Absolute Death Game-Chapter 492 - 55 GM Island
Xiao Buli lay on the beach for a while, and the weariness DEBUFF above his head disappeared, along with that stuffy, hot feeling from the desert.
The ocean was exceptionally clear, the sand soft, and the sea breeze refreshing, making the desert feel like the difference between heaven and hell. After enough rest and full recovery of his True Origin Points, Xiao Buli finally stood up. Although he was about to reach his destination and felt excitement, he also felt more apprehensive. What exactly was inside the Temple? Would he be able to resolve the trouble caused by the Heart Demon, and could he save everyone? He had always been following the beliefs in his heart and never seriously considered these problems. But now that he was about to arrive, the anxiety became stronger.
"Hurry up and stop dilly-dallying," the Heart Demon seemed to notice his hesitation and suddenly spoke in his heart. That was indeed true. Rather than worrying here, it would be better to quickly face whatever was coming.
With that thought, Xiao Buli did not reply but shot up from the ground with lightning speed and flew straight towards the island.
System notice: Arriving at GM Island, checking GM privileges, privileges correct, entry permitted.
With the announcement of entry, Xiao Buli felt as though a flash of light went by his eyes, or perhaps he had just passed through a light screen. It seemed to be some kind of protective barrier, but Xiao Buli didn't focus on that, he had just been notified by the system that he had arrived at GM Island. Could it be that this place had the same setup as the GM Island in World of Warcraft? If that were the case, it might be possible to glimpse the very foundations of the game. Xiao Buli felt he had taken another step closer to the truth.
Upon entering the range of GM Island, Xiao Buli felt like he was in Cartoon Disney World, but a closer look revealed that it was mainly because the buildings here were so fanciful and extraordinary, giving off a bizarre feeling.
The structures here were mostly round and cornerless. The smaller buildings were scattered in an orderly fashion that, coupled with the terrain, looked like pearls strewn across the ground. It was unclear what material the buildings were made of, but they had a pearlescent texture and luster, and were shaped somewhat like seashells, though more cartoonish. On the small hill in the center of the island, a large two-story building stood out as the central structure of the island. The lower level was clearly divided into four distinct sectors, each with an arched entrance painted in different colors. The second level stood alone, built in the central part above the four sectors, topped with a large mushroom dome, looking like a mushroom placed amongst four snails.
Xiao Buli landed on the outskirts of the building. Although he intended to keep a low profile and hoped to sneak into the Temple if possible, the Cloud Thunder Leap skill was simply too spectacular. With a loud thud upon landing, Xiao Buli truly regretted not riding the Immortal Crane for the last part of his journey.
Ten minutes earlier, the GM Island Surveillance Room
"Alert! There's something unusual on the beach!" a slightly portly middle-aged man dressed in typical affluent garb suddenly shouted. In front of him, a Crystal Ball wafted with grey-black smoke, whose rhythm was highly unstable at the moment—slow one second, rapidly churning the next.
"What?" muttered a white-bearded old man who was dozing off in a corner, a large hooked wooden cane in his hand. He wiped the drool off his beard, his eyes instantly filling with vigor: "Could it be a monster from the desert?"
"It's not. He has reached the shore. It looks like he has the right privileges, and he could very well be one of them," the elderly man muttered with his hands hovering constantly over the Crystal Ball, causing the smoke within to move even more frantically. If not for his outfit, one might mistake him for an old fortune teller.
"He's getting close, getting close," the white-bearded man also seemed to sense something, bouncing out of his chair, his not-so-tall stature making the cane seem even larger, "I see him," the old man shouted, veins on his neck bulging.
"So you see him, what's with the yelling? Quickly, summon everyone to gather," the elderly man opened his eyes, snapping out of his meditative state. Glancing at the white-bearded old man, who was clearly overexcited, he seemed rather unimpressed with his alarmist behavior.
"Little G, Little G, hurry and gather everyone, get ready to welc..." The old man's words were cut off as a loud boom sounded to the south of the island. Now, there was no need for the old man to shout; everyone on the island immediately sprang into action. Those napping were so starteled that they fell off their beds and leaped up, rushing out without even having time to put on shoes. Those outside had already started running toward the white light streaking across the sky. As they ran, they continuously called for others; in the blink of an eye, everyone from GM Island had gathered at the location where the white light had landed.
Xiao Buli rose from the ground, swallowing hard. Although he expected his entrance might be a bit dramatic, the scene before him was still startling.
Before him stood no fewer than a hundred people, men and women, old and young, of all appearances. They looked at him expectantly as if they had an endless stream of words to share with him. However, in all good conscience, Xiao Buli really didn't recognize them. They didn't move, and Xiao Buli also stood his ground, knees slightly bent, ready to turn tail at the first sign of trouble.
"Wel...wel..." the breathless voice of an old man came from the back of the crowd. The others quickly made way for him. Xiao Buli saw the white-bearded old man, desperately shuffling along on his short legs, his cane which was almost twice his height bouncing on the ground. It seemed to serve no purpose in supporting him but rather dragged behind him like a burden. "Welcome," the old man finally managed to say as he reached Xiao Buli, but unfortunately, his voice sounded as if it were being forced through a bellows which didn't make it any more pleasant to the ear.
"Welcome, young man." Another sonorous voice spoke up. Xiao Buli saw another man, dressed as flamboyantly as a newly rich merchant, in glistening gold, making his way from behind the crowd.
Xiao Buli quickly clasped his hands in greeting, speaking politely, "I have seen the two elders." Since they were GMs, Xiao Buli felt that speaking to them as he would to NPCs might make him appear as if he was 'acting dumb,' so after exchanging pleasantries, he fell silent and watched, though the presence of more than a hundred GMs on the island was truly beyond his expectations.
The corpulent man exchanged hand clasps with Xiao Buli and then extended his right hand backward in a gesture of invitation, "Please, let's talk inside."
Without declining, Xiao Buli followed. Their behavior had shown no signs of ill intent. Xiao Buli had once visited the GM Island in World of Warcraft out of curiosity, exploiting a bug, but found it empty – just a tree and a small house, without a single soul around, though it was also free from danger. Today, though facing an unexpected crowd, he figured there would be no threat according to common sense.
Following the corpulent merchant under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xiao Buli quickly arrived at a round little house next to the central building. On entering, the space inside was much larger than it appeared from outside. It seemed to be a place for receiving guests, with several mats laid out on the floor. The corpulent merchant walked over and sat cross-legged on one of them, handling his bulky body with surprising grace.
The elderly man, who had been trailing them, now entered and took his place in the middle, still clutching his cane, which now only reached one-third of its previous height as he sat down.
Then a young man entered, in his thirties, with a black beard and a somewhat mixed-race appearance: high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and tanned skin. Thin yet solid, he portrayed a semblance of iron bones and copper skin and kneeled near the doorway.
Seeing Xiao Buli looking somewhat bewildered, the wealthy-looking man pointed to an empty mat and said, "Please, take a seat, guest."
Following his direction, Xiao Buli sat down. Then a woman entered, her face covered with a veil. However, from her visible eyes, one could tell she was very beautiful. She was carrying a tray with some fruits, which she set in front of Xiao Buli, the old man, the rich man, and the mixed-race man before turning to leave. During this process, aside from Xiao Buli who thanked her upon receiving the fruit, none of the other three spoke.
The mixed-race man, already of a somber appearance, and the comically styled wealthy man both wore solemn expressions, while the elderly man seemed not to have recovered from his initial greeting outside, continuing to catch his breath heavily.
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Xiao Buli found the assembly before him amusing. GM Island, even if it were not to be filled with game support staff in suits and ties, the avatars in the game would at least share a unified style. Yet these three disparate individuals were clearly the leading figures of GM Island; however, they didn't quite seem imposing.
"Let's get straight to the point," the rich man suddenly spoke, indicating that he was in charge of negotiations or similar external affairs.
Xiao Buli nodded. Although he did not know what the wealthy man was about to say, Xiao Buli sensed that his moment had come. Yet at this point, he felt none of the earlier panic or nervousness. His mind was unusually calm, as if he were going about the most ordinary of tasks.
"You are the first player to come here after the game's destruction," the rich man said, picking up a grape in front of him. "I have been eating this kind of thing for over a hundred years. How much I wish I could taste the dazzling, beautiful, and juicy real fruits of the real world, instead of these fake items made of code." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at . Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
