Leon had not expected that while rat tails littered the ground for the taking and even full, napping spiders could be picked off on the first floor of the underground maze, there would be someone so bent on trouble that they set their sights on those worthless magic crystals and even wanted to stockpile some.
Wasn't that like farting after taking off your pants? He had originally planned to enable the death penalty once there were more players, but it seemed he had no choice but to bring it forward.
Watching a certain ID that had ruined his appetite walk away, Leon spoke helplessly.
"You You, could you screen the qualifications of Closed Beta players a little? I'm not saying non-pro players don't deserve to play games, but could we filter out the ones who are too outrageous? At least make them wait until the game is more polished before letting them in?"
You You hesitated before answering a moment later.
"Um... probably not. I can revoke Closed Beta Qualifications, but I can't issue them to specific players."
Fine, then.
It seemed that Closed Beta Qualifications were distributed randomly. This was part of the "underlying code" that even the Calamity System could not alter.
Leon could only think positively. He would treat those outrageous players as bug catchers helping him out...
Meanwhile, with the release of the a02 update, the atmosphere on the Official Website forum for "Calamity Online" was as lively as a festival.
In fact, during the previous monster siege, some restless players had already used the gaps between revivals to log off and update their live posts about the group battle.
Swarms of Rat Tides! A boss as tall as a hill!
And cool spellcasting effects... Though the NPCs were the ones casting them, that still basically counted as part of the gameplay experience! In just one day, they had confirmed two things!
First, the game's servers were even more incredible than they had imagined, seamlessly loading so many events and scenes while also featuring environmental destruction and a physics engine realistic enough to pass for the real thing! Second, the game's actual content was far more than just monotonous monster grinding and mining!
Judging from the density of events encountered in Novice Village alone, this game's development team was already incredibly conscientious!
In any other game, wouldn't this warrant a separate expansion pack?
Watching the Closed Beta players have the time of their lives, the Cloud Players were itching with envy, wishing they could charge into the game immediately and wreak havoc with Dragon-Slaying Blades in hand.
"Strongly demanding that the dev team add screenshot and recording functions!"
"Strongly demanding that the dev team wipe the servers and launch open beta immediately!"
"Ahhh!!! I'm going to die without Calamity Online!"
"Holy shit?! Another update!"
"!! That's insane! So fast!!"
"Good news, brothers!!! New Closed Beta Qualifications have been released!"
"Bad news: there are only four hundred new lucky winners. (smirk)"
"Second bad news: the number of reservations has already exceeded ten thousand. (smirk)"
"@%#$!"
"I'm going to kill all of you! (furious)"
Staring at the flood of messages on the forum, Zhao JinYan sat before his computer with a blank expression.
What confused him was not that the sheer quality of these bizarre netizens had shocked him, but rather...
"Damn."
He had actually gotten one?!
He had downloaded the game demo program earlier. Suppressing his wildly pounding heart, he quickly put on his headset and entered his account and password on the launch screen.
After waiting a full five or six minutes, he suddenly heard an odd sound in his anxious state.
"Beep—"
The opening animation described by the other players did not appear. Instead, the entire display turned to static.
"Fuck!"
Experience Bro yanked off the headset and threw it onto the bed in frustration.
The secondhand VR headset he had spent a fortune of several dozen yuan on had fucking crashed! What kind of trash game was this?!
While Experience Bro was busy arguing with the shady seller, players on the "Calamity Online" forum finally began seriously discussing the contents of the a02 update.
Old Man at the Village Entrance: "This update looks like it has a lot of content, but it actually has a whole lot of content! Besides the death penalty, it even added a social module and an in-game store!"
Gou Shi: "Old Man said a lot this time, but he also actually said a whole lot! (smirk)"
Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Fuck you!!! Wasn't I just worried the Newbies wouldn't understand? I was simply distilling the update's contents!"
Gou Shi: "Enough explaining. The more you explain, the more awkward it gets. (smirk)"
Old Man at the Village Entrance: "@#%$!"
Peerless Hero: "No matter what, Hell Money finally has somewhere to be spent. A cause for celebration!"
Knowledge Explosion: "But what the hell is this recruitment for shop clerks? The wages are paid in Hell Money too?"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "If not Hell Money, would they pay real-world money? Think about it properly. Is that even possible? (side-eye)"
Knowledge Explosion: "Guide Bro is here!"
Flower Monk Lin Daiyu: "Guide Bro! Analyze it for us! The update added so much content this time. Does that mean open beta is coming soon?!"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "No idea. I'm not an insider. Besides, this update may have a lot of content, but it's all pretty much expected. Think about it carefully: what game doesn't have death penalties, social systems, and in-game stores?"
Doesn't Wash Pants: "Holy shit?! That's true!"
Doesn't Wash Face: "That was close! The Dog Devs almost fooled us!"
Goblin Chieftain: "Fake update!!! Refund us!"
Minotaur Warrior: "Brother! Your ID is pretty interesting. Want to make a reservation so we can play together?"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Ahem, that's going a little too far. Although other games have these systems too, Calamity Online is still a groundbreaking open-world adventure game developed by an unknown studio... Anyway, I'm about to start praising it, so Dog Devs, please don't rush to beat me up."
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Although this update did not add much content, the details make the development team's ambitions obvious. For example, the death penalty specifically mentions that the Contribution Points deducted will vary depending on the role played by the player. A reasonable analysis suggests this is laying the groundwork for different playable races in the future."
Boar-Headed Knight: "Succubus! Succubus!!! (screaming)"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Exactly. Taking the Succubus you mentioned as an example, I speculate that some future mechanic will allow players to spend Contribution Points to upgrade their characters from skeletons into Succubi... or Boar-Headed Knights."
One Gulp of Septic Tank: "Why Contribution Points?! What about Hell Money? And magic crystals!"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Magic crystals? What are those? Anyway, from a lore perspective, it makes more sense for death penalties to deduct Contribution Points and for reincarnation to consume them as well. From a practical perspective, Hell Money became this inflated right after launch. If I were a developer, I definitely wouldn't tie important systems to it."
"On the contrary, I can clearly tell that the developers are being very careful in controlling the gain curve for Contribution Points. That means this parameter will greatly affect game balance. The only game-balancing mechanic I can think of is a future class advancement system... After all, put a High-level Demon next to low-level cannon fodder, and anyone with eyes can tell the former would be stronger."
Gou Shi: "Amazing! I'm convinced!"
Knowledge Explosion: "And you fucking say you're not an insider! I think you're a goddamn shill! (furious)"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "..."
Goblin Chieftain: "Bro, give me a Closed Beta Qualification! Once I become a Succubus, I'll let you play with me. QAQ"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Get lost!"
Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Hahahahaha, fuck!"
"..."
Meanwhile, at the inn by the entrance to North Peak Mine, Leon sat beneath an abandoned stable, peeking at the Official Website's forum chat through a mirror while roasting rat tail skewers over a campfire.
Though he was somewhat resistant to eating ratmen meat, rat tails seemed to be a medicinal ingredient? In any case, he planned to save the long-lasting jerky for later and make do with the tributes handed in by the players these next few days.
"Damn... This guy really knows his stuff."
Imagining the skewer in his hand was roast duck, Leon forced himself to take a bite. To his surprise, it was not too bad. Chewing it carefully even gave it a genuine duck meat texture.
What a pity.
Without cumin or MSG, it still tasted a little fishy after eating too much of it.
Then he suddenly remembered that Thunder City was by the sea. If he headed south, he should be able to reach the coastline.
If he could bring back some kelp, he might be able to make sodium glutamate.
Although he did not know exactly how to extract the stuff, he had players! The more Leon thought about it, the more reliable it seemed, and he also wondered why some predecessor transmigrator had not thought of this.
"It seems one person's strength is ultimately limited. Even Gods are no exception. No matter how thorough one is, something will eventually slip through..."
You You: "Lord Demon Lord?"
"It's nothing. I was just marveling at how nice it is to have a group of like-minded companions, hahaha."
Reading the comments from those ridiculous netizens, Leon threw back his head and laughed heartily, just like a real Demon Lord.
"Come to think of it, You You, do you want a bite too? You've just been watching me eat."
You You in the mirror fearfully took two steps back.
"Uh, no, I'd better not... Besides, I can't eat in this form."
"Is that so?"
As he spoke, Leon brought the hand holding the skewer to his mouth for another bite. "Then that's a shame... It's actually pretty good."
Just then, "Bond," who had been sitting beside him with his head hanging low, suddenly opened his deathly pale eyes and let out a hissing growl.
"What is it, Bond? Were you stunned by my cooking? Or... did you smell a living person?"
Leon laughed brightly, but his gaze gradually turned cold, and his hand settled on the Magic Wand.
The time he had agreed with Jack for the exchange of goods was tomorrow evening, at sunset.
This was not two hours early. It was an entire day early.
"Lord Demon Lord... what happened?"
"Not sure. It might be an assassin."
That person's aura was extremely faint. They were likely an expert at concealing their presence.
Not only that, the person was agile enough to successfully avoid the Warning Magic Array he had set around the inn!
If the zombie he had summoned had not smelled a living person, he might not have noticed even now! Sure enough.
Living outside all the time was still too risky.
Leon calmly rose to his feet, pretended he urgently needed to relieve himself, and slipped around the corner. At the same time, he ordered Bond to conceal his aura and wait until the target revealed themself before attacking.
After doing all that, he pinched a mirror shard in his hand and gestured for You You to remain outside and report back what she saw.
Perhaps the person could not wait any longer.
Not long after Leon left, the figure hiding in the shadows darted out and rushed straight toward the campfire he had lit.
Were they planning to poison the food?
Heh, not a bad plan.
But unfortunately, he still had a backup plan.
Just as Leon was thinking that, the swift figure snatched up the rat tail skewer beside the fire and stuffed it into their mouth, wolfing it down with enthusiastic "awoo awoo" noises.
Seeing the cat ears swaying in the mirror shard and the wooden skewer crunching between their teeth, Leon froze on the spot.
This was...
A demon?! Was this person from Hell too?!—(Damn masked interrogation. It tricked me into opening a new book. If this weren't a new book, I would've taken leave. T.T)
Before you continue