The sun shines in the sky, and the sun can care for most of the dead grass and trees on the southern slope, but it can't touch the cave on the southern slope that is inhabited by a large number of bandits. The entrance of this cave is about the size of a tent, and there is an abandoned railroad track at the entrance of the cave, which zigzags like a snake into the cave, and if you follow the rails inside, you can find an oil lamp hanging on each corner of the stone wall of the cave. Slowly the caverns grew larger and larger, occasionally with one or two forks, but eventually they all converged in a hall that was two stories tall and about the size of half a football field.

The hall is divided into two levels, connected by a stone staircase, and the lower hall is filled with abandoned minecarts, stoves, tables and chairs, and some small holes dug into the four walls, which is considered the lowest level of the bandits' house. The hall on the second floor was obviously much better, the floor was not very smooth but clean, and to the left was a large pool of water, which was brightly illuminated by the oil lamps around it. In the center of the hall is a long table with steaming meat, fruit and drink. There are dark red chairs on both sides of the table, and at the south end of the table, there is the largest chair with a tiger skin on it, which is the throne of the boss of the NPC bandits, Mao Er Ba'!

This cave is a pit left over from the war between the Jin Kingdom and the Rohan Kingdom in 3283 in China. Like some of the other mines left behind in Rip Rock, it didn't even have a name, it provided the army with murderous weapons in wartime, and became a home for bandits and robbers in peacetime.

The bandit boss Mao Er Ba was originally named Fan Wei, who was a logistics captain in the Split Rock Army at that time, responsible for providing military supplies and transportation, and was an ordinary soldier. In the war ten years ago, because he delayed the delivery of supplies, after killing the supervisor on the way, he led a dozen of his subordinates to run here and hide, until the end of the war, everyone forgot about them, and then began to occupy the mountain as king.

This Mao Erba was originally a sergeant, and he was a deserter, so he was afraid of being discovered and had to live incognito. This person is also relatively strict in the discipline of his subordinates, leading his subordinates to reclaim some wasteland for self-sufficiency, they occasionally steal chickens and dogs, rob passers-by who enter the mountain, but they will not run down the mountain to rob and kill the villagers with great fanfare, so the villagers of Daoxiang Village, who are timid and afraid of things, although they are resentful, do not take the initiative to report to the official.

However, today is different, because An Ran's appearance has upset the delicate balance here, and they have a meeting just as he 'died' back to the village.

"So you haven't seen this guy, have you?" The bearded, tall and chubby Mao Erba sat on his tiger skin back chair and asked in a rough voice. The rough man bit off the burnt rabbit leg in one bite, chewed the rabbit meat and wiped his greasy hands around his body.

"No, none of the little ones have ever seen this person." Standing on the side of the table, he began to arrogantly beat and scold the little bandit leader under his command at the moment, and he was as well-behaved as a quail. "He's not like we're here, he's an alien adventurer."

"Adventurer? Are you sure? The other bandit leader sitting on a chair on the side of the table asked, "Is that the kind of thing that suddenly appears in front of us, comes and goes, kills and kills?" “

The rest of the people at the table who were eating were startled, "Ahh This is incredible," they shouted.

"I've already killed me," the boy who killed the game character An Ran, I don't know when he came out of the shadows, "It's not as terrible as you think, although the legend says that they can't kill him, but Lao Tzu still made him disappear." “

"Ouch! My little ancestor, you are amazing! Mao Er Bayi took the boy into his arms, kissed him, laughed and said, "Brothers! It doesn't matter what adventurers and monsters his grandmother has, as long as they dare to come to our mountains and sneak around, they must not let it go - you go and play! The rough man put the boy down again.

The boy wiped the saliva from his face in disgust and quietly walked back into the darkness.

"Maybe we're monsters in their eyes, no!" "We're just a bunch of data for their entertainment," he thought. Just like the book says, God has assigned their mission to all things in the world, and in this life it makes me the son of a thief waiting for the end of fate, and then God erases my memory and makes me reborn, and I have a new identity, a new body, and another round of play. Is it fair? It's not fair! How can it be fair that we exist to entertain them? Is it scary? Terrible! It's scary to be slaughtered like a pig or dog! How can we escape this tragic fate? Get stronger! When you have the strength that no one can kill, you can overlook all living beings like a great god and control the fate of this world. ”

A faint blue light suddenly appeared in the young man's eyes, and the name of 'Growing NPC Fan Yuntian' appeared on his head, flashing, and disappeared without a trace like others.

"Okay, you go down first!" One of the one-eyed thieves at the table dismissed the report's subordinates and said worriedly: "Whether that person is an adventurer or not, we have to be careful, if he is somewhere, or if these damn villagers communicate with the outside and invite spies, then our whereabouts will probably be exposed sooner rather than later!" ”

"That's what I'm worried about," Mao Erba put down the rabbit in his hand and suddenly slapped it on the table, "Hmph! Just in case, let's just go down the mountain tonight and secretly kill everyone in this village, grab some things and leave here. But—" he beckoned to the few men in his seat to come closer, "only a few of us brothers can leave. The rough man whispered.

*******

The little thief Fan Yuntian stood on the back hill of Daoxiang Village and overlooked the entire village, every grass and tree in the village; brick by brick; pecking chickens and ducks; Running and jumping dogs; What is the difference between those who have rich expressions, everyone who is alive and like themselves, and the small river flowing in the distance? "What a picture of a winter village in the mountains," he thought, "but who knows that he has realized that all this is just a pile of cold data." With a paintbrush in his hand, God can paint a picture of a quiet and peaceful mountain village, or it can turn the mountain village to ashes in an instant. Since God created us, he certainly has the power to destroy us.

He is a child who loves to read, even if his life is the most embarrassing, he never forgot to sit somewhere and read quietly when he was hiding in Tibet with his father. When following his uncles into the village to steal or rob a passerby who entered the mountains, Fan Yuntian didn't care how much food, how much clothing, how much coins he could get, it was something that adults liked, what about children? Of course, children like books, adults have their swords, while children have a head, and a good brain needs books, just as a sword needs a whetstone, and food is a good friend for the body; Books are the best teacher for souls, for they can understand how we, NPCs in the eyes of adventurers, can survive, and a dwarf in one book said, 'If anyone accepts their shortcomings, no one can use them against you.'" So Fan Yuntian chose to accept his shortcomings.

"Don't forget who you are," he thought, "and the world certainly won't forget that if the 'NPC' gives you this nickname, choose to accept it and live as the most special one, so that no one else can hurt you again." (Some of the above is from A Song of Ice and Fire)

NPC Fan Yuntian did everything he had to do, he let go of the soon-to-be-killed ** son in advance, he was ready to ventilate and let others kill his father, and he even explained his fate, so he simply packed the package and sat quietly on the slope, watching the lucky man from heaven walking towards him step by step.

It was a winding dirt road, and the trail was not easy to walk, and there were weeds and gravel all the way, which caused An Ran to reach the summit with the sun already setting in the west. He seems a little tired, which is caused by the fact that his body is constantly mimicking his own climbing movements in the game. But that's nothing, since an NPC says someone is waiting for him, then as a competent gamer, no matter how tired he is, he should go to meet him.

He found the man sitting on the hillside waiting for him, an NPC boy with a fair complexion and a pair of pointed ears, his pale blue hair ruffled by the winter wind, and the sun illuminated his dark blue pupils and face. The slightly thin body reflected a black shadow on the back of the sun, and the boy placed his white bare feet in the shadow, like a handful of white bones buried in a dark corner.

"You're long late, honorable adventurer." Fan Yuntian took the lead in saying.

"The mountain trail is a bit difficult to walk, so it will take a lot of time." An Ran shrugged noncommittally.

"Can you see who I am?" Fan Yuntian asked.

"No, but your outfit tells me: 'Bandits' are offensive NPCs, which means I can kill you and you can kill me."

"Then why haven't you yet? I mean, I'm amazed at how you behaved, but don't you adventurers usually see people like us—NPCs as you call them—with their eyes lit up and knives on them? Don't you like the experience and the equipment we have? “

"Who doesn't like that? But I think that if you are waiting for me, you will definitely come up with something more attractive than experience and equipment, and I don't think Lao Tzu will necessarily beat you. ”

Fan Yuntian smiled, but this smile came from his bright red lips and did not look like the smile that a teenager should have.

"My name is Fan Yuntian and I'm a bandit - let's sit down and talk!" He patted the dry mud and gestured.

An Ran simply sat next to the NPC naturally, he didn't think there was any danger in this, "An NPC who can talk to him like this," the handsome young man thought, "Fuck! This kind of NPC is synonymous with those boss-level monsters with super high strength in previous online games, and if this guy next to him wants to kill himself, it's not too simple"

(He didn't know that his game character had already been killed once by Fan Yuntian.) ）

"Say it! What are you going me to do? Or do you want to delegate me something? ”

The little thief Fan Yuntian unhurriedly took out a rusty iron bracer from his backpack and said: "You go to Cross Town to find a guard army leader named Zhao Ku and give this to him, just say that the soldier Fan Wei and his accomplices, who have defected for many years, have been found, and are currently hiding in the mine cave on the southern slope, they will attack Daoxiang Village tonight, please go and arrest it, and then you should get a good reward." “

"Should?" An Ran didn't take the iron bracer he handed over.

"Hmmm! Frankly, it's not a quest, and you know I'm not actually an NPC that issues quests, so I can only guess that you'll probably get a nice reward. Fan Yuntian explained.

"So I can't sign a contract with you, and I don't know if I can get a reward, so I don't know if I can get a reward. In my opinion, you should be an accomplice with those people on the southern slope! As a bandit, why would you ask someone to bring troops to kill you? ”

"It's not a bandit, it's data." Fan Yuntian corrected by playing with the iron bracer in his hand, and suddenly he stared straight at An Ran, "I, everything here, and even this world are just data for you to play with, one day a certain piece of data suddenly woke up, he expects to stand with the darling of the heavens, and the honorable adventurer, will you agree?" ”

I don't know why An Ran's heart was tugged at by his words.

"This data is actually no different from those data, he should have been a thief under the arrangement of the great god, accepting that he is a 'man' and this 'world' is the world, waiting for death, rebirth, death, rebirth, and the arrangement of a round of fate, but if you want to blame this data, he is extremely restless He has read a lot of books, he has doubts about himself and the world, and he hopes to jump out of the arrangement of fate and live a good life. It's like the pigs in the pen in this village, one day a pig climbed out of the fence and suddenly saw a group of people sharpening knives looking at him and his companions. Just like them," Fan Yuntian pointed to the players running in the fields below the mountain to kill monsters and upgrade. "It doesn't want to be like a pig anymore, the pig doesn't want to be a pig because it doesn't want to be someone else's meal, and this data doesn't want to be a data because I don't want to be your experience and equipment."

Saying this, the corners of Fan Yuntian's eyes suddenly moistened, and he looked like a child at this time, so lonely and helpless.

"You know what? Maybe you're taking the path you think you should take, but maybe it's also the arrangement of the gods when you're making your choice," An Ran sighed, "Hey! Even that doesn't change the fact that you're data! ”

"I know! I know! Tears rolled across the young man's white cheeks, "Lao Tzu never expected to be like you, I just hope that you can take me to this world." The pig wants to say goodbye to his companion, so he opens the door to greet the owner with the butcher's knife, and this data is also saying goodbye to his companion, so he wants to ask his master for credit with his companion's experience and equipment! And the master, do you accept it? “

Fan Yuntian's shoulders trembled, crying so sadly, the NPC kid felt that he was doing a sinful thing, cruel to his companions, and even cruel to himself. He felt that he was betraying his companions and relatives, like a dog that waged its head and tail to ask for merit from its master, so he sat on the ground and folded his head, buried it between the knees of his legs, and sobbed.

An Ran stretched out his arms and took the still crying teenager into his arms, the young man didn't know why he did this, why he was holding an NPC? Why would he feel uncomfortable for a game character that is not controlled by the player, he only knows how cruel this comfortable and comfortable virtual world is to some awakening data in the eyes of players. 'Darlings of the Heavens,' as they call him, and the darlings only need to move their little finger to make one of the NPCs who live here gamble for the rest of their lives.

"How can I help you?" He asked softly again.

"Did you say yes?" Fan Yuntian handed the iron bracer in his hand to An Ran again.

"I'm not talking about that, I'm saying how can I take you around this fucking world?" An Ran still didn't take the bracers he handed over

A faint blue light flashed in the eyes of Fan Yuntian, a growth-type NPC, again, and he put his index finger in his mouth and bit it with a frown, and bright red blood flowed out.

"Taste it," said the NPC Kid, holding up his bloody fingers, "if both parties wish, the adventurer and we can reach a blood pact if we taste each other's blood."

An Ran held his fingers and put them in his mouth, and the warm blood flowed down his mouth and down his throat. "It's good not the middle finger," the young man's mind was making up some kind of picture.

System: You have a master-servant agreement with the growing NPC Fan Yuntian.

Crash! A white light rose on An Ran and Fan Yuntian's bodies at the same time, and then the white light spread out like water waves.

"That's it?" An Ran frowned and said, "Didn't you say that you want to taste each other's blood?" “

"Because I've already tasted the blood of my master!" Fan Yuntian replied with a smile and a wink, his face still stained with tears.

"How is this possible? Where is it? He asked.

"Has the master forgotten how he was thrown to the ground?"

"Ahh You were the guy who killed me? ”

"Or else?" Fan Yuntian made a cute expression and spread his hands to him.

"your grandma! You killed Lao Tzu, shouldn't I take revenge on you after I am resurrected? I also made a deal with you, as if Lao Tzu was by you! ”

Fan Yuntian laughed slyly, "Master, look at who I am?" ”

An Ran suddenly found that he could see his name, and a row of light blue words appeared on the NPC boy's head, 'An Ran's servant Fan Yuntian', and this name he could control, just like the name of his own game character, it could be turned on and off. And Fan Yuntian's expression also changed, and he didn't seem to be sad anymore.

"You shouldn't ..... you should ....."

"You should keep crying like you did just now, right?" Fan Yuntian tore off a section of withered yellow weeds, held it in his mouth, and said vaguely, "I don't know what's going on, I'm not sad at all now, their life and death have nothing to do with Lao Tzu." Everything I have ever had, all my life, what I have laughed about, what I have laughed about, what I have laughed about, what I have been happy and angry, my home, my relatives, my friends and enemies, all my experiences and expectations are just a dream, this is a dream that is paved for the arrival of the master, and now that the master has arrived, it is time to wake up, and the data of life and death in the dream - a dream, what is there to cry about? “

"Really? Lao Tzu is still sighing for what happened to you, you tell me it's a dream? An Ran thought, "Are you telling me the story of breaking out of the cocoon and becoming a butterfly?" Are the tears still hanging from the corners of your eyes from a dream? What exactly does the system deprive you of? It can transform you from a sad NPC teenager to a happy little angel in an instant. Is it feelings? Maybe! Your smile and smile; Your sorrows and joys; I'm afraid it's still a program given by the system.,There's no emotion that no one can take away.,That's probably the biggest difference between you and us! “

"What's next?" An Ran closed the name on Fan Yuntian's head as he spoke, he didn't like this title very much, the young man hoped that in this world, a friend who had always stayed by his side was a friend, so he said again: "Can you not call one master another?" I think it's good to call me An Ran or Brother An Ran. ”

"Obey the Lord...... Brother Enron, we can go to Crosstown and ask the Captain of the Guard to give him this bracer. ”

Fan Yuntian stared at the bracer, threw it up, and caught it with his hand.

"Give it to me!"

He handed him the iron bracer in his hand.

"Although it is possible to get a good reward," An Ran looked at the rusty iron bracer in his hand, and threw it out with a flick of his hand. "But Lao Tzu doesn't like this kind of stupid X plot very much, let's leave here and find a place where the money is weird and stupid, and take care of the equipment to upgrade it a few levels."

"What am I if I really take my bracers and tell the soldiers to come and level your home and kill all your relatives?" An Ran actually thought about this, but he didn't say it.

System: Congratulations on earning the Sacred Heart of the Benevolent, personal reputation +500

System: Follow in God's footsteps in search of those treasures left somewhere in the world! Dear adventurer, this is the true purpose of your coming into this world.

"What is this?" An Ran muttered to himself and clicked on the personal information column, and found that his name was followed by a parentheses: 'Enron (benevolent)' personal level 5.

Except for this in the personal information column, there is nothing.,There are no personal attributes.,There won't be any strength or strength that would appear in traditional online games in the past.、How much spirit、How agile, etc.,These things are calculated by the system for you.、Things that can be seen intuitively。 In the game Huaxia, if you want to know the strength or weakness of your game character, you can only feel it in the battles again and again, it's very simple! If you can knock over others, you will be strong, and if you are overturned by others, you will be weak, so this setting that does not show the attributes of the game character has brought great trouble to many players in the early game, who have worked hard to get a piece of equipment, although you can see how much attack this equipment has; how many laws are defended; What is the mental strength; What is agility; What attributes or skills do you have attached, but all stats disappear when you equip it on a game character, so as for whether this piece of equipment is good or not, and whether it is suitable for you? I don't know!

"What a strange and stupid place for money! And make sure you ......" Fan Yuntian squinted and glanced at An Ran.

"Hey! I said, what kind of eyes are you? An Ran felt that he seemed to be a little disrespectful to himself.

"There it is!" The NPC kid slapped his head, "Let's go west to Qingyun Mountain, Lao Tzu has seen it from Jinguo Geographic Magazine, there are many wild boars, bison, wolves and tigers living there, and you should be able to mix a lot of experience and money, and it is said that there are treasures in the mountains, in case we ...... Hey! Fan Yuntian rubbed his hands and smiled.

"Does the beast carry money with it? This is completely illogical, but online games are not logical, so what is the real point? Thinking of this, the handsome young man smiled and shook his head.

"You really don't want to stay here anymore? You don't mean mountains...... Will they attack the village at night? Don't you want to see before you go? An Ran asked tentatively.

"What's so nice about a dispute over a bunch of data? Unless we do it ourselves, we won't get any benefit at all, and it's not up to me to decide where to go, it's up to you to decide, Brother An Ran, I can't stay too far away from you - this is the regulation of the master-servant agreement - otherwise Lao Tzu will be punished by God, and I will become what you saw before, you adventurers, everything in this world can hunt me. ”

"When you become strong enough one day, will you still be afraid that others will kill you?" An Ran thought.

"Are you good now?" He asked.

"It's weak, probably, uh-huh! It's probably a shame that you're better than you are now. He grimaced at him and quipped.

"That's right, this is what you should be, a teenager should have a boy's face, don't pretend to be deep like a little old man all day long, if one day you think you can leave and boldly move forward, I can take you around the world, but I don't want to deprive you of your freedom." He pulled Fan Yuntian up from the ground and patted the dust off his buttocks.

"You're not afraid that I'll be your enemy?"

"I'm not afraid, because I'm going to be strong too."

"And what are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid you'll hate me."

Then they descended together from the west side of the hillside along another road, and the setting sun that fell into the western sky pulled the tall and short master and servant out two long shadows and dragged them behind them.

Fan Yuntian, who has become An Ran's servant, can finally leave this place that has trapped him for many years, and he could only sneak into a village before, let alone go to a big city! The guards and adventurers didn't make a big deal out of this little monster that suddenly appeared, wrapped in vines, and dressed in tatters. What now? Now he was light on his feet and full of hope that he could go to the library in the city and read his favorite books; You can go to the theater; You can also follow his master to fight monsters, engage in equipment, and upgrade upgrades.

That night, the bandits on the southern slope did attack Daoxiang Village, but it was due to a certain player who triggered the mission of 'Defend the Village', and this player brought the NPC soldiers of the system from Crosstown to kill the bandits, and many players participated in it, and they gained a lot of experience, coins, and equipment. The corpses of the bandits are laid out on the ground and waiting for the system to slowly refresh, and then the system will erase their memories and let them be reborn, and then arrange a new round of plots for them. Of course, there is no little thief Fan Yuntian in the corpse, and the NPC kid seems to have gotten rid of the fate of being killed-deleting-reborn, and he will be killed like the adventurer to lose experience, level, and equipment, and then be resurrected.

Memories will not be erased, which is a great gift for an NPC!

And what about An Ran? The system prompts his game character 'Enron' to be tired and needs to rest, this is not the kind of problem that you can solve by directing the game character not to move, but the system makes a judgment based on the player's time in the game and his own state, if the system reminds your game character several times that it is time to rest, the player still goes his own way, it will directly let you roll out of the game. An Ran didn't receive this kind of treatment, he took the initiative to take off the helmet and turn off the power to quit the game, why was he so conscious? Because he's hungry! Hungry, hungry, handsome young man who hadn't eaten for a day.