The real world, group chat: [Disordered World Closed Beta Group (6)].
As soon as he logged out, [Good Times Don't Last] added [Great Wei Boxing Champion] to the little group. The young newbie player had quite a knack for socializing and had gotten friendly with everyone, easily getting [Great Wei Boxing Champion]'s contact information in the game, too.
At that moment, the players were still enthusiastically flooding the chat, making the six-person group look like it had a full sixty members.
[Shit Appraisal Master]: "Awesome! So damn awesome! I was wondering how the starter village's first boss would go out, but I never expected the Guide to land the final blow. He even busted out a treant form. One word: badass!"
[Do Some Farm Work]: "Aside from that pretty dumbass name, I agree with you."
[Good Times Don't Last]: "Sure, but something still feels a little off... Would you guys call that kill stealing? I don't play many games, so pwease don't mess with me."
[Zhongde]: "Strictly speaking, it counts, but we dealt most of the damage, so we should still get plenty of EXP in the end."
[Howling Pothos]: "This game's EXP distribution probably doesn't just go by damage. Setting aside whether we actually dealt as much damage as the Guide NPC, none of us can use that crowd-control skill except him right now. So personally, I think this game's raid mechanics probably work like some MMORPGs: EXP is split evenly after the boss dies, while the loot goes to whoever lands the killing blow. Of course, given how realistic this game is, the loot probably won't appear on anyone's person, but drop straight onto the ground."
[Good Times Don't Last]: "That's good, that's good. I was a little worried during that execution cutscene. If the NPC landed the last hit, could he actually gobble up all the EXP? Looks like I was overthinking it. Honored Lord, honored Guide, if you can see this, please don't secretly nerf my drop rate..."
[Howling Pothos]: "I'm only guessing based on experience, too. We'll know everything once we log in tonight."
[Zhongde]: "You guys really thought about a lot. My mind was completely blank back then. All I could think was how awesome that cutscene was. Too bad we got forcibly logged out just as it was getting good. No idea whether we'll get to watch it again tomorrow."
[Do Some Farm Work]: "With how realistic the game's setting is, that's got to be impossible, right? But I recorded the whole fight and already saved it locally. I can send it to you if you want to watch."
[Zhongde]: "Yes, yes, yes. I was so excited back then that I was too busy taking screenshots. I completely forgot we could record."
[Great Wei Boxing Champion]: "Dude, could you send me a copy of the video? I think this game is so damn badass, and I'm planning to edit some footage and post it. I recorded it myself too, but you can never have too much footage from different perspectives. Same goes for the rest of you guys. If you aren't planning to post yours, feel free to send it to me~"
[Howling Pothos]: "Speaking of editing, dude, are you the big shot who got into the closed beta by digging up an Easter egg on the official website?"
[Great Wei Boxing Champion]: "I wouldn't call myself a big shot, but yeah, that was me."
"Awesome!!" × n
[Good Times Don't Last]: "Wasn't that obvious? You guys actually had to ask? I knew ages ago."
[Howling Pothos]: "I could more or less guess, actually. I just wanted to confirm so I didn't mistake you for someone else, though that wasn't very likely anyway. So, dude, are you planning to keep posting videos? This game is definitely going to blow up when it launches. None of us have any plans in that direction, so if you want to, you'd be the only video creator making content about this game right now."
[Great Wei Boxing Champion]: "It's a side gig for now, but... if this game really takes off, I could consider making it my main job. Working really is exhausting, after all."
[Howling Pothos]: "Dude, think it through before you quit. Once a hobby becomes a job, it rarely brings you much joy anymore..."
[Good Times Don't Last]: "You guys seem to be discussing something heavy, so I'll sit this one out."
[Do Some Farm Work]: "I'd suggest taking the wage-slave talk to DMs. Don't make the group so serious..."
[Howling Pothos]: "My bad, my bad. Let's get back to the game. I think we really cut it too close today. We didn't even have time to get back to town at the end... If the Guide hadn't stepped in, we'd probably all be getting gnawed on by rats right now."
[Shit Appraisal Master]: "Then by your logic, the Rat King's death was actually scripted?"
[Howling Pothos]: "Not necessarily... How should I put it? I don't think we can approach this game purely in terms of things like 'guaranteed triggers' or 'main quests and side quests.' Think about it. Since we first logged in, have we been forced to do anything at all? I don't remember anything like that. That NPC only said he'd summoned us to restore order to this world, but he never told us how to do it or what exactly we should do. We've been completely free to do our own thing. It doesn't even have a quest system or the other stuff most games have. There's so ridiculously little guidance that it's like a building sandbox. I've only seen one game like that before: 'Friend, you don't look so good. You'd better find something to eat before nightfall.'"
[Shit Appraisal Master]: "Makes sense. There wasn't any sign of us being guided in anything we did today, but it seems unlikely that it was all coincidence, either. At most, maybe there's a threshold for triggering the Rat King, and doing certain things summons this boss. As for whether to fight it and how to fight it, we came up with all of that ourselves."
[Great Wei Boxing Champion]: "I heard the closed beta's only been open for four days. If you don't mind me asking, have you all been playing since the beginning?"
[Shit Appraisal Master]: "Those four have. I joined on the third day, and you joined on the fourth."
[Great Wei Boxing Champion]: "Would you mind telling me what you've been doing these past few days?"
[Good Times Don't Last]: "Let me think. On the first day, we were mostly busy going 'Whoa!' and getting used to the controls. Basically, we wandered around near the castle, killed a few monsters, and chopped some trees along the way. I also fed a kill. On the second day, two people built a raft and two went hunting, which got [Shit Appraisal Master] into the closed beta. On the third day, we were mostly busy crossing the river. Then everyone died and learned to behave, so we revised our battle plan a little. And then came today, day four."
[Great Wei Boxing Champion]: "Wait, I get everything else, but what's hunting got to do with getting into the closed beta? I don't quite understand that part."