"Half a year until the world was destroyed. If us toilet-uncloggers arrived early, wouldn't we have a chance to save the world?"
"What was Iron Wall City?"
"No wonder it was supposed to be a nostalgia server but was called 'Glorious Expedition.' So there really was glory to strive for. I'd had enough of the godforsaken filter in 'Despair Expedition.'"
"I can't wait any longer! How many slots will the next closed beta have? Any news?"
"The world's about to end, what the hell is the point of only releasing ten player slots?!"
"Fast-forward to Bro Kidney giving the order, and a million war gods descending from the heavens."
The beginner tutorial in the warehouse lasted a little over an hour, but with the helmet's threefold Brain Domain acceleration, only twenty minutes passed in Blue Star's real world.
Even so, the terrifying hype around "Glorious Expedition" had already gathered more than two million viewers in Qian Peng's livestream.
If he had not made a habit of thanking all donations and gifts together at the end of his streams, his lips would probably have thanked themselves numb already.
Naturally, not all of those viewers were old "Expedition" players.
Considering himself a relatively serious streamer focused on guides, Qian Peng thought for a moment before deciding to introduce things to the new viewers first.
"Let me give everyone an introduction first."
"Iron Wall City is where you advance into the third-class profession, Profane Scrollbearer."
"Of course, other classes can advance here too, but I don't know much about those."
"This city belongs to the Thirteen City Alliance. It was the map introduced in the second Major Version Update of 'Despair Expedition OL.' Its main monsters are level fifty to sixty wraiths, as well as crazed machines in hidden underground areas."
"After completing the subway station's quest, players can soothe despairing souls. By touching the warm memories left behind by those souls, they can reach the Iron Wall City within their memories and complete their advanced class change quests there."
As he spoke, Qian Peng took a deep breath and said wistfully,
"The cities from the old version had all been destroyed. Most class advancement quests could only be carried out through the memories of the dead."
"After all, nearly all the NPCs in this game were dead. Even if a few survivors appeared in a new map, more than half of them would die before that version ended."
"But Iron Wall City is still here now, so the old class advancement guides can—shit—"
Halfway through his sentence, Qian Peng suddenly cursed. Seeming to realize something, he hurriedly asked the old players in his livestream,
"Tell me, since this game uses a 'real world' system, doesn't that mean we can save NPCs who were originally doomed to die?"
"For example, my wife—Ice Cream?"
At Qian Peng's speculation, the already dense barrage of comments instantly became flooded with "wife."
"Your wife? My wife!"
"Who the hell is Ice Cream?"
"The cover character from the level ninety version, the Salvation Army's saint trapped in history, my beloved wife. Her white stockings are sweeter than ice cream."
"Perfectly congee-righteous."
"Ice Cream was the character I regretted most. She never had to die."
"Once I get a game slot, I'll definitely find Ice Cream and pounce on her for a violent inhalation."
"The rain won't fall forever, but heads can."
Qian Peng was also extremely excited. He paced back and forth as he said,
"Wait, brothers, calm down first!"
"I need to find something to test. Let's see whether this is really a 'real world.' If the changes made to the world still haven't reset after a week, then saving Ice Cream will be possible."
"Then the next problem is a Master-level Curse-breaking Potion. The recipe and material locations are all online, but we need a master-level alchemist."
"There's definitely not enough time to train one ourselves. We have to find the corresponding NPC."
"Lastly, I won't use my Embers for now. No matter how well I plan it, I'd only be killing a few low-level Bosses. I can save them as a safety net for the day I rescue Ice Cream."
He excitedly planned out how to save Ice Cream, completely forgetting that "Ice Cream" was a Boss from the level ninety version.
"Recruiting wasteland guides. Pass the assessment and receive fifty Contribution Points, with further rewards based on contribution... How about this one?"
Iron Wall City, outer city wall, Explorers' Guild.
The middle-aged Dragonkin bowed slightly. Looking at the flyer in the dwarf's hand, he nodded.
"Looks good. There should be a chance to leave the city, but what are Contribution Points for?"
"Something used to exchange for status."
The dwarf spread his tiny hands, clearly uninterested in the reward.
This Dragonkin-and-dwarf pair drew the attention of quite a few people nearby.
The Dragonkin wore a longsword at his waist and looked like a battle-hardened swordsman.
The dwarf also wore a confident expression.
They certainly looked the part, but neither of them had the slightest energy fluctuation. That meant they were not even Bronze-ranked Transcendents.
Judging by the Dragonkin's well-groomed, gleaming beard, he was most likely some pampered dragon lord.
Had they come all the way to the border to play cosplay?
But both of them wore cheap street-stall clothes worth less than ten yuan, so they did not look like rich people.
The two entered the Explorers' Guild building, handed the flyer to the front desk, and stated their intentions.
"You want to be guides?"
The female beastman receptionist put down her nail clippers. After giving Not Iaido, But Drawing Sword an extra look, she said,
"Come with me."
Without registering anything, she led them to the office in the back and said to the scar-faced man inside,
"Fegen, these two from outside the city want to be guides. Screen them."
Having said that, she left the two behind and walked back to the counter without looking back.
The human man named Fegen put away his phone and took his legs off the desk. He gave the pair a reluctant glance before pulling out a questionnaire and asking in a flippant tone,
"You two are from outside the city?"
"Mm."
"Got a faith?"
"No."
"Can you read?"
"...We can read, and write."
"What area are you familiar with?"
"We know all of Broken Sword Valley very well."
"Heh." Fegen sneered. Tapping the map hanging on the wall behind him, he asked, "Do you know what's here?"
I Don't Want to Pay the Breach Penalty took only one glance before blurting out, "Blasphemous Masks, Deep Boulders, Mottled Spiders. Abomination Scouts appear at night, and the nearby woods produce Short-leg Mushrooms and Luminous Moss."
Hearing that, Fegen sat up straight. He turned back to study the map for a while, picked another location, and asked, "What about here?"
"Netherflame, Flying Venom Mosquito Swarms, Jumping Wolf Packs. Some areas have hidden heat traps, and rare Vengeful Fire Spirits occasionally spawn." I Don't Want to Pay the Breach Penalty immediately replied.
"Another student kid here to strike gold." Fegen spread his hands and leaned back in his chair, wearing an expression that said, What can I do?
He put away the form and said to them,
"Let me make this clear first. Ever since that thing in the sky disappeared ten days ago, the wasteland outside the city hasn't been peaceful for a moment."
"Every exploration group has gone crazy. Half of the people who leave never make it back."
"If you're here for Divinity Shards, I can arrange a privately funded team for you. No Contribution Points, though. Negotiate your own reward."
"If you want to go through official channels, then get the hell out, register, go home and drink milk, and come back with your report after the review passes in half a year."
The Dragonkin and dwarf exchanged a glance. The Dragonkin cleared his throat and said in the distinctive weathered voice of an ancient dragonkin, "Could you tell this old man what these Divinity Shards you mentioned are?"
"Even the big shots from the Scroll Group don't know. How would I know?" Fegen said.
That answer was reasonable enough. Not Iaido, But Drawing Sword could only open QQ and send the information he had just learned to the group, hoping to see what the others had discovered.
"They might be fragments of Apep," Fegen suddenly said. "That's what people online are saying. They say the evil god that had clung to the barrier for a thousand years died ten days ago."
He had been coldly stared at by the Dragonkin's date-pit-like pupils for quite a while. Even knowing that the other party was not a Transcendent, he still felt a little intimidated.
Not Iaido, But Drawing Sword gave a quiet grunt. When he had designed his face, he had already decided to become an unfathomable dragonkin swordsman.
So when speaking with NPCs, he used fluent Mandarin.
"Very well. Do not worry about the risks. Arrange the nearest privately funded team leaving the city for this old man."