Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  “Hua La—”


  “Hua La—”


  A tiny crawling insect was sprawled on the wall of a corridor.

  As the sound of chains dragging was heard, the insect’s feelers quivered twice, and three furry Hamsters carried their hand chains and walked to a room door.

  “Resting Room 09”


  The words were written on the door.

  “I want to go home…… My fruit……”


  The eyes of the middle Hamster were full of aggrieved tears.

  “Aren’t they going to give us our meals?” The Hamster at the back was full of grievances.

  “Don’t give up! We can escape this prison!” the Hamster at the forefront said firmly.

  They heard voices coming from within the resting room.

  “You can climb on his head and use the weapon to stab his eyes.”


  “What if our equipment is swallowed?”


  “No problem. I’ll distract him. If I die, use the opportunity to kill him.”


  “I’ll stab his heart!”


  “Koo loo……”


  The foremost Hamster swallowed hard. The Hamsters behind were trembling in fright.

  The foremost Hamster raised his paw and knocked on the door.

  “Is it our turn?”


  “Open the door.”


  “I wonder when the mission ends.”


  Voices were heard from within, and someone came to open the door. Two Goblins stood at the doorway, and three Goblins sat on the horizontal benches meant for the competitors.

  As the Goblins were short, their feet were unable to touch the ground when they sat on the benches.

  The scene should have comical. However, seeing the Goblins wearing shiny armor, wielding sharp swords, and looking at them with razor-sharp gazes, and after hearing the discussion just now, it was a different story.

  The three Hamsters trembled once again.

  “Zi!”


  “Zi!”


  “Zi!”


  The three Hamsters said to the Goblins consecutively.

  The Goblins were taken aback by the words of the three Hamsters.

  NotWearingPants was the first to recover as he had a sharper acuity.

  “This is a mission!”


  “I said that holding us in this room for tens of minutes with all the drawers locked wasn’t normal!” BurningChestHair said confidently.

  “What do you mean?” Peasant looked puzzled.

  “You’re dumb.” Sylvanas pointed at the three Hamsters and said, “Take a look at the three Hamsters. They’re not taking small roles. They’re the crux to the Plot. And what about this!”


  Sylvanas raised the paws of a Hamster and pointed to the metal handcuffs as she said, “They say ‘Winterfell death row inmates!’ In games, death row inmates usually have missions! They’re mostly NPCs with missions!”


  “Pom.”


  As the paws of the Hamster were too small, the handcuffs that were placed on them fell to the ground when Sylvanas lifted the paws.

  The Hamster immediately picked up the cuffs and placed them on his paws. He shook his head and emitted panicked noises.

  “Zi!”


  This kind of sound.

  Arthur nodded and said, “I agree. How do we communicate with them?”


  The three Hamsters looked at the five Goblins talking. Though they understood their words, they couldn’t understand what they meant.

  “Do you have missions for us?” NotWearingPants stood out and said to the Hamsters, but they only emitted anxious sounds.

  “Zi!”


  This kind of sound.

  “That isn’t right.” Sylvanas stood up and said, “You asked for missions the moment you met an NPC? And you’re a professional game broadcaster? You have to pay attention to the sense of immersion. Didn’t games let you kowtow and do odd jobs? Isn’t that a sense of immersion? Let me try.”


  Sylvanas pushed NotWearingPants away and looked at the wide-eyed Hamsters as she said, “We’re warriors from Eternal Kingdom. We’re the heroes who rescued the Underworld from Cramer and vanguards who resisted the Void Legion! How can we help you?”


  “Zi!”


  The three Hamsters only made the same sounds.

  “Forget it, they’re just ordinary Hamsters.” BurningChestHair didn’t harbor any hope.

  “Why isn’t Sherlie here yet? We’ve waited so long. Do we have to wait for a day? I’m going out at night for a movie date,” Peasant complained.

  “Are the daily missions too easy or is Lord Sherlock too generous to allow you the free time to fall in love?”


  BurningChestHair had just finished teasing when the three Hamsters immediately spoke.

  “Lord Sherlock?”


  “Is that superior Devil Sherlock?”


  “Zi?”


  The Hamster sitting at the front raised his paw and knocked on the head of the last Hamster as he shouted, “Why are you chirping? Can’t you see the situation clearly? If we find Lord Sherlock, we’ll be saved. And we get to eat!”


  The hammered Hamster quickly asked, “Where’s the food?”


  The eyes of all the Goblins, including Arthur’s, lit up……

  “So you were sent here to find Lord Sherlock, and you can’t divulge the identity of the creature who sent you?”


  The three Hamsters sat their fat buttocks on the benches. In front of them were five fully-armed Goblins who were surrounding them. NotWearingPants was posing a question to them.

  “Yes, that’s correct!”


  “We can’t tell you!”


  “If we tell, we won’t get any more food!”


  “Perhaps, you can tell us your names?” Sylvanas asked.

  “Big Boss.”


  “Second Boss.”


  “Fat Otaku.”


  The three Hamsters replied with their names readily.

  “We’ll help you!” BurningChestHair said frankly.

  The three Hamsters were surprised. They looked at the five Goblins as though they were their benefactors.

  “Thank you!”


  As they gazed at each other, Peasant said, “We’ll help you to escape and look for Lord Sherlock!”


  The three Hamsters were moved to tears.

  “Thank you!”


  They were quiet for a few seconds.

  “We’ve accepted this mission, accepted this mission,” Sylvanas repeated the words twice.

  The three Hamsters looked at each other and bowed deeply to the five Goblins.

  “Thank you!”


  Peasant wanted to say something but was stopped by NotWearingPants. He grabbed the other gamers and led them to a corner for a discussion.

  “What’s up? Pants, aren’t you experienced? Think about it. Why isn’t there a mission notice and mission rewards?”


  “Vanas Bro, you wanted me to stay away, and now you’re asking me? Don’t ask. I don’t know.”


  “Stop bickering. According to, my, the Peasant’s, gaming experience, this must be a Strange Encounter System!”


  “Strange Encounter? What’s that? Tell us more.”


  “ChestHair Bro, didn’t you play something with a Strange Encounter System before? It’s in the online games where you obtain an item without any mission notification. During the discovery of the mission, the rewards are either bountiful, or there’s nothing at all!”


  “You’re saying that this is a Strange Encounter?”


  “Yes! Arthur Bro, this is most likely a Strange Encounter!”


  “I think Peasant is right.”


  “I agree!”


  “Let’s help them first. I hope it’s not a mission by the producers to taunt us.”


  While the gamers were talking, the three Hamsters were also chatting amongst themselves.

  “They’re very curious. Why are they repeating themselves?”


  “They look insane. Do we believe them?”


  “They look insane. Do we believe them?”


  The two Hamsters slapped Fat Otaku.

  They heard the voices of the gamers coming from behind.

  “Big Boss, Second Boss, Fat Otaku, don’t worry. We’ll help you! We accept this mission!”


  NotWearingPants stood akimbo and stuck out his thumb. With his armor and the sword at his waist, he looked like the protagonist of a popular comic.

  “Gosh, that looks cool. I’ve always wanted to have such feelings,” NotWearingPants turned his head and said to his companions.

  “That……”


  Big Boss Hamster asked courteously, “How do you intend to help us escape?”


  The five Goblins looked at each other. Then, they gazed at the three Hamsters.

  “Squeeze a bit…… should be able to squeeze in?” Arthur said as he went into deep thought……

  “The Goblins are ready!”


  A Gnome carrying a script walked to Resting Room 09 and shouted at the metal-canned Goblins, “You’re up next. Perk up and perform your best. Fight your best. The spectators were listless the entire day, so shout with more passion. Do you understand?”


  The Goblins stood up quickly. Three of the Goblins were walking awkwardly and looked uncomfortable. As the five Goblins followed the Gnome out of the resting room, there were three Goblins in the resting room that had the following words above their heads—Peasant, Sylvanas, and BurningChestHair.

  “Why did I use rock in rock-paper-scissors?” Sylvanas shouted in frustration.

  “Forget it, Vanas Bro. Aren’t we cheating in broad daylight? Arthur and NotWearingPants said they’ll share the rewards with us.”


  BurningChestHair knelt down in anguish as he hugged his head and sighed.

  “Ai, I wanted to fight in the arena so much……”