39: Trapped in a copy!

“Yamashiro-kun, I was just looking for you!” Ito Hidekazu quickly steadied Yamashiro Kojiro.

“There’s no time left! What have you been doing?!”

“Why have our economic indicators actually dropped?!”

“Did you convey my orders?”

Facing Ito Hidekazu’s barrage of questions, Yamashiro Kojiro frantically brought the display screen in front of Ito Hidekazu.

The first news item on it was:

【Urgent Bulletin: The police of Dongying Island have confessed to the bribery of leader Ito Hidekazu, and the mastermind behind the chaos in Dongying has been identified.】

【Legal Exposure: Ito Hidekazu and his staff are vampires who disregard human rights!】

【International Special Report: Dongying Island leader Ito Hidekazu has implemented a 24-hour work system domestically, severely violating the Azure Star Human Rights Convention!】

【The World Peace Organization has issued a statement, Ito Hidekazu’s actions have severely disrupted the stability of the planet!】

【The International Court announced that Dongying’s accelerated production is suspected to be due to Ito Hidekazu’s strong war preparations! The International Court has ruled Ito Hidekazu guilty of premeditated war crimes.】

【Bribery, exploitation, destruction—he is the devil of Dongying Island!】

…

Overwhelming negative news flooded the screen, making Ito Hidekazu’s head throb.

“Why is it like this again?” Ito Hidekazu asked angrily.

“Didn’t we say the domestic media was already controlled? Why is there still such negative news now?”

Yamashiro Kojiro gasped heavily. Hearing Ito Hidekazu’s question, he felt a bit helpless.

You burned your bridges and wanted the police and courts to be scapegoats, so naturally they would expose you.

The control over Dongying Island was already precarious; this reckless operation was naturally the last straw that broke the camel's back.

“Mr. Ito, please continue to look…”

Ito Hidekazu scrolled down and found several virtual documents below.

《Dongying Island Land Union Impeachment Proposal against Ito Hidekazu!》

《Dongying Island Chamber of Commerce Impeachment Proposal against Ito Hidekazu!》

《Dongying Island Film Association Impeachment Proposal against Ito Hidekazu!》

《Dongying Island Four Islands Federation Impeachment Proposal against Ito Hidekazu!》

…

Hundreds of impeachment documents were laid out before Ito Hidekazu, overwhelming him and making him feel suffocated.

“Mr. Ito… all sectors of Dongying Island have completely fallen out with us…”

“We… we have completely lost control of Dongying Island,” Yamashiro Kojiro said helplessly.

“The mission is actually over.”

“This Raging Sea and Surging Waves instance… we still failed.”

Yamashiro Kojiro’s words hit Ito Hidekazu like a heavy punch.

During this time, Ito Hidekazu’s mind had been in a state of high tension. This sudden blow left his mind blank.

After completely emptying his mind, he listened quietly and indeed heard the sound of other Challengers wailing outside the command room.

“It’s over…”

“It’s over? Just like that?”

He sat on the sofa, dumbfounded, at a loss for words.

It’s over, everything is over.

He had worked so hard for so long, meticulously planning everything, only for it to end in failure.

At this moment, Ito Hidekazu had to think about his future.

Although this mission was the Emperor’s decree, the Emperor would certainly not take the blame.

At that time, all the blame would definitely fall on him.

Mission failure could result in tens of thousands of lives being erased!

If such a thing were exposed, how could Ito Hidekazu survive in the Great Harmony Settlement? He would completely fall from grace!

Suddenly, a cold glint flashed in Ito Hidekazu’s eyes!

No!

Absolutely not!

If he truly lost control of Dongying Island, it would mean the mission had been declared a failure.

In that case, he should have had points deducted and been teleported out of the instance.

How could he still be sitting here now?!

This Yamashiro Kojiro must be trying to mislead him!

Ito Hidekazu’s mind was already somewhat confused. He even suspected that the Yamashiro Kojiro in front of him might be fake, an NPC impersonating him at Lin Ye’s behest.

In an instant, Ito Hidekazu grabbed Yamashiro Kojiro by the collar and roared angrily:

“You dare to lie to me! If we failed, why are we still in the instance?!”

“Did you not follow my commands, so you’re just trying to fob me off?!”

Facing Ito Hidekazu’s accusations, Yamashiro Kojiro, though displeased, remained polite.

“Mr. Ito… I don’t know why the instance hasn’t closed yet, but the fact is, it is as it is.”

“Nonsense! Baka!” Ito Hidekazu’s spit directly splattered on Yamashiro’s glasses.

“You… are you Lin Ye’s spy! Speak! Are you a spy?!”

This time, Ito Hidekazu’s words also angered Yamashiro Kojiro.

He suspected that Ito Hidekazu was delirious at this moment, purely living in a dream.

He had personally carried out all operations, unlike Ito Hidekazu, who had always directed remotely.

The command console of the arsenal had completely lost connection with Dongying Island!

Their loss of control was a foregone conclusion; dwelling on such matters now was truly foolish.

Bang!

Yamashiro Kojiro punched Ito Hidekazu directly in the face, knocking him to the ground.

In the real world, with the Sky Curtain monitoring, hitting people was not allowed. Fighting and causing trouble would very likely result in severe punishment directly from the Sky Curtain.

Previously, during instance missions, the Sky Curtain also did not allow Challengers to harm each other. Moreover, because of the Emperor’s decree, he couldn’t disobey Ito Hidekazu and could only obey.

But now, since the mission had failed, everything was irrelevant.

This interval before teleporting out of the instance was a gray area, a free-for-all, and he had no reason to give Ito Hidekazu face anymore.

“Enough! Ito Hidekazu, you’ve gone mad!”

“We’re all LV2. Now that the instance is over, why are you still ordering me around?!”

Saying that, Yamashiro Kojiro pulled Ito Hidekazu up from the ground and slapped him again.

“Originally, if the mission failed, everyone would only have 100 points deducted, and no one would die. It’s because of your stubbornness that the mission changed, leading to many of my students dying because of you!”

“What right do you have to still be yelling here?!”

After a burst of shouting and venting, Yamashiro Kojiro slammed the door and left.

…

Yamashiro Kojiro’s beating sobered Ito Hidekazu considerably.

He gritted his teeth, then gently touched his aching cheeks, filled with frustration.

Actually, getting slapped wasn’t a big deal. According to the Sky Curtain’s mechanism, any damage sustained in the instance would be completely erased the moment one was teleported out.

And Yamashiro Kojiro’s public assault would surely be witnessed by the Emperor. Once they were out of the instance, justice would be served.

The only thing Ito Hidekazu was still puzzled about was why he couldn’t be teleported out of the instance yet.

“Sky Curtain! Why am I still in the instance? Has the mission not failed yet?”

【Sky Curtain Notification: Challengers have lost control of Dongying Island and cannot economically surpass Eagle Sauce within the specified time. The mission has been judged a failure!】

【However, within the instance, special instance settings take precedence over basic settings! Due to Designer Lin Ye’s special settings for this instance, points have not been deducted from Challengers, nor have the surviving Challengers been teleported out of the instance yet.】

“Settings? What kind of settings could there be?”

Ito Hidekazu immediately had another ominous premonition.

Through these two instance experiences, he had developed a psychological shadow regarding Lin Ye’s special settings.

These tricky and bizarre settings were Lin Ye’s forte. And each setting had a world-changing impact on the instance’s progress.

【Designer Lin Ye believes that Challengers’ unilateral harm to NPCs in the instance is unfair, as Challengers can simply leave after harming instance NPCs, leaving the NPCs helpless; therefore, in this instance, if a Challenger intentionally harms a friendly NPC, the instance closing time will be extended.】

“Extend the instance closing time?!”

Ito Hidekazu felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.

If that were the case, wouldn’t it mean Lin Ye could trap Challengers in his instance?

In all the years of instance development on Azure Star, such a situation had never occurred!

“This is too unreasonable!”

“This behavior is completely malicious torment by the instance Designer towards Challengers.”

【The Sky Curtain, after strict review, deems this setting to be entirely reasonable.】

【The Sky Curtain’s purpose for instances is to provide Challengers with a world close to reality, thereby enhancing Azure Star’s various technological capabilities. Mr. Ito Hidekazu’s act of intentionally harming friendly NPCs has violated this original intention and also has a high probability of affecting your lifestyle in the real world. The Sky Curtain believes you should receive additional punishment.】

The Sky Curtain’s explanation made Ito Hidekazu’s mind even more chaotic.

Is intentionally harming NPCs also wrong? Many previous instances actually had similar settings!

How did something like this become strictly prohibited here?

Could Lin Ye be the Sky Curtain’s favorite son?!

However, he still understood the basic meaning.

Simply put, even if he lost now, he couldn’t leave the instance; instead, he had to remain in the instance and continue to suffer.

He clenched his fists and roared.

“Lin Ye! Damn you!”

This was blatant humiliation!

The mission had already failed, what was he still doing in the instance? Just waiting to die?

Lin Ye just wanted all the world’s viewers to see his pathetic state in the instance!

“Sky Curtain, how long will this instance last?”

“It can’t just go on indefinitely, can it?”

【Sky Curtain Notification: The instance duration will be extended until the special events triggered by the Challenger in the instance are completely concluded!】

【The Challenger still has two special events to complete:】

【Global Enemy】 and 【Popular Uprising】!