"Excuse me, is this the bus to the museum?"
"Yes."
"How much is the fare?"
"Just swipe your citizen card. We are a government-only bus, so it's free."
"OK."
Two people got on the bus.
The one on the left was tall, but his appearance was outstanding. In this era, humans have their own understanding of enjoying life, and visual enjoyment is also enjoyment. Therefore, everyone looked over at the same time.
The man next to him also looked very handsome, with a youthful sunshine and steadiness intertwined together, giving a contradictory yet attractive feeling.
The bus driver glanced at the two men, then quickly looked away and focused on driving his bus.
"We've arrived at the museum."
"We've arrived at the art gallery."
"We have arrived at Lotus Road."
…
People got on and off the bus, and got on and off again, from afternoon to evening. The bus drove all the way to the terminal, and there were always two people sitting on the bus.
"Okay, my work for today is over, you guys can get off now." The bus driver had to take the initiative to say to the two people, "Cheng Yuxue, Ning Buwen, I didn't expect that I would actually see you in the ultimate copy."
The bus driver was the former conductor of Train No. 18.
Ning Buwen used dice to calculate his location several times, but it kept moving. It took him a lot of effort to figure out that these locations were the routes of a certain bus, and then he locked in the candidate for the train conductor.
After all, they didn't know whether the conductor would change. Therefore, they were divided into two groups. Mo Yuqiong and Qi Ming went to another train, and they came to this one.
Or maybe they were luckier.
Fortunately, the current train conductors are still 70% similar to before, just looking younger.
"I thought you almost didn't recognize us." Ning Buwen said with a smile, "So we just stayed in the car and waited to see when you would come and ask us."
"When I'm working, I don't want to be distracted by other things. My train is full of passengers, and I must be responsible for their lives." The conductor replied calmly, "Now that the work is over, you are also friends I haven't seen for a long time, why don't you have a drink with me."
"That's fine." Ning Buwen nodded. "I was tortured half to death in Train 18. Now I have the opportunity to complain to you, the conductor, and it's really interesting."
The conductor couldn't help laughing too.
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land is a happy event. Although they were once enemies and are still enemies in the final copy, it is not impossible to sit down and have a good chat.
"Obviously, I've known Cheng Yuxue longer, but I'd rather talk to you." The conductor looked at Ning Buwen and said, "I hope you stay with him and don't learn his cunning. I'm afraid I'll reveal a lot of unnecessary information if I chat with Cheng Yuxue."
"So I haven't said anything the whole time, right?" Cheng Yuxue replied, "I'll just listen from the side."
"I hope these are the last words you say tonight." The conductor replied reluctantly, "Let's go. I know a friend who opened a restaurant here. I have a special compartment."
The conductor took them to a small restaurant.
The restaurant looks exactly like something out of an old movie, so ordinary that one might even doubt whether the food here is clean.
"He was once a very good hidden boss in a dungeon. Unexpectedly, after reaching the final dungeon, he remembered that he was a chef when he was still a player, so he opened a shop here."
The conductor greeted a slightly plump man, and quickly took Ning Buwen and Cheng Yuxue into their special compartment.
Ning Buwen looked at the owner of the restaurant, estimated his strength, and felt depressed.
It seems that his strength of being ranked 18th in the world can only be counted among players. These NPCs who can enter the ultimate dungeon are all awesome.
"Before I came to the final dungeon, I thought I would have many ambitions, but I didn't expect that after arriving here, I would just want to live an ordinary life."
For NPCs, the ultimate dungeon has always been the place they strive for and yearn for. The original dungeon world is too small and can no longer accommodate them, so they want to go to a bigger and farther place.
But what they didn't expect was that when they really reached the ultimate copy, things were completely different from what they imagined.
Here, they found their lost feelings, discovered what life is like, and discovered that the "extra feelings" of players that they previously thought of as being so mysterious and attractive.
They are addicted to it and cannot extricate themselves.
In the past, NPCs only worked hard for the desire to become stronger, and didn't care about anything else. But now, their eyes seem to be able to see more, their ears can hear farther, and their hearts are no longer just a beating symbol, but can feel more emotions.
They fell in love with this place and planned to live as ordinary people and no longer be enemies with the players.
However, Pandora allows players to become the driving force behind the destruction of this world, while they have to work hard to protect this world.
This situation is completely opposite to their previous role positioning.
It is a great irony for both players and NPCs.
"Conductor, you like this world." Ning Bu Wen looked at the conductor and said affirmatively.
"Of course I like it." The conductor said without hesitation, "This world has suffered too much, and everyone here loves life from the bottom of their hearts. For those of us who are trying to become human for the first time, there is no better world than this."
"I also like the world I live in, even though many things in it are fake. The sun, air, water, and food all come from Pandora. But the real world that is blocked by Pandora is even better. You may not understand why we players work so hard before, but you should be able to understand it now."
Ning Buwen looked at the conductor's attitude and found it very sincere.
The attitude towards an NPC who cannot understand human emotions and an NPC who has tried to be a human is naturally different.
In the ultimate dungeon world, it is impossible for players to clear the level by themselves, and they definitely need the help of NPCs.
Cheng Yuxue has achieved the ultimate for a player, but he failed to pass the level twice in a row. After suffering enough, he set his sights on the NPCs.
To put it bluntly, there is still inconsistency in positions.
"What do you want to know?" The conductor did not say more to Ning Buwen, but asked directly, "Being able to meet here, in your human words, is fate. I will try my best to tell you what I know, but I suggest that you transform into NPCs. Staying in this copy can let you experience the feeling of being a human again." The conductor said sincerely.
The train conductor was not too worried that they could destroy the world, because as far as he knew, no player had yet been able to clear the ultimate dungeon. Even Ning Buyen and Cheng Yuxue might not be able to do it.
"We want to know, what does Pandora require of you?"
Ning Buwen looked at the conductor and said, "If I ask you directly how to pass the level, I guess you won't know. Even if you know, you definitely won't tell me. So, I just want to know what Pandora requires of you."
The requirement for players to come to the ultimate copy is to clear the level, so what about the NPCs
Is it to protect this copy world
"You asked a good question." The train conductor looked at Ning Buwen and Cheng Yuxue behind him and smiled, "Our mission is to protect."
"To protect this world?" Ning Bu Wen asked curiously.
"No. Protecting this world is just an action from our heart. It has nothing to do with what Pandora asks of us."
The conductor stood up and opened the window of the small restaurant.
Outside is a lush, elegant and beautiful world.
The stars are shining, and the moon and the stars shine together.
"To put it bluntly, our NPC missions are actually to help you players. Cheng Yuxue, you didn't go wrong in the previous two times you cleared the dungeon. It's just that you overlooked the most critical part, which is the world itself."
"This copy world, could it be?" Cheng Yuxue thought thoughtfully.
"That's right." The train conductor stopped playing dumb with them. "As the eighth player, you should know very well what the top seven players in Pandora are like. Because they are too powerful, they will turn into mountains, oceans, and land. Their consciousness will be wiped out little by little, and then they will be assimilated into the dungeon world."
"Look at the world we live in now. Even though we have experienced so many hardships and wars, it is still so beautiful. Isn't it a bit too deliberate?"
"Whether it's a mountain, a tree, or an ocean. The world you see, every inch of land you walk on, was once, perhaps, one of the top seven players of Pandora in a certain generation?"
"If it weren't for us NPCs guarding here, Cheng Yuxue, the former top seven players would have shown up and killed you when you first tried to destroy this world. Even if you are powerful, you may not be stronger than so many people. Moreover, among them are the second generation of players who have never shown their faces..."
Ning Bu Wen clenched his fists.
A sense of despair suddenly arose in his heart.
Every time he thought he was getting closer to Pandora, he found that what he saw was just the tip of the iceberg.
It seems to know what humans are afraid of and what kind of existence can defeat humans.
The survivors are also players.
The ultimate copy also deals with players.
Only players can defeat players.
"We NPCs have never been Pandora's favorite lives. We are just data created by it. Even if we develop feelings for it, it is just a small reward for our hard work. Only you humans are always loved by Pandora. Therefore, you have to deal with not only the humans in this dungeon world, but also Pandora players who were exactly the same as you, or even more powerful. They are the biggest obstacles for you to pass this world."
Therefore, no matter how hard Cheng Yuxue tried, he could not pass this copy.
Because he took the wrong road.
Whether it is the ultimate copy or special customer service.
What Pandora cares about is only human beings themselves.