Gao Linzhi's New Piece, the Private Server Craze

Inside the Dragon Soaring Legion's command center.

Commander-in-Chief Lu Zheng was standing in front of a complex strategic sand table.

Upon closer inspection, the sand table was clearly a portion of the beginner village map within the "God's Domain".

It was covered with all sorts of signs.

This is the first time a single nation has used its resources to create a game strategy map.

He said in a solemn voice, "The data on the levels of each Legion has been compiled last night."

"The average level is only level five."

"Today's goal: everyone must break through to level seven."

"The reconnaissance team should expand its search area and look for more efficient training zones outside the beginner village."

He paused, then continued, "The Spotted Rat population in the Wilderness Mountains no longer poses a threat to us, but the corresponding profits have also shrunk significantly."

A stern-looking officer seized the opportunity to remind us, "When it comes to actual combat in the field, we all claim to be elite."

"However, in the face of new circumstances and working through the night, we found that many people performed admirably."

"This is mainly reflected in the fact that many team leaders only know how to work hard in a simple and crude way, without knowing how to summarize techniques."

"They have lost our traditional diligence and conscientiousness."

"They only know how to rigorously train their subordinates, but they've forgotten that this is a new situation and a new circumstances. They're unwilling to seriously study the strategies or put in the effort to research the techniques; all they know is to grind, grind, grind."

"It must be said that even after continuously killing monsters for more than ten hours, the experience gain is almost zero, and the equipment drop rate is extremely low."

"But they still mechanically followed orders and continued to kill the specified number of monsters."

"This approach, while seemingly a strict execution of orders, is in reality a sign of not using one's brain and not thinking."

Lu Zheng sighed, "You can't blame them. After all, following orders has become their defining characteristic."

"We should delegate more autonomy, no longer specifying details, but instead setting goals."

"Yes, in fact, after eight hours, experience points are only 30% left. At this point, we should be flexible and seek other methods. There are also some groups where the leaders are considered troublemakers, but they have achieved unexpected results, only to be criticized by their superiors. I think we should correct this."

"Otherwise, despite our well-organized structure, we probably still can't compete with those top-tier professional players and studios in this God's Domain Game."

"After all, the drop rate in this game is low. Just by investing real money and manpower, you might not be able to surpass those so-called European Emperor."

"Unless there's a single way to level up during the beginner phase, constantly grinding monsters is definitely not a wise choice."

"In my opinion, if more gameplay features are added in the future, the optimal daily online time should be controlled within six hours."

"As for the Ordinary Player, being able to last four to five hours is enough."

Civil society organizations are also thriving.

"War Alliance Guild" is one of the few large, formal guild organizations in the God's Domain server with over 10,000 members.

Today, backed by several top Medicine Making companies in the Dragon Kingdom, it can be said to have abundant funds.

They had already keenly perceived the effects of the God's Domain Game on the human body.

As a private pharmaceutical company without a safety net, it naturally needs to be highly responsive to market changes.

The president, "War Sky," is currently holding an online meeting.

"What's the status of that weapon that was auctioned?"

"Boss, we've tried contacting that player named 'Chongxing' multiple times, but he hasn't reached out to us."

"I heard he also ignored invitations from other organizations; he's quite arrogant," said Vice President "War Two."

"Damn, this kid's such a show-off, he doesn't even talk to us."

"In that case, we have no choice but to rely on ourselves," War Sky said helplessly.

"Spare us, boss! We've been hacking at the rats all night, the guys are going crazy, and nothing's dropping! Most of us are using basic helmets, working at high intensity all night, we're exhausted."

"Yes, why don't you bid on that purple weapon at the auction house? I guarantee they'll be energized immediately." The speaker was "War Cute," a rare female expert in the War Alliance.

War Sky shook his head and said, "Alright, all vanguard team members will have their salaries doubled this month."

"The top 50 players in experience points will receive an additional 20,000 real-world currency."

Everyone immediately perked up. "Tired? Forget about it! We'll train until we drop! Boss, let's go!"

With such generous rewards, morale soared.

The game's cash value is thus fully revealed.

At the same time, many newly established large guilds, including Dragon Diagram Guild, Dragon Soaring Legion, Contending for the World, Imperial Pavilion, Slaying Gods, Century Imperial City, Wind and Cloud, also sent out advance teams to explore the unknown areas outside the novice village, spurred on by Zhang Mingzhen.

Who can be the first to discover the advanced leveling area, break out of the newbie village, and climb the leaderboard has become a covert contest among various forces.

Not long after.

Zhang Mingzhen finally logged on and returned to the front of Mingyue Village's house.

The old man sat in a wicker chair, gazing absently at the misty mountains in the distance.

"Village Chief, I wish to travel to Wushuang Town. Could you please tell me how to get there?"

The village chief slowly turned his head and sighed, "Now that monsters are rampant, the Teleportation Array that used to connect the village and town has long been destroyed."

"Young man, you'd be better off staying in the village for peace and quiet. The closer you get to the big city, the more ferocious the monsters become."

"I have a beautiful granddaughter who can marry you, brave warrior."

Hearing this, Zhang Mingzhen wasn't tempted, but the other players doing the quest nearby immediately became excited.

"Holy crap, you can get married in a game?"

Is it a real marriage?

"I think it's possible? I heard..."

Zhang Mingzhen ignored those people and firmly said to the village chief:

"As an adventurer, how can I be stopped by difficulties? Please rest assured, I am capable of protecting myself."

"Since that's the case... so be it."

"Occasionally, caravans from the village would travel to town to buy and sell goods; these would be organized once every three months."

"The team will depart from the eastern side of the Wilderness Mountains, and will need to traverse swamps and misty wetlands, a journey that will take approximately ten days to reach Wushuang Town."

Zhang Mingzhen was speechless for a moment.

This game is incredibly realistic; the time flow is eight times that of real time.

If you really walk for ten days, it's equivalent to spending one day offline.

In the game, if you don't level up for ten days, your level will be far behind the mainstream teams.

"Village Chief, since there's already Teleportation Array, could I repair it and then use it directly? What materials or conditions would be needed? I can prepare them." He asked directly.

"The village's Teleportation Array was damaged in the last round of Warcraft invasion; to repair it, we need to obtain the Skyride Crystal."

"This kind of crystal is only produced deep in the Devil's Lair, where High-Rank Warcraft dwell. It's far too dangerous, and I can't let you go on that adventure," the village chief said, shaking his head.

"The Devil's Lair, is it?"

Zhang Mingzhen pondered for a moment and said, "Village Chief, why don't I go and scout ahead first?"

"If circumstances permit, I will do my utmost to obtain the crystal;"

"If it really becomes too difficult, I'll turn back and set off with the caravan again. What do you think?"

"Furthermore, if the Teleportation Array can be restarted, travel between Mingyue Village and Shuangyue Town will be much smoother, which will benefit the village's development and defense."

Upon hearing this, the old village chief naturally thought it was a good thing.

Besides, he faced no risk whatsoever.

So he was swayed by Zhang Mingzhen's words and readily agreed, "Since you insist on this, I won't try to persuade you any further. Just be sure to act within your means."

"I've prepared some items here that might be helpful for your trip."

After saying that, he took out a plain-colored necklace.

[Guardian Necklace (Normal)]

[Spirit +11]

[Intelligence +17]

[Additional effect: Reduces the hit rate of crowd control skills by 10%]

[Equipment Requirements: Magic-based classes, Level 8]

This thing is just a blank slate and not particularly valuable, but it's better than nothing.

After thanking him, Zhang Mingzhen accepted the necklace.

The quest list was updated accordingly. "Investigate the Devil's Lair, defeat the Silver Zombie, and obtain the Skyride Crystal (0/1)."

Including the equipment he obtained from the Training Tower treasure chest yesterday, he now has six pieces of equipment, including one piece of Mysterious Iron Grade and five pieces of ordinary grade.

The character's equipment slots consist of twelve items, including helmets, necklaces, robes, belts, bottoms, boots, two rings, two pendants, and main-hand and off-hand weapons.

There's also a question mark icon indicating that the device is locked at the bottom of the screen.

Perhaps due to insufficient level, other equipment slots have not yet been unlocked.

With his "Yin-Yang" talent, he can equip two sets of equipment simultaneously, and both sets will be active.

This means that the amount of equipment he needs to collect far exceeds that of an average person.

"The road ahead is long and arduous," he sighed inwardly.

He knew, of course, that he was in Versailles; anyone else would have been overjoyed.

He suddenly remembered that the challenge attempts for the Training Tower had been reset for today. He decided to clear the tower first and then head to the Devil's Lair. Having an extra piece of equipment would give him a better chance of success.

Advancing through the Training Tower tests one's strength and is also limited by one's level.

At his current level of ten, he can only challenge the guardian of the eleventh level.

According to official forecasts, the leader of the eleventh floor is Lightning Wolf that can unleash lightning and paralyze people; its strength is not much greater than that of the Bat Wang Qiang fought last night.

Zhang Mingzhen speculated that every ten levels was a major hurdle, and the leader of the twentieth level was probably at least twice as powerful as the leader of the nineteenth level.

The battle ended quickly, and he gained another thousand experience points and an ordinary ring.

A 10% drop rate for Xuan Tie is ultimately too low.

Only the Europeans have hope.

After calming himself down, he set off for the Devil's Lair.

Meanwhile, the bidding at the auction house was in full swing.

His "eight-hour auction" has not yet entered its final stage, but the current bid has reached thirty silver, a price that satisfies him.

In his view, once most players reach level 10 and clear the Training Tower, equipment prices will inevitably drop.

Actually, he was overthinking it.

With billions of people worldwide, it's impossible for them to enter the game simultaneously.

Many people naturally entered in batches.

Due to the limited drop rate of equipment, prices will remain high for a long time.

He was so full that he didn't realize others were hungry.

He acquires one piece of ordinary equipment each day, and with the help of grinding monsters in the wild, it's only a matter of time before he can collect ten of the twelve pieces of equipment needed for the beginner stage.

Only main-hand and off-hand weapons typically require higher levels and are much rarer to obtain.

The Devil's Lair is located deep in the swamp near Mingyue Village.

Upon arrival, Zhang Mingzhen saw only black bubbles rising from the murky mud pool, making muffled "glug-glug" sounds.

"The mission target is a Silver Zombie. As long as its level isn't too high, it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with," Zhang Mingzhen thought to himself.

Amidst the surrounding mud, a path that appears to have been trodden out can be vaguely seen.

"This is probably the route that the village's caravans used to take."

"But before the map is open, there's no auto-pathfinding in the game's wilderness, so which direction should we go to find the Devil's Cave?" He frowned slightly.

This is similar to the Diablo setting; there is no map before installing mods.

Unless you've actually gone through it yourself.

This is the downside of going it alone; if they had other professions, they would have the skills to find their way.

Zhang Mingzhen looked up and saw a dark cloud gathering on the western horizon, so he decided to search in that direction.

"Brother! Pull me up! The mud is almost up to my neck!" A player named "Wandering Shadow" was desperately struggling in the mud.

"If you kick around a few more times, you can go back to town and revive. I told you to follow me, but you insisted on running around aimlessly. Don't you have any common sense?" another player, "Wandering Arrow," scolded irritably.

"Captain, stop scolding him. If he really can't hold on, does anyone have a long stick or something to pull him up?" The Priest named "Add Oil Little Round" hurriedly spoke up.

This team of about ten people, all of whom have reached level seven, are friends who grew up in the same family compound and come from wealthy or noble families.

In the past, they looked down on people who played video games.

Even whales (players who spend a lot of money on in-game purchases) are just another face on the road in their eyes.

Because they're playing with real people.

But now, under pressure from their parents, they are actually going to play this God's Domain Game.

They hired a large number of people to help them farm monsters all night, and after they all reached level seven, their efficiency dropped.

A group of second-generation members became restless and broke away from the main group, attempting to explore new maps and monster Spawn Point on their own.

The second generation is always like this: all talk and no action, thinking they are better than professionals.

After all, professionals always try to please the second generation in order to win over the first.

Previously, their team had always let these employers deliver the final blow, allowing them to complete the upgrade ahead of most players.

This, however, made them feel that they were awesome.

The power boost this game provides far exceeds what is ordinary. After personally experiencing the increase in power, everyone becomes addicted to the process of leveling up and becoming stronger.

This also made them understand their parents' good intentions.

"The old man was right, this game is no ordinary game."

These pampered young masters and ladies, who have always lived a life of luxury, have never before stayed up all night working so hard for a game.

Even with a high-end gaming pod, their current enthusiasm has truly impressed their parents.

Moreover, this game will directly determine the status of a generation.

Because the younger generation can see that this game can affect all aspects of reality.

Putting aside everything else, the fact that it affects the body's physiological parameters alone demonstrates its extraordinary nature.

Moreover, it has an extraterrestrial background.

At this very moment.

Gao Linzhi scanned his private server again.

He noticed several prominent figures, such as "Dragon Diagram Frenzy," the leader of the Dragon Diagram Guild, who had the air of a powerful figure in the mid-to-late game.

The more such ruthless and cunning figures, the better.

In the real world, they are suppressed by various rules and regulations, unable to unleash their full potential.

But in the God's Domain, there are no taboos.