Freeze
The masked player was Chen Mo, of course.
He had interacted with the same quest NPCs many different times and the observant Chen Mo had a much deeper understanding of the game than players who rushed to level up.
NPCs in the game did not have set motion or dialogue. He had gotten over 10 quests from Gleason and though the essence of the quest was the same, Gleason’s words were different every time.
From the varied dialogue and the situation in Wild Wolf Valley with the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf, although he had not progressed to the next stage of the quest and Gleason had never said a word about how he made the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf, Chen Mo was quite sure of his speculations.
Back when Gleason first made the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf, it went on a rampage. However, Gleason still produced the Stone Cold Water and the NPCs in Ayer Town worked together to finally seal the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf in Wild Wolf Valley.
This was not the main point – the most important information Chen Mo got was that the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf was not a mindless murder-crazed BOSS monster. It could communicate with humans. Though Stone Cold Water was its nemesis, if it could not communicate with humans, it would not be sealed in Wild Wolf Valley in fear of the knowledge of Stone Cold Water being used against it.
Of course, if you stupidly ran over without Stone Cold Water then don’t blame the wolf for not giving you a chance to speak.
“See this? This is your most feared yet coveted item. If you agree to some simple conditions, I will give this to you. You can leave this damned valley and roam wherever you please!” The Glacier Game Club was right outside Wild Wolf Valley, watching Chen Mo anxiously. He knew he didn’t have much time.
“Roar!”
The Flaming 3-Headed Wolf could not speak the human language but it understood what Chen Mo was saying. However, its three brains still remembered the rage from when those humans used just a little bit of this very item to hurt it terribly and sealed it in this small bit of land in Wild Wolf Valley.
It wanted very much to lunge at this weak puny human and tear him to shreds but the cold vapours of the item he held restrained it.
“Do you really want to die? Those humans outside are here to kill you! You have half an hour to live at most. Even if you survive, if you don’t agree to my conditions I’ll return this Stone Cold Water to Soro. You’ll be trapped in this tiny place for the rest of your life!”
Chen Mo could tell that the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf was full or rage; he made his words harsher in order to let the Wolf calm down.
As expected, when the word “die” was mentioned, the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf got angrier but the flames of its anger reflected in its six eyes gradually went down to a simmering cold intent to kill.
“Great! Now, I just have one little thing. It’s not disadvantageous to you and if you promise me this and sign a contract with me I’ll give you this Stone Cold Water. You can go wherever you want. Nod if you want to hear my request.”
Chen Mo was unperturbed by the wolf’s killing intent and quickly explained his visit.
“It nodded! The BOSS nodded its head!”
Chen Mo and the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf had captured everyone’s attention. Everyone could see that the masked player was no ordinary guy when the wolf did not kill him but now, the sight of the wolf nodding at the guy struck them all with horror.
Communicating with a Hidden BOSS and getting it to nod and agree to something… Who the hell is this guy?!
“Get ready to storm that place!” Bottomless Glacier saw the wolf’s reaction and knew that it was making some sort of deal with the masked player.
He felt terribly antsy.
“Boss, we’re not ready!” A player cried.
“There’s no time! All of you – follow my command!” shouted Bottomless Glacier angrily.
He wasn’t a naïve player – he was the upper crust of Glacier Group in charge of the project to kill the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf.
Wasting the past few days of advertising money was nothing but all the effort and time that went into it – ruined at the last moment by a single player? Glacier Group would become a nationwide laughingstock!
If that happened, someone would have to take the fall and he, as the person in charge, would not be able to escape that fate.
If he acted now and lost some people or failed in his attack, it was still better than watching that masked player and the BOSS make a deal!
Countless pairs of eyes were on them and they all saw the BOSS nod its head. If he didn’t do something then he would be seen as a useless piece of trash and nobody would trust him with any projects, ever!
Even if he failed due to executing the attack ahead of schedule, his actions were warranted and he would still have a chance to climb up the ranks again if he had to take responsibility for the failure.
“Cool. I’ve got just one request. I’ll give you the Stone Cold Water, you leave this place and go far far away. However, if you see me again you must not harm me but aid me. This aid you provide will definitely not endanger your life or you can reject it. If you agree, make a contract with me!”
Chen Mo noted Glacier Game Club’s activity. He quickly said his piece.
The Flaming 3-Headed Wolf was shocked. Just this little request?
As long as it didn’t see this person again it would have nothing to lose!
Agreed!
The Flaming 3-Headed Wolf decided instantly!
“Wha- What’s happening now?!”
At this critical juncture, the people watching the live broadcast suddenly saw that everyone in the game was not moving and the video on their screens seemed to freeze.
“It must be some problem with transmission.”
It was only between one and two seconds and the video went back to normal. Some people just muttered about bad transmission.
However, the players in the game itself could very definitely feel that it was not a transmission error but that the game itself had frozen for over one second!
In that one-plus second, their consciousness was still there but they were unable to move their bodies – just like the traditional network ‘computer freeze’!
Only Chen Mo, standing in front of the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf, knew what caused the freeze.
Success! He made the game freeze!
It was for only about a second but he did it!
Chen Mo’s heart leapt in joy when the game froze. He had finally found a loophole in the system!
Through the Rendezvous quest, Chen Mo determined that following the normal game route would not cause any problems in the system. So for the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf quest, which triggered a regional quest, Chen Mo chose a path of action that no ordinary player would ever dream of.
In his many interactions with Gleason, Chen Mo knew that if he followed the quest plot the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf would die no matter what. He chose a path that did not exist – letting the wolf live, leave the map and roam free!
Chen Mo was experimenting and this result was not in the game script. He would not be able to do this in traditional games but important characters in GENESIS have their own AI, their own way of thinking. Gleason’s varied dialogue was proof of this.
System prompt: The Flaming 3-Headed Wolf made a Soul Contract with you!
Contract details: You shall give Stone Cold Water to the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf. Every time the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf meets you in the future, it must aid you in a non-life-threatening task!