At eight sharp, after making a few functional improvements to Little Green and its derivatives, Ed opened the Soul Webway once again and released the four eagerly waiting souls into this world.
The moment the four connected, before their vision had even focused, a translucent pop-up appeared before them:
[Dear closed beta players, today's improvements: (1) Added name displays for friendly/neutral NPCs. Please watch out for hostile creatures or NPCs. (2) Added an experience bar. Please plan your attribute point allocation accordingly. (3) Added a stamina bar. Please remember to replenish your nutrients. Enjoy the game!]
The four who had awakened at the side of the castle hall exchanged glances. After reading the announcement, they all noticed the new data bars in their field of vision.
The displays were still somewhat crude, without even any numbers on them, so they could only get a rough idea. Still, something was better than nothing. At least with experience and stamina displays, the players could make rough plans for their next moves.
Of course Ed understood exactly what everyone wanted, but there was nothing he could do. As things stood, he really could not quantify either of those stats, so he could only provide a rough approximation.
After all, this world really existed and had not been entirely converted into data, so experience points were more of a feeling. Once enough accumulated, gaining an insight or making a breakthrough counted as leveling up.
Stamina was even harder to quantify. As long as their will was firm enough, these temporary bodies really could keep fighting and moving, holding out until the final moment before collapsing completely.
Despite the update announcement, the game still offered little guidance today, leaving everyone relatively free to act. It was only because the four of them had already planned to build a raft yesterday that they had set that as their main quest.
However, before they left the castle through the distorted gravitational field, [Do Some Farm Work] strode over to Ed.
Before the game started, he and [Good Times Don't Last] had discussed the matter of closed beta access right up until the last moment before testing began.
In all honesty, although they were online friends, he still really wanted to play with his buddy [Chief Shit Appraisal Master].
So, the moment he entered the game, he really did intend to try [Good Times Don't Last]'s method.
Coming up beside Ed, the Soul Returner, whose body looked somewhat uncoordinated, gave what he considered a friendly smile.
"My lord, I have a friend who wants to know how to get access to the closed beta. I was wondering if you could..."
[Good Times Don't Last], who had been watching from the side, was utterly stunned. For a moment, he could not tell who the newbie was.
Had he immersed himself so deeply that he really saw Ed as a person, while everyone else approached this as just a game, which was why they could say something so immersion-breaking?
Sure enough, faced with [Do Some Farm Work]'s incomprehensible question, Ed quickly entered the familiar bot-freezing state. Only after several seconds did he speak gently.
"Soul Returner, your body seems to be experiencing a slight dysfunction. Would you like me to perform some maintenance?"
[Do Some Farm Work] turned back toward the three and asked, looking confused:
"What does he mean?"
[Good Times Don't Last] could not bear to watch any longer. He stepped forward and shoved aside this idiot who was ruining the other players' immersive experience, swearing as he said:
"He's saying there's something wrong with your brain..."
Still pretending to be a bot, Ed silently nodded to himself, confirming that this was indeed what he thought.
After all, how could someone ask something like that inside the game? How could they ask him, the guide NPC?
If he could even understand questions like that, he probably would not be some game AI, but the instigator of an omnic crisis.
Having pushed [Do Some Farm Work] aside, [Good Times Don't Last] met the gaze of the one-eyed Ed.
After taking a moment to summon the right emotions, he said with great sincerity:
"Honored lord, after a day of fighting and gathering yesterday, we have come to deeply understand how difficult it will be to bring order back to this world.
"With just the four of us, we might not be able to accomplish it even in a hundred years. But there are still many, many ancient souls wandering in... the other world. Might we help you perform another soul-summoning ritual?
"If the number of Soul Returners could increase, that would be a good thing for you as well."
He really gets it! Now that's a player!
Ed lavishly praised this newbie in his heart. In his view, as a true immersion enthusiast, the man had really taken it to the limit.
He had perfectly transformed a question about testing in the other world into one that could be asked inside the game. An absolute little genius.
After [Good Times Don't Last] finished speaking, he had no idea whether phrasing it that way would work. He simply looked at Ed expectantly.
The young lord smiled quite naturally, showing none of the botlike behavior he had displayed when [Do Some Farm Work] asked his question. He nodded in appreciation and said:
"I'm very glad you think that way. Summoning souls again requires two conditions to be met. First, I must have enough materials to create bodies you can inhabit. Second, we need souls from this world that have become utterly corrupted and chaotic but have yet to dissipate, to serve as sacrifices.
"If you need more companions, you can try helping me complete the preparations for the ritual."
"...O-okay."
[Good Times Don't Last] stammered his agreement, then turned his astonished face toward his three companions. Sure enough, he was met with three much the same expressions.
[Zhongde]: "Did I hear that right? Unless I'm misunderstanding, did an NPC just guide us on how to get closed beta access?"
[Do Some Farm Work]: "As bizarre as it sounds, that seems to be what happened..."
The internet troll seemed to have mellowed out at that moment. Although he had already had the experience of interfering with the opening cinematic, he still found it hard to believe the NPCs in this game could be so intelligent.
This ought to be beyond the scope of preset programming already. Perhaps it was something like a high-tech AI.
Judging by the current situation, as long as they converted their questions into a form consistent with this world's setting, this guide NPC really could answer the questions players asked.
The real world's closed beta really was equivalent to soul summoning in the World of Disorder, so after that substitution, Ed really could answer.
What a badass NPC! All four marveled inwardly at the same time.
[Howling Pothos]: "Remember that feature I mentioned, where players can edit the compendium?"
[Zhongde]: "Yeah. What about it?"
"There doesn't seem to be any rule saying compendium entries have to be monsters and neutral creatures..."
"You mean?"
"Let's put together an NPC compendium entry after testing ends. This... this guide is way too valuable."