Chiyan Town.
It was located between Claw Forest and Huodian City. In other words, it was a fortified town at a vital pass along the only route between them.
Liao Zixuan had gathered a large number of villagers and players in this town.
This place would become the front line against the approaching "Tide of the Fallen Abyss."
As for the current situation, Thorin, the mayor of Chiyan Town, was absolutely terrified.
What frightened him wasn't the many villagers seeking refuge, nor the unknown monsters said by the villagers to have emerged from Claw Forest.
What truly left Mayor Thorin at a loss were those Outlanders who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and suddenly surged in like a tide with a loud roar.
Yes, he was looking at the players swarming all over the town, running around energetically in a dense, oppressive mass.
The Wolf Cub, sitting atop the Great Silver Wolf's head, couldn't help sighing. As expected, the power of the Fourth Calamity was the strongest of all!
The influence of Vivian's battle footage had far surpassed what Liao Zixuan had anticipated.
As an NPC with a player panel, the girl could naturally use the "forum" function. Thus, Liao Zixuan could clearly see that Vivian had practically taken over the entire forum.
Moreover, he didn't just see it. He enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, several of the most popular comments on a number of viral videos had even been written by him.
For example, "The flames burning in your hands are my unchanging faith for life!" "I offer my heart to Witch Bella!" "Please! My other self!" and "I'm going to have Vivian's babies!!"
Of course, aside from admiring his own "newly blossomed" cabbage, Liao Zixuan also paid attention to many analysis videos.
Quite a few experts and top players had begun analyzing what kind of role Vivian actually played in the game based on the battle footage.
Liao Zixuan gave it a rough summary. They could generally be divided into three categories.
The first category, and also the largest, believed that the girl was a key plot character aligned with justice. They insisted that players had to find a way to interact with her. Who knew? It might even trigger some hidden quest.
The second category believed that Vivian was the only profession mentor players could interact with during the Beta Testing Phase—the means by which they could obtain the "Summoner" profession.
The third category was rather interesting. They had latched onto the fact that Vivian seemed to have a serious split personality. Her public persona was kind and righteous, while her inner persona was filled with madness and slaughter.
Combined with the title of "Witch," some of them even boldly speculated that this might be foreshadowing for the future plot. The girl might very well transform into the greatest villain BOSS, so they called on everyone not to follow her blindly and to remain cautious.
Of course, as one could imagine, the replies beneath these third-category players' posts were mostly a flood of curses.
Still, generally speaking, although everyone had their own opinions, they had reached a consensus on one indisputable point.
This NPC was definitely not simple!
She was hiding a huge secret!
She would become the core of the game for a long time to come, perhaps even of the entire version.
Therefore, not only during the current Beta Testing Phase, but also after the official launch, the first thing everyone would do was find Vivian!
That was exactly what Liao Zixuan wanted to see.
Actually, why had Vivian managed to gain such a high level of attention among the players so smoothly, seemingly with ease?
The answer was simple: she had benefited from the Beta Testing Phase.
Put even more simply, there was too little game content. The high-popularity, high-heat NPCs from his previous life were completely inaccessible to the current beta players.
With no competitors at all, Vivian had naturally stood out immediately.
But one couldn't forget that once the official launch began and the entire world of "Fall of the Gods" opened to players, more and more genuine plot characters would enter their field of vision. It wouldn't be easy for Vivian to maintain the highest popularity.
However, with this group of beta players as her foundation, the girl had already gotten a huge head start over all the other NPCs.
"Hm?"
Just as Liao Zixuan was about to close the forum, a video whose popularity was rapidly rising suddenly caught the Wolf Cub's attention.
The reason was simple.
The video's title was: Don't Look Down on Me Just Because I'm a Little Wolf Cub.
What the hell!?
Someone actually made a video about me?
Kid, you've really chosen the right path!
Driven by tremendous curiosity, Liao Zixuan clicked on it and found that the video's content was actually quite simple.
It was divided into three stages.
In the first stage, the camera showed him lazily watching the battle, looking like a mascot in the form of a little milk wolf.
The second stage began when Eugenia transformed into Witch Bella. Even Vivian, with her main body online, fell into crisis, and the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. At that moment, summoned by the girl, he made his move.
His adorable little milk-wolf appearance vanished in an instant. After transforming into his true Dark Flame Wolf form, he hovered in the air with his entire body wrapped in black flames. He looked incredibly cool, crushed Bella once again, and even scared the giant wolf Bella had summoned into fleeing straight back into the shadows.
The third stage showed him returning to his lazy state after the battle ended, once again becoming that seemingly harmless little Wolf Cub as he lounged in Vivian's arms.
This huge contrast between his before and after appearances, along with the Wolf Cub's sly, tsundere, and highly distinctive personality, instantly won him countless fans among the players—and he appealed equally to both men and women.
The male players were focused on his terrifying strength. They speculated about what level of monster he was, how noble his bloodline could be, and whether they would also be able to obtain such a powerful companion after becoming Summoners.
The female players, meanwhile, were more practical.
Comments such as:
"You're totally spoiling her!"
"AWSL!"
"He's exactly like the tsundere male lead in a CEO romance novel!"
"He's way too cute, waaaah!"
"I'm so jealous of Vivian! I've decided—I'm going to become a Summoner too! I want a powerful little milk wolf like this that protects its master!"
"I really want to hug him!"
"I'll come clean. I'm a Furry Enthusiast!"
People couldn't. They really shouldn't.
Liao Zixuan truly never expected that after this video became the latest viral sensation, its popularity would actually surpass Vivian's after only a short while!
The female players' contribution was absolutely indispensable.
When it came to gaming, perhaps ten girls couldn't match one boy, but when it came to driving up popularity, a hundred boys probably couldn't hold a candle to one girl!
Furthermore, Vivian had now gone to Huodian City, so many impatient players couldn't find any trace of the girl. As a result, they shifted their attention entirely to the only companion by her side—the adorable little Wolf Cub.
Then, before long,
a large number of angry posts appeared on the forum.
The vast majority of the complaints and protests came from male players.
Because they had discovered something.
This little Wolf Cub seemed to possess an innate aversion to and distance from male players. Female players, on the other hand, could easily gain the little Wolf Cub's acceptance.
And!
Their instincts as men told them that this little wolf was very improper!
By then, Liao Zixuan had already begun enjoying the soft warmth and sweet voices surrounding him. Facing the jealous looks of the male players, he curled his lips disdainfully.
Then, in a blatant show of provocation, he smugly burrowed even deeper into the arms of the super fierce young lady who was trying to hug him.
After all, he was only an adorable little Wolf Cub.
What bad intentions could he possibly have?
Liao Zixuan suddenly began hoping that Vivian would return from Huodian City a little later. After all, he could never experience this kind of softness and elasticity from the girl.
It was dozens of kilometers from Huodian City to Chiyan Town. Even going there and back as quickly as possible, it would be dark by the time she returned, right?
With that thought, Liao Zixuan comfortably narrowed his eyes in the gentle embrace.
Then.
A dazzling white light appeared in Chiyan Town as if divine justice had descended, nearly blinding Liao Zixuan's wolf eyes.
Once the white light faded,
the Wolf Cub in the arms of the super fierce young lady happened to come face-to-face with Vivian, who had completed her teleportation spell and walked out of the teleportation array, dusty from the journey and clearly worried about her own little wolf.
And just like that, the two happened to meet each other's eyes!
Before you continue