Chapter 1 Background

Li Ang gave Tang Ruonuo a rough explanation of the background of the matter, and then repeatedly refreshed the anti-996Lise project page on the tablet, but still did not see any traces of garbled characters.

"Well... there are three possibilities."

Li Ang said seriously, "First, the page has been reset and the cognitive bias curse has been removed.

"Second, the previous curse was specifically aimed at Xia Junqiang. After it took effect, the caster immediately cancelled it.

"Third, we didn't meet the conditions to trigger the curse."

Tang Ruonuo frowned and pondered, and quickly reacted.

The probability of the first possibility is not high, because the number of visits to the anti-996Lise page is not small. If all visitors were subjected to cognitive bias curses, I am afraid that there would have been a series of death incidents exposed long ago.

The second possibility cannot be tested at present. The two players cannot enter Xia Junqiang's room now and search on his computer.

Even if they now find an intelligence dealer and buy a set of hacking software from him, trying to invade Xia Junqiang's private computer is not realistic—there is too little time left, and it is still uncertain whether the computer is scrapped or not.

The third possibility is the most likely.

If the unknown caster widely deployed the cognitive bias curse on the web page, and set certain trigger conditions (for example, the curse will only take effect when the browser has red hair),

Then it is indeed possible to narrow the scope of impact and accurately curse certain groups.

But the problem is, who knows what characteristics of Xia Junqiang satisfied the trigger conditions of the curse?

Li Ang and Tang Ruonuo are not mystery experts, and they don't have time to verify the specific process of Xia Junqiang's curse being triggered.

The mission objective of the first stage is to find out the cause of Xia Junqiang's death.

The two guessed that he died of a curse, but they have not yet figured out the specific process of the curse being triggered and taking effect, and failed to meet the task completion requirements of the first stage.

As the mission deadline approached, the atmosphere between the two players became more and more strange.

It would be best if the cooperative mission in the ordinary world could be completed, but it would not be a big loss if it could not be completed.

And once the time limit ends and the friendly fire shield between the two is removed, the first thing they will probably do is to guard against attacks from each other.

There is no trust between players. The strong can easily manipulate the weak, using the weak's real identity and life safety as bargaining chips to threaten the other party to hand over all the equipment and props on their body, and then sell the weak in a package.

Such things are quite common overseas. Some players with bad character even form hunting groups to actively look for extraordinary events and hunt down other players who are unfortunate enough to enter their sight.

Lone wolf players and major official organizations all hate hunting groups, but as long as there are interests, there will be disputes and killings.

'If I can't think of a way, I'll have to fight him head-on...'

Tang Ruonuo's expression was still cold, but her brain was running rapidly, and she said silently in her heart, 'If we really fight, I'm afraid I'm not his opponent.

'This guy's basic attributes are so high, it's completely unlike the physique that ordinary players of my level should have.'

It is true that Tang Ruonuo is a player above level ten, but she is not a completely combat-specialized player, nor has she joined any organization, and only maintains a "acquaintance but not familiar" relationship with members of the Special Affairs Bureau.

If she really fights with Li Ang, Tang Ruonuo doesn't think she has the advantage—even if she has a golden retriever dog with extraordinary abilities next to her.

It's difficult...

Tang Ruonuo sighed inwardly, but her expression did not change at all—any subtle expression would make the other party suspicious, and then amplify his killing intent towards her.

"I have a way to verify the third possibility." Tang Ruonuo said, "But I have to send a message to my friend."

"Oh?"

Li Ang raised his eyebrows, "Is the friend you mentioned a mystery scholar?"

"Sort of, she has some research on mystical rituals."

Tang Ruonuo answered vaguely, staring straight at Li Ang, waiting for the other party to agree.

From the beginning of the mission, the two players have been inseparable, as if they were Siamese twins. Doing so is mainly to prevent the other party from notifying the official organization and selling the other party out.

Actively contacting a third person is likely to be considered a provocative act, and there is also a threat of information leakage.

"Um..."

Li Ang frowned and thought for a while, then nodded and let go of the tablet that originally belonged to Tang Ruonuo.

The latter took the tablet, placed it on the coffee table, swiped it a few times, found a qq friend with the note name "White Bear" (the avatar is a polar bear), and sent him a photo of Xia Junqiang's screen, and sent a message.

"Hello, this picture is of an extraordinary event I just encountered. I guess it is a cognitive bias curse in mysticism. Can you find a way to figure out its trigger conditions, form of action, and curse target?"

After sending the message, Tang Ruonuo and Li Ang waited quietly for several minutes, staring at the tablet screen in silence.

This White Bear's qq friend is actually Tang Ruonuo's roommate and best friend, who is also a model, a young Russian girl from Russia.

Several months ago, the two were almost randomly selected by the system to become players at the same time.

For so long, Tang Ruonuo and the Russian girl have been supporting and encouraging each other, struggling to survive in terrifying and desperate missions, and their pure feelings for each other have also increased sharply.

The qq account she is using now and White Bear's qq account were both registered before, and there is nothing in them.

The two agreed that once they encounter any emergency (for example, being held hostage, coerced, kidnapped, or forced into a regular mission),

They will use these two qq accounts to contact each other. When contacting, they can also further express their current situation and the hidden requirements they are making to the other party based on the tone, wording, and punctuation.

(For example, if there are the two words "hello" at the beginning, it proves that she has entered a regular mission and is with another player she doesn't know. If there is no punctuation at the end, it proves that she is still safe...)

Tang Ruonuo sent a request to her best friend who is proficient in mysticism, as well as the code hidden in the request.

And that best friend quickly reacted, while preparing to support Tang Ruonuo, she typed and sent a message.

"The garbled characters on the screen are indeed a cognitive bias curse.

"The source of the curse and the caster are unknown.

"The trigger conditions for the curse are: having a sense of values that is biased towards the broad masses of working people, possessing a robust and simple set of values, and harboring hatred for those business owners who exploit the surplus wealth created by workers.

"The ultimate goal of the curse is to further solidify the worldview, outlook on life, and values of the cursed person, making them tough, tenacious, and not easily subdued."

As that best friend gave the answer, Li Ang and Tang Ruonuo also heard the system prompt, reminding them that the first stage mission objective had been completed and they had entered the second stage.