381: You are abnormal

Chapter 381: You Are the Abnormal Ones

Not long after, Lu Ran arrived in front of Cen Yu Nuo.

He glanced at Liu Xinxin and the others, then said to Cen Yu Nuo, "Tell me, what exactly is going on? These monks should be newly updated products, but it seems like you've known them for a long time? And... they said you're not a professional?"

At this point,

Lu Ran sized up Cen Yu Nuo from head to toe.

She looked like a professional no matter how he saw it.

Equipment, level, profession, health—which part wasn't that of a professional?

And she could form teams, etc.

This had nothing to do with NPCs at all.

Cen Yu Nuo thought for a moment but shook her head.

She either didn't want to explain or didn't know where to start.

After a few seconds of contemplation,

Cen Yu Nuo said, "Do you remember when I told you during the Hundred Cities League that I'd take you somewhere fun after the National War?"

Lu Ran was startled.

Of course, he remembered. Later, when he met Cen Yu Nuo by the sea, she had even reminded him.

"I remember. When are we going?" Lu Ran asked casually.

To be honest, Lu Ran wasn't very interested in going to some fun place.

But now, he was extremely curious about the secret surrounding Cen Yu Nuo.

He thought that if he could go to the place Cen Yu Nuo mentioned, he should be able to get a general understanding.

"Now," Cen Yu Nuo said without hesitation.

Huh?

Now?

Just like that!

However, Lu Ran had no objections.

Anyway, Sakura had been dealt with.

All that was left of Sakura was land, completely becoming Lu Ran's leveling ground.

Moreover, after Lu Ran destroyed all the main cities, the teleportation arrays also became unusable.

Other professionals couldn't teleport to Sakura.

If they wanted to go, they could only cross the Forbidden Sea.

The difficulty and danger involved probably meant no one would be interested in going.

"Then let's go," Lu Ran immediately said.

Cen Yu Nuo was a little surprised that Lu Ran agreed so readily and didn't ask any more questions.

Then,

Cen Yu Nuo looked at Liu Xinxin and the others.

Liu Xinxin immediately understood Cen Yu Nuo's thoughts and casually said, "You two do as you please. Lu Ran doesn't need us to worry about him. Go quickly and come back quickly."

Since she had spoken, there was nothing more to discuss.

So, Cen Yu Nuo immediately went with Lu Ran to the Central Square.

They used a teleportation array to teleport to a main city at the foot of the Taiyin Mountain Range. Lu Ran had never been there before.

"From here, exit the city, walk through, enter the mountain range, and you'll be there soon," Cen Yu Nuo explained.

She seemed very familiar with the place.

"Aren't you from Jialong City? You grew up in the imperial capital. How are you so familiar with this place?" Lu Ran asked curiously.

"Not particularly familiar. I haven't been here in a long time," Cen Yu Nuo said, shaking her head.

Lu Ran wasn't sure if it was his imagination.

Ever since the Great World updated with new data, Cen Yu Nuo's personality seemed different from before.

She seemed less lively than before, and her emotions were somewhat gloomy.

He wondered if it was related to the monks chasing her earlier.

After leaving the main city,

The two entered the Taiyin Mountain Range.

Lu Ran noticed that after entering the Taiyin Mountain Range, the direction ahead of them was an undeveloped area.

"Further ahead from here should be a newly updated map area, an expanded one. It's very large, and probably no professionals have been here yet," Lu Ran said, analyzing the map.

"Yes, newly updated," Cen Yu Nuo nodded and said.

"But you seem very familiar with this place, and the place you want to take me to is actually an undeveloped area. But before the data update, before this map appeared, you already knew about this place? Why?" Lu Ran continued to ask.

Looking at Cen Yu Nuo,

It was as if she had long known that this update would bring such a map, and even before the Hundred Cities League, she had already decided to bring Lu Ran here.

Cen Yu Nuo hesitated, opened her mouth, but then shook her head again, saying, "It's a long story, hard to explain clearly. You'll know soon."

After speaking, she continued to walk forward.

Not long after,

Lu Ran saw something amazing.

It wasn't a monster or anything like that.

It was a village!

An ancient mountain village!

Around the mountain village, there were many wild monsters, but they were all far from the village. The surroundings of these mountain villages were also equipped with some defenses.

But they weren't data-based shields; they were ancient defensive facilities.

"These villagers, although they are all humans, are not professionals. Are they NPCs?" Lu Ran asked in surprise.

"You could say that," Cen Yu Nuo nodded and said.

"It's strange. Why are these the things that were updated this time? And the monks before, they were clearly human, but not professionals. I wonder if they can awaken professions and become professionals? If so, then there's really no difference between them and humans," Lu Ran analyzed.

At this point,

Lu Ran suddenly froze and looked sharply at Cen Yu Nuo.

If...

Cen Yu Nuo was such an existence, an NPC who awakened to become a professional, then what those monks said before made perfect sense!

Cen Yu Nuo was an NPC!

"In your definition, what is an NPC?" Cen Yu Nuo suddenly asked.

"They are different from normal professionals. They were updated by the world's datafication, not born and raised here since childhood. That's probably what an NPC is," Lu Ran said casually.

"So, you think they are just simple data, without self-awareness, that data is just driving their behavior to cooperate with this Datafication World, and that's all?" Cen Yu Nuo continued to ask.

To be honest, Lu Ran did have that thought.

At least, he certainly did before.

Weren't all those monsters in the wilderness like that?

Dying, respawning, dropping equipment, giving experience—this was the meaning of their existence!

It was the meaning of these data-born monsters' existence!

"I used to think that way, but it's different now. Whether it's the monks before or the villagers here, though strange, they're different from those monsters," Lu Ran said.

"Is it strange?" Cen Yu Nuo's eyes flickered a few times.

Then she suddenly turned to look at Lu Ran.

She said with a serious expression, "What do you think these villagers were like before the world's datafication upgrade? Did they not exist? Did datafication give them memories, ways of life, and even intelligence, and that's why they appeared?"

Lu Ran was somewhat taken aback. This question was a bit profound.

He shook his head and said, "I don't know, and I can't guess. I haven't encountered it."

Cen Yu Nuo continued, "Then have you ever thought that these people are the normal humans, and you, who are datafied, are actually the abnormal ones? It's not that they were updated; rather, the datafied world integrated into their normal world. They existed before the upgrade, just in another world."

Hearing this,

Lu Ran's heart was greatly shaken!