel also displayed his dormitory address, his gold coin balance of 0, and the Panel Mall Ning Zhuangzhuang had mentioned.
But he had no intention of examining it in detail just then.
He brought up a map of the Public Rest Area and searched among its many buildings.
He soon noticed a building with no name, marked only by a red X above its icon.
Could Roman have been taken there?
Before you continue