Chapter 34: Fairy-Tale Kingdom (1)
“Everything’s going smoothly,” Su Qiong murmured.
“Indeed,” ERROR replied.
The two of them seemed to have opened a private communication channel, leaving the rest of their teammates completely bewildered.
“Smoothly?” Shi Yuntian looked skeptically at the Order Staircase.
Upon entering the World of Order, each player had received five card slots. Altogether, they possessed forty slots.
Since beginning their confrontation with the Order Staircase, they had already used more than half their cards, including several trump cards they had gone to tremendous lengths to obtain.
Even so, after exhausting every effort, the Orphan Alliance had seized only a little over ten steps.
They were still far from the target of fifty-two.
Furthermore, the Order Staircase was growing increasingly powerful, gaining an overwhelming advantage.
Looking up at the seemingly endless staircase, everyone felt that their chances of winning were dwindling and the situation was becoming increasingly hopeless.
Why did Su Qiong think everything was going smoothly?
Did he have a trump card capable of reversing the battle and gaining eight steps at once?
That seemed unlikely.
Su Qiong had not participated in the final attraction, and everyone had seen the cards in his hand. They were perfectly ordinary.
Even if he could gain eight steps at once, the Order Staircase would reclaim them before long.
The situation appeared utterly hopeless.
The players now genuinely understood why the system claimed that the worlds inside the Circles were entirely controlled by NPCs.
Defeating an NPC on its own home ground was simply far too difficult.
“Mm. It’s going very smoothly.” Su Qiong reaffirmed his statement.
Without explaining, he lowered his head and searched through his cards.
“Let’s not lose heart. We should keep playing.” Su Qiong’s voice was extremely sweet, but the card he played was completely unconvincing, chosen as casually as though he had picked it up off the ground.
Lu Shufan truly believed Little Pastry had a trump card and leaned over to inspect it carefully.
He nearly burst out laughing.
[Red-name NPCs will help players unconditionally.]
It was a Tier-Three False Order.
Even if they transformed it into a True Order, did Su Qiong expect to use it to make the Order Staircase help them?
The Order Staircase was so vast that even A’s full-area scan could not detect its level, making it impossible to determine the color of its ID.
Besides, the Order Staircase possessed countless cards. It certainly had one capable of suppressing Su Qiong’s.
As expected, without the slightest hesitation, the staircase threw out a Supreme True Order.
[Red-name NPCs must defend their Circle Realm and prevent players from clearing it.]
The two cards canceled each other out, causing the players to lose seven steps at once.
They had barely managed to remain in double digits, but after Su Qiong’s move, they instantly fell back to a single digit.
“Su Qiong, don’t be upset.”
Moi and Qiyi comforted him considerately. “It isn’t your fault.”
“You… Forget it.” Shi Yuntian wanted to curse him, but the game had already worn away his temper. “We can’t win anyway.”
By this point, even someone as thoughtless as Shi Yuntian had clearly realized that players could not defeat the Order Staircase.
The game had never intended to let them win from the very beginning.
The Order Staircase started with every step and an infinite card pool, while the players could form a team of no more than ten people, even at the maximum group size.
Even if every card in their hands was a Tier-Four Order and they won every round, they would still fall two steps short in the end.
On the surface, the confrontation was one against many.
In reality, the moment the players entered, they had already fallen into an unwinnable situation.
Yet Su Qiong did not seem discouraged in the slightest. He stared at the Order Staircase with shining eyes and exclaimed, “You really are an NPC. I wasn’t certain before, but that makes things much easier.”
“Huh? Isn’t it obvious that it’s an NPC?”
“It wasn’t,” A answered. “It has no information card, so we couldn’t determine whether the staircase itself was an NPC or merely an item controlled by one.”
“The fact that it responded immediately without thinking proves that the Circle Lord is the staircase itself.”
“I remember now,” Yu Qimiao said. “Su Qiong told us there are usually three ways to clear an instance.”
“Mm-hm!” Su Qiong said. “One of them is defeating the Circle Lord NPC.”
Hearing that, the Order Staircase found the idea utterly ridiculous.
[With only the few of you, you dream of defeating me?]
A faint, unreadable smile curved ERROR’s lips as he spoke lazily. “In our current state, we truly can’t defeat you. But…”
Su Qiong continued for him and took out a card.
The card was unusually transparent, belonging to neither True nor False Order.
Yu Qimiao stared at it twice before remembering that it was the card the guide NPC had given them when they first entered the World of Order.
The text on its face should have read:
[Within the World of Order, True Orders must be obeyed.]
Rather than an order, the card was more like the fundamental rule supporting the entire World of Order.
It was the reason the World of Order possessed so many strange forms of gameplay.
After their team formed, the system had randomly selected a core member and unexpectedly chosen Su Qiong, which was why the card had been given to him.
When Su Qiong accepted it, no one had paid much attention. They had treated it like an ordinary rule and forgotten about it after reading it.
Why was Su Qiong taking out the transparent card now?
The Order Staircase noticed his movement but could not immediately understand his intention.
By the time it realized, it was too late.
Su Qiong placed the card on the staircase and pressed it firmly twice before slowly removing his hand.
Everyone looked at the card simultaneously and saw that the text had changed.
[In every world, absolute True Order does not exist.]
[Order Staircase: No!!!]
It panicked and attempted to stop Su Qiong.
However, the card seemed to have been branded into the step, transforming into an unbreakable seal.
“How…”
“What happened?”
The teammates who knew nothing about the plan looked at one another in confusion.
Time rewound to four days earlier, when Su Qiong and ERROR had been invited to the bottom of the labyrinth.
The labyrinth made a request of them, asking Su Qiong to rescue the Queen of Scepters from the control of order.
Using that as an opportunity, Su Qiong came into contact with the Queen and confirmed that she truly wanted to be saved.
That gave him a bold idea.
The World of Order contained countless cards divided into True and False Orders.
Every one of those orders could be altered, though a price had to be paid.
When an Order Card changed, the rules of the entire World of Order changed with it.
Water could cease to be colorless and transparent. Humans could survive without air. Tall horses could exist without hooves…
Using cards that could themselves be altered to challenge the Order Staircase offered no chance of victory.
Where was the key to breaking the deadlock?
What was the true trump card capable of killing it in a single blow?
Su Qiong thought long and hard before finally remembering the transparent card the system had given him when he first entered the World of Order.
The transparent card had neither truth nor falsehood and possessed no tier.
Yet it formed the foundation of the entire World of Order’s existence.
Su Qiong took out the card again and conceived a daring idea.
“Can I change this card?”
“…It would be extremely difficult,” the Queen of Scepters told him. “To alter a card’s text, you must initiate an Order Revolution and endure a natural-disaster-level trial created by an instance NPC. Although we are card guardians, our control over cards is limited. We can restrain only cards below our own tier. If a Tier-One Guardian attempts to alter a Tier-Two card, for example, the probability of failure is extremely high, and the card may even be destroyed.”
“If there’s a possibility, then we might as well try.” Su Qiong immediately made his decision. “It doesn’t matter if the card is destroyed.”
If the card was destroyed, the World of Order would inevitably descend into chaos.
Without order, how could a chaotic world still be called the World of Order?
“All right.” Moved by Su Qiong’s determination, the Queen of Scepters agreed to help him alter the card.
Over the following days, Su Qiong secretly sought out every instance NPC and asked them to help him initiate Order Revolutions.
The natural-disaster-level trials exhausted him physically and mentally, yet most attempts ended in failure. On the rare occasion that one succeeded, the change to the card was barely noticeable.
Su Qiong initiated thousands of Order Revolutions against that card and endured thousands of trials before finally changing its text into its current form.
Everyone finally understood why Su Qiong, who had not entered the instance, had appeared even weaker than they were when they left.
“You created the World of Order and forced everyone to obey True Orders and violate False Orders. You made the orders restrict one another, believing that would create a place where everyone followed order.” Su Qiong removed his hand and looked up at the Order Staircase, compassion filling his gaze. “But did you ever consider that you were wrong from the very beginning? The orders of the world are not created. They are things everyone agrees upon and follows by common understanding.”
“Humans are alive. Water is clear. Those things aren’t orders.”
“Little Pastry is right!” Lu Shufan said. “You believed you could create order, yet used cards to alter the original nature of everything. You’re the one who violates order more than anyone!”
“In my opinion, this place shouldn’t be called the World of Order. Rename it the World of Chaos.”
“No! No! No!” The Order Staircase actually spoke aloud, releasing a grief-stricken roar. “I am order! Order is me! All of you must obey my order! No—!”
Accompanying its scream was the sound of something shattering into pieces.
The staircase towering into the clouds began collapsing one level at a time until it disappeared completely.
Behind the Order Staircase stood the NPCs who had been forcibly restrained by its orders and compelled to remain in this world to protect order.
The Queen of Scepters held both hands before her chest. A card spun twice in her palms before turning to ash.
Before it disappeared, Su Qiong saw the text:
[The Queen of Scepters must remain within the World of Order and protect Supreme True Order.]
The other NPCs similarly received their cards and watched them vanish.
“Order is dead.” The Queen of Scepters raised the scepter representing freedom once more and stepped forward. “We may all leave now.”
“Where are you planning to go?” Su Qiong was deeply concerned about his colleague’s future.
“I will return to my original world, continue fulfilling my responsibilities, and protect true truth.” The Queen of Scepters led her attendant away without looking back, though she said goodbye to Su Qiong before departing.
“Goodbye.” Su Qiong waved to her, his feelings complicated.
The Queen of Scepters had an original world to return to.
But Su Qiong might be nothing more than a string of code created by IF, with no original world of his own.
Perhaps he, too, had once possessed an original world containing truth and freedom.
Once the Order Staircase’s collapse was confirmed, the system began calculating every player’s rewards.
Su Qiong could hear only his own.
[System: Congratulations to Su Qiong for successfully clearing Circle One—the World of Order. Points +200,000.]
Su Qiong: “…”
Main system, hurry and get yourself repaired.
How many times had he said it?
Giving points to an NPC was use-less!
Could it not understand marshmallow language?
[System: Congratulations to NPC Su Qiong for killing NPC Order Staircase. KPI +3,300.]
Su Qiong: “?”
Wasn’t the difference between the points and KPI rewards a little too great?
What a stingy system.
[System: Congratulations to NPC Su Qiong for obtaining the Circle Lord’s rewarded ability: Order Deduction.]
[Ability Description: In any environment governed by order, activating this ability allows the user to deduce events that will occur within the next ten minutes. It may be used only three times in each instance world. Each use consumes twenty KPI.]
“Su Qiong, did you receive a system reward?” Yu Qimiao told him, “I received an item too.”
“The Circle Lord was quite generous. I received points and an item.”
“What about you, A?”
A did not answer.
A blank card appeared in his hand.
He had not disabled his scan, allowing everyone to see its information.
[Order Card: The holder may write one True Order. Within reasonable limits, that order will be realized. For example, it may revive a deceased player.]
[This card may be used only once and will become invalid afterward.]
“A resurrection item!” Lu Shufan was stunned. “A, are you the true god of luck?”
“Su Qiong’s luck is excellent too. The only truly unlucky person in our group…”
Everyone simultaneously looked toward ERROR.
Not only had he received no ability or item, but half his point reward had also been forcibly deducted.
No one knew what he had done to the system to make it hate him so much.
His teammates tactfully changed the subject rather than reopening ERROR’s wounds.
“The Circle Realm has opened.”
“Let’s go inside.”
“Heh. Do we have a choice?”
Meanwhile, the players who had been tormented by cards throughout the World of Order stared in astonishment as the cards vanished one after another.
“What happened?”
“Someone was completing the main quest and accidentally killed the boss.”
“…What an incredible expert!”
[System: Welcome to Circle Two—the Fairy-Tale Kingdom.]
[Hint: In accordance with the Fairy-Tale Kingdom’s Circle Lord, Circle Two uses individual mode. Existing companion relationships between players are canceled by default, but guild membership remains.]
ERROR interjected, “If companion relationships are canceled, what about the Lovers relationship?”
[System: …It remains.]
“We know you and Su Qiong are lovers! Stop mentioning it eight hundred times a day!”
“What’s so impressive about being lovers? Isn’t your intimacy only 0.02 percent?”
Faced with their mockery, ERROR revealed an inscrutable smile.
Su Qiong softly explained, “It has increased a little.”
“How much?” His companions asked nervously.
Su Qiong held up two fingers in a tiny fork. “Two percent.”
“Uh.”
Two percent sounded truly miserable for a pair of lovers.
But considering that they had started at only 0.02 percent, it had now increased by exactly one hundred times.
No one knew whether to congratulate them or pity them.
[System: Main Quest of the Fairy-Tale Kingdom: Survive here for seven days and seven nights. Surviving until the end will allow you to leave the instance.]
“It’s another task that looks simple on the surface.”
“Help. I already have PTSD.”
“Speaking of the name Fairy-Tale Kingdom, doesn’t it remind you of something?”
Everyone looked simultaneously toward Yu Qimiao, who had spoken, unsure what they were supposed to remember.
Before he could answer, a bright, cheerful voice sounded beside them.
“Me, of course~”
An NPC appeared wearing an elaborate Lolita dress, a ribboned hat, and an exquisite little cloak while holding an apple.
“Who are you?” Shi Yuntian asked gruffly.
“She looks a little familiar.”
Su Qiong answered for them. “She’s the Circle Lord NPC who specifically visited the beginner zone when you first entered the game.”
Back then, three NPCs had appeared in the beginner zone, but only the girl had revealed her true body.
Of the other two, one used a puppet in his place, while the other remained wrapped in black mist without speaking.
“Oh! It’s her!” Shi Yuntian suddenly remembered.
“Hmph. It seems you finally recognize me.” The girl proudly puffed out her chest. “The fact that you managed to enter my territory proves that you possess some ability. As a reward, I permit you to inspect my information.”
A did not stand on ceremony and activated his scan.
The girl’s true information appeared before them.
[NPC?Red?]Fairy-Tale Princess
[Level]296
[Abilities]???
“Two hundred ninety-six?!”
Upon seeing the princess’s level, everyone wondered whether their eyes were malfunctioning.
They knew Circle Lord NPCs differed from ordinary NPCs, but they had never expected the difference to be so enormous.
After Level 30, the difficulty of each level in IF increased exponentially. Reaching Level 296 would require an extremely long time.
Furthermore, NPCs were innately stronger than players.
Even if they attacked together, they could not defeat the Fairy-Tale Princess.
“Why are you so surprised?” The Fairy-Tale Princess did not care. “The Circle Lords of IN OFF are divided by hundreds of levels. A Circle One Lord must exceed Level 100. Naturally, a Circle Two Lord must exceed Level 200.”
“I see.”
They did not have the heart to tell Apple that they had reduced Circle One’s lord to rubble before it ever had an opportunity to display its level.
Aside from the Circle Lord, the strongest NPC there had been the Queen of Scepters, who was only slightly above Level 80.
“Now that you have entered my kingdom, you must…”
Halfway through her sentence, Moi instinctively supplied, “Obey your order.”
“What order?” The Fairy-Tale Princess looked confused.
It appeared the various Circle Lords did not have a group chat, and their information was not synchronized.
“Nothing!” Yu Qimiao quickly said.
“What must we do?” Lu Shufan promptly dragged the conversation back on track.
“You must play with me and my friends. As long as we’re happy, you’ll safely survive the next seven days.” At this point, the Fairy-Tale Princess paused and her voice turned cold. “Otherwise…”
She left the sentence unfinished, but the threat was obvious from context.
“We must find a way to make them happy,” Su Qiong said. “Otherwise, something bad will happen.”
“Understood.”
“Next, please choose where you wish to live.” The Fairy-Tale Princess made a presenting gesture, and a detailed map appeared before them.
Everyone was moved!
A normal map!
They could actually choose for themselves instead of being forcibly assigned by the system!
“The princess truly is beautiful and kind.”
“Hmph. Even if you praise me now, I won’t show mercy if you anger me later.” Despite her stubborn words, the Fairy-Tale Princess honestly introduced each location.
“The Fairy-Tale Kingdom is divided into six regions. First is the mountain region, where many mountain animals live. Second is the forest region, home to adorable forest spirits. Farther down is the countryside, where Little Red Riding Hood and Grandmother Wolf live. Continue through the countryside and you will reach the prosperous city region, where most of the kingdom’s subjects reside.”
“At the center of the city is my castle, where my servants and family also live. Finally, there is the ocean region—the place where the mermaid turned into sea foam.”
“You may choose freely, but no matter what you choose, it will ultimately be meaningless.”
“Because we need to live in every region once?”
“Exactly.” The Fairy-Tale Princess answered as though it were obvious. “If you want to clear the Fairy-Tale Kingdom, naturally everyone in the kingdom must be happy.”
“All right. We understand.” Guild Leader Yu nodded before looking at Su Qiong. “You choose.”
“Okay.” Su Qiong did not decline and walked toward the map.
“The mountain region contains only unintelligent animals, so its difficulty is relatively low. Travelers from distant lands usually—”
Before the Fairy-Tale Princess could finish, Su Qiong unhesitatingly selected the fairy-tale castle.
The princess fell silent.
As the system had said, he truly never followed common sense.
“Pfft.”
“As expected of you, Su Qiong.”
“Am I not allowed to choose it?” Su Qiong looked at her, his eyes filled with clear, shimmering light.
“That’s where I live!” The Fairy-Tale Princess placed her hands on her hips and made him look clearly at her level. “I’m much, much stronger than you. Every person in the palace is stronger than you.”
“I know.” Su Qiong answered confidently. “As long as I make all of you happy, you won’t hurt me, right?”
“The people in the palace are temperamental. You won’t be able to make everyone happy.”
“As expected, this must be the final trial you arranged.” Su Qiong analyzed logically, “The instance lasts seven days but contains only six regions. That means one region must be challenged twice. Following your recommended order, we would start with the easiest areas and visit the palace last.”
“By then, we would have to remain in your territory for two consecutive days. Even if we understood the situation, we wouldn’t have enough time to devise a strategy.”
“Su Qiong is right.”
“We should visit the palace first, then use the time in the middle to formulate a proper plan.”
“I don’t care either way.” The Fairy-Tale Princess pursed her lips. “If you can’t make them laugh, are you prepared to accept the consequences?”
“No,” ERROR answered.
The Fairy-Tale Princess silently glared at him.
Even if ERROR was unprepared, she could not kill him.
Not even the main system could erase that man.
“Follow me.” The Fairy-Tale Princess turned around, her little cloak drawing a beautiful arc. “I’ll take you to the castle.”
Su Qiong stared at her cloak.
Aside from strategic reasons, he had another small selfish motive for choosing the castle.
Ever since long ago, he had greatly admired the Fairy-Tale Princess’s accessories and cloak. They looked extremely expensive and even possessed offensive power.
Su Qiong desperately wanted to obtain the princess’s items.
—It would be wonderful if he could choose his reward after clearing the instance.
“Hey!” Sensing his covetous gaze, the Fairy-Tale Princess snapped fiercely, “Your level is too low. I won’t give it to you!”
“Really?”
Her attitude was resolute. “Absolutely not!”
“Oh.” Su Qiong’s invisible ears drooped.
Behind him, the players secretly clenched their fists.
Their precious child wanted the Fairy-Tale Princess’s item, only to look so pitiful after being refused.
How could they allow that?
Everyone silently made a decision.
Whatever Su Qiong wanted, they had to obtain it for him.
IF truly possessed a special travel mechanic. The journey from the Circle Realm’s entrance to the castle took only five minutes.
Upon arriving outside the castle, the Fairy-Tale Princess reminded them again, “The people inside are temperamental. If you aren’t confident you can make them laugh, ignore them.”
“We’ll remember.”
“Princess, you truly are a good NPC!”
“Who’s a good NPC?!” The princess became angry. “I’m only worried that you’ll die at someone else’s hands, leaving me with no one to play with.”
No matter how she explained, everyone continued treating her as a good person.
They still remembered that in the beginner village, it had also been the princess who talked endlessly and revealed the system’s hidden rules to them.
The princess probably realized she had already revealed too much and closed her mouth.
She tossed the apple in her hand into the air and caught it again.
Hearing the sound, the guards inside immediately opened the heavy doors.
“I’m returning to my chambers. You’re on your own now.” After saying that, the princess disappeared from their sight without looking back.
The players examined the palace and discovered that it was enormous.
It consisted of two connected, pointed castles, each as large as a main Olympic stadium.
Countless people occupied the castle: guards, maids, ministers, nobles, as well as the king and queen.
Every person wore a solemn expression without the slightest trace of a smile, as though they had been cursed.
Remembering the princess’s warning, the group avoided the crowds after entering. They explored along the walls, trying their best not to interact with anyone.
However, the castle contained far too many people.
As they turned a corner, they carelessly collided with a woman descending the stairs.
Her expression immediately darkened as rage erupted across her face.
[System: A player collided with an NPC and disordered her hair. Anger +10. Please soothe the woman’s emotions.]
[Hint: A low-level NPC has been detected. Players may leave once her Joy reaches 20. If her Anger reaches 20, the NPC’s punishment will be triggered.]
“Seriously? She gets angry from one collision?”
“Lu Shufan, think of something. Making women happy is your specialty, isn’t it?”
“We’ll leave this to you. Good luck.”
“We’re going ahead.”
“Hey, wait!” Before Lu Shufan could protest, his teammates vanished without a trace, leaving him alone with the furious woman.
Lu Shufan forced out a smile and asked awkwardly, “Excuse me, would you like to try a new hairstyle?”
After they had walked some distance, Moi looked back. “Was leaving him alone there too cruel?”
“We had no choice. Our time is limited. We can’t all remain behind to deal with an ordinary NPC.”
“The castle has many floors and two separate buildings. We’ll certainly collide with more than one NPC.”
“Perhaps everyone will have to handle one eventually.”
Qiyi tightened her grip on her sister’s hand. “Don’t be afraid. Even if we separate, I’ll still remain beside you.”
“Mm!” Moi firmly squeezed her hand in return.
The sisters raised an exceptionally standard death flag.
Before walking much farther, they bumped into a lampshade and angered the NPC responsible for cleaning it.
“They become angry so easily.”
“I’m sorry! It was my fault!” Qiyi voluntarily accepted responsibility and remained behind to help clean, temporarily soothing the NPC’s emotions.
The others continued upstairs and encountered several more ordinary NPCs along the way.
By the time they reached the sixth floor, only three people remained.
A looked at Su Qiong on his left, then at ERROR on his right.
He was extremely unwilling to stand between the two of them.
Unfortunately, every NPC they had encountered had been a low-level ordinary NPC, so there had been no need for the three of them to act.
After leaving the task to others again and again, they were the only ones remaining.
“How many floors are above us?” ERROR asked.
Su Qiong craned his neck. “Two or three.”
“Have you noticed anything?” A examined their surroundings. “It’s becoming increasingly quiet.”
Many NPCs had moved through the lower floors, making it easy to collide with someone accidentally.
Above the sixth floor, only one or two NPCs occasionally appeared. They behaved extremely cautiously and made no sound at all.
“That’s true.”
They climbed another floor.
There were no NPCs whatsoever.
Their instincts told them this silence was not a good sign.
However, they had no way of knowing what would happen next.
“I have a method.” Seeing his companions’ confusion, Su Qiong said, “I obtained an ability in the previous world.”
He opened his palm, revealing a loading symbol.
Su Qiong closed his eyes and softly recited, “Order Deduction.”
Seven minutes later—
Su Qiong opened his eyes, clutched his chest, and staggered two steps backward in pain.
“I died…”
