Seeing that the clever players had already thought of these things, Ed couldn't help but smirk.
Thanks to the vampire Ed's generous support in the months leading up to winter, Ed currently has plenty of life force reserves.
Faced with a growing number of players and increasing demands, Ed released a game mode he had been developing for a long time at this crucial moment – Search, Attack, and Withdraw.
Many people understand this type of activity as simply categorizing it as "multiplayer Dungeon," but this is actually inaccurate.
Traditional Dungeon like the Gloomy Sanctuary, while supporting a maximum of a dozen players in a group at the same time, do not present a clear competitive relationship among players; instead, they mostly cooperate against each other.
This time, however Fir City, which was ravaged by the players, was completely different.
To be fair, Ed's earliest understanding of the "search, strike, and withdraw" model didn't come from the games he played in his previous life, but rather from... novels.
In the many fantasy novels I read in my previous life, there were always some things like "divine tombs", "grotto heavens", "sub-dimensions" and even "microcosms".
Whenever these once-in-a-century or even once-in-a-millennium "secret realms" open, extraordinary talents from all over the world and even from different dimensions flock in.
The plot development of this type is very simple--
The first step is for everyone to gather at the entrance before the secret realm opens and exchange trash talk, especially the villains on the roadside who always manage to accurately target the protagonist and subject him to personal insults.
The second step is for everyone to start searching for rare and exotic items after entering the secret realm, like rats scraping the ground, packing up all kinds of magical treasures, pills, and talismans to take away.
The third step is when the two sides, who dislike each other, Narrow Road on their way out, one pretending to be weak while the other pretends to be weak.
The final step is for the protagonist to make a beautiful escape with the best treasures in the entire secret realm, leaving behind a bunch of idiots who are so full of leftovers they're practically fainting from exhaustion.
The story outline is already so clear that it could potentially be written into hundreds of thousands of words if followed step by step. Unfortunately, Ed is neither the villain nor the protagonist in the story, but rather the creator of the "Secret Realm".
Creating a secret realm doesn't actually require immense power; all you need is a group of obedient subordinates, and then you can simply point to a certain spot—
"This is the secret realm, go and explore it."
In this way, the chaotic Calamity will Descent upon a city with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.
Ed believed that with his unlimited resurrection ability, the players would become his sharpest and most chaotic weapon.
Now, in order to help some players who aspire to this goal increase their combat power more quickly, Ed doesn't mind paying some extra life force as the price for their resurrection.
As for the admission fee...
If you want to have more fun, isn't it normal to spend a little money?
As for those players who have no intention of attacking Fir City, Ed believes they will have a unique gaming experience in this large-scale, long-term quest.
Once the event starts, all players who have mastered repair skills should experience a surge in sales.
Just like the gold rush in the real world, few people actually got rich through gold mining, but many who sold tools, did transportation, or made clothes did achieve upward social mobility thanks to the gold rush...
Ed also intended to use this opportunity to see if any of his players were truly "brilliant" enough to amass a considerable fortune through this event...
Even if some players don't like the style of this event, they can still play the previously available modes.
Neither the siege of the first large-scale mission nor the Blood Corpse of the second large-scale mission have completely disappeared. As long as you are willing, you can still find suitable places to attack the Tree Worship Church, and you can still find Blood Corpse struggling in the cold in the snow.
Even if a small number of players are not interested in any of the game activities, they can still become NPCs that spawn regularly near a body of water, just like [ Epic-Level Giant ] and [ Gu Gugu ].
Ed was convinced that he had done everything possible to cater to the gaming experience of all types of players in a completely realistic game.
As for the task and activity rules that haven't been detailed to every single point?
Ed has always been someone who is willing to admit his mistakes, and it's not embarrassing for him to patch the game based on the players' performance. After all, this was done by the game planners, and it has nothing to do with him, the NPC.
As for now?
Ed, the observer of the Fourth Calamity, is about to begin recording the phenomena observed in his new experiment.
Because he seems to have discovered an individual occupying the traditional protagonist's niche in this traditional storyline...
After confirming that its level had exceeded the official recommended level of five, [ Howling Pothos ] quickly ended its hunt for the day and went to the nearest Teleportation Tree.
The [ Howling Pothos ], which has reached level 8, has a relatively balanced stat allocation, but its base attributes are more biased towards [Agility] and [Constitution].
This is related to his former professional gamer status. In reality, when he was a spirited and talented young man, he preferred to rely on his superior reaction speed and peak performance that allowed him to maintain focus for extended periods to overwhelm his opponents.
Unfortunately, as a professional player, his prime was far too short, and he was quickly and cruelly swept away by the next generation.
Although he is past his prime, in a game where he can freely allocate attribute points and have them reflected in his physical and mental abilities, he still chose the playstyle he was once most proficient in.
Regarding special attributes, the stat allocation for [ Howling Pothos ] leans more towards [ Plant Compatibility ] and [ Mechanical Compatibility ].
As a skilled player who prioritizes competitive performance, [ Howling Pothos ] is not optimistic about the development paths of [ Animal Compatibility ] and [ Psionic Energy Compatibility ], which have relatively mediocre early-game performance.
The former can only maintain its condition by constantly using injections, while the latter's best user is currently a part-time bartender at [ Mortgage Tavern ], as customers can only get drinks with ice when he's there...
[ Howling Pothos ] naturally knew that the official team would take into account the balance between the various paths when designing the game, so he was not worried that these two paths would not have any future development.
However, he couldn't wait. Rumors had recently spread in the real world that " World of Disorder " was testing a competition. It was said that a rich second-generation heir thought the game was really fun, so he was willing to lose money to hold a competition to play it.
Therefore, he must use all his current resources to improve his combat effectiveness in order to stand out as an individual in that potential competition.