The Man in Black Who Sparked Heated Discussion Among Players

Chapter 4: The Man in Black Sparks Heated Discussion Among Players

After logging off, Tyrannosaurus Warrior immediately opened the "Kingdom of Heavenly Principles Player Forum" and logged into his account, "When Will Myriad Mirror VR?".

With the closed beta open, the forum had significantly more posts than before. Some popular threads had even exceeded ten thousand replies, filled with all sorts of hilarious titles.

For example, titles like "Shocking, an NPC Actually Did This to Me?" and "On the First Day of the Beta, I Spent It in Jail" caught Tyrannosaurus Warrior's attention, causing his mouse cursor to click them involuntarily.

"Front row, OP please elaborate."

"I bet OP got caught messing with an NPC. Don't ask me how I know."

"Hey, don't think I don't know you, you with the serious face, are in XX City Prison."

"Good grief, you're all stuck together, huh? Don't look at the guy next door, that's not me."

"."

Tyrannosaurus Warrior chuckled to himself.

Sometimes, the silly players really did bring a lot of joy.

Stretching his body slightly, Tyrannosaurus Warrior posted a thread.

"On the First Day of the Beta, I Encountered a Hidden NPC"

It was currently early evening in Xia Country, the time when most people were resting at home and browsing the internet, the peak traffic period.

Before long, his post had accumulated a pile of replies.

"?"

"No pics, no proof?"

"One minute has passed, OP hasn't replied. Verdict: BS."

"This ID? Isn't that the uploader from Bilibili who makes galgames?"

Seeing his ID finally recognized, Tyrannosaurus Warrior felt a surge of satisfaction and began typing.

"Here's what happened. I accidentally got selected for the closed beta of 'Kingdom of Heavenly Principles.' Since I had nothing to do recently, I thought I'd log in and try it out."

"—Verdict: Annoyed Lucky Dog."

"—OP, are you rubbing it in?"

The replies were almost instantaneous, but Tyrannosaurus Warrior ignored their comments and continued typing, "First, the sensory experience. As the world's first immersive virtual reality game, I was really looking forward to how its realism would compare to reality. And from my first day's experience, there's almost no difference!"

"Players get hungry, falling hurts, the NPCs' expressions are lively and not stiff, and their dialogue isn't just repetitive canned lines. It's almost exactly like real life."

"—True, my experience was similar to OP's. These NPCs feel like real people, not like system characters at all."

"—Me too!"

"—What's the main point? Where's the hidden NPC?"

"Don't rush, typing takes time," Tyrannosaurus Warrior retorted briefly before continuing, "I was teamed up with another player to explore. It was in Blackwater Village, not far from the starting area, and we encountered him (Man in Black with a question mark above his head.jpg)."

"—Holy crap, is it really a hidden NPC?"

"—OP's luck is insane, I'm so jealous."

"—Does a question mark above their head mean they're a hidden NPC? What if it's just a level requirement to see their info?"

"—Dude, use your brain. Even if the level requirement is high and you can't see it, wouldn't that still make them a big shot to current players? Compared to the villagers who have no levels, they're basically a hidden NPC."

"—The guy above is right, OP, continue."

"Okay. Actually, when I first saw this NPC, I was also excited. I quickly went up to talk to him, hoping to get a hidden quest. But all I got was a mining quest. Not only that, before the quest even started, he sold us pickaxes one by one for a hundred gold coins each, successfully draining both of our wallets."

"—OP got a quest on the first day? We had a bunch of people running around our village all day and didn't find a single NPC giving quests."

"—You think that's bad? I did a day of free labor for these people and didn't get a cent."

"—Hahaha, that's rough. Oh, wait, I don't have beta access, so never mind."

"—Could it be a prerequisite for a hidden quest?"

"I thought it was a prerequisite at first too, because his quest didn't list any rewards. But you know what? After the quest was over, he tried to sell me something!! I ended up returning all the gold I earned from him!!"

"—Forgive me for laughing, but wait, does that shop sell epic weapons? He really is a hidden NPC!"

"—Damn it, OP's luck is too good, I can't accept this."

"—Why do you have a dad in the newbie village?!"

"—OP, you're in Blackwater Village, right? I'm coming to your house immediately!"

"—Dressed so mysteriously and buying things, could he be some kind of traveling merchant?"

"My initial guess was also a merchant, but the player I was exploring with told me that this NPC was not that simple."

"He said that as soon as he entered the village, he felt a great pressure from the Man in Black, like someone holding a knife to his throat."

"Moreover, according to the background information released by the developers, the Kingdom of Blossoms is a very free and open country. If he were a traveling merchant, why would he cover himself so thoroughly? It's as if he's hiding something."

"—OP's friend who explored with him is not simple."

"—Can you really have such a baseless feeling in a game?"

"— Upstairs, I really felt the disdainful gazes around me when the guards caught me."

"Not only that, after I said goodbye to that NPC, I went and asked other NPCs in the village. The result was, that Man in Black wasn't a villager in this village at all!!"

"Want to know the identity of this Man in Black NPC? Want to know where he came from? Then please follow my account with the same name on Bilibili, and during the internal testing period, I will fully reveal the identity of this hidden NPC to everyone!!"

"— So it's the endgame, huh!"

"— I really didn't expect this ending."

"— What garbage, even dogs wouldn't follow this!"

Tyrannosaurus Warrior shut down the forum with a snap. After a short rest, he opened Bilibili and looked at his rapidly increasing follower count, feeling a bit happier.

He had originally been making videos about galgame on Bilibili, but unfortunately, that genre touched on sensitive topics and couldn't grow big. He needed to monetize his account with over a hundred thousand followers, so a transition was inevitable.

However, he didn't have many loyal fans. After making other types of videos, not only did the views on his occasional galgame videos plummet, but his follower count also continued to decline. If this continued, he would have to give up making videos and find another job, or even multiple part-time jobs.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to afford his sister's expensive medication anymore.

Fortunately, at his most difficult moment, he won an internal testing qualification for the latest trending game, "Kingdom of Heavenly Principles," and was also very fortunate to encounter the hidden NPC.

This wave of traffic was his lifeline.

"Big brother whose name I don't know, you're truly my second father!!"

However, Tyrannosaurus Warrior didn't know that the reason for his follower increase wasn't because of his post.

After he went offline, another player had also posted information about the Man in Black NPC.

The title of the post wasn't eye-catching compared to others; it was very simple.

— "Holy crap, what a handsome NPC"

The content was even simpler, containing only a video:

The sky at dusk was lazily clear of any clouds. Under a tree, a person seeking shade, dressed in a seemingly thick black robe, lay lazily on a somewhat worn-out chair, seemingly fast asleep.

A gentle breeze carrying the glow of the setting sun slipped through the gaps in the leaves, slightly lifting the corner of the hood and revealing half of the man's exquisitely featured face, bathed in a dreamlike hue.

Undoubtedly, this post's popularity far surpassed Tyrannosaurus Warrior's post, with a reply count reaching a hundred thousand.

And "Finding the Man in Black NPC" instantly became the common goal of all female internal testing players.