Chapter Forty-Eight: The Reason for the Arrest

"Damn it!" the GM shouted, "Chen Hao, you’re so devious!"

Even after Chen Hao landed a kick, the GM didn’t forget to curse at him. Once she steadied herself, seemingly angered, she launched an immediate counterattack. Despite her appearance as a woman—though in truth, GMs could choose any gender in the game, just like players—her fighting style was anything but feminine. Anyone who’s played online games knows all too well the prevalence of characters whose real identity and avatar gender don’t match.

Chen Hao suspected this GM might be a gender-bending character, mainly because her fighting style was nothing like that of a typical woman. Most female gamers preferred mage or healer classes, but this GM was clearly a melee brawler.

Her attacks were forceful and unrestrained, the hallmark of a seasoned fighter. Their recent exchange of blows made Chen Hao realize that his opponent had a deep mastery of the martial artist class. In reality, someone with her skills would be considered a true expert.

Facing her retaliation, Chen Hao dared not let his guard down. His only advantage was that the human NPCs had stopped their actions the moment the two began to fight. This small edge seemed almost a concession from the GM herself, and Chen Hao had no intention of letting the opportunity slip by.

He felt it necessary to finish the fight quickly; if it dragged on and the GM realized something was wrong, she might order the NPCs to attack him again, and he’d stand no chance against so many at once. A single GM was already a handful, and with a swarm of NPCs, he’d be utterly defeated.

For now, though, his fears remained unfounded. The GM seemed determined to duel him one-on-one, like a child desperate to prove herself. This made Chen Hao guess she was likely quite young; only the young were so fiercely competitive. Then again, it made sense—who else but the young would be hired as a game master?

Yet this knowledge did little for him, since this was no real-world duel. In a real fight, a youthful opponent might make mistakes out of emotion, but a game was different.

Here, it was gear, attributes, and skill points that decided everything—a truth every gamer knows, and Chen Hao was no exception.

Luckily, so far, neither of them seemed to have any equipment or weapons. As for attributes, not only had Chen Hao entered the game by unusual means, but even if he’d logged in normally, players were never able to view a GM’s stats.

As for skills... perhaps this GM’s wide-open brawling style was her skill set. She hadn’t yet used any of those spectacular, physics-defying, devastating skills only found in games. Chen Hao wondered if it was because the game was still in development and those abilities hadn’t been implemented yet.

But that didn’t quite add up. The game had been under internal maintenance for ages and was supposedly launching soon. There was no reason such basic features wouldn’t have been added by now.

No point dwelling on it. Chen Hao shook his head as the GM launched another attack. In the time he’d spent thinking, they’d already traded several rounds. By now, he’d roughly gauged her strength. Unless she was holding back, he now understood their gap in ability.

She was slightly weaker than him, but the difference wasn’t huge. He could win, but it wouldn’t be quick. If she was willing to keep this up, Chen Hao didn’t mind—it would give Vivian ample time to escape.

So, Chen Hao abandoned his plan to finish the GM quickly and instead settled in for a war of attrition. He also became increasingly curious about her martial arts style; it seemed oddly familiar, as if he’d seen it before. He was certain he’d encountered this school of martial arts in his youth, when he’d traveled and studied under various masters with his father.

Yet, with all the styles and countless disciples he’d faced over the years, he could barely remember who he’d met or fought. Even if he did recall, so many years had passed that any memories had faded. So, beyond a vague recognition of the martial art itself, he had no idea who this GM might be. After all, just knowing a certain style didn’t mean she was someone he’d met before.

Although she seemed to recognize him, Chen Hao had introduced himself to the programmers when he first entered the game, hoping to ease their hostility. It was likely this was how the GM knew his name and background; after all, GMs and programmers were all employees of the company—sharing information was only natural.

Yet, Chen Hao was mistaken. The five programmers he’d met upon entering the game were very different from this GM...

The duel on the ground continued, while Vivian hovered above, watching the fight intently, making no move to leave.

Because Chen Hao’s attention was wholly on the GM, he didn’t realize Vivian was still there until she suddenly let out a cry of alarm.

Vivian had been so fixated on Chen Hao that she’d ignored the human NPCs. Though they hadn’t tried to attack Chen Hao during the fight, they had been scheming to catch Vivian. Humans couldn’t fly, but they weren’t stupid. Using a length of hemp rope, they fashioned a lasso and tossed it skyward, aiming to drag her down. Vivian’s startled cry came as she barely dodged the rope.

Seeing this, Chen Hao shouted, "Why are you still here? Didn’t I tell you to run?"

Vivian, startled by his reprimand, stammered, "I-I… I was worried about you… and… and… I don’t know the way…"

"Damn it!" Chen Hao swore. "You can’t even find your way home?!"

Vivian’s eyes filled with tears, and she began to sob, her words coming out in broken fragments. Still, Chen Hao pieced together her meaning. She explained that they’d both been at her house when, without warning, Chen Hao had vanished. Startled, she’d thought he was playing a trick on her with some kind of magic and began searching everywhere, even leaving her home to look outside. She had no idea how long she searched, but she’d nearly flown across half the Elven Forest, reaching its very border without finding him.

The little one seemed to have forgotten how dangerous it was to wander out alone late at night, especially so soon after encountering the programmers.

Vivian’s reckless search brought her to the border of the Elven Forest—a place often prowled by game-world criminals, fugitives fleeing prosecution for their crimes. To keep them out, each race stationed patrols along their borders. Not every race did this; only those with poor security or high crime rates.

The elves, however, were law-abiding and peace-loving, so they rarely needed patrols.

Vivian had reached the border easily, but dared not go further; her programmed memories told her it was perilous to leave the Elven Forest. She circled the edge, hoping Chen Hao might come here on his way back to human lands.

It was then that a patrol from another race spotted her. Ironically, these were the very monsters who had been pursuing criminals, and their race had a poor relationship with the elves. Finding a lone elf girl at night, they naturally didn’t intend to let her go.

So, instead of catching any criminals, they crossed the border illegally and captured Vivian, bringing her to this very place.

As Vivian sobbed through her tale, the human GM stopped attacking and listened along with Chen Hao. When she finished, Chen Hao sighed helplessly. "So it’s my fault you’re in this mess…"

The GM grinned, teasing him, "She’s quite a loyal little thing! Chen Hao, you really are lucky. Well, now that we’ve heard the story, shall we continue?"

"Fine by me!" Chen Hao replied. "Vivian, take care of yourself and get higher up. If we get out of this safely, I’ll apologize to you then!"

With that, Chen Hao charged the GM once more...