Ten million new players would flood into the game in a week!?
Mu You stared blankly for a good while before he finally processed it.
He hurriedly followed the link to the supposed official game website. It looked surprisingly convincing. The landing page featured concept art of a forest beneath the moon, with various magical creatures looming faintly among the trees, eerie and uncanny.
Below that were a brief introduction to the game's setting and buttons for registration applications and the like.
Then he checked the publisher: Star Spirit Culture Co., Ltd...
Mu You didn't even need to search to know that this company was a front. It definitely didn't exist in the real world!
Just a week ago, he hadn't been able to find anything about "Fool" online. Now it had an official website and was recruiting players worldwide!
That meant the game no longer intended to hide!
Perhaps testing was complete, or perhaps the time had simply come. Whatever the reason, from this moment on, the game had officially entered the public eye!
The reason word hadn't spread among ordinary people yet was probably that governments around the world were still suppressing the news rather than publicizing it on a large scale. After all, this was something that would transform the world. They had to exercise the utmost caution.
Still, there was no way they could keep it secret for long. The number of applicants in the upper-right corner of the webpage made that clear.
[Applicants registered: 22.65 million!]
That meant at least twenty million people worldwide already knew about the game's extraordinary nature.
With that many people in the know, concealing the news would be incredibly difficult. No matter how tightly information of this magnitude was suppressed, a single leak would spread across the world like a plague!
And as applications increased, governments might even abandon the information blockade and start promoting the game themselves, encouraging as many citizens as possible to apply.
After all, access codes were distributed randomly. The more applicants a country had, the more chances it had to receive codes.
Players were destabilizing factors, certainly, but they were also a resource. If a country didn't compete for them, by the time all the players were concentrated in other countries, it would be too late for regrets...
Of course, Mu You felt the authorities must have preparations in place. An ordinary citizen like him didn't need to worry himself sick over it.
All he could do now was keep playing, exploring, and hunting for treasure. Making himself stronger as quickly as possible certainly couldn't hurt.
The thought of a massive influx of new players in just a week filled Mu You with an even sharper sense of urgency.
Ten million new players was no small number even spread across the globe. And he lived in an overcrowded major city. Competition for resources in the game was bound to become fierce!
That made the coming week the golden window for gathering resources.
He had to strengthen himself as much as possible during that week to face whatever changes might follow.
Mu You spent the rest of the day alternating between slacking off and leaving the game running.
Fortunately, there weren't many customers that day. Yesterday's murder and explosion seemed to have left the nearby residents on edge, and few ventured out for a stroll. Fewer than five customers entered the shop all day.
With no business to handle, Mu You was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet. Between studying Star Spirit Language, leaving the game running, and occasionally checking the news, he had what seemed like quite a busy day.
At eleven that night, Mu You returned after dinner and pulled down the shop's roller shutter. Then he went upstairs to his room, shut the door and windows, and took out his phone at the desk.
At last, the travel countdown in the game had reached its end!
[After a long journey, you finally arrive at the outskirts of the Dark Forest.] [Before you stretches a vast forest spanning hundreds of miles. A thin, hazy mist fills it, concealed within the thick darkness of night. It resembles the gaping maw of a beast poised to devour anyone who approaches, waiting for prey to step inside.] [You hear the unending roars of beasts echoing from deep within the forest. The wind howls through the trees like a hundred ghosts weeping in the night. Perhaps it is the wailing of the bones and souls of those who once perished here. All of this sends chills through you. Are you sure you still wish to enter?]
The game's descriptions really were something else. Did it have to make everything sound so over the top?
Reading those descriptions, Mu You almost felt the same sinister atmosphere that his character faced.
But expecting a few lines of text to stop him from entering was far too naive.
[You put the donkey into the Night Watchman's Backpack and prepare to enter the forest...] [Pumpkin Lantern effect activated!] [Beside the road outside the Dark Forest, you discover a trail of glowing dust.] [You follow the dust and eventually discover a palm-sized, winged Fairy Maiden beneath a dead tree nearby. She beckons to you and says, "Come here, adventurer. I can grant your wish!"]
Mu You's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected a special event to trigger the moment he arrived.
This event seemed familiar. He had encountered a Fairy Maiden's blessing when he first started the game, though that time it had been a nightmare bat in disguise. This time, however, he seemed to have found a real fairy!
Mu You hurriedly moved his character closer.
[The Fairy Maiden knows all too well how terrifying the Dark Forest is. She wanders its outskirts year-round, stopping any creature that wishes to enter. When she saw you preparing to go inside, she could not bear to see another righteous adventurer fall into the Evil Faction. Thus, she deliberately used her dust to lure you over, hoping you would turn back before it was too late.] [The Dark Forest is ruled by the evil "Calamity Witch." No one who has entered has ever emerged! The Fairy Maiden shares this information with you and asks you to abandon your plans to enter the Dark Forest. In exchange, she will give you a powerful item: the Sanctuary Statue.] [Sanctuary Statue: When activated, summons a level 17 Sanctuary Knight for one hour. Disappears after three uses.] [Accept the fairy's blessing and permanently relinquish your right to enter the Dark Forest?]
"Level 17!"
Mu You stared, dumbfounded.
He had just calculated how grueling it would be to reach level seven. Beyond that, the experience requirements would keep doubling, reaching astronomical figures after just a few more levels. What did level 17 even mean?
With this thing, the Werewolf wouldn't be worth a damn!
Forget the Werewolf. Every creature he encountered in the early game would be easy pickings before this statue!
Without a doubt, this was a priceless treasure! It was worth more than everything he owned combined, excluding the Time Pocket Watch!
But obtaining the statue meant permanently giving up entry to the Dark Forest. In other words, he would never be able to find the Witch's treasure...
The fairy's blessing or the Witch's treasure. He could only choose one!
After a brief struggle, Mu You quickly made his decision: he still wanted the Witch's treasure!
Powerful as the statue was, it was a consumable. He could only use it three times, each lasting just an hour. If he faced more than three crises, it would be useless.
By comparison, the Witch's legacy was the more dependable option... provided he could find it, of course.
Besides, the fact that the game was willing to offer a reward of this caliber just to make him abandon the Dark Forest was further evidence that the Witch's treasure would be even more valuable!
[You refuse the fairy's request. She gives you a regretful look, then turns into dust and disappears.] [You search the spot where the fairy vanished and discover a bottle of "Lucky Dust."] [Lucky Dust: Can be used as fuel for the Pumpkin Lantern. For a short time after burning, greatly increases the Pumpkin Lantern's event trigger rate.]
Before you continue