Listening to the bishop's furious speech, the three of them clearly realized that things were not as simple as they seemed.
Although the three women began using their Alienation wooden tools to create fake bite marks on boxes and wardrobes after the third reported rat infestation, none of them actually saw a single rat.
If things continue like this, it's only a matter of time before they're exposed. After all, the archbishop hasn't even started checking the "attendance" issue yet. If the other side discovers that all the rat infestations occurred on the nights when the three of them were on duty, even a fool would realize that something is wrong.
An internal problem is obviously easier to accept than a mouse evolving the ability to become invisible.
The three exchanged glances, having already agreed to hold a short meeting after the main conference.
Half an hour later, three busy nuns walked simultaneously from different directions of the chapel toward a storeroom.
When questioned by their colleagues, the three gave perfectly reasonable reasons.
To prevent rats from damaging things, some important cabinets and containers need to be raised slightly.
The three of them soon arrived at the storage room and began to pretend to tidy it up, but in reality, they were having a secret meeting.
[ Dark Archmage ]: "Wait, why was I assigned a minor villain character? I have to keep a straight face and fake a smile every day, I really can't take it anymore."
[Pond Fish and Old Abyss] smiled and sized her up for a few seconds after hearing this, then said:
I feel like my social anxiety is almost cured.
"Well."
Upon hearing this, the [ Dark Archmage ] sighed, but did not object to this statement, only explaining:
"The thought that I'm just playing someone else makes it okay, but the thought of doing these things as my real self is something I still can't quite accept."
"See, this is the advantage of using multiple accounts. No wonder so many protagonists in novels like to use multiple accounts; they create a alternate account to do things they can't do themselves."
"That makes sense, I suddenly understand."
Before the two had exchanged more than a few words, [ Zhong Lele ] interrupted:
"Let's talk about this later; first, let's think about whether the reason about the rats is still valid."
She looked at the two of them seriously and said:
"I have two ideas. One is to change our tactics and find a different excuse. After all, we've used the same trick so many times, and it feels like we're on the verge of being exposed."
"What's the other idea?"
"Simple, they just haven't seen any mice, right? We'll just get some mice."
"Ah?"
[ The Dark Archmage ] asked incredulously:
"Artificially creating a rat infestation?"
[ Zhong Lele ] nodded:
"It's not a big deal to demolish the entire church, as long as the orphans are alright. I was thinking, is there any way to catch some rats from the wilderness and forests of Valhalla, clean them thoroughly, and then transport them over so that they only disgust people without harming them?"
[ Dark Archmage ]: "As long as the orphans aren't harmed, I have no objection."
[Pond Fish and Old Abyss]: "Is this what they mean by automatically generating one Idea King out of every three people?"
[ Zhong Lele ]: "It's just a concept, so who should do it?"
[Pond Fish and Old Abyss]: "I think we can get everyone involved and have my friends put up bounties."
Valhalla, notice board in the central square.
[Looking to buy:]
Live Thorn Rat, five copper coins each, no limit.
[Limited time offer: Redeem at the Greenhouse for three days only.]
As we all know, the shorter the message, the bigger the story.
This purchase request might be the most inconspicuous one on the bulletin board, but it will definitely leave a deep impression on everyone who sees it.
As one of the earliest recorded monsters from the World of Disorder in the encyclopedia, the Thorn Rat has never had a very high profile.
Aside from the fact that the starting village boss is Rat King formed from Thorn Rat, this creature rarely appears in either regular gameplay or official adjustments.
This is understandable; a creature that poses neither a threat nor has any value is naturally ignored.
But this time it was completely different.
A five-copper coin may seem cheap, but it is not.
Just like real Thorn Rat rats live in nests. The purchase notice only mentioned live rats without specifying their size, meaning that if you could catch a whole nest of rats, you could earn dozens of copper coins at once.
For some new players, this can be considered a significant amount of starting capital.
But in reality, it wasn't the novice players who were interested, but rather another unexpected group of people.
Although the new players lack game experience, they at least have the newbie gift packs given by Ed, so they won't be too short of money in the short term. They are somewhat embarrassed to do something like raiding rat burrows.
But there is another group of people who have a lot of gaming experience but are extremely short of funds; they are... bankrupt players.
Yes, the first victims of Fir City Operation have emerged.
Some unlucky players, those with insufficient reserves, or those who are simply bad at the game but addicted to it, have already emptied their wallets in the cycle of repeated drops and inability to escape.
The entrance fee and body reconstruction costs that they previously dismissed have now become the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Ed thoughtfully included a "negative asset" feature for players, allowing them to choose to regenerate their bodies and revive even when their account balance is less than one gold coin.
However, after being resurrected, you will see that your account balance has become negative, and all the money earned from activities will be immediately used to forcibly balance the account.
In other words, Seraphina hasn't started offering loan services to players yet; otherwise, these people would definitely be using their adventurer ID cards to get loans.
Therefore, this World of Disorder was nothing short of torture for these players.
It would be a loss if such an excellent game weren't released, but once it's released and you see how much fun others are having, and then think about how your wallet has been emptied or even turned into a negative balance, you can't help but feel a little sad.
But just then, an announcement seeking to buy Thorn Rat appeared out of nowhere, bringing new good news to bankrupt players.
As veteran players who were able to participate in the Fir City Operation, they naturally had dealings with creatures like the Thorn Rat.
Experienced people who are short of money are always the most likely to humble themselves.
Upon learning this news, a large number of players immediately flocked to the wilderness surrounding Valhalla, which was the area with the highest Thorn Rat.
This harmless little creature is about to face a major crisis...
At this point, these bankrupt players already had a basic plan in mind --
Catching rats to earn money, once you've saved enough for resurrection and entry fees, you can immediately start a Fir City Operation and begin your own...
The very, very, very last dance!!!