The corners of Ed's mouth twitched twice, almost imperceptibly. That dialogue made him sound like some evil lord planning a sacrifice.
It seemed he really wanted to get his friend a beta slot.
And Ed still had four slots left in his Soul Webway's capacity. It looked like he could do some proper planning.
He cleared his throat and spoke in his usual gentle tone:
"This time, yes."
[Do Some Farm Work] was delighted at first, but then felt something was a little strange. Ed did not keep him guessing, speaking in the tone of someone introducing the setting:
"The cost of Otherworldly Soul Summoning increases with the number of Soul Returners. The next summoning... will require more."
With that, he put the two bound Vine Sheep aside and said to [Do Some Farm Work]:
"I'll make the preliminary preparations for Soul Summoning tonight. The remaining materials will also be used to repair your bodies. Perhaps new Soul Returners will be born tomorrow."
Seeing the confusion in the player's eyes, Ed began explaining his somewhat vague wording:
"Not all souls agree to be revived, so Soul Summoning requires some time for a response."
Hearing Ed's words, [Good Times Don't Last] nodded thoughtfully and thought:
So it was part of the game's setting.
Then he moved closer to Ed and asked:
"My lord, may I ask why we can't move once night falls?"
Obviously, because the game was still in testing. There was no way he, posing as an NPC, could accompany the players on their pioneering adventures twenty-four hours a day.
But he could not say that. At a time like this, he needed an answer that both explained the issue and kept the world's lore internally consistent.
Ed looked at the newbie player and answered:
"Because the Otherworldly Soul Summoning Technique can currently only be maintained for twelve hours a day. Otherwise, your bodies would risk disintegrating. I will find a way. When that time comes, all you senior Soul Returners will be able to descend into this world for longer."
"I see."
[Good Times Don't Last] stroked his chin thoughtfully, though there was no telling what he was thinking.
Soon, it was eight in the evening in the World of Disorder, or eight in the morning in the real world.
The four players and one NPC sat around the campfire and shared a smaller Vine Sheep. As they watched their stamina bars slowly recover, they logged out, thoroughly satisfied.
The second day of testing was over.
The four players returned to their own world. As for Ed, after happily devouring the life force of two Vine Sheep, he used the leftover materials and his own abilities to mold a body.
Since he had accepted this offering, there was naturally no reason for him to hold back.
Sensing a faint increase in his experience points, Ed casually conjured up a string of gibberish and tossed it into the other world's internet, fulfilling his promise.
The real world.
The four were chatting on and off in their little group chat. It was nearly lunchtime now, and even Zhou Jue, who was at work, had gained a moment to catch his breath.
On top of that, he had slept incredibly well these past two nights, so he could now use the time he normally spent lying around recovering to chat with his friends.
The four were planning tonight's pioneering expedition. Since none of them had any more friends they wanted to invite for the moment, they decided to regroup and complete an initial exploration of the opposite riverbank.
In fact, according to Ed's plan, after the players cleared the aberrations near the old castle, they should have made appropriate contact with those three villages to acquire more supplies and meet more NPCs.
Unfortunately, the appearance of a river and the Black Forest made everyone more inclined to explore the other bank.
Of course, Ed had no objections. It merely meant a little more work for him as the corpse collector.
He only hoped they would still love this game so much after encountering the big trees that enjoyed eating budget group-order meals.
Just as Ji He, also known as [Do Some Farm Work], was happily chatting away, a pop-up suddenly appeared at the top of his phone's chat window.
[Dear closed beta player, your account has received a shareable closed beta invitation code. Tap here for details.]
Ji He froze briefly, then took a screenshot in the last second before the pop-up disappeared and sent it straight to the group.
After a brief silence, [Good Times Don't Last] sent several reaction memes in succession before finally saying in utter shock:
"Holy shit, now the NPC really is teaching players how to play the game."
[Howling Pothos]: "Are we getting a new companion tomorrow?"
[Zhongde]: "You know the deal. Don't forget my cut."
After sending a long string of OKs, Ji He stopped looking at the group and instead tapped into the collapsed pop-up to check whether the invitation code was genuine.
Of course, he could not actually tell whether it was real or fake. But the moment he saw that string of gibberish, he felt it was real. After all, most redemption codes, invitation codes, and activation codes looked much the same, with only a tiny minority having any discernible pattern.
At this point, Ji He could no longer contain his restless excitement. As quickly as he could, he opened his chat with [Chief Shit Appraisal Master] and sent the question he had prepared long ago:
"Bro, if I could get you a closed beta slot, how much would you offer?"
The status above the chat window soon changed to [The other person is typing], and a few seconds later, a message arrived:
"If everything you described yesterday was true, then... even ten thousand would be worth it."
Ten... thousand...
Ji He's smile froze on his face. It was certainly not because he thought it was too little, but because it felt like a little too much-so much that he even felt a twinge of guilt-
Not only because he was asking such a high price of his buddy, but also because he had initially intended to give [Zhongde] only fifty.
Rich guys' money really was easy to make...
After that inward reflection, Ji He rapidly tapped the screen with both hands:
"Then let's do that. I got the activation code."
On the other side of the screen, Yu Yun, also known as [Chief Shit Appraisal Master], instinctively froze for a moment before replying in disbelief:
"You said just yesterday that it was hard to get."
Ji He also froze briefly when he saw the message, realizing that he currently looked like someone using his status as a buddy to pull a scam.
To avoid being labeled "fleece strangers for half, take friends for everything," Ji He thought for a moment and replied sincerely:
"The reason is hard to explain, but I'm not trying to trick you. I'll send you the activation code now. Log in at eight tonight and give it a try. Just pay whatever you think it's worth."
Yu Yun was also briefly stunned by his friend's generosity. They had known each other online for nearly two years, and this was the first time Yu Yun had seen this internet troll be so generous.
He had intended to pay a small deposit as a gesture, but after thinking it over, he felt that [Do Some Farm Work] had a very good point-
If, after playing it, he felt even ten thousand was an excellent bargain, then he might as well add some more money. That way, everyone would be happy and satisfied.
So now, the only factor that could potentially affect their friendship was the quality of that game, "World of Disorder."
Having made up his mind, Yu Yun nodded and agreed to [Do Some Farm Work]'s proposal.
He soon received a long string of gibberish. At the same time, he opened the official website for "World of Disorder" and logged into the account he had used to fill out the preregistration questionnaire.
After he pasted that mass of gibberish into the activation code field, a new notification soon appeared:
[Dear Chief Shit Appraisal Master, you have successfully activated your eligibility for the first closed beta of "World of Disorder." Next server opening time: August 4, 2037, 20:00]