Duke Dagro cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Your Majesty, please bear with this for now."
With that, he raised his dignified eyebrows and glared at Grinya. "Peasant, do not be too greedy. This should be enough to satisfy you!"
Lu Xun calculated the situation. He had asked for enough; judging by the other party's expression, even if he made more demands, they likely wouldn't agree.
"Fine, those are my demands. Can you fulfill them?" he asked.
Duke Dagro nodded. "Of course."
At that moment, a system chime rang out with a "ding."
【You have completed a hearty negotiation with Duke Dagro. Rewards are being calculated...】
'It actually worked...' Lu Xun was startled.
By the end of the conversation, he had mostly been messing around and didn't expect a payout, but the game system seemed to recognize his negotiation.
'Is the freedom in this game really this high?'
However, this was undoubtedly great news for Lu Xun. Since the system notification had popped up, it meant the code was already processing the settlement.
So, he should no longer be considered a criminal, right?
Since he was no longer a criminal, these NPCs shouldn't make things difficult for him anymore. After all, NPCs had limited memories and only followed the direction set by their programming.
But just to be safe, he asked once more, "Do the terms we spoke of take effect immediately?"
"Yes," Duke Dagro said.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Xun noticed his quest list had updated.
【You have completed the main story quest: The Radiance of Yiertaya, Part 3.】
【Rewards are still being calculated...】
Seeing this, Lu Xun's heart finally settled.
After all, even the quest was marked as finished.
It seemed he was truly in the clear.
NPCs were just NPCs after all; fooling them was far too easy!
"I have met your demands. Can you release His Majesty now?" Duke Dagro asked.
His attitude seemed very sincere, leaving no room for complaint.
And Grinya did as he wished, pushing King Weis away.
King Weis looked at her with some surprise. "You're just letting me go? Are you sure you don't need to hold me hostage until you leave the palace?"
Grinya glanced at him and said indifferently, "There's no need. The matter is settled. Even if you want to go back on your word, you won't be able to."
As she spoke, the faces of the others present immediately shifted into incredibly strange expressions.
But Grinya didn't seem to notice. She acted with total disregard for them, walking away with immense confidence.
Dagro and the knight commander exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in the other's eyes.
"Peasant, please stay your hand."
Duke Dagro's voice came from behind. Grinya didn't even turn her head as she said, "No need to see me out. I have a map; I know the way."
"No, what I mean is..." Before Duke Dagro could finish his sentence, one of his hands was already on Grinya's shoulder. A terrifying pressure erupted instantly, forcing Grinya's steps to a halt.
Looking at the frozen interface, Lu Xun first thought he was lagging.
But then, Duke Dagro's voice followed closely: "The game of pretend ends here!"
In the next second, Lu Xun watched helplessly as his perspective spun wildly. The health bar at the bottom of the screen plummeted, entering a near-death state instantly—he couldn't even stand up!
Lu Xun had no defense against the entire process, nor was there any room for player input, because the game hadn't even notified him that he was entering combat.
"Crap, I got scripted!" Lu Xun said with a face full of horror.
This situation reminded him of tropes often seen in story-driven games. To force a player toward a specific ending and transition smoothly to the next plot point, developers would take away all player control. You could only watch the cinematic of your defeat like an outsider, having no sense of participation.
Of course, not all scripted deaths were cutscenes. Some developers chose to increase a boss's difficulty to an unbeatable level, tricking players into thinking they had a chance.
And when some elite players used every trick in the book to defeat this 'unbeatable' boss, they would find themselves in a cutscene anyway—only this time, the cinematic would show the boss using a sneak attack because they couldn't win fairly.
The most annoying part was when that boss would taunt the player after the cowardly victory, saying something like, 'A shinobi would know the difference between honor and victory.'
Truly despicable!
But right now, Lu Xun's heart was filled only with confusion.
'Didn't the quest notification say it was completed? Why did it trigger a combat sequence?'
'This isn't scientific!'
'Have these NPCs learned how to hack the code?'
In a state of extreme shock and bewilderment, he saw the enemy with a massive red health bar slowly approaching, looking down at her with cold, murderous eyes.
【Privy Minister · King · Dagro Kritov (lv61)】!
Level 61!
Grinya couldn't feel pain, but her head felt heavy, her consciousness blurred, and all her senses were fading.
【The Privy Minister has changed his mind. Quest progress has been reset. You are currently in the main story quest: The Radiance of Yiertaya, Part 3. Your quest rewards will be recalculated.】
When the new system message popped up, Lu Xun felt like the sky was falling.
'This stupid game actually used a fake notification to lie to me?'
'And I, a highly educated human who underwent nine years of compulsory education, was actually tricked by an NPC?'
Murderous intent was clear in Dagro's eyes. The turbulent flow of magic around him crackled like electricity, violent and wild, like a demon god. "Peasant, as a cult follower, you actually dared to attempt to assassinate the King. Your crime is punishable by death!"
Grinya didn't speak. She suddenly produced a health potion from nowhere, but before she could consume it, Dagro let out a cold snort. His magic transformed into lightning as swift as needles, shattering the potion in a single strike!
Grinya's hand froze in mid-air. Though her gaze remained mechanically calm, there was a subtle shift in her eyes.
It was as if Dagro's attack had just shattered a historic, world-changing event—it had utterly broken Grinya's worldview.
Or rather, it had broken Lu Xun's worldview.
'No way, man! Interrupting my healing is a bit over the line!'
Lu Xun's first reaction was shock, but that was followed by unparalleled rage.
He had been toyed with twice by a game NPC!
"Fine. You've forced my hand." Grinya's face was expressionless, but her eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. The resentment buried deep in her pupils seemed ready to tear the king-rank mage before her into a thousand pieces.
Dagro suddenly felt a sense of unease.
The feeling was subtle but also ridiculous.
He, a king-rank mage, was actually feeling intimidated by a top-ter mage!
"I just wanted to be an ordinary player, but you wretched insects have toyed with me time and time again."
"The gloves are off!"
"All of you, just die!"
As the words left her mouth, Grinya's body suddenly exploded with an aura so powerful it caused the hall to collapse. The entire world trembled, the earth shifted, and the sky cracked!
That majestic power influenced all of Yiertaya in an instant, plunging everyone into an immediate, deep sleep.
Only the three people present could barely manage to stay on their knees, but that was all they could do.
Fear spread through the hearts of the three.
"Max out all the stats! Max them out! Max them out! And... this one too!"
Amidst that frantic, nonsensical laughter, Grinya's body transformed into a void of chaos, entering a state that could not be observed by humans. To the three men, Grinya was now only a terrifying, ominous fog of grey and white, with blood-red eyes like a demon's staring fixedly at them...
And a voice capable of shattering human sanity echoed through the world:
"I have everything I need now!"
Rate on N.U.
