Chapter 51: Disco in a Minefield
As the power of the Star Eclipses bug infiltrated the entire game entertainment district’s database, the Data Bug quickly gained control over the players’ gaming accounts.
The Data Bug glanced at everyone’s game IDs and swiftly altered their account data.
On the other side,
Night Star soon noticed something amiss with her account.
“Huh?”
She saw her game level inexplicably drop back to one, as if she had just created her account.
“How could this be!?”
Then she checked her other data and found everything vanished—her little achievements, tiny rewards, and that rare item she had received from an unknown player!
Gone in a flash!
Turning her head to look at the others’ levels, she discovered they too had been reset to level one.
“Aw man! Why is this happening!?”
Seeing Night Star’s flustered and wailing state, the Data Bug felt a surge of satisfaction.
He had been humiliated in his lifetime when a player who abused game bugs beat him in achieving the highest score.
That villainous player stole his hard-earned achievement, which he had daydreamed about for ages.
And now he remembers the nasty player’s mockery and derision before leaving, as if mocking his efforts were futile.
That guy seemed satisfied with himself, always managing to find the game’s vulnerabilities before anyone else and taking the best scores.
He derived joy from seeing serious gamers frustrated.
Data Bug, having harbored his grudge since discovering the villain was using a bug, was hit by a car on his way home.
Thus, he became another form, turning into a hidden glitch in the game entertainment zone, lurking in the shadows and using the glitches to dominate.
When he watched those players’ shocked and defeated faces, he finally became the person he despised.
Data Bug wouldn’t tolerate any gamer using cheats. Hence, he decided to initialize their levels.
Isn’t that also an obsession?
Watching the silver-haired, red-eyed girl’s heartbreaking moment, the Data Bug felt extremely satisfied.
Over at the theater,
Night Star looked utterly devastated.
“Waaah… Everything’s gone, all my hard work for nothing… Who did this…?”
The troupe members behind her remained silent, unsure of what to say to console her.
At that moment, Night Star glared at a data person who seemed too eager to watch the chaos.
“It’s you, isn’t it!? That j*rk!”
Before the words even finished, the entire troupe focused their gaze on the nearest data person.
The Group Leader’s eyes gleamed dangerously, his presence incredibly perilous.
The Gentleman’s expression was less kind, looking cold as ice.
The Fraudster smirked mysteriously, like a sinister devil.
Other members scrutinized and questioned them silently.
Upon being stared at, the Data Bug sensed dire danger immediately, quickly diving underground and retreating through electronic circuits back into the database.
“Heh, so what if you’re upset? No one but me can get here. You’re all just weaklings,” the Data Bug thought confidently.
Switching perspectives,
Night Star tearfully watched the data person disappear.
“So it was him?! What a j*rk!”
Gentleman consoled her gently, “Audience Performer, no need to worry. That rude person will eventually face the music. Being able to let us out today to have some fun—that’s what counts.”
Fraudster nodded in agreement, “Indeed it does. We didn’t come here for some ephemeral data. Tomorrow’s performance is what we look forward to.”
The Group Leader softly patted Night Star’s head, presumably soothing her.
“Let’s go back.”
“Mm…,” Night Star replied, accepting her fate.
If she had thought the guy wasn’t worth her time, she would’ve retaliated much sooner.
The Rising Sun Troupe appeared unfazed, seemingly letting the lowly Star Eclipses off easy.
But… was it really so simple?
Mo Rabbit trailed after the troupe members, her face displaying a faint smile.
Nowadays, even lowly Star Eclipses dare provoke ultra-star eclipses?
What courage!
Wait, no. Perhaps it’s because the interference from the Audience Performer and the Singer was so severe that the cowardly glitch couldn’t sense their true strength.
He could never imagine that everyone present were akin to bosses in the game.
And he was merely a newbie who hadn’t even left the starting village.
Did the troupe members act then?
Music.
Inside the database,
Data Bug suddenly sensed something unfamiliar.
Three forces not belonging to him entered his consciousness.
Suddenly, his mind was invaded by a deceitful force, no longer seeing the familiar database, but instead a dark theater.
Three men stood before him, each with a face devoid of emotion, illusions of the theater group leader, the trickster, and the gentleman.
Their illusions exuded an aura of high status, instilling Data Bug with a horrifying oppression and unending fear!
“Your actions are rude. Pay the price for your transgression,” a voice pierced his consciousness, sudden pain causing him to lose awareness instantly.
His own obsession was obliterated by this power.
Then, a black feather slightly glowed within his consciousness, absorbing the remnants.
Back on the ground,
Just before the troupe leader stepped into the theater’s entrance, a black feather floated into his hand and he tucked it into his magician’s hat.
Everything returned to peace.
Simultaneously,
The Night Watcher assigned to handle the situation came to the game entertainment area’s system room. The Nights Watcher bearing electronic-related stars was scanning the database for glitches and other anomalies.
But oddly enough, many bugs were found, yet there was not a trace of Star Eclipses anywhere.
“That… Star Eclipses seems to have disappeared.”
“What’s with this? How could Star Eclipses just vanish? Could he be hiding too deep?”
“It shouldn’t be possible. My star senses all abnormalities in the entertainment zone’s data. If it finds bugs normal techs can’t see, it would definitely spot a prominent Star Eclipses wave.”
The Watchers fell into deep thought.
Someone recalled something:
“Is it possible that he offended the Rising Sun Troupe and got instant-killed?”
“Ah, uh… don’t Star Eclipses sense rank differences? Surely a lowly Star Eclipses wouldn’t be that reckless?”
“Who knows? ‘There are all sorts of birds in the forest,’ applies to Star Eclipses too, doesn’t it?”
After a few chuckles, they resumed their thorough search.
But no luck after a long time.
