Recruiting Players

"Big sis is so badass! I'm in love, I'm in love!"

"What's going on? Wasn't the opening NPC that kidney-deficient guy?"

"This girl's voice sounds familiar. She seems like that duelist lady from the meeting video."

"This young lady wears heavy armor and iron boots all day. As a knight, she must get plenty of exercise. I don't even dare imagine how nice they must smell."

"Strong flavor, no extra salt needed."

"I think she means there are two quest lines at the start. There are low-level monster farming spots near Crystal Seal Village, suitable for steady progress. Iron Wall City has more high-level NPCs, and if you're confident in your strength, you might get rich overnight."

"What skill is that Flame Sword? Was there a corresponding class in the first playthrough?"

The fifty-one players all spoke at once, each focused on something different. Some were even chatting with viewers in their livestreams, and the whole scene remained chaotic.

As a "newcomer" who had only arrived in Iron Wall City the night before last, Aperria had only been seen by the other players, aside from Lost a Leg, during yesterday evening's meeting.

Back then, she had been like a bristling hedgehog. Whenever she felt someone had offended Li Li, she would interrupt them, sternly rebuke them, and issue no fewer than three duel invitations to the blasphemers.

It was precisely because of her presence that, after trying a few times, the others gave up on the low-return negotiation tactic of belittling their opponents.

However, Aperria had been wearing full plate armor at the time, with her helmet properly on her head. The few players who recognized her by her voice did not dare confirm their suspicions.

All of a sudden, Aperria froze slightly, and a savage expression appeared on her exquisitely beautiful face.

The voices of fifty-one people were a chaotic mess, but for Lv. 72 Aperria, hearing every single person clearly was no difficult task.

She looked toward the Half-elf who kept talking about how restorative and delicious iron boots were, then swung her longsword. The flames circling on the ground abruptly gathered into a single point and stabbed toward the human behind the Half-elf, turning him into a human torch.

"Ah! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!! This game's default pain setting is at least 20%!"

The burning player howled in agony and was reduced to a pile of ashes before long.

The players present immediately fell silent, all tacitly shutting their mouths.

This was the first time a player had died, and he had actually been killed by an NPC.

What the hell had that guy done?

The players farther away had only heard someone in that direction constantly making absurd comments about smelly feet. They assumed he had angered the NPC because of that.

But the Half-elf closest to the scene knew that the unlucky man who had been burned to ash had only asked, from beginning to end, why the "kidney-deficient guy" was not there.

"Your words have profaned the sacred. May you find redemption in the flames, and may the Lord forgive my methods," Aperria said softly.

The next moment, players watching their notification screens discovered that the favorability of Unsealing Saintess Aperia had plummeted from the default Friendly (+30) to Indifferent (+10).

This NPC was a saintess responsible for leveling up and class-changing players!

The players who realized this immediately looked different, cursing the burned player to hell in their hearts.

Although the players had privately nicknamed Li Li the "kidney-deficient guy," no one had ever called him that to his face.

After all, he was the core NPC responsible for allocating stat points. His favorability was undoubtedly among the most important things in the game. With high favorability, he might give them a twenty percent discount on the Experience Points needed to level up. With low favorability, he might even refuse to let players level up at all.

This was one of the game's most fundamental issues!

Once everyone had quieted down, Aperria, who had completely lost all goodwill toward the Chosen Ones, recited the lines Li Li had arranged for her.

They were roughly reminders such as "killing monsters grants Experience Points," "doing evil gets your account permanently banned," and "protect your body before logging out."

Then she asked once more whether the players intended to leave with her or remain here.

In the end, Aperria led thirty-two new players out of the hall.

Together with the knights waiting outside, Lost a Leg, who had just been sweet-talked by the Transcendence Merchant Guild into signing a contract selling himself into service and planned to lie low for a while, and Aer, she set off for Crystal Seal Village.

Only after those people left did Li Li enter the hall and begin receiving the players who had chosen to stay.

Outpost, Part Three

Quest Time Limit: Before January 30, Alliance Year 1104.

Quest Progress: 13%

Quest Objective: Build an outpost in Endemic Plague Village within Broken Sword Valley for expeditions beyond the region.

Quest Hint: With the assistance of the Transcendence Merchant Guild, a steady stream of supplies is being transported to the outpost. However, monsters still run rampant along the route, and the city's workers are unwilling to travel into the dangerous wilderness. Weak as you are, you have resolved to head to the outpost and assist in completing its construction.

Quest Reward: A large amount of Experience Points, with a small chance to obtain an "Outpost Property Purchase Eligibility Certificate."

This was the main quest Li Li issued to the players who had stayed behind.

At the same time, he also issued side quests such as "Transport Supplies," "Logging," and "Guide," based on the actual circumstances.

The Experience Points rewards for each quest ranged from 100 to 3,000 points. Completing around ten quests would earn enough Experience Points to advance to Brass Rank and become a Transcendent with some combat power.

These players had all been carefully selected by Li Li as combat experts. Once they reached level 10, gained some offensive means, and acquired a decent set of equipment, they would be able to join forces and defeat Silver Monsters above level 30.

Not to mention that several veteran players were waiting outside to take friends they knew out to level up.

After Aperria led away a huge crowd of people, the Merchant Guild's representatives finally received the news and at least managed to catch the second wave of players.

The Merchant Guild thoughtfully offered the new players enchanted weapons available for purchase on installment plans.

However, the city guard officer who had been waiting there all along said that as long as the players joined the army, they would receive the most useful early-game "hot weapons." He would also dispatch troops to help them clear contamination, along with offering future promotions and benefits.

"A faction system?" someone wondered.

There had been no such thing in the first playthrough. Most people had no idea how strong the various NPC factions in the game were, so they had no clue which faction to join.

Quite a few players simply went AFK on the spot and headed online to make posts asking for advice.

Meanwhile, Golden Wind, dressed in a flashy set of enchanted equipment, led a group of treants and invited players to join their player "guild."

He told the hesitant players that under the simulation of the "real world," NPC forces were no different from player forces. Their advantage was the assistance of the treants, as well as Golden Wind's information advantage from the first playthrough.

Li Li had learned about the guild called Golden Wind on the forums.

In the first playthrough, these people had built a massive guild that monopolized the output of secondary professions, rare materials, methods for advancing Hidden Professions, and more. They could even influence the outcomes of professional matches.

They had turned the game into a business, drawing endless complaints from countless solo players.

Still, being able to reach that point proved they were genuinely capable.

Just as he had stated, Li Li did not interfere with these factions competing for players.

After signing the contract with the Merchant Guild, he no longer needed players to serve as laborers for infrastructure construction. These amateurs would not be particularly efficient anyway.

The main reason he gave players those quests was simply to find an excuse to hand out Experience Points.