The rows of trees were dressed in the evening's gown, swaying like courtly dancers. The orange-golden lights reflected in their captivating gazes.
Four young men, dressed in sporty attire, surrounded a girl with blue hair tied in a low ponytail. The blonde-haired youth among them struck an elegant pose and pulled out his phone.
"Beauty, you're like a lily in the sky. How about adding me as a friend?"
"[Gamification +10%]"
The adorable girl blinked her light blue eyes, her small mouth slightly agape before she pursed her lips, struggling to find the words to reply.
She clearly wasn't good at rejecting others' requests, and a barely noticeable look of distress appeared on her delicate and fair face. She was clearly at a loss for what to do.
Though the details were small, Alister, who possessed the "Ultimate Senses," keenly observed the girl's mood.
Alister let out a sigh, then walked past the green lawn and descended the steps, following the fence for a dozen or so meters until he reached a distance not too far away.
Resting against the fence, he observed for a few more seconds to confirm that the girl was indeed reluctant. Finally, Alister spoke up:
"She seems busy, so why don't you leave her alone?"
All four young men turned their heads in unison. The blond-haired youth frowned and instinctively asked, "Who are you?"
"[Gamification +4%]"
Relieved to see a potential savior, the girl with blue hair breathed a sigh of relief. Summoning her courage, her ethereal voice rang out:
"Um... about adding you as a friend... let's forget it, okay?"
Although the girl's voice was soft, it hit the blond-haired youth like a heavy blow. He closed the friend request interface without a word and nonchalantly put his phone back in his pocket.
"[Gamification +4%]"
"I'm just a passerby on a nighttime stroll. You could say I'm someone who meddles in other people's business," Alister sighed against the fence, the lights casting a captivating glow on his profile, likely tugging at the girl's heartstrings.
"[Gamification +20%]"
The blond-haired youth crossed his arms and retorted with irritation, "I'm just saying, what business is it of yours when we're approaching a pretty girl? What's bothering you?"
"But she doesn't want to, can't you see?" Alister exchanged glances with the girl.
The blond-haired youth glanced at the girl, then naturally noticed her interaction with the meddler. He felt a sense of frustration, making him uncomfortable.
"[Gamification +10%]"
"Even if she doesn't want to, that's her business. What right do you have to say anything?" the blond-haired youth continued to argue.
For some people, explanations were an extremely ineffective choice, so Alister waved his phone in front of them and said casually, "Alright, alright, it's none of my business. But the scenery here is so beautiful. Is it okay if I record a video to capture it?"
"[Gamification +2%]"
The blond-haired youth and his companions exchanged glances, then turned back and saw Alister's indifferent expression, clenching their fists.
"[Gamification +50%]"
In the next instant, the gamification progress reached 100%, and at that moment...
"[Detection of gamified event, special rules have been imposed]"
So it wasn't an illusion...
Alister had actually noticed the system prompt in the corner of his vision long ago, so he didn't experience any emotional fluctuations.
Time stood still in the outside world, and a pale blue data enveloped the area. The four youths and the girl with blue hair vanished, and the space began to display random data.
Pixelated monsters resembling television static emerged from the space previously occupied by the four youths, flashing with disorderly and random code...
"[Sole Rule: Defeat the opponent or last until the specified time limit to win]"
After a brief pause, the boundary of the area locked all exit routes, signifying the creation of a game instance.
"[Scene generated, containment objects deployed]"
Alister furrowed his brow slightly, staring at the indescribable containment objects, his gaze gradually deepening.
"...The sequences you know, even this world, are but illusory programs..."
As the complete descent arrived, the pixelated containment objects, like glitches in this world, flickered and vanished, their speech jumbled and chaotic.
"What do you mean?" Alister asked it experimentally, although he didn't expect a response.
"[After the game ends, updates will occur in reality, and the player's performance will affect the actions of real-world targets]"
At the same time, a detailed information interface of the containment object popped up in Alister's vision, generating text.
"[Emotional Aggregator]"
"[Physical Composition: Anger (50%), Disgust (20%), Joy (10%), Sadness (4%), Confusion (4%), Fear (2%), Others (10%)]"
"[Unknown origin of will, manifesting through the emotions of worldly beings... appearing in this place]"
As expected, the Emotional Aggregator did not respond to Alister's words, its humanoid form flickering like garbled code and disappearing, accompanied by the crackling of electronic malfunctions, as if it were constrained by the rules of the world.
Then...
"[This game event will be recorded in the ranking sequence]"
"[Let the game begin]"
The Emotional Aggregator raised its left arm, and the space around its arm transformed into a void of garbled code, a multicolored darkness.
It entered the newly created void, disappearing from Alister's perception. However, Alister knew it was still here, just in another world. In the next moment, the space to Alister's side was deconstructed like a program, and the Emotional Aggregator drifted leisurely towards Alister, its flickering pixelated arm annihilating the space it passed through.
The action wasn't fast, nor was it slow. Even without retreating into the shadows, Alister could react in time and calmly sidestepped it.
As a result, the Emotional Aggregator's attack missed, or perhaps it didn't miss at all. The space where Alister stood was rewritten into garbled code, forever disappearing into a multicolored void.
The Emotional Aggregator floated like a wanderer in space, entering the newly opened void, disappearing once again from Alister's perception.
"...Can containment objects erase space?"
Alister immediately understood that this thing was difficult to deal with. Although its attacks weren't fast, and even seemed slow in the "Ultimate Senses," with time passing, Alister's available space for movement would gradually diminish.
A boundary enveloped the street, providing few opportunities for shadow traversal. In other words, he had to confront it head-on. Guerrilla tactics would be an easy path to defeat.
In the next moment, the space behind Alister was rewritten, and the Emotional Aggregator, like a floating object in space, drifted towards Alister in a nonchalant manner.
So Alister decisively activated Shadow Descent, the slender and sharp shadow blades intertwining around his arms, and ruthlessly struck at the Emotional Aggregator!
In his perception, the shadow blades cut through the Emotional Aggregator like water, smoothly slicing through its arm.
The sensation felt strange. Objectively speaking, he did hit it, but there was no feedback or sensation. If one were to describe it in words...
The Emotional Aggregator's arm turned into garbled code and dissipated, only to generate new garbled code and form a new arm.
—It was like cutting through a nonexistent program, using physical means to interfere with an intangible existence, creating a sense of discord...
"[Confusion (4% → 2%)]"
"[Others (10% → 12%)]"
Following that, the Emotional Aggregator's reaction surprised Alister slightly.
"So it was you who killed it with the power of the little black one?!"