Chapter 64: Players’ First Reaction
While FamousIdol was left wondering what fate awaited him at the hands of the muscular man, Aurelius had long since left with the Dawn Shield in hand.
As expected, he didn’t meet any more Players while on his way back to the Sol mansion.
It seemed that only those three had landed in Blood Sun City, or that the rest of them were busy with other matters and had no time to stroll through the city.
This was reasonable.
If anything, it was already somewhat unexpected that so many people had arrived in Blood Sun City.
Given Nova Roma’s size, it would’ve been perfectly normal if no Players had spawned there at all.
Aurelius suspected this was related to himself, the game’s "Protagonist".
More precisely, to his upgraded Title.
...
[Fated Hero (Elite - Upgradeable): Your reputation among Players has taken the next step. While this title is equipped, your natural affinity with Players and Awakeners will significantly increase.]
[Effects:]
[Base Stats: STR +10, INT +10, AGI +10, VIT +10, LUCK +10, Spirit +100]
...
Although there was no mention of such influence in the Title’s description, Aurelius believed its upgrade had played a significant role in this coincidence.
Combined with its improved Base Stats, this Title had now become one of his most powerful abilities.
’I wonder how much my reputation must grow before it upgrades again.’
’Will I achieve this in the next trailer? Or will I have to wait until I encounter more Players?’
Aurelius was curious, though he ultimately shook his head.
He had no control over this.
He couldn’t even be sure he would be featured in the next trailer, much less know whether Fated Hero would upgrade.
As he entered his room and leaned back on his bed, he summoned the Player Panel.
After confirming little had changed, he pulled up the game forum with eyes filled with expectation.
The moment he opened it, he discovered that things were quite different.
Although the forum had previously been popular, it was not to that extent.
Hundreds of new posts appeared every minute, many receiving thousands of upvotes in just a few minutes.
Similarly, their content had changed.
There were no longer game analyses, theories, or guides.
The forum’s spotlight had fallen on the five hundred Beta Players.
And the lucky ones had immediately capitalized on the opportunity to become famous.
"The first video from inside the game!" was the title of the very first post, having amassed hundreds of thousands of upvotes in a matter of hours.
When Aurelius clicked on it, a video began playing, in a similar format to the trailers.
The video depicted a man inside a forest.
Following the guides he had read before, the Player summoned his panel.
Unfortunately, he had no time to look at his information. A blurred light suddenly flashed in the corner of his eye.
Then, his vision went dark.
Only two lines of text remained.
[You’re dead.]
[Countdown to respawn: seventy-two hours.]
The video ended there.
Beneath it was a short caption.
"No! The Beta will only last for a week! Doesn’t that mean I will be unable to enter the game for nearly half of it?"
"I refuse to accept this!"
The poster was filled with despair, as though the world had crumbled around them.
When Aurelius scrolled down to the comments, he realized he was far from alone.
Many Players faced this situation.
Spawning in a place with monsters or even in the midst of battle, they died shortly after their arrival.
The worst starved to death minutes after they entered the game.
Some of them publicly complained, calling on everyone to band together to force the game company to rescind their punishment.
Unfortunately, they received no answer from any of the staff.
Worst of all, their fellow gamers showed no sense of kinship.
Rather than comfort them, they rubbed salt on their wounds.
"Hahaha! What an idiot! In my opinion, it’s best to throw away your gaming helmet! It’s a waste of the electricity bill!"
"As for the Beta invitation... feel free to send it to my DMs!"
Armed with the memories of his previous life, Aurelius quickly grasped what these people were thinking.
The Beta Players possessed a major advantage over the Players who would arrive in the future.
Having an additional week of game time was already significant. Being able to collect more information only widened this advantage even further.
The envy and even resentment of other gamers was only natural.
Shaking his head, Aurelius closed the post and moved on to the next one.
The next post was completely different.
It was neither a video nor a complaint.
Instead, it was a frantic call for help.
"Someone help me! I’ve been kidnapped! I’m currently locked in a dark room!"
"I’m willing to give ten—no, one hundred dollars to anyone who saves me."
Attached was an image of a homeless person inside a dark room, chained against the wall.
Beside stood several men interrogating him.
Aurelius’ eyes narrowed.
He recognized these men as personnel of the Sun Church based on their attire.
To be able to come into contact with them so soon, this Player had to be quite talented.
Sure enough, Aurelius soon learned the reason. He nearly choked.
’Have such perverts also been invited to experience the Beta Version?’
’Does the gaming company not care about what Players it invites? Shouldn’t invitations go to professional gamers or at least streamers?’
Aurelius was full of complaints.
Having met both World_Builder and TheoryMaster69, he originally thought that the Beta Players were the most talented among their peers.
Now, it seemed his guess had been wrong. The game company didn’t exclude people based on ability.
Even perverts had been invited!
What made Aurelius even more speechless was that in the comments, several other Players said they were the same.
Even some rare female gamers were included, having been arrested for public indecency.
Aurelius counted with his fingers.
’Nearly a dozen Players are waiting to respawn, while even more are currently sitting in prison.’
And this was just in the first few hours.
’Will this Beta be able to continue?’
He strongly doubted it.
Thankfully, a familiar username returned the hope in his eyes.
The title only piqued Aurelius’ curiosity even further.
"First contact with Hidden NPC Aurelius!"