VRMMORPG: The Other World Online

San Zhe snickered.

The corner of Cheng Xiu's lips twitched in amusement.

"What do you want to do?" Yaksha asked the Spoon in a cold voice.

The spoon jumped back a few steps and angled its head upwards like it had eyes that could see him.

"Fork," the spoon called out to its companion.

"Yeah?"

"Run!"

The spoon said and ran away.

The fork turned towards the direction that the other ran in and then at Yaksha.

It jumped and ran away, following its companion.

"That was so random," San Zhe commented after a while.

Cheng Xiu frowned. "I don't think so."

"Sister Xiu?"

"What if this was another Sub-plots?" Cheng Xiu asked him.

San Zhe blinked at her owlishly. "How many subplots are there in this dungeon?"

"How would I know?" Cheng Xiu asked him.

San Zhe sighed. "Are we going to face infinite amount of subplots until we kill all those rats?"

"There are multiple subplots," Yaksha said. "Each resident of the dungeon have their own storyline and part to play in the entire game after all. But there are only four main subplots. These are the ones that will give us the clues to solving the main problems of the dungeon."

Cheng Xiu was interested in these words. "How do we know we are in a relevant subplot or not then?"

"You can't," Yaksha said in a low voice. "You can only hope it is."

Cheng Xiu sighed. "Why are the dungeons of this game so convoluted?"

Yaksha looked at her for a moment and then at the long corridor. "Because they were not meant to be treated as game dungeons, but as training grounds."

"Huh?" Cheng Xiu looked at him in confusion.

"The ability of a person to realise the important facts from a strew of data is a unique skill that can only be developed over time," Yaksha said to her. "And yes, there are a few who only need a single subplot to work things out while there are many who can not piece together anything relevant even if they have experienced all the subplots."

"Like sister Xiu did!" San Zhe said in a voice full of wonder.

Yaksha did not comment on his words of flattery.

"Why would the game dungeons train people in such skills though?" Cheng Xiu asked him.

Yaksha sighed. "I don't know."

"I have pl-" Cheng Xiu stopped herself from slipping. "I have read that the dungeons of the Primordials Online game, which is called as the predecessor of the Other World or the Beta version was like other VR games of its time, just that its concept was Cultivation."

Yaksha frowned. "Because the Beta Test is a way for the System to see the compatibility of the players to the gaming environment and check the gaming experience itself. It does not need such deep rooted Dungeons for that."

Cheng Xiu sighed. "Forget it then. Let us follow those talking utensils then. Maybe we will discover something important!"

Cheng Xiu walked along the path the Fork and the Spoon took.

San Zhe scrambled after her.

Yaksha looked at her retreating figure with guilt in his eyes.

His mind went to a time when he was younger, just a ten year old boy.

He could still remember the wind in his hair and the summer heat on his skin. The lemon juice that he made for himself was left abandoned on the stool in front of him in the small garden because he put too much salt in it.

He could still remember the cool touch of his grandfather's hand on his as he grabbed his to comfort the little boy back then.

"Well," Grandpa's gravel-like voice said to him with a laugh, "Salt is good in summer."

The little boy flushed and turned away from the man with the salt and pepper hair, his cheeks bulging.

"Xing'er," the old man called. The little boy stared at the glass of lemon juice, grievance radiating from his small frame. "Okay. Grandpa was wrong. He shouldn't have laughed at the little prince when he spit out the lemon juice."

The little boy peeked at the man from under the lashes.

He saw that grandpa had a grin on his face.

Little Xing couldn't handle the mockery. "You liar! You don't regret laughing at all!"

Grandpa threw his head back and laughed harder.

Little Xing's eyes filled with tears and he ran away.

"Young Master!" one of the maids screamed and ran after him.

Little Xing knew the garden better than anyone, and hid behind the bushes, towards the side where his grandpa sat.

Grandpa was just about to get up to go look for his angry grandson when a robot servant rolled into the garden.

Grandpa exchanged words with the servant and sat down again.

Little Xing was upset that grandpa was not even looking for him.

Just as he was about to go over and complain a woman in a pain white shirt and grey skirt was ushered in by the Robo Servant.

Little Xing crouched further down. There were guests. He couldn't run over to grandpa casually when there were guests near him. If he did, then his grandma would be very angry at him for breaking the rules again.

Little Xing wanted to hear what they were talking about though.

Big Brother Xuan had said to him that adults always told secrets to each other when children are not around and that if you knew those secrets, you would grow up faster!

He crawled slowly closer to the pair.

"-it," the woman said in between sobs, "They are mine, Master Lu."

Grandpa Lu snorted. "Yours? You sold that right away yourself, Mrs Ming. You knew what that project meant to your father."

The woman looked agitated. "I was wrong. I did not think…he would actually have such a break through!"

Grandpa Lu rolled his eyes. "If what you said is true, then the Qin Family will gain fame in this world and the others. They will have a great standing in the Alliance. Why are you so against it?"

"Because he wants to expand the test subjects now!" the woman screamed.

Little Xing behind the bushes cringed away from the loud voice.

Grandpa Lu did not even blink his eyes at her words or the volume that she used. "So?"

The woman looked frustrated. "The soldiers…some of them used to be Qiless."

"Used to be?" Grandpa Lu raised an eyebrow.

"There are signs that they are awakening now!" the woman screamed even more.

She expected the man in front of her to be agitated but he remained still. "Are you not agitated by this news?"

"You should not believe everything that you hear outsde," Grandpa Lu said and took a sip of the Lemon Juice in front of him. He scrunched up his nose. "Really salty, ah."

The woman's face flushed in anger. She felt like the words that he said was aimed at her instead of at the Lemon Juice. After all, he was Master Lu, how could the juice delivered to him be not perfect? He was clearly calling her salty!

"I should not have expected an abnormal man like you to disapprove of those abominations that Qin wants to create!" the woman said with a sneer. "I guess those rumours are true then!"

Grandpa gave her a gentle smile. "My dear, I am 104 years old. Don't try to use such wordplays on me. It wont work."

The woman was agitated again. "Why can you not see reason. He is saying things like he is going to create phases to expose the Qiless to the Core Stimulator over time! He said he wants to give the Qiless an opportunity to be like us!"

Grandpa Lu just looked at her.

"Are you not even going to try?" the woman asked in a low voice. "Are you not his…his…his…friend?"

Grandpa Lu let out a light chuckle. "There is no need to be so conspicious about it. I have made my intentions for him clear, it is he who wants otherwise."

The woman frowned.

"I used to be like you," Grandpa Lu said to her. "But once you have lived long enough and met people from different walks of life, you will start to accept a lot of things. Why are the soldiers abominations because they have Qi now? How are they different?"

"They are!" the woman insisted.

"Why though?"

"They just are!"

Grandpa Lu sighed. "Mrs Ming, you should try to be a lot more open minded."

The woman flushed even more. "You tell that man…you tell that man that if he does not stop that abomination experiment of his, then his precious daughter would return to her home."

Grandpa Lu frowned. "Young Qin Wu is carrying your grandchild. There are only a few weeks left."

The woman smirked. "My son is so capable. He can find another woman, more capable than this one. I can have many grandchildren. But that Qin girl, she will lose her rationality once my son abandons her. You tell that Qin I said so."

The man frowned. "Why can't you tell this to him?"

The woman scoffed. "Can the In-Laws be more important than the Lover…I mean…you know what I mean."

Grandpa Lu watched as the woman walked away confidently.

"Come out," he said to the bush next to him.

Little Xing came out with a guilty expression.

He expected to be scolded but Grandpa Lu just dusted off his clothes. "Go back inside and practice the violin for me today. I will be back by dinner."

Before Little Xing could respond, Grandpa Lu walked away.

The dungeons of the Other World was not meant for the ordinary people when it was first constructed. It was a place to train the Spiritual and Mental Powers of the Alliance soldiers.. And it would seem that the System would carry out the desires of its master despite the fact that said master was dead for years now.