Chapter 65: Ranking of NPCs
TheoryMaster69.
This woman, who was supposedly busy training under Mia, still had the time to make a post.
Moreover, the speed at which it rose far surpassed any other.
It seemed that the Beta’s release had propelled her popularity to an entirely new level.
Her post was filled with images, all featuring a certain person.
Aurelius.
One showed him standing by a shop entrance. Another showed him leisurely walking into the room. A third captured him drinking coffee with a stern expression.
There were too many images, taken from every conceivable angle.
Several images had clearly been edited, with the backgrounds cropped to place Aurelius at the center.
Aurelius’ eye twitched as he saw them.
He had noticed TheoryMaster69 focusing on him earlier, but he had guessed she was looking at his information or trying to find any clues through him.
He had never expected that she was having an entire photoshoot while he and Mia were conversing!
’Damn it! TheoryMaster, you really fooled me!’
’I was really fooled by your analyses and guides!’
It took quite a bit of scrolling before Aurelius finally saw a different kind of image.
This one also contained him.
However, it also contained something else.
A Panel with his information.
Or rather, several blank columns and a description.
The caption proudly announced:
"The first reveal of Hidden NPC Aurelius’ Panel!"
Other than that sentence, the post was completely empty.
It seemed as though TheoryMaster69 disdained to add any further explanation.
She let the images and her own fame speak for themselves.
Her choice was proven correct.
Thousands of comments flooded the post.
"Look! Look! I knew it! My husband is different from other NPCs!"
"Does no one understand what these images represent? It means that TheoryMaster69 met with Aurelius!"
"What? TheoryMaster69 is actually a woman? Goddess..."
The comments were normal at first, discussing Aurelius’ hidden stats and praising TheoryMaster69’s good fortune.
But toward the end, the Players had gone out of control.
Aurelius noticed several deleted messages with the caption [Removed by the Moderation Team] and a request to keep things non-explicit.
While thanking the Moderation Team for saving his eyes, Aurelius continued reading through the comments.
He mostly noted two things during this time.
The gamer’s analysis of his information. TheoryMaster69’s own popularity.
He knew very well that this post had not reached the top merely because of himself.
TheoryMaster69 was also a major reason for its success.
’This woman is really capable. Whether in her analysis of the game or in navigating her relationship with other Players, she is excellent.’
’Even the photoshoot is perhaps a deliberate choice.’
Aurelius saw clearly that unlike the previous posts, which received many hate comments because they were "lucky" Beta Players, TheoryMaster69’s had none of them.
Everyone agreed that she deserved a spot in the Beta, with some even praising the gaming company.
Noticing her popularity, Aurelius’ eyes flickered.
His impression of her improved even further.
’I can no longer waste time. I should start investing in her soon.’
’At the very least, I should give her the Sun Knight Class before the Beta ends.’
’Only then can I raise my own popularity to the next level.’
While thinking about the future, Aurelius never stopped reading.
Before long, he closed the post and resumed his scrolling.
The next posts all followed the same format.
They were either Panels of other NPCs or complaints about the game’s mechanics.
It was only a while later, when Aurelius sorted by controversial, that he found another familiar name.
It had been hidden behind a mountain of downvotes.
World_Builder’s ability to attract hate was as impressive as ever.
The top post had only accumulated a few hundred thousand upvotes.
Meanwhile, his post had already collected nearly a million downvotes.
’This can also be considered popularity in a way, right?’ Aurelius smiled faintly, imagining the fat man’s furious reaction.
"Exclusive news! I managed to meet with Hidden NPC Aurelius!"
"Not only did we talk, but I also managed to obtain a Mission through him!"
Just like TheoryMaster69, World_Builder also attached an image.
Unlike her, however, this one had an entirely different focus.
Aurelius was barely on the edge of the image, with half his figure cut off. The central position of the photo occupied a greasy fat man wearing an arrogant grin.
"The game has managed to capture 10% of my handsomeness. Sigh..." read the caption.
The moment he saw this, Aurelius instantly understood why his post had been downvoted yet again.
The edits had only made the situation even worse.
"Edit 1: Why is that TheoryMaster69 guy claiming to be the first to meet Aurelius? I was the first!"
"Edit 2: All my haters are jealous of my exceptional appearance! It’s not my fault you were all born ugly!"
"Edit 3: ..."
Aurelius had to admit that World_Builder was quite talented.
Even he wanted to punch him through the screen upon reading this, somewhat regretting giving him a Mission.
But as he was going through the pile of hate comments, most of which were "greeting" World_Builder’s ancestors, Aurelius’ face suddenly turned stern.
He noticed a somewhat forgotten comment, neither upvoted nor downvoted.
It seemed that no one else had seen it besides him.
"Aside from World_Builder’s... hourglass figure, I think the most important aspect of this post is the Mission itself. Has anyone else noticed it?"
"I’ve gone through all the posts so far and compiled all the available information. The rewards of each Mission seem to be related to the difficulty of the task itself."
"Running an errand as simple as delivering a package shouldn’t reward that much EXP, much less grant NPC Favorability."
Until this point, the analysis was normal. But the following few sentences caused Aurelius to raise his eyebrow.
"I have a guess. Perhaps the Missions given by NPCs are not all equal."
"We’ve long known that NPCs are divided into different ranks."
"Common. Elite. Rare. Epic. Legendary."
"Based on the trailers, your posts, and every piece of information I could gather, I’ve compiled a preliminary ranking of the Hidden NPCs."
"First Place: ..."