Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fan Gift Box Lottery

The NPC he had just created was inexplicably beaten up by another NPC in the game, and then, in reality, all the data concerning that NPC vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Brother Zhang was a bit dazed; this was no longer a matter of technical hacking, but had an air of a horror story.
“Did you find out what caused it?”
The technician shook his head, swallowed hard, and replied with difficulty, “No virus or signs of attack were found.”

Brother Zhang paced the room, his gaze growing increasingly vacant.
“An NPC that appeared out of nowhere, that can interact with existing data, that can attack autonomously and even delete the data…”

Having worked in the industry for so many years, Brother Zhang couldn’t think of any method capable of accomplishing these things.
It felt as if the entire continent of Arad had become a real world, with these NPCs living as actual people within it.

The situation grew ever more complicated. The incident was discovered by all the players and quickly spread online.
Now, the top trending topic on WB was this event.
DNF: Online NPC brawl!

Though the company was huge, the nature of the event had changed.
“Notify the higher-ups immediately. Have them send in professionals to take over!”

Within half an hour, a group of men in black suits, carrying toolboxes, appeared in the game operations office. They began connecting their devices and meticulously checking every part of the game client.

Meanwhile, the game wasn’t shut down, so players remained unaware of the severity of the situation. From their perspective, the NPC involved in the speedboat battle dissolved into a flash of white light, and the event page at the stall couldn’t be opened anymore.

“What’s going on here!”
“Did Edward beat up the other NPC and shut the whole thing down?”
“My gold coins! I bought ten million! If I can’t access the page, can I get a refund?”

Complaints and astonished remarks started brewing in major streaming rooms, on forums and WB. Curious onlookers, unaware of the full story, gathered to watch and gossip.

As a once wildly popular game, DNF’s hidden number of retired players was countless. Though they no longer played, whenever a DNF topic appeared, they couldn’t help but click and take a look.

The topic of NPCs fighting was steadily climbing, eventually reaching the number one spot on the trending list.

Meanwhile, on B Station, someone found a remarkable short video.

At first, viewers were drawn by the intriguing title and the beautiful girl on the thumbnail. Upon entering, they were stunned by the beauty of the girl in the video.

Especially with the top-down camera angle—it was not only pleasing to the eye, but full of perks.

However, her words were a bit puzzling—talking about otherworlds and demons. Was she acting out some kind of drama?

Then, a DNF player spotted the video and immediately recognized the girl as soon as he saw her.

Galantis! It was Galantis!

Whether it was the way she spoke, the filmed surroundings, or her appearance, she matched Galantis’s characteristics perfectly!

He shared the link in the game group and also posted it on the forum.

In no time, the video, which originally had only three hundred views, soared to over a million in just one hour, and was still rising!

It was so familiar!

Countless people commented below the video, praising the quality and perfection of the cosplay.

Galantis’s appearance was exactly as they had imagined—no heavy makeup, clothing with a real texture, and the armored glove on one hand had a metallic sheen.

Usually, cosplays fail to perfectly capture the characters from games or anime; whether the actor looks similar or not, the biggest gap is always in the costumes and the setting.

Yet in this video, the creator seemed unbothered by these issues, even deliberately showcasing the environment.

Whether it was the Seria tree hollow people passed through every day, or the dark city plaza streets, or other scenes, it all felt real—shot on location, not special effects.

Next, everyone focused on the creator’s name.

Edward Shett!

The name sounded so familiar!

Wait!

Everyone left identical comments below.

“Isn’t this the werewolf who beat up NPCs?”

“Is this the latest AI from the company? An NPC who can beat up another NPC!”

“Oh, I remember! This NPC actually touched Galantis’s face! I saw it in the game!”

Many players recalled it, and some bored ones even dug up footage.

In the video, an NPC named Edward Shett walked up to Galantis, said a few words, and then reached out to touch her cheek.

Combining the two videos, everyone suddenly understood, yet remained confused.

Was this the company’s new gameplay? A perfect blend of reality and virtuality?

No one realized this was a real shot, nor that the Galantis in the video was actually the Galantis from the game.

They marveled at the company’s powerful CG technology and praised their creativity.

Xie Jing’s account on B Station began to gain followers rapidly. In just one afternoon, Xie Jing had amassed 330,000 fans.

With 330,000 fans, and a rule of one gift box per hundred new followers, Xie Jing calmly looked at the 3,300 identical gift boxes lying in his inventory.

[Would you like to open one Fan Gift Box?]

The number could be set manually, meaning he could open all the boxes at once.

He decided to try one first.

After clicking confirm, one box began to open, emitting a faint glow.

[Congratulations, you have obtained a Teleportation Potion x1]

Xie Jing: “...”

Is that it? Just one?

Xie Jing instantly realized how stingy the system was!

One box yielded nothing but a single Teleportation Potion. With over three thousand boxes, it sounded like a lot, but what use was it?

Utterly pointless!

With a dark expression, Xie Jing silently set the number to 3,299 and opened all remaining gift boxes at once.

Lights flashed constantly, and icons began to appear one after another on the screen—almost all useless.

[Congratulations, you have obtained Remy’s Aid x100]

[Congratulations, you have obtained Teleportation Potion x20]

[Congratulations, you have obtained +7 Enhancement Scroll x1]

...

Garbage, garbage, all garbage!

After opening over five hundred boxes, a crisp, extraordinary sound startled Xie Jing.

[Congratulations, you have obtained +13 Enhancement Scroll x1]

After opening several more boxes, another crisp sound rang out.

[Congratulations, you have obtained Holy Blessing Potion x1]

...

Holy Blessing Potion—its effect was simple: upon character death, instant revival, and restoration of ten percent health and mana.

Which meant, right now, Xie Jing had gained an extra life!