Chapter 160 : Chapter 160
Chapter : 160
The appearance of this fist-sized fireball made the eyes of both [Big Bro A] and [He Kou Wang] light up. Even the people around who noticed their actions let out small gasps of surprise.
[Big Bro A]'s excitement was almost irrepressible; he was just short of jumping up and down on the spot. He silently praised himself for his keen eye; this [Ri An] was indeed a game GM!
Cheng Tianyu was also a bit excited. After seeing the fireball summoned by Yan Yunqing, the thought of 'as expected' popped into his mind. Looking at [Big Bro A]'s expression again, what else was there not to understand?
He had really been fooled by [Big Bro A] just now!
Cheng Tianyu looked at Yan Yunqing and nodded very solemnly: "I can do it!"
Yan Yunqing gave him a few more glances. To be so confident, it seemed his past game boosting had gone well.
He swiped open his friend list and added [He Kou Wang] as a friend.
Although this game was different from previous keyboard and mouse games, there was still a certain game logic to it.
Experienced professional gamers would have an advantage over ordinary players. In addition, as one of the first batch of beta players, perhaps this [He Kou Wang] could become a top-tier player in this game soon.
It wouldn't hurt to be on good terms with him.
As Yan Yunqing thought this, the other two who had obtained the friend slot of a suspected game GM were also very happy.
Looking at the other clueless players around them, a feeling of being a step ahead and superior simultaneously arose in both of their hearts.
[Big Bro A] wanted to continue chatting with Yan Yunqing, especially wanting to ask how he summoned that fireball just now, but a voice interrupted his powering up.
“You are the『Descenders』from the prophecy, aren't you? I have been waiting for you for a long time.”
A still somewhat childish female voice rang out. Although it wasn't loud, it was successfully transmitted to every player's ear.
The players who were still restless instantly quieted down, looking around, searching for the source of the voice. Then, everyone's gaze focused on a small platform not far away.
A young girl in a mage's robe was standing there. Her black hair was tied up high, and her brown-red eyes were bright and beautiful.
Above her head, it displayed [Alice], and the color was green. It was obvious that this was an NPC, and NPCs that appeared at the starting point of a newbie village were usually guide NPCs.
Upon realizing that the little girl in front of them was an NPC, the players erupted.
“So real! Holy crap, is this really just an NPC? It's not a real person acting, is it?”
“This model is too exaggerated, it's completely a real person!”
“Is this the holographic game that completely restores the real world?”
Someone even tried to greet Alice, "Hey, girl, are you a real person playing a role?"
Alice maintained a graceful smile, but she felt a little uneasy in her heart. She always felt that these strange『Descenders』in front of her were not mentally normal. Just now, there was someone gnawing on mud while screaming!
According to her teacher's instructions, she had been waiting nearby. If a guide did not appear after a certain amount of time, she was to go up and become the so-called『guide』, leading these『Descenders』to familiarize themselves with this world, and to regulate their behavior, preventing these『Descenders』from acting recklessly in this world, relying on their identity as people from another world.
This was what her teacher had told her. After several months of studying with her teacher, Alice had already developed the good habit of『teacher is always right』. She accepted the task given by her teacher without any fear.
After all, the location where these『Descenders』appeared was within the territory of Bartovita.
As the little princess Alice who already considered Bartovita her future property, she naturally couldn't allow these『Descenders』to wantonly destroy her territory.
She wondered if the guides at the other several locations were also facing such a strange group of『Descenders』.
Alice thought in her heart, but not a trace of anything wrong showed on her face. She followed her teacher's instructions, ignored those strange questions, and continued her performance.
“Welcome,『Descenders』from afar.” Alice lifted the hem of her skirt and curtsied slightly in a courtly manner, "Hello."
“My name is Alice. I am the eleventh princess of the kingdom to which this land you are on belongs. You can call me Your Highness Alice, or the Eleventh Princess.” Alice said without changing her expression.
Following her self-introduction, a note (Eleventh Princess of Bartovita) was added next to her name.
This title was also suggested by her teacher. He said that she couldn't give the『Descenders』too much face, because these『Descenders』were very good at taking advantage of kindness. If she couldn't suppress these people from the beginning, they would definitely try their best to cause trouble—
Of course, even if she suppressed them from the beginning, once they figured out the situation here, the players would still try their best to cause trouble.
It was just that Yan Yunqing had temporarily not told the little princess whom he had tricked into doing the work.
Sure enough, after not receiving a reply from Alice, those who were clamoring to interact with Alice also stopped and waited for Alice to finish speaking.
Yan Yunqing stood among the players, looking at Alice who, after his emergency training, was already able to perform gracefully, and was very satisfied.
And [Big Bro A] and [He Kou Wang] secretly glanced in Yan Yunqing's direction, once again confirming their speculation that this [Ri An] was an insider.
No wonder the big shot didn't move at first. It turned out he was waiting for the guide NPC to get into position! As expected, following a big shot means you get to eat!
“This land you are on, comes from my country, Bartovita……”
“The Bartovita Empire was once……”
“On this continent, peace was once our most precious treasure. However, the appearance of demonic beasts destroyed this peace. Demonic beasts have plagued this land for too long. They surge from the abyss, eroding our towns and threatening our lives.”
Alice clenched her left hand and pressed it against her chest, her expression revealing a hint of pain, "Oh,『Descenders』of the prophecy, we have been waiting for you for a long time. Please help us drive away the darkness and restore the peace of the past."
After a passionate introductory speech, Alice's emotions were on point, and her cheeks couldn't help but flush slightly with excitement.
The players wouldn't listen to these introductory words. After all, the common practice for players going through the plot was to skip, skip, skip. In this holographic game where skipping was not possible, they could still get distracted and study the clouds in the sky, the land on the ground, and Alice's clothes.
However, [Big Bro A] quickly got into the mood and listened attentively to Alice's lines. He was originally a story-oriented game UP master, so naturally he couldn't miss the opening introductory words.
The opening of an RPG game is also very important, and it may even contain clues that run through the entire game. How could a game UP master miss it?
“This NPC's tone of voice is so natural, and her facial expressions too. There must be a real person controlling her from behind, right?”
Yan Yunqing heard someone whispering behind him. Not many had listened to Alice's words.
But he was not surprised. He had expected this result from the beginning. Anyway, as long as these lines were spoken and it was established that Alice was the guide NPC, then Alice could logically guide the vast majority of players into the so-called newbie village.
——Obviously, this newbie village was also arranged by Yan Yunqing.
After deciding to truly establish his own power, Yan Yunqing used all available channels to quickly gather a group of people and complete the formation of his power.
This included Merlin, Isabel, Legolas of the Elf race, the members of the children's group in Freedom City, his student Alice, Headmistress Penelope, and so on……
Of course, Divic was not left out. Originally, Yan Yunqing had not planned to include him, but after this guy got the news from Merlin, he came to Sigret Academy to block Yan Yunqing. Helpless, Yan Yunqing could only add Divic to the plan.
In just two short months, Yan Yunqing had successfully expanded his power secretly.
The newbie villages were locations on the entire Ailman Continent that Yan Yunqing had Merlin pinpoint using prophecy magic as places where『Descenders』would appear. Then, he sent people to establish『newbie villages』.
Penelope had contributed a lot to this. As the current headmistress of the continent's top academy, she had a considerable number of people she could mobilize privately. A large part of the credit for the successful implementation of Yan Yunqing's plan had to go to Penelope.
Of course, the reason these plans could be implemented so smoothly was also because Yan Yunqing had explained the possible consequences of the appearance of these『Descenders』one by one.
Merlin, Penelope, and the others all believed in the saying that with great power comes great responsibility. In order to protect this land, they naturally had to fully cooperate with Yan Yunqing's plan.
When Alice guided the players into the『newbie village』, although a few disobedient ones acted alone, the vast majority still followed Alice into the newbie village as Yan Yunqing had expected.
Very good. The next step was to let the NPCs in the newbie village subtly instill the survival rules of this world into the players.
Yan Yunqing trailed at the very end of the players, his gaze falling on a farmer with a plain appearance, wearing old clothes and holding a hoe, as if he had just finished planting and was returning.
His gaze swept lightly over the other party, finally pausing on his level for a moment before quietly averting his gaze.
A level 52 swordsman playing the role of a farmer, huh……
If any player were to foolishly go and cause trouble in front of him, they would probably be killed and sent back to the resurrection point directly.
Amen.
Yan Yunqing gloated inwardly for a bit. The NPCs in these newbie villages were meant to make players tacitly accept a rule:『You cannot attack NPCs at will. This world also has laws and regulations that bind you.』
Although Yan Yunqing knew that this rule couldn't restrain all players, and there would always be some players who would act recklessly in the game, at least this rule could give the ordinary people of this world a period of transition to get used to the existence of『Descenders』and be vigilant about their actions.
This was Yan Yunqing's ultimate goal.
Even though he was no longer the Demon King, Yan Yunqing, who still had to worry about this continent, felt very tired.
So what was the deal with that Guitu game studio? They didn't even make a game guide for their own game, and he, a player who was thrown into the game early, had to worry about it!
Is this appropriate?!
Alice brought these players into the newbie village, gave a few casual instructions, and incidentally revealed the level for leaving the newbie village that Yan Yunqing had set:
“When your level reaches 10, you can choose a profession. With a certain level of strength, you can leave this place and contribute to the fight against demonic beasts.”
The players automatically understood: They needed to stay in the newbie village until level 10, and then they could leave the newbie village and explore this grand virtual world.
The players were rubbing their hands together, eager to try. After Alice finished speaking, they excitedly rushed towards the blacksmith shop and weapon shop. Some players reacted very quickly and turned to run towards the NPCs, trying to accept quests.
[Big Bro A] glanced at Yan Yunqing, who was still standing in the same spot, "Bro, are you going to take on a quest or go fight monsters next? If you're going to do a quest, can I tag along?"
[He Kou Wang] nodded repeatedly beside him, indicating that he wanted to go too.
Yan Yunqing glanced at them but had no intention of actually taking them on a quest. “I have something to do next, I need to go offline. You guys go do your quests.”
After saying that, Yan Yunqing nodded to the two of them and walked straight towards the village entrance.
[He Kou Wang] wanted to follow, but was pulled back by [Big Bro A].
“What's wrong, Big Bro A? Aren't we going to follow and see?” [He Kou Wang] turned back, “Let's see where the big shot logs off. We can log off from there later too, so we can be with the big shot again when we log in tomorrow.”
[Big Bro A] couldn't help but facepalm, "Orange, how come I never noticed you were so呆萌before? The big shot says he's going offline, and you really believe he's going offline? Have you forgotten his identity?"
[Big Bro A] looked around and lowered his voice, "He's a GM, and a GM hiding among the beta players. Although his excuse is to go offline, how could he possibly go offline just ten minutes after the server opened? He's clearly going to work."
“And the content of his work is not convenient to tell players, for example, testing dungeon drops and the like. It's not good for us to follow along with that.” [Big Bro A] said with conviction, “Anyway, we've already added him as a friend. The testing period is long. There will be plenty of time in the future to get some inside information and small benefits from him.”
“The most important thing for us now is not to pry into his work, but to try to get on good terms with him. You understand?”
[He Kou Wang] seemed to understand, yet not quite. His gaming talent was much better than [Big Bro A]'s, but he could only be a game booster, while [Big Bro A] had long become a game UP master with millions of fans. The difference between the two lay in their social skills.
“I’ll listen to you, Big Bro A.” [He Kou Wang] decided to follow [Big Bro A]’s lead. “Bro, if you have any inside news, remember to let me in on it!”
“You got it.” [Big Bro A] patted his chest. “At least I'm a UP master with a million fans. If I promote the game a little more, they should at least give me some face for that.”
……
Yan Yunqing quietly left the most crowded area of the newbie village and found the only inn established in the newbie village. When this inn was first established, Yan Yunqing never thought that he would be the first player to experience it.
After spending a silver coin, Yan Yunqing, under the benevolent gaze of the level forty-five gatekeeper grandpa, climbed the stairs, found his room, locked the door, and began to study the player panel.
This panel had been locked after he created his new player identity. Just now, after it was unlocked again, due to the presence of too many other players, Yan Yunqing couldn't concentrate on checking his panel.
Yan Yunqing opened [Ri An]'s panel. He had been crazily doing quests before the players went online, completing almost all the hunting quests from the Bounty Hunter's Association. His level had been pulled up to a far-leading 73.
However, the level display on [Ri An]'s panel was thought-provoking.
Level: 0[+] (73)
The level in front displayed 0, followed by 73, and a + sign was faintly glowing, as if reminding him to click it.
Yan Yunqing hesitated for a few seconds, then clicked on the [+]. A faint white light lit up, and the level on [Ri An]'s panel became 1.
Level: 1[+] (73)
As the level on his panel changed, a series of game prompts also popped up.
[You have successfully leveled up to level 1]
[Respected Descender, congratulations on your first level up in "Guitu." You have obtained the [Pioneer] title. When equipped, the experience gained from completing quests is increased by 10%.]
[Respected Descender, due to your outstanding performance, the [Level Ranking], [Wealth Ranking], [Reputation Ranking], etc., have now been opened. Thank you for your hard work. May your journey in "Guitu" be filled with glory and victory!]
[It is detected that you are already on various leaderboards. Do you wish to hide your personal information?]
His brain ached a little from the noise of the various prompt boxes. Yan Yunqing pressed his temples. He was startled when he saw the last prompt box and quickly clicked confirm to hide it.
At the same time, an announcement visible to all beta players popped up.
[Congratulations to the Descender [**] for leveling up for the first time. The [Level Ranking], [Wealth Ranking], [Reputation Ranking], etc., have now been opened. All Descenders can open the leaderboards to view the details!]
[May all Descenders continue to work hard!]
[Big Bro A] and [He Kou Wang], who were talking to a villager NPC and trying to get quests with more experience from the NPC, were both shocked when they saw this server-wide announcement.
“Who is it? Leveled up so quickly?” [He Kou Wang] was shocked. It was the first day of Guitu's server opening. Although it seemed that there were several different newbie villages, this newbie village also accommodated several hundred players. There were only a few NPCs, and the quests were not even repeatable, so they had to fight for quests.
[He Kou Wang], who had just snatched an errand quest and completed it, only had his experience bar a quarter full. Which player was so lucky to level up directly after completing a quest?
[Big Bro A] was also very surprised. He subconsciously opened the leaderboard and saw that there was only a single entry on several leaderboards, and the ID was hidden by the system. He could only see the other party's level and some other data.
[Level Ranking]
No.1 [**] Level 1
[Wealth Ranking]
No.1 [**] Wealth 9 Gold 99 Silver 0 Copper
“……”
[Big Bro A] checked all the leaderboards and confirmed that the lone seedling on each leaderboard was the same person. He thought for a moment, as if he had thought of something, and opened his friend list.
Seeing that among his only two friends, the one showing level 1 was [Ri An], [Big Bro A] snapped his fingers, "It's him indeed!"
[He Kou Wang] also came over. Seeing [Big Bro A] say this, he also checked his friend list and had a sudden realization: “So it's him!”
Then it's not strange. After all, he's a game GM. It's normal for him to know some leveling methods that ordinary players don't know.
The two of them exchanged a tacit glance, closed their friend lists together, and listened to the various speculations of the other players around them about the asterisked player on the leaderboard. They both showed a meaningful smile.
As expected, this feeling of everyone being drunk while I am sober is really great.
***
Yan Yunqing once again confirmed that all the leaderboards that could possibly expose him had their information hidden, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.
He secretly cursed the Guitu game for being inhumane. He had to worry about the newbie village, and yet they were dragging him down every day.
When he finds out the existence behind this, he'll see how he deals with them!
Yan Yunqing mentally beat up the little black hand behind the scenes a few times before continuing to study his player panel.
He had already figured out what the [+] next to the level was. It was the public level of his player identity [Ri An]. He could level up by clicking the [+], as long as it didn't exceed his original level.
However, Yan Yunqing didn't plan to level himself up for the time being. He would slowly increase his level after other players appeared on the level leaderboard. Being too outstanding was not conducive to his troublemaking.
He glanced at his inventory again and confirmed that the player inventory and the NPC inventory were shared, but wealth needed to be transferred before it could be used. Then he closed the panel and switched his consciousness back to his NPC identity.
***
Switching consciousness back and forth between two bodies was truly a magical experience.
Yan Yunqing rubbed his somewhat stiff wrist and took out the [Carrier Pigeon] provided by Merlin. It was an alchemy item. Although it was called a carrier pigeon, it had nothing to do with pigeons.
It was a long-range communication device that could even project a virtual image, but it required a high amount of mana to support it. Anyone with a slightly lower level couldn't use it.
Moreover, the production cost of this carrier pigeon was very high, and the success rate was very low.
Even Merlin only had a few [Carrier Pigeons]. It was said that he had specially commissioned the patriarch of the Dwarf race to forge them.
Yan Yunqing followed Merlin's previous instructions and channeled his mana into the [Carrier Pigeon]. In a short while, a phantom image lit up above it, which was Isabel's face.
The image lagged for a moment before it started moving. Isabel's voice came through: "You're looking for me?"
“How's the situation on your side?” Yan Yunqing asked.
There were a total of ten locations where the『Descenders』were predicted to appear by Merlin.
Yan Yunqing had arranged for personnel to be stationed at all ten of these locations. The starting point of [Ri An]'s alternate identity was one of them.
There were two starting points between Dragon Valley and Norman Forest. These two starting points were handed over to Isabel and Legolas to be in charge of.
Isabel: “Descenders have descended in both villages. I have already made arrangements with Legolas. Rest assured, they won't cause too much trouble, at least for the time being.”
“Hmm, when the players' levels are a bit higher, you can provide them with some information about the Eternal God Cult—not too much, just a few vague words. If they ask further questions, just have the people you arranged say they don't know.” Yan Yunqing instructed.
“Got it.”
After a few more words with Yan Yunqing, before hanging up the communication, Isabel couldn't help but ask: "Will these Descenders really be helpful to our plan?"
“I'm not questioning you, Nolan, you know that.” Isabel added, “But those Descenders are indeed too weak…… Even for us, it's very difficult to track down the traces of the Eternal God Cult. Can these Descenders really do it?”
“You underestimate them too much.”
“This is a group of special beings with an infinite desire for exploration, and they cannot die.”
“Have you forgotten what the prophecy said?”
“When war and calamity descend, and the world is annihilated, only the Descenders can save it all.”
This was…… the Fourth Calamity.
Yan Yunqing believed that as long as he used the players as a help, no matter what kind of existence was behind this Guitu game company, and whatever they wanted to do, he could turn the disadvantage into an advantage.
And that Eternal God Cult…… Since they were doing bad things in the name of the Demon King, they should have to pay something, right?
After hanging up the communication with Isabel, Yan Yunqing contacted several other people and received replies that the plans had been completed.
According to Merlin's prophecy, he had prepared a total of ten newbie villages, and the person in charge of seven of them had successfully received the players.
Only the three newbie villages located in Romunik reported that『no Descenders had appeared』.
If it were just one newbie village that hadn't received Descenders, Yan Yunqing could understand. After all, prophecy magic was not 100% accurate, not even for Merlin, the greatest magician.
Prophecy magic was not Merlin's most proficient magic, after all.
But for three newbie villages in Romunik to have no Descenders appear, this made Yan Yunqing have to be suspicious. One or two could be a coincidence, but three in a row was a bit of a problem.
After thinking for a while, Yan Yunqing asked the person in charge of these three newbie villages, Divic, to continue searching for traces of『Descenders』in this area. At the same time, he would also go to Romunik to check the situation.
“I will welcome your arrival at any time.” At the end of the communication, Divic once again offered the loyalty of the Dragon race to the King.
Yan Yunqing stood in front of the [Carrier Pigeon] for a moment, then opened the forum that was built into the game system and refreshed it. There were no posts related to the game's content on the forum.
This was pretty much what Yan Yunqing had expected. After all, he had also seen the rules of this Guitu game.
There was only one login opportunity per day. Once you quit this world, you couldn't log in again within 24 hours. The login count would be refreshed at 8 AM the next day.
With a login limit, the first batch of players who logged in would not quit the game so quickly and post on the forum.
Therefore, the current forum still maintained the same kind of negative comments about Guitu as it did two days ago.
Yan Yunqing was about to close the forum when he accidentally refreshed it and saw a new post floating at the top of the forum.
[Holy crap! Is the death penalty in Guitu this severe? I've been locked in a small black room for 48 hours! [NEW]]
Yan Yunqing frowned and clicked on the post.
0L: I'm done for. As soon as I went online, before I could even get excited, I found myself surrounded by savages. The next second, that group of savages screeched and tied me up, and then they killed me! Killed me!!!
My vision went black and I was forcibly logged out of the game. I tried to log in again but the helmet didn't respond, only a line of countdown, a full 48-hour resurrection CD!!! Damn savages! Damn Guitu! Where's my newbie tutorial and newbie protection?!
This post had just been made, and there were no replies yet.
Yan Yunqing realized something was wrong as soon as he saw the content of the post. He had already established newbie villages at the ten predicted starting points, and had even arranged for people to specifically cos as ordinary villagers to ensure that no ordinary people would wander in by mistake. How did this player get captured by savages as soon as he went online?
And…… are there savages on the Ailman Continent?
If savages could appear…… then it could only be the three starting points in Romunik where no Descenders appeared due to an accident.
It was indeed those three starting points that had a problem. It was just unknown whether there was a mistake in the prediction of the starting points themselves, or if there were other special factors that caused the players' starting points to change.
Yan Yunqing pressed his temples, his mind quickly combining and analyzing the current clues.
Savages…… That could only be a relatively remote and backward place where the people of Romunik would appear to be more like savages.
And a place that would tie up and kill players as soon as they saw them, that place was also relatively xenophobic……
Yan Yunqing listed a few possible locations, but he ruled them out one by one.
After pondering for a long time without getting a result, Yan Yunqing refreshed the post again, hoping to get some new clues from this original poster.
As his gaze reached the bottom of the post, Yan Yunqing's gaze suddenly froze.
This is?