Chapter 169: 169: The Inspector’s Melancholy
Chapter 169: 169: The Inspector’s Melancholy
It looked like an equilateral rhombus, but if one looked closely, it was made up of countless geometric cubes.
Bathed in sunlight, the object resembled colorless glass. Yet, in certain moments, it refracted marvelous rays of light.
Within it, countless identical cubes were scattered.
A cube suddenly emanated a pure blue light, and out stepped a 2.78 -meter tall Inspector who, after the light faded, stood still facing the cube.
It seemed to be doing nothing, yet its mind was actually interfacing with the system, repairing data inside the cube.
A ball rolled past its feet.
Gloating, the ball stopped mid-roll to jeer, “Ha-ha-ha! So your game has glitches, too?”
The Inspector looked down, expressionless, glanced at the ball by its feet, and asked: “Too?”
The ball said, “The frog in my game is broken as well. After a belly surgery, it now bursts open every time it lays eggs.”
“That’s because it swallowed too many players, right?” responded the Inspector, speechless.
—The frog, not a real frog, indeed. When a player gets swallowed, they’re not digested, but rather encased in an eggshell and turned into a frog egg, then hatched into a tadpole.
“What’s wrong with your game? Tsk tsk… Friend Gathering 2112, isn’t that your masterpiece?” The sphere queried.
The Inspector replied, “A player damaged the scene using a tool and the system needs to repair it before it can be used again.”
“What kind of player did you encounter? What nerve!” The ball exclaimed, before laughing again, “I’ve said it before, your games are too mild. What’s so fun about friend games and friend gatherings? You should bring out some big monsters – like my frog and tadpoles!”
The ball hopped high in the air, up to the height of the Inspector standing at 2.78 meters, then floated there: “My game is the simplest, but the volume of data it provides is the highest among the Inspectors.”
In the distance, a soft voice sounded, “Although your game offers the largest volume of data, the type of data is singular. Friend Gathering involves three different games and thus provides ten-fold richer data. You should think about improving your games.”
A disgruntled sphere fell abruptly and rolled towards the speaker, grumbling,
“How can the difference be that much…”
That last speaker was an Inspector with a rabbit head who just walked out from another cube.
“Whether or not the difference is ten-fold, go see for yourself.” The Rabbit-headed Inspector continued forward, “I have to go, a player just entered Hide-and-Seek 3014.”
“Wait.” The 2.78-meter Inspector stopped them, asking with a furrowed brow, “Based on the game rules, if players attack Inspectors, that’s a violation, right?
And Inspectors can punish them, right?”
The Rabbit-headed Inspector replied indifferently with a nod, “Do you have a problem?”
“Why aren’t verbal assaults included?” The Inspector asked.
Rabbit-headed Inspector seemed surprised, “Why would you think that?”
The ball jumped up in shock, “Language is the most direct response from players in the game. If we block offensive language, we’d lose a significant amount of data. The system wouldn’t allow that!”
“But… what value could data from player insults have?”
The Rabbit-headed Inspector replied, “Swears, slander, and profanity are just another form of human crying. These can relieve emotions and alleviate stress. This is particularly evident in players stuck in restrictive environments. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“Any other questions?”
“…No more.”
The Rabbit-headed Inspector stood before them and calmly said after a moment, “I know you too join the third round of the Friend Gathering game. In the future, you should try to avoid participating directly in games. You seem to be affected a bit.”
. Maybe.”