NFBE Chapter 5 A Dialogue on the Edge of a Knife
Chapter 5 A Dialogue on the Edge of a Knife
The two people behind Zhuang Bugui also came out.
A man and a woman. The man was short and stout, with the ID "Iron Pot Stewed Goose," carrying a wooden stick and scanning the cave entrance warily. The woman was petite, with the ID "Seven Seven Is Not Qi Qi," clutching a beginner's dagger, her gaze fixed on Wang Yan.
All three are LV1.
Wang Yan did not move.
He was calculating rapidly.
Zhuang Bugui, the number one assassin in the entire server in his previous life, was renowned for his intuition and reaction speed. His most terrifying quality wasn't his skill, but his keen sense of smell. He could find hidden passages on a blank map by observing subtle changes in terrain and air humidity.
In his previous life, it took him three days.
This lifetime only took a few hours.
Either he awakened some kind of talent earlier than in his previous life, or—
Wang Yan's gaze swept over the gray fate marker icon in his status bar.
Monster spawn level increased by 5, and their location is revealed once every 24 hours.
The debuff description says "Exposes you to the Fate Weaver." But what if this marker also causes some subtle disturbance to the surrounding environment? For example, making nearby hidden locations easier to spot?
There was no evidence. But Wang Yan noted down this conjecture.
"You're the 'Unnamed' one?" Zhuang Bugui took two steps forward, casually draped his beginner's sword over his shoulder, and spoke as if he were chatting. "The first person in the world to enter the game, ran dozens of kilometers away from the beginner village, found a hidden cave without any markings, and even leveled up to level two."
He paused.
How did you find out about this place?
Wang Yan countered, "And how did you know that?"
Zhuang Bugui chuckled: "After I entered the game, I didn't queue up to accept quests. Instead, I ran in the direction with fewer people. After running for about fifteen minutes, I realized that the rock structure of this hill was wrong. The wind was blowing upwards from underground, which meant there were cavities underneath. So I followed the wind here."
Relying purely on intuition and observation.
Wang Yan remained silent.
This is Zhuang Bugui. In his previous life, without any precognitive information, he managed to sniff out the hidden maps one by one, while countless players were blindly grinding monsters.
"I've answered your question." Zhuang Bugui's gaze fell on the rusty sword behind Wang Yan, his expression shifting for a moment. "Your turn."
I don't want to answer.
There was a two-second silence in the cave.
The stewed goose in the iron pot moved half a step to the side, blocking the retreat route through the cave passage. Qiqi, who was not Qiqi, silently moved to the side, forming a loose triangular encirclement.
An assassin's instinct. Even at level 1, Zhuang Bugui's men knew how to cut off escape routes.
Zhuang Bugui's smile remained unchanged, but his tone turned serious: "Don't be nervous, I'm not here to fight. There's no point in PK at this level. If you die, you just go back to the starting village to resurrect, it's a waste of time."
He pointed to the black archway behind him: "I want to go in. You probably want to go in too. Instead of this stalemate, let's make a deal."
"What kind of deal?"
"Intelligence for intelligence," Zhuang Bugui said directly. "Tell me how you found this place, and I'll tell you a piece of information I found on the way. It's about that mark of fate."
Wang Yan's expression remained unchanged.
But Zhuang Bugui accurately caught a shift in his gaze—less than half a centimeter away from the status bar.
"You did have that mark after all," Zhuang Bugui said. "The system announcement only said that you obtained the shielding talent, but I noticed something while exploring the map—some monsters in the areas I passed through had levels that were clearly abnormal. A level 6 wolf appeared on the outskirts of the beginner area; according to the normal spawn schedule, it shouldn't exist there."
He took another step forward.
"I was wondering what could cause the monsters in the area to level up so abnormally. Then I saw the discussion on the world chat. Someone had obtained a forbidden-level talent, and the system couldn't even display it properly. Things of this level usually come with a price."
Zhuang Bugui tapped his temple with his finger.
"So I took a gamble. I ran in the direction of the abnormally high monster levels. Sure enough, the closer I got, the higher the monster levels became. You were the signal source."
Wang Yan remained silent for three seconds.
He is reassessing Zhuang Bugui.
In his previous life, this person rose to fame in the second month after the server opened. But now it seems he displayed the qualities of a top player from day one: keen observation, strong reasoning skills, and the courage to bet even with insufficient information.
Such people should either be killed or recruited for one's own use.
There is no third option.
"There's a flaw in your reasoning," Wang Yan said.
Zhuang Bugui raised an eyebrow.
"You did find me. But you only have a beginner's sword, and so do your two companions. I, on the other hand, am already level two and possess a weapon of unknown origin." Wang Yan's voice was calm, as if he were stating the weather. "Without knowing my strength, you walked in, had your companions form an encirclement, and then proposed a trade."
Wang Yan looked into his eyes.
"You're not here to make a deal. You're here to test me."
Zhuang Bugui's smile finally faded.
The atmosphere inside the cave suddenly became tense.
The hand unconsciously tightened its grip on the wooden stick as she stewed the goose in the iron pot. Qiqi, not Qiqi, stopped moving.
A three-second standoff.
Then Zhuang Bugui looked up and laughed.
The laughter echoed through the cave, carrying a pure sense of excitement.
"Interesting." He lowered the sword from his shoulder, the tip pointing downwards into the ground, and released his hands, making a gesture that clearly indicated no hostility. "Alright, you're right, I was testing you 30%. But the remaining 70% was genuine."
He took something out of his backpack.
A palm-sized stone slab, its surface covered with densely packed runes, exactly the same as those on the archway.
"I found it in the pile of rocks outside the cave entrance." Zhuang Bugui tossed the stone slab over, which Wang Yan caught. "Do you recognize the writing on it?"
Wang Yan glanced down at it.
Of course he recognized it. These were fragments of the key to unlocking the secret realm. The expedition team from his previous life found four fragments and pieced them together on the archway to open the secret realm.
He only saw one piece.
In other words, the other three pieces are scattered nearby.
Without all the fragments, the secret realm cannot be opened.
Wang Yan looked up at Zhuang Bugui.
Zhuang Bugui laughed.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't have the other three. But I marked two possible locations on my way here. It will take you a lot of time to find them by yourself."
He spread his hands.
"So—a deal?"
Wang Yan put the stone slab into his backpack and turned to walk towards the archway.
He did not answer Zhuang Bugui's question.
He walked to the archway, placed his hand on the door frame, and his finger landed precisely in the center of a spiral rune.
The system alert sounded.
[One Secret Realm Key Fragment detected. Activation progress: 25%. Consume the fragment to attempt forced activation? (Forced activation will significantly increase the difficulty of the Secret Realm)]
Wang Yan chose "Yes".
The archway emitted a muffled roar, and the silver light curtain surged violently before turning dark red.
Zhuang Bugui's smile froze.
The secret realm "Bone-Eroding Cavern" has been forcibly opened!
[WARNING: The difficulty of the dungeon has been increased from "Normal" to "Nightmare". Monster level +10, BOSS level +15.]
[Stacked Fate Mark effect: Monster level +5.]
Wang Yan turned around and glanced at Zhuang Bugui.
No transaction is needed.
He stepped into the dark red light curtain.
Zhuang Bugui stood there, staring at the slowly closing light screen, without saying a word.
Iron Pot Stewed Goose leaned over and whispered, "Boss, is he crazy? Nightmare difficulty, add five more levels, and he's just a level 2 player—"
"Shut up," Zhuang Bugui interrupted him.
His eyes were fixed on the spot where the light screen disappeared, his pupils reflecting the last glimmer of dark red light.
"Keep up."
The man serving the stewed goose in the iron pot was stunned: "Huh?"
Zhuang Bugui had already walked towards the archway. The light curtain was closing, with only one last gap remaining.
"That person knows how to use one fragment to open a door that requires four fragments." Zhuang Bugui's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. "He arrived here before everyone else. He carried a weapon of unknown origin. His talent is so great that even the system cannot display it."
He glanced back at his two companions.
"Tell me, how many people like this will you meet in your lifetime?"
Zhuang Bugui leaped into the light curtain.
Iron Pot Stewed Goose and Qiqi (not Qiqi) exchanged a glance, simultaneously swore, and then rushed in.
The light curtain closes.
The cave has returned to silence.
Deep within the crimson secret realm, Wang Yan had already drawn the God-Slaying First Embryo.
In the darkness ahead, countless eyes are lighting up.
System prompt:
[The Bone-Eating Cavern - Nightmare difficulty is now active. Current monster level range: LV20-LV25.]
Good luck. The system is not responsible for collecting corpses.