The Crosstalk Duo

What a coincidence. Bai Ye saw a player with the ID Cang Lei walking toward him.

The player shouted beside Bai Ye, "Excuse me, can you step on me?"

"HAHAHA!"

"Woohoo!"

"This one's even more hardcore."

"I want to be stepped on too!"

The nearby players burst out laughing when they heard Cang Lei's words. So there really were people who said things like that. Bold.

While enjoying the spectacle, the players also turned their eyes toward Bai Ye, wanting to know how this "NPC" would react.

Bai Ye: ??

Bai Ye was completely dumbfounded. He had never expected that casually finding someone to test his new feature on would lead him to encounter a player having some kind of episode.

After a brief moment of thought, Bai Ye answered, "The officer is watching right beside us, so it's not very convenient for me to make a move."

"Let's find somewhere without people later. I just happened to master a leg technique and wanted to find a target... a sparring partner to try it on. You really are a good person."

Then, with a thought, he adjusted the favorability rating and gave Cang Lei a friendly smile.

Ding, Bai Ye's favorability toward you increased by 1 point (-10000+1) crossed out

Damn!

Cang Lei's eyes widened. He was stunned silly.

This NPC wasn't following the script at all.

Shouldn't he be disgusted by me?

Come on, Cang Lei had only been talking big. Why did this NPC... actually take it seriously?

Cang Lei had heard that story NPCs were all extremely powerful in the early stages. As a level-one newbie, he definitely couldn't withstand a kick from an NPC.

"You really are a good person."

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Cang Lei felt that although the flawlessly handsome NPC before him wore a gentle smile, there was killing intent at the corners of his eyes when he looked at him.

Bai Ye ignored Cang Lei, who was questioning his entire life beside him.

Well, some people had diverse preferences. For example, a certain Luo Tianyi ghost-hunting game seemed to have a foot fetish, liking long legs in black stockings and bare feet.

But this Cang Lei was most likely just here for laughs, and Bai Ye had no intention of indulging him.

However, after trying out the favorability feature, Bai Ye discovered something rather interesting.

That was, through the favorability rating and system notifications, the players seemed to genuinely believe that he was an NPC.

His fake NPC identity seemed to have become firmly established.

And he could adjust favorability himself.

As long as he hinted that favorability was tied to some sort of benefit, the players would definitely spare no effort in grinding it.

Without even needing to spend tangible rewards, Bai Ye could lead the players around by the nose.

This was a completely cost-free deal. He could freeload off the players' labor while gaining benefits from them. Even capitalists would weep upon hearing it.

Wasn't that how old online games worked? Players were forcibly made to do reputation quests, one link after another, working for NPCs for free. Even if they had money, they couldn't buy things from faction shops; they had to wait until their reputation was high enough to exchange for them.

Didn't that raise daily active users and playtime?

Hehe, now it was my turn.

Bai Ye remained expressionless on the surface, but the little person in his heart stood with his hands on his hips and laughed wildly at the sky.

Fortunately, the world of "Arknights Online" was real. The so-called Yan reputation from his previous life was probably just quantified by the system, without the scammy chained quests of old online games. Otherwise, Bai Ye would probably be coughing up blood in anger first.

I need to make a proper plan first. Favorability can be tied to personal shops and quests... Hmm, I can even make up some stories to satisfy the lore fans.

After all, in his previous life, information had exploded everywhere. Bai Ye had watched more or less a few educational videos about game design. There were plenty of ways to fleece players, hehe.

We may have been fellow countrymen before, but now that I've transmigrated, don't blame me for being ruthless. Besides, you players won't lose out either. You'll get the sense of achievement and positive feedback from playing the game, and you can buy things from me, learn skills, and improve your strength. You should be thanking me. I really am too conscientious.

From another angle, Bai Ye was also fleecing the system. Was using the system's resources to toy with players a kind of indirect NTR?

As Bai Ye let his thoughts run wild, he looked around at the players with kind eyes.

These were all free labor.

Sure enough, people's moral bottom lines were flexible. Just two chapters ago, Bai Ye had been feeling melancholy and emo over his loneliness and seeing people like those from his past. Now, he seemed like a completely different person.

Just as expected of me.

What were players? Mere tools. Earthlings? Didn't know them.

As he thought, Bai Ye suddenly saw a player who had created the appearance of a female Feline race character walking toward him.

Above her head was the ID Zhai Mao Bu Ge.

"Um, is there anything you need me to do?" Zhai Mao slightly raised her head and looked at Bai Ye, trying to trigger a quest.

She had been egged on by the chat to come trigger a quest.

According to the gaming experts in the chat, Bai Ye should be the person in charge here. He was also absurdly handsome, so he was definitely an important NPC. In order to guide players, the system would surely have quests set on this NPC.

As for why they guessed Bai Ye was an important NPC?

Had anyone ever seen a game developer waste precious art resources on a passerby?

It had to be said that the chat experts did have some understanding of things, even though they hadn't gotten a single thing right.

Bai Ye's eyes lit up as he looked at the player before him.

Zhai Mao Bu Ge. He had known her in his previous life; she was a streamer on the Bika Bika platform. Zhai Mao had become popular through "Arknights Online," slowly becoming a major streamer after drawing a closed beta slot.

Good, it's you. Tool number one, delivered right to my door!

The Comedy Duo

Zhai Mao was an extremely promising streamer. Though she had previously only been a small art streamer, after "Arknights Online" was released, she shot to fame through the immense popularity she gained from the game and became a major streamer in one go.

She was a bit airheaded. At first, the viewers all thought she was putting on an act and building a persona, but later they discovered that she was actually just genuinely silly.

There was no acting involved whatsoever. It was all real.

Unfortunately, fools had foolish luck. Zhai Mao's luck was truly absurd. While muddling through things, she could always somehow steer events in a favorable direction. Her streams had explosive entertainment value, making her the ultimate lucky koi.

When Bai Ye had been choosing a tool, he had indeed hesitated between the chairman of Future Technology and Zhai Mao. But in the end, he chose Zhai Mao. The reason was quite simple—the chairman's character design was just too bizarre. Bai Ye was afraid it would scare the people of Terra.

In comparison, the catgirl Zhai Mao had created was much more pleasing to the eye.

Unfortunately, no matter how pretty you look in the game, it's still fake. If you're supposed to be a tool, you still have to be a tool.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Ye first took out his terminal and sent a message to Officer Chen, then looked at Zhai Mao and said, "Outlander, I do indeed need your help. First, go report to Officer Chen."

As he spoke, Bai Ye edited a quest for Zhai Mao.

At the same time, a prompt asking whether to accept the quest immediately appeared on Zhai Mao's game interface.

There was no need to think about it. Zhai Mao directly chose to accept.

To give the players a sense of immersion, Bai Ye gave the quest a name and divided it into several stages, turning it into a chained quest.

The first stage Zhai Mao received was to go speak with Officer Chen. Since the quest was simple, Bai Ye casually gave her some experience as a reward.

He had encountered this sort of thing far too many times while gaming in his previous life. He was completely familiar with it and could come up with it effortlessly.

TheTrashCanIsFull: Kitty really is chosen by heaven, getting a quest right at the start!

ABoatfulOfClearDreamsPressesDownOnTheStarryRiver: Kitty, hurry up and cling to that thigh. This NPC has some real stuff going on.

LemonPigeon: Am I the only one who noticed this NPC is actually called Bai Ye? Bai Ye... hehe... Bai Ye.

LikeABlockOfWood: Stop having an episode here.

[System Notification: OceanCat donated 36888]

Nightfall: Holy shit, a gift from the Pharaoh King!

The chat was a chaotic mess, everyone saying something different. It was incredibly lively.

Zhai Mao's stream was soon recommended due to its high popularity. Even the game's official account appeared in her stream and donated a Super Chat.

According to the system records, Zhai Mao was the first player to accept a quest.

Zhai Mao herself, muddleheadedly going off to do the quest, had no idea that she had already become popular—it was downright mystical.

That was the advantage of streamers. When Zhai Mao played alone, countless people watched her. That way, more people could learn of Bai Ye's existence.

Once his fame rose, plenty of players would come looking for him in the future. There would be no shortage of tools!

After casually dismissing tool number one with a prerequisite quest, Bai Ye went to find the Rhodes Island field operator.

In truth, this field operator had not originally come to Lungmen to investigate the prohibited-drug case in the slums. She had merely been carrying out an ordinary field assignment.

The Lungmen branch had only just received the news, while Rhodes Island would need some time before learning of it—Terra had no means of long-distance instant communication, and all contact and message delivery relied on messengers.

Using the information provided by the branch, Bai Ye found a Rhodes Island vehicle near the port in Lungmen District 5.

He reached out and knocked on the window. When it rolled down, Bai Ye saw a petite Vayf girl in the driver's seat, with a smiling Vulpo girl beside her.

Bai Ye was somewhat surprised.

Didn't they say there was only one person? Why had it become two?

Was Rhodes Island now popularizing buy-one-get-one-free deals?

"Who are you?"

The Vayf girl first frowned slightly, but after looking at Bai Ye, her expression relaxed again. Bai Ye's natural affinity really was a bug. She had silver-gray hair and vivid red eyes, crystalline like gemstones.

Unfortunately, as a Vayf, she seemed excessively short. She was quite an unusual individual.

Bai Ye glanced at the badge on her chest before explaining, "I came from the Rhodes Island branch. Due to some special circumstances, the city entrance checkpoint ahead has been temporarily sealed. You'll enter Lungmen with me through a special passage."

"After that, there'll be a special assignment waiting for us."

Thanks to Officer Chen, Bai Ye had obtained a temporary pass. In exchange, he had to assist Rhodes Island in resolving the slum case as soon as possible.

The Guards Bureau officers were not particularly suited to enforcing the law in the slums. The situation there was subtle and unique. Officer Chen had originally wanted to establish a Guards Bureau branch in the slums, but the plan ultimately failed.

Even though Lungmen was more tolerant of the Infected than most political entities, the conflict between them still existed.

"Hehe, looks like our vacation plans have gone down the drain." The Vulpo girl beside her smiled as she narrowed her eyes.

Compared to the stern Vayf, she was much more lively.

"Flanka, that was your plan, not 'ours,'" the Vayf corrected. "Also, please take this field assignment seriously. This is Blacksteel International's first external assignment after cooperating with Rhodes Island. You need to treat it with importance."

"Got it, got it, Miss Honor Student..." The girl called Flanka gave a careless perfunctory reply, then turned her gaze to Bai Ye. "Hey there, handsome, get in. Oh, you probably don't know the one beside me yet, right? Allow me to introduce her. Her name is Power Bank."

"Scythe. My codename is Scythe. Please don't mind my partner's nonsense... As you can see, we are from Blacksteel International BSW, though we are currently serving Rhodes Island under a cooperation agreement."

Scythe explained earnestly. Her image truly matched the honor student Flanka had described.

Bai Ye found it rather amusing. These two operators seemed quite interesting, and they had plenty of personality.

Bai Ye opened the door and got into the back seat.

The Originium Engine started, and under his guidance, the vehicle drove toward the special passage.

He said nothing along the way, but when he occasionally looked up, he found the two in the front watching him through the rearview mirror.

In the reflection, Bai Ye saw the girls' eyes.

Why did this scenario feel a little familiar?