Chapter 23 : The Goblin Player Has Been Eliminated
Chapter 23: The Goblin Player Has Been Eliminated
After sending Vivian and Lilith away, the old principal felt somewhat helpless.
To be honest, he was already starting to regret cooperating with Vivian.
Although their interaction had been brief, the old principal kept feeling that something was seriously wrong with that girl’s mind.
She actually wanted to deal with the Death Church on her own.
The Death Church had gained notoriety across various Empires and still hadn’t been eradicated to this day—this was definitely no simple organization.
“Forget it. Let this serve as a way to temper this genius’s arrogance.”
In the end, the old principal still agreed to Vivian’s request.
Over the years, he had seen too many geniuses. He knew very well that geniuses were always arrogant, but in the end, they would all be defeated by reality.
For Vivian, this might actually be a good thing—it would allow her to clearly understand her own limits.
……
After leaving the principal’s office, the expressionless Vivian and the bitter-faced Lilith returned to their rented apartment.
Inside the familiar room,
Vivian looked at Lilith with some confusion.
“So why are you following me?”
“Well… Vivian, we’re basically tied together now. I think it’s safer if we act together.”
Hearing Lilith’s words, Jiang Chen roughly guessed her intention.
“You want me to protect you?”
Lilith’s expression stiffened. “N-no… this is cooperation.”
Jiang Chen found her reaction somewhat amusing.
To be honest, he was very picky when it came to games.
And so far, this game had already given him quite a shock.
Whether it was main or side quest NPCs that could trigger quests, or even random NPCs on the street—they all had their own emotions.
If he weren’t still sitting in front of his computer, this game would truly feel like a real world.
There was nothing to complain about in any aspect.
“But with your current situation, what exactly do you have to cooperate with me?” Jiang Chen, now interested, decided to tease Lilith a bit.
Hearing Vivian mercilessly expose her, Lilith looked at her weakly.
“Well… what if I pay you… one hundred gold coins?”
【Side Quest Triggered: Protect Lilith’s Safety】
【Quest Reward: 100 Gold Coins】
Seeing the quest prompt, Jiang Chen’s eyes lit up.
Another quest triggered.
After playing for nearly a day, Jiang Chen had already roughly figured out how quests were triggered in this game.
Vivian extended her hand with a bright smile. “Deal.”
After that, the two discussed things further. Lilith rented another room next door to Vivian.
This way, they could look after each other while still maintaining their privacy.
Jiang Chen didn’t care where Lilith moved.
What he cared about now was something else. According to Lilith, there was a trading center in Silvermoon City.
There were many magic items for sale there.
Jiang Chen decided that tomorrow he would go to the market and see if he could buy the equipment he needed.
Stretching lazily, Jiang Chen checked the time.
21:00.
“Time really flies. It’s already this late.”
As he spoke, Jiang Chen got up and moved his body, then glanced at the Leaderboard—he had already dropped to fourth place.
“Damn, looks like everyone’s grinding hard.”
With that, Jiang Chen exited the game.
But just as he was about to shut down his computer and rest, he suddenly noticed something.
【Eternal Era Leaderboard: 9/10】
Seeing this number, Jiang Chen froze for a moment before immediately sitting back down.
“What’s going on? Why is there one less person?”
Frowning,
As if realizing something, Jiang Chen quickly opened the official website of Eternal Era.
The official website had a forum section.
Clicking into it, the forum layout looked similar to a typical social media forum.
The only difference was that there were only three lonely posts so far.
The first post was a “looking for friends” thread.
And the poster was the Goblin Player.
Clicking into it, Jiang Chen skimmed through the content.
It was a very normal friendship post, and there were a few replies below.
They were also from participants in the test, expressing similar intentions to connect.
Returning to the previous page, the second post was a coordinate-sharing thread by the Goblin Player.
The content was simple—gather all players together, form a guild, and develop collectively.
At the same time, the leaderboard rewards could be rotated among everyone.
Basically, whoever got it this round, the next round would go to someone else—so everyone could receive rewards.
“I have to say, this Goblin Player had some ideas. But clearly, it was doomed to fail.”
Jiang Chen shook his head.
“Why would Dragon Race players or other high-attribute races agree to start on the same level as you?”
“The idea is good, but it only works if everyone starts equally. If the starting line isn’t fair, players with advantages would never foolishly go along with it.”
Shaking his head, Jiang Chen closed the post and turned his attention to the final thread.
This one was purely a rant post.
The Goblin Player, who had revealed his location, had been killed.
The most crucial part—after being killed, he directly lost his beta test qualification.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen’s eyelids twitched.
“I thought after dying you could just respawn and continue, at most losing the special reward for a perfect run.”
“Now it seems I was thinking too simply.”
As he spoke, Jiang Chen realized the seriousness of the situation.
Then, his gaze shifted to the comment section.
【Anonymous User: Oh my god, you lose beta access immediately after dying.】
【Anonymous User: That’s kind of ridiculous. So the leaderboard competition is just a cover—surviving until the end is what really matters.】
【Isn’t this basically a werewolf game? Whoever reveals themselves dies.】
【So who killed the Goblin Player?】
【No idea. Definitely not me.】
【Not me either…】
……
“No wonder the developers dared to offer such high rewards.”
“I get it now.”
Thinking this, Jiang Chen began to ponder.
“The current situation is probably this: once you expose yourself as a player, it basically means a high chance of death.”
Although Jiang Chen didn’t know exactly how the Goblin Player died, it was very likely done by another player.
“In this situation, it’s more accurate to describe it as a dark forest—every player is an armed hunter hiding within it.”
“No one dares to expose themselves. The moment you do, you’ll inevitably be attacked by other players and eliminated.”
“And the higher your rank on the Leaderboard, the more likely you are to become a target.”
As he spoke, Jiang Chen paused, suddenly thinking of something.