This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 449 "Titan" Awakens!

Chapter 449: Chapter 449 "Titan" Awakens!

Fang Chang: "Don’t get too worked up, just think back carefully about what exactly happened then?"

Falling Feather: "I really don’t know, as soon as the nuke went off I was gone. QAQ"

Night Ten: "What about before the nuclear explosion?"

Falling Feather: "...Seems like a storyline was triggered, but it got cut off by the nuke blast not long after that. Damn! If it had been just a few minutes later, I would have known what the cost was!"

Fang Chang: "Storyline? What storyline? And what’s this about a cost?"

Falling Feather: "The ’Mutated slime fungus’ mother entity... Oh right, and an old monster who has lived for more than a hundred years, the author of ’Oasis under Tobal Mountain Range.’ A researcher from the Academy."

Fang Chang: "Holy shit!"

Night Ten: "Holy shit??"

Falling Feather: "Uh... does this have anything to do with a bug? Didn’t the management say I was bugged out by the nuke? (awkward)"

Fang Chang: "That’s not necessarily the case. If you played more games you’d know, sometimes even the officials don’t know where the bugs come from."

Night Ten: "+1, and if they really can’t find it, using the trump card of rolling back three days isn’t out of the question. (playful)"

Falling Feather: "No way, right?"

Fang Chang: "Hard to say. (sly smile)"

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "So who’s going to remind them? Lost Valley has an entity... is it a lair or a mother entity? I still haven’t figured out the difference between those two things."

Wild Wind: "Where’s Mosquito? Didn’t he take a quest?"

Old White: "...He hasn’t replied to my message. Probably logged in."

Falling Feather: "He can’t possibly still be alive, right? A million-megaton nuke, man! What carbon-based life could withstand that?"

Elena: "Tsk, a million megatons is nothing in this game. Look at all the big scenes Qingquan City has been through. Has the lair there wimped out? (playful)"

Falling Feather: "(nervous)"

...

Lost Valley.

At the narrow pass leading into the valley, a few collapsed boulders blocked the path of the group.

Jumping down from the truck.

Dressed in protective suits, Sisi approached the center of the road, pushed against the stone lying in front, only to find it immovable.

Meanwhile, just as she approached this area, the Geiger counter on the VM started ticking, with the radiation index shooting up.

The residual radioactivity from the Three-phase Bomb’s not a joke.

Had it been real life, two more steps inward would have meant certain death.

Luckily, this was a game.

Before donning the protective suits, everyone had been injected with radiation antidotes, and the much larger Meat Meat had taken two doses.

"It must have been blown here from the center of the explosion... Digging through this is going to take quite some time."

Sisi stepped back from the large stones in the middle of the road and looked back towards the rest of the group on the truck.

"Looks like we’re walking."

"That’s the only way."

Mole nodded and jumped down from the vehicle, with Mosquito following him.

In total, the party was six humans and one bear.

Aside from the players, there was also a local guide from Petra Fortress.

Tail, with a steel helmet on his head and carrying an engineer shovel and a pickaxe on his shoulder, asked eagerly.

"Oh! Where do we start the search?"

"I dunno," Meat Meat scratched the back of his head, "come to think of it, do we have specific coordinates?"

Mosquito’s face wore a subtle expression as his index finger swiped continuously on the VM screen.

"Uh... no, the coordinates given by the Manager are pretty rough."

Mole couldn’t help but turn around and ask, "So you’re saying the whole Grand Canyon could be possible?"

Mosquito scratched his head.

"Eighty percent likely."

Mole: "..."

The standard diameter of a riverbed is 10 kilometers, which means a total area of almost 314 square kilometers!

Where the hell do they start in such a vast area?

If it weren’t for that nuke, it might have been easier.

The VM, as a vital signs monitor, naturally emits encrypted coordinates that are shared among players.

But if that feature still works after getting hit by a nuke, then that would be truly astonishing!

"Actually, we’re not completely without clues."

Pinching her chin and pondering for a moment, Sisi spoke, "Assuming any remains are preserved, the nuclear blast wave would push the debris on the horizontal plane to the outside walls of the valley. So, in fact, we don’t need to go deep into the valley; just search along the outer circle of the valley."

"That makes sense!"

Mole’s eyes lit up, immediately followed by adding, "Falling Feather’s attack direction was from south to north, so it’s highly likely the remains fell on the south or north side of the valley’s center!"

Sisi nodded earnestly.

"To be more precise, the north side. I have seen the approximate landing position of that aircraft before."

She then looked at the guide who had come with them.

"Would you mind waiting here for us?"

The guide hesitated.

Before setting out, the lord of the city had specifically instructed him that the Alliance members were partners of Camel Hump Kingdom and it was his duty to ensure the safety of these distinguished guests.

"But..."

"Let me put it straight. The situation inside might be more complex than we thought. Following us in might become a burden."

Seeing her say it so bluntly, the guide no longer insisted and nodded in the end.

He had heard various rumors about Lost Valley and obviously did not want to get close to this eerie place.

"Be careful... this place is sinister. Some traders passing through here at night heard cries of evil spirits inside."

Sisi nodded, loaded her submachine gun.

"I got it."

The group clambered over the stone rubble barrier and entered the valley, searching along the inner slope for the crash site.

The nuclear blast had completely altered the landscape, and Sisi was surprised to find the area completely different from her previous visit.

"Wow... is that the crater from the nuke over there?" Mosquito used his binoculars, looking toward the center of the valley, and saw a shocking crater imprinted on the ground.

Tail: "Oh! The explosion was spectacular! Tail even recorded a video!"

Mosquito: "!! Let me see!"

While the group whispered among themselves, a hoarse growl suddenly floated from ahead.

Mole, leading the way, stopped in his tracks and raised his LD-50 to aim in the direction ahead.

"...Eaters?" Si Si frowned.

"Not likely... I’ve never seen such a monster in Qingquan City." Mole’s face showed a vigilant expression as he drew his signal gun and fired a shot into the sky.

A fiery red flare shot up into the sky, opening a parachute as it reached the apex.

The claret light illuminated the entire area, exposing the creatures hiding in the darkness completely.

They were four humanoid entities crawling on all fours, their heads nestled in their shoulders, with sharp teeth resembling the serrated teeth of a shark, and pairs of crimson pupils emitting a sinister glow.

The distinctive red fungal patches signaled their identity.

Without a doubt, they were all sub-entities of the slime mold!

"Fire!"

The moment Mole confirmed the target, he didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, the gun muzzle spat out scorching tongues of flame.

Aside from Meat Meat who couldn’t handle weapons, all four players fired at once, orange tracer rounds creating a net of death in the pitch-black valley in an instant.

"Hiss—!"

The Variants crawling on their limbs let out a piercing scream, dodging a round of barrage, dust exploded beneath them, and they charged forward like cannonballs.

So fast!

Mole was surprised, his magazine empty, he immediately drew the engineer shovel hanging on his waist and swung it forward.

In a flash, the sharp edge of the shovel struck the Variant’s forehead, but instead of slicing off half of its skull, it rang out with a metallic clang as if striking stone.

The Variant let out a roar, raised a pair of foreclaws, and fiercely closed them together like a large pair of scissors.

Chills ran down his spine, Mole leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the lethal strike.

Thank goodness he was already at Third stage of the Sequence, having completed his Second Awakening!

Otherwise, just that one hit would’ve been enough to send him back to his hometown thousands of kilometers away.

"Be careful, everyone! This thing’s a bit tricky—"

Shouting as he retreated, Mole threw his engineer shovel to hit its head, stopping it from charging forward while drawing his shotgun from his back.

"Bang—!"

A thick burst of flame erupted, massive kinetic energy shattered the skull, violent lead pellets poured into the Variant’s forehead in an instant, knocking its body back.

Novice Village was located in the "North Suburb" of Qingquan City, players had long accumulated rich experience in combating Variants, knowing that this fellow won’t be taken down so easily.

Mole didn’t stop, continuously squeezing the trigger, adding three more shots until the Variant was blasted into quivering fragments, no longer able to form a complete corpse before ceasing fire.

Elsewhere, Sesame Paste, Tail, and Sisi were also engaged in close combat after a round of barrage.

The small caliber pellets from the Magnetic Slingshot were ineffective against the Variant, Si Si quickly drew two daggers strapped to her thigh after emptying her magazine, the moment they crossed she barely blocked the incoming foreclaw.

Clang—!

The collision during the split second was like a symphony of cold weaponry.

"Ugh—"

The huge impact and tearing sensation from the web of her hand made her involuntarily grunt, and a hint of surprise couldn’t help but appear on her usually calm face.

This strength—

Was even stronger than the Crawlers!?

As everyone knows, even powerful Awakeners, when facing Variants whose strength is completely off the scale, still require the use of civilized weapons to contend with them.

Engaging in close combat with this kind of monster, which possessed both strength and speed, was obviously not a wise choice. Sisi quickly distanced herself, her mind racing with strategy, but her companion Tail was one step faster than her.

"Wow, wow, wow!"

A half-meter long bayonet transformed into a streak of cold light, swiftly stabbing towards the head embedded in the shoulders but missed, hitting instead the shoulder socket next to the head.

The monster let out a hoarse cry and swung its front claw fiercely forward.

At that moment, a majestic and deep animal roar came from the side.

"Roar!"

The steel-spiked bear paw, like a roaring locomotive, slapped onto the monster’s forehead with a smack.

The hard skull instantly burst open, and ink-green juice splattered, startling Meat Meat so much that she swiftly stepped back.

As it turned out, this was the right move.

When the ink-green juice hit the ground, it made a sizzling sound, and white smoke rose.

"Oh wow! Nicely done, Meat Meat!"

Tail gave a surprised thumbs-up, and Sesame Paste also looked at her in astonishment.

"What the heck is this?" Meat Meat widened her eyes in amazement, watching her slightly singed claws.

Si Si’s eyes narrowed.

"Corrosive blood..."

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid?

Or some kind of even stronger unknown organic acid.

Blood reactions this intense in oxidation-reduction couldn’t be from a simple organic creature.

No wonder the dagger felt so weird when it struck, and the skin peeled off after being swept with a burst from the submachine gun.

This guy might actually be made of stone.

Standing atop a fortress, overlooking the people below, Pigeon smiled faintly.

"Beautiful."

He looked up at the slowly falling flare and a trace of annoyance appeared in his pupils.

Light, oh...

How annoying.

Although the light wouldn’t actually weaken his combat power, the instinctive aversion of the slime mold to light still caused him physiological discomfort.

After all, the symbiotic slime mold was part of his body too.

What’s more, the heat from the light would evaporate the scarce moisture, which was precisely why he had built the laboratory deep in a cave.

Speaking of which, why did these people keep breaking into his laboratory time and again?

Didn’t they have their own things to do?

If it were just digging holes, he could turn a blind eye.

But no matter what, that nuclear bomb was just too much.

Pigeon’s smile gradually cooled.

It seemed that four "Little Blacks" weren’t enough.

Then...

How about this?

The corners of his rotten mouth twitched into a smile, and he snapped his fingers.

Actually, this action was entirely unnecessary, but he thought it looked cooler that way.

At the same time as the snap, his vocal cords emitted a sound wave above 30,000 hertz, rippling outwards in circles.

This sound was far beyond the range that human ears could capture, but it was just right for his "apostles" who obeyed him.

The dormant offspring were gradually awakened.

Although most perished in the nuclear blast, those who survived were undoubtedly the toughest of the bunch.

For example, the "Evolutionary bodies" that live symbiotically with rocks!

The crystalline product of his "intelligence" and Little Red’s "life energy"—"Little Black"!

These Evolutionary bodies that possess an obsidian-like skin and have integrated the bones of Looters, while also possessing the speed of Crawlers and the defense of Tyrants, are like tanks skimming the ground.

The nuclear bomb made him change his mind, and he no longer planned to share this site with the outside world.

If these people were insistent on staying here,

Then they could stay forever.

Below the mountain, Mole suddenly became alert, looking around with a progressively upset expression.

"Although I’m not of the Perception system... I have a bad premonition."

Shadows stirred beneath the distant fortress, and more Variants seemed to be nearing their location.

Beside him, Mosquito swallowed hard, equally alert and looking around.

"...This big shot feels the same."

Sesame Paste suddenly covered her ears and crouched down on the ground, with a flicker of pain crossing her face.

Seeing this, Tail immediately dashed to her side, crouching down and asking worriedly,

"giao! What’s wrong?! Are you feeling unwell?"

The pain was fleeting.

Sesame Paste blankly released her hands from her ears and slowly stood up with Ah Wei’s help from the ground.

"That noise was so piercing, I think my ears are ringing... Sorry, what were you saying just now?"

The superthreshold pain was blocked, but the abnormal condition had not subsided.

Si Si furrowed her brows, placed a hand above her neck, and raised her voice.

"Cats can hear sound waves between 30 hertz and 45,000 hertz, with the highest reaching up to 70,000... Can you roughly pinpoint the direction of the sound?"

"I’ll try..."

Sesame Paste closed her eyes, focusing her consciousness on her hearing to locate the source of the sound.

Before long, her eyes suddenly snapped open, her gaze locking onto the mountain beside them, her amber pupils contracting slightly.

"There!"

Everyone lifted their heads following her gaze, turning on their flashlights, and saw an Eater posing rather pretentiously on the mountain peak, gazing down at them with crimson eyes.

Its appearance clearly spelled trouble.

"Damn summoner, huh?" cursed Mosquito, pulling a mechanical crossbow from behind.

Seeing the primitive weapon, Pigeon laughed.

"Heh, such child’s play won’t work on me."

He watched the man pull the trigger and didn’t even bother dodging.

As he had expected, the arrow didn’t come close to hitting him but instead whizzed past his ear.

Just as he was about to taunt them to give up and retreat, a roaring explosion suddenly erupted from behind him.

A massive, searing blast accompanied by shrapnel slammed into his back, catching him completely off guard and sending him flying forward, tumbling down the mountain.

"Heh heh heh, art is an explosion!"

Watching the Eater tumble down the slope, Mosquito laughed maliciously, loaded another bolt into the crossbow, and wound the winch to draw the string.

Just a kid.

Still too green to mess with me!

"Control that guy!"

Not wasting this opportunity, Mole bellowed and rushed forward with his shotgun, taking the lead.

But just then, the ground trembled beneath them as if in an earth-shaking quake.

And with it came a piercing long cry.

"Yi wu—"

The sound was melodious and delicate, like a flute being played, ethereal but with a hint of lethality.

At the same time, a whooshing sound of something cutting through the air followed.

In a flash!

The moment Mole glimpsed the shadow hurtling from the sky, he almost reflexively dove to the right, rolling on the ground to evade the direct assault of the shadow.

The shadow hit the ground like a cannonball, shattering the surface and instantly exploding into a shower of rocks and rolling dust.

Mole staggered to his feet, covering his mouth and nose and retreating a couple of steps while bringing his shotgun to bear.

The dust cleared.

When he saw the person in front of him, his eyes widened, and his gun barrel subconsciously dropped by an inch.

"Falling Feather?!"

Mosquito, with his mechanical crossbow, also widened his eyes and cursed.

"What the fuck?! Have you turned traitor?"

Falling Feather gave no answer, simply staring at everyone with lifeless eyes, standing there like a walking corpse.

The trembling of the earth didn’t stop with the dispersal of the dust but seemed to intensify.

Sensing that the epicenter was behind her, Si Si immediately turned to look back.

The moment she saw that behemoth, her complexion instantly changed.

Noticing the change in her expression, Tail turned to look as well, his mouth opening so wide as if he could fit a goose egg inside.

"My giao!"

Gundam?!

No—

That thing couldn’t be considered a Gundam, as it didn’t have the typical humanoid form.

The four-sided body jutted forward, with a sharp, angular figure resembling an upright pistol; its rust-streaked barrel crawling with red fungi, obscuring any original paintwork.

It had no head, or rather, the head might be buried within its body. The bulky mechanical limbs propped at the edge of the crater, lifting the heavy body while the strong back limbs with completely rusted treads, one foot already stepping outside the nuclear crater.

The thing was like a land cruiser walking upright! More than a "Pioneer," it resembled a true combat fortress designed for battle!

Even the robust Meat Meat seemed insignificant as an ant in front of it.

Just what kind of monster could defeat this thing?

No—

What kind of monster would warrant its involvement?

Mosquito swallowed and muttered to himself,

"Is this thing... the ’Titan’?"

This design...

Absolutely wicked!

The guide at the entrance of the valley also saw this spectacle.

From the moment the earthquake started, a look of terror surfaced on his face.

"Heaven above..." His shoulders trembled uncontrollably, and he almost knelt down to pray.

The God of the Sky...

Had actually resurrected!?

He was utterly at a loss, not knowing what to do or whether this was a good omen or a bad one.

But no matter what, challenging the gods with mere mortal strength was clearly not a wise move.

He mounted the motorbike, started the engine, and twisted the throttle to its limit, desperately racing westward.

He had to bring this news back to Petra Fortress!

Only the most devout High Priest of the kingdom could hope to save these pitiful people!

Meanwhile, the players in the valley were faced with an unprecedented crisis.

Ahead was "Falling Feather," behind was a "Titan" controlled by slimy mold, and surrounding them was a ring of neckless "Crawlers."

Pairs of crimson eyes glowing with murderous intent made the surrounded crowd unconsciously swallow their saliva.

No one doubted that if they charged, it would take less than a round to tear them to shreds, and by three rounds, not even their bones might remain.

"...If I’d known, I should’ve brought the tank," Mole backed away nervously stepping back.

Mosquito Brother couldn’t help but respond with mixed laughter and tears.

"You’re talking about tanks? Even if you rode in on the Manager, you’d still be screwed..."

Without mentioning anything else.

What on earth could take down that Titan that climbed out of a nuclear crater?

That thing had even withstood damage equivalent to a million tons of explosive force!

And right in the center of the blast...

Shakily getting up from the ground, an "Eater" shook its head, patted the dust off its body, and to everyone’s astonishment, suddenly spoke human words.

"Let’s speak frank," it said, offering one last chance. "Go back the way you came."

"From now on, the ruins of Oasis number 7 is closed to the public. If I see you again, I’ll treat you like Looters... And by the way, some of the parts of those little Obsidians are sourced from the bodies of Looters."

"Do you want to try?"

A terrible sense of oppression hovered over everyone’s heads.

While death wasn’t scary, it didn’t mean death came without cost.

Looking straight into those crimson eyes, Tail bit his teeth and shouted bravely.

"You took our comrade! We can’t just abandon him!"

"Comrade?"

Pigeon looked surprised at the girl who had shouted loudly and then gave a strange look at the motionless Falling Feather standing there.

"Are you referring to this fellow?"

The young man clearly had not regained his consciousness.

Pigeon guessed that it was probably Little Red who was concerned for her safety and had tossed him out.

Seeing that the standing "Eater" didn’t react, Mosquito raised his voice too.

"That’s right! Give us Falling Feather back! We promise to withdraw from here!"

Mole glanced at him and thought to himself that Falling Feather, if he knew how "awesome" he had become, would probably be the first to refuse to go back with them.

But of course—

He agreed with Mosquito Brother.

Setting aside the Manager’s task, this level of strength was just too damn buggy.

Everyone was Agile system variants, so why should a Second stage’s speed be faster than his Third stage?

Was that scientific?

Obviously not scientific!

He had to get the damn game developers to fix this bug!

Sisi whispered to Sesame Paste,

"Prepare for battle..."

Sesame Paste looked nervously at her and asked in a concerned voice,

"Can we... really beat him?"

Sisi analyzed calmly.

"Those slime molds, they should be obeying that guy, like a ’Summoning system’ as Mosquito said. If we can control him, we should be able to deter the Variants."

She didn’t believe for a second that this suspicious individual would release Falling Feather just because of a few non-lethal verbal barbs, let alone allow them to leave unscathed.

Logically speaking, silencing them was the best option, not only to keep a secret but also to deter others.

Although they were outmatched in strength, this boss battle seemed inevitable.

Pigeon stroked his chin, seemingly seriously contemplating something.

Just as Sisi was about to take action, his response surprised everyone.

He nodded, readily agreeing to Tail and Mosquito’s request.

"Hmm... Your request is quite reasonable, the young man is called Falling Feather, right?"

"Since you know him, then take him back with you."

Tail lit up with joy and exclaimed,

"Oh! Thanks, friend!"

Hearing the word friend, a faint smile appeared on that rotting face.

"You’re welcome, not all slimy molds are filled with malice... I know this concept cannot be changed overnight, but fortunately, I have plenty of time to wait, study, and prove."

"Take your companion with you."

"By the way, the fact that his brain’s broken has nothing to do with me... blame it on that nuclear bomb."

With that, he waved his hand.

A piercing sound wave spread, and Sesame Paste instinctively covered her ears, her face twisting as if in pain.

However, under the influence of that sound, the Titan that had emerged from the nuclear crater slowly sat back down, leaving only half of its body sticking out of the ground.

And the Variants surrounding the players also retreated, disappearing at the foot of the mountain.

The crisis of a total party wipeout was averted in an instant.

Mole looked bewilderedly at Sisi beside him, who wore an equally puzzled expression.

Both of them had prepared for a Boss fight.

Especially Mole.

He had even stuffed a special deer slug, intended for hunting large Variants, into his gun barrel, ready to preemptively take out Falling Feather who was under the "Charm skill."

Yet the situation unfolded entirely beyond their expectations—the "Eater" had truly let them go.

So, was this...

Was this a victory?

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