In the northwest corner of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, the Evil Spirit labor market bustled with voices, players' bargaining mingling with cheers and jeers.
The newly launched "quest system" was still in its infancy. Neither side had a common standard for quest rewards, so everything depended on talking their way into a better deal.
As players on the Forum put it: take jobs casually, lose half your pay.
Both sides were shrewd, and both wanted to earn more resources.
Before accepting a job, therefore, Evil Spirit projections and players had to engage in a tug-of-war of negotiation, a process that always involved verbal clashes.
Colorful greetings were the norm; snide mockery was a basic skill.
In one corner of the market, a middle-aged player with the game ID "Gangban" stood with his arms folded. Three hundred members stood ramrod straight in formation behind him, their silver-white Battle Armor gleaming in the dim light.
Gangban was the team's leader and its damage-taking core. His members affectionately called him "Bro Gangban."
At that moment, he was staring at Gui Ya's projection, which had a blue exclamation mark above its head.
"Cut the crap. Explore the lower reaches of Soul Valley. The reward is two thousand Dark Tide Crystals. Take it or piss off. I don't have time to haggle with you," Gui Ya's projection said impatiently, looking Gangban straight in the eye.
Gangban scoffed and spat out the grass stalk in his mouth. "Two thousand? Taking us for cheap labor? I don't give a damn what kind of hellhole Soul Valley is. I've got three hundred brothers here risking their necks for you. That pittance isn't even enough to fill a gap between our teeth!"
A trace of surprise crossed Gui Ya's projection's face, followed by undisguised contempt.
He turned slightly