Joining the Nightcrawler Squad

"Fourth question. I don't remember it in much detail, but I think what happens next is that you and Abigail go to the FBI to rescue Blade, then bring him back. After that, you plan to wipe out the vampires and go out looking for trouble with them."

"One time, when Abigail and Blade go out together and find a blood bank, the progenitor of the vampires brings his people to attack this place, and this black guy and this chubby guy die on the spot." As he spoke, he pointed at the black guy and the chubby guy.

Both their faces darkened at once, and the chubby guy said, "I'm not fat, just a little stocky!"

"Don't interrupt," Xiahou replied, then continued.

"And this blonde lady gets tortured to death in front of her daughter! That scene was brutal." He pointed at the blonde woman.

"Are you talking about me?" She could tell it sounded like he meant her.

"Yeah!" Xiahou replied. "By the way, how do you do research when you're blind? I was really puzzled about that when I watched it!"

After hearing that she had died, Sommerfield was in no mood to answer his question.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Xiahou continued spoiling the story.

"And you, Deadpool's counterpart. I only looked up Blade because I saw the trailer for Deadpool 3. You get captured along with her daughter." As he spoke, he pointed at Sommerfield again.

At the mention of her daughter, Sommerfield immediately asked, "What happens to my daughter after that?"

"Wasn't I just getting to that? Abigail and Blade come back later. When they see you all dead, they turn their grief into motivation and train hard to get revenge. With a video this blonde lady sent at some point and help from a man who shows up, they take the completed Daystar and go after the vampires for revenge."

"Speaking of which, I was really confused when I watched the show. A lot of the plot made no sense. This blonde lady already knew there was danger, so why didn't she move the base?"

"I don't know!" Sommerfield answered, looking bewildered.

"All right, moving on. You rescue Deadpool and her daughter, then use Daystar to kill all those vampires. I think the progenitor has a change of heart at the end, and Blade leaves on his own. That's all I remember."

After Xiahou finished speaking and confirmed that the mission was complete, he started looking for water, while the members of the Nightcrawler Squad all fell into thought.

"Oh, right, you don't need to pay me. I've already received my reward! Where's your water? All that talking has made me thirsty as hell." Xiahou added this mainly because he couldn't find any water.

The chubby guy stood up and replied, "I'll get you some. Wait a moment."

"Thanks, chubby. You're not fat at all!"

"My name's Hedges, not chubby," Hedges called from nearby.

Hannibal recovered faster than the others. "You said you already got your reward? How did you get it? What was it? Didn't we give you nothing?"

"Of course, I claimed it as soon as I completed the mission! Or were you planning to give me another one?" Xiahou replied cheekily.

Hannibal instantly lost the desire to speak.

He was also thinking, These NPCs really are convincing! Those little expressions of confusion and existential doubt look exactly like a real person's. This is so much fun.

By then, Hedges had returned with several bottles of mineral water and handed one to each person.

After taking his water, Xiahou asked, "By the way, do you have anything to eat? I don't think I've eaten since I had something at noon."

Hedges said, "Would the pizza we had left over from dinner be okay?"

Xiahou drained a bottle of water in one go and said, "No problem, as long as it's edible!"

"I'll go get it for you." Hedges walked out again.

By then, the others had recovered from the information they'd received and began exchanging glances.

Abigail was the first to ask a question. "Putting our situation aside for now, you said you're a player. What's your mission?"

Xiahou glanced at her, then turned to look in the direction the chubby guy had gone to get the pizza. He had no desire to answer her.

Seeing this, Hannibal walked over and put an arm around Xiahou's shoulders. "Hey, man, it's just hard for us to believe, okay?"

"This isn't exactly easy on us! Can you imagine being a character in a comic book or a movie? This is just ******."

Hearing Hannibal's self-censoring speech, Xiahou was certain there was no doubt he was Deadpool's counterpart.

Xiahou made faces at Hannibal and said, "All right, all right. Since I like you, I'll tell you."

"I don't have a main quest. I only just started playing this game, and I died once as soon as I arrived. It wasn't until I saw Abigail and the vampires later that I remembered Blade's story."

"Wait, you said you died once?" This time, it was Abigail speaking.

Xiahou looked at her and answered, "Yeah. What's so strange about dying? By the way, the black guys around here aren't friendly at all. I just went up to one to ask for directions, and he started cursing me. Then, with no sense of fair play, he pulled out a gun and started shooting."

"He took my first blood for no reason. He'd better hope I don't find him, or I'll make sure he gets a taste of my Blue Rose's power! I'm not talking about you!"

Seeing the black guy beside him looking even more sour, Xiahou hurriedly added that last part.

"You can come back to life after you die? Blue Rose? What's that?" Hannibal asked curiously.

"Of course I can respawn! How could you play a game with only one life? Ta-da! This is it! Cool, right? It's Nero's personal weapon! It's crazy powerful, and it's got infinite ammo!" A handgun suddenly appeared in Xiahou's hand, and he struck various poses with it, showing off.

First they heard that he could come back to life, and then they saw him suddenly produce a handgun in his hand. Their jaws nearly hit the floor in shock. (Sommerfield: I can't see!)

A smack rang out, followed by a cry of pain. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw the black guy clutching his face and glaring at Hannibal.

"Why did you hit me?"

"I wanted to see if I was dreaming."

"Then why didn't you hit yourself?"

"Because I'm afraid it would hurt!" Hannibal replied cheekily.

The black guy immediately wanted to rush over and tear him apart.

Hannibal quickly changed the subject. "Hey, bro, how did you do that? And it's called Blue Rose, right? It's beautiful! Does infinite ammo mean it can fire as much as you want without changing magazines?"

Xiahou immediately brightened. "You've got a good eye! The name symbolizes miracles and hope! It's also a metaphor for Nero and Kyrie's love! And yeah, no matter how much you shoot, you never have to reload!"

Hannibal continued playing along. "I get how it symbolizes miracles and hope! But what do you mean it's a metaphor for Nero and Kyrie's love? And who are they?"

With Hannibal being such an appreciative audience, Xiahou felt he had to answer. "Nero is a descendant of demons. Kyrie is human, and she also belongs to the Order of the Sword, which exists to destroy demons."

"So they can't possibly be together. That's why it represents an impossible love! I can't be bothered to say much more, or people will accuse me of padding the word count!"

"All right," Hannibal said ruefully. "But demons actually exist!"

Just then, Hedges came over with the reheated pizza. "It was cold, so I heated it up for you while I was at it!"

"Thank you! You're so thoughtful, bro!" Xiahou picked up a slice and thanked him as he ate.

Abigail suddenly cut in. "So when are you going back?"

Seeing that she was talking to him, Xiahou asked in confusion, "Going back? Going back where?"

"Didn't you say you're a player? As far as I know, you can quit a game whenever you don't want to play anymore, right?"

The pizza in Xiahou's hand suddenly lost its appeal, and his voice grew a little subdued. "Would you believe me if I said I was trapped in the game?"

Everyone looked at one another again. This development surprised them just as much as finding out they were characters in a game and a movie.

Abigail continued, "Then what are you planning to do from now on?"

Xiahou hesitated for a while, then answered uncertainly, "I don't know? Maybe eat, sleep, and beat up Doudou?"

Abigail could hear his uncertainty. She thought that even if she was only a movie character, she knew she was a real, living person, and her companions weren't fictional either.

Perhaps he needed a little help. She held out her hand and invited Xiahou. "Since you don't know what to do, why not join us for now? Once you've figured out what you want to do, or you can go back, you can leave then! Besides, if you're a game player, wouldn't you be missing out on the fun of the game if you didn't fight monsters?"

Xiahou looked at the hand in front of him and listened to her words. He instantly felt warmth flood through him. Was he being shown concern by an NPC?

He dazedly reached out and clasped the smaller hand. "Thank you! I'll join!"

The others also gave him a warm welcome.

Just after Xiahou accepted Abigail's invitation, a notification marked "!" suddenly popped up in his field of vision.