Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 51: Villa

Kuang Jinxin: “Why did you order something so bland for me? I want to eat meat!”

Qian Ai: “Those who have been foolishly tricked by others, fell into a wine pool, and recovered from a severe coma have no right to be picky eaters.”

Kuang Jinxin: “…”

There were two small square tables filled with Shandong cuisine—one for Lao Qian’s live broadcast area, with Kuang Jinxin hiding opposite, eating a patient’s meal consisting of rice and vegetables but no meat; the other for the team leaders, with Xu Wang resting his chin on one hand, despairingly looking at Wu Sheng across from him.

“Ginger.”

Just as Advisor Wu was about to continue picking up food, he paused with his chopsticks. “Huh?”

Xu Wang sighed. “I said the piece you just ate was ginger.”

Wu Sheng frowned and recalled, quite indignant. “It looked so much like chicken, a master of disguise.”

“You can’t even taste the difference!” Xu Wang collapsed. “What on earth have you been thinking about all afternoon?”

Wu Sheng refocused his mind and became serious. “Two things.”

Xu Wang didn’t expect there to be serious matters and quickly sat up straight, obedient like a model student. “Let’s hear them.”

“The first is about the save points,” Wu Sheng said. “Since there’s more than one save point, there could be three or four. If we can find them and Yue Shuai’s team too, then the more experienced Chi Yingxue’s team naturally will also, right?”

“You’re not going to tell me that we’ll meet them tonight, are you…” Hearing such bad news during a meal was a critical hit.

“If yesterday was their first day of this 3/23 scenario,” Wu Sheng added a star anise to the captain’s plate to match the current conversation’s atmosphere, “then the probability of a happy encounter today is basically one hundred percent.”

Xu Wang looked at the star anise, feeling like it had extended two thin arms, holding a drone controller, and laughing devilishly at him.

“The second thing…” Wu Sheng continued.

Xu Wang quickly looked up at him.

Wu Sheng said, “Yuan Zi…”

Xu Wang: “…”

Yuan Zi and the save point—what’s the difference between these two things? =_=

“Or, to put it another way,” as if seeing Xu Wang’s speechlessness, Wu Sheng changed his approach, “NPCs. I’ve been thinking about the NPCs in the ‘Owl’.”

This piqued Xu Wang’s interest. “What about them?”

“Do you remember those airport ground staff from 2/23?” asked Wu Sheng.

“Of course.” Xu Wang tried but couldn’t forget them. “Repeating the same few lines, looking bewildered when asked anything else, especially the one issuing our boarding passes, who spoke in a tone that didn’t sound human at all. It was very mechanical and creepy.”

“Right.” Wu Sheng felt the same. “But the passengers on the plane were different, like Xu Erling and Shen Yisi. Each one seemed so real.”

Xu Wang said, “It’s the same for this level. Ding Xiaoche—I forgot he was an NPC from beginning to end, and Yuan Zi, even knowing he’s a save point, I still feel he’s a living person.”

“That’s it!” Wu Sheng looked at Xu Wang with bright eyes. “The complexity of NPCs in the ‘Owl’ varies.”

Xu Wang received the intense gaze but not the point, anxiously saying, “Can you explain in simpler terms?”

Wu Sheng: “Sure. For instance, if every NPC has its own independent program…”

Xu Wang: “……”

He decided to try to understand it himself. TAT

Wu Sheng: “Then the more realistic NPCs must have more complex algorithms, and these algorithms must closely mimic the human brain to respond to us so naturally.”

“Artificial intelligence?” No matter how Xu Wang heard it, it all boiled down to these two words.

“Something like that.” Wu Sheng couldn’t be certain, but Yuan Zi’s appearance made him start seriously considering this matter.

Xu Wang pondered for a while and shook his head. “No matter how advanced the algorithm, an NPC is still an NPC. Ding Xiaoche didn’t think there was anything wrong with a zombie apocalypse, and Yuan Zi doesn’t even know there are other levels. He probably doesn’t understand the true meaning of a save point. Those words are just settings.”

“That’s exactly the problem!” A flame that refuses to swim freely in the sea of knowledge and insists on stirring up a storm ignited fiercely in Wu Sheng’s eyes. “They have highly advanced algorithms but are only given extremely limited information, like a supercar forever limited to 20 km/h.”

Xu Wang leaned back slightly in his chair to avoid being burned by the flames of inquiry. “Please boldly state your plan.”

Wu Sheng slightly raised the corner of his mouth. In his restrained smile, it contained an unrestrainable spirit of scientific research. “What if we consciously and systematically feed these NPCs external information?”

Xu Wang: “……”

Forced to engage in intellectual and physical battles every night, already exhausting body and soul, likely to encounter fierce opponents tonight, darkening the path ahead, and now, his advisor, wants to teach NPCs how to be human in addition to overcoming challenges.

Life, why are you so hard? TAT

……

At midnight, as the Owl’s hoots sounded as the four companions entered a purple vortex. Unlike the usual dizziness, they zoomed through a time tunnel, finding themselves back in the restroom of a 4S car dealership.

A Lightning Gun, a chainsaw, a screwdriver, and a rocket launcher with only three bomb balls left all returned to their hands.

Oh, right, and an electric shaver.

Wu Sheng handed the rocket launcher back to Kuang Jinxin and picked up the screwdriver himself—last night Kuang Jinxin had just awakened from unconsciousness, and although he seemed fine, carrying the rocket launcher was still a bit of a strain. Moreover, having witnessed the strength of the zombies in the north of the city, they couldn’t afford to let Xiao Kuang only have a screwdriver now.

After swapping weapons, Wu Sheng immediately went to the stall to look for Yuan Zi, ready to implement his “educational philosophy”.

Xu Wang had already briefed Qian Ai and Xiao Kuang on Advisor Wu’s “sharp idea.” Although they felt it was a bit strange to study how to develop artificial intelligence in a magical world, they couldn’t help but feel a subtle sense of anticipation.

However, the stall was empty.

“I should have thought of this,” Wu Sheng lamented.

Even the distribution of zombies changed daily, let alone such important NPCs as save points.

“There will be plenty of opportunities in the 23 levels. You just focus on writing your lesson plan.” Xu Wang patted his advisor’s shoulder, while in his heart, he lit a candle of “study hard and make progress every day*” for the NPCs they would meet in the future.

*A quote by Mao Zedong.

With Yuan Zi gone from the restroom, the hall now had several more cars and a salesperson shivering in the finance office.

Only then did the four companions truly appreciate the cleverness of their save point here.

Yesterday, they were greeted by a 4S shop ravaged by other teams, with only one car left and the salesperson missing.

Today, they were first on the scene, with a variety of car models to choose from!

They didn’t hesitate, picking the most spacious and sturdy luxury 7-seater SUV—the deluxe edition.

Once everyone was seated, Wu Sheng started the car. The SUV left the 4S shop, entered the spacious road, and truly sped off, unstoppable and dominant, like a lord of the land!

Advisor Wu finally understood the joy of Mr. Thirteen of the Middle Ring.

In a blink, they were back on the elevated road, heading west, according to the map.

This time, without any hindrance, they smoothly left the elevated road, passed the art museum, and besides hitting a few zombies, they didn’t encounter any other teams.

“Ten more minutes, and we’ll be at the hospital.” Wu Sheng had the map memorized.

Qian Ai checked his phone. “Today is going too smoothly… Why do I feel uneasy…”

“Our save point is well-chosen.” Kuang Jinxin had always been one to embrace luck, finding constant doubt too taxing. “Having a car right at the start and getting on the viaduct straight from the 4S shop, we must be ahead of all the teams.”

Xu Wang agreed with this view. “In such a short time, teams from the south of the city couldn’t have crossed the river yet, and teams from the north may not have had such convenient conditions as us.”

“What about Yue Shuai’s team? And the ones from the amusement park…” Ever since receiving the warning of a possible encounter tonight, Qian Ai had been constantly thinking about it and quite conflicted at that. Regarding Yue Shuai’s team, he hoped not to meet them, not because of friendship but to avoid combat risks. But for Chi Yingxue’s team, it was the exact opposite; he couldn’t wait to meet them.

“Their save point is elsewhere,” Wu Sheng said. “Even if they’re heading to the hospital, there’s a time difference with us. It’s normal not to encounter them on the way.”

Wu Sheng used the term “time difference”, avoiding a clear statement of “who’s ahead and who’s behind.”

Xu Wang caught the nuance. “Do you think they might be faster than us?”

Wu Sheng replied, “From the Sunshine Theater to the hospital, the distance is about the same as from our side. If Yue Shuai’s team saved after finding a new car, then today they could hit the road in a car like us.”

“If Chi Yingxue’s team also saved, their save point might be even closer.” Xu Wang calmed down. The overly smooth journey had made him unconsciously optimistic, forgetting that crisis is the norm in the “Owl”.

“There might already be several teams at the hospital.” Kuang Jinxin first acknowledged the concerns of the captain and the advisor, then added, “But it’s also possible that no one’s there, just waiting for us!”

Xu Wang smiled, always fond of such positive energy from this little sun. “Let’s hope your words bring good luck.”

Ten minutes later, the road indeed came to an end.

What greeted them was a European-style villa with an exquisite wrought iron railing surrounding the front yard, which was crowded with zombies. The two-meter-high hollowed-out courtyard door had been pushed to the point of collapse.

“Is this… the hospital?” Qian Ai leaned forward from the back seat, peering through the windshield. “Isn’t the decoration a bit too extravagant?”

“No,” Wu Sheng said. “The hospital is behind this villa.”

Reminded by him, the companions noticed the edge of a red cross barely visible above the villa’s roof.

The villa almost completely obscured the hospital. If not for the slight difference in height, it would have been very difficult to spot.

“There’s no villa on the map.” Wu Sheng thought for a moment. “It must be a hidden location, like the amusement park on the river island.”

Qian Ai felt frustrated, like getting a food delivery only to find no chopsticks, wanting to eat but having to wait. “This thing’s blocking the front of the hospital. What do we do?”

“Charge through.” Xu Wang unbuckled his seatbelt.

This villa blocked the last two hundred meters to the hospital. Regardless of which team and from which direction, there were only two choices: go through the villa or give up.

With the captain deciding the strategic direction, the advisor naturally began to devise tactics. “Lure the tiger out of the mountains, enter the tiger’s den, keep an eye on all sides, act according to circumstances.”

The captain then reviewed and deployed. “Okay. Xiao Kuang, later you’ll launch a bomb ball towards the back. When the zombies at the gate are drawn away, we’ll quickly enter, then adapt to the situation inside based on what we encounter.”

Kuang Jinxin: “Why launch it towards the back?”

Xu Wang: “If there are people inside the villa, an explosion too close would alert them. A little farther away is more advantageous for our infiltration.”

Qian Ai: “How did you infer so much from just a few words…”

Half a minute later, Beijing time, Owl time—the SUV quietly parked by the roadside, hidden under dense trees.

A rocket was launched from the rear window, and in the last glimmer of the setting sun, it exploded into a dazzling spectacle.

The crowd of zombies pressing at the iron gate suddenly quieted, then, the next second, a few zombies on the outer edge turned and rushed toward the explosion. Soon, the entire horde scattered, rushing in the opposite direction like a swarm of locusts.

As the last zombie ran past on the road, Xu Wang immediately said, “Get out of the car!”

The four quickly left the SUV, crouching low and sticking to the roadside, swiftly approaching the villa under the cover of tree shadows, reaching the gate in the blink of an eye.

The gate, long tormented by the horde of zombies, was already half-open. Had it not been for their rocket, the villa might have already been hosting a zombie party.

They agilely slipped through the gate, with Wu Sheng bringing up the rear and gently closing it behind them.

Once inside the gate, they faced the main door of the villa itself. Now, that thick wooden door was wide open, revealing a long corridor whose end was obscured, but the sounds of fighting from inside were audible.

Someone had indeed arrived before them.

Just as Xu Wang thought this, his arm suddenly rang with a “ding—”

The other companions experienced the same.

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