Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 102 - 080. Global Wanted

Chapter 102: 080. Global Wanted

Fifteen minutes later, after getting dressed, Lu Run witnessed two shootings and a gang firefight at the street corner before the nervous him was taken away by two professional testers, Xue Nian and Luo Le.

"This game doesn’t even have a teleport function, you need a communication tool to contact people, and you can only rely on yourself to get around, what a hassle."

Luo Le’s appearance is that of a sturdy young man with half of his short hair dyed purple and three fluorescent crystal tubes on the left side of his face. With his hands in his pockets, even though he had no weapons on him, he emitted a dangerous aura sufficient to deter the local youths from approaching.

"How about it, kid? Will you take some shots here?"

Xue Nian was even more massive than Luo Le, with shoulders as wide as a door and a buzz cut. He wore denim jeans washed to fading and a laborer’s wife-beater; he looked like an elephant—gentle in appearance but capable of flattening someone with a single stomp.

Lu Run looked at the NPCs whose eyes reflected wariness and suspicion. He was moved, knowing this was just a game... But the intense visual impact and the complexity in those eyes made it impossible to ignore.

The lifelike grime and stains.

The authentic smell of kitchen waste.

The poor, whose prosthetics were rusty junk smeared with the smell of machine oil, would just thump on them when they malfunctioned. They could be as light-footed as can be yet were embroiled in brawling and fighting, addicted to injecting "drugs," indulging in alcohol, or even writhing their lower bodies in public places, entranced by low-budget films reflected on their retinas.

The absurd lives they led were a frightening reality.

"Right here is fine."

Following the direction given by Xue Nian, Lu Run activated the photo feature and continuously took pictures and filmed. To those NPCs, it looked as if a neatly dressed corporate employee would occasionally stop and examine them as if appraising curious goods.

"Fuck off to the side." Some NPCs, having been the subject of Lu Run’s photography for a bit too long, immediately flipped him off and started to curse:

"What’s with the corporate dog? Think you’re something? Keep fucking staring and I’ll slice you!"

Lu Run, focused on his work, replied impatiently:

"Shut up! Stick to what you should be doing!"

"You motherf—"

The NPC immediately had bulging eyes, pulling out a dagger from within, about to stab at himself.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Luo Le raised his hand, the skin of his palm split open revealing a gun barrel, and shot the other party’s chest twice. The figure stumbled, and then a hole was blown right through the forehead, with brain matter and blood spurting out immediately.

"A level-zero street thug, truly trash, doesn’t even have any Experience."

Luo Le muttered.

Lu Run lowered his head, adjusted the angle, and nearly placed his face by the gunshot wound on the body, meticulously capturing the moment of death—the shock, fear, and a hint of regret in the person’s expression.

Although it still felt disgusting, knowing that the person’s death amounted to nothing more than a pile of Experience made the fear significantly less.

The him who was severely scared just moments ago was now facing a corpse with ease, accepting the fact—it was just a game after all.

Players still had supreme strength; it’s just that the game details were too real, too rich, with an overly strong sense of immersion.

"The material collection here is complete. Next, according to the plan, we should shoot some high-end imagery, and then PV promotional material for ’Sovereign’ class occupations—we’ll need to find a character skilled in Arcane Energy for the latter."

Having gathered the materials, Lu Run turned and spoke to the two testers.

"High-end imagery—how do we do that? We’ve tested for two months and haven’t found any place with a higher-end feel than Frost Plated’s Femocratic Progressive Memorial Hall."

Luo Le continued complaining with dissatisfaction:

"This game is simply trash, no autopathing, no teleport, no map, always resorting to phones, and you get hungry over time, what kind of game is this."

Surely only the all-capable photonic brain could render such rich detail.

"What does the company training manual say? Treat this place the same as the real world—stop complaining. Anyway, for high-end imagery, I have an idea—Little Brother Lu, what’s your identity?"

Xue Nian asked, unconcerned.

"I’m a lower-level employee at GTB Corporation."

Lu Run pulled out his credentials from his pocket, suddenly curious:

"Wait, there’s no player inventory or something like that in the game?"

"There is, but it hasn’t been implemented in this version. As internal testers, we are only responsible for detecting game issues and maintaining the System. As long as there’s nothing wrong with it and it can still run, we won’t interfere without need..."

Xue Nian shrugged and took Lu Run’s phone, hailing a taxi.

"If you want to film high-end buildings, you must head to the GTB branch. That place is a landmark building in various hemispherical cities."

The group sat silently in the taxi, chatting in a voice channel.

Xue Nian briefly introduced Frost Plated’s background to Lu Run, along with some important game operations to note.

Discussing game data issues, Lu Run suddenly became puzzled:

"Brother Xue, Brother Luo, neither of you have admin permissions?"

"Besides the photonic brain, no one can manipulate game data," Luo Le answered. "This game is connected to the issue of electronic immigration—it’s taken very seriously by the nation."

"Electronic immigration—that’s not just a conspiracy theory?"

"Who knows. If it weren’t for electronic immigration, why would those higher-ups be keeping an eye on us?" Xue Nian said casually.

Lu Run soon became distracted by the scenery flashing by, finding the cultural landscape of Frost Plated to be somewhat bizarre.

All sculptures were female, recruitment ads depicted lipstick-adorned shapely female soldiers, court publicity cases highlighted the protection of women’s rights, and even the word "hero" had been altered to "heroine," sounding extremely awkward.

Most of the women seen on the streets were dressed fashionably, young and beautiful, while all the men were like peasants, utterly plain and shabby, without a hint of masculinity.

"What a crappy country. How can this attract players into the game? What were the design department thinking?"

Lu Run felt quite uncomfortable as this could significantly affect players’ favorability towards Frost Plated.

"Why don’t you just take more shots of women’s thighs, boobs, and butts? That’d surely get some dirty old men to join."

"After they join and find out about the low status of men, won’t they complain about false advertising..."

"You just say whether the women look good or not!"

Lu Run was speechless, but he adhered to the principle that as long as he wasn’t banned, he’d take the raciest shots possible, luring in one player at a time.

Anyway, it should be the customer service reps fielding complaints on the phone, right? That shouldn’t have anything to do with him... right?

The pacing of the game was considerably slow, but it was filled with rich experiences. When they arrived at the GTB branch building, even their vehicle’s AI had the gall to haggle with them.

"According to company policy, your charge is 23 Derby, not a penny less."

The vehicle’s AI projected the image of a huffing child as an emoji, locking the doors and preventing them from getting out.

"23 Derby? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Luo Le laughed in exasperation:

"You have the cheek to charge so much for a two-kilometer ride? Go screw yourself!"

"How about we slash a zero off that?" Xue Nian gave Luo Le a look, leaned over to block the camera, and without a word, Luo Le raised his hand and flicked out a data cable to connect to the vehicle.

The vehicle’s AI immediately freaked out, roaring in anger:

"You’re having a dine and dash, beep beep— Have a pleasant journey and we look forward to serving you again."

Hisss—

The car door opened, and the three of them quickly jumped out.

"The intrusion skill of a Secondary Profession [Hacker] sure is handy."

Luo Le rubbed his neck, saying casually:

"Hey, cameraman, we’ve brought you here, so hurry up and take your shots. Once you’re done here, we still need to leave the city to check system integrity in the Outer World region. Don’t waste time."

Lu Run lifted his head, and only after his neck started aching was he able to see the top of the GTB branch building. It was teeming with big shots; hover cars ascended and descended like they cost nothing. Various elegantly dressed people were coming and going, and the techno-savvy white building was surrounded by floating halos and projection screens, broadcasting all sorts of events and news 24/7, with no consideration for power consumption.

"Two kilometers away lies a district filled with crime, poverty, and bloody conflict."

Lu Run felt the impact of this contrast and took out his work ID, deciding to film inside.

Just as he was about to step inside the building, the screens projecting from the GTB branch all changed color uniformly. What were originally projections displaying world events and economic fluctuations suddenly turned into a series of mug shots with wanted orders.

Many people instantly stopped to gather, looking up with expectancy at the GTB projection screens.

Lu Run noticed that most of these people had modified their bodies and were armed to the teeth.

A broadcast announcement also began:

"To all citizens dreaming of overnight riches, welcome to this week’s bounty hunting list."

"This week’s list totals 20 individuals, with only one change from last week—the ’Wolf King’ Jedimosen Zhulefu, whose 100,000 Derby bounty has been claimed. No need to waste your efforts there. Please prepare yourselves to hunt the others."

A hulking, bearded man was marked with an X, and immediately, Lu Run heard a collective sigh of disappointment.

"The new entry on the list comes from a bounty by the Fourth Rule Agents."

The projection highlighted a poster—showing an exceptionally handsome man with night-black hair, deep gray eyes like steel, and pale skin indicating he had Outer World lineage.

"The new bounty target—’Scavenger’ Li Aozi!"

"Possesses high-level Arcane Energy, brutally violent, capable of slaughtering Beta Rank fighters, absolutely terrifying strength!"

"First time on the bounty list and it’s a Five-Star Wanted Order, truly an impressive young achiever! His bounty has reached an enormous sum of 2 million Derby. What are you waiting for? Get moving!"

million!

Both Luo Le and Xue Nian couldn’t help but curse.

How massive was that? 2 million Derby was equivalent to a senior white-collar’s 20 years of salary; it was enough to buy a house in the capital, or even a military Mecha.

Gurgle—

The surrounding Bounty Hunters’ eyes glazed over with greed.

Suddenly, the host paused.

"We apologize for the mistake on our part."

"The bounty for Li Aozi is no longer 2 million, we’re very sorry."

A chorus of boos came from the crowd, and some shook their heads, ready to leave.

The next moment, the host spoke slowly:

"Just moments ago, the Frost Plated Government announced an additional 8 million Derby, plus a property in Twin Star City with a 90-year lease. Total value—20 million Derby."

"The Frost Plated Government’s requirement is: global manhunt, dead or alive."