Chapter 1329: Malignant Myna 433
“What the hell is this?”
Cucumber Slice muttered as he stared at the eerie avatar.
His team member asked with confusion,
“What’s wrong, Captain?”
Cucumber Slice glanced at the friend request window before him, casually closed it without accepting the request, and said,
“It’s nothing, let’s focus on the task at hand.”
...
Taking control of the spaceship, Cucumber Slice initiated the jump to a nearby space station.
After docking the ship, all team members logged off and met in the studio in reality to discuss plans for the video guide.
Over the past few years, Cucumber Slice had led countless such tasks, having long since mastered the routine.
But whether it was the impact of that half-hour video or the unsettling friend request, Cucumber Slice was in very bad shape while presiding over work today.
The image of the person in a black hood kept uncontrollably flashing before his eyes.
That pale, deadpan face and those cold, numb eyes would not leave Cucumber Slice’s mind, appearing repeatedly like a haunting shadow soul.
The team members noticed something off about Cucumber Slice, attributing it to the half-hour video, they didn’t take it too seriously, and were at a loss for how to comfort their captain.
After more than an hour, the discussion ended, and the team members went to their respective computers to start work.
Once everyone left the conference room, Cucumber Slice closed his eyes tightly, his facial features tense, pinching the center of his forehead without stopping.
He felt panic and oppression, as if he were in a deep and secluded seabed, surrounded by dark sea water.
“Am I about to die suddenly?”
Cucumber Slice’s heart quivered.
He had experienced this feeling of impending death before when he had continuously worked for 48 hours without sleep.
His heartbeat uncontrollably varied, at times booming like a drum, at times soft as a whisper.
Strength was leaving Cucumber Slice, and a tide of exhaustion surged over him.
His breathing was barely perceptible, his head was spinning, his limbs were limp, and he couldn’t even lift his eyelids.
With a snap, his right hand fell from his forehead to the armrest of the chair, Cucumber Slice’s head tilted, and he passed out.
The team members outside the conference room, immersed in their work, were completely unaware of their captain’s condition.
…
…
“Eh?!!”
Cucumber Slice suddenly opened his eyes to the all-too-familiar interior of the spaceship.
He stared incredulously and looked around,
“How did I log in?! Wasn’t I asleep in the chair in the conference room?!”
In the cockpit of the interstellar ship, Cucumber Slice was full of disbelief.
He kept scratching his head with both hands, trying to take off his game helmet in reality.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find the helmet that should have been on his head through the sense of touch of his hands.
This caused waves of turmoil in his heart.
As he remained in shock and uncertainty, the “beep beep beep” sound attacked again.
“What’s that noise?”
Cucumber Slice paused and listened.
After a full two seconds, the shocked Cucumber Slice realized the sound was indeed the alert from the Friend System.
It wasn’t until then that Cucumber Slice noticed he couldn’t see the game interface anymore.
In the normal course of the game, in the bottom right corner of his vision, there should be a semi-transparent gear icon that he could open with a thought.
That was the button for the phantom game operating interface.
But now, the icon was gone.
Cucumber Slice raised his hand and poked at the spot where the icon should have been floating, but it triggered no change.
He then silently commanded, “Open Game Interface,” yet still, there was no response.
“This is crazy…”
Cucumber Slice pursed his lips and walked a few steps to another chair, shaking the team member sitting there vigorously. noveldrama
This team member was in a logged-off state, his game character slumped on the seat of the spaceship’s cockpit, eyes empty and lifeless, his face devoid of any expression, looking like a soulless shell.
Cucumber Slice shook the other’s shoulder and patted his face lightly with his palm, pressing his philtrum with his fingers.
After half a minute, Cucumber Slice gave a heavy sigh towards his unresponsive teammate,
“Hey… what the hell is going on…”
“Beep beep beep…”
The alert from the Friend System came yet again.
Cucumber Slice, jolted with realization, tensed up and slowly looked towards the spaceship’s control panel.
He heard it clearly this time.
The sound was indeed from the Friend System, but it was coming from the control panel.
Cucumber Slice’s heart raced as he stepped toward the control panel, staring intently at the bright white flat screen.
“Zing—”
A light sound.
Without any operation from Cucumber Slice, the flat screen automatically transformed into a holographic image, changing from a two-dimensional picture to a three-dimensional projection.
A pale figure with a black hood suddenly floated above the control panel.
Cucumber Slice stopped in his tracks, sidestepping to hide behind an adjacent chair.
Using the half-person height chair back as cover to protect himself, his eyes locked on the half-body figure in the holographic projection.
“Who are you?” Cucumber Slice asked in a deep voice.
“No need to feign ignorance, my old captain.”
The half-body figure lifted the hood to reveal its face.
Its ghastly pale countenance cast a chilling shadow in the cockpit, with cold tendrils penetrating everywhere, causing Cucumber Slice to involuntarily shiver slightly.
“Why am I online for no reason? Where did my game interface go?”
Cucumber Slice tried to remain calm.
As he spoke, he quietly moved his right hand hidden behind the chair back to his thigh, reaching for the gun holster.