The players who wanted to enjoy the story and maybe win over the aloof, rich young lady had already made their "story branch choice." As an "NPC," Murphy naturally had to grant their wish.
He left his two assistants behind to look after Lady Adele and guard the "quest item" they had taken from the Golden Lily Transport Team. Then, at his command, he led the eleven excited, fully armed little players—who had literally traded their shotguns for better guns—toward the area where the Midnight Hunters were fighting the transport team's main force.
Though, in this world, bolt-action rifles weren't necessarily better than melee weapons in small-scale battles, the little players clearly trusted these ranged weapons with their trigger mechanisms more.
Happy Stick, for example, complained that the firepower in this battle was far too unscientific for a magical world, all while teaching everyone else how to use the bolt-action rifles. He seemed to have rediscovered the joy he'd known back when he was an instructor in Africa.
But as he went on, Happy Stick—the former professional—soon noticed that something was wrong, just like Miss Yang Hen had before him.
"Hey! Wait! How is this gun different from what I know? It doesn't have a firing pin? And what's with this spherical bullet? Why's it this color?"
He exclaimed, holding the disassembled parts in front of him and inspecting them closely. He was sure that none of the old guns he'd seen in the past had any of these odd-looking components.
This bewildered the other little players, too. Hearing them chatter away, Murphy rolled his eyes inwardly.
Hey, it's steam technology, kid!
This is a world with psionics!
If you want to enjoy life here, you'd better do what he did and throw out your old physics textbooks along with your admiration for Newton.
Murphy didn't know much about this world's "technology tree," but after seeing that ridiculous Automatic Hunter Crossbow, he knew its technology had absolutely nothing to do with the technology he was familiar with!
Making a steam boiler that small could be explained by advanced craftsmanship, but a device of that size could sustain enough power to drive a revolving cylinder and fire like an automatic rifle.
If steam engines were really that good, internal combustion engines and the like would never have been invented, right?
Mirian knew a lot about this.
Her university, Chardo Craftsman University, was the origin and core of this world's mechanical knowledge. Though she wasn't a mechanical engineering student, she'd explained some of the principles behind halfling steam engineering to Murphy.
She'd repeatedly mentioned something called "burning-gold catalyst," saying that it was what had transformed steam engineering. Murphy was sure that nothing like it existed in his original world.
The group made their way toward the battlefield through Smugglers' Woodland, chattering all the while. After they left the ambush zone, the notification Murphy had been waiting for appeared before his eyes:
Beginner Guidance Quest (5/6): Comprehensive Assessment (Complete) 1. Alpha must complete a tactical discussion and form a strategy in-game with the adorable little players. (Complete) 2. The main force in the actual operation must consist solely of Alpha and the player faction. (Complete) 3. Alpha or the players must personally kill the leader of the faction chosen as the target of the actual operation, and at least one-fifth of the current personnel must survive until the operation ends. (Complete) Assessment: Personnel remaining at the end of the operation: 11. Quest completion rating: Outstanding! Reward: 10 Test Invitation Codes; Deep Datafication (Combat Log) feature unlocked. Extra reward for outstanding completion: 10 Test Invitation Codes; Tester-Initiated Login feature unlocked, limited to 6 hours per day. The feature must be manually activated by the test administrator before it goes live. Developer's Note: Outstanding! Hard to believe—I didn't think anyone could get a rating this high. You were only one step away from perfect. Sigh, I guess I set the requirements for this quest too low after all. Come to think of it, you cheated, didn't you? You did, right?
"Success!"
When he saw the reward for the fifth stage of the beginner guidance quest, Murphy threw a fist into the air.
At that moment, the reward of twenty reserve personnel meant nothing. The notification window before him, which let him manually activate the players' ability to log in whenever they wanted, was what he'd wanted most!
If players couldn't control their own playtime, then no matter how fun the game was, it would seriously dampen their enthusiasm. But now, the problem that had been troubling both him and the players had finally been solved!
At last, as the person in charge of testing the game, he could go to the forums and share the good news with the little players who'd been waiting impatiently. He could also brag about how hard the nonexistent development team on the forums had been working.
A cause for celebration! My dudes, you don't have to wait for me to summon you before logging in anymore. This'll make things easier for you, and save me the trouble of making up ridiculous test content on the forums.
Then, as usual, a new guidance quest appeared:
Beginner Guidance Quest (6/6): Toward the Beginning and the End. Return to Cadman City, pass the Trial of Strength—Black Iron Body, and obtain a territory of your own. Reward: 10 Test Invitation Codes; all remaining basic features unlocked. Additional advanced-feature rewards will depend on the size of your territory. Developer's Note: You've finally made it this far. According to my estimates, at least a year should have passed since you received your new life. A year is enough to temper your will and polish your character. You're about to take the final step, and when you do, you'll cast off your mortal limitations and become a truly qualified test administrator. Make the adorable little players proud of you, and be proud of your adorable and loyal little players, too!
"A year?"
Murphy pursed his lips and grumbled, "It only took me one month and five days, damn it! Take away the month it took to unzip and install this damned thing, and I speedran your crappy challenge in five days. Sure, most of that was thanks to the little players' courage and brains, but I did a tiny bit of work myself, too.
Anyway, don't underestimate me, you bastard."
For a moment, he felt incredibly proud and accomplished. But he soon noticed the "Deep Datafication" feature among the rewards for the fifth guidance quest, and grew curious.
Hadn't his character sheet already been datafied?
He switched to his character sheet, and sure enough, a prompt had appeared there: Enable Deep Datafication? Below it was another note saying he could turn the feature off at any time and switch back to "Simple Mode."
Murphy rolled his eyes again.
So the character sheet he'd been using all this time was actually in "Idiot Mode"?
Fine, then. Let's see what your truly professional character template looks like.
In a good mood, he casually confirmed the switch, expecting it to simply refresh. But the next instant, an intense headache burst through his skull, as if his head were being split open.
Dazed, he fell backward, and the quick-thinking little players rushed to catch him.
"Quick! The NPC's hurt and unconscious! Anyone know first aid?"
"CPR! CPR, hurry! Get Lumi over here—oh, Lumi accidentally fell to her death? Never mind, A-Cha's the most shameless one, so he can do it."
"I say we pinch his philtrum! Traditional medicine's all about knowing when to stop. Besides, giving a vampire CPR sounds pretty fantastical."
"Don't you think asking me to pinch a vampire's philtrum is just as fantastical?"
The gaggle of idiots kept arguing. Happy Stick, who'd served in the military, was already giving Murphy chest compressions with a professional air.
But their NPC wasn't sick or weak at all.
He'd just finished upgrading his template and could now kill a bull with one punch—literally. He was just a little dazed by the flood of data surging through his mind.
With Deep Datafication enabled, the character sheet before him had become something he couldn't understand at all:
Name: Ravnos Murphy Lasombra Race: Vampire, Blood Eagle Clan · Scion of Desire Template: Dark Psionic Affinity · Rare Individual Rank: Level 8 Practitioner Class: Level 9 Blood Vulture Swordsman / Level 7 Dark Psionic Apprentice / None Talents: Skilled in sensing and manipulating dark psionics; proficient in stealth and shadow walking; expert in melee and physical attacks; swordsman class talents (omitted); psionicist class talents (omitted) Feats: Summon Extraplanar Creature 16/40 Skills: Blood Vulture Swordsmanship, Expert / Dark Psionic Blast, Skilled / Summoning II: Astral Dire Wolf, Novice Detailed character-sheet data: Strength: 7 → 7 + 3.5 (Rare Creature Template: 150% base attribute bonus) Agility: 10 → 10 + 5 Endurance: 9 → 9 + 4.5 Intellect: 5 → 5 + 2.5 Perception: 8 → 8 + 4 Charisma: 1 → 1 + 0.5 Explanation 1: Attribute definitions: Strength: Determines attack power, chance of successfully defending, environmental destruction, and the maximum weight one can carry. Agility: Determines movement speed, attack speed, and chance of successfully dodging. Endurance: Determines carrying capacity, constitution, wound healing, and stamina recovery speed. Intellect: Determines psionic affinity and learning speed, ability to understand notes and tomes, and psionic recovery speed. Perception: Determines detection range, ability to sense hostility, environmental awareness, and reaction speed. Charisma: Determines the success rate of actions such as communication, persuasion, deception, and intimidation, as well as others' first impressions. Explanation 2: The vampire race has a total base attribute score of 40. Other supernatural races also have a total base attribute score of 40. Without completing a Trial of Strength at each stage, a race's baseline attributes gradually weaken or strengthen with age. These changes depend on the biological traits of each race, but natural changes will not exceed 10% of the baseline maximum. After completing each stage of the Trial of Strength, a character gains attribute points. Each rank grants 12 base points, distributed according to strength and class specialization; they cannot be allocated freely. In addition, attributes may change significantly when a character's template changes. Template changes only apply to the creatures of this world. Testers do not benefit from creature-template bonuses and use the ordinary creature template. Explanation 3: The base human template (testers/players) has a total starting racial score of 30. Each attribute starts at 5 ± 3. This baseline template was derived from the average values of the humans of this world—Nord, Kett, and Silan—and adjusted according to each tester's individual biological traits. Testers cannot upgrade their character templates, but their growth and learning rates are multiplied by 1.5. After test administrators and testers complete each stage of the Trial of Strength, their total attribute increase is 18 points per rank. Twelve points are distributed according to strength and class specialization, and the remaining 6 can be allocated freely. The test administrator sets the contents of each stage of the Trial of Strength for testers, but must first pass that stage's Trial of Strength themselves. Explanation 4: In Deep Datafication mode, all racial traits will also be converted into data. Vampires, for example: Vampire · Blood Eagle Clan racial traits: Blessing of Night: In darkness, melee and psionic skill checks gain +1; agility increases by 20%, intellect increases by 20%, and health, stamina, and psionic energy recover much faster. In darkness, the vampire can fly using blood wings (0.5 times the speed of sound). Curse of Daylight: When fighting in bright environments, damage dealt is reduced by 30% and health recovery speed is reduced by 50%. The vampire also continuously suffers the negative effect of being ignited by sunlight. This effect can be countered by spells but cannot be dispelled. Vampiric Touch: Each attack has a chance to drain an enemy's vitality to replenish or strengthen the vampire's own attack. When the power of the blood gathers to its limit, it can be used to empower the next attack. This racial trait will activate upon reaching the Black Iron Body rank. Night Bat Legacy: When a vampire is near death, he can dissolve his physical form and transform into a swarm of bats to escape mortal danger. Limited to 3 uses per night. Using this trait multiple times in quick succession causes the vampire to suffer mental strain and physical collapse. This racial trait will activate upon reaching the Black Iron Body rank. Sequestered Bloodline: The seven vampire clans have their own exclusive and complex reputation system. Vampires have poor relations with other factions and find it difficult to communicate with them. Eternal Sinner: All other living beings despise vampires, who bear the burden of original sin. Increasing charisma is difficult. Explanation 5: In Deep Datafication mode, detailed combat logs can be viewed. Please note, however, that these combat logs are simply data analyses of the battles as they occurred. You'll need professional data-analysis skills to obtain more information. Combat in Deep Datafication mode includes a dice-rolling option, adding more fun and surprises to otherwise dull battles. Warning! It is not recommended to use this advanced feature while you are still weak, lest it result in an unexpected death. Continue enabling Deep Datafication?
Such a huge pile of numbers flashed before Murphy's eyes. Just reading it all made him feel overwhelmed.
He was now certain that whoever had cobbled together this administrator system was a complete tabletop RPG fanatic. Just look at this ridiculous suggestion!
Dice rolls, too!
Dream on. If I roll six consecutive ones in a duel, am I going to lose even when I've got the upper hand? That's way too intense!
What normal person would use this thing?
"Turn it off!" Murphy muttered.
The complex data disappeared from before his eyes, and his character sheet returned to its pleasingly simple Idiot Mode. His headache immediately eased, and in an instant he felt as good as new.
The little players helped him to his feet. He thanked them for their help, then pried open A-Cha's hand, which had been pinching his philtrum the whole time.
He wondered, though, if the attribute explanations meant that his intellect wasn't high enough to handle Deep Datafication.
In other words, he wasn't smart enough?
Uh, that was a little hurtful, wasn't it?
The vampire pursed his lips.
But when he looked at the little players before him, his mood lifted again. No wonder these guys were so weak. Their starting attributes were all 5, with a maximum variation of 3 in either direction, and their total was a pitiful 30.
Tsk, textbook pushovers.
If they stayed this weak, they really would be worrying. But the little players' growth rate was 1.5 times that of the natives. Given that even the supernatural vampires had a starting racial score of only 40, every single attribute point was important. Each time the players advanced a rank through the Trial of Strength, they gained 6 more attribute points than the natives!
That meant that after just two Trials of Strength, they could overtake natives of the same rank in total attributes. And the most important thing was that natives only had one life!
But players weren't afraid to die.
That meant they were destined to level up more than ten times faster than the natives!
Perhaps in less than a year, Murphy could have a super-army made up entirely of Silver Body fighters! They'd sweep across the land and unite the world without breaking a sweat.
Of course, the players' inability to upgrade their character templates meant they could only be measured against the ordinary template. At the same rank, their combat strength would probably be near the bottom, but that didn't matter.
Once there were enough of them, quantity itself became a kind of quality.
No elite template, no matter how powerful, could withstand a group battle against twenty-five ordinary templates of the same rank.
Thinking of this, Murphy's gaze softened with affection as he looked at the little players. My adorable little leeks, your future really is promising!
"Ah!"
As Murphy was contemplating the bright future, a familiar scream suddenly rang out ahead. He immediately frowned and turned around.
What was Lady Femis screaming about? Was that any way for a vampire lady to behave? How utterly improper! She was screaming as if she'd seen a ghost!
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