The Arrival of the Third Batch of Players

Qian Peng was startled by the barrage of messages on his phone as soon as he woke up.

He quickly checked his phone and, relieved to find it was about the game, opened the video his friend had urged him to watch.

"I attended a meeting that decided players' fates in the game."

This was the video posted by "Leg Lord."

Qian Peng took his phone to the bathroom, brushing his teeth while watching, and couldn't help but exclaim:

"Damn it! Leg Lord, you've been sold out!"

"Only players can produce monster materials. If players unite, what bargaining power does the merchants' guild have? Ugh, Leg Lord, why are you so timid!"

"What the heck? That stone golem is so cunning, don't follow his logic!"

With a toothbrush foaming in his mouth, Qian Peng grew more anxious the more he watched, wishing he could kick the Shadowfolk participants in the video aside and negotiate with those old foxes himself.

This wasn't a first playthrough. With monster production restricted, items discarded as trash in the first playthrough should fetch high prices in the second-playthrough world.

The terms offered by the merchants' guild NPCs seemed generous, appearing to be a win-win situation. But in reality, they were treating players like idiots, and the merchants' guild had won twice.

Don't be limited by the ingrained thinking from other games!

After quickly finishing his morning routine, Qian Peng haphazardly ate some toast from the fridge. Without even starting his livestream, he immediately put on his Holographic Simulation Helmet.

Instead of logging into the game, he shouted to everyone in the player group.

"@Everyone, disregard the terms Leg Lord negotiated. We players are the monopolists. Even if we're not at the table, don't let the NPCs eat us up."

"@Everyone, not only did you fail to fight for the interests of all players, but you didn't even secure your own benefits. You're helping them count the money after being sold out. In the future, inexperienced solo players shouldn't meddle in such occasions."

"@Everyone, I rewatched the video. The contract the NPCs signed at the end doesn't include any clauses pertaining to players. The terms Leg Lord negotiated with the merchants' guild are his personal contract with the guild and legally cannot restrict other players. Let's not accept their rules."

"@Everyone, has anyone here been a merchant? Since the Transcendence Merchants' Guild has secured a monopoly on trading within the stronghold, let's invite other factions to set up stalls outside the stronghold. Find more buyers for monster materials, and absolutely do not let the Transcendence Merchants' Guild become the sole dominant force."

Qian Peng's words livened up the group, which only had fourteen players.

Even players with no prior concept understood the players' special status once others discussed it.

Although players referred to themselves with self-deprecating terms like "toilet cleaners" or "foot soldiers," these were mostly to complain about the low main story involvement of some players or the unreasonable nature of certain side quests.

But in this "real world" gameplay, where the entire game world was simulated realistically, players, as the only group capable of cleansing corruption and bearing the responsibility of saving the world, were definitely not minor characters to be ordered around.

They were the true saviors.

Every decision they made, every action they took, would tangibly affect the future of this world.

The upcoming functions like "Shop" and "Teleportation" would naturally have vastly different outcomes depending on the players' involvement.

With the mayor's full approval, Li Li's stronghold was relocated from a derelict warehouse to an office area on the city walls.

Sections of the twelve-meter-high city walls had been converted into habitable zones, resembling four-story buildings built atop them.

Most of these buildings were allocated to border units as office spaces, and Li Li directly received one of these sections.

Standing by the windows on either side of the fourth floor of his new stronghold, one could see the towering trees outside the city and the steel forest within.

From here, one could directly access the quarantined zone outside the city walls and enter Broken Sword Valley without going through official checkpoints.

Merchant guild trucks were continuously unloading batches of goods, piling them up in an open space near the outer side of the city walls.

The academy's first team of scholars had already arrived at Endemic Plague Village, researching the aftermath of the "corruption" being eliminated and eagerly preparing to churn out hundreds of papers from various angles.

After some haggling, the players sold their "trash" and exchanged it with the merchants' guild for a batch of Silver-rank enchanted equipment. A few prodigies even hired Gold Rank mercenary bodyguards and were clearing monsters along the way with extreme efficiency.

Li Li felt like the players were secretly plotting something, but his "Social System" was still in development, preventing him from knowing their private communications.

Huddled within the God Banning Barrier, Li Li was like a computer disconnected from the internet, only able to transfer data through physical contact methods like USB drives, completely incompatible with the remote connection required for a social system.

He had previously planned to build an in-game social network using magic.

However, a social network built with magic could also be cracked by magic. With multiple factions paying attention, the entire social network would inevitably be eavesdropped upon.

Therefore, Li Li was now faced with a dilemma.

Either he could only understand what "bad things" the players were up to through forums, which were too slow to keep up with current events, or he had to make it public knowledge, letting all the natives know the players' true nature.

Fortunately, there was still some time before the players cleared the roads and the stronghold, so Li Li could temporarily set this issue aside.

He went to the main hall on the third floor, preparing to summon the 51 selected new players.

Aperria was already waiting there. Li Li had specifically asked her not to wear her helmet and to let down her long blonde hair, revealing both her side as a young girl and her side as a Knight.

For players, appearance and strength were more important than anything else.

After all the new Earthlings had finished creating their characters, Li Li spent 5100 Faith points and handed these players over to his new employees.

Unlike the small-scale summons before, this time the number of players summoned was several times more than the previous two combined. The sudden appearance of 51 players immediately turned the quiet hall into a noisy one.

"Expedition is awesome!!!"

"Everyone, look this way! I have an announcement to make! The chairs in this game can be sat on!"

"Ohhhhhhhh!!!"

"Holy crap, you scared the life out of me! Can you send me a copy of your Elder God face parameters, man?"

"No, why are you pulling down my pants? Isn't that spot under the elements empty over there!"

"Playing this game with this graphics quality in first-person is completely different from the second-hand footage in the livestream. It's incredible!"

"What's next? I'm ready to explore!"

Aperria stood to the side, completely ignored by the excited players.

Following the Master's previous instructions, she had given these people from another world five minutes to familiarize themselves with the bodies they had just acquired.

When the time was up, she drew her longsword, imbuing the blade with sacred golden flames, absorbing all the light in the hall.

Instantly, the still-noisy players only noticed the sky darken, as if they had suddenly gone from daytime to pitch-black night, only able to see the stunningly beautiful girl standing on the high platform, holding a longsword.

"Chosen ones from another world, you now have two options."

The golden-haired girl slashed down with her longsword, golden flames spreading from the tip, forming a cage of golden flames that surrounded the players in the hall.

"First, remain within Iron Wall City and assist the Master in establishing an outpost for expeditions outward."

"Second, accompany me to Crystal Seal Village, risk your lives, fight to the death, and cleanse the corruption surrounding the village."